Pseudolycoriella acicula Vilkamaa, Hippa & Mohrig, 2012, sp. n.
Creators: name: Vilkamaa, Pekka
name: Hippa, Heikki
name: Mohrig, Werner
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Sciaridae
Pseudolycoriella
Pseudolycoriella acicula

description: Pseudolycoriella acicula sp. n.
Figs 1 A–E
Material studied. Holotype male. NEW CALEDONIA, Rivière Bleue N.P., (parc 7), rainforest, 21.vii.1992, Bonnet de Larbogne, Chazeau & Guilbert (in MNHN). Paratypes. 3 males, same data as holotype (in MNHN), 1 male, same data as previous but 20.i.1993 (in MNHN), 1 male, NEW CALEDONIA, 12–25.v.1989, Bonnet de Larbogne & J. Chazeau (in MZH), 2 males, NEW CALEDONIA, 20.xii–8.i.1986, Bonnet de Larbogne & J. Chazeau (in PWMP and SMNH).
Description. Male. Head. Brown, antenna unicolorous brown, maxillary palpus very pale brown. Eye bridge 3 facets wide. Face with 7–10 scattered longer and shorter setae. Clypeus with 2–3 setae. Maxillary palpus with 3 palpomeres; palpomere 1 longer than palpomere 3, palpomere 2 shortest; palpomere 1 with 1 seta, with a dorsal patch of sensilla; surface of antennal flagellomeres rough, flagellomere 4 (Fig. 1 A) 2.0–2.9x as long as wide, the neck longer than broad, the longest setae longer than the width of flagellomere. Thorax. Brown, setae dark. Anterior pronotum with 2–6 setae. Episternum 1 with 4–7 setae. Scutum with short dorsocentrals, with 2–3 stronger laterals, scutellum with two longer and some short setae. Wing. Hyalinous. Length 1.3–1.7 mm. Width/length 0.40– 0.45. Veins distinct. R1/R 0.55–0.65. c/ w 0.65 –0.75. r-m shorter than bM, r-m/bM 0.60–0.75, both r-m and bM non-setose. Halter pale brown. Legs. Pale yellowish brown. Coxal setae dark. Front tibial organ a shallow depression with sharp margin, with pale fine vestiture forming a large patch, similar to Fig. 4 B. Front tibial spur slightly longer than the tibial width. Claws with teeth. Abdomen. Pale brown, setae dark and strong. Hypopygium, Figs 1 B–E. Brown, concolorous with abdomen. Gonocoxa longer than gonostylus, mesial margin sparsely setose. Gonostylus slightly curved, with the mesial side impressed; with a dense apical vestiture, with two megasetae, with a long subapical whiplash seta. Tegmen apically truncate, laterally weakly sclerotized, with an arched apical process.
Discussion. By their gonostylus, Pseudolycoriella acicula, P. latiflagellata and P. s i m p l e x are fairly similar, despite the slight differences in the relative length and width in different parts (Figs 1, 4 and 7). Pseudolycoriella latiflagellata can easily be distinguished from the others by its short antennal flagellomeres and broad tegmen with a narrow apical process. Pseudolycoriella acicula and P. s i m p l e x differ in the former having a longer tegmen with a distinct broad apical process (lacking in P. s im p le x) and a longer and narrower gonostylus with a longer whiplash seta and in having longer necks of the antennal flagellomeres. The New Zealand Pseudolycoriella zealandica (Edwards) resembles especially P. latiflagellata in its gonostylus, but differs in having it apically narrower, and in having a conical, not short and broad, tegmen and longer antennal flagellomeres (Mohrig & Jaschhof 1999).
Etymology. The name is Latin, acicula, small pin, referring to the pinlike flagellate seta of the gonostylus.
description: Published as part of Vilkamaa, Pekka, Hippa, Heikki & Mohrig, Werner, 2012, The genus Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig (Diptera, Sciaridae) in New Caledonia, with the description of thirteen new species, pp. 1-21 in Zootaxa 3207 on page 3, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.280183