DE MADAGASCARSCIENTIFIQUE
DE L'INSTITUTMEMOIRIIS
S6rie E. -Tome I. -Fasoicule l. -L95Z

A NEW GIENUS
AND

SPECIES OF NET.WINC}ED MIDGE
FROM MADACTASCAR(DTPTERA BLEPr-IAROCERTDAE)
byCharles P. ALEXANDER

Among some Tipulitl flies sent to me for identification lly' Dr. Renaud
Paulian, Deputv Director of the Institut Scientifique de Madagascar,there
was inclu{ed a single specimen of a net-rvinged midge that evidently'fo
the present time, therepresents a ne\\' ancl tnost itrteresting genus.
onlv mem|ers of the farnill' knorvn frorn the Ethiopian Region \\'ere aferv species belonging to the sullfamilv Prtltostorttinaeand to the genus
Curupira l.utz (Elporiu Fldrvards), descrilletl ltv Enrv.rnns and B.rnNeno,
all restricted to South Africa. The fl1- clescribetl herervith is evidently arrrenrberof the subfanrilv Edwardsininae, the most primitive of the threerecognized subfamilies in the Blepharoceridae.
The Edwardsininac to this date has included the single genus Edward,sirrnAlexander, described from South Chile but later found in Argentina,'f:rsmania and sontheasternAustralia. Besidesthe typical subgenusEdward.sirrnAlexander, of Chile anrl Argentina, there are two others, Tonnoirina'fasmania
andEdrvards, of Chile and Patagonia in South America andlikewise
fromEdrvards,
southeastern Australia in Artstralia, and Alerina.\trstralia. The present genus, rvhich I am most pleased to name Paulianina,
i6 5olor of the distinguished Deputy Director of the Institut Scientifique,cliffers in one regard from Edwardsina, that is, the broken base of veinilf" of the rvings, but the nature of this break and the direction of thevein is quite different from the condition found in the various genera
leferred to the subfarnilv Blepharocerinae. In all other essential respects,
6e flv agrees rvith Edruardsina, including the venation, u'ith ten veinsreaching the margin anrl a long spur on Rs, the short fore trochanters,
and other characters.

228CH. I). AI,EXANI)DIt

Paulianina, gen. n.
Characters getrererlll' as in Edwordsittu Alexander, dilfering otherwise
in the atrophy of the basal section of vein If, of the wings.
I\[axillary palpi 4-segtnented, the terrninal two segments very small,subequal. Antennae 15-segnrented; scape yery short, scarcely longer thanthe pedicel ; basal eight or nine flagellar segments flattened, about trn'ice
as long as broad, the outer segments beconring longer and more slender ;verticils very short and inconspicuous. V-shaped suture between thelrraescututrt antl scututtr rleell and rvell-defined, virtually as in the Tipulidue. Legs rvith the fore trochanters short ; all tibiae with a single spur ;last tarsal segtnent rvith about a dozen yery long spines at base of ventral
surface ; clas's very consllicuously t<lothed. \Vings (figure) with Sc very
reduced. Sc" proiecting sonre distance beyond the level of Sc, ; vein R
4-branched, rvith three branches of /ls reaching the rnargin ; Rs short andnearly transverse : a long spur on basal section of vein Rr, close to its
union rvith l?s ,' R:+s*t long, only a little less than the anterior branchof Rs, the latter fornring the posterior border of the stigrna and lying
close to vein R ,*. at nrargin ; r-m in transverse alignment s'ith the long
basal section ,rf nI.,+.,i base of distal section of veitr M, narrorvly atrophied, the vein shorving no tendcncy to be deflecte.d caudad torvar,d l'[.,as in Edwardsina, the llosterior half of the vein ilIr*, thus evidentl;"
comprised of vein JI, alone : a short fusion of veins If, and Crr, beyond
lhe level of the c<lrtl. Lotrgiturlinal rosrs of strong ntacrotrichia in centersof cell R, ; outcr end of R,, ; trvo in cell ,lf" near the uprvard tlcflectiono l , .M r + " ; n l o n g s e r i c s i n c e l l : l y ' r ,f o r k i n g n e n r o u t c r e n d o f c e l l ; a c o m parable lllore shallorv fork near outer enrl of cell JI.r. Further abundantruracrotrichia in outcr errds of cclls Rr, l?.1 and R.-,,rvith ferver in cells
II,, IlIr and M,r, in the lattcr cells lf ing rvithin the forks of the longitudinal ro\\'s above tlescrillerl. Trvo short rows of trichia in cell A. Abundant macrotrichia on all veins. llicrotrichia lerv small but abundant andgenerallv distributerl over the s'ing surface. Sccondar)' net venation wellshos'n by' duskv lines. '\nal rngle of u'ings rtrotleratcly developed.
(irllo'rlpn'l'he: P u u l i a n i r t r t / t r . r t r ns, p . l l . ( l l a l a g a s i a n S t r b r e g i o n ) .

