Petrothrincus dhritaparam, new species

Figs 35–37, 59

This new species is separated from other congeners by the bipartite up­curving gonocoxite, the slender pair of phallic guide plates, and the short phallus.

Male head and thorax. Antennal scape about 3x as long as wide. Maxillary palp 5­ segmented (5th segment broken), 1st segment 2x longer than wide, 2nd and 3rd segments similar, 4th segment almost twice as long as the first three. Interantennal setal warts small, rounded, situated close to each other. Cephalic setal warts reniform. Postocular setal warts long, vertical. Two pairs of pronotal setal warts: median pair long, lateral pair small.

Male wings. Forewing length 4.0 mm, hind wing length 3.0 mm. Denuded wing membrane very pale veins also colourless. Venation typical, except discoidal cell twice as long as wide.

Male genitalia (Figs 35–37). Anterior margin of abdominal segment IX uniformly hyperboloid, anterodorsal and anteroventral margins nearly straight (Fig. 35); posterior margin concave, without upper lobe (Fig. 35). Tergum IX very short (Figs 35, 36). Sternum IX short and strongly produced posteriorly (Fig. 35). Superior appendages long, but shorter than Xth tergum, nearly quadrangular in lateral and dorsal aspects, apically incised (Fig. 35), with long setae. Xth tergum narrowly egg­shaped, with short apical lobe armed with two small setae (Fig. 36); in lateral view (Fig. 35) slightly curved up­ward, knife­shaped. Gonocoxite distally bipartite (Fig. 35), dorsal lobe longest, up­curving and without setae, lower lobe slightly bifid subapically and bearing setae. Phallic guide forms 1 pair of slender rods with undulating dorsal margin in lateral view (Fig. 35) running very close and parallel in ventral view (Fig. 37), apices slightly bifid (Fig. 37). Phallus short, about equally wide in lateral view, except tapering from posterior 2/3 (Fig. 35).

Etymology. Named after it was found hidden among small psychomyiid specimens during sorting. In Sanscrit, “ dhritaparam ” means hidden..

Holotype male: MADAGASCAR: Perinet, P. Viette, ix 1954 [R. Paulian].