Protomedetera squamata, Grootaert & Velde & Isabella Van de, 2024

Grootaert, Patrick, Velde, & Isabella Van de, 2024, New long-legged flies from mangroves on Pulau Ubin (Singapore) (Insecta: Diptera: Dolichopodidae), Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 72, pp. 303-323 : 317-318

Protomedetera squamata , new species

( Figs. 12–14 )

Type material. Holotype male. Singapore, Pulau Ubin , 7 April 2016, MT, PU01 (1°25′12.40″N 103°56′6.35″E) terminalia dissected and illustrated, no mitogenome (Ma9210, LKCNHM).

Paratypes. SINGAPORE, 1 female, Pulau Ubin , 7 April 2016, MT, PU01 (Ma9211) ZRCBDP0084002 ; GenBank accession code: PP893307 ; 1 female ZRCBDP0255641 _ PU19 _ 17May2018 _20190204; GenBank accession code: PP893308 ; 1 female ZRCBDP0285063 _ PU19 _ 29Mar2018 ( LKCNHM): GenBank accession code: PP893309 .

Etymology. The name squamata refers to the large squamiform bristles on the apex of the dorsal surstylus.

Diagnosis. Small species with shiny metallic green head and thorax. Antenna yellow. Pedicel with 3 long marginal bristles covering the spheroid postpedicel. Biserial acrostichals and 4 long yellowish brown dorsocentrals. All coxae and femora blackish brown. Tibiae and tarsi yellow, except for a brown dorsal streak on fore tibia and apical tarsomere of all legs brown (almost black on fore tarsus). Surstylus with 2 wide, pale apicoventral squamiform bristles. Cercus small, oval.

Male. Fig. 12 . Length: body 1.74 mm; wing 1.50 mm, wing width: 0.47 mm.

Head. With frons and face very wide, shiny metallic green. Face triangular, wide below antenna, narrowing down to clypeus, there a little wider than pedicel. Hairs and bristles on head yellowish brown. A pair of strong retroclinate ocellar bristles, a pair of strong but shorter proclinate vertical bristles and a pair of short postvertical bristles. Postocular Fore legs. Coxa densely covered with short pale bristles, at least 2 very long apical bristles. Fore femur with short pale ventrals and 2 distinct posterior preapical bristles. Tibia without apicals.

Mid legs. Coxa with short anterior bristles and a long pale brownish exterior bristle as long as coxa is long. Femur without ventrals, a tiny anterior preapical and posteroventral preapical. Tibia with a short dorsal near base, a longer at basal third. Ventral apical bristle long (nearly 2.5 times as long as tibia is wide).

Hind legs. Coxa with a short brownish exterior bristle near middle. Femur in apical half with a row of pale anteroventral bristles about half as long as femur is wide. Tibia with a long anterodorsal on basal third and a few distinct apical bristles.

bristles short, uniserial.

Antennae. Scape yellow, short, with an interior projection. Pedicel yellow, cup-like, large, with postpedicel sunken in it; in the apical crown of bristles 3 long inner apical bristles longer than and curved over postpedicel; below the apical row, a second row of short bristles, sometimes with some additional scattered bristles. Postpedicel dusky yellowish, spheroid, with short pubescence and a subapical (shifted toward outside) long arista. All bristles on antenna yellowish brown. Arista black, naked, basal portion of arista short, like a short tubercle on the postpedicel. Palpus brown, small, circular, with a long yellowish brown subapical bristle and a few short bristles.

Thorax. Shiny metallic green (pollinosity probably absent, not visible in ethanol conserved specimen). Pleura more brownish green. Apical half of mesonotum flat before scutellum. Hairs and bristles on thorax yellowish (dusky). Anterior dorsocentrals short, followed by 4 long dorsocentrals becoming longer toward scutellum, acrostichals present only on basal half of mesonotum, biserial very short, consisting of 8 pairs. A pair of very long crossing scutellars, lacking bristle at outside.

Legs. Mainly brown but trochanters, tip of all femora, all tibiae and tarsomeres yellow, except for the dorsal fore tibia, which is darkened and tarsomere 5 of all legs brownish (darkest on fore tarsus). Hairs and bristles on legs pale.

Wings. Nearly hyaline, tinged light yellow; veins yellowish brown. Squama pale with a short pale bristle. Haltere white.

Abdomen. Dark brown. Hairs and bristles on tergites pale, only marginal bristles longer.

Male terminalia. Fig. 13 . Foramen basolateral ( Fig. 13B ). Cercus pale, very short, oval, not pointed, with a subapical bristle hardly longer than the other bristles. Surstylus large, subrectangular, at the inner side with a rim bearing a strong bristle near middle ( Fig. 13A, B ). Apicoventrally with 2 very large, wide pale squamiform bristles. Tip of surstylus with 3 smaller bristles and 2 longer bristles in a more lateral position (subapical). Apicoventral epandrial lobe lacking, but 3 epandrial bristles present, apical and basal longest. Basoventral epandrial lobe and bristles lacking. Hypandrium short ( Fig. 13A ). A large vesical structure present at the tip of the phallus.

Female. Length: body 1.5 mm; wing 1.4 mm. In most respects identical to male. A minute hair is present at both sides of the scutellars that is absent in male. Ovipositor illustrated in Fig. 14 .

Comments. The presence of large squamiform bristles on the dorsal surstylus is unique in the genus Protomedetera .

Figures

Fig. 12. Protomedetera squamata, new species, habitus male (ZRCBDP0084004). Photograph by Kristy Chang.

Fig. 13.Protomedetera squamata, new species, male terminalia. A, Ventral; B, Lateral. Scale bar = 0.1 mm. Drawings by P. Grootaert.

Fig.14.Protomedetera squamata, new species, female ovipositor.A, Dorsal; B, Lateral. Scale bar = 0.1 mm. Drawings by P. Grootaert.