Meroplius timikana Ozerov, 2018

Ozerov, A. L., 2018, Contribution to the fauna of the genus Meroplius Rondani, 1874 (Diptera, Sepsidae) of the Australasian / Oceanian region, Zootaxa 4438 (1), pp. 195-200 : 197-198

Meroplius timikana Ozerov , sp. nov. ( Figs 2 , 4 , 7, 8 .)

Material. Holotype ♂, Indonesia: Papua, Timika env. (4.515°S 136.885°E), 20–30.XII.2017, N. Vikhrev ( ZMUM) . Paratypes: 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀, same labels (ZMUM).

Description. Male. Head. Frontal vitta and fronto-orbital plate black, shining. Face brownish, greyish dusted. Parafacial reddish. Gena blackish, densely greyish dusted. Postcranium black, grey dusted, with several black hairs. Setae: 1 orbital, 1 ocellar, 1 inner vertical, 1 outer vertical, 1 postocellar; 1 pair of vibrissae present. Antenna brownish to blackish. Postpedicel rounded apically, about 2 times as long as wide. Arista black, bare. Palpus very small, brownish.

Thorax black. Scutum (including postpronotal lobe) delicately greyish dusted. Proepisternum, katepimeron, meron, metepisternum, metepimeron, katatergite, anatergite and mediotergite greyish dusted. Anepisternum, anepimeron shining completely. Katepisternum shining, but densely greyish dusted along upper posterior corner. Scutum with the following paired setae: 1 postpronotal, 2 notopleural, 1 supra-alar, 1 postalar, 1 postsutural dorsocentral. Scutellum greyish dusted, with a pair of strong apical setae and a pair of small basal setae.

Legs black, but all coxae, all trochanters, fore femur and tibia yellow, also sometimes hind femur yellow near base. Fore femur with two black spines ventrally, distal spine straight ( Fig. 2 ). Mid femur, hind femur and hind tibia without striking setae. Mid tibia with 1 ventral seta in apical half. Hind tibia with an osmeterium anterodorsally.

Wing clear. Veins brown. Calypters, margins of calypters, and halteres whitish.

Abdomen black, shining. Tergites 4–5 with several thin marginal setae. Sternite 4 as in Fig. 4 . Epandrium and surstyli as in Figs 7, 8 ; surstylus with two median projections ( Fig. 7 ).

Female. Resembles male. Femur and tibia of foreleg simple. Mid tibia without ventral seta. Hind tibia without an osmeterium anterodorsally.

Measurements. Length of body 2.6–2.9 mm. Length of wing 2.2–2.5 mm.

Distribution. Australasian/Oceanian.— Indonesia: Papua.

Figures

FIGURES 1–2. Meroplius fasciculatus (Brunetti) (1) and M. timikana sp. nov. (2), male fore femur and tibia, anteriorly.

FIGURES 3–4. Meroplius fasciculatus (Brunetti) (3) and M. timikana sp. nov. (4), male sternite 4.

FIGURES 5–8. Meroplius fasciculatus (Brunetti) (5, 6) and M. timikana sp. nov. (7, 8): 5, 7—epandrium, cerci and surstyli, dorsal view; 6, 8—same, lateral view.