Platypalpus ibericus, Barták, Miroslav & Kubík, Štěpán, 2016

Barták, Miroslav & Kubík, Štěpán, 2016, New species and new synonyms in European Platypalpus (Diptera: Hybotidae), Zootaxa 4175 (2), pp. 142-154 : 143-147

Platypalpus ibericus sp. nov.

( Figs 1–4 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: Ƌ, labelled: “ PORTUGAL, 7 km E of Manteigas , nr. river, 580 m, sweeping, 40°24′42″N, 7°28′04″W, 23.v.2008, M. Barták ” ( CULSP) . PARATYPES: 5 Ƌ, 10 ♀, same data as holotype ; 1 ♀, Portugal, 5 km N of Formalicao , Castanea wood, sweeping, 40°28′31″N, 7°21′32″W, 930 m, 23.v.2008, M. Barták ( CULSP) .

Diagnosis. Brown and heavily microtrichose species with 1 pair of vertical setae; antennae with both basal segments yellow, postpediel short broad and black; acrostichals quadiserial; katepisternum with narrow vertical lustrous spot, legs yellow, mid tibia without apical spur.

Description. Male. Head black, brownish grey microtrichose including clypeus. Frons » 0.07 mm broad just above antennae and » 0.10 mm broad in the level of front ocellus. Face » 0.07 mm broad and nearly parallel sided. Gena narrow and lustrous. Antenna with basal segments yellow, postpedicel black, 1.4X longer than broad, stylus 2.5X longer than postpedicel. Palpus yellow, strip like with distinct tip, and long (about 2/3 as long as proboscis), with one strong but not very long subapical yellow to brownish yellow seta and with several additional shorter yellow setae. Ocellar setae brown and short (0.12 mm), posterior pair scarcely half as long. A single pair of brown to black vertical setae (» 0.16 mm) inserted wide apart (» 0.23 mm). Occiput brown to brownish yellow setose dorsally and yellow (but not much longer) setose ventrally. Proboscis half as long as head, brownish black. Thorax brown, rather light brownish grey microtrichose, katepisternum with narrow (= vertically oriented) lustrous spot. Large thoracic setae brownish, sometimes anterior ones (postpronotal, anterior notopleural, lateral scutellar) white, small setae pale brown (acrostichals, dorsocentrals) to white (lateral parts of mesoscutum). Chaetotaxy: postpronotal seta (one specimen with two setae) rather long and mostly white; acrostichals broadly quadriserial and short (≈ 0.06 mm in middle of rows), about 15 setae in one row; dorsocentrals equally short, irregularly biserial anteriorly (with several hairs laterally on mesoscutum) and nearly uniserial posteriorly, last two pairs strong and long; notopleuron with 2 long setae inserted wide apart; 1 long postalar and 1 long and one much shorter pair of scutellars. Wing clear, veins yellow in basal part and somewhat darker apically. Veins R4+5 and M1 only slightly bowed. Crossveins contiguous. Vein Cu distinctly S-shaped and recurrent, basal part of anal vein clearly visible. A single short yellow to brown costal seta. Squama grey with pale fringes. Halter yellow with brownish stem. Legs yellow with only usual small dark spots on all trochanters and mid and hind knees, mid and hind coxae very slightly darkened, last 1–2 (3) tarsal segments distinctly darkened, no annulations. Fore femur thickened, ventrally with short and fine pilosity, and with yellow setae dorsally and posteriorly slightly shorter than depth of femur. Fore tibia slightly thickened and short setose, with several short dark setae antero- and posterodorsally. Mid femur only very slightly deeper than fore femur (≈ 0.21 mm broad at broadest point), ventrally with usual two rows of spine-like setae, anterior row consists of short spines and posterior consists of much longer setae proximally (up to 0.10 mm long) becoming shorter more distally, and with 2–3 preapical anterior and anteroventral and one preapical postroventral seta(e), no posteroventral setae. Mid tibia without apical spur. Hind legs without conspicuous setation. Abdomen brown, tergites 2–6 lustrous dorsally and with transverse band of microtrichosity anteriorly which may be broader on tergite 6, lateral margins microtrichose, segment 8 partly lustrous including proximal parts of genital lamellae, sternites and distal parts of genital lamellae microtrichose. Abdomen sparsely covered with white setae. Genitalia ( Figs 1–4 ) with left epandrial lamella deeply split apically ( Fig. 3 ); right epandrial lamella ( Fig. 1 ) fine setose ventrally and with sharply tipped surstylus; cerci ( Fig. 2 ) digitiform, left one with long ventrally bent apical process ( Fig. 2 right). Female. Practically identical to male except usual differences in terminal abdominal segments. Segment 8 conspicuously enlarged. Length: body 2.1–3.8 mm, wing 2.0– 2.9 mm.

