Platypalpus pseudosilvahumidus, Kustov, Semen, Shamshev, Igor & Grootaert, Patrick, 2015

Kustov, Semen, Shamshev, Igor & Grootaert, Patrick, 2015, New data on the genus Platypalpus (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Caucasus with description of seven new species, Zootaxa 3973 (3), pp. 451-473 : 460-462

Platypalpus pseudosilvahumidus sp. nov.

( Figs 11–13 , 25 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE, ♂ labelled [printed in Cyrillic], [ RUSSIA: Karachay-Cherkess Republic], “Karachaevsk / ok. 900 m [= about 900 m a. s. l.] / Sev. Kavkaz [= North Caucasus] / 26.iv. 964 [1964], Gorodkov, na zvetah [= on the flowers of] Prunus divaricata Led.” ( ZIN). PARATYPES: RUSSIA: Karachay-Cherkess Republic: same data as holotype (1 ♂, KSU; 2 ♀, RBINS; 2 ♀, ZIN). Krasnodarskiy Territory: Anapskiy District, Utrish Nature Reserve, tract Dolgaya Niva, 17.iv.2014, coll. S.Yu. Kustov (2 ♀, KSU); Apsheronskiy District, ridge Azish-Tau, Nature Reserve “Kamyshanova Polyana”, small waterfall, 1140 m a.s.l., 4.v.2014, S.Yu. Kustov (1 ♀, ZIN).

Recognition. Medium-sized greyish species of the P. hackmani group; 2 pairs of black vertical bristles; antenna with basal segments yellow to brownish yellow, postpedicel black, about 2.5X longer than wide; mesonotum with strong black bristles; katepisternum entirely grey dusted; legs yellow, hind tarsi darkened; fore femur strongly thickened, stouter than mid femur; fore and hind tibiae with 3–4 erect dark bristles dorsally, mid tibia without apical spur; abdomen black, almost entirely shiny, with blackish setae.

Description. Male. Body length 2.0– 2.1 mm; wing length 2.2–2.3 mm. Head black. Occiput with dense greyish pollinosity, bearing 2 pairs of long black verticals (inner convergent, outer divergent) clothed with dark bristles above and longer brownish hairs below. Ocellar tubercle with greyish pollinosity, with long lateroclinate anterior and short posterior setae. Frons broad, considerably broadened toward ocellar tubercle, with silvery grey pollinosity. Face distinctly narrower than frons on middle, becoming somewhat narrower below, silvery grey pollinose; clypeus with silvery grey pollinosity. Antenna with basal segments yellow to brownish yellow; postpedicel black, conical, almost 2.5X longer than wide, bearing short hairs below; stylus black, slightly shorter than postpedicel. Gena rather broad, shiny below. Proboscis dark brown, short, less than half as long as head height. Palpus small, brown to black, elongate ovate, silvery pubescent, with long black subapical seta and several moderately long hairs near base.

Thorax with rather thin light greyish pollinosity with strong black bristles; katepisternum entirely grey dusted. Postpronotal lobe well differentiated, with 1 very long and several shorter setae. Mesonotum with 2 equally long notopleurals, 1 presutural supra-alar (similar to posterior notopleural), 1 postsutural supra-alar, 2 postalars (anterior longer) and 4 scutellars (apical pair very long, cruciate, lateral pair shorter); acrostichals short, arranged in 2 narrow irregular rows; dorsocentrals strong, 1–2-serial, longer than acrostichals, 2 prescutellar pairs long; some setulae present just behind postpronotal lobe on supra-alar surface and on notopleuron.

