Limonia pia, Podenas, Sigitas & Podeniene, Virginija, 2017

Podenas, Sigitas & Podeniene, Virginija, 2017, Limonia crane flies (Diptera: Limoniidae) of Korea, Zootaxa 4231 (1), pp. 1-37 : 30-31

Limonia pia sp. nov.

( Figs. 72–76 )

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other species in the genus by wing pattern, body coloration and male genitalia. Wing with completely darkened cell c, three distinct dark spots at frontal margin, distinct darkenings along cord and distal end of discal cell. Thorax generally pale, prescutum with dark median stripe only frontally. Abdomen yellow with distinct dark brown rings at posterior margins of segments. Male genitalia distinctly black with simple short gonocoxite and elongate setose gonostylus. Ovipositor with long needle-shaped cercus.

Material examined: Type specimens 10 males, 4 females.

Holotype: male (pinned), S. Korea, Jeollanam-do, Gurye-gun, Toji-myeon, Naeseo-ri , Piagol valley , N 35.27177, E 127.57146, alt. 490 m, 2015.06.28 (2), S. Podenas, net ( NIBR).

Paratypes: 8 males, 4 females (pinned and in ethanol), same valley as holotype, N 35.27177, E 127.57146 / N 35.27448, E 127.56378 and N 35.27333, E 127.56924, altitudes from 490 to 546 m, from June 26 to July 3, 2015 and June 3, 2016, S. Podenas, net (NIBR).

Description ( Figs. 72–76 ). Adult ( Fig. 72 ), male (N =10), female (N =4). General body color yellow. Body length of male 6.8–8.3 mm, that of female 9.9–10.8 mm. Wing length of male 6.6–7.6 mm, that of female 7.6–8.8 mm.

Head. Area between eyes above bases of antennae light yellow, eyes dorsally connected by distinct transverse wide dark brown “bridge”, head behind it dorsally yellowish brown, laterally and ventrally yellow. Male antenna 2.25–2.30 mm long. Scape elongate, slightly narrower proximally than distally, brown. Pedicel rounded, brownish yellow. Flagellum light yellow. Female flagellomeres narrower but longer than in male, spindle-shaped, male flagellomeres nearly oval. Verticils dark brown, slightly exceed length of respective segments. Rostrum and palpus black, labella pale.

Thorax. Yellow. Cervical sclerite dark yellow with blackish margins. Pronotum blackish dorsally, pale posterolaterally, dorsally covered with long erect black setae. Mesonotal prescutum brownish yellow frontally turning pale yellow posteriorly; median dark brown stripe in male reduced to a spot at frontal margin of sclerite, that of female turns distinctly narrower posteriorly and reaches somewhat beyond middle of sclerite, lateral stripe missing, but few erect dark setae mark interspace. Scutal lobe pale yellow, but with blackish stripe along median margin, that is covered by dense long erect setae. Scutellum dusted with blackish, pale yellow at the centre of frontal margin and laterally; darkened area covered with erect setae. Mediotergite pale yellow with blackish median stripe, that gets more intense towards distal end. Pleuron entirely pale yellow. Wing ( Fig. 73 ) with brownish tinge and distinct dark brown pattern. Cell c entirely dark brown except at wing base. Stigma distinct, dark brown. Dark brown spots at base of Rs, Sc2 and R2. Darker area at cord, distal margin of discal cell and along entire distal wing margin. Milkishwhite area extends along vein M in cell r and in discal cell. Veins brown, except yellowish brown prearcular veins. Venation: Sc1 long, reaching approximately to the middle of Rs, Sc2 at Sc1 tip. Rs arcuate at base. R2 1.6 its own length from R1 tip in female, less so in male. R3 slightly arched. Vein r-m distinct. Discal cell 1.6 times as long as wide. Free end of M1+2 twice as long as its basal part forming frontal margin of discal cell. Basal deflection of CuA1 distinctly before branching point of M. Both anal veins long, and nearly straight. Anal angle large, posterior margin widely rounded. Halter 1.05–1.35 mm long in male, 1.10–1.15 mm in female, pale, knob slightly infuscated. Coxae pale yellow, slightly infuscated frontally. Trochanters pale, just distal margin narrowly rimmed with black. Femora dark yellow with narrowly blackened distal end and very narrow blackish ring at about two-fifths of its length. Tibiae yellow with narrowly blackened distal end. Basal tarsomere gradually turning from yellow at base to dark brown at apex, remaining tarsomeres uniformly dark brown. Leg covered with adherent dark brown setae. Male femur I: 4.5–5.7 mm long, II: 5.4–6.0 mm, III: 5.1–6.4 mm; tibia I: 6.5–6.9 mm, II: 5.9–6.0 mm, III: 6.1–6.9 mm; tarsus I: 5.9–6.8 mm, II: 5.2–5.9 mm, III: 4.4–6.7 mm long. Female femur I: 5.4 mm long, II: 5.8–5.9 mm, III: 6.1 mm; tibiae I: 6.9 mm, II: 6.3–6.5 mm, III: 6.7 mm; tarsus II: 5.4–5.7 mm, III: 5.35 mm long.

