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 : 34-35

Elaphropeza sp. 57

( Fig. 39)

Description. Female. Body length 2.2 mm, wing length 1.9 mm. Occiput yellow, with dark spot above neck. Anterior ocellars long, proclinate; posterior ocellars minute. Inner verticals long, outer ones hardly prominent. Antenna ( Fig. 39) almost wholly brownish yellow, scape and pedicel somewhat paler. Pedicel with circlet of subequally short setulae. Postpedicel 3.5 times longer than wide. Style normally pubescent, brown, 3.6 times longer than postpedicel and 2.3 times as long as scape, pedicel and postpedicel combined. Palpus yellow, small, rounded.

Thorax almost entirely yellow, scutum with quite distinct rounded brownish spot above wing base, sternopleuron and hypopleuron brown on middle part, metapleuron brownish in upper part. Prothoracic episterna with 1 long upturned bristle just above fore coxa and 1 very short bristle in upper part. Postpronotal bristle not prominent. Mesonotum with usual set of bristles. Acrostichals and dorsocentrals multiserial, extending to base of scutellum.

Legs wholly yellow. Fore and mid femur with ordinary armature. Fore tibia lacking prominent bristles. Mid tibia lacking black ventral spinules and prominent bristles (except subapicals). Hind femur with unmodified setation. Hind tibia bearing 2 black curved subapical anteroventral bristles, with slightly prominent rounded apical projection. Tarsi of all legs unmodified.

Wing uniformly finely infuscate. Costal index: 36/36/32/14. Veins R4+5 and M1+2 parallel near wing apex, both straight. Crossvein bm-cu oblique. Crossvein r-m near middle of cell bm. Halter with dark knob.

Abdomen. Tergite 1 almost entirely pale yellow, with very narrow brownish space separated in middle. Tergites 2–5 somewhat darker, brown. Tergite 2 broadly concave dorsally and somewhat broadened laterally, with scattered unmodified setae. Tergite 3 broadest (about 4 times as broad as tergite 2 in middle part), bearing squamiform setae. Tergite 4 nearly 1.5 times narrower than tergite 3, with squamiform setae. Tergite 5 sub- equal in width to tergite 4, with squamiform setae. Tergites 6–7 unmodified, yellowish brown. Sternites 1–5 represented by small lateral brownish spots, with some setulae. Gland-like structures present between tergites 3–4 and 4–5. Segment 8 short, broad, with sclerites narrowly fused antero-laterally; sternite 8 not folded apically. Cercus broad oval, brownish yellow.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. SINGAPORE: 1 ♀, Bukit Timah , 23 September 2005, rain forest, Mal 3 (reg. 25359, leg. PG, E-57) .

Remarks. This unnamed species is very similar to E. biuncinata and E. melanderi sp. nov. However, E. biuncinata has an uniformly yellow scutum, whereas the scutum of E. melanderi sp. nov. possesses two elongate brownish spots on each side.

Species Complex 2.—Hind tibia with 1 curved subapical bristle.