Micromorphus rishikeshensis Grichanov, 2022

Grichanov, I. Ya., 2022, First reliable record of the genus Micromorphus Mik, 1878 (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from the Oriental Region, with the description of a new species from India, Russian Entomological Journal 31 (4), pp. 422-425 : 423-425

Micromorphus rishikeshensis Grichanov sp.n.

Figs 1–7.

MATERIAL. Holotype ♂, India, Northwest Reg., Uttarakhand, Rishikesh at: 30.1093°N, 78.309°E, Ganga River , 12–13.IV.2012, K.Tomkovich leg. ( ZMUM). Holotype in good condition; male terminalia dissected and stored in glycerin in microvial pinned with the specimen .

DESCRIPTION. Male ( Fig. 1). Head ( Fig. 2). Frons black, grey pollinose; vertical seta black, long, as long as ocellar seta; 1 short blackish postvertical seta positioned far from postocular setal row; postocular setae entirely white; 1 upper seta longer than others; eyes distinctly separated anteriorly; face (somewhat shrunken) black, grey pollinose, un- der antennae at least 2 times wider than at clypeus; palpus and proboscis black; palpus irregularly rounded, with strong black seta and dark hairs; antenna black; scape small, vaselike; pedicel larger, globular, with ring of short setulae; postpedicel subtriangular, as long as high, long haired; arista-like stylus mid-dorsal, 3 times as long as main segments of antenna combined, microscopically pubescent, with thick 1st and filiform 2nd segment of arista; length (mm) of scape, pedicel, postpedicel, stylus: 0.05/0.05/0.08/0.44.

Thorax. Mesonotum and scutellum black, weakly pollinose, with black bristles; pleura covered with white pruinosity; 1 postalar, 2 postsutural supra-alar, 1 sutural, 1 presutural, 1 humeral, 1 posthumeral, 2 notopleural bristles; no acrostichals; 5 strong dorsocentral bristles decreasing in size anteriorly; 5th bristle slightly shifted towards lateral margin; proepisternum with 1 strong black bristle and 1 short hair-like seta above fore coxa; 1 pair of scutellar bristles, without lateral hairs.

Legs. Coxae black; femora blackish brown; tibiae and basitarsi brownish yellow; 3 apical segments of tarsi brown-black; fore and mid coxae with long dark setae in distal half; hind coxa with 1 long dark outer setae at middle; mid and hind trochanters having 1 fine dorsal seta; fore femur with 2–3 very short brown ventral setae at base ( Fig. 4); fore tibia and tarsus simple, without strong bristles; mid femur simple, bearing 1 strong anterior subapical bristle; mid tibia simple, with 1 strong anterodorsal bristle and 1 posterodorsal seta, with 3 apical setae; no ventral setae; tarsus simple; hind femur with 1 strong anterior subapical seta and somewhat elongate dorsal setulae at base; hind tibia simple, with 1 strong anterior bristle at basal third, 2 short posterodorsal, few very short ventral, 3–4 simple short apical setae; hind basitarsus with short basoventral seta; femur, tibia and tarsomere (from first to fifth) length ratio (mm): fore leg: 0.52/0.51/0.28/0.15/0.11/0.07/0.07; mid leg: 0.58/0.64/0.39/0.2/ 0.14/0.08/0.07; hind leg: 0.58/0.73/0.23/0.23/0.11/0.08/0.07.

Wing ( Fig. 3). Greyish, veins brown; costal setulae and hairs at base slightly longer than those at wing apex; costal setulae reaching R 2+3; costa simple; ratio of part of costa between R 2+3 and R 4+5 to that between R 4+5 and M 1+2, 0.24/0.21; R 2+3, R 4+5 and M 1+2 almost straight; R 2+3 and R 4+5 slightly diverging towards wing apex; R 4+5 and M 1+2 slightly diverging in distal half; ratio of dm–m to apical part of M 4, 0.12/0.38; crossvein dm–cu somewhat weaker than adjacent longitudinal veins, slightly convex, forming right angles with M 1+2 and M 4; posterior wing margin convex right before M 4; lower calypter yellow-brown, with dark cilia; halter yellow-brown.

