Platypalpus latemoides Zouhair & Grootaert, 2025

Zouhair, Laila, Grootaert, Patrick, Gençer, Lütfiye & Kettani, Kawtar, 2025, Turkish Hybotidae (Diptera: Empidoidea): description of six new species with additional data, Zootaxa 5609 (4), pp. 503-524 : 511-512

Platypalpus latemoides Zouhair & Grootaert sp. nov.

( Figs 7 , 8 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE. Sivas prov. ♂, DurulmuŞ , 39.839 N, 37.318 E, 1286 m, grassland, 23.v.2001, sweep net, leg. L. Gençer. PARATYPE: Ankara prov. 1♂, Şereflikoçhisar , 38.833 N, 33.333 E, 902 m, grassland, 22.iv.2001, sweep net, leg. L. Gençer.

Diagnosis. A medium sized species of the pallidiventris -cursitans group, with one pair of long yellow verticals. Antennae with basal segments yellow to brownish yellow, postpedicel blackish brown, conical slightly elongate about 3X as long as wide at base, stylus brown slightly longer than pedicel about 1.2X. Thorax with mesoscutum including postpronotal lobe greyish dusted, pleura greyish dusted, leaving a polished spot on katepisternum. Legs blackish, except of apical third of all femora and all tibia yellow, tarsi indistinctly annulated, but last tarsal segment of all legs black. Mid tibia with a long, sharp, black apical spur, as long as tibia is deep. Wings hyaline, with veins yellowish in basal part, yellowish brown in apical part with veins M 1+2 and R 4+5 parallel before reaching the wing border.

Description. Male. Length: body 2.8 mm, wing 2.2 mm. Head black in ground colour, occiput densely greyish pollinose with short pale setae and one pair of long yellow verticals. Gena densely greyish dusted. Ocellar tubercle greyish pollinose, with 2 yellow, long anterior setae and 2 very short posterior yellow setae. Frons densely greyish pollinose, wider than pedicel as deep, slightly broader toward ocellar tubercle. Face densely greyish dusted, slightly narrower than pedicel. Clypeus, dusted in upper part and somewhat long. Antenna with basal segments yellow to brownish yellow, postpedicel blackish brown, conical slightly elongate about 3X as long as wide at base, stylus brown slightly longer than pedicel about 1.2X. Proboscis blackish, rather long, slightly shorter than head height. Palpus blackish brown, elongate ovate, with scattered pale setulae and one long yellow subapical seta.

Thorax black. Mesoscutum including postpronotal lobe greyish dusted, pleura greyish dusted leaving large, polished spot on posterior part of katepisternum, with only small triangular dusted area on anterior part. Postpronotal lobe with 1 long yellow seta and 3 minute yellow setae. Mesoscutum with 2 yellow notopleurals (anterior long, posterior shorter), 1 yellow postalar, 1 pair of long yellow prescutellars, 4 yellow scutellars (apical pair long and cruciate, lateral pair short and faint), acrostichals yellow biserial, dorsocentrals yellow uniserial as long as acrostichals, ending in one larger seta. Legs blackish, except of apical third of all femora and all tibia yellow, tarsi with indistinct brown annulations, but last tarsal segment of all legs black. Coxae and trochanters with ordinary yellowish setae of different lengths. Fore femur thickened in basal third, with ventral pale setae. Fore tibia somewhat thickened, clothed with pale setulae. Mid femur distinctly more thickened than fore femur, with double row of black ventral spinules and row of long, yellow posteroventral setae. Mid tibia slender, with row of very small ventral spinules and long, sharp, black apical spur, rather as long as tibia is deep. Hind femur slender, with pale setulae. Hind tibia slender, as long as femur, clothed with ordinary pale setulae. Wing hyaline, with yellowish veins in basal part, yellowish brown in apical part of the wing. Veins R 4+5 and M 1+2 parallel before reaching wing border. Crossveins m-cu and r-m separated, bm longer and broader than br. Vein CuA straight. Vein M 4 reaching wing border. Vein CuA+CuP indistinct. Squama blackish. Halter whitish.

Abdomen brownish black, with 1–2 tergites broadly dusted at sides, remaining parts sparsely dusted, sternites polished, abdominal setae scattered, short and pale. brownish black tergites and sternites, greyish dusted, covered with scattered short pale setae. Terminalia ( Fig. 8 ). Cerci enclosed between the epandrial lamellae ( Fig. 8B ). Right cercus slightly shorter than left cercus. Left cercus with an acute tip. Setae at base of right surstylus longer than surstylus. Right border of right epandrial lamella set with row of fine setae ( Fig. 8A ). Basal half of left border of left epandrial lamella densely set with long setae while apical half more sparsely set with shorter setae ( Fig. 8C ).

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. This species is named after its similarity to P. latemi .

Remarks. The key of Grootaert & Chvála (1992) led us to P. latemi Grootaert 1983 due to the yellow second antennal segment (pedicel), which is usually a good differential character within Platypalpus . The new species is similar to P. latemi in many fundamental characters including the pale pedicel, one pair of verticals, yellow thoracic setae, katepisternum with polished spot, two notopleurals, acrostichals biserial, mid femur with long, yellow posteroventral setae, mid tibia with long sharp black spur and dark legs, but it differs from this latter in the dorsocentrals (biserial in the new species, while irregularly biserial in P. latemi ), and annulations of tarsi (hard distinct in the new species while are broadly annulated in P. latemi ). Genitalia of both species are distinctly different especially in the shape of the right cercus (compare Fig. 8 with Grootaert 1983, fig. 4).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Platypalpus latemoides Zouhair & Grootaert sp. nov., male habitus. Scale: 1 mm.

FIGURE 8. Platypalpus latemoides Zouhair & Grootaert sp. nov., male terminalia. A. Right epandrial lamella, lateral; B. Epandrium and cerci, dorsal; C. Left epandrial lamella. Scale: 0.1 mm (image Patrick Grootaert).