Chelipoda digitiformis, Zhang & Lin & Gao & Yang, 2024

Zhang, Leyou, Lin, Chen, Gao, Shang & Yang, Ding, 2024, Six new species of Chelipoda (Diptera: Empididae) from Shennongjia, China, Zootaxa 5523 (4), pp. 448-458 : 453-454

4. Chelipoda digitiformis sp. nov.

( Fig. 4 )

Diagnosis. Mesoscutum with a very long mid-longitudinal stripe and distinctly widened anteriorly and posteriorly. Hairs and bristles on head and thorax dark brownish yellow. Postpedicel distinctly elongated, 3.25–3.5 times longer than wide, distinctly pubescent. Male cercus thick, finger-like, apically somewhat hook-like.

Description. Male. Body length 2.3 mm, wing length 2.8 mm.

Head black with pale gray pollen. Eyes dull black, tinged metallic purple, separated widely on frons but very narrowly on face; face much narrower than frons. Hairs and bristles on head dark brownish yellow; two long vt. Ocellar tubercle weak, with pair of long oc nearly as long as vt. Antenna dark yellow, postpedicel and arista dark brown; postpedicel 3.25–3.5 times longer than wide, distinctly pubescent; arista very long, 1.5–1.6 times longer than postpedicel. Proboscis brownish yellow, with dark brown hairs; palpus brownish yellow with brownish yellow hairs and 1 brownish yellow apical bristle.

Thorax brownish yellow with pale gray pollen, but pronotum dark brown and mesoscutum with very long mid-longitudinal dark brown stripe and distinctly widened anteriorly and posteriorly; scutellum dark brown; mediotergite dark brown middle; mesopleuron brown dorsally and posteriorly, pteropleuron brown. Hairs and bristles on thorax dark brownish yellow; one anterior dc, one middle dc, one npl and one sa very long strong; one additional dc in line of sa, one ppt, one psa and one prsc slightly long; sc very long and strong. Legs dark yellow except tarsomeres 4–5 brown to dark brown. Setae and setulae on legs mostly blackish. Fore coxa 0.7 times as long as fore femur. Fore femur distinctly narrowed, 4.5 times longer than wide, 2.6 times as thick as fore tibia, with two rows of black ventral denticles and one row of 7 long thick brownish yellow outer av and 6 long thick brownish yellow outer pv. Fore tibia 0.75 times as long as fore femur, with row of very short recumbent black setae ventrally. Wing hyaline, tinged brownish; veins brown. Squama brownish with brownish hairs. Halter brownish yellow.

Abdomen nearly straight, brown with pale gray pollen except sternites 1–7 brownish and hypopygium mostly dark brown and partly brownish yellow. Hairs and bristles on abdomen dark brown.

Male genitalia: Fused epandrium and hypandrium very large, about three times higher than long. Cercus thick finger-like, apically somewhat hook-like. Subepandrial process complex, clearly visible through epandrium. Phallus very long, apically weakly curved backward.

Female. Unknown.

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂, China: Hubei, Shennongjia, Shennongding , sample line 3–1 [31°34'01"N, 110°30'53"E, 2885 m], 2022.VIII.26, Siqi Wang & Bintao Du ( CAU).

Distribution. China (Hubei).

Remarks. This species is somewhat similar to C. shennongana Yang et Yang from Hubei of China but may be separated from the latter by the mesoscutum with a very long mid-longitudinal stripe that is distinctly widened anteriorly and posteriorly and male cercus long digitiform. In C. shennongana , the mesoscutum has a short middle brownish stripe only on anterior half, and the cercus is subconical ( Yang & Yang 2004).

Etymology. The specific name refers to the finger-like cercus.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Chelipoda digitiformis sp. nov. a. Male habitus, lateral view; b. Male genitalia, lateral view.