Litoleptis japonica Imada & Kato, sp. n.
Creators: name: Imada, Yume
name: Kato, Makoto
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Rhagionidae
Litoleptis
Litoleptis japonica

description: Litoleptis japonica Imada & Kato sp. n.
[Japanese name: jagoke-shitone-abu] (Figs. 3 a, 3b, 4a, 5)
Description. Body length: 3.0 mm (n=3) in male, 3.0 mm (n=12) in female. Wing length: 3.2 mm (n=3) in male, 3.4 mm (n=9) in female. Head (Fig. 3 a, b) Background color dark brown, clypeus in male generally darker than face. Frons bare in male, generally covered with sparse setae in female. Antennal length 0.5 mm (n=3). Antenna 0.75 times as long as diameter of eye, covered with dense, appressed microsetae, consistently except distal half of first flagellomere (Fig. 5 a). First flagellomere laterally compressed, oval and enlarged at basal half, sharply tapering toward apex, sharpened to be needle-like at tip and covered with sparse and rough microsetae. Male (Fig. 5 b) Gonostylus wide and thick at basal main component and tapering steeply toward tip (apex approximately 3 times narrower than width at base), with forceps-like extension hollowed dorsally and bifid unevenly at apex. Sperm sac barely visible. Lateral ejaculatory process absent. Ejaculatory apodeme relatively long, reaching anterior margin of gonocoxite. Dorsal surface of gonocoxite with clear medial chevron in anterior margin. Posteromedial margin in ventral surface of gonocoxite without bristles. Aedeagus deeply notched at tip, smoothly connected with paramere at base. Paramere widest at connection with aedeagus, approximately three times wider than narrowest point. Female (Fig. 5 c) Spermatheca spherical, not sclerotized. Spermathecal duct accessory gland with short, sclerotized columnar duct, curved at middle to make a right angle. Spermathecal duct accessory glands arising at base of spermatheca. Ring at base of spermathecal duct lightly sclerotized. Common spermathecal duct nearly absent. Genital chamber moderately sized, oval.
Type material. Holotype. JAPAN [HONSHU] 1♂, emerged on 20.IV.2011 from larva collected by MK on 2.IV.2011 at Haruno-cho, Shizuoka Pref (Fig. 1:20), “Rh 0001”, NMNS. Paratype. 2♂, 5♀(Rh 0002–0008), emerged 20–22.IV.2011 from larvae collected by MK on 2.IV.2011, same locality as holotype, Shizuoka Pref (Fig. 1:20), KUHE.
Additional materials. In total, 53 specimens were collected. All following materials were obtained as larvae. All specimens are stored in Kyoto University (KUHE). JAPAN [HOKKAIDO] 1♀(Rh 0009), emerged 1.V.2010 from larva collected by MK on 19.X.2009 at Aizan-kei, Hokkaido Pref (Fig. 1:1); 2♀(Rh 0 0 10, 0011), emerged 16.VI.2012 from larvae collected by MK on 11.VI.2012 at Mt. Daisengen, Hokkaido Pref (Fig. 1:2). [HONSHU] 1♀(Rh 0012), emerged 29.IV.2010 from larva collected by MK on 24.XI.2009 at Sekikawa-mura, Niigata Pref (Fig. 1:3); 1♀(Rh 0013), emerged 18.V.2010 from larva collected by MK on 26.IV.2010 at Hakusan, Fukui Pref (Fig. 1:5). 25♀(Rh 0014–0038), emerged 21.IV–4.V.2010 from larvae collected by MK on 6.IV.2010 at Kibune, Kyoto Pref (Fig. 1:6). 5♀(Rh 0039–0043), emerged 30.III–2.IV.2011 from larvae collected by MK on 20.II ..2011 at Akame-no-taki, Mie Pref (Fig. 1:7). 2♂, 3♀(Rh 0044–0048), emerged 26.III–1.IV.2012 from larvae collected by MK on 4.III.2012 at Koto-no-taki, Wakayama Pref (Fig. 1:14). 2♀(Rh 0 0 49, 0050), emerged 14.IV.2009 from larvae collected by MK on 1.IV.2009 at Kuki, Wakayama Pref (Fig. 1:17). 1♀(Rh 0051), emerged 20.IV.2011 from larva collected by MK on 2.IV.2011 at Wayama-touge, Shizuoka Pref (Fig. 1:20). 1♀(Rh 0052), emerged 26.IV.2008 from larva collected by MK on 20.IV.2008 at Shirokura-kyo, Shizuoka Pref (Fig. 1:22). [SHIKOKU] 3♀(Rh 0053–0055), emerged 1–8.IV.2011 from larvae collected by MK on 27. II.2011 at Yasui-keikoku, Kouchi Pref (Fig. 1:11). [KYUSHU] 2♀ (Rh 0 0 56, 0057), emerged 20–25.IV.2010 from larvae collected by MK on 12.IV.2010 at Gokanosho, Kumamoto Pref (Fig. 1:10). 4♀(Rh 0058–0061), emerged 18–22.IV.2010 from larvae collected by MK on 11.IV.2010 at Mt. Kosho, Fukuoka Pref (Fig. 1:8).
Etymology. The specific epithet is a noun in apposition, derived from the distribution of this species.
Distribution. Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu) (Fig. 1).
Natural history. Adults of this species emerged from thalli of the Conocephalum conicum species complex (Marchantiales: Conocephalaceae) growing on moist rocky or clay slopes along streams in both evergreen and deciduous forests (Fig. 11 a). Larvae of this species are thallus miners of C. conicum species complex (Fig. 11 d). Adults emerged in spring (March–May, in laboratory conditions).
Diagnosis. Litolepis japonica is easily separated from all other congeners by having a long stout setae at the tip of first flagellomere. This species can also be easily distinguished from the other species by the form of apical extension of gonostylus that is unevenly bifurcated in males, and spermathecal duct accessory glands arising at base of spermatheca in females.
Remarks. It is noteworthy that Litoleptis japonica has extremely female-biased sex ratios: only seven males of 61 adult flies of L. japonica were obtained, even though the collecting method and timing (collecting as larvae mining in the liverwort mats) did not appear to produce the sampling biases.
description: Published as part of Imada, Yume & Kato, Makoto, 2016, Bryophyte-feeding of Litoleptis (Diptera: Rhagionidae) with descriptions of new species from Japan, pp. 41-58 in Zootaxa 4097 (1) on pages 45-47, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4097.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/271005