Megaselia triapitsyni Michailovskaya, 2003

Michailovskaya, M. V., 2003, A New Species Of The Genus Megaselia Rondani, 1856 (Diptera, Phoridae) From Russia, Far Eastern Entomologist 125, pp. 31-32 : 31-32

Megaselia triapitsyni Michailovskaya , sp. n.

Figs 1-3

MATERIAL. Holotype – ♂, Russia: Primorskii krai, 18km SE Ussuriysk, Gornotayozhnoe, 43.66 °N 132.25°E, 11-17.VI 2001, Malaise trap (M. Michailovskaya). Paratypes – the same locality as holotype ; 2 ♂, 11-17.VI 2001; 1♂, 11-23.IX 2002, Malaise trap (M. Michailovskaya).

DESCRIPTION. Male. Frons dark brown with median furrow. Four supra-antennal bristles of equal length and of the same length as other frontal bristles. Lower supraantennals closer together than upper pair. Antial bristles are closer to the antero-laterals than to the supra-antennals. Third antennal segment dark brown, enlarge with dorsal arista. Palps dusky pale yellow, one-segmented with 5-6 subequal robust feathered bristles. Thorax brown, notopleuron with 3 bristles. Scutellum with posterior pair of strong bristles and an anterior pair tiny hairs. Mesopleuron with 3-4 hairs. Abdomen with dark brown tergites bearing short hairs on rear margin. Venter brownish grey with a few hairs on V and VI segments. Hypopygium asymmetrical, brown, with dirty yellow anal tube. Epandrium with long robust bristles and two (left and right) elongate surstyli, which fused on hind side. Right surstylus with 5 thick spines, left one with bristles. Hypandrium without bristles. Legs brown except front pair which dusky yellow. Hind tibia with dorsal hair palisade, without separate bristles. There are one ventral spur only both on mid and on hind tibia. Fore tarsus with a postero-dorsal hairs palisade on all five segments. Hind femur with 6 hairs below basal half, which little longer than those of antero-ventral row of apical half. Wings 1.02 mm in length. Costal index 0.43; costal ratio 2.4:0.8:1; costal cilia 0.08 mm long. Vein R 4+5 forked. Axillary ridge with 2 bristles. There are no hair at base of vein R 4+5. Vein Sc fades away before reaching R 1. All veins of wing brownish and distinctly. Membrane brownish grey. Haltere brown to black. Female unknown.

ETYMOLOGY. The name is dedicated to Dr Serguei V. Triapitsyn (University of California, USA) .

DIAGNOSIS. The combination of 2 bristles and 2 hairs on the scutellum, a few fine hairs on the mesopleuron, median furrow on frons, three bristles on notopleuron and elongate surstyli of hypopygium of the male easily distinguish new species from all known species of the genus Megaselia . The majority of the species of the genus Megaselia have

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hypopygium with reduced surstyli. Hitherto only M. biarticulata Disney from Southeast Asia with well developed surstyli was described [ 1]. The latter differs from a new species not only by presence of one surstyle, but also by two-segmented palps, unforked R 4+5, bare mesopleuron and two bristles on notopleuron. In the key to British Megaselia [ 2] M. triapitsyni sp. n. does not determinate successfully. In the key to the Palaearctic Phoridae [ 3] new species runs to M. criniticauda Colyer , but differs from M. criniticauda by presence of median furrow on frons and by two elongate processes of the epandrium.

1. Disney, R.H.L. 1988. An interesting new species of Megaselia from Sulawesi, the ground plan of the Phoridae (Diptera) and phylogenetic implications for the Cyclorrhapha. – Systematic Entomology 13: 433-441.

2. Disney, R.H.L. 1989. Scuttle Flies – Diptera Phoridae genus Megaselia. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 10 (8): 1-155.

3. Schmitz, H. & Delage, A. 1974. Phoridae. – In: Lindner, E. (ed.). Die Fliegen der palaearktischen region 4 (33) (Lieferungs 301): 638-664.

Figures

Figs 1-3. Megaselia triapitsyni sp. n., male. 1) hypopygium from left side; 2) same, from right side; 3) frons. Scale bar =0.1mm