Pseudolycoriella wernermohrigi, Köhler, 2019

Köhler, Arne, 2019, The genus Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig, 1998 (Diptera, Sciaridae) in New Zealand, Zootaxa 4707 (1), pp. 1-69 : 56-57

Pseudolycoriella wernermohrigi sp. n.

( Fig. 50 )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:NomenclaturalActs/ F62E7CA7-79FB-44C4-AC2C-FD9403DDAD27

Literature. Pseudolycoriella macrotegmenta Mohrig, 1999 : Mohrig & Jaschhof (1999): 41–43 [misidentification].

Material studied. Holotype male. New Zealand: North Island, Western Bay of Plenty , Katikati , Te Mania catchment, Malaise trap, 19.09– 27.10.2016, leg. P.A. Maddison ( NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0001223) . Paratypes. 10♂♂ same locality and same date as holotype (5x NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0000670, SDEI-Dipt-0000674, SDEI-Dipt-0001227, SDEI-Dipt-0001238 & SDEI-Dipt-0001245 ; 5x SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0000665, SDEI-Dipt-0001234, SDEI-Dipt- 0001334, SDEI-Dipt-0001235 & SDEI-Dipt-0001373) . 1♂ North Island, Auckland , Pukororo Miranda , Te Kama forest remnant, litter, 13.11.2014, leg. P.A. Maddison ( NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0001270) . 2♂♂ North Island, Thames- Coromandel , Coromandel Range , 5 km east of Coromandel , dense Podocarpus secondary wood with tree ferns, sweep net, 28.12.1992, leg. M. Jaschhof ( PWMP; SDEI [both specimens previously misidentified, published as paratypes of Psl. macrotegmenta in Mohrig & Jaschhof 1999]) . 1♂♂ North Island, Wairoa , Urewera National Park , Huiarau Range 30 km southeast of Murupara , altitude 600–1,000 m, Podocarpus - Nothofagus wood, sweep net, 23.12.1992, leg. M. Jaschhof ( PWMP [previously misidentified, published as paratype of Psl. macrotegmenta in Mohrig & Jaschhof 1999]) . 1♂ North Island, Ruapehu , Tongariro NP, Mangawhero River Valley 3 km NE Ohakune , altitude 690 m, mixed podocarp/broadleaf forest, malaise trap, 26.11– 28.12.2002, leg. M. & C. Jaschhof & U. Kallweit ( SDEI) . 7♂♂ North Island, Taupo , Pureora Forest Park , Waipapa Reserve , altitude 600 m, mixed podocarp/broadleaf forest, sweep net, 04– 05.02.2002, leg. M. Jaschhof (3x NZAC, SDEI-Dipt-0000824; 4x SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0000822 & SDEI-Dipt-0000825) . Additional material. 2♂♂ same locality and same date as holotype (all SDEI, SDEI-Dipt-0000681 & SDEI-Dipt-0001232).

Description. Male. Head brown; eye bridge two to three facets wide. Flagellomeres brown, concolourous with scape and pedicel; fourth flagellomere 2.5–2.9 times as long as wide; necks of flagellomeres differentiated; surface of flagellomeres rough with deep pits; sensilla of two different length present; setae sparse, approximately as long as flagellomere width, bases of setae with slightly raised coronas. Prefrons and clypeus bulging. Maxillary palp threesegmented; first palpomere longest, third longer than second; first palpomere with two to six bristles and an inconspicuous patch of sensilla; first and second palpomeres each with one longer outward orientated bristle. Thorax brown, laterally brighter. Posterior pronotum bare.Anterior pronotum with four to seven bristles. Episternum 1 with five to seven bristles. Mesonotum with five to seven longer lateral bristles; row of dorsocentral bristles present. Scutellum with two robust and some shorter bristles. Katepisternum brown; as long as high. Wing. Length 2.0– 2.3 mm; width/length ratio 0.35–0.42. Membrane transparent and without macrotrichia, anal area present; all posterior veins distinct, all without macrotrichia; apical quarter of R 5 with two to five additional macrotrichia on ventral side; bM and r-m bare (exceptionally one of the misidentified paratypes from the type series of Psl. macrotegmenta bears one macrotrichium on r-m on the right wing); R 1 short, 0.51–0.71 times as long as R; M-fork longer than M stem; c/w ratio 0.68–0.74; r-m 0.8–1.1 times as long as bM. Haltere brown. Legs pale brown; coxal bristles dark; trochanter darkened. Fore tibia mostly with one to two robust bristles among the vestiture, two exceptions with no bristles among vestiture; tibial organ comprising more than half of tibial apex, consisting of a patch of bristles surrounded by a robust circular border. Mid tibia with five to six robust bristles among vestiture, located on anterioventral and posterioventral side. Hind tibia with several robust bristles on anterioventral, posterior and posterioventral sides and a longitudinal row of robust bristles, which comprises three quarters of tibial length. Basal tarsomere of all legs with conspicuous robust bristles. All tibial spurs equal in length. Claws with one robust tooth and several minor teeth. Abdomen. Pale brown, with long dark bristles. Hypopygium ( Fig. 50 ) brown. Gonocoxites wider than long, ventrally not fused, without a basal lobe of bristles. Gonostylus long and apically curved, giving it a hump-backed appearance, 2.6–3.2 times longer than wide; apically with dense setae and a group of approximately five to seven spines; subapically with two medium-sized whip-lash hairs; inner base of gonostylus without a noticeable angle. Tegmen strongly sclerotized, slightly wider than long, base very strongly sclerotized with long parameral apodemes; lateral margin of tegmen with a sclerotized edge; laterally scattered with several small teeth; sclerotized edge surrounds apex of tegmen, exceptionally with a small interruption apically; dorsal structures well developed, at least as long as two-thirds of tegmen or reaching apex of the tegmen. Area of teeth mostly impoverished, without teeth or with a few tiny teeth (maximally up to fifteen; one exception with twenty teeth). Ejaculatory apodeme long, broad, and very dark, with a long base. Posterior portion of gonocoxal apodeme broad and brown. Anterior portion of gonocoxal apodeme narrow and long.

