Chelipoda dominatrix, Published, 2007

Published, First, 2007, The Hemerodromiinae (Diptera: Empididae) of New Zealand II. Chelipoda Macquart, Zootaxa 1537 (1), pp. 1-88 : 29-30

15. Chelipoda dominatrix sp. n.

[ Figs. 17, 20 ]

Type material. Holotype ♂: New Zealand, South Is. , NN? Castle Rock Hut, 1220m, yellow pan trap in tussock herbfield, 4–16/i/1986, JWE [ NZAC] . Paratypes: Same data as holotype ; 3♂, 3♀ in alcohol [ NZAC] ; 5♂, 2♀ in alcohol, 4♂, 3♀ dried from alcohol [ NMWC] .

Additional material: South Is. 1♀, Arthurs Pass, 23/i/1943, ESG [ NZAC] .

Etymology: the specific epithet derives from the Latin domina meaning ‘mistress’ or ‘tyrant’ in reference to the raptorial fore legs.

Description. Male: length 2.5–3.0mm (wet material).

Head: black with greyish dust darker on frons; frons as wide as pedicel, silvery dusted but appearing darker medially from some points of view; clypeus contrastingly white ground colour with silver pilosity; ocl diverging, stronger than vt or upo; 3 pairs of minute setae on and closely behind ocellar area and 2 pairs minute ft; upo black, uniserial; lpo white, 3–4 serial, small and hair-like; proboscis brownish yellow, palpi paler, mostly short haired. Antenna black, basal segments short, postpedicel 2.8–3.0X as long as wide, arista 1.3X as long.

Thorax: ground colour dark reddish brown, almost black, slightly paler on pleura. Heavily silver-grey dusted; mesonotum viewed anteriorly with a broad silver-grey median band between lines of dc and a blacker less strongly dusted lateral stripe extending posteriorly over unp and sa, these markings shifting or disappearing with perspective; in some lights a narrow black median stripe is visible. Pleura, viewed directly from side, uniformly grey dusted except for a darker area on lower katepisternum but viewed from other perspectives, a black stripe extending diagonally from pprnlb across anepisternum and bottom of anepimeron to base of abdomen.

Thoracic setae black; dc1 not very close to anterior margin of mesonotum, about opposite pprn; dc3 slightly posterior of suture and dc2 mid way between it and dc1; dc1, dc2 and dc3 equally strong; dc4 and dc5 only minute hairs; sa very strong, pa small and fine; unp as strong as upcurved pprn, lnp weaker; ph 0.5X as long as pprn. Sides of pst with a few minute pale bristly hairs.

Legs: blackish brown covered with grey dust; T 1, F 1 apically and C 1 largely yellowish, usually strongly contrasting with darker areas. C 1 darkened only in front and outside at extreme base, about as long as thorax, 5–6X as long as wide, a minute pile in front, some small bristly hairs behind and longer pale apical bristles. C 2 and C 3 with fan of pale bristles anteroapically, strongest on C 3. C 1 about as long as thorax; F 1 slightly longer than C 1, inflated below, 3.5X as long as wide, widest 0.3 from base; femoral formula 4(4–4)/16(14–18)/ 11(10–13)/4(3–4), the spines usually strong, fine and clearly differentiated from denticles; a distinct ventral bristle 0.1 from base. F 2 and T 2 linear, slender, with only short hairs and a few longer apical bristles; F 3 vaguely inflated and slightly curved. T 1 0.7X as long as F 1, only slightly curved, armed below with linear series of about 28 minute adpressed denticles; T 3 dorsally with ciliation of short bristles, not longer than T 3 is deep; at2 0.7–0.8X as long as at3.

Wings: extending beyond tip of abdomen; veins strongly delineated, dark brown and contrasting with almost clear membrane. Vein A 1 completely absent (but faint impression about end of CuA 2 sometimes visible in oblique view); CuA 2 strongly marked; costal bristle small. Halteres whitish, stems with a few minute bristles. Squamae with pale fringes.

Abdomen: blackish brown and heavily dusted greyish; tergites with very narrowly pale margins laterally and posteriorly; hairs present on disc and margins of tergites, strongest on tergite 6. Genitalia ( Fig. 17 ) with epandrium and hypandrium not fused; epandrial lobes narrowly oblong, rather rounded apically with very long hairs about posterior margin distally and shorter but closer set setae apically. Hypandrium not divided centrally (but less strongly sclerotized about middle posteriorly); 2 pairs of very long straight setae behind, a pair of slightly shorter setae below and two pairs at sides. Cercus ( Fig. 20 ) rather broad apically with two distinct terminal setae.

Description. Female: length = 2.5–3.5mm (wet material). Very similar to male but slightly larger. F 1 more inflated, only 3.2X as long as wide; femoral formula 4(4–4)/17(16–18)/11(10–13)/4(4–5). Tarsi with at2 proportionally slightly shorter, only about 0.6X length of at3. Tergites with pale margins very narrow or absent and abdomen sometimes darker than in male; tergites with only pale pubescence, lacking stronger hairs. Terminal papillae brown with pale hairs.

Comments. C. dominatrix is part of the C. consignata group and is distinguishable by having pleura all dark, C 1 pale, postpedicel moderately long and dorsocentrals equally sized. This species is easily confused with C. ferocitrix and C. brevipennis . C. dominatrix has C 1 contrastingly paler than the otherwise dark legs whereas there is no contrast between C 1 and the rest of the legs in C. brevipennis which are yellowish, and C. ferocitrix which are all dark. C. ferocitrix is larger than C. brevipennis or C. dominatrix and vein A 1 is weakly present about the end of CuA 2 but is absent in the other two species which also have the ventral bristle on F 1 situated very basally. Additionally, C. brevipennis has a shorter postpedicel and a slightly proportionately shorter wing with thicker veins than either C. dominatrix or C. ferocitrix . C. dominatrix is only known from adults collected during January in the Southern Alps and the single reference to its habitat refers to sub-alpine tussock herbfield.

Figures

FIGURES 16–22. Male genitalia of Chelipoda spp. 16. C. digressa Collin, posterior view. 17. C. dominatrix sp. n. lateral view. 18. C. brevipennis sp. n. cercus. 19. C. ferocitrix sp. n cercus. 20. C. dominatrix sp. n. cercus. 21. C. ferocitrix sp. n. anterior view. 22. C. atrocitas sp. n. lateral view.