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Australian Journal of

Taxonomy
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Taxon name
Parapsilocephala aeris sp. n.
Figure citations
(Figs. x–x)
Registration Number
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0893668B-FA3A-48BA-A4BA-678E3573FB4D
Type statement
Type material. AUSTRALIA: Holotype male, Western Australia: Drysdale River [-15.033, 126.917], 3–8.VIII.1975, site A-1, I.F.B. Common, M.S. Upton (ANIC).
Synonymy
Diagnosis
Male frons without callus, predominantly silver pubescent and glossy medially; pleuron silver pubescent with glossy band extending ventrally from wing base; hind tibia much longer and thicker apically than other tibiae; abdomen with dark yellow posterolaterally on posterior tergites; gonocoxal apodemes and phallus greatly elongated.
Description
Body length: 7.8–8.0 mm (male). Head. Frons slightly rounded, projecting beyond head around level of antennae, glossy black, overlain with silver pubescence with glossy black glabrous area medially, male frons width at narrowest point with eyes contiguous, male frontal vestiture absent; parafacial with silver pubescence, glossy black area between antennal base and eye margin, parafacial setae absent; ocellar tubercle raised, black pubescent; postocular macrosetae black, relatively short, single row dorsally, sparse and irregularly arranged laterally; occiput flat, pubescence black with silver area medially and ventrolaterally; genal setae pale; antennal scape shorter than flagellum, brown, overlain with grey pubescence, admixed with scattered dark macrosetae of varying sizes; flagellum ovate, tapered distally, brownish orange, darker distally. Thorax. Scutum glossy black with sparse brown pubescence, silver anterolaterally, pubescence pattern as suffuse pair of silver-grey dorsocentral stripes, erect fine dark and pale setae admixed; scutellum glossy black, overlain with matte brown pubescence; pleuron with dense silver pubescence, glabrous band ventrally from wing base, white setae on anepisternum and katepisternum, katatergite with admixed pale and dark setae; scutal and scutellar macrosetae black, relatively elongate in male; coxae dark, overlain with silver-grey pubescence, minor setae white laterally, black ventrally, macrosetae black, hind leg length noticeably longer and thicker than mid- and forelegs; femora dark brown, short dark setae admixed with longer pale setae, femoral macrosetae black, forefemur with 1–2 anteroventral macrosetae midway, midfemur with macrosetae absent, hind femur with 3–6 anteroventral macrosetae along entire length; tibiae dark yellow, suffused with brown; tarsi with basitarsus yellow, dark distally, remaining tarsal segments brown; tibial and tarsal macrosetae black, relatively few in number; wing hyaline, venation yellow, darker distally and on crossveins, cell m3 closed; haltere knob bright yellow, stem brown; scutal chaetotaxy: notopleural, 3; supra alar, 1; post alar, 1; dorsocentral, 4; scutellar, 1. Abdomen. Male abdomen black, dark yellow along posterior margin of segments, broader laterally on posterior segments, silver velutum absent, abdominal vestiture as pale elongate setae, darker on posterior segments and terminalia, intersegmental membrane distinctly pale, well defined on tergites 2–4, broader on anterior segments; terminalia dark yellow to brown. Male genitalia. Epandrium quadrangular, relatively short along midline with dark setae, larger setae laterally; gonocoxite with extensive large black macrosetae, longer posterolaterally, medial atrium present, velutum patch extensive, distinct ventromedially; hypandrium separate from gonocoxites, narrowly subtriangular, fused with gonocoxites laterally, rounded apically with elongate macrosetae; outer gonocoxal process relatively elongate, narrowed distally; inner gonocoxal process elongate, narrow, broadly curved; gonostylus similar in shape to inner gonocoxal process, curved medially; ventral lobe elongate, broadly membranous with dark sclerotised keel laterally; phallus with ejaculatory apodeme narrow; phallus length much longer than gonocoxites, protruding well into abdominal cavity, lateral ejaculatory apodeme elongate and narrow, darkly sclerotised, distiphallus elongate, narrow, relatively straight, similar length to gonocoxal apodemes, dorsal apodeme narrow, membranous. Female unknown.
Specimens Examined
Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Northern Territory: 1 male, East Alligator Ranger Station [-12.433, 132.95], 15.VIII.1990, M.S. Upton (ANIC); 1 male, Melville Island [Pularumpi] [-11.521, 130.645], 30.VI–6.VII.1986, P. Horne, mv light (AMS).
Notes
This species is placed in the P. wilsoni species group and known only from just a few male specimens from Northern Australia. The pubescence pattern on the male frons and pleuron are distinctive for this species. The greatly elongated internal genitalia is very similar to that found in some species of Bonjeania, but this species lacks the transverse abdominal velutum plaques found in that genus.
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