Etymology. The name is derived from the Iberian Peninsula where the species was collected.

Distribution. Portugal.

Remarks. The species described above is very similar to P. montenegrensis Bequaert , leading to the same point in the key by Grootaert & Chvála (1992). The position of both species in groups delimited by Chvála (1975) is unclear. Platypalpus montenegrensis was assigned by Grootaert & Chvála (1992) close to the P. c i l i a r i s group, however, in keys to species groups ( Chvála 1975; Grootaert & Chvála 1992) both species lead almost exactly to the P. hackmani group. Differences between both species are given in Table 1 . Moreover, despite the thorax of the holotype of P. montenegrensis (studied by the senior author) being covered in glue masking the microtrichia, the katepisternum appears to be entirely microtrichose.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: Ƌ, labelled: “ CZECH REPUBLIC, Sázava— 5 km N, damp meadow, 49°55′N, 14°55′E, 16.vi.1990, M. Barták ” ( CULSP) . PARATYPES: 1 Ƌ, 4 ♀, same data as holotype ( CULSP) .

Diagnosis. A small black and lustrous species with 1 pair of vertical setae, antenna black, lustrous mesoscutum, katepisternum and anepisternum, legs black, mid femur with pale posteroventrals; very long and sharply pointed apical spur on mid tibia.

Description. Male. Head black, frons (except microtrichose lowermost part), ocellar triangle and small triangular spot on vertex (behind ocellar triangle) lustrous, face microtrichose. Frons » 0.06 mm broad just above antennae and ≈ 0.10 mm broad in the level of front ocellus. Face ≈ 0.04 mm broad at middle (at the narrowest point). Clypeus lustrous. Gena rather wide and lustrous. Antenna black, postpedicel 2.0–2.4X longer than broad, stylus 1.6–2.2X longer than postpedicel. Palpus brown, ovoid, and very short (about 1/3 as long as proboscis), with several long white to brownish setae. Ocellar setae black and short (≈ 0.10 mm), posterior pair scarcely half as long. A single pair of brown to black vertical setae (≈ 0.15 mm) inserted wide apart (≈ 0.20 mm). Occiput light grey microtrichose, sparsely and black setose dorsally and long white setose ventrally. Proboscis half as long as head, brownish black. Thorax black; lustrous parts: mesoscutum including postpronotum, anepisternum (ventrally extending to fore coxa but except dorsal narrow microtrichose strip), katepisternum (lustrous part broadly connected with lustrous part of anepisternum, leaving only very narrow dorsal microtrichose strip); microtrichose parts: narrow ventral strip on notopleuron (ventrad from setae), postalar calli and scutellum. Large thoracic setae including acrostichals and dorsocentrals black or at least very dark brown, hairs on proepisternum, fore coxa and squama mostly white, hairs on wing mostly dark including small costal seta, legs with mixed dark and pale setae. Chaetotaxy: postpronotal seta rather short but distinct (about 2X longer than acrostichals or dorsocentrals); acrostichals broadly biserial and rather long (≈ 0.10 mm in middle of rows), about 10–12 setae in one row; dorsocentrals equally long or slightly longer, uniserial, about 10 setae in one row, last pair strong and long (about as long as apical scutellars) and inserted conspicuously wide apart (near margins of scutellum); notopleuron with 1 long black seta on posterior part and with one to several additional smaller and paler seta(e); 1 short postalar and 2 to 3 pairs of scutellar setae. Wing clear with dark brown veins. Veins R4+5 and M1 only slightly bowed and almost parallel. Crossveins separated. Vein Cu almost straight and slightly recurrent, basal part of anal vein depigmented but visible. Costal seta short, black. Squama brown with pale fringes. Halter pale yellow except brownish basal part, stem dark brown. Legs black, only front knees and all tarsi at least partly brown. Tarsi with only very indistinct annulations. Fore femur slightly thickened, with two ventral rows of pale setae about half as long as depth of femur. Fore tibia narrow and short setose. Mid femur thickened (» 0.23 mm broad at broadest point, i.e.