Abdomen. black, with black hairs and marginal setae, cylindrical (somewhat shrunken); 5–6th sterna small; 6th tergum well developed, bare; 7th segment concealed in dry specimen; 8th segment brown-black, large, covering about half of left lateral surface of epandrium, covered with short setae; epandrium ( Fig. 5) black, globular, slightly longer than high; hypandrium basoventral, narrow, straight at apex; phallus simple and narrow; appendages brown, symmetric; midventral epandrial lobe digitiform, narrow, with 2 very long pedunculate setae at apex and thin process basally bearing long seta; distoventral epandrial lobe thin, almost reaching apex of surstylus, right-angularly curved at apex, with short preapical spine and long pedunculate seta at base; surstylus projected, with thin straight lobes bearing few short setae; dorsal lobe of surstylus with 1 thick apical seta; postgonite projected between surstyli, with narrowly divided lobes (ventral aspect: Fig. 6) covered with spicules distally; cercus ( Fig. 7) with long narrow ventral plate bearing 2 thick apical and 2 simple preapical setae in one row; basodorsal cercal plate small, subtriangular, bearing strong pedunculate bristles dorsally.

Measurements (mm). Body length 1.5; antenna length 0.6; wing length 1.9; wing width 0.7.

Female. Unknown.

ETYMOLOGY: Toponimic, referring to the Rishikesh city in the Indian state Uttarakhand.

DIAGNOSIS. Micromorphus rishikeshensis sp.n. male keys to Afrotropical M. ugandensis Grichanov, 2013 , differing 424 I.Ya. Grichanov from the latter in black coxae and blackish femora, slightly shorter legs (e.g., hind tarsus as long as hind tibia), distal part of M4 and dm-m length ratio (3.2/1) and hypopygium morphology. Micromorphus ugandensis male has yellow coxae and femora, slightly longer legs (hind tarsus 1.2 times as long as hind tibia), distal part of M4 and dm-m length ratio (3.7/1) [ Grichanov, 2013]. In the key to Palaearctic species of the genus [ Negrobov, 2000], M. rishikeshensis sp.n. goes to doubtful M. paludosus ( Karl, 1921) described from environs of Słupsk in northern Poland. It was described in the former genus Oligochaetus Mik, 1878 (now Medetera Fischer von Waldheim, 1819 ) with such unusual characters as deep black face and white-grey dusted clypeus, hind tibia with full ventral row of short setae of equal length, hypopygium big, elongaterounded, with band-like cercus and yellow, long and filiform surstylus [ Karl, 1921]. The species was placed in synonymy to M. albipes [see Stackelberg, 1962] or M. claripennis (Strobl, 1899) [ Negrobov, 1991] or was considered a true Micromorphus species [ Negrobov, 2000], but was never collected again, never studied and illustrated. Oligochaetus paludosus has most probably nothing to do with the genus Micromorphus and must be considered incertae sedis.

4 1 2 3 5 6 7

Hypopygium of M. rishikeshensis sp.n. is very different from that in M.albipes [ Grichanov, Viklund, 2007: fig. 1], being closest to the hypopygium of M. jinshanensis [ Wang et al., 2009: fig. 13] known from environs of Beijing ( China) and Khanka Lake shore (Russian Primorye). Nevertheless, M. jinshanensis hypopygium was figured with short ventral plate of cercus bearing row of 7 dorsal setae; basodorsal cercal plate relatively large, rounded. Micromorphus rishikeshensis sp.n. male has cercus with long narrow ventral plate bearing 2 thick apical and 2 simple preapical setae in one row; basodorsal cercal plate small, subtriangular. The shape and setation of distoventral epandrial lobe and surstylus are also different in the two species.