Abdomen. Segments yellow, with distinct dark brown rings on posterior margins. Basal tergites of male slightly darkened fronto-medially, darkening of female more intense and covers nearly whole tergite, leaving just lateral yellow spots. Male genitalia ( Figs. 74, 75 ) distinctly black. Ninth tergum with deep invagination at posterior margin. Gonocoxite wide at base and narrow at apex, length just slightly exceeds width. Gonostylus elongate, fleshy, with swollen base, tip rounded and setose. Paramere with narrow distal part. Penis comparatively long, bifid at apex, tip sharply curved downwards. Ovipositor ( Fig. 76 ) blackened, but base of hypovalva and cercus light brown. Cercus very long and straight, needle-shaped. Hypovalva wedge-shaped.

Habitat. Margin of medium-sized mountainous stream with springs on slopes, covered by mixed forest ( Fig. 77 ).

Elevation. From 490 to 600 m.

Period of activity. This species is known to be active from end of June through the beginning of July.

Distribution. Currently known only from the Jirisan Mountains, South Korea.

Remarks. Limonia pia n. sp. is undoubtedly closely related to L. parvipennis . L. parvipennis was described from a single male specimen, but with the specimens collected and studied during this study, we note, that L. parvipennis is variable. Variability could be observed in coloration of the antenna, mesonotal prescutum, intensity of wing patterning and venation, but that variability has limitations. Because of that, L. pia n. sp. can be easily separated from L. parvipennis just from general appearance. Usually, wings of Limonia species are comparatively long, reaching distinctly beyond the apex of the abdomen. Only L. parvipennis has shortened wings reaching only to the fifth or sixth abdominal segment in the male and from the seventh to nearly the tip of ovipositor in female. Abdomen of L. parvipennis is distinctly elongate. Abdomen of L. pia n. sp. is not elongate, with wings reaching to about the tip of the abdomen in both sexes. A completely darkened cell c is rather unusual for Limonia and is never seen in other regional species, except for L. pia n. sp. The costal cell of L. parvipennis is translucent and even lighter than the remaining wing area. The hypovalva of L. pia n. sp. ovipositor is shorter than in L. parvipennis and wedge-shaped. The general body coloration of L. pia n. sp. resembles that of L. nigropunctata intermixta Savchenko, 1976 ( Savchenko, Krivolutskaya, 1976) from Southern Sakhalin, but L. nigropunctata intermixta has two dark rings of the femur, while L. pia n. sp. has one subapical ring. L. nigropunctata has wider and less extended gonostylus than L. pia n. sp. Another related species is L. karafutonis Alexander, 1924 , which is known from Far East of Russia, Japan and Mongolia. It has one femoral ring and elongate gonostylus with pointed apex, but wing pattern of that species is very reduced, if compared to L. pia n. sp. These two species also have differences in wing venation— Sc nearly reaches the branching point of Rs in L. karafutonis and only middle of Rs in L. pia n. sp.

Etymology. Species is named after the name of the River Piagol in Jirisan National Park, South Korea, where it was collected.

Figures

FIGURE 77. Type locality of Limonia pia sp. nov., river Piagol.

FIGURES 72 – 76. Limonia pia sp. nov. 72: female, general view; 73: wing; 74: male genitalia, dorsal view; 75: male genitalia, ventral view; 76: ovipositor, lateral view.