Bradysia valeriae

Taxonavigation

Ordo: Diptera
Familia: Sciaridae
Genus: Bradysia

Name

Bradysia valeriae unpublished

Type material

Holotype ♂, 03.–17.07.2014, Malaise trap, forest, BIOUG35354-F05 in BIOUG, leg. CBG Collections Staff

Type locality

Canada, Ontario, Perth, Murphy`s Point Provincial Park

Barcoded material studied

Stadium	Country	Province	Locality	Habitat	Method	Date	Collector	Collection Number	Collection	Latitude	Longitude	Elevation (m)
1 ♀	Canada	Ontario	Perth, Murphy`s Point Provincial Park	Forest	Malaise trap	23.05.2014	CBG Collections Staff	BIOUG34689-D04	BIOUG	44.7812	-76.2336	143
1 ♀	Canada	Ontario	Perth, Murphy`s Point Provincial Park	Forest	Malaise trap	23.05.2014	CBG Collections Staff	BIOUG34682-F03	BIOUG	44.7812	-76.2336	143
1 ♂	Canada	Ontario	Perth, Murphy`s Point Provincial Park	Forest	Malaise trap	17.07.2014	CBG Collections Staff	BIOUG35338-H09	BIOUG	44.7812	-76.2336	143
1 ♂ holotype	Canada	Ontario	Perth, Murphy`s Point Provincial Park	Forest	Malaise trap	17.07.2014	CBG Collections Staff	BIOUG35354-F05	BIOUG	44.7812	-76.2336	143

Description (male)

Head. Eye bridge 2–3 rows of facets. Antenna unicolour. LW-index of 4^th flagellomere 2–2.4; neck 0.35–0.45 × segment width; transition of basal part to neck pronounced. Colour of neck unicolour. Antennal setae of normal strength, or strong; sparse. Sensillae present. Antennal setae salient. Palpus darkened; of normal length; palpomeres 2, or 3. First palpomere of normal shape; with 4–5 setae; with delimited sensillary field. Second palpomere short and oval. Third palpomere shorter than first. Thorax. Colour brown. Notum unicolour. Thoracic setae weak; brown. Posterior pronotum bare. Mesothoracic sclerites bare. Legs. Colour brown. Hind coxa of same colour as femora. Setae on front coxa darkened, or pale. Front tibial organ as distinct, delimited comb; pale; front tibial organ not bordered. Tibial comb undivided. Tibial comb with 4–5 bristles. Tibial setae on hind legs weak and inconspicuous. Tibial spurs of equal length. Claws untoothed. Wing. Wing slightly darkened; of normal shape. Wing membrane without macrotrichia. Wing venation weak, with faint stM. M-fork of normal shape. R₁ ending clearly before base of m-fork; posterior veins bare; bM bare; r-m bare; bM:r-M 0.85–1; st-Cu:bM 0.5–0.65; R₁:R 0.4–0.55; c:w 0.55–0.65. Halter darkened; of normal length. Abdomen. Abdominal setae weak; sparse; on tergites brown; on sternites dark and pale. Hypopygium concolour with abdomen; LW-index 0.45–0.6. Base of gonocoxites with typically weak setae; gonocoxites narrowly separated; inner margin of gonocoxites typically U-shaped; inner membrane of hypopygium bare; ventral margin of gonocoxite with short setae. Gonostylus elongate; LW-index 2.8–3.2; Inner margin straight; apex equally rounded. Apical tooth dorsally present; without internal structure; of medium strength; as long or longer than subapical megasetae; LW-Index 5–8. Awl-like setae absent. Megasetae present; number of megasetae 8–10; thick; straight; in one group. Position of basalmost megaseta 15–20 % from top. Whiplash-hair absent. Tegmen 0.66–0.76 × longer than broad; equally rounded; without special features; central process absent. Length of ejaculatory apodeme/hypopygium 12–18 %; base of ejaculatory apodeme present. Field with aedeagal teeth clearly visible. Measurements. Body size 1.8–2.4 mm. Hind tibia 0.6–75 mm. Wing length 1.4–1.8 mm.

Diagnosis

Bradysia valeriae is still another, not very conspicuous member of the Bradysia nitidicollis complex. By the long and strong antennal setae and the not so elongate and slender gonostylus it resembles more the species around B. nitidicollis than those around Bradysia parvifinis. B. valeriae shares the U-shaped notch at the base of the gonocoxites with Bradysia laurentia but has shorter antennae and a conspicuously long and narrow dorsal tooth at the gonostylus. This long tooth is probably the best character to separate this species from other, similar ones.

DNA Barcoding

The COI sequence is assigned to BIN BOLD:ADI0002 (average distance 0.34%, max. 1.13%, n=18, K2P: 5.94%). The nearest neighbours is Bradysia valeriae and afterwards B. parvifinis and B. bellstedti with a genetic distance of 10.52 %.

Discussion

The BIN of this Canadian species was created latest for a few specimens from additional samplings in southern Canada. For that reason reference specimens were requested from the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, and the species proved to be another member of the group under study. It is a good example of to to discover and easily make available new species, when related species are already defined.

Etymology

The species is named after Valerie Levesque-Beaudin, collection manager at the University of Guelph, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, for her friendly and helpful cooperation with the loan for material from Canada.