Gymnopternus flavitibia Pollet, Khaghaninia & Kazerani

Kazerani, Farzaneh, Khaghaninia, Samad, Talebi, Ali Asghar, Persson, Magnus & Pollet, Marc, 2017, Eight new species of Dolichopodinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from northern Iran, Zootaxa 4242 (1), pp. 111-141 : 123-125

Gymnopternus flavitibia Pollet, Khaghaninia & Kazerani sp. nov.

( Figs 15–18 )

Gymnopternus angustifrons Kazerani et al., 2015: 25 , not Staeger, 1842: 44.

Diagnosis. Rather small, robust species. Face greyish white. All postocular bristles black. Antenna entirely black with postpedicel as long as deep, subcircular with blunt apex. Wing slightly infuscate. Legs with coxae and femora dark, tibiae I–III yellow with extreme basis infuscate, with tibia III also with darkened apex; tarsi mainly dark. Male. Hypopygium rather robust, with stout dark apicoventral epandrial lobe and black club-shaped cercus with apical indentation. Distinct MSSCs lacking.

Description. Male. Body length: 2.8–3.0 mm; wing length: 3.0– 3.1 mm (n=3). Head. Face greyish white, slightly narrowing below antenna, parallel-sided at middle, at clypeus 0.7 x as wide as postpedicel is long; epistoma with shallow central furrow and a few dark setae, clypeus retracted, bare. Frons dark metallic green, only slightly dusted. Occiput dark metallic green, rather convex. Palpus very small, less than 1/10 of eye, circular, black, with dark pubescence and 1 black apical bristle. Proboscis brown. Eyes red, with green reflection in frontal view, with short and dense pubescence. All postocular bristles black. Three pairs of black postocellar bristles. Antenna entirely black, with postpedicel subcircular with blunt apex, as long as deep, and 1.2 x as long as scape and pedicel combined (pedicel overlapping dorsal edge of postpedicel); stylus dorsal, inserted at about apical 1/3, about 1.5 x as long as first three antennal segments combined, with microscopic pubescence. Thorax. Entirely dark metallic green, pleura dusted greyish; scutellum with 2 strong median and 2 minute lateral bristles, and dense black pubescence on disk and posterior margin. Group of 3–4 minute setae in front of posterior spiracle. Thoracic bristles black. Six dc, with 5th dc medially off-set; about 10–12 ac, biserial, reaching 6th dc, there with additional ac-sized bristles laterad of ac rows, ac about 1.5 x as long as distance between rows; 1 strong, and a few minute ant pprn, 1 internal and 1 external bas pprn, 1 psut ial, 1 equal-sized sut ial, 2 npl, 2 spal, and 1 pal bristles. Upper proepisternum with a few black setae, lower proepisternum with 1 strong black bristle and many black setae. Wing. Slightly infuscate. Vein R4+5 slightly curved, M1+2 rather straight, both slightly converging towards wing apex, and parallel at apex. Proximal section of M1+2 0.9 x as long as apical section. Proximal section of CuA1 1.8 x as long as apical section. CuA x ratio: 1.8. Halter white, calypteral fringe black. Legs. All coxae and femora blackish brown, tibiae entirely or mainly yellow, and tarsi mainly black. Bristles black. Coxa III with 1 strong external bristle, inserted at about centre. Trochanters brown in leg I, and brownish yellow in legs II–III (paler than femur). Femur I with extreme apex yellow; femur II with less than apical 1/10 yellow, with 1 strong ad and 1 small pv preapical bristles; with 1 av and 1 pv row of short indistinct inclined bristles along entire length; femur III with extreme apex yellow; with 1 strong ad preapical bristle, at about apical ¼; with 1 row of about 6 rather erect ds bristles on basal 1/3, about 1/2 as long as femur is deep. Tibia I yellow to brownish yellow, with extreme basis whitish with a brown ring in basal 1/5, with 1 ad bristle at basal 1/3, and ad serration of black bristles on apical 2/3, about as long as tibia is deep; with 2 ds (or pd) bristles, at basal 1/3 and 1/2, longest 2 x as long as tibia is deep. Tibia II yellow with extreme basis brown, with 3 strong ad and 2 strong pd bristles, 2.5– 3 x as long as tibia is deep, with basalmost bristle pair at basal 1/5; with 1 av bristle at apical 2/5, about 3 x as long as tibia is deep; with 5 (4 large, 1 small) ap bristles. Tibia III yellow to brownish yellow, with about basal 1/10 and apical 1/3 dark brown; with apical tooth on posterior face, articulating with small hook on taIII1; with 3 ad and 3 pd bristles, about 2.5– 3 x as long as tibia is deep; with pd serration on less than apical 2/5, and 3 large ap bristles, incl. one preapical ad bristle; with rather distinct pd row of bristles, especially on apical 2/3; with 2 vt bristles, apicalmost stronger, 2.5 x as long as tibia is deep. Tarsus I yellow, black from about apical 1/4 of taI1 onwards; tarsus II yellow, black from about apical 1/3 of taII1 onwards; tarsus III entirely black, taIII1 with some strong ventral bristles, two about as long as taIII1 is deep, and with small hook at extreme basis on posterior face. Length ratios of femur/tibia/tarsomeres 1–5 in leg I: 8.7/ 8.8/4.5/1.8/1.3/1/1.3, in leg II: 7.4/8.3/3.7/2.1/1.4/1/1.1, and in leg III: 7.2/8.7/2.5/2.9/1.8/1.3/1. Abdomen. With 5 pubescent tergites, T6 bare, visible, about 0.6 x as long as T5. Tergites and S2 dark metallic green, with black bristles, rather erect and long on S2. S3 rudimentary and S4-5 white, forming enclosure for hypopygium, with dense, black pubescence. Hypopygium rather robust, ovoid. Hypandrium rather long, slightly tapering and truncated at apex in ventral view. Apv epandrial lobe more stout, dark brown with white basis, and short, more abrupt apical bend. Cercus black, club-shaped, with distinct apical indentation. Female. Body length: 2.7–3.0 mm (n=2); wing length: 3.0 mm (n=1). As male, except for the following features: face parallel-sided, somewhat widened at clypeus, there 1.8 x as wide as postpedicel is long; clypeus somewhat bulging. Antenna: postpedicel about as long as deep, and 1.1 x as long as scape and pedicel combined; stylus about 1.6 x as long as first three antennal segments combined. Abdomen: 5 pubescent tergites, and T6 entirely enclosed in T5; sternites dark metallic green, with short black pubescence. Legs: tibia III without apical tooth, with 4 ap bristles, comprising 3 large and one preapical ad smaller bristle; taI1 with small ventral bristle at basis; taIII1 without small hook at basis. Length ratios of femur/ tibia/tarsomeres 1–5 in leg I: 8.8/8.7/4.2/1.7/1.2/1/1.3, in leg II: 8.1/9/3.9/2/1.3/1/1.1, and in leg III: 7/8.6/2.4/2.5/ 1.8/1.2/1.

