Platypalpus yangambensis, Grootaert & Shamshev, 2014

Grootaert, Patrick & Shamshev, Igor, 2014, New species of Platypalpus (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, European Journal of Taxonomy 103, pp. 1-20 : 15-18

Platypalpus yangambensis sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C6BF7E87-A8E1-4D0E-8EC0-65366CAEBC2F

Figs 32–38

Diagnosis

A medium-sized black species of the minutus-group with two pairs of indistinct vertical bristles. Scutum shining black; pleura brownish black dusted but katepisternum largely polished. Legs yellow but mid femur with narrow ventral brown stripe that is shortly interrupted near middle and hind femur a black ring in middle. Mid tibia half as long as femur, with a strong sharp spur.

Etymology

The specific epithet refers to the type locality, Yangambi.

Type material

Holotype

♂, DR Congo, Yangambi , 27 May 2013, primary mixed forest, path to GIL4 sweeping from 9.05 am to 9.45 am (0°47’32.65” N 24°31’42.33” E; reg. 33010; leg. P. Grootaert; MS name Plat 1).

Paratypes

1 ♂ from same provenance as holotype ( RBINS); 1 ♂ with same provenance as holotype in tray Entomo001 at position E4, completely extracted with barcode AB48937135 ( RBINS); 1 ♂ with same provenance as holotype with mid leg in tray Entomo004 at position A3 with barcode AB42406113 has been extracted for DNA ( RBINS); 1 ♀, Yangambi, 26 May 2013, primary mixed forest, MIX4 (0°47’12.80” N 24°31’24.85” E; reg. 33007; leg. P. Grootaert) ( RBINS); 1 ♂, Yangambi, 27 May 2013, primary mixed forest, sweeping along path to MIX4 from 2.15 pm to 3.05 pm (0°48’04.69” N 24°31’37.87” E; reg. 33015, leg. P. Grootaert) male completely extracted in tray Entomo001 at position E3 with barcode AB48937141 ( RBINS). The COI barcodes are available in GenBank with accession numbers: KJ768330 , KJ768331 and KJ768332 .

Description

Male

LENGTH. Body 3.0 mm; wing 2.4 mm.

HEAD. Entirely black in ground-colour. Occiput entirely faintly greyish pollinose; with 2 pairs of dark very short verticals (hardly distinguished from other occipital setae), further clothed with short bristly hairs, longer setae on lower part. Ocellar tubercle greyish pollinose, with 2 dark, short anterior and 2 minute posterior setae. Frons widened toward ocellar tubercle, above antennae nearly 1.5 times as broad as anterior ocellus, shining. Face narrow, greyish pollinose, clypeus subshining. Antenna ( Fig. 33 ) with scape and pedicel black, postpedicel brown; postpedicel conical, about 3.0 times as long as wide; stylus dirty white, nearly 1.5 times as long as postpedicel. Proboscis brownish, long, nearly as long as head is high. Palpus ( Fig. 33 ) yellow, ovate, short, with scattered setulae and a long, brown subapical seta.

THORAX. ( Fig. 33 ). Largely brown, postalar ridge yellow, anepisternum (= mesopleuron) along posterior margin, katepisternum (= sternopleuron) on upper posterior corner and anepimeron (= pteropleuron) and meron (= hypopleuron) yellowish brown; scutum (except notopleural depression) shining, sternopleuron with large shining spot; long bristles brownish. Postpronotal lobe moderately large, with 1 short, fine seta and several setulae. Mesonotum with 2 notopleurals (posterior longer), 1 short postalar and 4 scutellars (apical pair long and cruciate, lateral pair very short); acrostichals very short, arranged in 2 almost regular, very broadly spaced rows; dorsocentrals uniserial, nearly as long as acrostichals.

LEGS. Almost entirely yellow; fore and hind coxae and trochanters almost white; mid coxae yellowish; mid femur with narrow ventral brown stripe (interrupted before middle), hind femur with broad brownish ring on apical part leaving narrow subapical space yellow, knees of mid and hind legs brownish. Coxae and trochanters with ordinary yellowish to brownish setae of different lengths. Fore femur moderately thickened, with minute pale brown anteroventral and posteroventral setae; a strong brown posterior seta near base of femur. Fore tibia very thickened, spindle-shaped, clothed with ordinary setulae. Mid femur ( Fig. 35 ) about 1.5 times stouter and almost twice longer than fore femur; with double row of black ventral spinules and row of long, brown posteroventral setae. Mid tibia about half as long as femur, with long pointed apical spur bearing 2 subapical setulae of different lengths. Hind femur slender, with short anteroventral setae. Hind tibia slender, clothed with ordinary setulae. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

WING. ( Fig. 34 ). Finely, uniformly faintly infuscate, with brownish veins. One short black costal seta. Veins R 4+5 and M 1+2 convergent just before meeting wing margin. Crossveins m-cu and r-m separated; bm longer and slightly broader than br. Vein CuA 2 somewhat sinuate, not recurrent. Anal vein distinct in apical part and evanescent in basal part. Calypter brown, with brown setae. Halter darkened.

ABDOMEN. With tergites brown, subshining, covered with very short setae; sternites somewhat paler, with similar setation; segment 8 with several moderately long yellowish brown posteromarginal setae. Terminalia ( Figs 32 , 36–38 ) moderately large, brown. Both cerci equally long, fine digitiform, not protruding from epandrial lamellae. Right and left epandrial lamellae equally long.

Female

Palpus elongate, about half as long as labrum, pointed. Fore tibia almost slender, somewhat stouter basally. Abdomen with tergites 1–5 brown, subshining, covered with scattered setulae, tergites 6–8 paler, sternites pale; cercus narrow, brownish.

Comparison

This species does not resemble any of Smith’s species (1967a, 1967b, 1969). It might be compared with P. gracilipes Smith, 1967 described from Tanzania ( Smith 1967a) but in the latter the proboscis is short, less than half head height while in the new species the proboscis is as long as head is high.

Distribution

DR Congo.

Figures

Figs 32–35. Platypalpus yangambensis sp. nov., paratype ♂. 32. Habitus, lateral view. 33. Head and thorax, lateral view. 34. Wing. 35. Mid leg, anterior view.

Figs 36–38. Platypalpus yangambensis sp. nov., paratype ♂. 36. Right epandrial lamella. 37. Epandrium with cerci, dorsal view. 38. Left epandrial lamella. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.