Palpomyia freidbergi Alwin-Kownacka & Szadziewski & Szwedo 2017, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Alwin-Kownacka, Alicja
name: Szadziewski, Ryszard
name: Szwedo, Jacek
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Ceratopogonidae
Palpomyia
Palpomyia freidbergi

description: Palpomyia freidbergi Alwin-Kownacka & Szadziewski sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 740DBF40-E804-477B-A437-E73110DF1287
Fig. 4
Diagnosis
This new species is distinguished by the following combination of characters: males with 4–5 fore femoral ventral spines; very short sternite IX; parameres fused, curved ventrally, apex pointed; and aedeagus with very high basal arch and plate-like apex. Females with 6–9 fore femoral spines; claws without basal inner teeth; and 2 large seminal capsules.
Etymology
The species is named for Amnon Freidberg, Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Israel, who kindly sent us biting midges from Israel.
Material examined
Holotype
ISRAEL: ♂, Enot Zukim, 11 Oct. 1994, A. Freidberg and F. Kaplan leg. (TAU).
Paratypes
ISRAEL: 4 ♀♀, same collection data as holotype except 22 Apr. 1998, A. Freidberg leg. (TAU); 1 ♀, En Feshkha, 11 Aug. 1986, A. Freidberg leg. (TAU); 9 ♀♀, Roch Zukim, 10 Apr. 1994, A. Freidberg and F. Kaplan leg. (TAU).
Description
Male
HEAD. Uniformly brown. Antenna pale brown, with sparse plume; flagellomeres 9–13 slightly darker than 1–8; flagellomeres 10–13 elongate; total flagellum length of 1.00 mm; antennal ratio 1.40. Palpus (Fig. 4C) yellowish, slender; third segment cylindrical, with several distinct capitate sensilla; palpal ratio 3.00.
THORAX (Fig. 4B). Brown with scutum, scutellum, katepisternum and mediotergite slightly darker; scutum, scutellum, anteroanepisternum with fine setae, katepisternum and mediotergite bare; 1 row of 3 bristles posterior to sutura transveralis; 1 bristle on scutum just anterior of scutellum; scutellum with 4 marginal bristles. Wing (Fig. 4A) with distinct veins; first radial cell about 2 × shorter than second; wing length 1.34 mm; costal ratio 0.70. Legs (Fig. 4B) slender; fore coxa yellow, mid and hind coxae brownish; fore and mid femora yellow, hind femur yellow with dark brown apex; fore femur with 4–5 stout, black ventral spines; fore and mid tibiae yellow, slightly smoky on proximal portions; hind tibia uniformly dark brown; tarsi yellow, tarsomeres 4–5 slightly darker than 1–3; tarsal ratio of fore leg 1.90, of mid leg 3.30, of hind leg 2.40.
ABDOMEN (Fig. 4B). Pale brown.
GENITALIA (Fig. 4 E–G). Sternite IX (Fig. 4G) narrow. Gonocoxite slender, elongate; gonostylus swollen on basal portion, distal half slender, greatly curved, with blunt apex. Parameres (Fig. 4F) fused, base W-shaped, expanded on mid portion, apex pointed, bent ventrally. Aedeagus (Fig. 4G) triangular; basal arch very high; membrane with numerous fine microtrichia; apex plate-like.
Female
Similar to male with the usual sexual differences. Antenna uniformly pale brown; total flagellum length of 1.40–1.60 mm; antennal ratio 1.40–1.60. Palpal ratio 4.50. Mandible with 6–7 large teeth.
THORAX. Coloration and arrangement of bristles as in male. Wing as in male but larger with longer costa (Fig. 4A); wing length 2.10–2.20 mm; costal ratio 0.80. Coloration of legs as in male; fore femur armed with 6–9 stout, black ventral spines (Fig. 4D); tarsal ratio of fore leg 2.10–2.40, of mid leg 3.80–4.50, of hind leg 2.30–2.50.
ABDOMEN. Pale brown, with 2 pairs of internal tergal apodemes. Two large, subequal, ovoid seminal capsules (Fig. 4H) with short necks, measuring 0.08–0.10 × 0.12–0.14 mm and 0.06–0.08 × 0.10–0.12 mm.
Distribution
Israel; known only from the type locality.
Remarks
Males of this new species have an aedeagus with an unusual plate-like apex that is similar to that of males of P. mahyoubi from Yemen. This newly described species differs mostly in having pale legs with a dark brown hind tibia, only the fore femur armed with ventral spines and a distinctly curved gonostylus. Males of P. mahyoubi have a nearly straight gonostylus, dark brown legs, and all femora have ventral spines.
description: Published as part of Alwin-Kownacka, Alicja, Szadziewski, Ryszard & Szwedo, Jacek, 2017, Predatory midges of the tribes Palpomyiini and Sphaeromiini (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) from the Middle East, with keys and descriptions of new species, pp. 1-30 in European Journal of Taxonomy 318 on pages 18-20, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2017.318, http://zenodo.org/record/3827451