Platypalpus malaisei Vaesoja & Jonassen, 2021

Jonassen, Terje, Andersen, Trond, Salmela, Jukka, Suuronen, Anna & Vaesoja, Matti, 2021, Six new species of Empididae and Hybotidae (Diptera, Empidoidea) from Fennoscandia, Norwegian Journal of Entomology 68, pp. 174-186 : 180-181

Platypalpus malaisei Vaesoja & Jonassen sp. n. ( Figure 4A–B )

Type material. Holotype ♂, FINLAND: Ks , Salla, Kuntasjoki, N67.7494° E29.616°, 29July–19 September 2013, Malaise trap, J. Salmela ( LMM: MH-EMPI-2013-0189) . Paratypes: 1♂, FINLAND: Lkor , Savukoski, Hannu Ollin vaara, N67.8439° E29.4685°, 03 July–07 August 2013, Malaise trap, J. Salmela ( LMM: MH-EMPI-2013-0638) . 1♂, Obb , Kemijärvi, Karhunotko, N67.0011° E27.1335°, 10 June–11 July 2014, Malaise trap, J. Salmela ( LMM: MH-EMPI-2014-0141) . 2♂♂, Lkor , Savukoski, Tyyroja, N68.1384° E28.5746°, 01 July–05 August 2014, Malaise trap, J. Salmela ( LMM: MH-EMPI-2014-1001) .

DIffEREntIAL dIAgnOsIs. The species is similar to Platypalpus confiformis Chvála, 1971 , from which it can be separated by its darker apical part of mid- and hind femur (as in P. confinis (Zetterstedt, 1842)) and by the straighter right margin of left epandrial lamella (see Chvála 1975: fig. 251).

Description. Male. Body length 3.5 mm, wing length 3.5 mm.

Head. Thinly grey dusted, frons polished black. Front of frons about as broad as second

Norwegian Journal of Entomology 68, 174–186 (2021)

antennal segment, widening above. Face narrower than frons, dusted. Clypeus polished. Vertical bristles not differentiated, although some hairs behind the ocelli tend to be longer than the rest of the pubescence. Postocular pubescence whitish. Antennae uniformly dark, third segment almost twice as long as wide, arista twice as long as third segment. Palpus broadly oval, pale with single brownish apical hair. Proboscis brownish black.

Thorax. Densely grey dusted, with polished black mesonotum and sternopleura. Large thoracic bristles pale. Acrostichals biserial, small, rows close together, the distance to the dorsocentrals about 3 times as long as the distance between the rows of acrostichals. Dorsocentrals irregularly biserial, not longer than the acrostichals, with scattered pubescence lateral to the rows. With 2 notopleural bristles not easily discernible from other lateral pubescence. Humeral bristles lacking. Scutellum with 4 bristles, apical pair about twice as long as outer pair.

Legs. Yellow, apical 1/2 of mid- and hind femur dark brown, tarsi darkened. Legs covered with small white hairs. Fore femur slightly thickened, mid femur distinctly thickened with two rows of lateral spines, no posteroventral bristles. Mid tibia with apical spur rim-like and very short.

Wing. Faintly brownish with light brown veins. Crossveins separated for about the length of crossvein r-m. Veins R 4+5 and M almost straight, only slightly converging towards wing tip. Halter pale with brownish base of stem.

Abdomen. Polished dark brown, covered with small white hairs.

Terminalia ( Figure 4A–B ) rather large, polished. Left epandrial lamella with straight hind edge.

Female. Unknown.

DNA barcoding. Two specimens were successfully barcoded. The specimens have identical COI profile and are the only members of the BIN BOLD: ADD3086. Specimen identified as P. confiformis is the closest species in BOLD, being 4.13 % distant from the new species. However, far from all Platypalpus species in Europe have been barcoded.

Etymology. Named after René Malaise (1892– 1978), Swedish entomologist and inventor of the tent-like insect trap bearing his name (Malaise trap).

Distribution and habitat. The species has only been found in northern Finland where it has been collected in the vicinity of spring-fed headwater streams, springs and intermittent brooks. All localities are surrounded by pristine boreal forests.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Details of Platypalpus malaisei Vaesoja & Jonassen sp. n., male. A. Terminalia, dorsal view. B. Terminalia, ventral view.