Strongylophthalmyia phillindablank Evenhuis

Evenhuis, Neal L., 2016, World review of the genus Strongylophthalmyia Heller (Diptera: Strongylophthalmyiidae). Part I: Introduction, morphology, species groups, and review of the Strongylophthalmyia punctata subgroup, Zootaxa 4189 (2), pp. 201-243 : 234-235

Strongylophthalmyia phillindablank Evenhuis , n. sp.

Diagnosis. Most similar to S. caestus , n. sp. by the bifid male palpus, but it can be easily separated from it by the shape of the male palpus (two hemispherical lobes in S. phillindablank ; glove-shaped in caestus ) and the row of spicules on the dorsal surface of the fore femur that do not extend to the apex (these spicules extending to the apex in S. caestus ).

Description. Lengths. Ƌ: body, 3.4–4.1 mm; wing, 2.8–3.0 mm. Male. Head: globular; frons shining yellowish brown; face yellowish white; gena grayish white, silvery pollinose, row of short yellow hairs ventrally; occiput yellow; clypeus thin, yellow; palpus black, bilobed, each lobe almost spherical, with black hairs on proximal lobe, distal lobe without hairs; proboscis yellow.

Antenna: yellowish white; flagellomere ovoid, clothed with white hairs, with long, slender, slightly curved light brownish dorsal process densely clothed with erect white hairs, 1.25 times length of flagellomere; arista subequal in length to dorsal process, styliform, bare.

Thorax: shining yellowish brown, darker dorsally; mesonotum and scutellum with numerous white hairs; anepisternum bare; katepisternum with white hairs ventrally near mid coxa.

Wing: hyaline; vein R2+3 nearly straight, ending in costa just beyond level of crossvein dm-cu; crossvein r-m at basal one-third of cell dm; veins R4+5 and M1+2 slightly converging distally; crossvein dm-cu sloping toward CuA1; last section of CuA1 to wing margin two times length of dm-cu; halter white.

Legs: legs white; fore coxa with white hairs subapically; fore femur dorsally with 3 longer black thorn-like spicules subbasally, 3 shorter black thorn-like spicules medially, ventrally with cluster of yellowish setae subbasally.

Abdomen: tergites I–II yellowish, weakly sclerotized medially and laterally; tergites III–VI yellowish brown, with short yellow hairs dorsally; sternites yellow.

Male genitalia. Not dissected; epandrium and surstylus shining yellowish brown, with white hairs; cerci yellow, narrow basally, flared and rounded apically, with long white hairs.

Female. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype ♂ (preserved in ethanol) from CHINA: Yunnan, 10 km NW of Gongshan, 10– 12 Jun 2009, 27.795°N, 98.583°E, 2050 m, S. Blank, A.D. Liston & A. Taeger, Malaise trap 1. Deposited in SDEI.

Distribution. China (Yunnan).

Etymology. This species is named in honor of three European colleagues for their contributions to entomological taxonomy: Philippe Grandcolas (phil) + Linda Pitkin (linda) + Stephan M. Blank, who helped collect the type (blank) and is treated as a noun in apposition.