Tomosvaryella brancha Foldvari, Skevington & Motamedinia 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Motamedinia, Behnam
name: Földvari, Mihaly
name: Skevington, Jeffrey H.
name: Kelso, Scott
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Pipunculidae
Tomosvaryella
Tomosvaryella brancha

description: Tomosvaryella brancha Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C89A4357-1BE4-44AD-AFAC-610A13E95E87
Figs 17A–E, 113, 153B
Diagnosis: This species can be recognized by the keelless hind trochanter, with only a bump ventrally with some spine-like bristles; elongated surstyli in dorsal view (Fig. 17A); extended gonopods; phallic guide with 4–6 dorso-dorsolateral spines; subepandrial sclerite distinct with a small fin-shaped protrusion in its center (Fig. 17B).
Description: MALE: Body length: 3.0– 3.2 mm. Head. Flagellum acuminate; yellow-brown. Face silvery pollinose. Frons, upper part shining black; lower part distinctly silver pollinose; eyes touching for distance equal to 1.5–2 times the length of ocellar triangle. Occiput silvery pollinose, less so on upper 1/3. Thorax. Postpronotum pale, with 3–4 pale bristles. Mesonotum (viewed obliquely from front) brownish pollinose, anterior part more grey, grayish also from the side. Scutellum silvery brown pollinose and with 5–7 bristles along distal edge. Dorsocentral bristles indistinct, dark, more visible in frontal half, a few pale bristles around postpronotum present. Halter, knob pale, stem brown. Legs. Mid coxa with 3–4 long dark bristles, one is longer. Trochanters brown, femora black, shining ventrally, silvery pollinose posteriorly except shiny hind femur; knees and basal 1/6 of tibiae yellow (tibiae otherwise brown), tarsal segments dark brown dorsally, yellow ventrally, last segment darker. Hind trochanter without a keel, a bump ventrally with a tuft of dark spine-like bristles, 8–10; ventrobasal spines (2) present on fore and absent on mid femur. Ventroapical row of spines on fore femur 4–6; 8–10 distinct, black spines on mid femur; hind femur without ventroapical spines, except 6–8 equally spaced bristles posteroventrally distal half, longest up to 1/3 the width of hind tibia at distal end. Subapical (distal) spines on first four tibiae present (short). Hind tarsomeres flattened (especially hind metatarsus in the middle, as long as 2–4 combined), t1 with shiny patch ventrally (no bristles). Pulvilli shorter than last tarsal segment. Wing. Length: 3.2 mm. Upper side of basal costal cell with one long dark brown bristle. Fourth costal section 2–2.5 times as long as third costal section. Cross-vein r-m at middle of discal cell. 3–4 short dark setulae on tegula. Abdomen. Viewed obliquely from front tergites subshiny brown-black, tergite 1 silvery grey, silvery pollinose spots on tergites 4 and 5 (spot on t5 larger). Dispersed strong dark bristles on all tergites present, longest on tergite 5 in length up to 1/4 the width of hind tibia at distal end. Lateral bristles on first tergite present, 4–6 dark bristles up to as long as ¾ of hind femur’s width at base. Postabdomen in dorsal view: T6, S7 invisible; T5 0.9–1.1 times as long as ST8. Genitalia without dissection: ST8 small to medium sized, round in dorsal view, brown and with a few distinct bristles, otherwise with velvet-like coverage; membranous rounded slit, mostly directed posteriorly; epandrium brown, surstyli yellow, elongated, medium sized. Genitalia. Genital capsule in dorsal view: epandrium longer than wide (MLE:MWE = 1.2). Surstyli elongated, symmetrical, left surstylus longer than right one (Fig. 17A). Genital capsule in ventral view: both gonopods extended towards sternite, rounded at tips; phallic guide with 4–6 dorso- dorsolateral spines, one spine longer than others; subepandrial sclerite distinct with a small fin-shaped protrusion in its center (Fig. 17B); Genital capsule in lateral view: left surstylus straight in basal two thirds, bent towards sternite apically, pointed at apex, right surstylus straight, slightly curved towards sternite (Fig. 17D–E). Ejaculatory apodeme tube-like, bent, with a bulb in its middle (Fig. 17C).
