Teuchophorus anomalus, Meuffels & Grootaert, 2004

Meuffels, Henk & Grootaert, Patrick, 2004, The genus Teuchophorus in South-East Asia and New Guinea, description of new species, species-groups and their phylogeny (Insecta, Diptera, Dolichopodidae), Journal of Natural History 38 (2), pp. 143-258 : 215-217

Species 44: Teuchophorus anomalus sp. nov. (male and female) (figures 178–183)

Etymology. Gr. anómalos, ‘anomalous’, alluding to the unusual yellow colouring of the body.

Diagnosis. Large species with mostly yellow thorax. Costa feebly thickened. Legs yellow, feebly bristled; middle femur with a row of weak bristles near base. Middle and hind femora each with a weak anterior preapical. Hind femur without further bristles.

Material examined. Type material: Papua New Guinea, Madang province, Baiteta , 25 May 1995,    male and      25 males, 11 females (No. 95064, sweeping along a brook in a primary rain forest); 25 May 1995, six males, one female (No. 95063). All leg. P. Grootaert.

Male

Body length 1.9–2.3 mm; wing length 1.7–1.9 mm.

Head. Frons broad, with shining greenish black ground colour. Face with blackish ground colour, narrowing downwards; at its narrowest point nearly as wide as width of third antennal segment. Palpi small, brownish yellow to brown, with a small black apical bristlet. Rostrum yellow. Chaetotaxy as usual, two tiny postocellars. Postoculars uniseriate, black. Occiput blackish green, convex. Antenna (figure 178): short; first segment brownish yellow to brown, bare; second segment dark brown, with a circlet of short bristlets; third segment brownish yellow with brown base, about triangular with a rather acute apex, slightly longer than deep. Arista dorsal, more than twice as long as antenna, very shortly pubescent; basal aristal segment about as long as third antennal segment.

Thorax. Thorax yellow; a slightly flattened roundish area in front of scutellum shining brown to dark brown, with metallic green gloss; scutellum brownish yellow with slightly darkened border; three feeble brownish lines may be seen running along the rows of acr and dc. Acr uniseriate, short; five dc. Scutellum with two large marginals, each flanked by a very short hair. No propleural bristle.

Legs. Coxae and legs yellow; tarsi slightly darkened towards tips; hind tarsus may be brown; hind tibia may be brownish. Middle coxa without brown streak.

Fore leg. Coxa anteriorly with short black hairs, growing longer towards tip of coxa; near tip one weak black bristle. Trochanter bare. Femur with only a very feeble posterior preapical. Tibia without bristles and without serration. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.5: 0.275: 0.1:0.08: 0.07:0.09.

Mid leg (figure 179). Coxa towards apex with short black hairs; no exterior bristle. Trochanter with some tiny black hairs. Femur ventrally near base with a row of about five small-sized black bristles, hardly as long as diameter of femur; one short anterior preapical; one rather strong posteroventral preapical. Tibia with two ad, one pd, one av and a circlet of weak apicals; hairs of the av row lengthened. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.7: 0.25:0.15:0.125: 0.075: 0.1.

Hind leg. Coxa with a black exterior bristle. Trochanter with some thin black hairlets. Femur (figure 180) with a small anterior preapical; anteroventrally on apical half a row of short, weak hairs. Tibia (figure 180) with three dorsal bristles; anteroventrally on basal half a row of some hair-like bristles; a circlet of very weak apicals. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.8:0.15:0.25: 0.175: 0.125: 0.1.

Wing. Wing (figure 181) hyaline, slightly brownish tinged. Costa feebly thickened at apex of r1; this thickening tapers towards tip of r2+3. Apical parts of r4+5 and m1+2 feebly diverging towards their apices. Length ratio of basal and apical parts of m1+2: 9:16. Anal vein only indicated as a fold. Halters yellow. Squamae yellow with darkened border and dark cilia.

Abdomen. Terga dark brown, feebly shining. Tergum I may be partly yellowish; tergum II may have a roundish brownish yellow spot at each side. Hairs and marginal bristles on terga short, black. Sterna brown, sternum I lighter coloured. Hypopygium (figures 182, 183) small, brown; cerci yellowish with short yellow hairs.

Female

Body length 1.6–2.2 mm; wing length 1.5–2.0 mm.

Head. Face hardly broader than in male. Antennae: third segment about as long as wide.

Fore leg. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.5:0.275:0.1: 0.09: 0.07:0.09.

Mid leg. Femur without row of ventral bristles near base; posteroventral preapical less strong than in male. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.7:0.275:0.15:0.125:0.1:0.1.

Hind leg. Tibia without anterodorsal row of hair-like bristles. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.8: 0.15:0.225:0.15:0.1:0.1.

Abdomen. Abdomen coloured as in male. Genital parts yellow, with a series of short black acanthae.

Discussion

Compared with other New Guinea Teuchophorus species , this species stands apart by its larger size and the yellow colouring of its thorax (hence its name anomalus ).