Planetella thermophila Sevcik & Hippa 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ševčík, Jan
name: Hippa, Heikki
name: Burdíková, Nikola
name: Sopuch, Kryštof
name: Skuhravá, Marcela
name: Bruun, Hans Henrik
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Cecidomyiidae
Planetella
Planetella thermophila

description: Planetella thermophila Ševčík & Hippa sp. nov.   
(Figure 12A,B,C, 14I)  
 Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, Slovakia, Cerová vrchovina Protected Landscape Area, Hajnáčka, Buková, 26.iv.–7.vi.2018, Malaise trap in Quercus cerris forest, leg. J. Roháček & J. Ševčík, specimen after DNA extraction, prepared on slide No. PLA15 (coll. NMPC). PARATYPEs: SLOVAKIA: 1 J in ethanol, Cerová vrchovina Protected Landscape Area, Chrámec, Vlčia dolina, 13.iv.–11.v.2023, Malaise trap in Quercus cerris forest with Carex michelii in undergrowth, leg. J. Roháček & J. Ševčík, specimen after DNA extraction, prepared on slide, No. PLA 65 (coll. JSL-OUC); 1 ♀ in ethanol (after DNA extraction, No. PLA 15b), the same data as holotype (coll. JSL-OUC); 1 ♀ in ethanol (after DNA extraction, No. PLA 31) (coll. JSL-OUC). CZECH REPUBLIC: Podyjí National Park, Hardegg, 14.v.–12.vi.2020, Malaise trap in a forest steppe (coll. JSL-OUC).   
 DNA sequences. DNA sequences (COI barcode region, 28S, 18S, 16S) taken from the holotype (No. PLA 15) are deposited in GenBank. Their Accession numbers are provided in Table 1.   
 Diagnosis. A large, dark brown species. Antenna with 15 binodose flagellomeres, the apical one is shorter and variable in shape. Eyes with a narrow eye-bridge. Terminalia with a broad, pear-shaped hypoproct, posteriorly rounded.   
 Etymology. The name of the new species means ‘warm-loving’ and refers to the thermophilous habitats where all the type specimens were collected; adjective.   
  Description. Male.  Wing length 7.8 mm (holotype). Overall body coloration mostly glossy dark brown, with legs and halteres brownish.   
 Head. Eyes with a narrow, membranous eye-bridge, ommatidia not touching. Antennal flagellum with 14 binodal tricircumfilial flagellomeres, plus apically with a short uninodal flagellomere lacking circumfila. Flagellomere 1 (Fig. 14I) about 3.6 times as long as broad, slightly longer and more cylindrical than the other flagellomeres, flagellomere 4 (Fig. 14I) about 3.3 times as long as broad. Maxillary palpus with 3 palpomeres, the apical one the longest, almost as long as the first and second together.   
 Thorax mostly blackish brown. Scutum distinctly produced above the head, brown, with three dark longitudinal stripes.   
 Wing elongated, about 2.7 times as long as broad. Veins C, R 1, R 5 and Cu-stem dark and distinct. R 1 joining C almost in the middle of wing. R 5 reaching C beyond wing apex. Rs missing. M 4 light and indistinct. CuA with dark stem and bent downwards.   
 Legs with tarsal claws slightly longer than maximum tarsal diameter, gradually bent. Empodia reaching to about half the length of claw.   
 Abdomen dark brown, with a light oval spot on each side of the tergite.   
 Terminalia (Figs 12A,B). Gonocoxite about 2.5 times as long as broad, mediobasally with a distinct rounded lobe. Gonostylus relatively long and narrow, slightly broader subapically, 4.2 times as long as broad, almost as long as gonocoxite, apically with a rounded, transversely grooved dark lobe, pointed medially. Cerci short, rounded, basally fused. Hypoproct broad, pear-shaped, distally convex, with a shallow depression. Aedeagus narrow, elongate, subtriangular, slightly longer than hypoproct. Gonocoxal apodemes strongly sclerotized, medially fused.   
 Female (associated with holotype male by COI sequence). Similar to male, with robust abdomen. Antennae shorter and thinner than in male, about 1.5 times as long as thorax. Flagellomeres cylindrical, relatively short, not distinctly binodose. Eyes with a narrow, membranous eye-bridge, without any ommatidia connected. Abdomen dark brown, with light narrow oval spot on each side of tergites 2 to 7. Cercus one-segmented, pointed apically, suboval in shape, about twice as long as broad.   
 Biology. This species is probably associated with Carex michelii and Carex umbrosa, on which the type material was collected. The galls remain unknown.   
 Discussion. This species is characterized by the dark coloration, 14 flagellomeres, eyes with a narrow eye-bridge and details on the male terminalia, especially the broad pear-shaped hypoproct. It is known from the two localities in southern Slovakia and one in the Czech Republic (close to the border with Austria). Its closest relative in terms of K2P genetic distance (Tab. 3), as well as in the phylogenetic tree (Fig. 15), is P. muranica sp. nov., with 5.2% distance.
description: Published as part of Ševčík, Jan, Hippa, Heikki, Burdíková, Nikola, Sopuch, Kryštof, Skuhravá, Marcela & Bruun, Hans Henrik, 2023, Integrative taxonomy of Central European Planetella (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) indicates high species diversity, intraspecific variation and low host specificity, pp. 413-450 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 63 (2) on pages 438-439, DOI: 10.37520/aemnp.2023.026, http://zenodo.org/record/10621390