Manota leptochaeta Hippa & Søli & Kurina 2019, sp. n.

Manota leptochaeta sp. n.

Figs 7 A–D

Male. Colour. Head brown, face somewhat paler. Antenna light brown to brown, including scape and pedicel. Clypeus and mouthparts pale yellowish. Thorax yellowish. Legs yellowish, basal third of hind femur infuscated. Wing with light brownish tinge because of microtrichia; halter yellowish with blackish knob. Abdomen brown to dark brown, tergites laterally and sternites lighter.All vestiture pale, yellowish or brownish, thicker setae and trichia seeming darker than finer ones. Head. Antennal flagellomere 4 ca. 1.8 times as long as wide. Palpomere 3 of maxillary palpus with apicomesial thumb-like extension, with 4 apically curved sensilla; palpomere 4 with parasegment; palpomere 5 ca. 1.5 times longer than palpomere 4. Ten strong postocular setae. Thorax. Anepisternum with 69 setae; anterior basalare with 13 setae, laterotergite with 32 setae, preepisternum 2 non-setose, metepisternum with 12 setae. Legs. Mid and hind tibial organs absent. Wing. R 1 meeting C within basal half of costal margin; sclerotized part of M 2 not extending to level of tip of R 1; wing length 2.2 mm. Hypopygium (Figs 7 A–D). Sternite 9 laterally fused to gonocoxa, posterior margin broad, convex, extending to base of gonostylus, anterior margin with a shallow and wide V-shaped concavity medially, anterior half non-setose, posterior half setose, setae similar to those on ventral side of gonocoxa. Ventral medial margin of gonocoxa short, simple. Parastylar lobe finger-like, tapering, with a stout and medially curved apical seta. No paraapodemal lobe identifiable. Dorsal medial margin of gonocoxa medially bulging, forming an obtuse lobe with dorsal posterior margin, dorsal surface of gonocoxa anteriorly and laterally setose, lateral setae similar to those on ventral side, anterior setae shorter and placed more densely, medial and posterior parts non-setose except two marginal setae posteromedially. Medioventrally from the dorsal medial margin a thumb-like lobe with a stout megaseta apically (in holotype that megaseta is broken in both sides). One juxtagonostylar seta present, a simple, apically whip-like megaseta arising from a finger-like basal body that is longer than the megaseta. Gonostylus bilobed: subrectangular lateral lobe about half of the gonocoxal height, with 7–8 strong setae along lateral and apical margins; subequal, medially directed and towards apex tapering lobe, with one basal and 2 apical setae along posterior margin and 2 more basal setae on dorsal surface. Aedeagus elongate subtriangular, without lateral shoulders, apex curved ventrad. Hypoproct extending posteriorly over gonostyli, number of ventral setae (sternite 10) ca. 30 on each half. Cerci medially separated, setae delimited on the apical part and medial margin, apical 4 setae somewhat longer, deviating from others.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The name is Latinized from the Greek λεπτóς (leptos) ‘thin/slender/narrow’ and χαίτη (chaítç) ‘bristle/seta’, referring to the considerably narrow juxtagonostylar megaseta.

Comments. Manota leptochaeta sp. n. belongs to a group of 12 Afrotropical species as defined under M. platychaeta. Among these species M. leptochaeta is unique in having one megaseta on a lobe medially at dorsal medial margin of gonocoxa and gonostylus with a prominent medially directed lobe (all other species have at least two megasetae at the dorsal medial margin of gonocoxa or are without megasetae (M. edentula), and gonostylus without a prominent medial lobe).

Types. Holotype. Male, MADAGASCAR: Tamatave Torotorofotsy, Andasibe (Perinet), 22 km NW, 18°46,25’S 48°25,93’E, 23–25.x. 2014, 960 m, leg. A.H. Kirk-Spriggs & R. Harin’Hala, Malaise trap primary rainforest (slide mounted, BMSA)