Achelipoda pictipennis ( Bezzi, 1912 )

Plant, Adrian R., 2009, Revision of the east Asian genus Achelipoda Yang, Zhang & Zhang, 2007 (Diptera: Empididae: Hemerodromiinae) including designation of a neotype for Achelipoda pictipennis (Bezzi, 1912) and descriptions of six new species, Zootaxa 2020, pp. 37-50 : 44

4. Achelipoda pictipennis ( Bezzi, 1912)

[ Fig. 3 ]

[ Fig. 3 & Fig. 5 in Bezzi (1912) (reproduced as Fig. 76 in Yang & Yang (2004)] Chelipoda pictipennis Bezzi, 1912: 476 .

Cephalodromia pictipenis ( Bezzi, 1912) ; Hennig, 1941: 8.

Cephalodromia pictipenis ( Bezzi, 1912) ; catalogued by Smith (1975: 202). Achelipoda pictipennis ( Bezzi, 1912) ; Yang, Zhang & Zhang, 2007: 22, 250.

Material. Neotype 3: Taiwan, Hualien Cty., Nanan, 23°18’47’’ N, 121°15’37’’ E; 5.iv.1996, leg. I. Sivec & B. Horvat [ PMSL]. The neotype designation is selected as the original type has been lost. The neotype is deposited in PMSL.

Diagnosis. A yellowish species with banded wings and vein CuA2 extending to wing margin. Hypandrium + epandrium rather elongate. Female with hind tibia simple and without spur.

Description. Male: length 3.0 mm.

Head: black, dusted whitish, strongly so on face. Ocellar, vertical and upper postocular setae pale brownish; lower occiput with distinct pale pile. Antennae brownish yellow with stylus darker; postpedicel 2.5X as long as wide; stylus 2–2.5X as long as postpedicel. Proboscis yellowish brown, palpus whitish with 1–2 long fine setae about apex.

Thorax: orange-brown (perhaps darker in life) with sutures between major pleura darker and blackish patch on katepisternum ventrally behind base of C1. Thoracic chaetotaxy weakly developed with only a single sa conspicuous. Anterior dc weak but still stronger than dc2, dc3 and dc4. Two minute npl setulae, three minute setae on laterotergite and small pair of setae apically on scutellum.

Legs: yellow with only apical tarsomeres rather darker. All setae pale yellow but denticles beneath F1 and T1 black. C1 0.9X as long as thorax; widest 0.2 from base, distally slightly and evenly narrowed, bearing sparse and inconspicuous setae which are longest distally in front. Mid and hind coxae short, of similar dimensions (C3 not at all inflated), bearing only small anteroapical setulae. Front trochanter with several short setae but lacking a strong dorsal seta. F1 slightly shorter than C1, inflated, widest 0.3 from base; femoral formula approximately 6/15/16 /6 + 1 with av and pv spines inconspicuous and short distally, longer basally; basal spine distinct. C1 dorsally with short hairs, becoming longer distally. T1 0.85–0.9X as long as F1. Mid and hind legs generally short-haired but F3 with a slightly longer and regular ciliation ventrally.

Abdomen: yellowish brown, sparsely haired but with a fan of distinct setae on tergite 5 posterodorsally. Hypandrium + epandrium rather elongate in lateral view, yellowish with an irregularly demarked darker lateral area anteriorly; produced anterodorsally into a small darker, anteriorly directed prominence from beneath which the distal section of the anteriorly directed and very narrow phallus emerges. Subepandrial process strongly looped and anteriorly directed distally where hardly wider than phallus. Cercus bearing a very long seta which curves upwards and inwardly, looping over the apical sections of the phallus and subepandrial process; apically with a terminal, subterminal dorsal and a subterminal internal protuberance, each bearing one or two strong setae. Genitalia otherwise with only very short scattered and inconspicuous setulae.

Wing: Veins yellowish brown, membrane tinged brownish with a broad but weakly darker band subapically and another basally over and distal to basal cells. Cells br and bm of exactly same length with apical crossveins closing the cells strictly linearly aligned. Vein CuA2 extending to wing margin.

Description. Female: unknown.

Comment. Achelipoda pictipennis is known only from the original type specimen (now lost) and the neotype male, both collected in Taiwan. The type of C. pictipennis was apparently lost due to a fire at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in 1956 ( Boros 1957, Földvári & Papp 2007). L. Papp & M. Földvári (pers. com.) have confirmed that the specimen is no longer in the Hungarian Natural History Museum and must be presumed lost. This neotype described here was also captured in Taiwan and matches the original description especially on the basis of the distinctive banding pattern of the wings with vein CuA2 reaching the margin. Achelipoda ngamlailai from Thailand is the only known species with similarly banded wings but differs from A. pictipennis in that vein CuA2 is abbreviated, the thorax is much darker and the basal antennal segments are yellowish and obviously paler than the postpedicel.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. 3 genitalia of Achelipoda spp., lateral view. 1. Achelipoda kharkhema sp. n. 2. Achelipoda kanaklua sp. n. 3. Achelipoda pictipennis (Bezzi). 4. Achelipoda subobscura sp. n. Abbreviations: cal, anterior lobe of cercus; cml, median lobe of cercus; ej apod, ejaculatory apodeme; go apod, gonocoxal apodeme; ph, phallus; subep, subepandrial process.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Genitalia of Achelipoda spp. 5 – 6. 3 genitalia, lateral view. 5. Achelipoda tumida sp. n. 6. Achelipoda vietnamensis sp. n. 7 – 8. Achelipoda tumida sp. n. Ƥ genitalia. 7. lateral view. 8. ventral view.