Platypapus hirfanlicus Zouhair & Grootaert 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Zouhair, Laila
name: Grootaert, Patrick
name: Gençer, Lütfiye
name: Kettani, Kawtar
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Hybotidae
Platypapus
Platypapus hirfanlicus

description: Platypapus hirfanlicus Zouhair & Grootaert sp. nov.
(Figs 3, 4)
Type material. HOLOTYPE. Kýrþehir prov. ♂, Hirfanlý barajý, 39.266 N, 33.518 E, 842 m, banks of the dam, 28.iv.2001, sweep net, leg. L. Gençer. PARATYPES: Kýrþehir prov. 4♂, 2♀, same data as holotype. Kýrýkkale prov. 1♂, 2♀, Büyükyaðlý, 39.933 N, 33.910 E, 860 m, grassland, 21.iv.2001, sweep net, leg. L. Gençer. Ankara prov. 5♂, 5♀, Şereflikoçhisar, 38.833 N, 33.333 E, 902 m, grassland, 22.iv.2001, sweep net, leg. L. Gençer. Niðde prov. 1♂, Çamardý, 37.833 N, 34.986 E, 1497 m, grassland, 04.vi.2006, sweep net, leg. L. Gençer. Sivas prov. 1♂, Kangal, 39.235 N, 37.391 E, 1528 m, grassland, 15.vi.2009, sweep net, leg. L. Gençer.
Diagnosis. A small blackish brown species of Platypalpus pallidiventris-cursitans group with one pair of long vertical bristles. Antennae with basal segments yellow to brownish yellow, postpedicel conical slightly elongate about 3X as long as wide at base, stylus black about 1.5X longer than postpedicel. Thorax with mesoscutum including postpronotal lobe densely greyish dusted, pleura densely grey dusted leaving a large, polished spot on posterior part of katepisternum. Legs yellow, with all coxae and trochanters brown to blackish brown, fore femora yellow or brown in basal third. Mid and hind femora yellowish or slightly brown dorsally, knees of four hind legs blackish, tarsi brown annulated. Mid tibia with long, sharp, largely black apical spur. Wings hyaline, with yellowish veins. Veins R 4+5 and M 1+2 parallel.
Description. Length: body 2.2 mm, wing 2.7 mm. Male. 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, slightly narrower than postpedicel as wide at base, slightly broader toward ocellar tubercle. Face densely greyish dusted, very narrow, narrower than pedicel. Clypeus, densely greyish dusted and somewhat long. Antenna with basal segments yellow to brownish yellow, postpedicel blackish but somewhat yellowish at base, conical slightly elongate about 3X as long as wide at base, stylus black about 1.5X longer than postpedicel. Proboscis blackish, rather long, slightly shorter than head height. Palpus blackish brown, somewhat large, elongate ovate, with scattered pale setulae and two long yellow subapical setae.
Thorax black. Mesoscutum including postpronotal lobe densely greyish dusted, pleura densely grey dusted leaving a large polished spot occupying the posterior part of katepisternum. Postpronotal lobe with 1 long yellow seta and 2 minute yellow setae. Mesoscutum with 2 yellow distinct 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 moderately long, yellow biserial, dorsocentrals yellow uniserial as long as acrostichals, ending in one larger seta. Legs yellow, with all coxae and trochanters brown to blackish brown, fore femora brown in basal third or only with a brown patch dorsally (entirely yellow in some specimens). Mid and hind femora slightly brown dorsally (entirely yellow in some specimens), knees of four hind legs blackish, tarsi brown annulated. Coxae and trochanters with yellowish setae of different lengths. Fore femur thickened, with anteroventral and posteroventral pale setae. Fore tibia slender, clothed with brown setulae. Mid femur much thicker 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, largely black apical spur, slightly longer than depth of tibia. Hind femur slender, with row of long ventral pale setae. Hind tibia slender, as long as femur, clothed with ordinary pale setulae. Wing hyaline, with yellowish veins. Veins R 4+5 and M 1+2 parallel. Crossveins m-cu and r-m not separated, bm longer and broader than br. Vein CuA straight. Vein M 4 reaching wing border. Vein CuA+CuP indistinct. Squama yellowish. Halter whitish.
Abdomen black, with first tergite broadly dusted at sides, 2–3 tergites only on basal sides, remaining parts polished, sternites polished, abdominal setae pale and short. Terminalia (Fig. 4). Cerci short, enclosed by epandrial lamellae (Fig. 4B). Right cercus slightly longer than left cercus; club-shaped with long subapical seta. Left cercus with ventral projection at tip. Right surstylus long, setae at base much shorter than length of surstylus (Fig. 4A). Marginal bristles around tip very short. Marginal bristles on right border of right epandrial lamella all equally long, in apical half row uniserial, in basal half at least biserial. Setae on left margin of left epandrial lamella very long in basal half, while short in apical half (Fig. 4C).
Female. Resembles male, but fore coxa yellow, only mid and hind coxae brownish; all femora entirely yellow.
Etymology. The species name is derived from the name of the type locality (Hirfanlý barajý) where the holotype was collected.
Remarks. The species described above can be compared with the recently described species from Turkey, Platypalpus kayakoyensis Barták & Grootaert. The two species share many common characters (single pair of verticals, basal antennal segments yellow and postpedicel including stylus black, spur on mid tibia large, slightly longer than depth of tibia and sharply pointed, mid femur with yellow posteroventrals, acrostichals biserial, two notopleurals and partly dusted abdomen). However, the species differs in the coloration of legs (bicolored in the new species while are entirely yellow in P. kayakoyensis), in the dusting of katepisternum (the polished spot is small and central in P. kayakoyensis, while it is large and occupying all the posterior part of katepisternum reaching margin in the new species) and in genitalia (compare Fig. 4 and Barták & Grootaert 2024, fig. 9).
description: Published as part of Zouhair, Laila, Grootaert, Patrick, Gençer, Lütfiye & Kettani, Kawtar, 2025, Turkish Hybotidae (Diptera: Empidoidea): description of six new species with additional data, pp. 503-524 in Zootaxa 5609 (4) on pages 507-508, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5609.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/15215427