1.4X broader than fore femur), with rather short and sparse pale posteroventrals. Mid tibia with very long sharply pointed apical spur. Hind legs thin, without conspicuous setation. Abdomen black and entirely lustrous, without any microtrichosity, sparsely covered with setae appearing white on the lustrous black background but brown against white background, these setae are longer on last 3 tergites. Genitalia ( Figs 5–8 ): left epandrial lamella ( Fig. 8 ) slightly bowed, with about 10 setae ventrally (not all illustrated); cerci ( Fig. 6 ) simple and digitiform, subequal; righ epandrial lamella ( Fig. 5 ) subrectangular, surstylus ovoid with distinct longitudinal ridges ( Fig. 7 ). Female. Practically identical with male except last abdominal segments. Abdomen lustrous, last two segments microtrichose except narrow lustrous stripe dorsally on 8th sternite. Length: body 2.7–3.0 mm, wing 2.5–2.9 mm.

Etymology. The species is named after the type locality bearing local name “Moštice”.

Distribution. Czech Republic.

Remarks. The species described above belongs to the P. minutus group and it should be compared with other black Platypalpus spp. with a single vertical seta, black antennae, black legs, long and sharp midtibial spur and lustrous anepisternum: P. a t e r (Wahlberg), P. niger (Meigen) , and P. nigricolor Merz & Chvála. However , the latter two species have proximal parts of all femora yellow and frons, ocellar triangle, and vertex microtrichose. Platypalpus ater , known from North Europe, sharing with P. mosticensis sp. nov. black legs and lustrous frons, has postpedicel shorter (about 1.5–1.9X longer than wide), stylus slightly longer (2– 3X longer than postpedicel), large thoracic setae white and postpronotum including frontmost part of mesoscutum (between postpronotal calli) microtrichose. Moreover, genitalia of both species are different, compare Figs 5–8 with figs 386–388 in Chvála (1975); e.g. the whole genitalia are very large and long in P. a t e r (being nearly as long as the whole abdomen), but short in P. mosticensis sp. nov. In addition, both right cercus and right surstylus are sharply tipped in P. a t e r, but rounded in P. mosticensis sp. nov. Female abdominal segment 8 is elongated in P. at e r (being at least 3X longer than preceding one) but subequally long in P. mosticensis sp. nov.

The newly described species leads to couplet 69 in the key by Grootaert & Chvála (1992), but also couplet 68 should be corrected because it erroneously states “Pleura dusted except for polished katepisternum”. The couplets 68–69 should be corrected as follows:

68 (58) Legs mostly black, only tibia dark brown. Larger species (body about 2.5 mm)............................... 69 - Fore coxa and base of all femora largely yellow. Smaller species, body at most about 2 mm in length.............. 70 69 (68) Anepisternum microtrichose. Stylus about as long as postpedicel........................ .. cinereovittatus (Strobl) - Anepisternum lustous. Stylus at least 1.5X longer than postpedicel......................................... 69a 69a (69) Large thoracic setae white. Postpronotum including the anterior part of mesoscutum microtrichose. Crossveins contiguous

to narrowly separated. ♂: genitalia very large and almost as long as abdomen; right cercus and right surstylus sharply

tipped. ♀: abdominal segment 8 3X longer than segment 7..................................... ater (Wahlberg) - Large thoracic setae brown to black. Postpronotum including the anterior part of mesoscutum lustrous. Crossveins widely

separated. ♂: genitalia short; right cercus and right surstylus rounded apically. ♀: abdominal segment 8 subequally long as

segment 7........................................................................ mosticensis sp. nov.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Platypalpus ibericus sp. nov. 1, right epandrial lamella; 2, cerci; 3, left epandrial lamella; 4, antenna.

FIGURES 5 – 9. Platypalpus mosticensis sp. nov. 5, right epandrial lamella; 6, cerci; 7, right surstylus; 8, left epandrial lamella; 9, antenna.

Tables

TABLE 1. Comparison of Platypalpus ibericus sp. nov. and P. montenegrensis.

	P. ibericus sp. nov.	P. montenegrensis
Abdominal sternites	Entirely microtrichose	Mostly lustrous
Left epandrial lamela	V-shaped split apically	Triangle-shaped
Lateral parts of abdominal tergites 3–4	Broadly microtrichose	Lustrous
Midtibial spur	Practically absent	Small but distinct (about 0.04 mm long)
Right surstylus	Sharply tipped	Ovate at tip
Platypalpus mosticensis sp. nov. (Figs 5–9)