Legs yellow, only hind tarsomeres 2–5 brownish yellow. Coxae and trochanters with ordinary setae; fore coxa with several strong brownish setae anteriorly. Fore femur strongly thickened, stouter than mid femur; with rows of short thin anteroventral and posteroventral setae becoming somewhat longer near base. Fore tibia somewhat spindle-shaped, with 3–4 short dark bristles dorsally. Mid femur slightly thickened, narrower than fore femur; with rows of spinule-like anteroventral and longer posteroventral setae, some spinule-like setae ventrally closer to base and 2 strong subapical setae anteriorly. Mid tibia with 1 anterodorsal black bristle closer to middle, some stronger ventral setulae on subapical part; without apical spur. Mid basitarsus with longer setae ventrally (as long as width of segment). Hind femur on middle nearly as wide as mid femur, with ordinary setation. Hind tibia slender, with 3 strong, black anterodorsal (including 1 subapical) and 1 posterodorsal bristles. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

Wing almost hyaline, with pale yellow veins. Two long black costal setae (inner longer). Veins R4+5 and M1+2 slightly bowed, parallel near wing margin; CuA2 perpendicular; basal section of anal vein very faint. Crossveins mcu and r-m almost contiguous. Calypter yellow, with yellow setae. Halter yellow.

Abdomen almost entirely polished black, only tergite 1 faintly grey pollinose anteriorly and laterally and tergite 2 narrowly pollinose anteriorly; sternites polished black. All segments covered with moderately long blackish setae becoming longer and numerous posteriorly. Terminalia ( Figs 11–13 ) rather small, black, subglobular; cerci ( Fig. 12 ): right cercus rather digitiform (dorsal view) but slightly evenly narrowed toward apex, rounded apically, short, covered with short ordinary setae; left cercus nearly as long as right cercus, rather elongate ovate, covered with short ordinary setae; right epandrial lamella (ventral view) narrow, subrectangular, with some setae of different lengths on upper part ( Fig. 11 ); right surstylus subrectangular, rounded apically, with some short ordinary setae; left epandrial lamella ( Fig. 13 ) broad, rather subrectangular, truncate apically, with almost straight ventral margin, bearing several submarginal setae of different lengths on upper part.

Female. Resembling male but mid basitarsus with shorter black setae ventrally. Abdomen with shorter and sparser setation; abdominal segments 7–8 entirely greyish pollinose, cercus rather short, slender, black, greyish pollinose with dark hairs.

Etymology. The name of the new species refers to the close similarity with P. silvahumidus Barták & Kubík, 2015 .

Distribution. Russia (Krasnodarskiy Territory, Karachay-Cherkessia).

Remarks. This species is known only from submontane and montane forests. The new species belongs to the P. hackmani group which in the Palaearctic includes only seven species ( Grootaert & Stark 1997; Shamshev & Grootaert 2012; Barták & Kubík 2015). Sharing two pairs of vertical bristles, entirely pollinose thorax and hind tibia with several prominent bristles, the new species is similar to P. silvahumidus described very recently from Czech Republic ( Barták & Kubík 2015). The new species differs from P. silvahumidus by yellow to brownish yellow basal antennomeres (antenna entirely black in P. silvahumidus ), partly shiny gena (entirely pollinose in P. silvahumidus ), colour of legs, which are yellow (including coxae) with only hind tarsomeres 2–5 being brownish yellow, and by different pattern of bristles on the hind tibia including 3 strong black anterodorsal (including 1 subapical) and 1 posterodorsal bristles (2 anterodorsal and 2 posterodorsal bristles in P. silvahumidus ). Differences between male terminalia of these species are unclear because P. silvahumidus was described after females only.

Figures

FIGURES 11 – 13. Platypalpus pseudosilvahumidus sp. nov., male. 11, right epandrial lamella and surstylus, ventral view; 12, epandrium and cerci, dorsal view; 13, left epandrial lamella, lateral view. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 23 – 27. Habitus of males of Platypalpus, lateral view. 23, Platypalpus akhunensis sp. nov; 24, Platypalpus lantsovi sp. nov.; 25, Platypalpus pseudosilvahumidus sp. nov.; 26, Platypalpus subcaucasicus sp. nov.; 27, Platypalpus teberdaensis sp. nov. Scale bar = 1 mm.