Platypalpus slovacus, Barták & Grootaert, 2024

Barták, Miroslav & Grootaert, Patrick, 2024, Description of twelve new species of Platypalpus Macquart from Europe and the Middle East (Diptera, Empidoidea, Hybotidae), Zootaxa 5443 (2), pp. 161-185 : 181-182

Platypalpus slovacus sp. nov.

( Figs 18 , 19 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂: SLOVAKIA, Horša , 230 m, MT [= Malaise trap], 5–15.v.2017, 48.252N, 18.699E, L. Vidlička, O. Majzlan ( CULSP) . PARATYPES: SLOVAKIA, same data as holotype (1 ♂, 4 ♀) ; same data except, 30.iii.–26.iv.2017 (1 ♀)—( CULSP) .

Diagnosis. Medium sized species of the P. pallidiventris —cursitans group with black silvery microtrichose head and thorax and yellow abdomen except contrastingly dark male genitalia. A single pair of vertical setae. Antennae with basal segments yellow, postpedicel yellow in male and darkened on apical half in female. Katepisternum entirely microtrichose. Palpus yellow. Acrostichals biserial. Legs pale yellow, mid tibia with long, blunt apical spur ending in a spine in male but broadly oval in ventral view in female.

Description. Male ( Fig. 18 ). Head black, silvery grey microtrichose, face yellowish, clypeus contrastingly black and probably lustrous (better visible in female), almost entirely covered by very long setulae originating from lower part of face. Frons broad (≈ 0.08 mm at ventral part—slightly wider than pedicel and ≈ 0.10 mm at level of anterior ocellus). Face wide (≈ 0.10 mm broad at middle) and distinctly keel-like. Gena rather broad and microtrichose.Antenna yellow, extreme tip of postpedicel and stylus brown. Postpedicel 1.9–2.2× longer than broad, stylus 1.3–1.5× postpedicel. Palpus pale yellow, rather large (almost as long as labrum), drop-like with distinct tip, with several setae. Ocellar setae whitish yellow, long (≈ 0.19 mm), ocellar triangle with single posterior pair of long setae half as long as anterior pair. Single pair of strong, long crossed vertical setae (≈ 0.22 mm), inserted 0.15 mm apart. Occiput with whitish yellow setae, dense especially in posterior lower part. Proboscis brownish black, lustrous, almost half as long as head height. Thorax black, entirely very light silvery microtrichose including katepisternum. All setae whitish yellow. Chaetotaxy: 1 long postpronotal seta; acrostichals biserial and rather long (≈ 0.10 mm), about 10 setae in one row), dorsocentrals irregularly biserial, posteriorly somewhat longer than acrostichals, ending in 2 larger pairs; notopleuron with 1 long seta and several additional setae half as long; 1 postalar and 1 pair of scutellar setae (with 2 smaller pale hairs). Wing membrane clear, veins pale yellow. R 4+5 and M 1 slightly converging apically. Crossveins broadly separated. CuA slightly recurrent and nearly straight, CuA+CuP distinct and long. Costal seta yellow. Squama yellow with yellow fringes. Halter pale yellow. Legs pale yellow including tarsi and knees, pale setose (except black ventral spines on mid legs). Fore femur slightly thickened, with yellow antero- and posteroventral setae about as long as femur depth. Fore tibia narrow, short pale setose. Mid femur more thickened, with two rows of ventral spines, posteroventrals yellow, about as long as femur depth. Mid tibia with usual row of black ventral spines; apical spur longer than tibia depth, blunt and darkened apically, ending in spine. Hind femur and tibia narrow, short setose, unremarkable. Abdomen yellow, lustrous, tergites 1–3 microtrichose anteriorly at sides; genitalia (except cerci) contrastingly blackish brown. All setae whitish yellow, sternites with rather long posteromarginal setae. Terminalia ( Fig. 19 ): cerci yellowish, equally long, digitiform, rather long ( Fig. 19B ). Right border of right epandrial lamella set with row of short setulae ( Fig. 19A ). Left epandrial lamella elongate-oval, left border straight, densely set with very long multiserial setae, longer than lamella width ( Fig. 19C ). Female. Similar to male, with following exceptions: postpedicel brownish in apical half, midtibial spur without apical hair, rounded in ventral view, last three abdominal tergites microtrichose, sternite 8 with lustrous stripe. Length. Body 2.7 mm, wing 2.8–3.0 mm (male); body 2.9–3.5, wing 3.0– 3.2 mm (female).

Etymology. The species name reflects the country of origin, Slovakia.

Distribution. Slovakia.

Remarks. Platypalpus slovacus sp. nov. is very similar to P. dessarti Grootaert in having katepisternum microtrichose, yellow abdomen and yellow postpedicel in the male. However, it differs in many characters, e.g., the newly described species has the tarsi entirely yellow, spur on mid tibia is blunt and left border of left epandrial lamella is almost straight, and female postpedicel is darkened on apical half.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Platypalpus slovacus sp. nov., paratype male (photo Isabella Van de Velde).

FIGURE 19. Platypalpus slovacus sp. nov., paratype male, terminalia. A. Right epandrial lamella; B. Epandrium with cerci, dorsal view; C. Left epandrial lamella, lateral. Scale 0.1mm (image Patrick Grootaert).