Pipunculus planus, Ramos-Pastrana & Marques & Rafael, 2023

Ramos-Pastrana, Yardany, Marques, Dayse Willkenia A. & Rafael, José Albertino, 2023, Pipunculus Latreille, 1802 (Diptera: Pipunculidae) of Colombia, with description of three new species and an updated key to males of the Neotropical species, Zootaxa 5389 (4), pp. 459-472 : 465-466

Pipunculus planus sp. nov.

Figs 27–39 , 40

Type material. (5 ♂). HOLOTYPE. Male: COLOMBIA, Boyacá, SFF [ Santuario de Fauna y Flora] Iguaque, Qda.[Quebrada] Los Mudos, Malaise , 05º44’N / 73º26’W, 2840 m [eters], 14.II–14.III.2003, P. Reina leg., M3637 (1 ♂, IAvH) (photographed specimen) . PARATYPES. idem Cab. [Cabaña] Chaina , 05º25’N / 73º27’W, 2550 m [eters], 01–14.feb. [II].2001, A. Roberto leg., M1271 (2 ♂, LEUA) ; idem (1 ♂, LEUA) ; idem (1 ♂, INPA) . Holotype with left wing mounted on a microslide with Canada balsam. Left antenna and terminalia placed in a microvial with glycerin, both pinned along the specimen.

Diagnosis. Male.Antenna dark brown; postpedicel with acute apex. Wing with anal lobe large. Coxae shiny dark brown. Mid tibia with distinct apical spines; hind tibia with an acute process posteroapically and outstanding setae anteromedially.Abdomen velvety dark brown, brown pruinose dorsally, giving the appearance of longitudinal bands dorsally. Syntergosternite 8 with membranous area large. Surstyli subsymmetrical, with inner and outer margins curved, apices rounded and slightly inward directed. Apex of phallic guide with translucent and distinct lobe and one row of inconspicuous setae laterally. Ejaculatory apodeme narrowed, bottle-shaped. Phallus with ejaculatory ducts coiled, distinctly separated in distal half.

Description. MALE (holotype). Body length 4.5 mm. Head ( Figs 27–28 ). Eyes contiguous for 18 facets. F, EM, V (mm) = 0.4, 0.4, 0.1. Frontal triangle brown pruinose, with conspicuous dark brown callus. Occiput brown, brown pruinose dorsally and upper half laterally, gray pruinose in lower half laterally and ventrally. Antenna ( Fig. 29 ) dark brown; scape with one seta dorsally; pedicel with three setae dorsally and two ventrally; postpedicel with acute apex. LPP/WPP = 2.2. Thorax ( Figs 27–28, 30 ). Postpronotal lobe brown, brown pruinose. Scutum dark brown, brown pruinose, with dorsocentral setae; long and brown setae covering basal third. Notopleuron concolorous with scutum. Scutellum concolorous with scutum. Mesopleuron brown, gray-brown pruinose. Mediotergite brown, brown pruinose. Wing ( Fig. 31 ). Length 5.8 mm. LW/MWW = 3.5; LTC/LFC = 1.3. Membrane brown infuscate; anal lobe large. Halter stem brown; knob yellowish brown. Legs ( Fig. 27 ). Coxae shiny dark brown, gray-brown pruinose, with apices yellowish brown; trochanters shiny brown, brown pruinose; femora shiny dark brown, with apices yellowish brown, ventral ctenidia and a row of long and fine yellow setae posterolaterally; tibiae shiny dark brown, with bases yellowish brown; fore and hind tibiae with a patch of short and fine setae yellow, giving fluffy appearance in distal two thirds posteriorly; fore tibia without distinct apical spines; mid tibia with distinct apical spines; hind tibia with a process acute posteroapically and outstanding setae anteromedially; tarsomeres 1–4 brown, 5 dark brown; pulvilli yellowish brown. Abdomen ( Figs 27–28, 32 ). Ground color velvety dark brown, brown pruinose dorsally, giving the appearance of longitudinal bands dorsally, shiny posterolaterally, with inconspicuous setae scattered dorsally and long and fine setae brownish yellow laterally, about 3 times longer than dorsal seta; tergites and sternites 6 and 7 as in Fig. 33 . Syntergosternite 8 dark brown, brown pruinose, slightly shorter than tergite 5, with membranous area large ( Fig. 34 ). Terminalia ( Figs 33–39 ). Epandrium and surstyli dark brown ( Fig. 34 ). Surstyli ( Figs 34–36 ) subsymmetrical, shorter than length of epandrium, with long setae in outer margins. Both surstyli thickened basally and medially, thin apically, with inner and outer margins curved, apex rounded, and slightly inward directed ( Fig. 34 ); left surstylus slightly thinner than right ( Fig. 34 ); both surstyli with apices forward directed, left surstylus with apex rounded, right surstylus with an acute apex when seen in lateral view ( Figs 35–36 ). Gonopods asymmetrical; left gonopod thicker than right ( Fig. 37 ). Apex of phallic guide stout, with tip thin hook-shaped, translucent distinct lobe and one row of inconspicuous setae laterally ( Fig. 38 ). Ejaculatory apodeme narrowed, bottle-shaped ( Fig. 39 ). Phallus trifid, with ejaculatory ducts coiled, distinctly separated in distal half ( Fig. 38 ).

FEMALE. Unknown.

Geographical distribution. Colombia (Boyacá) ( Fig. 40 ).

Etymology. From the Latin ‘ planus ’ (= flat), referring to the dorsoventral flat areas of the ejaculatory ducts of the phallus in the male terminalia.

Habitat. The specimens were collected in the Santuario de Fauna y Flora Iguaque reserve, where the vegetation is composed of Andean cloud forests of the cordillera of the Northeast region of Colombia.

Taxonomic notes. Based on males, P. planus sp. nov. is similar in appearance to P. kotaneni Skevington, 1998 . It differs from P. kotaneni by having postpedicel with acute apex (versus postpedicel with obtuse apex); frontal triangle brown pruinose (versus frontal triangle silver grey pruinose); occiput brown pruinose dorsally and upper half laterally, gray pruinose in lower half laterally and ventrally (versus occiput silver-grey pruinose ventrally and laterally, not pruinose dorsally); tibiae shiny dark brown, with bases yellowish brown ( Fig. 27 ) (versus tibiae brownish black); mid tibia with distinct apical spines (versus mid tibiae without distinct apical spines); hind tibia without distinct apical spines (versus hind tibia with distinct apical spines); abdomen dark brown, shiny posterolaterally ( Figs 27–28, 32 ) (versus abdomen black, sparsely gray pruinose laterally); apex of phallic guide with lobe and one row of inconspicuous setae laterally ( Fig. 38 ) (versus apex of phallic guide without lobe laterally and with tuft of setae apically [see figure 33f, presented by Skevington & Marshall (1998)].

Figures

FIGURE 40. Geographical records of Pipunculus species in Colombia. P. caeruleus sp. nov., P. chiminiguagua sp. nov. and P. planus sp. nov.

FIGURES 27−39. Pipunculus planus sp. nov. (IAvH-M3637). Holotype male. 27, Habitus, left lateral view; 28, Habitus, dorsal view; 29, Antenna; 30, Thorax, dorsal view; 31, Wing; 32, Abdomen, dorsal view; 33, Tergites and sternites 6 and 7, ventral view; 34, Terminalia, dorsal view; 35, Left surstylus, lateral view; 36, Right surstylus, lateral view; 37, Hypandrium and gonopods, ventral view; 38, Phallic guide and phallus, left lateral view (the arrow indicates a translucent distinct lobe); 39, Ejaculatory apodeme.