Bandella allynensis, Bickel, 2002

Bickel, Daniel J., 2002, Bandella, A New Hilarine Fly Genus from Australia (Diptera: Empididae), Records of the Australian Museum 54, pp. 313-324 : 318

Bandella allynensis n.sp.

Figs. 2a, 3a–c

Type material. HOLOTYPE 3 and PARATYPES, 23, 10♀ all New South Wales, Upper Allyn River , 1500 ft (410 m), 9.xi.1960, I.F.B. Common & M.S. Upton ( ANIC) .

Additional material. New South Wales : 33, 2♀, New England NP, Point Lookout , 1400 m, Nothofagus forest, 22.i.1967 ( UQIC); Wilson River Reserve, 31°12'S 152°28'E, 240 m, wet sclerophyll/ subtropical rainforest: ♀, 26.xi.1966, & 3, sticky trap on Eucalyptus grandis , 16– 19.xi.1998; 3, ♀ Carrai SF, Daisy Plains, 30°54'19"S 152°17'36"E, 1055 m, 11–16.i.1998, wet sclerophyll forest, sticky trap on eucalyptus trunk ( AMS) .

Description (male): length: 9.4–9.8; wing: 8.2×1.4. Head: post-cranium black, covered laterally and ventrally with grey pruinosity; dorsal post-cranium, vertex and frons black without pruinosity; postcranium with usual pale ventral hairs; dorsal postcranium bare; postorbital setae white ventrally, black dorsally; labrum dark brown but yellow at middle; labellum dark brown; antennal scape and pedicel yellowish to brown; first flagellomere black.

Thorax: pleura and postnotum dark brown with yellowish areas, and covered with grey pruinosity; anterior mesonotum mostly yellow with pale yellow postpronotum and postalar callus; ac band dark brown, and dark brown stripe present from postpronotum to postalar callus; posterior slope of mesonotum dark brown, with thin brown strip extending anteriorly over dc band, but fading out near mesonotal suture ( Fig. 2a); scutellum yellow but infuscated at base; posterior slope of mesonotum with some short setulae.

Legs: CI yellow and trochanter I yellow with dark brown apical rim; coxae and trochanters II and III distinctly dark brown; remainder of leg I yellow except distal tarsomeres infuscated; FII and FIII basally yellow; but infuscated distally; TII and TIII mostly yellow, but TIII infuscated apically; tarsi II and III brown; leg vestiture brownish; coxae with only short pale vestiture, no strong setae; all tarsi with strong black claws and large yellowish pulvilli; I: 11.0; 11.5; 6.0/ 3.5/ 1.5/ 1.2/ 1.3; FI and TI mostly with short vestiture; It 2 and It 3 each with two closely appressed subapical pv setae, which are distinctly longer than single corresponding single av seta.(MSSC); It 2–5 ventrally flattened with pale vestiture; II: 11.0; 11.5; 6.0/ 3.5/ 1.5/ 1.2/ 1.3; TII with pair strong av-pv setae; each tarsomere IIt 1–3 with apical setae; IIt 2–5 each slightly flattened with pale ventral pile; III: 15.0; 17.0; 7.0/ 3.0/ 1.3/ 1.8/ 1.6; FIII weakly expanded in distal third; TIII without strong setae; IIIt with short black vestiture.

Abdomen: tergum 1 dark brown; tergum 2 with basal third yellow and distally dark brown; terga 3–6 mostly yellow but each tergum with dark brown posterior marginal band (in darker specimens, marginal band larger and with dorsoanterior extensions on most terga); cuticle glabrous, without pruinosity; tergum 7 with U-shaped median excavation; tergum 8 unmodified; hypopygium ( Fig. 3a); male cercus divided into short basal cercal plate and digitiform clasping cercus.

Female similar to male except as noted: thorax with similar colour; leg vestiture somewhat weaker than on male; It 2 and It 3 each with single subequal subapical av-pv setal pair.

Remarks. Bandella allynensis occurs in subtropical and temperate rainforests and wet sclerophyll eucalypt forests along the ranges of northeastern New South Wales. Specimens taken in sticky traps (sheets of clear plastic coated with sticky substance and attached to tree trunks) suggest the species occasionally rests on tree trunks. There is some variation in the extent of the dark brown area on the mesonotum ( Fig. 2a).