Podaena moanaiti Delgado and Palma 2010, new species

(Figs 3, 4, 41, 45, 94, 95, 109)

Description. Male as in Fig. 109.

Body: length (taken from anterior margin of labrum to elytral apex) 1.80 mm. Colour: head and pronotum dark brown; elytra brown; with lighter proximal third and shoulders; legs and maxillary palps brown.

Head: prognathous, not retracted under the prothorax; evenly convex dorsally, smooth and glabrous, with sparse but distinct punctures; clypeus wide, 0.9 times as long as the frons, glabrous and very sparsely punctuated; frons slightly convex, with narrow but well marked paraocular areas; eyes moderately protruding; labrum wider than long, bilobed and with a marked U-shaped median incision; maxillary palps long and modified (Figs 3−4), with the two distal palpomeres together as long as the second. Second palpomere with distal rows of long setae, the third (penultimate) grooved, subtriangular on the lateroventral view (Fig. 4), and the fourth (distal) somewhat foliaceous.

Thorax: Pronotum uniformly convex with inconspicuous lateral depressions; surface smooth, densely and clearly punctuated; anterior margin slightly convex, lateral margins convex in the anterior half; rounded anterior angles but more acute posterior angles. Legs: relatively long; foretibiae (Figs 41, 45) with a deep invagination and a long narrow distal end in lateral view (Fig. 45); on the anterior view (Fig. 41), the distal end associated with rows of setae is moderately expanded with an with a round, smooth edge; hind tibiae curved inwards. Metaventrite (as in Fig. 47) with a flat, cordiform glabrous area on the disc, with a central, oval and shallow concavity. Elytra with a smooth lateral rim in the anterior part but slightly serrate distally (Fig. 94).

Abdomen: Ventrite 7 and spiculum as in Fig. 57, firmly attached. Ventrite 7 oval, distally emarginated; spiculum moderately long. Male genitalia as in Figs 75−76, 79−80; main piece cylindrical and well sclerotized in its proximal half, flattened and laminar in the distal half; uniformly curved on lateral view (as in Figs 75, 79); distal lobe of variable shape and indistinguishable from the distal part of the main piece; parameres wide and unsclerotized distally, very curved proximally, and weakly inserted close to the phallobase, becoming easily dislodged when manipulated.

Female. Body: Similar to the male in shape; length (taken from anterior margin of labrum to elytral apex) 1.90 mm. Without modified maxillary palps and foretibiae.

Abdomen: Last tergite as in Fig. 65; gonocoxite as in Fig. 68; spermatheca as in Figs 87−92 with the proximal lighter area of the central piece about a fourth of its total length (as in Figs 89, 91), and the central piece variably curved in different specimens (as in Figs 87−88, 90, 92).

Differential diagnosis. The modified male maxillary palps (Figs 3−4) clearly separate P. moanaiti from P. aotea, P. glabriventris, P. maclellani, P. kuscheli and P. mariae. The male foretibiae (Figs 41, 45) further separate P. moanaiti from P. glabriventris, P. maclellani and P. mariae, while the distance between tibial spines 1 and 2 further separate P. moanaiti from P.kuscheli (Figs 35, 45). Podaena moanaiti (Figs 3−4) can be distinguished from P. hauturu, P. latipalpis and P. trochanteralis (Figs 5−10, 17−18) by the long distal setae on the second palpomere and the narrow third (penultimate) palpomere of the male maxillary palps. The second palpomere of the male maxillary palps of P. obscura (Figs 11−14) and of P. dentipalpis (Figs 15−16) have long distal setae as in P. moanaiti (Figs 3−4), but the shape of the third (penultimate) palpomere clearly separate these three species.

The male foretibiae further separate P. moanaiti (Figs 41, 45) from all species, except for those in the P. latipalpis complex. Within that complex, the male foretibiae of P. moanaiti are most similar to those of P. latipalpis and P. hauturu, especially in the lateral view (Figs 44–46). However, in the anterior view (Figs 40– 42), the distribution of the distal setae and the shape of the expansion are sufficiently different to clearly distinguish these three species.

Etymology. The species epithet is a noun in apposition from Maori, meaning “sea” (moana) and “little” (iti), referring to Lake Waikaremoana, the type locality of this species.

Type locality. Lake Waikaremoana, GB, North Island, New Zealand.

Distribution. As in Fig. 95. Around Lake Waikaremoana. This species is likely to be found in other localities nearby.

Material examined. Holotype: North Island: Gisborne (GB): Male (dry mounted) (NZAC): “LAKE WAIKAREMOANA / 19|Nov|75 / Small stream / G. Kuschel. ”

Paratypes: North Island: Gisborne (GB): 2 males, 1 female (dry-mounted: printed and handwritten labels) (NZAC): “ L. Waikaremoana / 19 Nov 75 G.K. / Stony bush stream”. 7 males, 9 females (in alcohol) (NZAC): “L. Waikaremoana / 19 NOV 75, G. Kuschel / small bush strm. 10 males, 10 females (5 males drymounted, 5 males in alcohol, 6 females in alcohol, 4 females dry-mounted) (MONZ): “L. Waikaremoana / 19 NOV 75, G. Kuschel / small bush strm”. 20 males, 6 females (9 males in alcohol, 11 males dry mounted: printed lab e ls, 5 fem a les in alcohol, 1 fem a le d r y m oun ted: p r in ted la b e l) (N ZA C): “LA KE WAIKAREMOANA / 19|Nov|75 / Small stream / G. Kuschel”.