Parydra (Parydra) cryptica, Stuke, 2025

Stuke, Jens-Hermann, 2025, Taxonomic and faunistic comments on European Parydra Stenhammar, 1844 (Diptera: Ephydridae) with new species from Finland and Jordan, Zootaxa 5686 (1), pp. 49-105 : 56-60

Parydra (Parydra) cryptica spec. nov.

( Figs. 5 , 42–47 )

Holotype: 1 ♂ with these labels: (1) “Jordanien / Dana, Quellen und / Bewässerungsgräben / (30°40.51‘N 035°36.61’E) / 17.10.2010, Stuke leg.“; (2) „ Holotypus / Parydra cryptica / spec. nov. ♂ / Stuke det. 2024“. The specimen is pinned using a minuten and is in excellent condition. The abdomen is dissected, macerated and stored in a glycerine microvial pinned underneath the specimen. The holotype will be preserved in the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde—Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany ( ZMB).

Paratype: 1♂, same data as holotype, deposited in coll. PJHS .

Description Holotype (♂): Length about 4.1 mm. Wing length = 2.9 mm. Head height = 0.7 mm.

Head black. Gena-eye-ratio (in lateral view genal height measured at the maximum eye height: eye height) = 0.4. Antenna black. Ocelli brown, forming an almost equilateral triangle. Frontal triangle and frontorbital plate subshining, frontal vita densely dusted. Frontal triangle reaching to ptilinal suture. Face slightly convex in lateral view, brown dusted. Ocellar seta and two lateroclinate frontorbital setae about as large as inner and outer vertical setae; one prominent facial seta with five smaller setae below; two inconspicuous genal setae.

Thorax black. Scutellum with small apical process. Scutum and scutellum subshining. Scutum with indistinct medial and submedial stripes of dusting and indistinct dusting at the end of the transverse suture. Pleurae grey to brown dusted. Two rows of small acrostichal setae; 0+3 strong dorsocentral setae; no prescutellar seta; 2 notopleural setae, anterior one distinctly smaller; 1 postalar seta; 1 large apical and 1 smaller sublateral scutellar setae; 1 seta at posterior margin of anepisternum. Wing hyaline to slightly brown infuscate with inconspicuous brown colouration around crossveins dm-cu, crossvein r-m and vein stump at radius r 2+3. Veins brown. Haltere light yellow-brown. Legs black with metatarsi orange-brown. Legs grey dusted except for the posterior surface of hind leg which is mainly shining. Coxae with white setulae only. Middle tibia with a row of strong black setae posteroventral and dense black setulae ventrally in apical half. Hind femur with a row of long white setulae posteroventrally.

Abdomen with tergite III–IV-ratio (length tergite 3 medially: length tergite 4 medially) = 1.0 and tergite IV–Vratio (length tergite 4 medially: length tergite 5 medially) = 1.1. Sternites 3–5 as Fig. 47 . Sternite 5 partly fused with hypandrium. All sternites equally sclerotised. Sternites with scattered, inconspicuous setulae only. Epandrium as Fig. 46 : with a broad tooth beneath cerci and obvious long setulae apically. Subepandrial plate represented by two sclerites that are fused by a membrane. Hypandrium as shown in Figs. 43 . Postgonite as shown in Fig. 45 : triangular, ending laterally in a short tooth, without a notch at lateral margin. Phallus as shown in Figs. 42 and 44 : moderately broad and with a distinct apical notch in dorsal view, without an upcurved tip in lateral view. Phallus apodeme as shown in Fig. 42 and 44 : separated from phallus, broad at its junction with phallus, with distinct broad lateral arms.

Variation: Paratype has 0+4 dorsocentral setae.

Females cannot currently be recognised.

Diagnosis: Parydra cryptica can be identified as a member of the coarctata species group by the (i) scutellum with a more or less distinct apical process, (ii) radius r 2+3 with a vein stump, (iii) face slightly convex in lateral view, (iv) ♂ middle femur posteroventrally with a line of regularly arranged black setae, and (v) phallus and phallus apodeme separated. Males can be distinguished from other species of this group by (vi) middle coxa with white setae and setulae only (dark brown to black in P. littoralis ) and (vii) middle tibia with dense black setulae in anteroventral half (no dense black setulae in P. coarctata , more distributed dense black setulae in P. littoralis ). (viii) Parydra cryptica is distinguished from all other Parydra by the epandrium with a tooth beneath the tip of the cercus and the tip of the epandrium laterally with long setulae.

Derivatio nominis: From Latin cryptica (concealed, feminine) reflecting the difficulty in recognising this species within the coarctata species-group.

Distribution: Currently only known from the locus typicus in the East Jordanian highlands.

Biology: The specimens were collected at springs and narrow, partly defective, irrigation ditches in an extensively used agricultural area, at an altitude of around 1200 m. Some of the collection locations were shaded by bushes and trees.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Habitus of Parydra cryptica spec. nov.

FIGURES 42–47. Terminalia and sternites of Parydra cryptica spec. nov. 42, terminalia dorsal view. 43, hypandrium, maximal expansion. 44, phallus and phallus apodeme, lateral view. 45, hypandrium with postgonite, lateral view. 46, epandrium and cerci, posterodorsal view. 47, sternites 3–5, ventral view. ce—cercus; ep—epandrium; hy—hypandrium; lpha—lateral arms of phallus apodeme; pg—postgonite; ph—phallus; pha—phallus apodeme; S—sternite; tep—tooth of epandrium.