Teuchophorus enormis, 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 : 234-235

Species 59: Teuchophorus enormis sp. nov. (male)

(figures 224–228)

Material examined. Type material: Thailand, Phang-Nga province, Thap Put , sweeping along a river in a primary rain forest, 13 April 1996,    male (No. 96076, leg. P. Grootaert) ; Trang province, Trang, river in a secondary rain forest bordering a rubber plantation, 26 October 1997, two males (No. 97121, leg. P. Grootaert) ; Trang province, Palian , 1 November 1997, swept from gravel on river banks, 20 males (No. 97153, leg. P. Grootaert) . Malaysia, Johor province, Endau-Rompin National Park, river banks of Endau river , 11 July 2001, five males (No. 21064, leg. P. Grootaert) .

Etymology. Lat. enormis , ‘unusual’ or ‘enormous’, alluding to the huge hypopygium.

Diagnosis. (Male) Medium-sized species with eyes nearly touching on face. Acr uniseriate. Third antennal segment short. Costa not thickened. The huge, ear-shaped hypopygium is obliquely attached to the tip of the abdomen. Hind femur with a ventral bristle near apex.

Male

Body length 1.5 mm; wing length 1.5 mm.

Head. Frons blackish green, feebly shining. Face with blackish ground colour, narrowing downwards to about middle, where the eyes nearly touch each other. Palpi brownish yellow, with a short, black apical bristle. Rostrum brown, basally brownish yellow. Occiput greenish black, feebly shining. Two ocellars, two verticals, two tiny postocellars. Postocular cilia black, rather long. Antenna (figure 224): short, dark brown; marginal bristles of second segment very short; third segment about as long as deep, with a blunt apex. Arista about 2.5 times as long as antenna, shortly pubescent.

Thorax. Mesoscutum and scutellum dark metallic green, shining. Pleurae dark brown. Neck yellow. Acr uniseriate; five dc; no propleural bristle.

Legs. Legs, including coxae, yellow. Tarsi browned from tips of metatarsi onwards. Hind femur feebly browned on apical half.

Fore leg. Coxa anteriorly with few brown hairs; at apex a row of short brownish bristles. Femur with a row of four short black pv on apical third. Tibia as long as femur, with a short, inconspicuous anterodorsal serration. First tarsal segment with a very short ventral bristlet at its very base. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.4:0.2: 0.09:0.07:0.06: 0.07.

Mid leg. Coxa anteriorly with short hairs. Femur with an anterior preapical, preceded by two short anteroventral hairs. Tibia about as long as femur; two ad, one pd; a circlet of short apicals. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.55: 0.25:0.13:0.12: 0.09:0.08.

Hind leg (figure 225). Coxa with a thin black exterior bristle. Femur with a ventral bristle near apex, preceded by a row of three or four thin, short hairs; a short and weak anterior preapical, much weaker than the ventral bristle. Tibia about as long as femur; two dorsal bristles; anteroventrally on apical half a row of lengthened hairs. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.6:0.15:0.2: 0.15:0.1: 0.09.

Wing. Wing (figure 226) hyaline, feebly tinged greyish brown. Costa not thickened. r4+5 and m1+2 apically parallel. Halter yellow with feebly browned knob. Squamae yellow with a broad blackish border, and black cilia.

Abdomen. Abdomen dorsally dark brown, with very short black hairs and bristles. Sterna yellow, partly brownish darkened. Hypopygium (figures 227, 228) brown, very large, rather ear-shaped, with rounded upper margin that reaches beyond dorsal level of abdomen.

Female Unknown.