Elaphropeza tiomanensis, 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 : 50-52

Elaphropeza tiomanensis sp. nov.

( Figs. 71–74 )

Diagnosis. Occiput black, postpedicel nearly 4.0 times longer than wide, style about 2.0 times longer than postpedicel; mesonotum broadly brown along margin; fore tibia and fore tarsus brownish yellow, hind tibia lacking prominent bristles; Male: mid femur with tubercle near base.

Description. Male. Body length 2.0– 2.3 mm, wing length 1.8–1.9 mm. Occiput wholly black, subshining, with yellow to brownish yellow setation. Eye with hind margin slightly concave. Anterior ocellars moderately long, proclinate; posterior ocellars minute. Inner verticals moderately long, outer ones hardly prominent. Frons subshining, rather short. Antenna ( Fig. 71 ) brownish yellow. Pedicel with circlet of subequally short setulae. Postpedicel long, nearly 4.0 times longer than wide. Style rather densely pubescent, brown, about 2.0 times longer than postpedicel and nearly 1.5 times as long as scape, pedicel and postpedicel combined. Proboscis brownish yellow. Palpus yellow, small, rounded; with scattered brownish yellow setulae, bearing 1 longer and darker subapical seta.

Thorax largely yellow, shining, with yellow to brownish yellow bristles; pronotum, scutellum and metanotum brown, scutum broadly brown along margin (except for prescutellar depression), sternopleuron with brownish yellow space in lower part, hypopleuron and metapleuron brown. Prothoracic episterna with 1 long upturned bristle just above fore coxa and 1 short bristle in upper part. Postpronotal bristle not prominent. Mesonotum with 2 notopleural, 1 short 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 1 pair of long prescutellars), extending to base of scutellum.

Legs almost entirely yellow, with yellow to brownish yellow setation; fore tibia and fore tarsus rather brownish yellow. Coxae and trochanters with unmodified setation. Fore and hind femora and tibiae somewhat thickened. Fore femur with hardly prominent rows of antero- and posteroventral bristles and 2 long bristles near base. Fore tibia lacking prominent bristles (except subapicals). Mid femur with tubercle near base, bearing 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 black ventral spinules in middle part and 1 longer subapical spinule, lacking prominent bristles (except subapicals). Hind femur bearing 1 row of short anteroventrals and 3–4 erect dorsal bristles near base. Hind tibia lacking prominent bristles; apical projection short, more or less pointed, clothed in dense brownish setulae. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

Wing normally developed, uniformly finely brownish infuscate, covered with uniform microtrichia; veins yellowish to brownish yellow. Costal vein with moderately long setulae along anterior margin. Basal costal bristle long, yellowish brown. Costal index: 36/34/30/14. 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 as fold. Crossvein bm-cu oblique. Crossvein r-m near middle of cell bm. Halter darkened.

Abdomen. Tergite 1 almost entirely pale yellow, with very narrow brownish space. Tergite 2 narrow, somewhat concave on anterior margin; with unmodified setation. Tergite 3 broadest, nearly 2 times broader than tergite 2, with squamiform setae. Tergites 4 and 5 about 2.0 times narrower than tergite 3, with squamiform setae. Tergites 6–8 unmodified; tergite 7 with rather long posteromarginal setae. Sternites unmodified, subrectangular, sternite 4 represented by 2 brownish spaces. Gland-like structures present between tergites 3– 4 and 4–5.

Terminalia ( Figs. 72–74 ) large, brownish. Cerci separated; left cercus unbranched, long, sinuate, pointed at apex, with long bristles. Right cercus short, very narrow, with few moderately long bristles. Epandrium completely divided. Right epandrial lamella small, covered with numerous long bristles. Right surstylus large, with 2 excisions on upper margin, bearing numerous bristles of different lengths. Left epandrial lamella fused to hypandrium, with several short bristles apically. Left surstylus with upper lobe small, subtriangular, with moderately long bristles. Hypandrium with 1 long subapical bristle. Phallus very long, coiled. One rod-shaped apodeme.

Female. Body length 2.1–2.2 mm, wing length 1.7–1.8 mm. Mid tibia lacking spinules. Mid femur slen- der. Abdominal segment 8 short, brownish, with sclerites fused antero-laterally; sternite 8 not folded apically. Cercus broad oval, brownish yellow. Otherwise as in male.

Material examined: Holotype male labelled: MALAYSIA, Pulau Tioman , Salang, 13 July 2005, secondary forest, sweeping (reg. 25209, leg. PG, E-15).

Paratypes: SINGAPORE, 1 ♀, Chek Jawa , 21 September 2005, mangrove, sweeping (reg. 25356, leg. PG) .

MALAYSIA, 1 ♀, Pulau Tioman , Juara, 20 July 2005, primary rain forest, sweeping (reg. 25247, leg. PG) ; 2 ♂♂, same data as holotype .

Derivatio nominis. The name tiomanensis refers to the type locality, Pulau Tioman, a small island in the South China Sea east of the Malay Peninsula.

Distribution and bionomics. Malaysia, Singapore. Rain forest and mangrove.

Singapore. This is a very rare species that is recorded only from a single female, swept in the mangrove forest of Chek Jawa. The records in Malaysia are in primary and secondary rain forests on the Island Pulau Tioman. With the few current records available, it is difficult to predict its microhabitat.

Remarks. The relationships of E. tiomanensis sp. nov. are unclear beyond inclusion within the E. biuncinata species group.

Figures

FIGURES 71–74. Elaphropeza tiomanensis sp. nov. 71. antenna. 72. epandrium with cerci. 73. right surstylus. 74. left cercus and surstylus.