Paraphaenocladius namibiae Baranov & Lin & Hübner & Chimeno 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Baranov, Viktor
name: Lin, Xiaolong
name: Hübner, Jeremy
name: Chimeno, Caroline
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Chironomidae
Paraphaenocladius
Paraphaenocladius namibiae

description: Paraphaenocladius namibiae Baranov sp. nov.
Figs 7 A – C, 8 A, B
Material examined.
Holotype. Namibia • 1 ♂; HARDAP; Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park, Tufa waterfalls; 24 ° 15 ' 47.88 " S, 16 ° 13 ' 44.76 " E; 1 Dec. 2018; V. Baranov leg.; sweep net; Holotype is deposited at NMNW.
Paratypes. Namibia • 2 ♀; HARDAP; Naukluft Mountain Zebra Park, Tufa waterfalls; 24 ° 15 ' 47.88 " S, 16 ° 13 ' 44.76 " E; 1 Dec. 2018; V. Baranov leg.; sweep net; NMNW; BOLD specimen codes: NAM-Chiro 27; NAM-Chiro 28; BOLD sequence ID: NAMOE 027-22, NAMOE 028-22. (poorly preserved, used in barcoding, vouchers non-recovered).
Both sequences were of lower quality, providing rather inconclusive barcode-based identification (See Suppl. material 1). The closest match in BOLD v. 4 database was Corynoneura sp. (private record), with match of the barcode of 87.99 % (Suppl. material 3).
Diagnosis.
Differs from all other known species of Paraphaenocladius based on the combination of the cell proximal to crossvein r – m with no setae, anal point of abdominal tergite X with parallel-sided tip, free of visible setae (except for a few microtrichia, virga absent, gonostylus with low, elongated crista dorsalis.
Description.
Adult male (holotype, male; n = 1).
Total length 1.9 mm, wing length 1.4 mm. Overall greenish colour, with yellow stripes on the scutum, small chironomid.
Antennae: holotype was missing antennae upon sorting out from the samples.
Head: Eyes with short, wedge-shaped extension. Temporal setae (n = 1) 9, with 4 inner and 5 outer verticals, 3 orbital setae, clypeus with 8 setae. Tentorium 120 µm. Palpomeres’ length in µm (n = 1): 2 nd - 33, 3 rd – 88, 4 th - 95, 5 th - 95 (Figs 7 A, 8 B).
Thorax: Anteropronotal setae - 3, Dorsocentral setae - 15, Acrostichals - 5, scutellars – 8.
Legs: all legs are missing tarsomeres. Fore and mid tibiae with one tibial spur, hind tibia with two spurs. Leg elements lengths as listed in Table 1.
Wing 1.4 mm long. Anal lobe strongly reduced. Costal extension 70 µm long, with 6 non-marginal setae. Cu 1 slightly sinuate. R with 28 setae. R 1 with 11 setae, R 4 + 5 with 30 setae. r – m bare, M bare, M 1 + 2 with 61 setae, M 3 + 4 with 48 setae. Cu with 29 setae, Cu 1 with 33 setae. CuP with 27 setae (Fig. 7 C).
Hypopygium. Anal point with mostly bare apex (bearing some microtrichia), 12 μm long, 5 μm wide, tip parallel-sided. Anal point with three pairs of strong lateral setae at the base. Sternapodeme 65 μm long, phalapodeme 36 μm long. Virga absent. Gonocoxite 100 μm long, with large, rounded inferior volsella. Gonostylus 55 μm long. Megasetae 7 μm long. Gonostylus with a strong, apically rounded megasetae (Figs 7 B, 8 B).
Etymology.
Named for Namibia, the species’ country of origin.
Comments.
Species was attributed to genus Paraphaenocladius, based on the combination of bare eyes with hairy wings, with Costal extension ending proximally to the tip of M 3 + 4 and Cu 1 curved.
Based on the combination of the cell m proximal to crossvein r – m with zero setae, triangular anal point, with basal setae and bare apex, longer than wide and absent virga, the new species appears to belong to the P. dewulfi - species group sensu Sæther & Wang, 1995. This group consists of three previously described species of Paraphaenocladius, inhabiting the Afrotropics: P. dewulfi (Goetghebuer, 1936), P. cuneipennis (Freeman, 1961) and P. crassicaudatus Sæther & Wang, 1995.
Among the three, P. namibiae sp. nov. is most like P. crassicaudatus, due to the general similarity of the hypopygium morphology, most evident in the relatively broad anal point, strong crista dorsalis and broad inferior volsella.
Distribution.
Species is only known from its type locality so far (Fig. 1 A).
description: Published as part of Baranov, Viktor, Lin, Xiaolong, Hübner, Jeremy & Chimeno, Caroline, 2024, Uncovering the hidden diversity of non-biting midges (Diptera, Chironomidae) from central Namibia, using morphology and DNA barcodes, pp. 13-36 in African Invertebrates 65 (1) on pages 13-36, DOI: 10.3897/afrinvertebr.65.111920