Pseudolycoriella zealandica (Edwards, 1927)

Köhler, Arne, 2019, The genus Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig, 1998 (Diptera, Sciaridae) in New Zealand, Zootaxa 4707 (1), pp. 1-69 : 16-18

Pseudolycoriella zealandica (Edwards, 1927)

( Fig. 12 )

Literature. Sciara zealandica Edwards, 1927 : Tonnoir & Edwards (1927): 796, Fig. 180.— Miller (1950): 57.— Davies (1988): 13.— Steffan (1989): 151.— Pseudolycoriella zealandica (Edwards, 1927) : Mohrig & Jaschhof (1999): 37, Fig. 18 a–g.— Menzel & Mohrig (2000): 715–716.— Rudzinski (2000): 183.— Macfarlane et al. (2010): 441

Material studied. Holotype male. New Zealand: North Island , Waikato , Okauia, Matamata, 18.11.1922, leg. A.E.

Brookes ( BMNH, BMNH (E) 250341). Previously published material: 7♂♂ North Island , Taupo , Hauhungaroa Range, 5 km southwest of Tihoi, Podocarpus wood with ground ferns, sweep net, 21.12.1992, leg. M. Jaschhof (6x PWMP; 1x SDEI). New records : 22♂♂ North Island , Ruapehu , Tongariro NP, Mangawhero River Valley 3 km NE Ohakune, 690 m, mixed podocarp/broadleaf forest, Malaise trap, 26.11– 28.12.2002, leg. M. & C. Jaschhof & U. Kallweit (7x NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0000622, SDEI-Dipt-0000624, SDEI-Dipt-0000998, SDEI-Dipt-0001002, SDEI- Dipt-0001243 & SDEI-Dipt-0001246; 15x SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0000623, SDEI-Dipt-0001001, SDEI-Dipt-0001239, SDEI-Dipt-0001242, SDEI-Dipt-0001244, SDEI-Dipt-0001248, SDEI-Dipt-0001254, SDEI-Dipt-0001538, SDEI- Dipt-0001539, SDEI-Dipt-0001540, SDEI-Dipt-0001541 & SDEI-Dipt-0001542) . 1♀ same locality as prevoius, sweep net, 03– 04.02.2002, leg. M. Jaschhof ( SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0000783) . 9♂♂, 2♀♀ South Island , Selwyn , Cass, Middle Bush, Nothofagus solandri forest, stream site, Malaise trap, 09.04.1998, leg. P.M. Johns (4x NZAC, SDEI- Dipt-0001166, SDEI-Dipt-0001176, SDEI-Dipt-0001186 & SDEI-Dipt-0001189; 7x SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0001168, SDEI-Dipt-0001183 [♀], SDEI-Dipt-0001185, SDEI-Dipt-0001187, SDEI-Dipt-0001188, SDEI-Dipt-0001190 & SDEI-Dipt-0001191 [♀]) . 1♂, 1♀ same locality as previous, 11.04.1998, leg. P.M. Johns (all SDEI, SDEI-Dipt- 0001163 [♂] & SDEI-Dipt-0001162 [♀]) . 21♂♂ South Island , Southland , Fiordland , Fiordland NP, Hollyford River Valley, Moraine Creek Track, mixed podocarp/ Nothofagus forest, Malaise trap, 05– 24.01.2002, leg M. & C. Jaschhof (8x NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0000883, SDEI-Dipt-0001544, SDEI-Dipt-0001546, SDEI-Dipt-0001548, SDEI- Dipt-0001551, SDEI-Dipt-0001554, SDEI-Dipt-0001557 & SDEI-Dipt-0001559; 13x SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0000882, SDEI-Dipt-0000884, SDEI-Dipt-0000886, SDEI-Dipt-0001543, SDEI-Dipt-0001545, SDEI-Dipt-0001547, SDEI- Dipt-0001549, SDEI-Dipt-0001550, SDEI-Dipt-0001552, SDEI-Dipt-0001553, SDEI-Dipt-0001555, SDEI-Dipt- 0001556 & SDEI-Dipt-0001558) . 1♂ South Island , Southland , Otago Lakes , Fiordland NP, Hollyford River Valley S Divide Creek, mixed Nothofagus /broadleaf forest, Malaise trap, 06– 24.01.2002, leg. M. & C. Jaschhof ( SDEI) .

