Howickia flavipes Kuwahara & Marshall 2022, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Kuwahara, Gregory K.
name: Marshall, Stephen A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Sphaeroceridae
Howickia
Howickia flavipes

description: Howickia flavipes (Papp) comb. nov.
(Figs. 35.1–35.2; genitalia illustrated in Papp, 2021: Figs. 7–17)
Apterobiroina flavipes Papp, 2021: 105.
Description. Body length: Males 1.3–1.6 mm, females 1.6–1.8 mm.
Head: Yellow, shiny except strips between orbital plate and interfrontal stripe (pale orange and rugose); gena yellow; antenna yellow. Frontal width 1.9x interfrontal height, frontal vitta wide. 3–4 pairs of strong interfrontal bristles, tips of second pair crossing; 2 lateroclinate orbital bristles, anterior bristle 0.6x length of posterior bristle. Gena with strong but fine upcurved bristle and 3–4 smaller setulae, gena broadened posteriorly, finely striate, shiny, lower half microtrichose; vibrissal angle with 1 subvibrissal seta. Palpus clavate with large apical seta. Eye height 2.1x genal height.
Thorax: Dark brown; scutum shiny despite microtrichia, lateral edges reddish. One pair of dorsocentral bristles; 7–8 rows of short, fine acrostichal setulae. Prosternum broad, anteriorly truncate. Scutellum short, heavilymicrotrichose, semicircular, its length 0.4x its width; 4 scutellar bristles long, basal pair 1.1x length of apical pair.
Legs: Yellow, fore tibia brown; tarsi yellow. Male mid tibia with a strong apicoventral bristle. Basal half of mid tibia with 3 dorsal bristles (2 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal), distal half with 2 dorsal bristles (1 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal).
Wing/halter: Halter present, slightly reduced, entirely yellow.
Male abdomen: Black, heavily sclerotized. T2–5 and S2–4 uniformly long-setose. S5 broad but short (width 5.0x length), asymmetrical (right side 1.5x longer than left), posteromedially desclerotized with some long posterolateral setae, a row of 8–9 stout medial setae, and a posteromedial comb of 16 flattened, tooth-like setae. Epandrium very small, uniformly setose; cercus small, rounded with numerous long setae. Hypandrium V-shaped, hypandrial arms thickened; ventral lobe stout, well-sclerotized and curved anteriorly; posterodorsal lobe elongate, very thin, and sinuate. Surstylus bilobed; anterior lobe with many long setae and posterior lobe sparsely-setulose. Postgonite broad and triangular, gently tapered to a rounded tip. Phallapodeme slightly curved, apex broadened; basiphallus short, narrow. Distiphallus simple, tubular, largely desclerotized, apical membrane truncate.
Female abdomen: Black, heavily sclerotized. T2–5 and S2–5 uniformly long-setose. Preabdomen subequal in length to head + thorax. T6–7 entirely membranous. Epiproct more sclerotized, rectangular with a pair of dorsomedial setulae. Cercus long, triangular with 3 long sinuate setae (1 apical, 1 basolateral and 1 dorsal) and several smaller setulae. S6–7 also membranous. S8 sclerotized, rectangular with 5–6 preapical setae. Hypoproct U-shaped, desclerotized and setulose. Spermathecae stout, spherical, and gently ridged; stem short (0.5x length of spermatheca) with a large base.
Type material. Holotype: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Kioloa State Forest, pitfall traps, 4.i.1979, G. Hangay (♂, HNHM).
Paratypes: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Middle Brother State Forest, 4.i.1979, G. Hangay (1 ♂); same data as holotype (2 ♂, 5 ♀). All paratype specimens in HNHM except 1 ♂ and 1 ♀ in AMSA. Paratype photos provided by Natalie Tees, AMSA.
Material examined. Paratypes: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: Kioloa State Forest, pitfall traps, 4.i.1979, G. Hangay (1 ♂, 1 ♀, AMSA).
Comments. Examination of a male Apterobiroina flavipes (Papp) paratype borrowed from the Australian Museum shows that this species does in fact have the dorsal and ventral lobes of the hypandrium that define Howickia. This, as well as other genitalic characters here treated as synapomorphies of clades within Howickia (male fifth sternite with posterior rows of stout, tooth-like setae, bilobed surstylus with several long setae, broadened postgonites, simple, membranous distiphallus, and desclerotized, telescoping female terminalia with the female T8 split into two lateral plates (though usually also with a third medial plate) and a shield-like S8), suggests that A. flavipes belongs in Howickia.
The male S5 of Howickia flavipes is very similar to that of H. holti sp. nov., with a row of scattered, blunt preapical setae and a posteromedial comb of flattened setae. This combination of characters is found in some winged species of Howickia (such as H. fuscalis and H. hardyina), but is not found in any other wingless species of Howickia. In both of these species, the surstylus is bilobed, though the anterior lobe in H. flavipes has long setae, whereas the posterior lobe in H. holti has long setae. The rest of the body of H. flavipes differs from H. holti as follows: head yellow (as opposed to dark brown/black in H. holti), legs yellow with dark brown fore tibia (legs entirely dark brown in H. holti), and halters present (absent in H. holti).
description: Published as part of Kuwahara, Gregory K. & Marshall, Stephen A., 2022, A revision of the Australian species of Howickia Richards (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae: Limosininae), pp. 1-152 in Zootaxa 5192 (1) on pages 117-119, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5192.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7138639