Urytalpa Edwards, 1929

Kjaerandsen, Jostein, Martinsson, Svante, Hedmark, Kjell & Evenhuis, Neal L., 2009, On the genus Urytalpa Edwards (Diptera: Keroplatidae) in the Nordic and Nearctic regions, with fixation of a new type species and a key to world males, Zootaxa 2160 (1), pp. 29-50 : 31

Genus Urytalpa Edwards, 1929

Urytalpa Edwards, 1929:169 (as subgenus of Platyura Meigen, 1803 ).

Type species: Platyura dorsalis Staeger, 1840 ; hereby fixed under ICZN Code Article 70.3; cited as Platyura ochracea Meigen, 1818 , misidentified sensu Edwards (1929), in the original designation by Edwards (1929: 169).

Emended diagnosis. Mouthparts shorter than head; palpi 5-segmented; mesoscutum with bare areas in between clearly arranged acrostichals, dorsocentrals and laterals; posterior border of anterior spiracle without black setae; metepisternum without setae; all veins reaching wing margin; basal part of M entirely reduced; branches of M and CuA setulose dorsally; tibial setulae irregularly arranged; terminal flagellomere with apical papilla; dorsal side of wing membrane with sparse short setulae posteriorly; male terminalia with large and complex aedeagal apparatus, sometimes extending anteriorly into segment V, forming a laterally compressed plate medially, with 1–2 pairs of long, sclerotized lateral apodemes; hypoproct forming a diffuse hyaline plate without projections; female terminalia with tergites VIII–IX reduced and partly fused, forming a retracted hyaline plate; sternite VIII divided ventrally, sclerotized apicoventral corners infolded and covered with short stiff setae; well sclerotized, globular to ovate spermathecae, spermathecal wall of variable thickness.

Fixation of a new type species. Re-examination of the type material and comparison with the original description of the originally assigned type species, Urytalpa ochracea ( Meigen, 1818) , revealed that Edwards (1924) must have misinterpreted the type series when he synonymized it with Platyura dorsalis Staeger, 1840 and P. nigriceps Walker, 1856 . The type material of Platyura ochracea Meigen, 1818 at MNHN consists of three specimens, all labelled with circular labels on which "Meigen" is handwritten ( Fig. 1A ). The first specimen is a male Orfelia unicolor ( Staeger, 1840) , with a distinct brown pre-apical wing mark, from which the abdomen has been cleared and put in a glycerine vial. The second specimen is an Orfelia sp. , also with a distinct brown pre-apical wing mark but lacking abdomen. The third specimen is a female Neoplatyura cf. flava (Macquart, 1826) , labelled " ochracea " on a separate, square piece of paper, but without any pre-apical wing mark. The original description by Meigen (1818: 240) clearly states that the species he described has a pre-apical wing marking, both in the Latin diagnosis: “ alis ante apicem fascia fusca ”, and in the German description: “ dicht vor der Spisse eine braune Querbinde ”. At the same time Meigen indicated the type to be a female: “ Im Junius im Walde das Weibchen ”, but we find it more likely that he at that time misinterpreted the gender rather than the wing pattern. Nevertheless, among the type series, Edwards (1924) chose the female Neoplatyura cf. flava to represent the species and misinterpreted it as the female of P. nigriceps = P. dorsalis . Hence, since none of the specimens in the type series belongs to genus Urytalpa as presently defined, and the original description clearly excludes this genus as well, we find it appropriate and necessary to select a male among the two specimens in the type series with a brown pre-apical wing mark as the lectotype, thereby agreeing with the original description. Hence, we hereby declare the name-bearing type of Platyura ochracea Meigen, 1818 to be the male Orfelia with a distinct brown pre-apical wing mark. This has the following nomenclatural consequences:

Figures

FIGURE 1. Type material studied. — A. Type series of Platyura ochracea Meigen, 1818 at the MNHN collections in Paris. 1 = male with cleared abdomen in glycerine in separate microvial. This specimen is in best agreement with the original description and selected as the lectotype for Orfelia ochracea (Meigen, 1818) comb. n. = Orfelia unicolor (Staeger, 1840) syn. n. 2 = Orfelia sp. lacking abdomen. 3 = female Neoplatyura cf. flava (Macquart, 1826). — B. Male holotype of Urytalpa dorsalis (Staeger, 1840) sp. restit. from the ZMUC collections in Copenhagen. This specimen in near perfect condition (only lacking right mid leg beyond trochanter) is designated as the new type species for Urytalpa due to original misidentification of Platyura ochracea Meigen, 1818 by Edwards (1924, 1929).