Chelipoda trifurcata, 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 : 455-456

8. Chelipoda trifurcata sp. nov.

( Fig. 6 )

Diagnosis. Mesoscutum with a very long mid-longitudinal dark brown stripe weakly widened backward. Hairs and bristles on head and thorax blackish. Postpedicel distinctly short, 2.1–2.2 times longer than wide, indistinctly pubescent. Male cercus trifurcated.

Description. Male. Body length 2.45 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 blackish; two long vt. Ocellar tubercle weak, with pair of long oc nearly as long as vt. Antenna dark yellow, but postpedicel brown and arista dark brown; postpedicel 2.1–2.2 times longer than wide, indistinctly pubescent; arista very long 3.3–3.5 times longer than postpedicel. Proboscis mostly brownish yellow, partly dark brown, with dark brown hairs; palpus brownish yellow with brown hairs and 1 brown apical bristle.

Thorax brownish yellow with pale gray pollen, but pronotum dark brown and mesoscutum with very long mid-longitudinal dark brown stripe weakly widened backward; scutellum brown; mediotergite widely brown at middle. Hairs and bristles on thorax blackish; one anterior dc, one npl and one sa very long strong, but one middle dc slightly long; one h, one ph, one psa and one prsc short hair-like; sc rather long and strong. Legs dark yellow except tarsomeres 5 brown. Setae and setulae on legs mostly blackish. Fore coxa 0.85 times as long as fore femur. Fore femur distinctly narrowed, 3.8 times longer than wide, 2.7 times as thick as fore tibia, with two rows of black ventral denticles and one row of 5 long thick dark brown outer av and 4 long thick dark brown outer pv. Fore tibia 0.7 times as long as fore femur, with row of very short recumbent black setae ventrally. Wing hyaline, tinged brownish; veins brown. Squama brownish with blackish hairs. Halter brownish yellow.

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

Male genitalia: Epandrium somewhat short, widely separated from hypandrium. Hypandrium somewhat large, somewhat trapezoid, about two times higher than long. Cercus closely fused with epandrium, basally slightly thick, apically irregularly trifurcated. Subepandrial process broad with apex narrowed and strongly upcurved. Phallus very long, curved forward.

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 Chelipoda shennongana Yang et Yang from Hubei of China but may be separated from the latter by the mesoscutum with a very long mid-longitudinal dark brown stripe weakly widened posteriorly and male cercus trifurcated. In C. shennongana , the mesoscutum has a short middle brownish stripe only on anterior half, and the cercus is very broad and subconical ( Yang & Yang 2004).

Etymology. The specific name refers to the trifurcated male cercus.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Chelipoda trifurcata sp. nov. a. Male habitus, lateral view; b. Male genitalia, lateral view.