Antocha crane flies from Taiwan (Diptera: Limoniidae: Limoniinae)
Author
Podenas, Sigitas
Author
Young, Chen W.
text
Zootaxa
2015
4048
4
523
537
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4048.4.4
7ed688da-5625-4d39-bef8-695b06f8afde
1175-5326
244855
46051D75-807F-4192-8CE7-BAB44BDF56AC
Antocha
(
Antocha
)
gracillima
Alexander, 1924b
(
Figs. 3–5
)
Antocha
(
Antocha
)
gracillima
Alexander, 1924b
:67
;
Alexander, 1954
:289
;
Savchenko & Krivolutskaya, 1976
:111
;
Savchenko, 1983
:106
;
Torii, 1992
:175
;
Podenas & Byun, 2013
:175
;
Oosterbroek, 2015
.
Diagnosis.
This is a medium-sized crane fly. General body coloration brownish gray to dark brown. Wings milky. Wing stigma light brown, rather indistinct in Taiwanese specimens, but distinct in specimens from
Japan
and
Korea
. Posterior margin of ninth tergite of male genitalia slightly sinuous without projections. Outer gonostylus blackened distally, tip split by small emargination with narrow inner bump and wide outer bump. Ovipositor with smooth, long, nearly parallel-sided and slightly arched cercus (
Podenas & Byun, 2013
).
Description.
Based on dry-mounted males. Body length: Males
3.5–3.9 mm
. Wing length: Males
5.1–5.8 mm
.
Head
. Head brown dorsally, lighter along eye margin and covered with dense gray pruinosity. Antenna 16– segmented,
0.83–1.48 mm
in males. Scape nearly cylindrical, yellowish brown. Pedicel brown, wider distally, narrower basally. Flagellum brown to dark brown. Flagellomeres oval, tapered toward apex. Distal flagellomere smaller than preceding segment. Verticils shorter than respective segments, slightly longer than whitish pubescence covering flagellomeres. Rostrum brownish yellow, covered with scarce grayish pruinosity. Palpus brown.
Thorax
. Generally brown with yellowish pleuron, covered with gray pubescence, denser on dorsal part. Antepronotum brown medially, yellowish laterally. Mesonotal prescutum grayish yellow with three confluent brown stripes. Median stripe broad, split longitudinally by narrow light median vita. Mesonotal scutum brown, hardly visible through dense gray, bluish-gray pruinosity. Scutellum with light brown median line and dark brown lateral parts, ground color nearly invisible through dense gray pruinosity. Mediotergite light brown, darker frontally with dark brown median line and covered with gray pruinosity, which is less dense compare to scutellum. Pleuron generally light brown, with indistinct darker and lighter spots. Pronotum laterally yellow, katepisternum ventrally dark brown. Wing subhyaline, milky. Stigma light brown, distinctly lighter than in specimens from
Japan
and
Korea
. Wing venation typical for subgenus: discal cell closed, elongate,
Rs
very long and straight, anal angle big and nearly right-angled. Stem of haltere yellow with whitish base. Knob slightly infuscated. Haltere
0.75–0.88 mm
long in males. Coxae yellow just frontal coxa slightly infuscated frontally. Trochanters yellow with narrowly darkened distal margin. Legs obscure yellow to light brown. Tips of segments slightly infuscated. Distal ends of tarsi brown. Male femur I: 4.0–
4.3 mm
long, II:
4.25–4.60 mm
, III:
4.9–5.3 mm
; tibiae I:
4.7–4.9 mm
, II:
4.4–4.8 mm
, III:
5.5–5.8 mm
; tarsus I: 4.0–
4.5 mm
, II:
3.5–4.3 mm
, III:
3.9–4.5 mm
long. Claw with a single, very slender subbasal spine.
FIGURES 3–5.
Antocha
(
Antocha
)
gracillima
. 3. Ninth tergite of male, dorso-lateral aspect; 4. Gonocoxite with gonostyli, dorsal aspect; 5. Slide-mounted male genitalia of holotype, dorsal aspect. Abbreviations: gonap, gonapophyses; p, penis; tg 9, ninth tergite.
Abdomen
. General color of abdomen brown. Five frontal segments somewhat lighter, brown, distal segments dark brown. Lateral and posterior margins of tergites and sternites grayish. Abdomen covered with sparse light erect setae.
Hypopygium
. Male genitalia brownish yellow. Ninth tergite (
Fig. 3
) simple, without additional lobes or structures, posterior margin nearly smooth, or slightly wavy. Gonocoxite (
Fig. 4
) elongate, oval, no extra lobes. Outer gonostylus slightly arched, blackened toward apex, bearing two small bumps at apex. Inner bump distinctly narrower than outer. Inner gonostylus fleshy, covered with scarce setae.
Ovipositor.
No female specimen was collected from
Taiwan
. Female specimens of this species from
Korea
with long, narrow cercus, smooth ventrally, rounded at tip. Cercus distinctly longer than hypogynial valvae (
Podenas & Byun, 2013
).
Distribution.
This species is known from
Korea
,
Japan
and Far East of
Russia
. It was found at altitudes from
1638 m
to
2200 m
in
Taiwan
(Fig. 16), but it is known from lower of altitudes of
200–800 m
in
Korea
(
Podenas & Byun, 2013
). Larvae of this species were observed in fast running mountainnous streams with sandy or rocky bottoms. Adults are flying or hiding in nearby vegetation. Adult flies of this species are attracted to light (
Podenas & Byun, 2013
).
Material examined.
TAIWAN
: Kaohsiung: TaoYuan HsiNanShan Shin-Shan-Lin-Tao,
23.05N
,
120.47E
, C. Young,
22 Apr. 2005
,
1 ♂
; Taoyuan Twp Tengjhih Pk, Mid-altitude Res. Inst.,
23.0853N
,
120.7884E
,
1638 m
, C. Young, 4
April 2011,
1
♂; Taichung: Pilushi,
2200 m
, R. Davidson, C. Young, J. Rawlins, 22–23
May 1988,
1
♂. Also compared with determined specimens from adjacent regions including
Holotype
and other
type
specimens, which are listed in
Podenas & Byun (2013)
.
Remarks.
Antocha gracillima
was described by Alexander in 1924b based on single male specimen collected in Honshiu of
Japan
. Female specimen of this species was first described from
Japan
by
Torii (1992)
. Specimens of
Antocha gracillima
from
Taiwan
exhibit different from
type
specimens and from study specimens from
Korea
and
Japan
. The most noticeable difference is that specimens from
Taiwan
have pale, indistinct wing stigma which is distinct dark in Korean and Japanese specimens. Some differences are also observed in male genitalia, especially tip of outer gonostylus, but in general, structure of male genitalia of Taiwanese specimens are very similar to that of
Holotype
(
Fig. 5
). However, aedeagal complex of Taiwanese specimens is distinctly different from that shown in
Torii (1992, Fig. 23, c)
, we suspect the illustration of Torii does not represent
A. gracillima
.