Sycorax konopiki Ježek, 2015

Ježek, Jan, Wahab, Rodzay Abdul & Ševčík, Jan, 2015, Two new species of Sycorax (Diptera: Psychodidae: Sycoracinae) from the Oriental Region, Zootaxa 4057 (4), pp. 539-550 : 540-544

Sycorax konopiki Ježek sp. nov.

( Figs. 1 –20)

Diagnosis. Ejaculatory apodeme of male genitalia ( Figs 9, 10 , 18) straight from dorsal view, with base laterally compressed, ovoid, curved approximately 90 degrees dorsally in lateral view, tapering from base to apex, with longitudinal crevice internally. Aedeagus with throne-shaped (armchair) habitus in lateral view, rectangular in dorsal view, strangulated proximally and distally and split by paired phallotrema, with curved tops to longitudinal axis, without paired needle-shaped protuberances distally (compare Figs 18 and 28). Parameres almost cylindrical ( Figs 9 , 19) from dorsal and dorso-lateral views, flattened distally and near a small subapical tooth on inner side fused with aedeagus.

Description. Male. Head ( Fig. 1 ) broadly rounded in frontal view, 1.5 times wider than long. Eyes separated by distance equal to five facets ( Fig. 2 ) at minimum width of frons. Ratio of distance of apices of eyes to facet diameter 9.7:1. Frontoclypeus almost rectangular in central part, with conspicuously divergent margins towards vertex and lower part pointed between antennae towards mouth parts ( Fig. 1 ). Latero-posterior margins of eyes with 5–7 alveoli of bristles on both sides. Vertex more heavily sclerotized at median. Whole upper part of head setose, with sparsely scattered setae alveoli to narrow pointed stripe above antennal bows.

Antennae 15-partite ( Figs 3 , 11), scape of irregular shape, pedicel almost globular, only slightly asymmetrical; basal flagellomeres elongate-fusiform, progressively decreasing in length from basal to apical flagellomeres; flagellomere one 1.5 times as long as flagellomere two. Relative lengths of antennomeres: 1.0:1.7:4.0:2.7:2.7:2.7:2.7:2.7:2.7:2.7:2.3:2.3:2.0:2.0:1.9. Ascoids filiform, L- or J- shaped; flagellomere 13 cylindrical, with a minute conical apiculus.

Maxilla and palpus maxillaris ( Fig. 4 ): length of maxilla equal to length of first two fused palp segments (sometimes a constriction between primary first and second palp segments is visible). Ratios of relative lengths of palp segments 2.5:1:1; basalmost palp segment rather bulbose, radicle-shaped (as carrot or parsley), carrying a circular field of sensory structures subapically ( Fig. 4 ), terminal palp segments are minute, cask-shaped; apical palp segment with two apical setae. Terminal lobes of labium (Fig. 12) without fine apical folds, four internal paired bristles developed between both labial lobes. Pharynx, cibarium and vestigial mandibles as in Figs 5 and 13, pharynx sack-shaped in dorsal part, gradually stenosed, very slender in dome-like apex of cibarium with conspicuous transverse sclerotized rib ( Fig. 5 ); cibarium constricted medially into two distinct parts, ventral portion of cibarial cavity more bulbose than dorsal portion; relative ratio of maximum length of cibarium to length of mandibulae approximately 1.1:1.

Wings ( Fig. 6 ) ovoid, 1.1–1.4 mm long, clear; Sc reaching C, with sc-r crossvein developed, the other veins are quite clearly attached to the costa, but slightly less heavily sclerotized near their apex, R1 and CuA2 strengthened throughout their length, other veins only strengthened at wing base; index of maximum wing length (the distance from the line connecting the bases of basal costal node to neala and the tip of R5) to maximum width of wing 2.3; ratios of lengths of femora, tibiae and first tarsal segments: P1 2.2:2.7:1.2; P2 2.4:3.1:1.1; P3 2.6:3.4:1.0; paired tarsal claws of P1 as in Fig. 16, slightly constricted in the middle; thoracicic sclerites as in Fig. 14, pteropleurite with dorso-ventral line of nine bristles; knobs of halteres ovoid (Fig. 15), with a line of hairs, ratio of length of haltere to its width 3.5:1.

