Abstract
Two new species of subgenus Tipula (Vestiplex) Bezzi, 1924, Tipula (Vestiplex) leigongshanensis Men & Young, sp. n. and Tipula (Vestiplex) maoershanensis Men & Young, sp. n. are described and illustrated. Tipula (Vestiplex) bicalcarata Savchenko, 1965 is redescribed and illustrated based on additional morphological characters. Partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences of these three species are provided. Pairwise genetic distances among two new species and related species, Tipula (Vestiplex) bicalcarata, Tipula (Vestiplex) coxitalis Alexander, 1935, and Tipula (Vestiplex) sternotuberculata Alexander, 1935 range from 0.028 to 0.091 using Kimura-2-parameter model. Diagnostic features of the sperm pump for taxonomic use are discussed.
Highlights
Tipula (Vestiplex) Bezzi, 1924 is a large subgenus in Tipula Linnaeus, 1758 with 170 species worldwide, distributed mainly in Oriental and Palaearctic regions (Oosterbroek 2016)
Molecular characters have become an important addition to morphological characters, and have been proven successful for separating and identifying insect species when applied to the following instances: fragmented specimens, closely related species with extremely similar morphology, cryptic species, dubious correspondence between larva and adult, or male and female (Hebert et al 2004, Barcenas et al 2005, Johanson 2007, Men and Qin 2011, Yang et al 2012, Serjeant and Beebee 2013), as well as defining the taxonomic status of taxa (Lim et al 2013, Reijnen et al 2014)
In most families of Diptera, sperm is transferred by means of semen pump or sperm pump, which occurs in other members of Antliophora including Mecoptera and Siphonaptera (Hünefeld and Beutel 2005)
Summary
Tipula (Vestiplex) Bezzi, 1924 is a large subgenus in Tipula Linnaeus, 1758 with 170 species worldwide, distributed mainly in Oriental and Palaearctic regions (Oosterbroek 2016). China hosts 67 species of this subgenus, distributed mainly in the southern part of the country (Oosterbroek 2016). It is characterized by the following characters: antennae short to elongate, with flagellum very strongly incised in male; thorax with prescutum generally glabrous; tibial spur with formulation 1-2-2; squama naked; R1+2 entire, Rs one-half longer than m-cu; male hypopygium generally very sclerotized and blackened, with ninth tergite forming a saucer and produced into a pair of acute projections, gonocoxite generally elongated; female ovipositor with cerci heavily sclerotized and equipped with saw-like teeth on the lower margins, but smooth in some species; hypovalvae small, extending scarcely beyond the base of cerci (Alexander 1935a). Molecular characters have become an important addition to morphological characters, and have been proven successful for separating and identifying insect species when applied to the following instances: fragmented specimens, closely related species with extremely similar morphology, cryptic species, dubious correspondence between larva and adult, or male and female (Hebert et al 2004, Barcenas et al 2005, Johanson 2007, Men and Qin 2011, Yang et al 2012, Serjeant and Beebee 2013), as well as defining the taxonomic status of taxa (Lim et al 2013, Reijnen et al 2014)
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