Elaphropeza sp.

SHAMSHEV, IGOR V. & GROOTAERT, PATRICK, 2007, Revision of the genus Elaphropeza Macquart (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Oriental Region, with a special attention to the fauna of Singapore, Zootaxa 1488 (1), pp. 1-164 : 139-140

Elaphropeza sp. 44

Description. Female. Body length 2.4 mm, wing length 2.1 mm. Occiput black. Anterior ocellars long, proclinate; posterior ocellars short. Inner verticals long, outer ones somewhat shorter. Antenna with scape and pedicel yellow, postpedicel brownish (except base). Pedicel with circlet of subequally short setulae. Postpedicel about 3.0 times longer than wide. Style normally pubescent, brown, nearly 3.0 times longer than postpedicel and about 2.0 times as long as scape, pedicel and postpedicel combined. Palpus yellow, small, rounded.

Thorax yellow, with brownish markings; scutum with rather small, elongate, brownish patch above wing base, scutellum with brownish spot in middle, metanotum brownish (except lateral corners), hypopleuron almost wholly (except lower margin) brown, metapleuron with some brownish tinge. Prothoracic episterna lacking long upturned bristle just above fore coxa, with 1 very short bristle in upper part. Postpronotal bristle distinct, moderately long. Mesonotum with usual set of bristles. Acrostichal bristles 2-serial, lacking on prescutellar depression; dorsocentral bristles 1-serial, extending to base of scutellum (prescutellars long).

Legs wholly yellow. Fore and mid femur with unmodified armature. Fore tibia with 1 short anterodorsal bristle near middle. Mid tibia lacking ventral spinules and prominent bristles (except subapicals). Hind femur with ordinary setation. Hind tibia bearing 2 anterodorsal bristles in middle part, with hardly prominent rounded apical projection. Hind tarsomere 1 somewhat thickened.

Wing uniformly finely brownish infuscate, veins mostly brownish. Costal index: 53/29/45/17. Veins R4+5 and M1+2 slightly divergent near wing apex, both straight. Crossvein bm-cu slightly oblique. Crossvein r-m before middle of cell bm. Halter with dark knob.

Abdomen with tergite 1 pale yellow. Tergites 2 and 3 brownish, subtriangular viewed dorsolaterally, with unmodified setation. Tergite 4 broadest, dark brown, with squamiform setae. Tergite 5 concolorous with tergite 4, narrow, divided along midline, with few squamiform setae. Tergites 6 and 7 yellowish, tergite 7 with moderately long posteromarginal bristles. Segment 8 brownish, elongate, with sclerites separated; sternite 8 somewhat folded apically. Cercus brownish.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. 1 ♀, Sungei Buloh, 15 June 2005, mangrove, Mal 2 (reg. 25170, leg. PG, E-44) .

Distribution and bionomics. Singapore. Mangrove.

Remarks. Within the key to Elaphropeza this unnamed species runs to E. lineola and E. scutellaris differing primarily from these species by the presence of one anterodorsal bristle on the fore tibia.