Body size: 2.0– 2.5 mm.

Female. Unknown.

Genetic distances. The maximum p-distance between all twelve available COI sequences is 1.82% (0.61%, if the specimens SDEI-Dipt-0000681 & SDEI-Dipt-0001232 are omitted). The nearest neighbour is Psl. macrotegmenta , diverging by a minimum of 1.84%. The maximum p-distance between all twelve available 28S sequences is 0.06%. Some of these sequences are identical to those of Psl. frederickedwardsi, Psl. gonotegmenta, Psl. huttoni, Psl. jaschhofi, Psl. macrotegmenta, Psl. plicitegmenta, Psl. robustotegmenta, Psl. subtilitegmenta , and Psl. tonnoiri .

Etymology. The newly described species is named after Prof. Dr Werner Mohrig (1937–2019), who had fruitfully worked on sciarid taxonomy for over five decades.

Distribution. New Zealand.

Discussion. Three of the paratypes of Psl. macrotegmenta , designated by Mohrig & Jaschhof (1999), actually represent Psl. wernermohrigi . Both cryptic species share the remarkable lateral teeth on the tegmen margin with five other species (Psl. dentitegmenta, Psl. huttoni, Psl. plicitegmenta, Psl. gonotegmenta , and Psl. subtilitegmenta ). However, unlike Psl. macrotegmenta , the sclerotized margin of the tegmen of Psl. wernermohrigi is broad and surrounds the apex without any gap. This character can also be found in Psl. huttoni , but compared to this species and the other species with lateral teeth on the tegmen, Psl. wernermohrigi has the longest ejaculatory apodeme. Only Psl. dentitegmenta has an ejaculatory apodeme of a similar length, but has a tegmen with major differences.

Two specimens (SDEI-Dipt-0000681 & SDEI-Dipt-0001232) were identified as Psl. wernermohrigi based on morphology. However, their genetic data differ from other conspecific specimens, which were also barcoded. Their highest p-distance for the COI gene with regard to other Psl. wernermohrigi specimens is 1.82%, which is a high value in this species complex. Consequently, both specimens are in a sister-group relationship with respect to the remaining Psl. wernermohrigi specimens ( Fig. 61 ). Thus, the existence of a further species cannot be completely ruled out. Both specimens were treated as additional material and not included in the type series.

Figures

FIGURE 61. Phylogenetic tree of the New Zealand Pseudolycoriella species inferred from Maximum Likelihood analysis based on three concatenated genes (COI, 16S, and 28S; total length 3,053 bp) applying the model GTR+F+R4. Ultrafast bootstrap values (UFBoot; 1,000 replicates) are given if these values are greater than or equal to 95%. Intraspecific UFBoot values are not specified. Pseudolycoriella species without available genetic data are also inserted and assigned to a species complex according to the morphological results.

FIGURES 48–53. Pseudolycoriella macrotegmenta complex, hypopygia. 48. Pseudolycoriella macrotegmenta Mohrig 49. Pseudolycoriella plicitegmenta sp. n. 50. Pseudolycoriella wernermohrigi sp. n. 51. Pseudolycoriella huttoni sp. n. 52. Pseudolycoriella gonotegmenta sp. n. 53. Pseudolycoriella subtilitegmenta sp. n. Abbreviations: ba = basal angle; ds = dorsal structure on the tegmen; lt = teeth on lateral side of the tegmen.