Tomosvaryella paxilla Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia, 2023

Tomosvaryella paxilla Földvari, Skevington & Motamedinia sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E5EA9BA7-45D7-49EE-9BB7-A40A6718E626

Figs 75A–E View FIGURE 75 , 132 View FIGURE 132 , 147B View FIGURE 147 , 154A View FIGURE 154

Diagnosis: This species can be recognized by the blunt peg-like projection ventrobasally on the hind trochanter ( Fig. 147B View FIGURE 147 ); surstyli elongated, moderately tapering towards apex in dorsal view ( Fig. 75A View FIGURE 75 ); gonopods with a small projection towards surstyli in ventral view ( Fig. 75B View FIGURE 75 ); phallus with three short ejaculatory ducts, one with some small spines in lateral view ( Fig. 75E View FIGURE 75 ).

Description: MALE: Body length: 2.5–2.6 mm. Head. Flagellum long acuminate; yellow.Face silvery pollinose. Frons, upper part shining black, lower part distinctly silver pollinose; eyes touching for distance equal to 1.5 times the length of ocellar triangle. Occiput silvery pollinose, less so on upper 1/3. Thorax. Postpronotum pale, without distinct pale bristles. Mesonotum (viewed obliquely from front) brownish pollinose, anterior part silver pollinose; slightly grayish also from the side. Scutellum brownish pollinose and with 4–6 well developed, short bristles along the distal edge. Dorsocentral bristles well developed, short spine-like, dark, uniform in length throughout, numerous dark bristles around postpronotum. Halter, knob pale, stem brown. Legs. Mid coxa with three short, pale bristles (one longer than the other). Trochanters yellow-brown, femora black, shining ventrally, silvery pollinose posteriorly except shiny hind femur; knees, basal 1/4 and distal 1/6 of tibiae yellow (tibiae otherwise brown), tarsal segments yellow, last segment brown dorsally. Ventroapical row of spines on fore femur missing; 5–7 short, black spines on mid femur; no spines on hind femur, only 10–12 pale bristles equally spaced posteriorly, somewhat longer on distal half (longest up to as long as 0.3–0.5 times the width of hind tibia at the distal end). Subapical spines on first four tibiae present, distal and short. Hind trochanter without a keel, but with a distinct, blunt peg ventrally at the distal end, 5–7 weak bristles anterior to the peg in a row ( Fig. 147B View FIGURE 147 ); ventrobasal spines absent on fore and mid femora. Hind metatarsus not flattened, slightly longer than 2–4 combined and with scrub-like bristles ventrally; last tarsomere long almost as long as tarsomeres 3–4 combined. Pulvilli as long as the last tarsal segment. Wing. Length: 2.7 mm. Upper side of basal costal cell with one long black bristle. Fourth costal section 2–2.5 times as long as third costal section. Cross-vein r-m distinctly distal to the middle of discal cell. 1–3 distinct dark setulae on tegula. Abdomen. Viewed obliquely from front tergites subshining black, tergite 1 silvery grey, sides silvery pollinose on tergites 4 (very small spots) and 5 (4–5 times larger spots). Dispersed strong dark bristles on all tergites present, the longest on tergite 5 and up to as long as width of hind tibia at base. Lateral bristles on first tergite present, 3–4 short brown bristles in a row up to 0.4–0.6 times as long as the width of hind femur at distal tip in lateral view. Postabdomen in dorsal view: T6, S7 invisible; T5 2–2.5 times as long as ST8. Genitalia without dissection: ST8 small, globular, silvery pollinose, with occasional small bristles; membranous area small, round, directed posteriorly; epandrium and surstyli covered with debris on the one undissected specimen. Genitalia. Genital capsule in dorsal view: epandrium small, wider than long (MLE:MWE=0.7). surstyli symmetrical, elongated, broadened at base, gradually tapering and pointing towards each other at apex. Left surstylus slightly longer than right one ( Fig. 75A View FIGURE 75 ). Genital capsule in ventral view: gonopods equal, elongated with a small projection towards sternite; lobes of hypandrium sclerotized; subepandrial sclerite extended; hypandrium with slender hypandrial apodeme ( Fig. 75B View FIGURE 75 ); Genital capsule in lateral view: both surstyli gently curved toward sternite ( Fig. 75D–E View FIGURE 75 ); phallic guide straight, apically with pointed apex; phallus with three short ejaculatory ducts, one with 4–5 short spines. Ejaculatory apodeme tube-like, bent, with a bulb in its middle ( Fig. 75C View FIGURE 75 ).

FEMALE: Body length: 2.5 mm. As male except for the following characters. Frons, eyes separated, as wide as 1.5 times the width at antennae; completely silver-grey pollinose until up to 1/3 of the lower frons, shiny black in front of ocellar triangle, gradually changing from pollinose to shiny black in the transition zone; frons depressed at the point where it is widest. Enlarged ommatidia silvery shining. Pulvilli and claws about 2–2.5 times as long as last tarsal segment, 1.5 times on metatarsi. Female abdomen with silver spots on sides of tergites 3–6. Ovipositor. Straight in ventral view, straight in lateral view, reaching distal edge of 3 rd segment, somewhat down curved. LP:LB = 2.2. LDP:LPP = 3.0. ( Fig. 154A View FIGURE 154 ).

Etymology: The name is from the Latin word paxillus for peg or small stake, in reference to the blunt peg-like projection on the hind trochanter.

Examined material: HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Mica Creek, Mount Isa , 20°49’S, 139°27’E, 360m, 7.iii.2002, C.J. Burwell, JSS13932 (1♂, QM) GoogleMaps ; PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Isla Gorge National Park, 25°11’S, 149°58’E, 320m, hilltop near lookout, 13.XI.1999, J. & A. Skevington, hand collected, JSS7257 (1♂, QM); 2 km along Ridgepole Waterhole Road, 10 km ESE Musselbrook Resource Centre, Lawn Hill National Park, 18°38’S, 138°12’E, 220m, 7.v.1995, G. Daniels & M.A. Schneider, JSS8294 (1♂, QM); Western Australia : Karijini National Park , Hamersley-Mount Bruce Road, 22°34’S, 118°18’E, 757m, dry rocky creek bed, Eucalyptus grassland, 25.iv–14.v.2003, C. Lambkin & T GoogleMaps . Weir , Malaise trap, JSS16127 (1♀, ANIC) .

Distribution: Australia (Queensland, Western Australia) ( Fig. 132 View FIGURE 132 ). Notes: This rarely encountered species is found mostly in the northern outback and should be expected in the

Northern Territory. One specimen was collected hilltopping. Intraspecific genetic distance ranges from 0.3% to

1.6%. The species is genetically closest to T. trispina sp. nov. (12.1% pairwise divergence) (Supplementary file 3).