Male genitalia with ejaculatory apodeme ( Figs 9, 10 , 18) straight in dorsal view, with base laterally compressed, ovoid, curved approximately 90 degrees dorsally in lateral view, tapering from base to apex, with longitudinal crevice internally. Aedeagus with throne-shaped (armchair) habitus in lateral view, rectangular in dorsal view, strangulated proximally and distally and split by paired phallotrema, with curved tops to longitudinal axis, without paired needle-shaped protuberances distally. Parameres almost cylindrical ( Figs 9 , 19) in dorsal and dorso-lateral views, fused with base of aedeagus, flattened distally and near a small subapical tooth on inner side fused with aedeagus; subapical macroseta of paramere developed; dorsomedial process of parameres sheathshaped ( Figs 9, 10 , 20), open in longitudinal axis on inner side, with paired large lobuli proximally and deep cleft between them and narrowed groove-shaped part distally; gonocoxites ( Fig. 8 ) swollen at mid-length, as long as gonostyli (measured without apical bristles); gonostyli cylindrical, stake-shaped, bent, with a medio-subapical bristle and a dark spiniform bristle terminally, as a fraction of gonostyle. Epandrium wider than long ( Figs 7 , 17) from dorsal view, without apertures, cerci with pointed basis and widened distal part, medial margin shorter relative to lateral one; both margins rounded, with micropilosity. Hypoproct tongue-shaped, as long as cerci, with minute setulae apically, epiproct very short, developed only as a fold, haired.

Type material. Holotype [male, slide]: Brunei, Ulu Temburong National Park, Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre, primary lowland rainforest, February 2013, Oliver Konopik leg., collected on frog Ansonia leptopus . Deposited in UBDC.

Paratypes [89 males, slides]: 10 males, February 2013, Oliver Konopik leg., collected on frog Ansonia leptopus ; 5 males, Brunei, Ulu Temburong National Park, Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre, primary lowland rainforest, 10.xi.2012, Sg. Mata Ikan, collected on frog Ansonia longidigita ; 48 males, Brunei, Ulu Temburong National Park, Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre, Sg. Mata Ikan, primary lowland rainforest, 17.xi.2012, collected on frog Ansonia longidigita ; 26 males, Brunei, Ulu Temburong National Park, Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre, primary lowland rainforest, 19.xi.2012, collected on frog Ansonia longidigita .

Paratypes deposited as follows: UBDC—22 slides, UOSC—22, BMNH—22; NMPC 23, Cat. no. P5 34628– 34650, Inv. No. 21591–21613.

Etymology. This species is named in honour of Dr. Oliver Konopik (Würzburg, Germany) who collected the large type series and made these specimens available for this study.

Type locality. Type specimens were collected in the surroundings of the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre ( KBFSC), a field station of Universiti Brunei Darussalam. It is situated in Ulu Temburong National Park; geographic coordinates are 4°33' N and 115°10' E, elevations range from 60 (the station) to ca 300 masl. The site represents primary lowland mixed dipterocarp forest where rather intensive biodiversity research has been carried out in the past two decades ( Cranbrook & Edwards 1994, Hédl et al. 2009, Borkent & Grafe 2012, Ševčík et al. 2014a).

Natural history. Specimens of the new species of Sycorax were found in contact with the dorsal surface of two frog species: Ansonia leptopus (Günther, 1872) and Ansonia longidigita Inger, 1960 . The flies were active at night when the frogs were resting on top of plant leaves in the vicinity of a stream in a primary rainforest (see Fig. 37 ).

Females. An additional 2 females were collected on the frogs together with the males from the type series, but they are not included in the type series because they have not been positively associated with males. One of the females contained blood in its digestive tract. We attempted to associate the sexes using molecular methods but we were not able to successfully extract their DNA (except for one male of S. konopiki ). The females are deposited in the NMPC and UOSC collections.

FIGURES 11–20. Sycorax konopiki Ježek sp. nov. male. 11. Apical flagellomeres, ascoids omitted. 12. Terminal lobes of labium. 13. Mandibles in detail, lateral view. 14. Thoracic sclerites, lateral view. 15. Haltere, lateral view. 16. Tarsal claw of P1, lateral view. 17. Epandrium and cerci, lateral view. 18. Aedeagus in detail, dorsal view. 19. Paramere, dorso-lateral view. 20. Dorsomedial process of parameres, dorsal view. [Scale: 14 = 0.2 mm; 15, 17 = 0.1 mm; 11–13, 18–20 = 0.05 mm; 16 = 0.003 mm]

Distribution. Brunei.

DNA sequence. The DNA sequence of the mitochondrial COI gene marker (barcode region) of one male paratype (in UOSC) is available from GenBank (accession number KT946601 ).

Figures

FIGURE 37. Specimens of Sycorax konopiki sp. nov. (males) resting on the frog Ansonia leptopus (Photo: O. Konopik).

FIGURES 1 – 10. Sycorax konopiki Ježek sp. nov. male. 1. Head, frontal view. 2. Facets in detail, frontal view. 3. Basal antennomeres, some ascoids omitted. 4. Maxilla and palpus maxillaris. 5. Pharynx, cibarium and mandibles, dorsal view. 6. Wing. 7. Epandrium and cerci, dorsal view. 8. Gonocoxite and gonostyle, dorsal view. 9. Aedeagal complex, dorsal view. 10. Same, lateral view. [Scale: 6 = 0.5 mm; 1 – 5, 7, 9 – 10 = 0.1 mm; 8 = 0.01 mm]