Empis (Xanthempis) fusca, Daugeron & Lefebvre, 2015

Daugeron, Christophe & Lefebvre, Vincent, 2015, Descriptions of two new species of Empidinae Schiner, 1862 (Diptera: Empididae) from the Mercantour National Park, France, Zoosystema 37 (4), pp. 605-609 : 606-608

Empis (Xanthempis) fusca n. sp.

( Figs 1, 2 )

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. Male, France, Larche (04), forêt de Boisset, Larch forest , 1986 m, 44.422731°N, 6.878456°E, 24.VI-8. VII.2011, Malaise trap (M11-LAR2000 T3 -M2), MNHN.

Paratypes. 23 ♂, 11 ♀, same data ; 15 ♂, 24 ♀, same data except (M11-LAR2000 T3 -M1) ; 10 ♀, same data except 26.V-9.VI.2011 (M11-LAR2000 T1 -M2), MNHN .

ETYMOLOGY. — From the Latin word fuscus, a, um meaning dark, with reference to the unusual dark blackish-brown colour of this Xanthempis species.

DESCRIPTION

Species of medium size; thorax blackish; abdomen, including male hypopygium, entirely brown (phallus and lower part of epandrial lamella yellowish); fore-femur bicolour, brown dorsally to yellow ventrally.

Male

Head. Occiput blackish, with 2 rows of rather strong, short setae. Ocellar triangle not very prominent, with a pair of fine, short setae. Antenna blackish, postpedicel long, stylus black and short. Frons as broad as face, with minute bristly hairs along margins of eyes. Dichoptic, all ommatidia of equal size. Gena narrow but visible, dark brown. Labrum yellowish, 1.5 × longer than head height, labium brownish, labella thick, with distinct setae, palpus yellow with a few short, bristly hairs.

Thorax. Dark, blackish-brown. Antepronotum bilobed, with about 6-7 rather strong, short setae on each side. Proepisternum bare, prosternum with a few yellowish, bristly hairs. Strong, long setae as follows: 1 postpronotal, 1 notopleural, 1 postalar, 2 scutellars. Acrostichals absent, dorsocentrals uniserial, distinct, short, ending in 2 stronger, longer setae in prescutellar depression. 1 finer, shorter notopleural. Laterotergite with fan of 5-6 strong, long setae.

Wing (about 5.5 mm). Rather clear, tinted brown with faint brown stigma, veins brown except for the yellowish base of Sc and R1. Halters whitish. A1 complete. Anal lobe not strongly developed, anal angle obtuse.

Legs. Coxae yellow, weakly brownish basally, trochanter yellowish-brown. Fore femur distinctly bicolour: dark brown dorsally, yellow ventrally. Mid and hind femora brown. Foretibia yellowish brown at base to dark brown apically. Mid and hind tibiae brownish, darker apically. All tarsi dark, blackishbrown. Legs covered with setulae, fore and mid tibiae with a few more distinct dorsal setae, never longer than tibia depth.

Abdomen. Entirely brownish, with very short, pale setae; stronger, longer blackish setae at posterior margin of segment 8.

Hypopygium ( Fig. 2 ). Very similar to those of E. (X.) semicinerea Loew, 1867 , E. (X.) pseudosemicinerea Daugeron, 2000 and E. (X.) styriaca Strobl, 1893 , but entirely brown except for the yellowish phallus and the yellow lower part of the epandrial lamella. Cercus cleft posterodorsally, epandrial lamella somewhat rectangular, with distinct ventral setae, hypandrium bare, truncate at tip.

Female

Similar to male, except for usual sexual differences.

REMARKS

The subgenus Xanthempis has been intensively investigated during the past twenty years ( Chvála 1994, 1996; Daugeron 1997, 2000, 2009; Shamshev 1998, 2007; Shamshev & Kus-

Genus Rhamphomyia Meigen, 1822

Subgenus Lundstroemiella Frey, 1922

Rhamphomyia (Lundstroemiella) brevis n. sp. ( Figs 3, 4 )

TYPE MATERIAL. — Holotype. Male, France, Parc national du Mercantour, Col de la Bonette, Larch forest , 2100 m, 44°21’32.90’’N, 6°47’03.16’’E, 01.X.2013, MNHN.

Paratypes. 7 ♂, 5 ♀, same data ; 7 ♀, same data, except 3.X.2013, MNHN .

ETYMOLOGY. — From the Latin word brevis , e, meaning short, with reference to the very short, C-shaped phallus of this species.

DESCRIPTION

Greyish to brown species with postpedicel elongated, male eyes dichoptic, legs dark brown to yellowish. Male genitalia closed with short phallus concealed between epandrial lamellae.

Male

Head. Occiput greyish, with distinct, black, postocular setae. Ocellar triangle prominent, with pair of distinct setae. Eyes dichoptic, all ommatidia of equal size. Frons broader than face, greyish, with bristly hairs along eye margin. Face greyish, bare. Antenna blackish, postpedicel elongated, stylus very short. Proboscis dark brown, labrum as long as head height, labium very thick, with labella bearing distinct fine setae, palpus blackish with distinct short setae.

Thorax. Antepronotum and proepisternum without distinct setae, prosternum with a few fine, short, yellowish setae. Scutum greyish. Acrostichals absent, dorsocentrals uniserial, strong, rather short, longer in prescutellar depression. Strong, long black setae as follows: 1 postpronotal, 1 anterior and 1 posterior supra-alars, 1 notopleural, 1 postalar, 4 scutellars. Notopleuron with 2 additional, finer, shorter setae. A Female

Similar to male, except for the usual sexual differences and the following characters: setae finer and shorter, especially on abdomen; wing tinted slightly brown.

REMARKS

This species of the subgenus Lundstroemiella was probably overlooked until now because of its occurrence in autumn; Barták (1985, 1999, 2006) did not mention any species of this subgenus occurring in October. Rhamphomyia (L.) brevis n. sp. can only be compared to R. (L.) magellensis Frey, 1922 , as the two species have their male genitalia closed with the phallus short and thick, concealed between epandrial lamellae, and the hypandrium simple and bare. The remaining Lundstroemiella species have their male genitalia more or less open, with the phallus long, thin and partly visible (see Barták 1985, 1999, 2006). However, R. (L.) brevis n. sp. and R. (L.) magellensis can be distinguished by their very different coloration: the first is greyish to brown including brownish legs, while the second has yellowish legs, bicoloured brown/yellow tergites and only the thorax entirely brownish-black.

Figures

FIG. 2. — Empis (Xanthempis) fusca n. sp. Male hypopygium in lateral view. Scale bar: 0.35 mm.

FIG. 4. — Rhamphomyia (Lundstroemiella) brevis n. sp. Male hypopygium in lateral view. Scale Bar: 0.1 mm