Platypalpus subcaucasicus, Kustov, Semen, Shamshev, Igor & Grootaert, Patrick, 2015

Kustov, Semen, Shamshev, Igor & Grootaert, Patrick, 2015, New data on the genus Platypalpus (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Caucasus with description of seven new species, Zootaxa 3973 (3), pp. 451-473 : 464-465

Platypalpus subcaucasicus sp. nov.

( Figs 17–19 , 26 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE, ♂ labelled [printed in Cyrillic], [ RUSSIA: Krasnodarskiy Territory], “Goryachiy Kluch' r-on [=District] / okr. pos. [= vicinity of village] Oktyabrskiy/ po nad rusl. reki v shir-list. lesu [= shore of river Mokry Sepsil in broadleaf forest] / 13.v.2012 coll. Kustov S.Yu.” ( ZIN). PARATYPES: RUSSIA: Krasnodarskiy Territory: same data as holotype, 29.v.2013, S. Kustov, V. Gladun (1 ♀, ZIN); Severskiy District, vicinity of village Severskaya, shore of channel, 28.iv.2012, V. Gladun, S. Nesterenko (1 ♂, KSU; 1 ♂, 2 ♀, ZIN). Republic of Adygea: Teutcezskiy District, vicinity of village Dzidzihabl, 22.v.2012, V. Gladun (1 ♀, KSU). Republic of Dagestan: 8 km to North from Kisilyurt, steppe, 17.v.1972, V. Richter (1 ♂, ZIN).

Recognition. Large species of the P. pallidiventris-cursitans group (body 2.7–3 mm); occiput with 1 pair yellowish verticals; basal antennal segments yellow, postpedicel largely brown and usually yellowish at base, nearly 3X longer than wide; stylus nearly 1.5X longer than postpedicel; mesonotum densely golden-grey dusted, katepisternum pollinose; 3 notopleurals; acrostichals narrowly biserial; legs almost entirely yellow, only tarsomeres indistinctly annulated; mid tibia with long pointed apical spur; abdomen black, tergites shiny with small lateral patches of greyish pollinosity, margins of tergites polished on posterior half; sternites shiny.

Description. Male. Body length 2.7–3.0 mm; wing length 3.6–3.8 mm. Head black. Occiput with dense grey pollinosity; with 1 pair of long, yellowish, closer aligned inclinate verticals (distance nearly 1.5X width of frons opposite anterior ocellus); upper part of occiput with numerous moderately long, yellow bristly hairs becoming longer and whitish on lower part. Ocellar tubercle with greyish pollinosity, with long (almost as long as verticals) anterior and minute posterior setae. Frons narrow, mostly parallel-sided, somewhat broadened before ocellar ubercle, with dense silver-grey pollinosity. Face narrow, with dense silver grey pollinosity, slightly widening below; clypeus with silvery pollinosity. Antenna with basal segments yellow, postpedicel largely brown and usually yellowish only at base or sometimes yellowish on about basal 1/3rd (paratype from Seversky District) to basal 1/2 (Dagestan); postpedicel conical, nearly 3X longer than wide; stylus black, short pubescent, nearly 1.5X longer than postpedicel. Proboscis dark brown, about half as long as head height. Palpus yellow, rather large, oval, whitish pubescent, apically with 2–3 whitish, long bristly hairs.

Thorax with mesonotum densely golden grey dusted; pleura with dense silvery grey pollinosity including katepisternum; with yellowish bristles. Postpronotal lobe with 1 long and several short setae. Mesonotum with 3 long notopleurals, 2 postalars (1 longer) and 4 scutellars (apical pair long, cruciate, lateral pair short); acrostichals short, not divergent, arranged in 2 close irregular rows; dorsocentrals irregularly 1–2-serial, somewhat longer than acrostichals, 2 prescutellar pairs long; additionally, some setulae present just behind postpronotal lobe, on notopleuron and supra-alar surface.

Legs almost entirely yellow, tarsomeres 2–5 of all legs indistinctly annulated (darker on tarsomeres 3–5), segment 5 brownish-black on apical half. Fore femur strongly thickened, with anteroventral and posteroventral rows of long bristly hairs becoming longer towards base. Fore tibia slightly thickened, with long pale hairs ventrally and some darkened bristly hairs dorsally. Mid femur distinctly stouter than fore femur, with double row of short black spines ventrally and row of long posteroventral bristles. Mid tibia slender, with row of black ventral spinules; apical spur long, pointed, black apically. Hind legs long and slender, covered with ordinary pale hairs. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

Wing slightly yellowish, with yellowish veins. Costal bristle yellowish, moderately long. Veins R4+5 and M1+2 convergent near wing margin, M1+2 slightly bowed on apical part; CuA2 slightly recurrent. Crossveins m-cu and r-m distinctly separated. Calypter yellow, with yellow setae. Halter yellow.

Abdomen black; tergites shiny, with small lateral patches of greyish pollinosity on sides of each tergite becoming wider laterally; margins of tergites polished on posterior half; sternites shiny; covered with numerous long pale yellow hairs. Terminalia ( Figs 17–19 ) moderately large, subglobular, shiny black; cerci ( Fig. 18 ): right cercus rather digitiform (dorsal view) but strongly narrowed toward base, rounded apically, short, covered with short ordinary setae; left cercus longer and broader than right cercus, mostly parallel-sided but strongly narrowed on about apical third, covered with short ordinary setae, without apical hook and ventral bulge (lateral view); right epandrial lamella (lateral view) ovoid, with row of several long setae on apical part ( Fig. 17 ); right surstylus subrectangular, rounded apically, with hooked tip, bearing some short ordinary setae; left epandrial lamella ( Fig. 19 ) broad, rather ovoid, with slightly convex ventral margin bearing about 12 long curved setae on about basal half.

Female. Resembling male but tarsi more distinctly annulated, sternite 6 and segments 7–8 with dense greyish pollinosity; cercus long, slender, with pale hairs.

Etymology. The name of the new species refers its similarity to the closely related species, P. caucasicus Kovalev.

Distribution. Russia (Krasnodarskiy Territory, Adygea, Dagestan).

Remarks. The new species is closely related to P. caucasicus Kovalev known from the Caucasus at elevations 1100–2500 m a.s.l. ( Kovalev 1967). Platypalpus subcaucasicus sp. nov. differs from P. caucasicus by longer postpedicel and shorter stylus (in P. caucasicus 2– 3 X as long as wide, stylus twice as long); mostly shiny margins of tergites (in P. caucasicus completely dusted); polished sternites (in P. caucasicus dusted) and details of the male terminalia. Platypalpus subcaucasicus sp. nov. known from lowland and submontane areas of the Caucasus.

Figures

FIGURES 17 – 19. Platypalpus subcaucasicus sp. nov., male. 17, right epandrial lamella and surstylus, ventral view; 18, epandrium and cerci, dorsal view; 19, left epandrial lamella, lateral view. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 23 – 27. Habitus of males of Platypalpus, lateral view. 23, Platypalpus akhunensis sp. nov; 24, Platypalpus lantsovi sp. nov.; 25, Platypalpus pseudosilvahumidus sp. nov.; 26, Platypalpus subcaucasicus sp. nov.; 27, Platypalpus teberdaensis sp. nov. Scale bar = 1 mm.