Platypalpus shengi, Wang & Wang & Yang & Lin, 2024

Wang, Yuanyuan, Wang, Ning, Yang, Ding & Lin, Kejian, 2024, The genus Platypalpus Macquart (Diptera, Hybotidae, Tachydromiinae) from Inner Mongolia, China, with the description of four new species, ZooKeys 1198, pp. 87-99 : 87

Platypalpus shengi sp. nov.

Figs 4 , 14-17

Diagnosis.

Mid femur with brown anterior spot at tip. All tarsomeres with blackish annulation at tip. Fore tibia distinctly thickened, with 3 spine-like dorsal bristles at middle and 2 rows of very long ventral hairs at apical 2/3.

Description.

Male (Fig. 4 ). Body length 3.1 mm, wing length 3.5 mm.

Head black, with dense, pale gray pollen; clypeus pollinose. Eyes narrowly separated on face; frons slightly wider than face. Hairs and bristles on head yellowish. Ocellar tubercle with 2 oc and 2 short posterior hairs. 1 pair of vt. Antenna (Fig. 14 ) black, but first flagellomere blackish; first flagellomere short, subconical, with uniformly thin tip, 1.9 times longer than wide, with short brown pubescence; arista blackish, with short brown pubescence, 3.5 times longer than first flagellomere. Palpus dark yellow, short oval, with yellowish hairs and 2 short yellow bristles.

Thorax black, with distinct pale gray pollen; mesopleuron with shiny black anterior spot. Hairs and bristles on thorax yellowish; hairs on mesonotum short and sparse; 1 weak h, 2 short npl, acr biserial, 1 long psa, 1 long presc; 2 pairs of sc (lateral pair short).

Legs yellow, but tarsomeres with narrow, blackish, apical annulation; mid femur with brown anterior spot at apex. Hairs on legs mostly yellowish except tarsi with blackish hairs; bristles mostly black. Fore femur distinctly thickened, 1.4 times wider than hind femur; mid femur strongly thickened, 2.1 times wider than hind femur. Fore femur with 1 row of short yellowish av; mid femur with 2 rows of short, black, spine-like ventral bristles and 1 row of short outer yellow av and 1 row of long outer yellow pv; hind femur with 1 row of pale yellow av (apical av rather long). Fore tibia distinctly thickened, with 3 spine-like dorsal bristles at middle, 2 rows of very long ventral hairs at apical 2/3. Mid tibia with 1 row of black ventral bristles; apical spur long and acute, with 1 short terminal hair at tip.

Wing hyaline, veins brownish yellow; cell R4+5 distinctly widened, M distinctly curved, R4+5 and M distinctly convergent apically, r-m and m-m distinctly separated. Squama yellow with pale hairs. Halter yellow.

Abdomen subshiny brown, with pale gray pollen, but hypopygium blackish. Hairs and bristles on abdomen yellowish, but partly dark brown on hypopygium. Hypopygium (Figs 15-17 ): left epandrial lamella (Fig. 17 ) relatively narrow, longer than wide, apically slightly sharp. Right epandrial lamella relatively wide; right surstylus (Fig. 16 ) fused with right epandrial lamellas, basally short and wide, apically twisted and curved inwards, with row of long, marginal bristles. Right cercus (Fig. 17 ) almost as long as left cercus, weakly curved inwards apically, with weak bulge; left cercus apically widened and distinctly curved inward.

Female. Body length 3.0-3.5 mm, wing length 2.9-3.0 mm. Fore tibia slightly swollen, with 4 dorsal bristles.

Type material.

Holotype: male, China, Inner Mongolia, Erdos, Dongsheng, 2006. VIII.7, Maoling Sheng (CAU). Paratype: 4 females, same data as holotype (CAU).

Etymology.

The specific name refers to the specimen collector, Professor Maoling Sheng.

Remarks.

The new species belongs to the P. pallidiventris - Musca cursitans group. It is similar to P. beijingensis Yang et Yu from Beijing, but may be separated from the latter by the mid femur with a brown anterior spot at the tip, the distinctly thickened fore tibia with 3 spine-like dorsal bristles at middle and the 2 rows of long ventral hairs on the apical 2/3. In P. beijingensis , the mid femur is wholly brownish yellow, the fore tibia has no spine-like dorsal bristles and no long ventral hair ( Yang and Yu 2005).

Figures

Figures 2 - 5. Habitus, lateral view 2 P. flavipilosus sp. nov., male (dissected) 3 P. longus sp. nov., male (dissected) 4 P. shengi sp. nov., male (dissected) 5 P. shuimogouanus sp. nov., male (dissected). Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figures 14 - 17. Platypalpus shengi sp. nov., male 14 antenna 15 genitalia, dorsal view 16 apex of right surstylus 17 left epandrial lamella, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.2 mm.