Caledophora, Ament & Brown, 2017

Ament, Danilo César & Brown, Brian Victor, 2017, Caledophora (Diptera: Phoridae), a new genus from New Caledonia, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 51 (45 - 46), pp. 2711-2719 : 2712-2715

Caledophora gen. nov.

Type species: Caledophora irwini Ament and Brown. Refs : Ament 2017: ‘New genus from New Caledonia’.

Diagnosis

Male. Frons setulose, without median furrow ( Figure 1 (b,e)). Frontal setation 4-4-4, with two proclinate supra-antennal setae. First flagellomere globose. Aristomeres elongated. Anepisternum bare, posterior furrow extending through half of the anepisternum; lateral parapsidal suture long; limit between meron and katepisternum marked by a suture ( Figure 1 (g)). Scutellum with two small lateral and two large medial setae. Fore tibia with one dorsal seta, mid tibia with basal pair of setae on basal third and anterior pre-apical seta. Hind tibia with one anterodorsal seta at basal third, one anterodorsal pre-apical seta, and two large ventral apical setae. Wing vein R 2+3 absent; R 4+5 slightly angulated near M 1 base ( Figure 1 (c,f)). Terminalia relatively large; epandrium connected under hypoproct; right lateral side of epandrium extended posteriorly. Hypandrium with two bare lobes of about equal size ( Figure 2 ).

Female. Similar to males, but with hind tibia lacking large setae on the basal third. Proboscis slightly elongated ( Figure 3 (a)). Tergite 7 absent, T8 vestigial, T9+T10 conspicuous ( Figure 3 (b,c)). Sternite 7 conspicuous, narrow; other sternites absent. Cercus cylindrical.

Etymology

The genus name refers to New Caledonia, where all specimens have been collected.

Comments

Caledophora may be differentiated from most other members of the Bothroprosopa group sensu Ament (2017) mainly by its lack of the wing vein R 2+3 and hypopygium not being expanded dorsoventrally. These characteristics are also present in Wharia and Minicosta , however, from which Caledophora may be separated by its three complete setal rows on frons (4-4-4) and light brown body colour.

Phylogenetic position

Caledophora is probably closely related to the genera of the Bothroprosopa -group of Brown (1992) and Ament (2017). This can be inferred by the possible synapomorphies

shared among these genera: elongated aristomeres 1 and 2 and epandrium connecting under hypoproct.

Biogeography

Based on the close relationships of some New Caledonia taxa to other South American, New Zealand and African groups, some authors have inferred that the New Caledonia biota had a Gondwanan origin (e.g. Pagel 2003). However, geological evidence indicates that New Caledonia was completely submersed during a period within the Palaeocene–Oligocene, suggesting that its actual biota is entirely the consequence of later recolonization ( Paris 1981; Grandcolas et al. 2008). In general, the dated phylogenies obtained for taxa in these areas are consistent with the geological inferences, with dispersal being relatively recent ( Grandcolas et al. 2008). We consider a scenario in which the New Caledonia biota dispersed in the Oligocene (or later) from nearby localities, in the case of Caledophora perhaps New Zealand, the best explanation of the evidence.

Male–female species level association

We did not associate males with females as we could not find conspicuous differences among the females examined.

Figures

Figure 1. Caledophora males. (a–c, g) Caledophora irwini sp. nov. (a) Habitus. (b) Head. (c) Wing. (g) Thorax. (d–f) Caledophora webbi sp. nov. (d) Habitus. (e) Head. (f) Wing. Scale bars 1.0 mm.

Figure 2. Caledophora irwini sp. nov. hypopygium. (a) Dorsal. (b) Ventral. (c) Left lateral. (d) Right lateral.

Figure 3. Caledophora sp. female. (a) Head. (b) Oviscape in ventral view. (c) Oviscape in dorsal view.