Hydrellia pilsna Zatwarnicki & Kejval, 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Zatwarnicki, Tadeusz
name: Kejval, Zbyněk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Ephydridae
Hydrellia
Hydrellia pilsna

description: Hydrellia pilsna sp. nov.
(Figs 8–14)
Type locality. Czech Republic, Plzeň- Bolevec,banks of Velký Bolevecký rybník (pond), 49°46′33.5″N 13°23′27″E, altitude 310 m (Fig. 35).
Type material. HOLOTYPF: J, ʽCZ-Bocc 6246, 2.6.2022, PLZEŇ- Bolevec, Velký bolevecký rybník (pond banks), 310 m, Z. Kejval leg., 49°46′29″N 13°23′28″E [printed] // HOLOTYPE [red label, printed] // Hydrellia pilsna sp.nov. T. Zatwarnicki & Z. Kejval det. 2024 [printed]ʼ (NMPC). PARATYPFs: 4 ♀♀, same locality data as holotype (NMPC); 1 ♀, same data, except: 49°46′34.6″N 13°23′49″E, 6.6.2022 (NMPC); 18 JJ 23 ♀♀, same data, except: 49°46′29″N 13°23′28″E, 18.7.2023 (25 ex. in NMPC, 4 ex. in each CULSP, MCH, SMOC, ZCM).
Description. Male. Small shore flies; body length 1.6–1.9 mm, wing length 2.0– 2.4 mm.
Head. Frons longer than wide; parafrons dark, dull black with grey margin along eye margin, frontal vitta concolorous with parafrons (Fig. 9); length of pseudopostocellar seta is 1/2 of inner vertical seta length; ocellar seta stronger and 1.5 times longer than pseudopostocellar seta; fronto-orbital setae moderate, posterior one subequal to pseudopostocellar seta, anterior one 1/3 longer. Antenna with scape and pedicel black, basal flagellomere reddish with darker dorsal portion (Figs 8, 9); arista with 4 dorsal rays. Lunula grey; face in anterior view greyish brown, and more or less extensively paler/reddish medially, in lateral view gently and shallowly arched; 6 facial setulae; palpus reddish, spatulate (Figs 8, 9); eye to gena ratio 16.7.
Thorax. Mesonotum largely greyish-brown; postpronotum, notopleuron and supra-alar area, and side of scutellum grey; pleurae light grey (Fig. 8); presutural dorsocentral setae short. Legs distinctly bicolorous, coxae and majority of femora black, covered by grey microtomentum, trochanters, apices of femora, tibiae and tarsi reddish, apical tarsomeres sometimes moderately darkened (Fig. 8); fore femur bears postero-ventral row of small setulae; distal half of mid femur bears anterior row of moderate setulae. Wing hyaline with yellowish veins; costal vein ratio 0.58–0.76; M vein ratio 0.62–0.67; knob of halter white, stem yellow.
Abdomen. Terga dark brown, subshiny; male fifth to fourth tergite ratio 1.10. Epandrium in dorsal view narrowly U-shaped with moderately wide lateral arms, producing moderate cercal cavity (Fig. 10), arm in lateral view irregularly ovate, tapering posteriorly and rounded anteriorly, each bearing 5 strong setae; cercus small, in dorsal view irregularly triangular (Fig. 10); genital plate in dorsal view 1.05 times longer than wide, semi-oval, its anterior margin broadly rounded with deep medial indentation (Fig. 10), in lateral view ellipsoidal; aedeagus elongate, in dorsal view 3.50 times longer than wide, cylindrical with posterior margin slightly indented and tapered anteriorly to narrow clavate projection (Fig. 11 left), in lateral view 3.83 times as long as wide, lunate, broad basally, with its anterior section tapered apically to digital projection that is slightly corniform apically, with posterior margin distinctly concave, forming postero-ventral triangular fold (Fig. 11 right); phallapodeme in dorsal view narrow, Y-shaped, and bifurcated apically (Fig. 12), in lateral view sinuate with broad medial section and narrowed towards ends (Fig. 13); postgonite J-shaped with posterior section bearing semi-circular lobe, in lateral view semi-clavate with wavy ventral margin; anterior process of postgonite L-shaped (Fig. 14); pregonite slender, straight, digitiform, bearing 2 apical setulae (Fig. 12); hypandrium in dorsal view bullet-shaped with rounded anterior margin (Figs 12, 14), in lateral view longer than wide, shallowly depressed (Fig. 13); 5 th sternum U-shaped with numerous moderately long setulae, rather evenly pointing posteriad; setulae mostly sparsely scattered, denser, longer and more robust on/ along posterior margin (Figs 12, 14).
Female. Identical with male for most external characters; body length 1.9–2.4 mm; wing length 1.9–2.8 mm.
Differential diagnosis. Hydrellia pilsna sp. nov. may resemble H. concii Canzoneri & Meneghini, 1975 by conspicuously bicoloured legs, short fronto-orbital setae, 6 facial setulae, and general shape of aedeagus (especially in dorsal view). However, it can be distinguished from this species by arista with 4 dorsal rays, slender mid tibia in males (modified/swollen ʽallargateʼ for H. concii), much less conspicuous median notch on anterior margin of genital plate, and lack of median subapical projection of aedeagus.
Etymology. The species epithet, pilsna, comes from the city of Plzeň (Pilzna, Pylzna or Plzna in some Latin documents from the 14 th century) and the Pilsner beer (also pilsener or simply pils), which is a sort of beer that took its name from the name of the city. In the past, Velký Bolevecký pond (type locality) was used as a source of ice for cooling beer by the famous Pilsner Urquell brewery, where the world’s first pale lager was produced in Plzeň in 1842. The epithet is a noun in apposition.
Biology. All specimens were collected exclusively by sweeping littoral vegetation (Fig. 35). The largest sample (18.vii.2023) was taken at a site with the following major plant genera/species: Alisma plantago-aquatica (a few/ single), Bolboschoenus sp., Glyceria fluitans, Eleocharis palustris, Nuphar lutea, Phragmites australis, and Schoenoplectus lacustris (a few) and Typha sp.
The pond originally had a low water level and more diverse vegetation in the succession stage, which substantially changed after artificial filling. Since autumn 2022 the water level has gradually risen by about one meter and in 2024 the species was no longer found at the site.
Distribution. Czech Republic.
description: Published as part of Zatwarnicki, Tadeusz & Kejval, Zbyněk, 2024, Two new species of Hydrellia (Diptera: Ephydridae) from Central Europe, with redescriptions of H. aurifer and H. frontalis, pp. 345-353 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 64 (2) on pages 347-349, DOI: 10.37520/aemnp.2024.025, http://zenodo.org/record/14655425