Crossopalpus

Grootaert, Patrick & Shamshev, Igor, 2013, The flies of the family Hybotidae (Diptera, Empidoidea) collected during the Boyekoli Ebale Congo 2010 Expedition in Democratic Republic of Congo, Zootaxa 3603 (1), pp. 1-61 : 13

Crossopalpus sp.

Material examined. D.R. CONGO: 1 Ƥ, Oriental Province, Yaekela , Malaise trap 4 in secondary forest, 2–7 May 2010 (leg. P. Grootaert; MS name as Cros 3) ( RBINS).

Diagnosis. Female. Length: body 1.1 mm, wing 1.0 mm. Occiput black, entirely tomentose including ocellar tubercle; with black setation; inner verticals long, inclinate. Posterior ocellars nearly as long as verticals, proclinate. Frons tomentose. Antenna brown; postpedicel ovoid; stylus subapical, very long. Proboscis yellowish brown. Palpus brown, small, rounded, subapical seta short, thin. Thorax black, shining, larger bristles black. Prothoracic episterna with long upturned seta just above fore coxa. Postpronotal seta not prominent. Mesonotum with acrostichals and dorsocentrals undifferentiated, scutum evenly covered with short setae, 1 pair of prescutellars long. Legs quite robust, entirely brownish yellow. Hind femur with 2 long black anteroventrals subapically. Hind tibia with 4 strong anterior subapical setae of different lengths; apical projection rather small, pointed. Wing normally developed, finely infuscate. Veins R4+5 and M1+2 somewhat convergent near wing apex, both slightly bowed, R4+5 thickened. Crossvein r-m beyond middle of cell bm. Halter yellow. Abdomen with tergites and sternites well sclerotised; tergites with unmodified setation; sternites undivided but sternites 3–4 with shallow median excision posteriorly; cercus quite long, with rather long hair-like setae. Gland-like structure present between tergites 3–4.

Remarks. In having the hind tibia with four strong anterior subapical setae, this specimen resembles C. quadrispina . However, in C. quadrispina the vertical bristles are minute and an abdominal gland-like structure is present between tergites 4–5. Crossopalpus angustatus ( Collin, 1922) and C. pandai (Smith, 1969) have long vertical bristles but in these species the hind tibiae lack strong anterior subapical setae. So, this is likely an undescribed species. However, we consider that it would be premature to name it after a single female specimen.