Table Of ContentOdonalologica27(1):99-103 March I,1998
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS
Huoniamelvillensisspec. nov.,
a newdragonfly fromAustralia
(Anisoptera: Libellulidae)
G.R. Brown¹andG.Theischinger²
1 Museumand ArtGalleryofthe Northern Territory, G.P.O. Box4646,Darwin,NT 0801,Australia
■ 2AHammersley Road. Grays Point, NSW 2232.Australia
Received June20, 1997/Reviewed andAcceptedAugust 15,1997
The newsp. is described after 3 <5fromMelville Island,offthe northern coast of
Australia. Holotype6:Australia,Melville Island,TakamprhniliCreek,Pickertaramoor,
11°46’S/130°53’E,Il-X-1996;depositedin Museum andArtGalleryofthe Northern
Territory, Darwin. Thisis the firstrecord ofthe genus forAustralia.
INTRODUCTION
HuoniaForsteris one ofthelargest and dominantlibellulidgeneraintheNew
Guinearegion, 15species describedby FORSTER (1903)andLIEFT1NCK( 1935,
1942, 1953, 1963), but despite this diversity, andthe proximity oftheAustralian
mainland, thegenushasnot beenpreviouslyrecordedfromAustralia(WATSON et
al., 1991).However,recently, aspecies ofHuonia wascollectedas partofafresh-
watersurvey ofMelvilleIsland. Sinceitisdifferentfromalldescribedspecies, itis
described asnewbelow.
Melville Island ispart ofthe Northern Territory, and is separatedfrom the mainland by Clarence
Strait andthe Darwin areatothe South, and Dundas Straitand theCoburgPeninsula tothe East.Both
these distances areless than30km. The islandis also separatedfrom Bathurst Islandin the Westby
the narrowand stronglytidalApsleyStrait.Melville Islandisapproximately 132kmlongand 100km
wide and, togetherwith Bathurst Island and CoburgPeninsula, is dominated by open Eucalyptus
forestwith a predominantgrass understorey.Ithas several freshwater streams: those flowing tothe
north coast arerelatively longandemptyinto small mangrove lined bays, while those onthe south
coast are shorter (andperhaps steeper)and donot open into bays. Some streams may be seasonally
dryasalmost all rainfall occursbetween Octoberand Aprileach year.
Melville Island isaboriginalland and entry isrestricted. Itis mostlyundeveloped,and muchofit
is notreadilyaccessible. Forthesereasonsit is notwell exploredentomologically.
100 G.R,Brown& G.Theischinger
The specimens described
herewerecollectedonanatu-
ralsolidsandstoneroadcross-
ing,atPickertaramoor, onthe
upper reaches of Takam-
primili Creek. Atthis point
the creek was narrow and
shallowwithaseriesofsmall
waterfalls (2-4 m) down-
stream,andasmallvegetated
waterfilledweirimmediately
upstream. Here, males were
Fig. 1. Huonia melvillensis sp.n„ holotypeS. observed sunning themselves
on the crossing. Individuals
were seeninonesortwos, andwouldremainatrest forperhaps atmost5 minutes,
although on occasions they wouldbehave territoriallyand chaseotherdragonflies
away before returning to thesame spot. After this period, they would fly almost
vertically to roost in the lower branchlets of the same drooping tree (possibly
Melaleucasp.) which overhung theedge ofthe weir. These dragonflies couldnot
be spotted in thistree,wherethey remainedformuchlonger periods.
HUONIA MELVILLENSISSP. NOV.
Figures1-8
Material.- Holotype S: Australia, Melville Island,TakamprimiliCreek, Pickertaramoor,
1lo46’S/130°53’E, Il-X-1996,G.R. Brown & G.M.Dally leg.; in Museum and Art Gallery ofthe
NorthernTerritory,Darwin (NTM).- 26 paratypes,samedataasholotype;in NTM andinAustralian
National Insect Collection,CSIRO, Canberra (ANIC). Paratypein NTMwith abdomen broken and
card mounted.
MALE. -Head.-Labiumblackish brown, lobes yellowish greenwith black
medialandanteriormargins;labrumpaleyellowishgreenwithventralmarginblack;
outer mandiblepale yellowish greenwith apexblack; clypeus andfronspale yel-
lowishgreenwithanteclypeus andoblique markon fronspale browntoblack, and
dorsal margin laterally and near medial ocellus black; genae and vertex black;
occipital triangle paleyellowishgreenwithapairofvariablebrownmarks;postgenae
black, pale yellowish greenventrally abovewhichis asimilarly colouredquadrate
mark andamore dorsal smallerspot; antennae black.
Thorax.- Prothorax. - Anteriorlobeblack with anterior margin yellow;
medianlobeblackwithposterolateral angle andquadrate medialmarkatposterior
margin whichmay extend anteriorly andthenlaterally as a curvedline toalmost
encircle thelateralhalfpale yellowish green;posterior lobe pale yellowish green
with posteriorandlateralmargins narrowly andcontinuously dark browntoblack;
Huonia melvillensis sp.n. 101
propleuron andcoxablack withpale yellowish greenmarks; trochanterandfemur
black with ventralsurfacepale yellowish green;tibia,tarsus and clawsblack.