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂, IRAN: East Azerbaijan, Arasbaran , Keleybar (forest), 38°51.920′ N, 46°49.886′E, 1675 m, 15.vi.2014, SW, leg. Samad Khaghaninia ( ICHMM) . PARATYPES: IRAN: 7♂, 6♀, West Azerbaijan, Khoy (montane grassland), 38°34.220′N, 44°50.896′E, 1305 m, 10.vi.2014, SW, leg. S. Khaghaninia ( ICHMM) ; 2♂, 2♀, same data ( MAPC) ; 1♂, West Azerbaijan, Urmia (grassland), 37°51.678′N, 44°58.388′E, 1602 m, 17.v.2014, SW, leg. S. Khaghaninia ( ICHMM) ; 3♂, 1♀, East Azerbaijan, Xumarlu (steppe forest—grassland), 39°00.277′ N, 46°54.238′E, 775 m, 20.vi.2014, SW, leg. S. Khaghaninia ( ICHMM) ; 2♂, East Azerbaijan, Xumarlu (steppe forest—grassland), 38°59.059′N, 46°53.425′E, 1167 m, 10.vii.2014, SW, leg. S. Khaghaninia ( TMUC) ; 4♂, East Azerbaijan, Arasbaran , Aynali (forest), 38°53.650′N, 46°46.819′E, 1227 m, 10.vii.2014, SW, leg. S. Khaghaninia ( ICHMM) ; 1♀, same data as holotype ; 1♂, East Azerbaijan, Arasbaran , Keleybar (forest), 38°51.548′N, 46°59.007′E, 1783 m, 1.vii.2013, SW, leg. S. Khaghaninia ( ICHMM) ; 1♂, same data ( MAPC) ; 4♂, 1♀, East Azerbaijan, Shabestar (grassland), 38°13.060′N, 45°47.254′E, 1634 m, 27.v.2013, SW, leg. S. Khaghaninia ( ICHMM) .

Distribution and ecology. Gymnopternus flavitibia sp. nov. has hitherto been encountered in the East and West Azerbaijan provinces of Iran, and seems to occur in different habitat types between 700 m and 1800 m with the largest sample collected in montane grasslands. All specimens were recorded from the end of May until the first half of July. Previously, this species was erroneously recorded from Iran as G. angustifrons ( Staeger, 1842) by Kazerani et al. (2015).

Etymology. Gymnopternus flavitibia sp. nov. differs from the other black-legged Iranian Gymnopternus by its yellow tibiae, hence its name. The species features otherwise no unique MSSCs.

Remarks. See under Gymnopternus atratus sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 15 – 17. Gymnopternus flavitibia sp. nov., male. (15) habitus: (16) antenna: (17) hypopygium.

FIGURES 18 – 19. Gymnopternus flavitibia sp. nov., male: (18) hypopygial appendages (scale 0.1 mm). Gymnopternus angustifrons: (19) hypopygial appendages (scale 0.1 mm). Abbreviations: apv lobe: apicoventral epandrial lobe, cerc: cercus, dsur: dorsal surstylar lobe, hyp: hypandrium, vsur: ventral surstylar lobe.