Paranomina unicolor Hendel

Mcalpine, David K., 2019, Review of the Species of Paranomina (Diptera: Lauxaniidae), Records of the Australian Museum 71 (3), pp. 71-85 : 73-75

Paranomina unicolor Hendel

Figs 1 –4

Paranomina unicolor Hendel, 1907: 231 ; 1908: pl. 1, figs 4, 5.

Type material examined. Holotype ♂. Queensland: “Thorey 1868 Cap York ” [sic] ( NMW). In good condition, on long, slightly bent pin. Given type locality now deemed to be erroneous (see below).

Park, near Sydney ( AM); Royal National Park, near Sydney ( AM, QM); Currarong, near Jervis Bay ( AM, QM); Gibraltar Range National Park, W of Grafton ( AM); 10 km NE of Tuglo, Singleton district ( AM).

Less typical material examined. Victoria: Mount William , Grampians Range ( AM) . Tasmania: Mount William National Park and vicinity ( QM) ; 3 km S of Tomahawk , 40°52'S 147°45'E ( QM) ; near Barnes Bay, Bruny Island ( AM) .

Other material examined (morphologically typical males, localities only given). Queensland: Bunya Mountains ( AM) . New South Wales: West Head , Ku-ring-gai Chase National Description (male). Agreeing with generic description in general characters .

Coloration generally tawny-yellow. Parafacial with pale pruinescence. Antenna dark brown to blackish. Thorax without darker markings. Tarsi usually not darkened distally. Wing hyaline; halter pale tawny. Abdomen usually tawny, sometimes partly discoloured in dried specimens.

Postabdomen (New South Wales populations). Each sclerite of sternite 6 elongate, oblique; surstylus (Fig. 2) rather large, elongate, with two large, rotund terminal tubercles, the lateral one dorsally (or externally) prominent, the medial one terminally prominent and slightly smaller, also a less conspicuous broader ventral (or inner) terminal prominence; aedeagal rod (Fig 3) complex, with distal section initially broad, but rapidly contracting to narrow apex.

Dimensions. Total length, 4.2–5.2 mm; length of thorax, 2.0– 2.2 mm; length of wing, 4.8–5.1 mm.

Distribution. 1, typical populations. Queensland: southeastern districts. New South Wales: coastal districts. 2, Tasmanian population: eastern and southern Tasmania. 3, populations of western Victoria—status unclear.

The eastern mainland populations while showing general uniformity in shape of the surstylus vary a little in details of the aedeagus, so that, even if a higher degree of uniformity is seen in the Tasmanian population, it is doubtful if that population can be considered as consistently differentiated from the eastern populations. The present unavailability of material from the greater part of Victoria adds a further element of uncertainty in differentiating these populations. Perhaps the population in the Grampians of western Victoria has the surstylus more distinctly shaped, but the two available males from this locality may not be considered adequate to demonstrate the degree of consistency. On the other hand, the related South Australian populations, here separated as P. nodosa , show complex and apparently consistent features of the male genitalia, which provide reasonable evidence for separate species status.

Type locality. Georg Thorey was a dealer in insect specimens based in Hamburg, Germany. He supplied a number of specimens to the Natural History Museum, Vienna, some of which became type specimens. It appears, however, that the label data “Thorey 1868 Cap York” were associated with numerous insect specimens and may have been added some time after collection. Froggatt (1909: p. 95) recorded the unreliability of these labels .

As Paranomina unicolor probably does not occur in the Queensland tropics, I assume the given locality “Cap York ” to be incorrect, and the genitalia details of the holotype are in agreement with specimens from coastal New South Wales .

Figures 2–4. Paranomina unicolor , male, Royal National Park. (2) Surstyli, posterior (external) view, scale = 0.2 mm. (3) Aedeagus,

anterior view, scale = 0.1 mm. (4) Postabdomen, right oblique lateral view. c, cercal complex; e, epandrium; t6, tergite 6.

Figures

Figure 1. Paranomina unicolor Hendel, holotype male, before dissection of abdomen.