Platypalpus acutatus, Yang, Ding & Li, Weihai, 2005

Yang, Ding & Li, Weihai, 2005, New species of Platypalpus from Hebei province, China (Diptera: Empididae), Zootaxa 1054, pp. 43-50 : 46-47

2. Platypalpus acutatus n. sp.

( Figs. 5–7 )

Diagnosis. vt absent. Antenna brownish yellow except first flagellomere blackish; first flagellomere 2.7 times longer than wide. Mesonotum evenly covered with hairs. Mid tibia without distinct apical spur. 2nd costal section (between R1 and R2+3) black basally.

Description. Male. Body length 2.2–2.3 mm, wing length 3.2–3.3 mm.

Head black with pale gray pollen. Eyes very narrowly separated on face; frons wider than face. Hairs on head pale. Ocellar tubercle with 2 blackish oc and 2 posterior hairs; vt absent. Antenna brownish yellow except first flagellomere blackish; pedicel with circlet of black subapical bristles; first flagellomere long conical, 2.7 times longer than wide, short pubescent; arista 1.3 times as long as first flagellomere, black, short pubescent. Proboscis subshining black with pale hairs; palpus yellow with pale hairs and 1 pale apical bristle.

Thorax black with pale gray pollen except mesonotum shining with lateral and posterior portions pollinose and sternopleuron with a large shining spot. Hairs on thorax pale; humerus with 3–4 hairs, without distinct h; mesonotum evenly covered with hairs; dc and presc absent, 1 hair­like psa; scutellum with 2 pairs of brown sc, outer pair short. Legs brownish yellow except tarsi brownish apically. Hairs and bristles on legs pale except tarsi with some blackish hairs. Fore and mid femora thickened, fore femur 1.6 times and mid femur 1.8 times as wide as hind femur; mid femur only with two rows of black v (bristles of anterior row very short and mostly denticle­like, bristles of posterior row 3–4 times as long as those of anterior row); mid tibia with a row of weak black v, without distinct apical spur. Wing hyaline; veins dark brown, second costal section (between R1 and R2+3) black basally; first basal cell a little shorter than 2nd basal cell, distance between r­m and m­m 1/ 6 length of m­m; R4+5 and M parallel apically. Squama brownish yellow with pale hairs. Halter yellow with brownish yellow base.

Abdomen black with pale gray pollen except dorsum subshining. Hairs on abdomen pale. Male genitalia ( Figs. 5–7 ): Left and right epandrial lamellae narrowly connected basally; left epandrial lamella narrow, surstylus not distinctly separated, nearly acute apically with 4 long lateral hairs; right epandrial lamella wide with separated surstylus short and nearly acute apically; left cercus slightly longer than right cercus, right cercus with wide base.

Female. Unknown.

Holotype male, Hebei: Yuxian, Xiaowutai National Nature Reserve, Huichuan, 2004. V. 31, Xingyue Liu (CAU). Paratypes 2 males, same data as holotype (CAU).

Etymology. The species is named for the acute surstyli.

Remarks. The new species is similar to P. acuminatus Saigusa and Yang from Henan, but can be distinguished from the latter by the femora without the dark apical portions and the mid tibia without the distinct apical spur. In P. acuminatus , the mid and hind femora have the black apical portions, and the mid tibia has the short obtuse spur ( Yang & Saigusa, 2002). The new species belongs to the P. pallipes species group.

Figures

FIGURES 5 – 7. Platypalpus acutatus sp. n., male. 5. Genitalia, dorsal view; 6. right epandrial lamella; 7. left epandrial lamella.