Boletina valteri Salmela

Salmela, Jukka, Suuronen, Anna & Kaunisto, Kari M, 2016, New and poorly known Holarctic species of Boletina Staeger, 1840 (Diptera, Mycetophilidae), Biodiversity Data Journal 4, pp. 7218-7218 : 7218

Boletina valteri Salmela sp. n.

Materials

Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: catalogNumber: DIPT-JS-2014-0197 ; recordedBy: J. Salmela; individualCount: 1; sex: male; Location: country: Finland; stateProvince: Lapponia kemensis pars orientalis; verbatimLocality: Sodankylä, Pomokaira-Tenniöaapa Mire Conservation Area, Syväkuru; verbatimLatitude: 67.8717; verbatimLongitude: 26.2127; verbatimCoordinateSystem: decimal degrees; verbatimSRS: WGS84; Event: samplingProtocol: Malaise trap; eventDate: 2013-6-11/7-10; habitat: Salix swamp with seepages; Record Level: institutionCode: ZMUT

Description

Head dark brown–black, mouthparts brown. Palpomeres 1-3 brownish, 4-5 lighter. Scape, pedicel and flagellomeres dark-brown (six basal flagellomeres present, Fig. 2a). Scutum dark-brown, laterally brown, with scattered light setae. Pleura brown, mediotergite, laterotergite, anepimeron, anepisternum and preepisternum glabrous. Coxae, femora and tibiae yellow, trochanters infuscated, tarsomeres brown, claws black. Mid-legs missing. Wing length 2.8 mm. Sc1, Sc2, Rs, ta, tb and M-stem bare, M1, M2, CuA1, CuA2 setose on ventral surface, stem of CuA bearing a few setae distally. Sc1 ending in costa above Rs. Costa extending beyond tip of R5 to approximately 1/3 of the distance between R5 and M1 (Fig. 2a). Base of posterior fork a little beyond base of M-stem. Halteres pale. Abdominal tergites and sternites brown, bearing light hairs. 9th tergite brown. Cercus with three combs (i.e. rows of dark-brown, stout setae): proximal row with 13-15, mid row with 17-18 and distal row with 11 setae; distal setae longer than mid or proximal setae (Fig. 2b). Sternal submedian appendages of gonocoxites as in Fig. 3a; there is a an accessory structure between submedian appendages, having a distinct U-shaped median notch (Fig. 4). Lobe of gonostylus pointed, bearing two black apical setae (Fig. 3a, b, c). Parameres almost straight (apices slightly bent), rather long and thin, tapering toward apices (Fig. 3d, e, f). Aedeagus in lateral view with a blunt tip (Fig. 3f), ejaculatory apodemes as in Fig. 3d, e, f.

Diagnosis

A small Boletina species with unpatterned wings and a monochromatic abdomen. The cercus has three rows of stout setae, and the parameres are long and thin. The lobe of gonostylus is pointed. The new species is externally somewhat similar to B. pallidula Edwards, but that species has two rows of setae on cercus and shorter inner branch of gonostylus.

Etymology

The species is named after Valter Keltikangas (1905-1990), Finnish forest researcher and professor. In his famous novel " Seitsemän tuntia erämaata " (1977) he recollected his expedition to the vast mires and forests of Pomokaira, the type locality of the new species. The name of the new species is a genitive.

Distribution

European, so far only known from central Finnish Lapland.

Ecology

The type locality is a Salix swamp with meso-eutrophic groundwater seepages, surrounded by an old-growth boreal forest, dominated by spruce ( Picea abies ssp. obovata), birch ( Betula sp.), and bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ) on the ground layer.

Taxon discussion

The new species seems to be quite isolated from other known species of the genus. It has relatively short antennal flagellomeres (length:width ratio of the 2nd flagellomere is 2), long and straight parameres and inconspicuous parameral apodemes. The parameres are also moveable in their bases. The basal, paired projections of the aedeagal complex are here considered as ejaculatory apodemes. Even more striking is the presence of an accessory structure lying close to sternal submedian appendages of gonocoxites. This structure is perhaps a part of aedeagal complex, a highly specialized organ derived from ventrodistal sclerites of aedeagus. The new species is somewhat similar to B. pallidula , but in addition to the diffrences in male genitalia given above, B. pallidula has lighter body coloration, slightly longer flagellomeres and is lacking vein Sc2.