Hurleyella belizensis Runyon 2019, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Runyon, Justin B.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Dolichopodidae
Hurleyella
Hurleyella belizensis

description: Hurleyella belizensis sp. nov.
(Figs 1, 3, 5, 7. 8, 11, 12, 21)
Description. Male. Body length 0.8–0.9 mm; wing 0.9 mm x 0.4 mm (width). Habitus (Fig. 1). Head (Fig. 5): Relatively narrow in anterior view, about twice as long as wide; face covered with dense brown pruinosity darker and felt-like on dorsal half; dorsal half broadly triangular, ventral half very narrow with sides nearly parallel; frontoclypeal suture rather distinct and separating broader upper face from narrow lower face; ommatidia greatly enlarged near face. Frons with dense brown pruinosity. Dorsal postcranium with brown pruinosity. Vertical setae positioned lateral to anterior ocellus and slightly closer to eye margin than anterior ocellus, slightly smaller in size than ocellar setae (subequal in length to first flagellomere); postocular setae present as row of about 10 very short, pale setae along full-length of eye. Palpus gray pruinose, small, ovate, longer than wide, with subapical brown to black seta (with strong pale reflections in certain lights) and dorsal surface with 6–8 additional smaller pale setae and hairs. Proboscis dark brown, somewhat sclerotized, shiny, not enlarged; with short white hairs at apex. Antenna wholly black; first flagellomere conical with broadly rounded apex, about as long as wide, with a few rather long pale hairs near apex; arista-like stylus apical, length slightly longer than height of face. Thorax: Scutum dark brown with brown pruinosity, without violet reflections. Setae of thorax rather short, black with pale reflections; 4–5 dorsocentral setae; acrostichal setae absent; 1 notopleural seta; 1 scutellar seta per side, no additional hairs; 1 postpronotal seta; proepisternum with 1 small brown seta. Pleura dark brown with sparse gray-brown pruinosity. Legs: Yellow-brown to brown and without major setae. Coxa I dark brown, with very sparse, white anterior hairs, those at apex distinctly longer. Coxa II and III dark brown with sparse gray-brown pruinosity. Coxa II without lateral seta; coxa III with minute lateral hair. Femora yellow-brown, without preapical setae. Tibiae and tarsi yellow-brown, tarsi dark brown from apex of basal tarsomere. Ratios of tibia:tarsomeres for leg I: 16–8–4–4 –2–3; for leg II: 22– 12–5–4–3 –3; for leg III: 22–8–6–4 –3–3. Wing (Fig. 3): Hyaline, with slight and even brownish tinge, relatively narrow. R 2+3 very short, fused with costa just beyond midpoint of total wing length and about half way between termination of R 1 and R 4+5. R 4+5 nearly straight, very slightly arched toward M 1 apically. M 1 gradually and slightly arched anteriorly and nearly parallel to R 4+5 near apex of wing. Length of distal section of vein CuA 1 about 2 times longer than crossvein dm-cu. Vein A 1 absent. Halter knob and stem brown. Calypter very small, brown, without evident setae. Abdomen: Cylindrical, gradually but only slightly tapered, arched downward on approximately apical half; dark brown with sparse brown pruinosity, tergite 1 with slightly denser brown pruinosity; tergites with very short, sparse, stiff black setae. Hypopygium (Figs 7, 8) bulbous, borne on broad peduncle formed by segment 7; dark brown with rather coarse, sparse gray pruinosity. Hypopygial foramen at left at very base. Epandrium deeply emarginate ventrally, nearly symmetrical at base but slightly indented on left side due to hypopygial foramen; each side with single large finger-like epandrial lobe near 1/2 bearing one large seta near base and one large seta at apex. Hypandrium asymmetrical, bifurcate with broad ventroapically directed right and left lobes; fused basally with epandrium. Surstylus shiny dark brown, very large, complex and loosely attached to epandrium, with many lobes and processes; three large blade-like setae directed medially; very short, rounded lateroapical membranous flange (this flange very large in H. brooksi and H. cumberlandensis). Phallus abruptly arched and pointed ventrally between hypandrial lobes. Cercus gray-brown, oval, covered with rather dense small pale hairs or setae. Hypoproct large, subquadrate, hyaline in lateral view, arising between cerci. Female. Body length 0.8–1.0 mm; wing 0.9–1.0 mm x 0.45 mm (width). Similar to male except: face slightly wider; abdomen often dorsoventrally flattened, tergite 6 with short ventral hairs or small setae along apical margin.
Etymology. This species is named for the country of Belize, where it was discovered.
Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂, labelled: “ BELIZE: Stann Creek Distr. | Mayflower Bocawina NP | trail to Bocawina Falls | 16°55.63′N, 88°23.51′W | 21APR2015, JB Runyon” [USNM, type number USNMENT01519227]. PARATYPES: BELIZE: same data as holotype (8 ♂, 1 ♀); same data as holotype, except Bocawina Falls trailhead, 16°55.60′N 88°23.89′W, 20.ii.2017 (3 ♂, 2 ♀); same data as holotype, except Upper Bocawina Falls, 16°55.25′N 88°24.29′W, 20.ii.2017 (1 ♀); Cayo District, Pook’s Hill Lodge, open sandy soil of trail, 17°09.067′N 88°50.843′W, 16.ii.2017, J.B. Runyon (1 ♀); Cayo District, Mountain Pine Ridge, Pinol Creek, 410 m, 17°00.855′N 88°58.824′W, 18.ii.2017, J.B. Runyon (1 ♂). Paratypes deposited in CNC, MTEC, USNM.
Remarks. Specimens of Hurleyella belizensis sp. nov. have been collected by sweeping open, bare sandy soils at several sites in Belize (Figs 11, 12, 21). This species seems closely related to H. brooksi and H. cumberlandensis based on similar form of the hypandrium and presence of membranous flange at apex of surstylus, albeit small (fsur, Figs 7, 8).
Specimens of H. belizensis were collected at the type locality (Fig. 11) during the dry season in April 2015 and February 2017, but none were found at this location in October 2018, suggesting that occurrence of adults might be limited to the dry season.
description: Published as part of Runyon, Justin B., 2019, Two new species of Hurleyella Runyon & Robinson (Diptera: Dolichopodidae), with the first record from the Neotropics, pp. 548-560 in Zootaxa 4568 (3) on pages 551-552, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4568.3.8, http://zenodo.org/record/2601770