Howickia sabina (Richards), 2022

Howickia sabina (Richards) View in CoL comb. nov.

( Figs. 28.1–28.6 View FIGURES 28.1–28.6 )

Otwayia sabina Richards, 1973: 390 View in CoL ; Marshall, 1989: 605; Roháček et al., 2001: 183.

Description. Body length: 1.3–1.7 mm, males smaller than females (as stated by Richards, 1973).

Head: Orange-brown, lower third of frons orange; ocellar triangle, frontal vitta (narrowly), interfrontal plates and orbital plates with pale yellow microtomentose stripes; lunule with silvery microtrichia; face with two patches of silvery microtomentum; gena yellow-brown with diagonal silvery microtomentose stripe; antenna orange. Frontal width 1.4x interfrontal height. Three pairs of interfrontal bristles, middle pair largest with tips crossing; 1 lateroclinate orbital bristle. Ocelli absent. Gena with strong upcurved bristle and 3–4 finer seta, finely rugose, shiny, lower third microtrichose; vibrissal angle with 1 smaller seta. Face normal; palpus clavate with 1 large apical seta. Eye height 3.2x genal height.

Thorax: Dark brown, lateral edges lighter; scutum shiny despite grey microtrichia; katatergite black. One pair of dorsocentral bristles; 6–7 rows of short, relatively stout acrostichal setulae. Prosternum broad, anteriorly truncate. Scutellum shiny but heavily microtrichose, semicircular, its length 0.3x its width; 4 scutellar bristles long, basal pair 1.3x length of apical pair.

Legs: Yellow-brown, fore and mid tibiae dark brown, hind tibia yellow-brown; tarsi brown, fore tarsi paler. Male mid tibia with a large apicoventral bristle. Basal half of mid tibia with 2 dorsal bristles (1 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal), distal half with 2 dorsal bristles (1 anterodorsal and 1 posterodorsal).

Wing/halter: Highly reduced, no identifiable veins, extending to end of scutellum. Halter absent.

Male abdomen: Black, shiny, postabdomen paler. T2–5 and S2–4 heavily sclerotized, uniformly long-setose with large posterolateral setae, setae dark brown. S5 broad but short (width 3.0x length), asymmetrical (right side 1.3x longer than left), rather sparsely long-setose, broadly posteromedially desclerotized with many short, stout setae throughout and a posteromedial row of 19–20 stout, flattened teeth. Epandrium large, hemispherical, and sparsely long-setose; cercus slightly protruding, subrectangular with several moderate setae. Hypandrium medially tapered, sinuate; ventral lobe stout, triangular and curved forwards slightly; posterodorsal lobe elongate, originating from the posterior edge of the medial part. Surstylus subrectangular with a lateral patch of long setae, an outer brush of 4–5 enlarged apical setae and an inner pair of stout apical thorn-like setae. Postgonite elongate, gently tapered, and angled forwards about midlength, apical half with several setulae along anterior edge. Phallapodeme elongate, slightly sinuate with a moderate dorsal fin along anterior half; basiphallus elongate, arms tapered and gently curved apically. Distiphallus divided into two distinct sections: basal half with a large, saddle-like dorsal sclerite connected to an elongate, ventral sclerite which broadens and curls upwards apically to fit into distal half; distal half with a small, triangular dorsal sclerite and a large, shoe-like ventral lobe supporting a membranous apex.

Female abdomen: Black, sternites shinier than tergites, S6–7 covered in silver-greyish microtrichia (according to Richards). Cercus very small, pale with small setulae.

Type material. Holotype: AUSTRALIA: Victoria: Otway Ranges, Grey River crossing, 26.i.1967, G. Monteith, T.7129 ( ♂, QMBA).

Paratypes: AUSTRALIA: Victoria: Otway Ranges, Mount Sabine , 26.i.1967, G. Monteith ( 2 ♂, 1 ♀, UQIC & BMNH); same data as holotype ( 5 ♂, 4 ♀, QMBA). Types in UQIC now stored at the QMBA.

Material examined. Paratypes: AUSTRALIA: Victoria: Otway Ranges, Grey River crossing, 26.i.1967, G. Monteith ( 2 ♂, QMBA) .

Comments. Only male specimens were examined during this study, so the redescription of female terminalia is based on Richards (1973). Richards (1973) justified Otwayia as a separate genus by its lack of ocelli, lack of halters, broader wing stub (which he compared to the South American Archiborborine genus Penola Richards, 1941 ) and broad scutellum (compared to the South American Archiborborine genus Frutillaria Richards, 1961 ) because this combination of characters separated it from other brachypterous genera recognized in his 1956 key to flightless genera. He referred to the genitalia as “somewhat like those of Leptocera ( Biroina) ”, a point that we confirmed by examining Richards’ holotype dissections of O. sabina . Otwayia sabina has the tripartite hypandrium that defines Howickia and it was recovered deep within Howickia in our phylogenetic analysis ( Fig. 2.2 View FIGURES 2.1 ). Otwayia is therefore treated as a synonym of Howickia .