Elaphropeza sp.

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 : 43-44

Elaphropeza sp. 46

( Fig. 57)

Description. Female. Body length 1.5 mm, wing length 1.7 mm. Occiput black. Anterior ocellars long, proclinate and cruciate; posterior ocellars minute. Inner verticals long, outer ones hardly prominent. Antenna ( Fig. 57) with scape and pedicel brownish yellow, postpedicel brownish. Pedicel with circlet of subequally short setulae (1 dorsal somewhat longer). Postpedicel nearly 2.5 times longer than wide. Style normally pubescent,

brown, about 3.5 times longer than postpedicel and nearly 2.5 times as long as scape, pedicel and postpedicel combined. Palpus yellow, small, rounded.

Thorax yellow with markings; scutum with small elongate brownish patch above wing base, scutellum brown, sternopleuron and hypopleuron with distinct brown spot, mesopleuron brownish along posterior margin, metanotum and metapleuron (except lower margin) brownish. Prothoracic episterna with 1 long upturned bristle just above fore coxa and 1 very short bristle in upper part. Postpronotal bristle not prominent. Mesonotum with usual set of bristles. Acrostichals and dorsocentrals multiserial, extending to base of scutellum.

Legs wholly yellow, quite robust. Fore and mid femur with ordinary armature. Fore tibia lacking prominent bristles. Mid tibia with somewhat stronger ventral spinules in apical part, lacking prominent bristles (except subapicals). Hind femur with ordinary setation. Hind tibia bearing 1 black curved subapical anteroventral bristle, with hardly prominent rounded apical projection. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

Wing uniformly finely brownish infuscate. Costal index: 35/29/35/12. Veins R4+5 and M1+2 parallel near wing apex, both straight. Crossvein bm-cu oblique. Crossvein r-m somewhat beyond middle of cell bm. Halter black.

Abdomen. Tergite 1 pale yellow, tergites 2–7 pale brownish. Tergite 2 slightly concave anteriorly. Tergite 5 of normal width. Tergites 3–5 with squamiform setae. Segment 8 short, brownish yellow, with sclerites fused antero-laterally; sternite 8 not folded apically. Cercus yellow.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. SINGAPORE, 1 ♀, Sungei Buloh , 18 November 2005, mangrove, Mal 2 (reg. 25426, leg. PG, E-46) .

Remarks. Within the key to Elaphropeza this unnamed species would run to E. crassicercus sp. n and E. luanae sp. n. differing from both species by its brown scutellum and some other characters.

Species Complex 3.—Hind tibia lacking prominent bristles.