Alaskacladius johnhudsoni Namayandeh & Hudson & Ghaderi & Vasquez & Ram 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Namayandeh, Armin
name: Hudson, Patrick L.
name: Ghaderi, Edris
name: Vasquez, Adrian A.
name: Ram, Jeffrey L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Chironomidae
Alaskacladius
Alaskacladius johnhudsoni

description: Alaskacladius johnhudsoni sp. nov.
Figs. 1A–D, 2A–E, 3A–C urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: A2C04A6A-4981-4BC5-A6FE-F31C243C8D38
Type material: Holotype: male, USA, Alaska, Revillagigedo Island, Margaret Creek; 55.696, -131.629; 5.v.1994; sweep net, leg. J. Hudson; deposited at ARC. Paratypes: 3 males, USA, Alaska, Juneau, Mount Roberts Trail; 58.2961, -134.7117; 5.vi.2019; leg. K. Frangos; deposited at ARC. Paratypes: 3 males, USA, Alaska, Juneau, Mount Roberts Trail; 58.2961, -134.7117; 18.vi.2022; leg. K. Frangos and J. Hudson; deposited at ARC. Paratype: 1 female, Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver, Stanley Park, 49.301, -123.14; leg. B. Titaro; deposited at CBG. Paratype: 1 female, Canada, British Columbia, Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Gwaii; 53.257, -132.089; leg. S. Querengesser; deposited at CBG.
Etymology. The new species is named after John Hudson, who has enormously contributed to our Chironomidae collection from Alaska since 1994.
Diagnostic characters. Same as the genus.
Description.
Male (n = 7).
Total length 3.0–3.8, 3.3 mm. Wing 2.4–2.8, 2.6 mm long and 0.58–0.66, 0.62 mm wide.
General coloration of the mounted specimens. Head, thorax, halter, legs and tergites brown. Sternites slightly lighter. Wing greyish brown.
Head (Fig. 1A). Antenna with 13 flagellomere, last flagellomere with 10 sensilla chaetica, 2 nd –3 rd segments each with 2 sensilla chaetica, groove starts at 4 th segment, AR 1.5–1.6. Eyes bare, with very short dorsomedial extension, temporal setae 7–8 with 1–2 postoculars, 6 uniserial orbitals, and 4–5 outer verticals (Fig. 1A). Tentorium 187–202, 196 μm long, narrow and long apically, base slightly expanded, large tentorial pit close to apex (Fig. 2A). Clypeus nearly squared, 67–100, 88 μm long and 98–131, 112 μm wide, bearing 8 setae, setae 254–355 μm long. Palpal segments lengths (in μm): 73–99, 82; 52–79, 65; 114–169, 145; 109–135,121; 145–193, 163. Third palpomere with 1 sensilla clavata medially, 4 laterally, and 3 ventrally.
Thorax (Fig. 1B). Acrostichals 14–16; dorsocentrals 12; prealars 9–13, 8 in a semicircular pattern; scutellars 12–14 in two rows. Antepronotal lobes bearing 8–10 setae basally.
Wing (Fig. 1C). Wing bare with fine punctation visible at 40 x magnification. Brachiolum with 1 seta. Squama with 19 setae. R with 19 setae, and R 1 with 6 setae. R 4+5 with 11 setae, starting on apical 2/3 rd of the vein; other veins bare. Costa extension 71 μm. Cu1 moderately curved. Anal lobe rounded.
Legs. Femur, tibia and tarsus of all legs with long and strong beard. Pulvilli well-developed. Fore tibia spur 78–83, 80 μm long, mid tibia spurs 37–38 μm, and 29–37 μm long, hind tibia spurs 72–77, 74 and 28 μm long, hind tibia comb with around 17 bristles. Pseudospurs absent. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 1.
Hypopygium (Figs. 1D & 2A). Anal point prominent, cone-shaped, broad basally, 32–42, 36 μm long and 78–111, 90 μm wide, bearing around 24 simple moderately thick setae. Virga with 4 thin and compacted long spines placed vertically close to sternapodeme, 76–92, 84 μm long, and two hyaline lamellae adjacent to them, lamella with striation. Sternapodeme 117–148, 124 μm long, slightly arched, oral projections developed. Phallapodeme 42–56, 48 μm long. Gonocoxite 163–202, 184 μm long. Inferior volsella trapezoid shape, located halfway along the gonocoxite. Gonostylus prominent, 117–143, 133 μm long, expanded from basal 1/3 rd to the apex, outer corner (projection) well-developed, megaseta 15–19, 16 μm long. HR 1.4, HV 2.4.
Female (n = 2).
Total length 2.8 mm. Wing 1.9 mm long and 0.55 mm wide.
General coloration of the mounted specimens. Head, thorax, halter, legs and tergites brown. Sternites slightly lighter. Wing greyish brown.
Head (Fig. 2A). Antenna segment one 77–87, 82 μm long; second segment 51 μm long, other segments missing. Eyes bare, with no dorsomedial extension, temporal setae 8–10 with 6–7 uniserial orbitals, and 2–3 outer verticals (Fig. 2A). Tentorium 192–197, 195 μm long, narrow and long apically, base slightly expanded, large tentorial pit close to apex (Fig. 2A). Clypeus 57–66, 62 μm long and 97 μm wide, bearing 8 setae, setae 54–58, 56 μm long. Palpal segments lengths (in μm; n = 1): 67, 45, 98, 103, 139. Third palpomere with 1 sensilla clavata medially, 4 laterally, and 3 ventrally.
Thorax (Fig. 2B). Acrostichals 14; dorsocentrals 18; prealars 10; scutellars 8 in two rows. Antepronotal lobes bearing 5 setae basally.
Wing (Fig. 2C). Wing bare with fine punctation visible at 40 x magnification. Brachiolum with 1–2 setae. Squama with 3–6, 5 setae. R with 17–21, 19 setae, and R 1 with 12–14, 13 setae. R 4+5 with 25–31, 28 setae; other veins bare. Costa extension 86 μm. Cu 1 moderately curved. Anal lobe reduced.
Legs. Pulvilli well-developed. Fore tibia spur 32 μm long, mid tibia spurs 24 μm, hind tibia spurs 62–64, 63 and 21 μm long, hind tibia comb with around 12 bristles. Pseudospurs absent. Lengths and proportions of legs as in Table 2.
Genitalia (Fig. 2D–E). Gonocoxite well-reduced, not extending beyond the anterior of tergite IX, bearing around 8 setae. Seminal capsules semi-circular, 71–79, 76 µm long, and 91–103, 96 µm wide. Spermathecal ducts with loop (Fig. 2D). Notum 100 µm long, ramus 91 µm long. Gonapophysis VIII divided into large ventrolateral lobe well separated basally and apically from dorsomesal lobe; apodeme lobe distinct between these lobes. Tergite
IX not divided, large, and crescent-shaped, bearing around 25 setae (Fig. 2E). Cercus semi-circular (Fig. 2E), 63–75, 69 µm long and 73–75, 74 µm wide.
Immatures. Unknown.
description: Published as part of Namayandeh, Armin, Hudson, Patrick L., Ghaderi, Edris, Vasquez, Adrian A. & Ram, Jeffrey L., 2023, Alaskacladius gen. nov., (Diptera: Chironomidae), a unique new orthoclad from Alaska, pp. 571-581 in Zootaxa 5325 (4) on pages 574-578, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5325.4.7, http://zenodo.org/record/8243761