Abstract
With new material available of most stages of many known Australian Paracnephia, including new species, it is now clear that certain segregates warrant assignment to new genera. This applies to Paracnephia gladiator Moulton & Adler, a Western Australia simuliid with numerous unique character states. The species is fully redescribed and assigned to Bunyipellum nov. gen. A diagnosis is provided and relationships discussed, as is historical biogeography. Bunyipellum appears to be more closely related to elements of the South American simuliid fauna than to any other Gondwanan Australian species.
References
Adler, P.H. & Crosskey, R.W. (2015) Cytotaxonomy of the Simuliidae (Diptera): a systematic and bibliographic conspectus. Zootaxa, 3957, 1–139.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3975.1.1
Adler, P.H. & Crosskey, R.W. (2017) World Blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae): a comprehensive revision of the taxonomic and geographic inventory. Advances in Entomology, 3 (3), 1–131. Available from: https://biomia.sites.clemson.edu/pdfs/blackflyinventory.pdf (accessed 26 November 2017)
Adler, P.H., Currie, D.C. & Wood, D.M. (2004) The black flies (Simuliidae) of North America. Comstock Publishing Associates and Royal Ontario Museum, Ithaca, 941 pp.
Barr, W.B. (1984) Prolegs and attachment of Simulium vittatum (sibling IS-7) (Diptera: Simuliidae) larvae. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 62, 1355–1362.
https://doi.org/10.1139/z84-194
Colbo, M.H. (1974) Studies on the biology of the Simuliidae in north Eastern Australia: with reference to their potential as vectors of pathogens. Ph. D. thesis, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 379 pp. Available from: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:366100 (accessed 26 November 2017)
Craig, D.A. (1990) Behavioral hydrodynamics of Cloeon dipterum larvae (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae). Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 9, 346–357.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1467902
Craig, D.A., Craig, R.E.G. & Crosby, T.K. (2012) Simuliidae. Fauna of New Zealand, 68, 1–336. Available from: https://biotaxa.org/fnz/article/view/1840/3116 (accessed 26 November 2017)
Craig, D.A., Currie, D.C., Hunter, F.F. & Spironello, M. (2006) A taxonomic revision of the southwestern Pacific subgenus Hebridosimulium (Diptera: Simuliidae: Simulium). Zootaxa, 1380, 1–90. Available from: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/z01380p090f.pdf (accessed 26 November 2017)
Craig, D.A., Moulton, J.K. & Currie, D.C. (2017) Taxonomic revision of Paraustrosimulium Wygodzinsky & Coscarón: reassignment of Austrosimulium colboi Davies & Györkös and description of P. obcidens n. sp. from Western Australia. Zootaxa, 4337, 451–492.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4337.4.1
Crosskey, R.W. (1990) The natural history of blackflies. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 711 pp.
Crosskey, R.W. & Howard, T.M. (1997) A New Taxonomic and Geographical Inventory of World Blackflies. The Natural History Museum, London, 144 pp.
Currie, D.C. (1986) An annotated list of and keys to the immature black flies of Alberta. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 134, 1–90.
Currie, D.C. & Adler, P.H. (2008) Global diversity of black flies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in freshwater. Hydrobiologia, 595, 469–475.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-9114-1
Davies, D.M. & Györkös, H. (1988) Two new Australian species of Simuliidae (Diptera). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 27, 105–115.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1988.tb01156.x
Gil-Azevedo, L.H. & Maia-Herzog, M. (2007) Preliminary considerations on phylogeny of Simuliidae genera from Southern Hemisphere (Insecta, Diptera). Zootaxa, 1643, 39–68. Available from: http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/4215 (accessed 26 November 2017)
Holden, R. & Holden, N. (2001) Bunyips: Australia’s folklore of fear. National Library of Australia. Canberra, Australia, 226 pp.
Krosch, M. & Cranston, P.S. (2013) Not drowning, (hand)waving? Molecular phylogenetics, biogeography and evolutionary tempo of the ‘Gondwanan’ midge Stictocladius Edwards (Diptera: Chironomidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 68, 595–603.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2013.04.006
Mackerras, M.J. & Mackerras, I.M. (1948) Simuliidae (Diptera) from Queensland. Australian Journal of Scientific Research. Series B, Biological Sciences, 1 (2), 231–270.
https://doi.org/10.1071/BI9480231
Mackerras, I.M. & Mackerras, M.J. (1949) Revisional notes on Australasian Simuliidae (Diptera). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 73, 372–405. Available from: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35069387#page/454/mode/1up (accessed 26 November 2017)
Mackerras, M.J. & Mackerras, I.M. (1950) Notes on Australasian Simuliidae (Diptera). II. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 75, 167–187. Available from: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/109152#page/209/mode/1up (accessed 26 November 2017)
Mackerras, I.M. & Mackerras, M.J. (1952) Notes on Australasian Simuliidae (Diptera). III. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 77, 104–113. Available from: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108648#page/166/mode/1up (accessed 26 November 2017)
Mackerras, M.J. & Mackerras, I.M. (1955) Notes on Australasian Simuliidae (Diptera). IV. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 80, 105–112. Available from: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/108603#page/127/mode/1up (accessed 26 November 2017)
Moulton, J.K. & Adler, P.H. (1997) The genus Ectemnia (Diptera: Simuliidae): taxonomy, polytene chromosomes, new species and phylogeny. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 75, 1896–1915.
https://doi.org/10.1139/z97-820
Moulton, J.K., Adler, P.H. & Prince, J. (2004) An unusual new species of Paracnephia Rubtsov (Diptera: Simuliidae) from Western Australia. Zootaxa, 409, 1–12.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.409.1
Nowell, A.M.R. & Jumars, P.A. (1984) Flow environments of aquatic benthos. Annual Reviews of Ecology and Systematics, 15, 303–328.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.15.110184.001511
Okazawa, T. & Nodasaka, Y. (1982) Morphological observations on the first- and last-instar larvae of the genus Gigantodax (Diptera: Simuliidae). Medical Entomology and Zoology, 33, 95–103.
https://doi.org/10.7601/mez.33.95
Palmer, R.W. & Craig, D.A. (2000) An ecological classification of primary labral fans of filter-feeding black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 78, 199–218.
https://doi.org/10.1139/z99-205
Rix, M.G., Edwards, D.L., Byrne, M. & Harvey, M.S. (2015) Biogeography and speciation of terrestrial fauna in the south–western Australian biodiversity hotspot. Biological Reviews, 90, 762–793.
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12132
Rothfels, K.H. (1979) Cytotaxonomy of Black Flies. Annual Revues of Entomology, 24, 507–539.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.en.24.010179.002451
Tonnoir, A.L. (1925) Australasian Simuliidae. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 15, 213–255.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485300046198
Wygodzinsky, P. & Coscarón, S. (1973) A review of the Mesoamerican and South American black flies of the Tribe Prosimuliini (Simuliinae, Simuliidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 151, 129–200. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/2246/598 (accessed 26 November 2017)