Chelipoda nakladam, Plant, 2009

Plant, Adrian R., 2009, Diversity Of Chelipoda Macquart, 1823 (Diptera: Empididae: Hemerodromiinae) In Northern Thailand With Discussion Of A Biodiversity ‘ Hot Spot’ At Doi Inthanon, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57 (2), pp. 255-277 : 269

Chelipoda nakladam , new species

( Fig. 12 )

Material examined. – Holotype. Male, THAILAND: Chiang Mai, Doi Inthanon National Park, Summit Marsh , 18°35.361'N 98°29.157'E, 2,500 m, Malaise trap, coll. Y. Areeluck, 2–8 Jul.2006 ( QSBG, T53 ).

Paratypes. Same date as holotype, 1 male, 3 females, 15–22 July. 2006 ( QSBG, T70 ) ; 1 male, 6 females, 2–9 Aug.2006 ( NMWC, T124 ) ; 1 female, 16–24 Aug.2006 ( QSBG, T184 ) : Summit Forest , 18°35.361'N 98°29.157'E, 2,500 m, 1 male, 5 females, 9–16 Aug.2006 ( QSBG, T178 ) : Kew Mae Pan , 18°33.163'N 98°28.8'E, 2,200 m, 4 females, 29 Jun. –2 Jul.2006 ( QSBG, T38 ) : Checkpoint 2, 18°31.559'N 98°29.941'E, 1,700 m, 1 female, 21–27 Sep.2006 ( NMWC, T343 ) ; 1 female, 5–12 Oct.2006 ( QSBG, T365 ) : Vachiratharn Falls , 18°32.311'N 98°36.048'E, 700 m, 1 female, 6–13 Sep.2006 ( QSBG, T242 ) .

Diagnosis. – Similar to C inthawichayanona with head and thorax black, propleuron contrastingly dark yellowish but C 1 without distinct anterobasal spine; posterior dc (in line with npl) as strong as anterior dc.

Description. – Male. Body length 2.5 mm. Head black with paler dusting; larger setae dark yellowish brown to black; vt, ocl and upper upo equally strong; other upo and lpo smaller, pale pile behind mouth conspicuous but short. Antenna yellowish with poped dorsoapically and stylus entirely blackish; poped about 1.7× long as wide, stylus 2.2–2.5× as long. Palp dirty white with distinct terminal seta. Proboscis black.

Thorax brownish black, propleuron contrastingly yellowish; all setae dark yellowish including two dc, one npl, one sa and pair of sct all strong; minute anterior postpronotal and posterior postpronotal setae usually present

Legs pale yellow, tarsomere 5 darker. C 1 0.75–0.8× as long as thorax, slightly inflated basally, no distinct anterobasal seta. F 1 1.2× as long as C 1, moderately and evenly inflated, widest 0.25–0.6 from base; Femoral formula 5(5–5)/20(18– 23)/12(10–13)/5(4–5) +4–6 ( Table 1); spines yellow, 2–3 basal spines contiguous and evenly spaced with both av and pv series of spines, continuing to base of limb; denticles black. T 1 0.75× as long as F 1.

Abdomen blackish; tergite 6 with strong dark seta dorsally on posterior margin; tergite 8 very narrow. Genitalia blackish with cerci, subepandrial process and phallus paler. Epan and Hypan fused, rather rounded in lateral view ( Fig. 12 ), bearing a few dark setae posteriorly; left and right lamellae narrowly separated by unpigmented densely micropilose membrane (when macerated, this membrane appears much broader). Cercus fused with Epan + Hypan, anteriorly directed, bilobed; upper lobe short, bluntly pointed, bearing 2–3 strong erect setae above; lower lobe elongate, apically broadened and somewhat anvil-shaped. Subepandrial process evenly decurved, reaching apex of lower lobe of cercus. Phallus sharply reflexed anteriorly; distal section narrow, almost linear.

Wing membrane faintly yellowish; veins yellow basally becoming brownish yellow apically. Squamae with yellowish black fringes. Halter yellowish white.

Female. Antenna with poped somewhat more uniformly darkened than in male.

F 1 slightly larger and stouter than in male; femoral formula 5(4–5)/22(20–26)/14(13–16)/5(4–5) +2–4; basal spines less numerous and smaller than in male. Cercus moderately long.

Etymology. – The specific epithet is a contraction of the Thai words for hunter, nak-laa, and the colour black, see dam, in reference to the black colour and presumed predatory habits of this species.

Remarks. – This species is mostly confined to the upper slopes of Doi Inthanon, Thailand from 1,700 –2,500 m with adults active during the wet season from June to October.

Figures

Figs. 12–13. Male genitalia of Chelipoda species in lateral view: 12. C. nakladam new species; 13. C. menglunana Grootaert, Yang & Saigusa. Abbreviations: lcer, lower lobe of cercus; subep, subepandrial process; ucer, upper lobe of cercus.