Protapiocera convergens, Zhang, Kuiyan, Yang, Ding & Ren, Dong, 2007

Zhang, Kuiyan, Yang, Ding & Ren, Dong, 2007, Notes on the extinct family Protapioceridae, with description of a new species from China (Insecta: Diptera: Asiloidea), Zootaxa 1530, pp. 27-32 : 29-30

Protapiocera convergens sp. nov.

( Figs. 2–4 )

Diagnosis. Ve i ns R 2+3 nearly converged with R4; base of cell m2 acute; apex of vein A2 obscure.

Description. Body length 19.5 mm; wing length 12 mm, width 3.5 mm. Body large, stout, elongated. Head large and round, as long as high. Eyes thinly pilose, with clear facets. Antenna short, missing basally; first flagellomere somewhat thick basally, its apical portion [= arista] long and thin. Thorax robust with hairs, about 1.3 times as high as head. Most parts of legs missed. Hind femur swollen, with dense short hairs; tibia narrow and slightly curved.

Wing long, nearly as long as abdomen; venation on basal and middle part distinct, but absent or obscure on apical part of wing in natural state (not caused by preservation). Vein C ending nearly at wing tip. Vein Sc long, reaching vein C, far beyond middle of wing. Vein R1 ending nearly at apical 1/6 of wing. Vein Rs very short, originating from vein R1 at middle of wing; veins R2+3 and R4 short, curved forward and ending on vein R1 apically; veins R2+3 converged with R4; apex of vein R5 obsolete. Crossvein r-m situated at basal 2/5 of cell d. Vein M with 3 branches, all indistinct apically, thus all posterior cells open. Vein CuA1 arising from cell bm. Ve in C u P p re s en t. Ve in C uA 2 short and strongly curved backward. Apex of vein A2 obscure. Base of cell m2 obviously acute. Cell cup closed, nearly as wide as cell bm, apically truncate.

Abdomen long and subcylindrical, with 8 visible segments. Segment I shortest; segments II and III thickest, almost 3.3 times as wide as segment I.

Holotype. Body with wing in lateral view, part and counterpart. No. CNU-DB-LB2006001, 2006002, housed in Key Lab of Insect Evolution & Environmental Changes, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.

Locality and horizon. Collected from near Chaomidian Village, Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, China. Upper Jurassic or Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation outcrop.

Etymology. The species name refers to the convergence of veins R2+3 and R4.

Remarks. The new species is similar to the two known species: Protapiocera megista and Protapiocera ischyra , but can be easily separated from P. m e g i s t a by having the smaller body (body length 19.5 mm), vein R2+3 converged with vein R4, and the base of cell m2 obviously acute. In P. m e g i s t a, the body is large (body length 31 mm), veins R2+3 and R4 are distinctly separated apically, and cell m2 is subquadrate basally (Ren 1998). Also, P. convergens sp. nov. can be separated from P. i s c h y r a by having vein R2+3 converged with vein R4, crossvein r-m located at basal 2/5 of cell d, cell br and cell bm subequal in width, vein A2 very short, not exceeding 1/2 length of cell bm. In P. i s c h y r a, veins R2+3 and R4 are distinctly separated apically, crossvein r-m is located at basal 1/4 of cell d, cell br is wider than cell bm, and vein A2 is long, exceeding 2/3 length of cell bm (Ren 1998).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Protapiocera convergens sp. nov. Body, photograph.

FIGURES 3 – 4. Protapiocera convergens sp. nov. 3. Body, camera lucida drawing. 4. Antennae.