Genus Glossostyles Jaschhof & Sikora gen. nov.

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Type species

Glossostyles perspicua gen. et sp. nov., described below.

Diagnosis

Adult morphology shows Glossostyles gen. nov. to be a typical member of the tribe Porricondylini, where it belongs to the large group of genera with 14 male flagellomeres and without basitarsal spines (group Aa in Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013). The unadorned but massive construction of the male genitalia (Fig. 3D) makes Glossostyles gen. nov. distinctive, with the particulars as follows. The gonocoxae are fully merged ventromedially and lack processes at the posterior edge; the gonostyli are disproportionally large and have no apical structure other than a sparse row of inconspicuous spines; the parameres are fused to form a tegmen, which encloses the ejaculatory apodeme dorsally as a weakly sclerotized semicylinder whose shape is elongate-trapezoid in ventral view. Similarly, large gonostyli and gonocoxae are found in other genera of Porricondylini, such as Pseudepidosis Mamaev, 1966 and Claspettomyia Grover, 1964, but there they are modified, the gonostyli with apical teeth and/or subapical swellings, and the gonocoxae with a ventral emargination and various processes. Unlike in Glossostyles gen. nov., the parameres in Pseudepidosis and Claspettomyia are strongly sclerotized, and are either separated from each other or complexly built. Claspettomyia is peculiar among these three genera for having 13 instead of 14 male flagellomeres.

Etymology

The name Glossostyles is composed of the Greek words ‘ glossa ’, for tongue, and ‘ stylos ’, for stylus, with reference to the distinctive tongue-shape of the gonostyli. Gender is feminine.

Notes on relationship

Obvious similarities in the structure of the gonostyli and gonocoxae suggest that Glossostyles gen. nov. is most closely related to Claspettomyia. In both genera the gonostyli are enormously large, constricted beyond the basal apophyses, which are well developed, and clearly broadened further distally, while the massive gonocoxae are much broader than long.