Of Tasmania, Australia
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Memoirs of Museum Victoria 65: 71–152 (2008) ISSN 1447-2546 (Print) 1447-2554 (On-line) http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/memoirs/index.asp The Psocoptera (Insecta) of Tasmania, Australia EVA N R. SCHMIDT1 AND TIMOTHY R. NEW2 1 PO Box 5, Edenhope, Victoria 3318, Australia ([email protected]) 2 Department of Zoology, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia ([email protected]) Abstract Schmidt, E.R. and New, T.R. 2008. The Psocoptera (Insecta) of Tasmania, Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 65: 71–152. A systematic synopsis of the Psocoptera of Tasmania, Australia, based on extensive specialist collecting and review of all available material totalling 109 species, including representatives of 15 families. A checklist of species and keys to all taxa are provided. Six new genera (Bassocaecilius gen. nov., Clinocaecilius gen. nov., Graminacaecilius gen. nov., Nothocaecilius gen. nov., Tasmanocaecilius gen. nov. – all Caeciliusidae; Abelopsocus gen. nov. – Philotarsidae) and 30 new species from nine families are described and illustrated, and their affi nities discussed. They are: Lepinotus huoni sp. nov. (Trogiidae), Embidopsocus lenah sp. nov. (Liposcelididae), Bassocaecilius rawlinsoni sp. nov., Clinopsocus edwardsi sp. nov., Maoripsocus hobartensis sp. nov., M. pedderi sp. nov., M. spiralosus sp. nov., M. tahunensis sp. nov., M. wedgei sp. nov., M. weindorferi sp. nov., Graminacaecilius frontalis sp. nov., G. micropterus sp. nov., Nothocaecilius thomasi sp. nov., Tasmanocaecilius truchanasi sp. nov. (Caeciliusidae), Ectopsocus coyae sp. nov., E. graminus sp. nov., E. hickmani sp. nov., E. risdonensis sp. nov., E. sprenti sp. nov. (Ectopsocidae), Peripsocus cochleus sp. nov., P. pamae sp. nov. (Peripsocidae), Howeanum tasmaniensis sp. nov. (Pseudocaeciliidae), Abelopsocus truganiniae sp. nov., Philotarsopsis hellyeri sp. nov. (Philotarsidae), Propsocus frodshami sp. nov. (Elipsocidae), Ptycta colei sp. nov., P. freycineti sp. nov., P. pallawahensis sp. nov., Tanystigma maddeni sp. nov., T. westae sp. nov. (Psocidae). Keywords Australia, new taxa, Caeciliusidae, Philotarsidae Introduction limited in scope, most of these surveys have provided some information on vegetation preferences and phenological traits The insect order Psocoptera occurs commonly in all of particular species. Until now 96 species have been recorded zoogeographic regions (Lienhard and Smithers, 2002). Several from Victoria but other, undescribed species are known. species are cosmopolitan and others have wide tropical ranges. Many species, however, have limited distributions, giving rise Tasmania and the Bass Strait region are well suited for the to characteristic regional faunas. Approximately 300 species investigation of patterns of distribution and evolution of are known from Australia (Smithers, 1996a). This number is Psocoptera and the plants with which they are associated. likely to be a considerable underestimate of the total fauna Global changes in climate have exposed land bridges between because large areas, particularly in northern and Western mainland Australia and Tasmania on numerous occasions Australia, have not been surveyed by specialists and Psocoptera since the Miocene, and have considerably altered the range are not collected routinely by most other entomologists. and dominance of particular vegetation communities. The Southeastern Australia has been explored more effectively. emergence of fi re-prone sclerophyllous plant communities and Surveys of Muogamarra Nature Reserve, near Sydney the intermittent land connections and associated vegetation (Smithers, 1977) and Tuglo Wildlife Refuge, Hunter Valley, shifts have repeatedly isolated and fused habitats in processes New South Wales (Smithers, 1993, 1994b, 1996b, 1996d, conducive to speciation. 1997), South Australia (Smithers, 1984, 1998), The Grampians This paper is a systematic account of the Psocoptera of and Mt Arapiles, Victoria (Endersby et al., 1990), and Wilsons Tasmania. It provides, for the fi rst time, a reasonably complete Promontory, Victoria (Schmidt and Thornton, 1993) indicate synopsis of the taxa present and their distributions based on that the temperate Australian psocopteran fauna is reasonably substantial specialist collecting. One hundred and nine species, diverse. The Wilsons Promontory survey and those of the representing 15 families, are included. Only 31 species of Otway Ranges (Thomas, 1986) and some Bass Strait islands Psocoptera (excluding the name Liposcelis divinatorius Müller) (Cole et al., 1989) have considerably augmented our knowledge have been recorded previously from Tasmania, mainly by of the psocopteran fauna of the Bass Strait region. Though Hickman (1934), Edwards (1950) and Smithers (1979), and the 72 Evan R. Schmidt and Timothy R. New occasional records of Smithers (1963), New (1973a), Thornton east and southeast is more evenly distributed throughout the and New (1977) and Schmidt and Thornton (1993). Most of year. In the northeast, rainfall ranges from 500 mm on the these species were recorded from the east and north coasts, and coast to 1300 mm on the highlands. A distinct rain shadow the records from the southwest were limited to the Lower occurs east of the Central Plateau (Great Lake region), so that Gordon River area (Smithers, 1979). Coy et al. (1993) listed the parts of the Midlands (plain south of Launceston) average less Tasmanian Psocoptera identifi ed by ERS that were collected as than 500 mm per year. Totals in the east and southeast are part of the National Rainforest Conservation Project. Smithers higher, averaging over 800 mm on some exposed slopes. (1996a) listed 49 species for Tasmania, but this fi gure includes Snow and hail can fall on the highlands at any time of the the Bass Strait island fauna. The islands are politically under year, but generally the heaviest snowfalls occur in late winter the control of Tasmania but biogeographically can be treated and spring. There is no permanent snowline, but patches of separately. Schmidt and New (2004b) gave a preliminary snow often remain on the highest peaks until December. outline of the biogeography of the Tasmanian Psocoptera. Very little of the Tasmanian surface lies close to sea level. The most extensive coastal plains consist of a narrow uplifted Site Area peneplain along the west coast, and an undulating lowland in the northeast. The only extensive inland plain is in the northern Tasmania lies south of the southeastern corner of the Australian Midlands (south of Launceston), and has developed on soft mainland (fi g. 1), separated from it by Bass Strait, which is Tertiary sediments. Davies (1965) broadly divided the mountains ° ° approximately 240 km wide. It extends from 40 38’ to 43 39’ into fold and fault provinces. In the west of the island, mountains ° ° south latitude and from 144 36’ to 148 23’ east longitude (296 tend to be ridge-like and run parallel to the west coast. The km from north to south, 315 km east to west). On the south and basement of folded pre-Carboniferous rocks is exposed, and west the coastline is bounded by the Southern Ocean and on the river systems have excavated valleys leaving ridges of hard east by the Tasman Sea. With an area of 64,409 square kilometres, quartz metamorphics and conglomerates. In the northeast, Tasmania represents about 0.9% of the total area of Australia. granite has produced some highland areas, and in other parts While mainland Australia is basically a warm, dry continent, erosion has only just exposed the folded basement. In the centre, Tasmania is classifi ed as temperate maritime. Being south of 40° east and southeast the mountains tend to be plateau-like. The latitude it is on the edge of the wind belts of prevailing westerlies older rocks are covered by horizontal Permian and Triassic (commonly known as the Roaring Forties). This is the dominant sediments, into which dolerite has intruded to form horizontal factor producing the climate on the island (Langford, 1965). The sheets. The resistant dolerite dominates the landscape, capping insular position of Tasmania and the stabilising effect of the plateau-like residuals and commonly forming scarps, often with surrounding oceans provide protection against temperature free faces (Davies, 1965). The Central Plateau is dolerite-capped, extremes, so that variation between summer and winter mean relatively undissected and bounded on the north and east by the temperatures in coastal towns rarely exceeds 8°C, rising to about Great Western Tiers. In the northeast of Tasmania the dolerite- 12°C further inland, indicating a slight continental effect. capped mountain Ben Lomond is an outlier of this plateau. Compared with other states, Tasmania has the largest The environments of Tasmania provide a wide diversity of proportion of high country. The mountains are not very high habitats in which a mixture of Australian and Southern Oceanic – few exceed 1500 metres – but are very numerous, particularly fl oral components are found. The composition of the presently in the western half of the state. The combination of mountainous known vascular fl ora is shown in Table 1: some of the totals terrain in western Tasmania and prevailing westerly winds have changed a little since Brown’s (1981) account, but have not produces a marked west–east gradient in rainfall. Westerly been listed together since then. Thus, chapters in Reid et al. winds are strongest and most persistent in winter, causing (1999) note pteridophyte species number as 102, gymnosperms greatest rainfall distribution