Parapterogramma dentatum, Kuwahara & Marshall & Luk, 2025

Kuwahara, Gregory K., Marshall, Stephen A. & Luk, Stephen P. L., 2025, A revision of Parapterogramma Papp and Pseudopterogramma Papp, with a review of the Parapterogramma genus group of the Pacific and Indomalayan regions (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae, Limosininae), European Journal of Taxonomy 998, pp. 1-124 : 19-22

Parapterogramma dentatum sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3E00C8FC-70B6-4E82-B28B-0A898BF08860

Figs 6–7 , 40C , 42

Etymology

This species name (from the Latin ‘ dentatus ’, ‘toothed’) refers to the tooth-like lateral projections on the distiphallus and the tooth-like ventral knobs of the postgonite.

Material examined

Holotype

PAPUA NEW GUINEA • ♂; Kokoda Trail , Iora Creek, 17 km S of Kokoda; 1400 m a.s.l.; 3–6 Aug. 1976; O. Kukal leg.; dung; DEBU.

Description

BODY ( Fig. 6 ). Length 1.3 mm. Head dark brown with lower portion of frons lighter and silvery microtomentum limited to bases of interfrontal and orbital bristles, ocellar triangle, lunule, and around inner vertical bristle; gena brownish-yellow; antenna brown. Frontal width 2.5× interfrontal height. Eye height 4.0 × genal height. Thorax brown with indistinct paler central stripe; scutellum brown with dark brown anteromedial spot. Microtomentum limited to postpronotal lobes and posterolateral corners of scutum. Anterior dorsocentral bristles separated by 5–6 rows of acrostichal setulae. Legs brown, mid femur slightly yellowish, tarsi paler. Male mid tibia with stout apicoventral bristle only. Wing ( Fig. 40C ) pattern weak. CS2 0.4 × CS3. R 2+3 broadly curved in apical half, angled at ~70° to costa; costa extending well beyond apex of R 4+5 (5 × costal width). M 1 and M 4 both indistinct beyond dm-m; CuA+CuP long. Halter whitish.

MALE ABDOMEN ( Fig. 7 ). S5 broad, rectangular, posteromedially desclerotized with a long posterolateral seta and dense microtomentum on the membrane posterior to desclerotized part. S6 short and slightly curved. Cercus flat, subquadrate with two setae; subepandrial sclerite indistinct but medially darkened. Surstylus long but low, bilobed: anterior lobe triangular, bulging outwards slightly with sparse long setae, posterior lobe rounded triangular, ventrally curved posteriorly with stout apical seta, main part densely setose/setulose, middle part connecting lobes with ventral row of long setae. Postgonite elongate, slightly curved, apex broadly expanded anteriorly in a foot-like shape, ventral surface with many rounded, tooth-like projections, just basal to foot-like part with a bulging, rounded lateral lobe. Phallapodeme elongate, apex triangular and flared; basiphallus large, greatly enlarged posteriorly, laterally flattened, and densely setulose. Distiphallus stout, largely membranous, and complex: centrally supported by a sinuate upper sclerite and scoop-like lower sclerite, laterally supported on each side by a long, Y-shaped, curved sclerite; lateral membranous flaps with row of four large (progressively smaller from anterior to posterior), tooth-like lateral projections.

FEMALE ABDOMEN. Female unknown.

Remarks

Parapterogramma dentatum sp. nov. and Pa. bicolor sp. nov. differ from congeners in having a uniformly coloured scutum, with microtomentum not forming distinct vittae.

Figures

Fig. 6. Parapterogramma dentatum sp. nov., holotype (DEBU). A. Male habitus, lateral view. B. Male head, anterodorsal view. Scale bars: A = 0.50 mm; B = 0.25 mm.

Fig. 7. Parapterogramma dentatum sp. nov., holotype (DEBU). A. Male terminalia, posterior view. B. Male terminalia, lateral view. C. Aedeagus and associated structures, lateral view. D. Male S5–8, ventral view. Scale bars: A–D = 0.10 mm.

Fig. 40. Parapterogramma Papp, 2008, left wings, ventral views. A. Parapterogramma asiaticum Papp, 2008 (LKCNHM). B. Parapterogramma bicolor sp. nov., paratype (BPBM). C. Parapterogramma dentatum sp. nov., holotype (DEBU). D. Parapterogramma digitisternum sp. nov., paratype (DEBU). E. Parapterogramma gonitellum sp. nov., paratype (DEBU). F. Parapterogramma hieroglyphicum sp. nov., paratype (BPBM). G. Parapterogramma magnum sp. nov., paratype (QMBA). H. Parapterogramma matau sp. nov., paratype (DEBU). Scale bars: A–H = 0.50 mm.

Fig. 42. Distribution map of Parapterogramma Papp, 2008.