Redescription. Male. Head. Head capsule brown. Eye bridge four facets wide, two to three facets at margin. Scape and pedicel slightly paler than the flagellomeres; fourth flagellomere 2.3–3.2 times longer than wide; necks of flagellomeres well differentiated; surface of flagellomeres rough, sensillae of two different lengths, small ones and longer, curved sensilla; setae on the flagellomere dense and as long as flagellomere width, slightly curved. Maxillary palp long and three-segmented, first palpomere longest, second one shortest; first palpomere with an inconspicuous patch of sensilla and five to eight long bristles, one of these bristles longer and more robust, located on the outer side of the first palpomere. Prefrons and clypeus bulging. Thorax brown, paler than head; some specimens with small brightened parts anteriorly and posteriorly. Posterior pronotum bare. Anterior pronotum with four to eight setae. Episternum 1 with five to 14 setae. Mesonotum with five to nine robust lateral bristles; row of dorsocentral bristles well developed. Scutellum with five to eight robust bristles and several minor setae. Katepisternum slightly longer than high. Wing. Length 2.4–2.9 mm; width/length ratio 0.35–0.39. Membrane smoky and without macrotrichia, anal area present; all posterior veins distinct, stem of M weakest, apical half of R 5 with macrotrichia on ventral and dorsal side; r-m and bM bare, exceptionally r-m with one seta; R 1 0.7–0.9 times as long as R; c/w ratio 0.73–0.82; r-m 0.6–1.0 as long as bM. Haltere short and sooty brown; knob as long as shaft. Legs pale, yellowish brown. Tibial organ surrounded by a circular border and wider than half width of tibial apex; tibial organ consists of a transverse row of bristles. Fore and mid tibia without robust bristles among vestiture. Hind tibia with two to seven robust bristles arranged in a longitudinal, posteriodorsal row. All tibial spurs equal in length. Claws with robust teeth, arranged in decreasing size. Abdomen brown, slightly paler than thorax, with dark setae. Hypopygium ( Fig. 12 ). Gonocoxite wider than long, inner side of gonocoxites with a membranous area scattered with short pale setae, outer side with long setae; ventral, inner side of gonocoxites basally not fused. Gonostylus bean shaped, 2.1–2.8 times longer than wide, apically with a large inner cavity without any microtrichia, two robust spines and one long whip-lash hair present. Tegmen trapezoid with a strongly sclerotized base, parameral apodeme short and robust; medially with a broad hood-like structure (hs in Fig. 12 ) laterally flanked by a group of small teeth (not expressed in all specimens, 19 of 30 specimens from the North island and six of 33 from the South Island are without this character).Area of teeth consists of many small teeth. Ejaculatory apodeme dark, short and broad; base of ejaculatory apodeme long, basally widely fused, horseshoe-shaped. Posterior portion of gonocoxal apodeme medium sized and brown. Anterior portion of gonocoxal apodeme long and dark brown.

Body size: 2.1–3.8 mm.

Female. Tonnoir & Edwards (1927) designated two female paratypes of Psl. zealandica . The metadata of one of those (BMNH(E) 250343) are available online from the Natural History Museum (2014). However, those types are not included in the present study. Some descriptive information is given by Tonnoir & Edwards (1927) and by Menzel & Mohrig (2000).

Genetic distances. The maximum p-distance between all 17 available COI sequences is 2.43%. The nearest neighbour is Psl. teo , diverging by a minimum of 10.63%. All three available conspecific 28S sequences are identical and show no differences to the sequences of Psl. zealandica and Psl. sp. II.

Remarks. All previous studies containing descriptions of the morphology of Psl. zealandica ( Tonnoir & Edwards 1927; Mohrig & Jaschhof 1999; Menzel & Mohrig 2000) did not mention the groups of additional lateral teeth on both sides of the median structure on the tegmen ( Fig. 12 ). In fact, the holotype does not have this unique feature, and even among the material available to Mohrig & Jaschhof (1999), this feature is rarely present. The quality of the preparation also influences whether the teeth are easy to observe or not. Removal of tergite IX increases the possibility of observing teeth. In addition, specimens from New Zealand’s South Island—examined in the present study for the first time—have a higher expression rate of this character and a larger number of teeth, when present. The presence of these lateral teeth is not homogenously distributed across both populations (chi-square test of homogeneity, χ 2 ≈ 13.38, α <0.005).

Figures

FIGURES 12–13. Pseudolycoriella zealandica complex, hypopygia. 12. Pseudolycoriella zealandica (Edwards). 13. Pseudolycoriella aotearoa sp. n. Abbreviation: hs = hood-like structure.

FIGURES 14–19. Pseudolycoriella bispina complex, hypopygia. 14. Pseudolycoriella bispina Mohrig. 15. Pseudolycoriella teo sp. n. 16. Pseudolycoriella puhihi sp. n. 17. Pseudolycoriella orite sp. n. 18. Pseudolycoriella mahanga sp. n. 19. Pseudolycoriella porehu sp. n. Abbreviation: ti = insertion of the tendon of the gonostylus adductor.