FEMALE: Body length: 2.8–3.0 mm. As male except for the following characters. Frons, eyes separated, as wide as 1.1–1.3 times the width at antennae; completely silver-grey pollinose on lower 1/3, shiny black in front of ocellar triangle, smooth change in transition zone (at 1/3 from ocellar triangle) to shiny black, small groove in the median line on upper 1/3 of frons. Enlarged ommatidia silvery shining. Pulvilli and claws about 1.5–2.5 times as long as last tarsal segment, smaller on metatarsi. Female abdomen with silver spots on sides of tergites 4–6. Ovipositor. Straight in ventral view, straight, dagger-like in lateral view (whitish yellow piercer, dark brown base), reaching distal end of 2nd segment; base silvery brown pollinose with dispersed short dark bristles. LP:LB = 2.0. LDP:LPP = 3.3. (Fig. 153B).
Etymology: The name is derived from the Greek branchos for fin, in reference to the fin-shaped protrusion on the subepandrial sclerite.
Examined material: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Northern Territory: Kakadu National Park, Mirrai Lookout, 12°52’S, 132°42’E,, hilltop, 27.IX.1998, J.&A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS4100 (1♂, QM); PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Black Mountain, 6.7 km west of Croyden, 18°9’S, 142°12’E, 195m, hilltop, dry, open savanna, 12.VI.1997, J.&A. Skevington, JSS8318 (1♂, QM); Western Australia: Karijini National Park, Banjima Drive, 10 km W visitors center, 22°29’S, 118°22’E, 743m, 4–16.V.2003, M.E. Irwin & F.D. Parker, JSS15822 (1♂, CNC); Karijini National Park, Hamersley-Mount Bruce Road, 22°34’S, 118°18’E, 757m, dry rocky creek bed, Eucalyptus grassland, 25.IV–14.V.2003, C. Lambkin & T. Weir, Malaise trap, JSS16118 (1♂, ANIC); Karijini National Park, Juna Downs Road, 22°42’S, 118°25’E, 789m, between drying pools in rocky Turee Creek, near rock outcrop, Eucalyptus Eremophila scrub, dry Turee Creek, grassy open Eucalyptus scrub, 19–25.IV.2003, C. Lambkin & T. Weir, Malaise trap, JSS16175 (1♀, ANIC); 22°44’S, 118°25’E, 798m, 25.IV–14.V.2003, JSS16087 (1♂, ANIC); 22°43’S, 118°25’E, 799m, 25.IV–14.V.2003, JSS16060 (1♀, ANIC); Karijini National Park, Karijini Drive, 22°34’S, 118°18’E, 814m, open Eucalyptus grassland, 25.IV–14.V.2003, C. Lambkin & T. Weir, Malaise trap, JSS15582 (1♂, ANIC); Karijini National Park, Weano Gorge Road, 22°22’S, 118°15’E, 775m, hilltop, open Eucalyptus, 20–25.IV.2003, C. Lambkin & T. Weir, Malaise trap, JSS16227 (1♂, ANIC); Karijini National Park, above Fortescue Falls, 22°29’S, 118°33’E, over dry creek in low Acacia scrub, 21–24.IV.2003, C. Lambkin, Malaise trap, JSS16135 (1♀, ANIC).
Distribution: Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia) (Fig. 113).
Notes: This species is found in open Eucalyptus forest and Acacia scrub across northern Australia. Some specimens have been captured hilltopping. Intraspecific genetic distance ranges from 0.0% to 0.7%. This species is genetically closest to T. biloba sp. nov. and T. uncinata sp. nov. (5.0% pairwise divergence) (Supplementary file 3).
description: Published as part of Motamedinia, Behnam, Földvari, Mihaly, Skevington, Jeffrey H. & Kelso, Scott, 2023, Revision of Australian Tomosvaryella Aczél (Diptera: Pipunculidae) with description of 100 new species, pp. 1-271 in Zootaxa 5599 (1) on pages 46-48, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5599.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14970961