Platypalpus lantsovi, Kustov, Semen, Shamshev, Igor & Grootaert, Patrick, 2015

Kustov, Semen, Shamshev, Igor & Grootaert, Patrick, 2015, New data on the genus Platypalpus (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Caucasus with description of seven new species, Zootaxa 3973 (3), pp. 451-473 : 458

Platypalpus lantsovi sp. nov.

( Figs 7–10 , 24 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE, ♂ labelled [printed in Cyrillic], [ GEORGIA], “Kobi/ Voen.-Gruzinsk. doroga [Georgian Military Road]/ 14.vii. 925 [=1925], coll. Kirichenko” ( ZIN).

Recognition. Large species of the P. pallidiventris-cursitans group; occiput with 2 pairs of black vertical bristles; antenna with yellowish-brown basal segments; postpedicel black, 2X longer than wide, stylus 3.5X longer than postpedicel; palpus yellowish; mesonotum densely golden grey dusted; katepisternum with polished black patch; 3 notopleurals; acrostichals short biserial; legs bicolor, brown and yellow; abdomen black, tergites with grey patches, leaving shiny dorsal subtriangular spots posteriorly, sternites shiny.

Description. Male. Wing length 4.0 mm. Head black. Occiput densely grey pollinose; with 2 pairs of long black verticals (inner convergent, outer divergent); with numerous short black bristly hairs above and longer whitish hairs below. Ocellar tubercle greyish pollinose, with long anterior and minute posterior setae. Frons narrow, mostly parallel-sided, somewhat broadened before ocellar tubercle, with dense greyish pollinosity. Face narrow, densely silvery pollinose, slightly widening below; clypeus with silvery pollinosity. Antenna with yellowish-brown basal segments; postpedicel black, small, conical, 2X longer than wide; stylus black, short pubescent, 3.5X longer than postpedicel. Proboscis dark brown, half as long as head height. Palpus yellowish, rather large, oval, whitish pubescent, with long whitish subapical bristly hair.

Thorax with mesonotum densely golden grey dusted; with black bristles; katepisternum with polished black patch on anterior half. Postpronotal lobe with 1 long and several short setae. Mesonotum with 3 notopleurals, 2 postalars (1 longer) and 4 scutellars (apical pair long, cruciate, lateral pair very short); acrostichals short, arranged in 2 close irregular rows, scattered; dorsocentrals uniserial, somewhat longer than acrostichals, 2 prescutellar pairs long; additionally, some setulae present just behind postpronotal lobe, on notopleuron and supra-alar surface.

Legs with dark brown coxae and trochanters; all femora extensively brownish leaving subapical space yellowish, additionally, mid and hind femora paler closer to base; fore and mid tibiae yellow, hind tibia brownish only basal third yellow; all tarsomeres indistinctly brownish annulated apically (tarsomere 5 almost entirely black). Fore coxa densely silvery grey pollinose anteriorly, covered with dense long whitish hairs becoming longer beneath. Fore femur strongly thickened, with rows of long whitish anteroventral and posteroventral bristly hairs. Fore tibia slightly thickened, with several dark setae dorsally. Mid femur very stout, slightly stouter than fore femur; with double row of black ventral spinules, with row of brownish posteroventral setae. Mid tibia bearing row of black ventral spinules; with very long sharply pointed apical spur blackish at tip. Hind femur slender, with ordinary setulae. Hind tibia slender, clothed with pale setae denser on subapical half ventrally. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

Wing slightly yellowish, with yellowish veins. Costal bristle black, long. Veins R4+5 and M1+2 distinctly convergent near wing margin, M1+2 slightly bowed on apical part; CuA2 slightly recurrent. Crossveins m-cu and r-m distinctly separated. Calypter yellow, with yellow setae. Halter yellow.

Abdomen black, tergites densely greyish dusted leaving shiny dorsal subtriangular spots posteriorly; sternites shiny; covered with pale yellow hairs. Terminalia ( Figs 7–10 ) moderately large, subglobular, shiny black; cerci ( Figs 8, 10 ): right cercus rather digitiform (dorsal view), slightly evenly broadened toward apex, rounded apically, moderately long, covered with short ordinary setae; left cercus slightly longer than right cercus, strongly narrowed toward apex, covered with short ordinary setae, without apical hook and ventral bulge (lateral view); right epandrial lamella elongate oval (lateral view), with row of several long subapical setae and short setae along ventral margin ( Fig. 7 ); right surstylus rounded apically, with some short ordinary setae; left epandrial lamella ( Fig. 9 ) broad, rather subtriangular, with almost straight ventral margin bearing numerous pale yellow setae of different lengths including several longest curved setae closer to base, with some short ordinary setae along upper margin on subapical part.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. This species is named in honour of Russian dipterologist, Dr. V.I. Lantsov (Nalchik).

Distribution. Georgia.

Remarks. The new species should be compared with P. agilis (Meigen) , P. bilobatus Wéber and P. pseudorapidus Kovalev. Platypalpus agilis has the postpedicel 1.5X as long as wide with stylus 1.5X as long, 2 notopleurals and polished black abdomen. Platypalpus bilobatus has a black antenna with postpedicel about 2.5 times as long as wide and with stylus at most 1.5X as long; small dark grey palpi, and polished black abdomen; body size 2–3 mm. Platypalpus pseudorapidus is smaller, body 1.6–2.7 mm, with postpedicel distinctly smaller and narrower than in P. agilis , stylus at least twice as long as postpedicel. Also, the new species differs from all these species by leg coloration and details of the male terminalia.

Figures

FIGURES 7 – 10. Platypalpus lantsovi sp. nov., male. 7. right epandrial lamella and surstylus, ventral view; 8, epandrium and cerci, dorsal view; 9, left cercus and left epandrial lamella, lateral view; 10, cerci, dorsal view. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 23 – 27. Habitus of males of Platypalpus, lateral view. 23, Platypalpus akhunensis sp. nov; 24, Platypalpus lantsovi sp. nov.; 25, Platypalpus pseudosilvahumidus sp. nov.; 26, Platypalpus subcaucasicus sp. nov.; 27, Platypalpus teberdaensis sp. nov. Scale bar = 1 mm.