Lyrocladius, Mendes & Andersen, 2008

Mendes, Humberto Fonseca & Andersen, Trond, 2008, A review of Antillocladius Saether and Litocladius Mendes, Andersen et Saether, with the description of two new Neotropical genera (Diptera, Chironomidae, Orthocladiinae), Zootaxa 1887 (1), pp. 1-75 : 61-62

Lyrocladius gen. n.

Type species: Lyrocladius radulatus sp. n. by present designation.

Etymology: From Greek, lyra, meaning lyre, referring to the shape of the anal point, adding -cladius a common suffix among Orthocladiinae genera. Gender of genus: masculine.

Diagnostic characters: The male can be separated from all other orthoclad genera by having scalpellate acrostichals combined with lyre-shaped anal point, eyes without dorsomedian extension; wing membrane bare, squama with setae, costa extended, and megaseta sitting on tubercle. Females and immatures are unknown.

Generic diagnosis:

Male. Small species, wing length about 1.0 mm.

Antenna. With 13 flagellomeres; fully plumed; groove beginning on flagellomere 2; sensilla chaetica on flagellomeres 2, 3 and 13. Antennal ratio 0.70–0.90.

Head. Eye bare, without dorsomedian extension. Temporal setae strong, consisting of inner verticals, outer verticals, and few postorbitals. Third and fourth palpomeres of approximately same length, third palpomere with 2–3 weak sensilla clavata subapically.

Thorax. Antepronotum well developed with lobes meeting medially, without or with few lateral setae. Acrostichals strong, beginning close to antepronotum, anterior simple, slightly decumbent, posterior scalpellate, uniserial to irregularly biserial; dorsocentrals uniserial beginning at some distance from antepronotum; prealars few uniserial, extended anteriorly; supraalar present. Scutellars uniserial.

Wing. Membrane bare, with fine punctuation. Anal lobe protruding. Costa moderately extended (about 3 times the length of RM). R 2+3 running and ending midway between R 1 and R 4+5; R ending distal to M 3+4; Cu 1 slightly curved; FCu distal to RM. Postcubitus ending distal to FCu, An ending proximal to FCu. Veins bare, except for R and R 1 which may have single seta. Brachiolum with one seta. Squama with one seta.

4+5

Legs. Pseudospurs, sensilla chaetica and pulvilli absent. Comb and tibial spurs normally developed.

Abdomen. Tergites and sternites with few setae.

Hypopygium. Tergite IX covered with microtrichia, anal point posterior on tergite, lyre-shaped with strong lateral setae. Laterosternite IX with setae. Sternapodeme arched, oral projections present. Virga composed of two strong spines, with lateral lamellae. Gonocoxite with well developed inferior volsella. Gonostylus with row of strong marginal setae, crista dorsalis absent, megaseta sitting on tubercle.

Female and immatures: Unknown.

Taxonomy: Regarding the gonostylus as simple, the species will key to couplet 155 in Saether et al. (2000) and does not go any further as the acrostichals begin close to the antepronotum and the posterior acrostichals are scalpellate. Similarly, the species will only key as far as couplet 76 in the key by Cranston et al. (1989).