Chelipoda puschae Ivkovic , Perovic & Grootaert, 2021

Ivkovic, Marija, Perovic, Marija, Grootaert, Patrick & Pollet, Marc, 2021, High endemicity in aquatic dance flies of Corsica, France (Diptera, Empididae, Clinocerinae and Hemerodromiinae), with the description of a new species of Chelipoda, ZooKeys 1039, pp. 177-197 : 177

Chelipoda puschae Ivkovic, Perovic & Grootaert sp. nov. Figures 2 , 3 , 4

Type locality.

France, Corsica, Zonza, Samulaghia, in dry sapinière forest, 41°45'41.78"N, 09°13'39.52"E

Type material.

Holotype • 1 ♂, labelled: "FRANCE, CORSICA; FR-COR/2019/096 (sample code); La Planète Revisitée - MNHN Corsica / 2019; Zonza, Samulaghia; in dry sapinière forest; 41°45'41.78"N, 09°13'39.52"E; 24-28.vi.2019; M. Pollet leg."; HOLOTYPE/ Chelipoda pusche Ivković, Perović & Grootaert" (MNHN, in 80% ethanol). Paratypes same data as holotype (• 10 ♂♂, 10 ♀♀, MNHN; • 63 ♂♂, 29 ♀♀, UZC; • 45 ♂♂, 14 ♀♀; RBINS; • 55 ♂♂, 24 ♀♀, CNC).

Additional material.

See section with all other records of aquatic empidids.

Diagnosis.

Small, slender brown species with black head, darker median stripe on thorax and yellow legs; upper lobe of cercus slightly curved and pointed; subepandrial process sharply projecting anteriorly, rather slim and straight.

Description.

Male (Figs 2 , 3 ) Body length (based upon 10 specimens): 2.6-2.9 mm; wing length: 2.6-2.9 mm. Head black, with strong black setae, including 2 ocellar setae, outer vertical setae and 4 postocular setae, other setae fine and paler; patch of fine setae posterior of mouth. Mouthparts dark yellow. Eyes black, almost touching below antenna. Antennae, scape, and pedicel yellow, pedicel twice as long as scape; postpedicel light brown, twice as long as pedicel. Arista-like stylus light brown, about 4 × as long as postpedicel.

Sternum yellow, with dark yellow pleura and light brown scutum. Dark brown longitudinal stripe in centre of scutum dorsally broadening towards pronotum and scutellum. Setae on scutum black, with 2 pairs of acrostichal setae, middle pair stronger, posterior pair rather fine and close to scutellum. One anterior pair and one posterior pair of dorsocentral setae, both long and strong. Three notopleural setae, upper posterior rather strong, others smaller and thinner. One pair of strong, marginal scutellar setae.

Legs light yellow, with tarsomeres 4 and 5 darker. Fore coxa with 2 basal setae, upper longer and stronger than lower. Fore tibia slightly longer than fore coxa, distinctly inflated. Femoral formula of fore leg (based upon 10 specimens): 6 anteroventral spines (range 5 or 6), 27 anteroventral denticles (range 23-28), 13 posteroventral denticles (range 10-14), 7 posteroventral spines (range 5-8) and 1 basal spine. All spines dark brown, denticles black. Tibia of a foreleg almost as long as femur.

Wing membrane transparent, veins light brown. Squamae with black fringe. Halter pale brown.

Abdominal tergites and sternites brown, tergites darker than sternites, with short setae, dark on tergites, paler on sternites.

Male terminalia (Fig. 3 ): blackish, darker on upper lobe of cercus, visible part of phallus yellowish. Epandrium and hypandrium fused, rather rounded in lateral view, bearing scattered small dark setae. Left and right lamellae separated by unpigmented densely micropilose membrane. Cercus fused with epandrium + hypandrium, forked, upper lobe of cercus slightly curved and pointed. Subepandrial process sharply projecting anteriorly, rather slim and straight. Phallus apically slender, yellowish.

Female. (Fig. 4 ) Similar to male, except: antenna darker; femoral spines longer and stronger.

Etymology.

The species is named after the German entomologist Martina Pusch, who described six species of Empididae ( Clinocerinae ) from Corsica.

Remarks.

At present, this species is only known from Corsica. It was collected at each of the four localities and eight of the 17 sampling sites investigated during the "La Planète Revisitée Corsica 2019" survey, ranging from open pozzine landscapes to riverbanks in dry oak forests between 845 m and 1,580 m. Chelipoda puschae sp. nov. clearly prefers pine forest ( sapinière) (Fig. 5 ) over the other biotopes sampled, with over 96% of the 387 specimens collected here. Within this forest, the species was collected in greatest numbers at a dry rocky site, where its abundance was over five times as high as in the other more humid sampling sites in the same location. Over 97% of all specimens in the pine forest were retrieved from yellow pan traps, and less than 3% from white and blue pan traps.

Figures

Figure 2. Male (not holotype) of Chelipoda puschae Ivkovic, Perovic & Grootaert, sp. nov.

Figure 3. Male terminalia of Chelipoda puschae Ivkovic, Perovic & Grootaert, sp. nov. A ventral view B lateral view C lateral view D ventral view E dorsal view C-E show details of the apex. Abbreviations: Epan + Hypan, fused epandrium and hypandrium; lcer, lower lobe of cercus; ucer, upper lobe of cercus; subep, subepandrial process; ph, phallus. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figure 4. Female of Chelipoda puschae Ivkovic, Perovic & Grootaert, sp. nov.

Figure 5. The pine forest (sapiniere) at Zonza, Samulaghia, in southern Corsica, investigated 24 - 28 June 2019 as part of the " La Planete Revisitee Corsica 2019 " survey.