Elaphropeza spiralis, Published, 2007

SHAMSHEV, IGOR V. & GROOTAERT, PATRICK, 2007, Revision of the genus Elaphropeza Macquart (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Oriental Region, with a special attention to the fauna of Singapore, Zootaxa 1488 (1), pp. 1-164 : 21-23

Elaphropeza spiralis sp. nov.

( Figs. 14–17 , 252, 256)

Diagnosis. Occiput yellow with dark spot, postpedicel nearly 3.0 times longer than wide, style about 4.0 times longer than postpedicel; mesonotum broadly brown along margin; hind femur dark brown on apical 2/3, hind tibia with 2 black curved subapical anteroventral bristles setae.

Description. Male. Body length 2.0– 2.1 mm, wing length 1.7–1.8 mm. Occiput subshining, yellow, darkened above neck (including ocellar tubercle), with yellow to brownish yellow setation. Anterior ocellars long, proclinate; posterior ocellars minute. Inner verticals long, outer ones hardly prominent. Frons brownish yellow, subshining. Antenna ( Fig. 14 ) brownish yellow. Pedicel with circlet of subequally short setulae. Postpedicel nearly 3.0 times longer than wide. Style normally pubescent, brown, nearly 4.0 times longer than postpedicel and about 2.5 times as long as scape, pedicel and postpedicel combined. Proboscis brownish yellow. Palpus yellow, small, rounded, with scattered brownish yellow setulae, bearing 1 longer subapical seta.

Thorax largely yellow, shining, with yellow to brownish yellow bristles; prothoracic sclerites brownish yellow, scutum broadly brown along margin (except for prescutellar depression), scutellum, hypopleuron, pteropleuron, metanotum and metapleuron brown, sternopleuron and mesopleuron brownish yellow anteriorly. Prothoracic episterna with 1 long upturned bristle just above fore coxa and 1 similar upturned bristle in upper part. Postpronotal bristle not prominent. Mesonotum with 2 notopleural, 1 postsutural supra-alar, 1 postalar and 4 scutellar (inner ones very long, cruciate; outer ones very short) bristles. Acrostichals and dorsocentrals multiserial, uniform (except for 2 pairs of long dorsocentral prescutellars); the former lacking on prescutellar depression.

Legs almost wholly yellow, with yellow to brownish yellow setation; hind femur dark brown on apical 2/ 3. Coxae and trochanters with unmodified setation. Fore and hind femora and tibiae somewhat thickened. Fore femur with rows of short antero- and posteroventral bristles and 2 long bristles near base. Fore tibia lacking prominent bristles (except subapicals). Mid femur with 2 rows of spinule-like, short, ventral bristles (becoming shorter in apical part of femur), 1 long thin bristle near base and 1 anterior subapical bristle. Mid tibia with 1 row of black ventral spinules in apical part, lacking prominent bristles (except subapicals). Hind femur with 1 row of short anteroventrals and 3–4 erect dorsal bristles near base. Hind tibia bearing 2 black curved subapical anteroventral bristles; apical projection rather small, rounded, clothed in dense brownish setulae. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

Wing ( Fig. 256 ) normally developed, brownish infuscate in basal half (border between darker basal half and paler apical half indistinct), covered with uniform microtrichia; veins yellowish to brownish yellow. Costal vein with moderately long setulae along anterior margin. Basal costal bristle moderately long, brownish. Costal index: 32/33/28/12. Vein Rs somewhat longer than crossvein bm-cu. Veins R4+5 and M1+2 parallel near wing apex, both straight. Vein CuA1 reaching wing margin. Vein A1 present, very weak. Crossvein bmcu oblique. Crossvein r-m near middle of cell bm. Halter darkened.

Abdomen. Tergite 1 almost wholly reddish yellow, with very narrow brownish trace laterally. Tergite 2 moderately broad, subrectangular, somewhat concave on anterior margin, with unmodified setae. Tergite 3 broadest, about 3.0 times broader than tergite 2, with squamiform setae. Tergite 4 somewhat narrower than tergite 3, with squamiform setae. Tergite 5 very narrow, about 2.0 times narrower than tergite 2, with squamiform setae. Tergites 6 and 7 very narrow and almost divided along midline, tergite 6 with short, tergite 7 with moderately long posteromarginal bristles. Tergite 8 unmodified. Sternites 3–5 represented by 2 small subrectangular brown spots, sternites 5–7 undivided, subrectangular. Gland-like structures present between tergites 3–4 and 4–5.

