Oecetis litua, Wells, 2006

Wells, Alice, 2006, A review of Australian long-horned caddisflies in the Oecetis pechana-group (Trichoptera: Leptoceridae), with descriptions of thirteen new species, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 63 (2), pp. 107-128 : 117-120

Oecetis litua sp. nov.

Figures 27–29, 65

Material examined: Holotype. Male , 12°40'S, 132°53'E, Jabiru , Town Lake , 30 May 1991, Wells and Webber ( ANIC).

Paratypes. NT: 46 males, 9 females, East Alligator R. at Cahill's Crossing, Wells and Suter, 27 May 1988 ( NMV) .

Other material. NT: 2 males, 12°17'S, 133°20'E, Cooper Creek , 11 km SW of Nimbuwah Rock, 3–4 Jun 1973, J.C. Cardale ( ANIC) ; 3 male, 3 females, 12°06'S, 133°04'E, Cooper Creek , 19 km SE of Mt Borrodaile, 5–6 Jun 1973, J.C. Cardale ( ANIC) ; 1 male, 12°25'S, 132°58'E, 1 km of Cahills Crossing (East Alligator R.) , 7–8 Jun 1973, J.C. Cardale ( ANIC) ; 3 males, 12°52'S, 132°50'E, Koongarra , 15 km E of Mt Cahill, 12–13 Jun 1973, J.C. Cardale ( ANIC) ; 1 male, 12°52'S, 132°47'E, Nourlangie Creek , 8 km E of Mt Cahill, 14–15 Jun 1973, J.C. Cardale ( ANIC) ; 2 males, 12°57'S, 132°33'E, Jim Jim Creek , 19 km WSW of Mt Cahill, 17 Jun 1973, J.C. Cardale ( ANIC) ; 1 male, 1 female, 15°58'S, 136°21'E, 12 km NNE of Borroloola , 1 Nov 1973, J.C. Cardale ( ANIC) ; numerous males, females, Katherine R. Gorge Nat. Pk, 13 Aug 1979, J. Blyth ( NMV) ; numerous males, females, Adelaide R., 15 km E of Stuart Highway, 15 Aug 1979, J. Blyth ( NMV) ; 5 males, 1 female, South Alligator R., UDP Falls [Gunlom], 7 Sep 1979, J. Blyth ( NMV) ; 5 males, junction of Arnhem Highway and Oenpelli Rd, 26–27 Jun, 1980, M.B. Malipatil ( NMV) ; 2 males, UDP Falls [Gunlom], 18–19 Jul 1980, M.B. Malipatil ( NMV) ; 2 males, ARRS, South Alligator R. at Gimbat OSS Station, 28 Apr 1988, P. Dostine ( NMV) ; 1 male, Magela Creek , Stoned Billabong, 15 May 1988, Wells and Suter ( NMV) ; 2 males 3 females, ARRS, Radon Springs , 18 May 1988, A. Wells and P. Suter ( NMV) ; 3 males, Coonjimba Billabong , 19 May 1988, P. Suter and A. Wells ( NMV) ; 1 male, Magela Creek at Ranger pipe outlet, 20 May 1988, A. Wells and P. Suter ( NMV) ; 1 male, ARRS, Ranger Mine RP1, 20 May 1988, A. Wells and P. Suter ( NMV) ; 2 males, Magela Creek at Ranger pipe outlet, 23 May 1988, A. Wells and P. Suter ( NMV) ; 1 male, 1 female, ARRS, South Alligator R. below Fisher Creek junction, 24 May 1988, A. Wells and P. Suter ( NMV) ; 2 males, ARRS, South Alligator R. at Gimbat OSS Station, 24 May 1988, A. Wells and P. Suter ( NMV) ; 2 males, South Alligator R. below BHP camp, 25 May 1988, P. Suter and A. Wells ( NMV) ; 1 male, 1 female, South Alligator R., 14 Jun 1988, P. Dostine, site 1 ( NMV) ; 2 males, 12°36'S, 132°53'E, ARRS Gulungul Creek , inlet to Gulungul Billabong, 20 Apr 1989, A. Wells and P. Suter ( NMV) ; 1 male, Litchfield National Park , Florence Falls, 9 Apr 1991, Horak, Wells and Upton ( NTM) ; 1 male, 12°42'S, 130°58'E, Berry Springs , 9 Apr 1991, Wells and Horak ( NTM) ; numerous males, females, 12°42'S, 132°57'E, Kakadu National Park , Magela Creek, OSS Site 009, 24 Apr 1991, Wells and Webber ( NTM) ; 1 male, Little Baroalba Creek , 25–26 Apr 1991, Wells and Webber ( NTM) ; 4 males, 1 female, Jabiru Town Lake , 13 May 1991, C. Humphrey ( ANIC) ; 1 male, Jabiru Town Lake , 30 May 1991, Wells and Webber ( NMV) ; 1 male, 1 female, 12°48'S, 132°49'E, Kakadu National Park , Baroalba Springs, 16 Aug 1992, Wells and Webber ( NTM) ; 1 male, 13°16'S, 132°49'E, Kakadu National Park , Jim Jim Falls, camp site, 13 Aug 1996, I. Edwards ( NMV) . WA: 2 males, Drysdale R. National Park via Carson R. Station, 14°37'S, 125°56'E, 31 Aug 1996, I. Edwards ( NMV) ; 2 males, 1 female, Drysdale R. Crossing, Kalumbaru Rd, 15°42'S, 126°22'E, 28 Aug 1996, I. Edwards ( NMV) . Qld : numerous males, females, Palmer R., 20 Jun 1971, E.F. Riek ( ANIC) ; 1 male, Mulgrave R., W of Gordonvale, 29 Apr 1979, A. Wells ( NMV) .

Diagnosis. 1 of several Australian species with distinctively spotted wings that give a somewhat moth-like appearance. In general appearance resembling O. hemerobioides McLachlan, 1866 and O. dostinei Wells, 2004 , but distinguished from those 2 laustra -group species by having males with stout inferior appendages, and the phallus with a slender internal paramere.

Description. Male. Wings of typical shape, without scales, but with pattern of spots, and long downy hair on veins. Anterior wing length 5.7–6.0 mm. Abdominal segment IX narrow mid-ventrally, with pronounced lateral lobes, segment X broad-based, triangular in dorsal view, slender, tapered in lateral view. Genitalia, see figs 27–29. Pre-anal appendages rounded apically. Phallus stout, short; aedeagus membranous with a sclerotised band apically forming a sharp ʻbeakʼ in lateral view; paramere slender, in lateral view strongly curved, slightly sinuous in dorsal and ventral view. Inferior appendages stout at base, the mesial ventral margins closely adpressed for 1st half length, then abruptly excavated such that the appendages taper to conical lobes distally; in lateral view quite irregular in shape, broadest medially; dorsal pouch reduced to an angled row of stout setae in basal part of appendage.

Distribution. Known from the north of NT and northern Qld, and from 1 sample from northern WA.

Remarks. Within the pechana -group, this species is distinctive in its wing pattern and colouration. Yet the paramere and vestiges of the basi-dorsal pocket on the inferior appendages, clearly place it with other pechana -group species.

Etymology. The name is derived from the Latin — lituus, a curved staff, being descriptive of the paramere of the phallus in lateral view.