Platypalpus spatenkai, Barták, Miroslav & Shamshev, Igor, 2015

Barták, Miroslav & Shamshev, Igor, 2015, Species of Platypalpus Macquart (Diptera: Hybotidae) from Uzbekistan, with descriptions of thirteen new species, Zootaxa 3926 (3), pp. 351-376 : 361-363

Platypalpus spatenkai sp. nov.

( Figs 19–21 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE ♂, labelled: “ UZBEKISTAN, Amankutan, pasture, 39°19'N, 66°55'E, 1300 m, 23.v.1989, M. Barták” ( CULSP). PARATYPES: UZBEKISTAN: 1♂, 2♀, same data as holotype ( CULSP).

Diagnosis. Brownish black pale setose species with 2 pairs of vertical setae; basal antennal segments reddishyellow, postpedicel brownish black, 2.1–2.7X longer than broad, stylus slightly longer; mesoscutum microtrichose, katepisternum with U-shaped lustrous patch reaching posterior margin; legs entirely yellow, mid tibia with apical spur greatly reduced, no posteroventral setae on mid femur.

Description. Male. Head black, rather thinly light grey microtrichose, lower part of frons and face very slightly yellowish translucent. Frons » 0.06 mm broad on lower part (about as broad as pedicel) and 0.08 mm broad on upper part (at level of anterior ocellus). Face » 0.05 mm broad at middle. Gena lustrous, narrow. Both basal antennal segments reddish-yellow, postpedicel including stylus brownish-black, postpedicel 2.1–2.7X longer than broad, stylus slightly longer than postpedicel (1.1–1.8X longer). Clypeus entirely microtrichose. Palpus narrowly ovate, yellow to dusky yellow, small (less than 1/3rd as long as proboscis), with very long subterminal seta. Ocellar setae pale, » 0.13 mm long. Two pairs of pale vertical setae, inner pair » 0.15 mm long and rather widely separated (» 0.16 mm apart). Occiput sparsely covered with pale and short setae on upper part and somewhat longer setae on lower part. Proboscis about half as long as height of head, blackish-brown. Thorax brownish-black, entirely thinly light grey microtrichose, katepisternum with U-shaped lustrous spot leaving narrow anterior and lower part of katepisternum microtrichose, lustrous spot reaching posterior margin. All setae pale yellow. Chaetotaxy: postpronotal seta long and strong; acrostichals broadly biserial (» 0.05 mm), about 9–11 setae per row, dorsocentrals uniserial and slightly longer, more bristle-like, last 1–2 pairs strong and long; notopleuron with 2 long setae posteriorly; 1 long postalar and 1 pair of scutellar setae (with 2 additional small hairs). Wing clear with pale veins. R4+5 and M1 nearly straight and parallel. Crossveins narrowly separated. Cu slightly recurrent. Costal seta yellow long. Squama yellow with yellow fringes, halter pale yellow. Legs yellow including all coxae and tarsi (except usual dark spots on all trochanters). All setae pale (except ventral spines on mid femur and tibia). Fore femur very slightly thickened on basal third, with short pale setae both dorsally and ventrally (scarcely 1/3rd as long as depth of femur). Fore tibia slightly thickened, short setose (lacking dark setae dorsally). Base of mid femur slightly swollen, not much broader than fore femur, without posteroventral setae. Mid tibia almost without apical spur. Hind femur thin, short setose. Hind tibia thin without dark setae. Abdomen blackish-brown, lustrous, only lateral parts of tergites 1–2 and narrow base of tergite 3 microtrichose; sparsely covered with short pale setae, somewhat longer setae on ventral part of terminal segments. Genitalia ( Figs 19–21 ) with cerci short, gradually tapered towards apex, with scattered simple setae, left cercus somewhat longer and broader, with shot digitiform projection on inner margin near middle; left epandrial lamella ( Fig. 21 ) rather elongate ovate, with small submediate dorsal protuberance visible only in dorsal view, ventral margin straight, with several simple setae of different lengths; right epandrial lamella ( Fig. 19 ) with unusually short and broad apical process, with some ventral setae. Female. Similar to male except as follows: last two abdominal segments microtrichose; large part of segment 6 (both tergite and sternite) microtrichose. Length: body 1.9–2.7 mm, wing 2.3–2.5 mm.

Etymology. The species is named after our colleague and companion during the senior author’s expedition to Uzbekistan, Dr. Karel Špatenka (Prague), a specialist in Sessiidae (Lepidoptera).

Distribution. Uzbekistan.

Remarks. The species described above can be identified according to the key. In many characters it is surprisingly similar to P. commutatoides sp. nov., but the latter species has lustrous mesoscutum and slightly different genitalia. Another close species is P. immaculatus (Becker) known from Egypt, but it differs from the above described species in several details including darker (brownish) basal antennal segments and black apical segments of tarsi.

Figures

FIGURES 19 – 21. Platypalpus spatenkai sp. nov., male terminalia. 19. right epandrial lamella, lateral view. 20. cerci, dorsal view. 21. left epandrial lamella, lateral view. Scale bars = 0.10 mm.