Synthorax.- Black withpale yellowish greenmarking as follows; dorsalcarina,
mesanepisternum near dorsalcarina,antealarsinus, smallspotbehindantealarridge,
spotbelow antealarridge andlong subparallel humeral stripe becoming pointed
dorsally; mesokatepisternum dorsally andsubtriangular mark ventrally; irregular
posterior stripe at posterior margin of mesepimeron almost continuing to ventral
marginand broadenedventrallyandabruptlybroadeneddorsally;metanepisternum
below and above spiracle with posterior stripe broadly triangularly interrupted
dorsally toformaseparatedorsalspot; posteroventral spot on metakatepisternum;
metepimeron (except anteriormargin extending medially into a narrow line for
mostofthelength ofthesclerite); mostoftergalsclerites andpoststernum(except
for margins and medialsagittal line); margins ofcoxae.
Wings. - Mostofhumeralandaxillary platespale yellowish green;intermediary
pieces, veins and pterostigma black; membranehyaline, extreme base suffused
with orange;arculus ator slightly proximal to Ax2;antenodals8-9/7 with distal
antenodal complete or incomplete; postnodals 5-7 /6-7; costal side of forewing
triangle broken; subtrigon 2-celled; hindwing triangle inline witharculus.
Abdomen.- Clubbed,segment8broadestandparallel sided, segment7 much
broaderposteriorly than anteriorly, segment9narrower posteriorlythananteriorly;
tergite I black anteriorly (especially laterally),pale yellowish greenposteriorly;
tergite2anteriorto supplementary transversecarinablackwith irregular pale yel-
lowishgreenmarkposteromedially, posterior to supplementary transverse carina
and ventrally yellowish greenwith black posteromedial band, posteroventral an-
gles produced into long narrow acutely triangular blackprocess; tergite 3 black
with almostcomplete pale yellowish greenmedialbandimmediately behindsup-
Figs 2-8.Huonia melvillensis sp. n.,S: (2)synthorax, lateral aspect;- (3)forewing(right)triangle;-
(4)secondary genitalia,lateral aspect;— (5)penisstructure (apex ofchitinous “hood” coveringthird
penilesegment),ventral aspect;- (6)terminal abdominal segments, dorsal aspect;-(7) anal append-
ages, lateral aspect; - (8)idem,dorsal aspect.
102 G.R. Brown &G.Theischinger
plementarytransverse carina; tergites 4-6black withpale yellowish greenanterior
bandandlateralspot ataboutmidlengthofsegment,spots by farlargest ontergite
6; tergite7 black withlateralspot ataboutmidlength; tergites 8-9, segment 10and
sternitesblack; genitallobeblack;hamulepale yellowishgreenwithblackmargins
andprojections.
Analappendages. - Superior appendages pale yellowish greenwith baseand
extreme tip black, vieweddorsally slightly curvedtowardsapex, inner margin al-
moststraight, outer margin more curvedespecially apically, apexacute; inprofile
subparallel and downcurvedwith ventralmargin granulate andapex acute and di-
rected horizontally; inferiorappendage subtriangular, curvedinprofile, pale yel-
lowishgreenwithextreme tipblack.
Measurements (inmm).- Hindwing24.0-25.0,abdomen 22.0-24.0.
FEMALEunknown.
DISCUSSION. - The maleofHuoniamelvillensissp. n. canbe distinguished from
all otherspecies ofHuoniaby thepresenceofpale markson abdominaltergite7.It
also stands out by a combinationof other characters (narrow black line on
metepimeron, broken costal sideofforewing triangle, particular shape ofsecond-
ary genitalia, and almost straight anal appendages). The closest affinities of H.
melvillensis undoubtedly lie with H. thaisLieft. from Misool Islandand western
NewGuinea,andwiththemore widely distributed(in NewGuinea)//,arborophila
Lieft. The penis structure of H. melvillensis clearly places this species in
LIEFTINCK’s(1953) groupC which according to him includes H. arborophila,
H. ferentina Lieft., H. rheophila Lieft., H. thais and probably H. thalassophila
Lieft.(with H.oreophila Lieft.not having beenstudied).
The discovery ofHuonia on MelvilleIslandsuggests thatotherPapuan dragon-
fliesmay alsooccurhefeandelsewhere innorthernAustralia,andthiswillonly be
resolved withmoreextensive collecting.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to thank the Northern Territory DepartmentofLands, Planning and Environment for
fundingthe freshwater faunal survey ofMelville Island under the HeritageGrantProgram, and the
Tiwi LandCouncil and thepeopleofMelville Island forpermissionforand assistance inthis survey.
Technical supportby ICIBotanyOperations(Sydney),preliminary drawingsbyMEGAN HOSKINS
and photographyofthe holotypeby RICKBAWDEN arealso gratefullyacknowledged.
REFERENCES
FORSTER,F., 1903. Odonaten ausNeu-Guinea. 3.Annls hist.-nat. Mus.natn.Hung. 1: 509-554.
LIEFTINCK, MA., 1935. The dragonflies(Odonata)ofNew Guinea and neighbouringislands. 3.
Nova Guinea 17: 203-300.
LIEFTINCK, M.A., 1942. The dragonflies(Odonata) ofNew Guinea and neighbouringislands. 6.
Treubia 18:441-608.
LIEFTINCK,M.A„ 1953. Revisional notesonthegeneraDiplacinaBrauerand HuoniaForster(Odon.).
Huonia melvillensis sp.n. 103
Treubia 22: 153-216.
L1EFT1NCK, M.A., 1963. Newspecies andrecords ofLibellulidae fromthe Papuanregion(Odonata).
Nova Guinea (Zool.)25:751-780.
WATSON,J.A.L.,G.THEISCHINGER&H.M.ABBEY, 1991. TheAustralian dragonflies:aguideto
the identification,distributions and habitats ofAustralian Odonata. CS1R0Australia, Can-
berra-Melbourne.
