Teuchophorus notabilis, Meuffels & Grootaert, 2004

Meuffels, Henk & Grootaert, Patrick, 2004, The genus Teuchophorus in South-East Asia and New Guinea, description of new species, species-groups and their phylogeny (Insecta, Diptera, Dolichopodidae), Journal of Natural History 38 (2), pp. 143-258 : 157-159

Species 5: Teuchophorus notabilis sp. nov. (male)

(figures 23–31)

Etymology. Lat. notabilis , ‘remarkable’.

Diagnosis. Medium-sized species. Eyes nearly touching on face. Third antennal segment triangular, rather acute, hardly longer than deep. Costa broadened; this swelling is obliquely cut off at base and reaches beyond level of tp. Tibia II strongly swollen beyond middle, bearing there a remarkable, large, curled bristle. Segments 2, 3 and 4 of front tarsus very short.

Material examined. Type material: Papua New Guinea, Madang province: Baiteta , in primary rain forest along streams and moist areas, 25 May 1995,    male and two      male (No. 95064); 17 males (No. 95062), nine males (No. 95063), 18 males (No. 95069), 50 males (No. 95070) (all samples leg. P. Grootaert) .

Male

Body length 1.3–1.4 mm; wing length 1.0 mm.

Head. Frons with blackish green ground colour, feebly shining. Face rapidly narrowing downwards; eyes nearly touching beneath middle of face. Palpi dark brown, with a short black apical bristle. Rostrum yellowish. Occiput convex, blackish green. Chaetotaxy as usual. Postoculars uniseriate, black, very short beneath. Antenna (figure 23): short, dark brown; tip of third segment brownish yellow. Third segment triangular with rather acute apex, hardly longer than deep. Arista about 2.5 times as long as antenna, very shortly pubescent.

Thorax. Mesonotum and scutellum with blackish green ground colour, feebly shining. Pleurae dark brown. Chaetotaxy as usual, with uniseriate acr. Scutellum with two marginals. No propleural bristle.

Legs. Legs including coxae yellow; apical half of hind femur darkened; knees of middle and hind legs brownish; tarsi slightly darkened towards tips.

Fore leg. Coxa nearly bare. Femur with two black bristles near base; a short preapical pv. Tibia a little shorter than femur, without bristles or serration. Tarsus shorter than tibia; segments 2, 3 and 4 about as long as broad; segments 3 and 4 with a dorsal bristlet. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.25: 0.1:0.025:0.025:0.025:0.05.

Mid leg. Coxa bare. Femur (figure 24) slightly bulged ventrally; near base, in front of the bulge, a row of three to five very thin bristles, about as long as diameter of femur, followed, on the bulge, by a row of very short bristlets (figure 25); beyond the bulge, just after middle of femur, two short thin bristles. Tibia (figure 24) shorter than femur, strongly swollen on its apical three-fifths; at the beginning of this swelling a small dark posteroventral patch, set with short hairs; on the thickest part of the swelling, just after the middle of the tibia, a long, basally flattened, curled dark bristle (figure 26). Near tip of tibia anteroventrally a row of three black bristles, and posteroventrally one very short and two rather long, curled, yellow bristles. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.3: 0.2:0.1:0.08:0.06: 0.06.

Hind leg. Coxa with a minute exterior bristlet. Femur near base with a thin, stiff ventral bristle, followed by a row of three or four shorter bristle-like hairs. Anteroventrally, just in front of middle, a rather strong black bristle, and on threequarters of the length of the femur a slightly smaller black bristle, followed by two bristle-like hairs. Tibia slightly longer than femur. Anteroventrally on whole length of tibia a row of hair-like bristles, longer than diameter of tibia. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.43:0.08:0.125:0.09: 0.06:0.06.

Wing. Wing (figure 27) hyaline. Costa with a broad brownish swelling, obliquely cut off at base, tapering to the tip of r1, reaching beyond level of tp. Halters with brownish yellow stem and brownish knob. Squamae dusky yellow, with few short dark cilia.

Abdomen. Abdomen dorsally dark brown, yellowish on sides. Sterna brownish. Hairs and bristles very short, black. Hypopygium (figures 28–31) small, dark brown.

Female Unknown.

Discussion

By its broadened costa, the bristles at base of middle femur, and shortened segments of front tarsus, this species belongs in one and the same group as T. femoratus Mf. & Gr. and T. conspicuus Mf. & Gr. With the last mentioned species it shares the swelling of the middle tibia; it differs from it among other things by its shorter antennae, different bristling of legs, and shortening of segments 2–4 instead of segments 3–4 of front tarsus.