Chelipoda meenamluang, Plant, 2009

Plant, Adrian R., 2009, Diversity Of Chelipoda Macquart, 1823 (Diptera: Empididae: Hemerodromiinae) In Northern Thailand With Discussion Of A Biodiversity ‘ Hot Spot’ At Doi Inthanon, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57 (2), pp. 255-277 : 267-268

Chelipoda meenamluang , new species

( Fig. 11 )

Material examined. – Holotype. Male, THAILAND: Chiang Mai, Doi Inthanon National Park, Checkpoint 2, 18°31.554'N 98°29.940'E, 1,700 m, Malaise trap, coll. Y. Areeluck, 24–30 Aug.2006 ( QSBG, T232 ).

Paratypes. Same data as holotype; 1 male, 1 female, 9–16 Aug.2006 ( QSBG, T180 ): 2 males, 3 females, 16–24 Aug.2006 ( NMWC, T187 ); 3 males, 1 female, 29 Dec.2006 – 5 Jan.2007 ( QSBG, T1897 ); 2 males, 2–9 Feb.2007 ( NMWC, T1793 ); 5 males, 3 females, 23 Feb. –2 Mar.2007 ( NMWC, T1775 ); 1 male, 2 females, 2–9 Mar.2007 ( QSBG, T1781 ); 1 male, 15–22 Mar.2007 ( QSBG, T1845 ); 5 females, 1–8 May.2007 ; Kew Ma Trail, 18°33.162'N 98°28.810'E, 2,200 m, 1 female, 16–23 Mar.2007 ( QSBG, T1813 ); 1 male, 23 Mar. –1 May.2007 [1 Apr.2007?]. ( QSBG, T1819 ): Summit Marsh, 18°35.361'N 98°29.157'E, 2,500 m, pan trap, 1 male, 24–25 feb.2007 ( QSBG, T1763 ) .

Diagnosis. – Similar to C. hubeiensis with head and thorax black, including propleuron but thoracic setae and spines on F 1 yellow and male sternites 7 & 8 with numerous yellow setae.

Description. – Male. Body length 2.5 mm. Head black, extensively dusted; vt and ocl strong, yellow; upper upo weaker, darker; other upo and lpo much smaller, latter merging into sparse patch of pale pile behind mouth. Basal antennal segments yellowish; poped dark (vaguely paler about base), slightly more than 3× long as wide; stylus dark, 2× long as poped. Palp greyish yellow with strong dark terminal seta. Proboscis dark.

Thorax black or reddish black, extensively dusted. All setae yellow including two dc, one npl and one sa all strong, sct rather weaker; a few small setae on humeral and posthumeral area and on scutum posteriorly

Legs yellow, tarsomeres 4–5 darker. C 1 0.8–0.85× as long as thorax, anterior setulae, yellow, inconspicuous, becoming slightly longer distally, no distinct anterobasal seta. F 1 distinctly inflated, 3.4× as long as wide, widest 0.35 from base; femoral formula 5(5–6)/16(14–18)/13(11–15)/5(5–7) +2–4 ( Table 1), the basal spines consisting of 1–2 smaller setae in line with and basal to both av and pv series; spines yellow, denticles black. T 1 0.7–0.75× as long as F1.

Abdomen dark brown; tergites 5 and 6 with some distinct setae dorsally on posterior margin; sternites 7 and 8 with numerous strong yellowish setae. Epan and Hypan fused, somewhat triangular in lateral view ( Fig.11 ), brownish, less strongly sclerotized and yellowish immediately posterior of cercus, bearing dark setae posteriorly; left and right lamellae narrowly separated by unpigmented densely micropilose membrane. Cercus dark brown, rather paler posteriorly; fused with Epan + Hypan; three strong black inwardly curving dorsal setae; an anteriorly directed process rather club-shaped apically bearing a strong dorsal subapical seta. Subepandrial process dark, narrow, situated close to inner surface of cercus. Phallus yellowish, slender, distal section almost linear, reaching to end of cercus.

Wing with membrane clear and veins yellowish. Squamae dark yellow. Halter yellowish white.

Female. Antenna with poped more uniformly dark and stylus slightly longer than in male

Femoral formula 5(5–6)/18(15–23)/14(12–17)/5(5–6) +1, the small basal spine in line with av series and occasionally a much smaller one in line with pv series. Abdomen brown, paler ventrally; cercus moderately long.

Etymology. – The specific epithet is a contraction of the Thai words for spiny, mee ngaam, and the colour yellow, see luang, in reference to the yellow spines on the front femur.

Remarks. – The male genitalia superficially resemble C. nigraristata Yang, Grootaert & Horvat, 2004 , from the Nanling Mountains in China, however in that species the cercus is broadly triangular ( Fig. 3 in Yang et al. 2004), lacking a dorsobasal rounded swelling. C. nigraristata also apparently has pale rather than yellow setae on the head, three pairs of dc and only a very weak npl. C. meenamluang is so far known only from Doi Inthanon in Thailand with most records at 1,700 m in February–May, August and December.

Figures

Figs. 7–11. Male genitalia of Chelipoda species in lateral view: 7. C. kameawuta new species; 8. C. laisoma new species; 9. C. macrosceles new species; 10. C. manggawna new species; 11. C. meenamluang new species.

Figs. 1–6. Male genitalia of Chelipoda species in lateral view: 1. C. chaiamnata new species; 2. C. flavida Brunetti; 3. C. guangxiensis Yang & Yang; 4. C. inthawichayanona new species: 5–6 C. hubeiensis Yang & Yang; 5. typical form; 6. variant (outline only).