Terminalia ( Figs. 15–17 ) large, brownish yellow. Cerci separated; left cercus unbranched, rather digitiform, turned toward right cercus apically, with several moderately long bristles. Right cercus short, narrow, with some moderately long bristles. Epandrium completely divided. Right surstylus strongly prominent, small, subtriangular, bearing short bristles. Left epandrial lamella fused to hypandrium, with 2 moderately long bristles apically. Left surstylus with upper lobe large, subglobular, bearing long marginal bristles. Hypandrium with 1 long and 1 short bristles in apical part. Phallus (Fig. 252) very long, double spiral. One rodshaped apodeme.

Female. Body length 2.0– 2.2 mm, wing length 1.7–1.8 mm. Mid tibia lacking spinules. Segment 8 brownish, short, with sclerites fused antero-laterally, sternite 8 not folded apically. Cercus brownish yellow. Otherwise as in male.

Material examined: Holotype male labelled: SINGAPORE, Nee Soon , 17 June 2005, swamp forest, Mal 2 (reg. 25157, leg. PG, E-17).

Paratypes: SINGAPORE: 1 ♀, Bukit Timah , 7 September 2005, rain forest, sweeping (reg. 25330, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 5 October 2000, swamp forest, sweeping (reg. 20030, leg. PG & N. Evenhuis) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 5 April 2005, swamp forest, Mal 2 (reg. 25047, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 15 July 2005, swamp forest, Mal 2 (reg. 25259, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 12 August 2005, swamp forest, Mal 1 (reg. 25290, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 19 August 2005, swamp forest, Mal 3 (reg. 25298, leg. PG) ; 1 ♀, Nee Soon , 7 September 2005, swamp forest, Mal 2 (reg. 25332, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 16 September 2005, swamp forest, Mal 3 (reg. 25351, leg. PG) ; 1 ♀, Nee Soon , 23 September 2005, swamp forest, Mal 2 (reg. 25361, leg. PG) ; 1 ♀, Nee Soon , 28 October 2005, swamp forest, Mal 3 (reg. 25405, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 3 December 2005, swamp forest, Mal 1 (reg. 25436, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Nee Soon , 3 December 2005, swamp forest, Mal 2 (reg. 25437, leg. PG) ; 2 ♂♂, Nee Soon , 8 February 2006, swamp forest, Mal 2 (reg. 26029, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Sime forest , 19 August 2005, forest, Mal 1 (reg. 25299, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Sime forest , 14 October 2005, forest, Mal 3 (reg. 25386, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Sime forest , 14 October 2005, forest, Mal 1 (reg. 25384, leg. PG) ; 1 ♂, Sime forest , 4 January 2006, forest, Mal 2 (reg. 26003, leg. PG) .

Derivatio nominis. The name spiralis alludes to the very long, spirally wound phallus.

Distribution and bionomics. Singapore. Forest.

Singapore. This is a quite common species that is never abundant. It is found in all types of forest and was never found in mangrove. The peak activity is from August until the end of October, with occasional records during the rest of the year. Much more males than females are recorded with a sex ratio of 0.26/ 1 females to males. It is clear that females have a completely different activity pattern than males .

Remarks. Elaphropeza spiralis sp. nov. belongs to an apparently monophyletic lineage of Elaphropeza sharing curved subapical bristles on the hind tibia. Within this lineage the new species is closely related to E. yangi sp. nov., E. murphyi sp. nov., E. flavicaput sp. nov., E. monacantha sp. nov. and E. luanae sp. nov. in having a very long phallus coiled in a peculiar double spiral. Otherwise, the relationships of E. spiralis sp. nov. have not been resolved. The main distinguishing features of E. spiralis sp. nov. are indicated in the diagnosis given above.

Figures

FIGURES 14–17. Elaphropeza spiralis sp. nov. 14. antenna. 15. epandrium with cerci. 16. right surstylus. 17. left surstylus.

FIGURES 253-259. Wings. 253. Elaphropeza singaporensis sp. nov. 254. E. pluriacantha sp. nov. 255. E. yangi sp. nov. 256. E. spiralis sp. nov. 257. E. bicaudata. 258. E. biuncinata. 259. E. hirsutitibia. 260-261. E. palpata.