Ctenosciara cracens 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
Ctenosciara
Ctenosciara cracens

description: Ctenosciara cracens sp. n.
Figs 1 A–E, 2 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. 1 male, same data as holotype but parc 6, 16.VII.1992 (in PWMP); 1 male, Rivière Bleue N.P., 150 m, humid forest, 15–29.IX.1986, Bonnet de Larbogne, Chazeau & A. & S. Tillier (in MZH); 1 male, Rivière Bleue N.P., 150 m, humid forest on alluvials, Malaise trap, 22.IV–6.V.1987, Bonnet de Larbogne, Chazeau & A. & S. Tillier (in MNHN); 4 males (on 3 slides), Mont Nondoué, sclerophyllous forest, 3.VII.1992, Bonnet de Larbogne, Chazeau & Guilbert (in MNHN); 2 males, Pindaï, sclerophyllous forest, fogging, 30.VI.1992, Bonnet de Larbogne, Chazeau & Guilbert (in MNHN); 3 males, Pointe de Cagou, 166°20’ E, 21°20’S, 30 m, humid forest, 5–8.XI.1984, Tillier & Bouchet (in MNHN); 2 males, Vallée de la Coulée, 166°35’E 22°10’S, 40 m, maquis, 24.X.1985, Bouchet (in MNHN); 2 males, Ouinné Valley, 730 m, 166°28’E, 22°02’S, 730 m, humid forest with araucarians, 27–30.X.1984, Tillier & Bouchet (in SMNH); 1 male, Sud du Grand Lac, 160°54’E 22°16’S, 280 m, maquis, 14.X.1985, Bouchet (in MNHN); 2 males, NEW CALEDONIA (no locality given), 20.XII.1985 – 8.I.1986, Bonnet de Larbogne & Tillier (in MNHN).
Description. Male. Head. Brown, antenna unicolorous pale brown except scapus and pedicellus paler in some specimens, maxillary palpus very pale brown. Eye bridge 2–4 facets wide. Face with 7–17 scattered longer and shorter setae. Clypeus non-setose. Maxillary palpus with 3 palpomeres; palpomere 3 longer than palpomere 1, palpomere 2 shortest; palpomere 1 with 2–3 setae, with a dorsal patch of sensilla; flagellomere 4 (Figs 1 A, B) 2.3– 3.7x as long as wide, the neck as long as broad or slightly shorter, the longest setae longer than the width of flagellomere. Thorax. Brown, setae pale. Anterior pronotum with 3–6 setae. Episternum 1 with 3–9 setae. Scutum with long dorsocentrals, with some longer and shorter laterals, scutellum with 4 longer and some short setae. Wing. Hyalinous. Length 1.3–1.9 mm. Width/length 0.40–0.45. Veins distinct. R1/R 0.60–0.95. c/ w 0.50 –0.80. r-m and bM subequal in length. M and CuA1 setose, CuA2 setose or non-setose, r-m and bM non-setose. Legs. Yellow.
Coxal setae pale. Apical part of front tibia, Fig. 1 C: tibial organ with pale vestiture forming a short complete or broken row. Front tibial spur longer than the tibial width. Claws with fine teeth. Abdomen. Setae pale and long. Hypopygium, Figs 1 D–E, 2 A–E. Brown, concolorous with abdomen. Gonocoxa longer than gonostylus, mesial margin with sparse setosity. Gonostylus rather straight or slightly curved, narrowed towards apex, in some specimens slightly depressed apicolaterally, with the mesial side very weakly impressed; with a dense apical vestiture, with an apical tooth, with 3–4 subapical megasetae of variable size and position; without apical megasetae. Tegmen subquadrangular, weakly sclerotized, aedeagal apodeme rather long.
Discussion. Ctenosciara cracens is variable concerning its wing length, the exact form of its gonostylus, the size of its apical tooth and the size and position of its gonostylar megasetae (Figs 1 and 2). Furthermore, some specimens have a setose, some a non-setose wing vein CuA2. The material may include more than one species, but that cannot be determined by this sample. Ctenosciara cracens in its present concept resembles C. depressa and C. exilis, both having a narrow gonostylus. Ctenosciara cracens differs from C. depressa by having 3 or 4, not 5, gonostylar megasetae, which are also relatively smaller, and by lacking the apicolateral depression on the gonostylus (Fig. 5). Ctenosciara exilis differs from both others in having more slender gonostylar megasetae placed in two groups and separated by a long gap between (Fig. 6 C). By their narrow gonostylus, both Ctenosciara cracens and C. exilis resemble the New Zealand C. griseinervis Edwards, 1927, C. nigrostyla Mohrig, 1999, C. nudopteryx Mohrig 1999 and C. rufulenta Edwards, 1927. Ctenosciara nudopteryx and some forms of C. cracens are similar, and differ from all others by having their gonostylar megasetae in a distinct subapical group near the apical tooth, where as the other species have the megasetae more widely placed on the gonostylus. C. nudopteryx differs from C. cracens by having all of its posterior wing veins non-setose.
Ctenosciara exilis differs from C. griseinervis, C. nigrostyla and C. rufulenta by having its gonostylar megasetae in two distinct groups, not in one diffuse group like the latter three. Furthermore, C. griseinervis has some apical megasetae on the lateral side of is apical tooth.
Etymology. The name is Latin, cracens, slender, referring to the slender gonostylus.
description: Published as part of Vilkamaa, Pekka, Hippa, Heikki & Mohrig, Werner, 2012, The genus Ctenosciara Tuomikoski (Diptera, Sciaridae) in New Caledonia, with the description of eight new species, pp. 37-51 in Zootaxa 3255 on pages 38-41, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.280643