Teuchophorus gladiator, Meuffels & Grootaert, 2004

Meuffels, Henk & Grootaert, Patrick, 2004, The genus Teuchophorus in South-East Asia and New Guinea, description of new species, species-groups and their phylogeny (Insecta, Diptera, Dolichopodidae), Journal of Natural History 38 (2), pp. 143-258 : 182-184

Species 18: Teuchophorus gladiator sp. nov. (male)

(figures 97–101)

Etymology. Lat. gladiator , ‘fighter with a sword’, alluding to the sword-shaped third antennal segment.

Diagnosis. Very small species with very long antenna and curiously deformed hind legs. Eyes nearly touching just below middle of face. Costa not thickened.

Material examined. Type material: Brunei, Kuala Belalong, Temburong river,    male and one      male, 17 April 1993, river in primary rain forest (No. 93025, leg. P. Grootaert); Belalong river , two males, river in primary rain forest (No. 93024, leg. P. Grootaert) .

Male

Body length 1.2 mm; wing length 1.15 mm.

Head. Frons broad, black, feebly shining. Face rapidly narrowing downwards; eyes nearly touching just below middle of face. Palpi small, rounded, yellow, with a short black apical bristlet. Rostrum yellow. Occiput black. Chaetotaxy as usual; two small postocellars. Postocular cilia very short, uniseriate, black. Antenna (figure 97): very long, brown; first segment and lengthened apex of third segment lighter coloured. First segment very small; second segment cup-shaped, short. Third segment with a very long, pointed apex. Arista inserted at tip of basal part of third antennal segment, less than 1.5 times as long as antenna.

Thorax. Mesoscutum and scutellum dark brown, feebly shining. Pleurae brown, with a small black spot on metapleura. Chaetotaxy as usual; acr uniseriate. Scutellum with two marginals. No propleural bristle.

Legs. Legs and coxae yellow.

Fore leg. Coxa exteriorly with sparse short brownish hairs and towards apex with a row of short brownish bristles. Femur with a minute preapical pv. Tibia without bristles or serration. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.27: 0.11:0.05:0.035:0.03: 0.05.

Mid leg. Coxa with few short hairs. Femur with about three very short brownish pv near apex, and a very small preapical av. Tibia with one ad and one pd on basal third; ventrally on apical half a row of slightly lengthened hairs; apical crown with a rather long ad. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.4:0.16:0.09: 0.075: 0.06:0.06.

Hind leg (figure 98). Coxa with a short black exterior bristlet. Femur with a rather long av near apex, about as long as diameter of femur. Tibia thickened and somewhat spindle-shaped; three short dorsal bristles on apical two-fifths. Tarsus (figure 99) curiously deformed. First segment short, thickened, bearing some short ventral hairlets and a short preapical ventral seta. Second segment longer than first segment, ventrally enlarged by a comb of close-set yellow spinules. Third and fourth segments very short, bent inwards together with the fifth segment, that bears a greatly enlarged claw. Length of tibia and tarsal segments (in mm): 0.45: 0.06:0.1: 0.03:0.02:0.06.

Wing. Wing (figure 100) hyaline. Costa not thickened. r4+5 and m1+2 diverging apically. Halters brownish yellow. Squamae small, brown, with brown cilia.

Abdomen. Abdomen brown, more yellowish brown laterally. Hairs and bristles extremely short, dark. Hypopygium (figure 101) very small.

Female Unknown.

Discussion

T. ensicornis sp. nov. shares with this species the very long third antennal segment, the small stature, the not swollen costa, the small hypopygium, and the simple bristling of front and mid legs. T. ensicornis , however, lacks the curious deformation of the hind leg.