Chelipoda monorhabdos, Published, 2007

Published, First, 2007, The Hemerodromiinae (Diptera: Empididae) of New Zealand II. Chelipoda Macquart, Zootaxa 1537 (1), pp. 1-88 : 41-43

25. Chelipoda monorhabdos sp. n.

[ Figs. 46–48 , 84 , 104, 105 ]

Type material. Holotype ♂: New Zealand, North Is. , WN, Tararua Ra., Dundas Hut Ridge, 990m, 4–6/xii/ 1984, Malaise trap, BGB & TKC [ NZAC] . Paratypes: 2♂, same data as holotype ; 1♂, same data as holotype

except 30/xi/1984 – 3/xii/1984 [ NZAC]; 5♀ , same data as holotype except 4/ii/1985 and 5/ii/1985, Malaise trap, sweeping tussock and fern, sweeping tussock and Oleuria and sweeping at night, CFB , GH, BAH, [ NZAC].

Etymology: the specific epithet refers to the narrow median stripe on the thoracic dorsum.

Description. Male: length = 3.5–4.5mm.

Head: black, thickly dusted grey, front of frons and face yellowish with yellowish dusting; lpo pale, 2–3 serial; upo black, uniserial; vt1 and vt2 strong, clearly differentiated from line of upo; ocl strong, black, about 2X length of verticals; a few additional small hairs on and behind ocellar triangle; a pair of minute setae near front of frons. Mouthparts yellow; palpi with a few long yellow hairs distally; labellum with about 3 pairs of fine dark hairs differentiated from other pubescence. Antenna ( Fig. 105 ) black, slightly paler on basal segments, postpedicel conspicuously pale pubescent, 4X as long as wide at base, arista slightly longer.

Thorax: ground colour of mesonotum ( Fig. 84 ) yellow, a rather narrow black median stripe abruptly widened about dc3 and in prescutellar depression; a black lateral stripe strongly marked about dc1 and dc2, fading immediately posteriorly but continuing strongly across upper notopleural area to fade in front of postalar callus; a yellow area extending from above pcol across upper part of pprnlb and lower notopleural area to base of wing. Pleura yellow with three strongly marked black stripes; the first extending narrowly from below pprnlb across upper anepisternum to below wing; the second crossing lower anepisternum, upper katepisternum and upper meron; the third from sides of pst across lower katepisternum and mr. Laterotergite yellow. Entire thorax rather uniformly brownish-grey dusted; dark median stripe anteriorly appearing wider viewed from in front; dark median stripe about prescutellar depression sometimes with darker margins viewed from behind. Black and yellow ground colour of pleural stripes not strongly obscured by dust. Chaetotaxy: dc1, dc2 and dc3 strong, dc4 absent, dc 5 small; unp, lnp and sa very strong; a small seta in front of notopleurals, pprn strong, upcurved; pa small and fine; one pair of convergent apical sct.

Legs: yellowish, terminal tarsal segments dusky; C 1 about 1.3X as long as thorax, a line of black bristles anteriorly about as wide as C 1, arising from a brownish-black anterior stripe. C 2 with a few black apical bristles, C 3 with a fan of black bristles anteroapically and smaller bristles behind and at sides. F 1 about as long as C 1, inflated ventrally, widest 0.4–0.5 from base; femoral formula 4(4–4)/16.5(15–17)/11(10–13)/9.5(9–11), pv row of spines continuous throughout but strong only in distal 0.6 (opposite tip of T 1 when reflexed against F 1) where adjacent to double row of denticles; ventral bristle fine, only 0.1 from base. T 1 about 0.6 as long as F 1, a linear row of minute black adpressed denticles ventrally with an adjacent series of rather outstanding hairs and inconspicuous perpendicular cilia. Mid and hind tibiae and femora slender, F 2 with fine pv bristle 0.8 from base; at1 somewhat longer pubescent than other tarsal segments and with perpendicular cilia ventrally; at2 about 0.7X as long as at3.

Wing: clear with brownish veins; vein A 1 weakly marked about end of CuA2 and weakly traceable to base as faint fold in membrane; squamae with black fringes; halteres yellow.

Abdomen: brownish-yellow dorsally, paler ventrally, hind marginal pubescence strong on first and subapical segments. Genitalia ( Figs. 46–48 ) yellowish; epandrium narrow, apically rounded bearing conspicuous long setae which are longest apically and on posterior margin; hypandrium with three pairs of conspicuous strong dark setae and a few shorter dark hairs posteriorly; cerci bearing longish hairs, apically twisted, rather blunt-ended, a long bristle on inner face basally;

postgonite ( Fig. 48 ) conspicuous, distinctly palmate apically bearing about 5 long setae; phallus ( Fig. 47 ) strongly sigmoidally curved, apically narrow.

Description. Female:

Head: basal antennal segments clear yellow with contrastingly black setae, postpedicel black, shorter than male, conical, apically narrowed ( Fig 104 ), about 3X as long as wide, arista rather longer.

Thorax: yellow area of mesonotum between black median and lateral stripes broader, dc1 and dc2 emerg- ing from yellow rather than black surround.

Legs: F 1 with swelling more basally situated than in male, widest 0.3 from base, narrowing distally; femoral formula approximately 2/17/11/7; a strong ventral bristle 0.2 from base, main series of pv spines and denticles starting 0.2 from base but the four rows only clearly differentiated basally beyond which only 3 or even 2 series are traceable; pv denticles spine-like but clearly different from adjacent longer spines, even distally; only 2 av spines at about 0.2 from base, beyond which spine-like av denticles continue to tip; T 1 longer than in male, about 0.8X as long as F 1, adpressed ventral denticles and outstanding hairs stronger and more conspicuous; second segment of front tarsus about same length as third.

Comments. C. monorhabdos is in the C. consignata -group having a yellow thorax with strong median and lateral black stripes and postpedicel moderately elongate. It might be confused with C. secreta but C. monorhabdos has a narrower dark median stripe and lacks the submedian black stripes which are strong and seen particularly well in dry specimens of C. secreta . Additionally, dc3 is strong in C. monorhabdos (absent in C. secreta ). C. monorhabdos is only known from the type series taken high in the North Island’s Tararua Ranges during November, December and February. Some samples were swept from fern and tussock. A female [BMNH] with its head missing, collected at Ohakune by T. R. Harris on xi/1924 may be this species.

Figures

FIGURES 40–48. Male genitalia of Chelipoda spp. 40–42. C. moderata Collin. 40. lateral view. 41. posterior view. 42. apex of phallic structure. 43–45. C. modica Collin. 43. posterior view. 44. lateral view. 45. apex of epandrium with fused cerci. 46–48. C. monorhabdos sp. n. 46. anterior view. 47. phallus. 48. apex of postgonite.

FIGURES 82–90. Thoracic ground colour and dusting pattern of Chelipoda spp. (schematic).

FIGURES 104–116. Antennae of Chelipoda spp. 104–105. C. monorhabdos sp. n. 104. ♀. 105. ♂. 106–107. C. puhihiroa sp. n. 106. ♀. 107. ♂. 108. C. secreta Collin ♀. 109. C. rakiuraensis sp. n. ♂. 110. C. secreta Collin, ♂. 111. C. tainuia sp. n. ♂. 112. C. trepida Collin ♂. 113. C. venatrix sp. n. ♂. 114. C. tangerina sp. n. ♂. 115–116. C. didhami sp. n. 115. ♀. 116. ♂.