Platypalpus flavisetoides, 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 : 162-163

Platypalpus flavisetoides sp. nov.

( Fig. 1 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂: TURKEY, Akyaka , 40 m, forest, SW, 37°03′19″N, 28°19′36″E, Barták, Kubík, 26.iv.2016 ( CULSP).

Diagnosis. Species of P. albiseta group with entirely microtrichose anepisternum and lustrous mesoscutum including area just before scutellum.Acrostichals irregularly quadriserial and rather long. Legs predominantly yellow, fore femur short setose. Postpedicel nearly 3× longer than wide and stylus more than 3× longer than postpedicel.

Description. Male. Head black, dark grey microtrichose, clypeus lustrous. Frons very narrow (≈ 0.01 mm broad at narrowest point, narrower than diameter of front ocellus), slightly widening towards front ocellus. Face narrower than frons, linear, at middle scarcely half as wide as diameter of single ommatidium. Gena very narrow, inconspicuous. Antenna black, postpedicel 2.8× longer than broad, stylus white, 3.4× postpedicel. Palpus elongate oval, brownish yellow, with several rather long setae. Ocellar setae black (≈ 0.09 mm long, ocellar triangle with single pair of additional short setae behind anterior pair of ocellars). Single pair of vertical setae slightly longer (≈ 0.13 mm long), inserted 0.17 mm apart. Occiput with dark setae, only ventrally, just above proboscis with several white setae. Proboscis brown, lustrous, almost half as long as head height. Thorax brownish black, mesoscutum lustrous including front half of postpronotum and area just anterior to scutellum. Microtrichose parts: posterior half of postpronotum, narrow stripes at sides postpronotum and scutellum (long black notopleural seta on boundary between lustrous and microtrichose parts); pleura microtrichose except entire katepisternum. Both large and small setae brown to brownish yellow. Chaetotaxy: postpronotal seta absent (setae equally short as other small setae nearby); proepisternum without seta; acrostichals irregularly quadriserial (not arranged in rows) and relatively long (≈ 0.07 mm), dorsocentrals uniserial (last pairs not much longer and inclinate); notopleuron with single very long seta and only 1–2 small setae on anterior part; 1 postalar and 1 pair of scutellar setae (with 2 smaller pale hairs). Wing slightly brownish tinged, veins brown. R 4+5 and M 1 slightly divergent in middle and ending parallel. Crossveins contiguous. CuA strongly recurrent and S-shaped, vein CuA+CuP distinct and long. Costal seta dark. Squama yellow with yellow fringes. Halter pale yellow. Legs yellow, mostly dark setose (fore coxa entirely yellow and pale setose), tibiae and tarsi darkened, femora slightly brownish dorsally and apically. Fore femur narrow, with yellow antero- and posteroventral setae shorter than one third of femur diameter. Fore tibia narrow, short setose. Mid femur wider than fore femur, with 4 anterior and 5 anteroventral setae half as long as femur depth, black posteroventrals much longer, and usual two rows of ventral spines. Mid tibia narrow, short setose, with usual row of ventral spines, apical spur absent. Hind femur narrow, ventrally with setae as long as femur depth. Hind tibia narrow, short setose. Abdomen blackish-brown, lustrous, with short yellowish setae except long marginal setae on last segment. Terminalia ( Fig. 1 , undissected): microtrichose and covered with relatively long, dark setae. Left epandrial lamella narrow and elongate; right lamella large, right surstylus lustrous and triangle-shaped; right cercus ending in long slightly S-shaped, sickle-like and sharply tipped outgrowth directed ventrally. Female. Unknown. Length. Body 2.8 mm, wing 2.6 mm.

Etymology. The species name alludes to the similarity with P. flaviseta Chvála.

Distribution. Turkey.

Remarks. Platypalpus flavisetoides sp. nov. belongs to a group of species inside the P. albiseta group with anepisternum entirely microtrichose, mesoscutum largely lustrous and acrostichals irregularly quadriserial. This group includes P. flaviseta and another still undescribed species from Jordan (both differing in having a microtrichose spot on mesoscutum in front of scutellum) and another three species (two of them undescribed) without this microtrichose spot (the species described above differs from them in having yellow fore coxa and ocellars much shorter than postverticals). In the key to European species ( Grootaert & Chvála 1992), the new species will run to couplet 55 in having quadriserial acrostichals and eventually to P. flaviseta . The latter has the postpedicel about 4× as long as deep with the stylus about twice as long as postpedicel, a triangular microtrichose patch in front of scutellum, long setae on mesoscutum yellowish as well as yellow posteroventral setae on mid femur. Platypalpus flavisetoides sp. nov. has the postpedicel nearly 3× as long as deep with the stylus about 3.5× as long as postpedicel, mesoscutum shiny in front of scutellum, a black notopleural seta and black posteroventrals on mid femur. Main differences in genitalia of both species are in the length of the lamellae, all including cerci are subequally long in dorsal view in the newly described species and the right cercus ends in a sharply acute ventrally bent tip.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Platypalpus flavisetoides sp. nov., holotype male: terminalia in dorsal view. Scale 0.1 mm (photo M. Barták).