relationships rvith Erftuurrlsirru have lleen discussed above. Particular attention is directerl to the strong longitudinal rorvs of tnacrotrichia
in the outer cells of the l'ing. Not only is there a tnarked concentrationof trichia at these points btrt there is an intlication of a thickening of thechitin, appearing alrnost fls l \\'eak vein. If these'rows actually represent
vein remnants, us appears to lle the case, an entirely new arrangement ofveins in the most primitive Diptera is suggested. It may be noted here. { N H \ \ ' ( ; E N T -S A N I )SPECIES OF NET-\\'INGED

IIIIDGIJ

229

that the In-cu crossvein, as discnssed by Eorvrnos in the Blepharoceridae(as being present in certain genera, as Bibiocephula, while being lost inother groups, as Bleplmrocera and Liponeuru) actually does not refer tothis vein but rather to the basal section of vein ilIs++.
Paulianina

hova, sp. n.

General coloration blacli and silvery, the mesonotal praescutum s'ith
six black stripes on a silverS' ground ; femora black, rvith a broad obscure;'ellos' subterminal ring ; rvings glassy hyaline, the stigma distinct ; abdonrinal tergites darli brorvn, ringed at rnidlength rvith orange yellow.
Length about 5 nrnr. ; s'ing about 8 mm.

S,t,Rt+,.-Lu,M,'.1

I'tt,uliutina.houu,,sp. n.: venation.
Syrnbols : .1, Anal veinl (,'rr, Cubitus; ill, I\Iedia; ll, Radius; ,Sc, Subeosta.

Rostrunt relatively long4,black ; palpi blacli. E1,essltall, siruple, depsely
hairy. Head vclvety blacli, lvith patches of silvery pollen, forming lines
on the orbits, areas on either side of the ocellar tubercle. and as isolated
lateral marks on the sides of the posterior vertex ; head cephalad of theocellar tubercle with three lorv tubercles. one rnedian. the others lateralin position.
Pronotunr black, patterned rvith silvery gra)'. i![esonotal praescutum
u'ith the silvery ground restricted, the surface being largely covered bysix black stripes, the broad interrnediate pair very narrowly divided by acapillary dull gray line ; lateral praescutal stripes joined before the suture,
sending tu'o arrns fors'ard, the interspaces being <lf the silvery ground ;scutal lobes darkened, the median area gray ; scutellum gray pruinose,
its posterior border darkened ; postnotunr dark. Pleura handsomely
patternetl u'ith gray ancl black, the fornler nlore extensive, the latter bestindicaterl on the dorsal nresepisternunl; dorsopleural region extensive,
duskv, rvith a consllicttous velvety black area behind the anterior spiracle.
I{alteres rvith stetn yellorv, knob black. Legs .rvith the coxae brownish
black, pruinose ; trochanters brorvnish yello'w, hairy beneath ; femora

CH. P. ALEXANDER

yellowed basally, passing into black, with a broad obscure yellow subterminal ring, more extensive than the blackened tip ; tibiae and tarsi
brown to dark brown. wings (figure) glassy hyaline ; stigma dark brown ;veins dark brown. Venation and trichiation of wings as discussed under
the genus ; spur on basal section of vein R, exceeding twice the lengthof Rs.
Abdomen dark brown, the more basal and intermediate tergites witha transverse obscure orange yellow band at midlength, the darkened basesof the segments a little more extensive than the apices ; outer segments
and sternites more uniformly darkened. Genitalia very small, uniformly
darkened. Due to the condition of the unique type I hesitate to remove
the genitalia for study ; from what is visible it appears that the specimen
is a female.
Hor,orypn, presumably a 9, Mont Tsaratanana, altitude 1500 meters,
october 1949 (Paulian); Institut Scientifique de Madagascar.

RESUME
Description de Paulianina houa, n. gen., r. Sp., Blepharoc6ride appartenant n la sous-famille des Bdwardsininae, connue jusqu'ici seulementd'Amerique du Sud, d'Australie orientale et de Tasmanie.

PlnnReAunf,

imp., Paris. -D€pot l6gal, 2. trimestre {952.