Ceroptera minuscula, Papp, LÁsZLÓ, 2014

Papp, LÁsZLÓ, 2014, A Review Of The Old World Species Of Ceroptera Macquart, 1835 (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 60 (2), pp. 109-155 : 139-141

Ceroptera minuscula sp. n.

(Figs 71–77)

Holotypemale ( BMSA): NAMIBIA: TsumkweDist., WestofXawashaPark, 19°09’57”S 20°52’55”E, 27. xii. 1998, ex. human faeces baited trap, coll. D. J. Mann – 2). The wings were originally strongly crumpled; in the course of this study they were removed, washed in water and alcohol and put between two small pieces of cover glass and pinned through a smallcard (glued) belowthecollectionspecimen .

Measurements in mm: body length 1.52 (holotype), wing length 1.15, wing width 0.54.

Head very long, 0.30 mm, similar to that of C. inermis , i.e. strongly protruding at mouthedgeandbetweenantennae (inprofilestronglyconcave), butwithoutthatanterior shieldabovemouthopening. Headsetaeasincongenersbutverticalscomparativelylong- er, e.g. vti 0.14 mmlong. 7 pairsofmedium-longinterfrontalsetae. Parafacialia 0.04 mm broad, setulaethereshortandsparse. Gena 0.10 mmbroad, longitudinalaxisofeye 0.17 mm, width 0.13 mm. Vibrissa 0.12 mm long. Antenna dorsally 0.14 mm. First flagellomere slightlybroaderthelong, broadlyrounded. Dorsalapicalsetaofpedicel 0.17 mm. Arista subapicalonfirstflagellomere 0.57 mmlongwithveryshortcilia.

0 + 1 dorsocentralpair. Nospecificfeaturesonscutumorscutellum. Only 1 katepister- nalsetadiscernible.

Legsmostlybrown, tarsi, kneesandbasesoffemorareddishyellow. Midtibiawith anterodorsal setae at 12/28, 19/28 and other 2 more proximal shorter setae (see key); a 0.09 mm long dorsal seta at 20/28. No posterodorsal or anteroventral seta but a strong ventroapicalpresent. Anteriorapicalsetaofmidbasitarsusandventralapicalsetaofhindtibia both 0.04 mm long.

Wingmembranelightbrownish, veinsochre, basalveinsR1 andcostalveinlight brown. Costal vein at apex of R 1 with a 0.06 mm long seta. Costal setae short, 0.02 mm only. CostaoverrunningapexofRon 4+5 lyslightly. Costalveinratherthick, 0.02 mmatthe level of R-M. Second costal section 0.48 m, third section 0.0. 34 mm, index 1.41. Rs 0.11 mm, inter-crossvein secton of M 1+2 0.19 mm, terminal section 0.46 mm, M-M crossvein 0.11 mm. Vein R 4+5 rather straight. Discal cell’ s lower edge is 0.24 mm from wing margin, of which c. 3/5 aveinstubisdiscernible.

Syntergite (Fig. 72) not large (0.18 mm long, 0.31 mm broad), tergite 1 portion mostly membranous, tergite 2 portionwithalargeU-shapeddepigmentationmedially. Preabdominalscleritesnotreduced, sternitesasbroadasabdomen, tergitesalmostso. Sternite 2 slightlydepigmentedanteriorly.Measurements (widthsintheirnatural, i.e. slightlycurved position): tergite 3 0.10 × 0.29, tergite 4 0.13 × 0.28, tergite 5 0.14 × 0.25 mm, sternite 2 0.09 × 0.25, sternite 3 0.13 × 0.31, sternite 4 0.14 × 0.34 mm. Sternite 5 (Fig. 71) rather simple, only emarginatedcaudallywithmanymedium-longmarginalandsubmarginalsetae. Sternite 6 portionofthesynsternitemediallyperpendiculartoabdominalaxis (i.e. stronglyconcave, Fig. 73), seems short in ventral view, also medial edges of sternite 7 and parts of sternite 8 portionconcave, slightlydorsallycurved. Asaconsequence, ventralpartofsynsternite formsaconcavecavitytoembracegenitalia. Rightsidescleritesnotlarge.

Genitaliasmallnotonlyrelativelybutinabsolutesense, e.g. phallapodeme 0.17 mm only (measure it with scale bar on Fig. 76). Epandrium only 0.15 mm high, dorsally 0.07

Figs 71–77. Ceroptera minuscula sp. n., male postabdomen and genitalia: 71 = sternite 5, ventral view, 72 = abdominal tergite 1+2, dorsal view, 73 = synsternite 6–8, subcaudal (!) view, 74 = leftcercusandsurstyluswithlefthalfofsubepandrialsclerite, subcaudal- subventral view, 75 = surstylus, broadest (lateral) view, 76 = phallusandphallapodeme, lateralview, 77 = postgonite, lateral view. Scales: 0.2 mm for Figs 71–73, 0.1 mm for Figs 74–77.

mmlong, slightlyenlargedventrally, fusedsagittallyonashortsection. Subepandrialsclerite (Fig. 74) comparativelylarge. Cercusratherlargewithsomelongsetae (Fig. 74). Sagittal connection of cerci very short. Cerci + surstyli complex fused to a large extent, that onecannotdecideontheirborders. Surstylusbilobedwithanteriorlobemuchshorter (Fig. 75), withoutlongsetae. Basiphallusrobust (Fig. 76) butwithoutanytraceofepiphal- lus. Distiphallus (Fig. 76) consistsof 2 strongerlaterallathsandasagittalshortersclerite (distiphallusslightlybroadeneddistally. Postgonite (Fig. 77) comparativelylarge, broad ventrally with short anterior apex.

Femaleunknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet in the name refers to its very small size.

Remark. C. minuscula sp. n. isthesmallestknownspeciesof Ceroptera , its bodylengthisonly 1.5 mm. Thedetailsofthemalegenitalia (particularlyso foritsverybroadbutpointedpostgonite) makeitdefinitelyseparablefrom the other species of the group.