Limoniidae

Theischinger, G., 2015, Minipteryx robusta-a New Genus and Species of Micropterous Limnophilinae (Insecta: Diptera: Tipuloidea: Limoniidae) from Australia, Records of the Australian Museum 67 (6), pp. 201-206 : 205-206

Limoniidae , Limnophilinae

Gynoplistia (Gynoplistia) boomerang Theischinger, 1993 New South Wales: New England National Park, 4500 ft (1372 m); New England National Park, rainforest; foot of Cathedral Rock; near Ebor. Collecting dates: 15 Oct. 1966; 4 Feb. 1968; 3 Jan. 1978; 20–21 Nov. 1990; March 1992. Wing length: male 8.1–9.8 mm, female 3.8–4.7 mm. This is the only species of Gynoplistia s. str. of which the female is known to be brachypterous ( Theischinger, 1993).

Gynoplistia (Xenolimnophila) zaluscodes ( Alexander, 1922) Tasmania: Waratah, Hellyer Gorge, Mt Farrel. Collection date not available. Body length: male about 13.5 mm, female about 15.5–16 mm; wing length of both sexes 2 mm. The brachypterous condition (both sexes) is apparently diagnostic for this species within its genus and subgenus ( Theischinger, 1993) .

Limnophila (Limnophila) brachyptera Alexander, 1931 New South Wales: Club Lake, Mount Kosciusko, 6000 ft (1829 m). Collecting date 28 Jan. 1930. Female length about 11 mm; wing about 1 mm. Male unknown ( Alexander, 1931).

Limnophila (Limnophila) subapterogyne Alexander, 1928 Tasmania: Hartz Mts. Collecting date 10 Dec. 1922. Female length about 4 mm; wing about 0.5 mm. Male unknown ( Alexander, 1928a).

Minipteryx robusta gen.nov., sp.nov.

New South Wales: Kosciuszko National Park, Pipers Creek downstream Smiggin Holes , adjacent to Summit Road. Collecting date 6 May 2015. Male length about 14.5 mm; wing about 1.2 mm. Female unknown, but it is expected to be brachypterous and somewhat larger than the male. Subapterism in the genus Limnophila usually involves both sexes (Alexander, 1928) .

According toAlexander (1931) larvae of limnophiline genera are found in sandy, gravelly, or loamy soil, with some humus at margins of streams or ponds, rich organic earth or mud, as at margins of rills, streams, lakes, or other bodies of water, swamps or marshes; leaf-mould or drift at stream margins; wet spots or situations beneath leaf-mould in rich, moist to saturated humus soil in woods. Microhabitats similar to some of the above occur along the streams monitored by OEH in Kosciuszko National Park giving reason to hope that the continuation of this field work and future molecular studies may provide us with more information on the phylogenetic affinities and ecology of the new taxon.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. The support by NSW NPWS is gratefully acknowledged. I wish to thank the members of the monitoring team of OEH (J. Miller, P. Scanes, A. Bransden, S. Jacobs and H. Peters) for their co-operation during the 2015 Autumn sampling, and M. Schroeder and A. Bransden for valuable habitat information. I am much indebted to A. Bransden and J. C. Martin (Australian Museum) for taking the photographs. D. Bickel (Australian Museum), J. Gelhaus (Philadelphia) and P. Oosterbroek (Amsterdam) and J. Miller and P. Scanes are thanked for helpful comments on the manuscript and for purposeful information.

SUMMARY. In atrocious weather conditions in the morning of 6 May 2015 a rather large-bodied (c. 15 mm), almost completely black male crane fly with very tiny wings was accidentally collected during monitoring work of the NSW OEH on riffles of high altitude streams in Kosciuszko National Park. It is the first micropterous male crane fly recorded from mainland Australia. Based on overall and genitalic features it is regarded as belonging to the tipuloid family Limoniidae , subfamily Limnophilinae . Its various massive reductions of mouth parts, thorax and wings, modifications of the abdomen and its enigmatic genitalic characters do not allow definite assignment to any of the available genera or species. It is therefore described as a new genus and species, Minipteryx robusta gen. et sp.nov. Some aspects of microptery are discussed, and a survey is given recording details of all Australian crane fly species with micropterous specimens recorded.