Clinocera areeluckorum Sinclair & Plant, 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sinclair, Bradley J.
name: Plant, Adrian R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Empididae
Clinocera
Clinocera areeluckorum

description: Clinocera areeluckorum sp. nov.
(Figs 2, 6, 19, 22)
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: E1AC8F96-1445-489F-A15E-7FA51A3F1B4F
Type material. HOLOTYPE, ♂ labelled:“ THAILAND: Chiang Mai / Doi Inthanon NP Kew Mae Pan / 18°33.163′N 98°28.8′E / MT; 2200m; 24–30.viii.2006 / Y. Areeluck leg. T233 ”; “HOLOTYPE/ Clinocera / areeluckorum/ Sinclair & Plant [red label]” (QSBG). PARATYPES: THAILAND. Chiang Mai Province: T38 (24 ♂, 35 ♀, QSBG); T64 (1 ♀, CNC); T66 (4 ♂, 16 ♀, QSBG); T71 (1 ♂, 2 ♀, CNC); T118 (6 ♂, 6 ♀, CNC); T119 (2 ♂, 3 ♀, QSBG); T124 (1 ♂, CNC); T125 (1 ♀, CNC); T177 (4 ♂, 5 ♀, QSBG); T184 (7 ♂, 10 ♀, CNC); T233 (3 ♂, 4 ♀, QSBG); T239 (4 ♂, 10 ♀, QSBG); T240 (3 ♂, 3 ♀, CNC); T350 (1 ♂, 1 ♀, QSBG); T370 (3 ♀, QSBG).
Additional material examined. THAILAND. Chiang Mai Province: T246 (1 ♂, 1 ♀, QSBG); T344 (2 ♂, QSBG); T351 (2 ♀, QSBG); QSBG2014-154 (3 ♂, 3 ♀, QSBG); QSBG2014-155 (1 ♂, 3 ♀, QSBG); QSBG2014- 156 (1 ♀, QSBG); QSBG2014-157 (1 ♂, QSBG); QSBG2014-214 (1 ♀, QSBG); QSBG2014-232 (1 ♀, QSBG); QSBG2014-233 (1 ♂, QSBG); QSBG2014-234 (2 ♀, QSBG); QSBG2014-273 (1 ♂, 1 ♀, QSBG).
Recognition. This species is distinguished from the other Thailand species of Clinocera by the faint bluish pruinescence on lower portion of face; pleura yellow; dorsally with yellow on postpronotal lobe and extending up to posterior notopleural seta; femora yellowish on ventral margin; fore femur with strong anteroventral and posteroventral rows of setae, length less than width of femur.
Description (wing length 2.4–2.7 mm). Male. Head: Oval, dark brown. Face narrower than width of antennal bases, slightly narrower at mid-length, with lateral setulae; pale bluish pruinescence covering entire face, not tapered to antennal bases, faded or absent between antennal bases to ocellar triangle. Ocellar triangle with pair of divergent ocellar setae, longer than pair of vertical setae. Antenna brown; arista-like stylus nearly twice length of remaining antenna. Thorax: Scutum brown, with thin pruinescence; yellow above margin of postpronotal lobe to notopleuron, extending dorsally to upper npl; postalar ridge yellowish; dark spot at base of wing. Pleura yellow with thin pruinescence (Fig. 2). Several very minute acrostichals anterior to first dc; 5 dc; 1 pprn, thin and reduced; 1 presut spal; 1 strong upper npl, lower npl slender, similar to pprn; 1 posterior psut spal; 1 pal, thin; 2 sctl, similar to prescutellar dc. Laterotergite with several brownish setae. Legs: Coxae and ventral faces of femora yellow, remaining segments brown. Fore femur with anteroventral and posteroventral rows of short, slender, dark setae, length less than one-quarter width of femur. Hind tibia with strong dorsal and ventral setae on distal half, length less than width of tibia. Wing: Narrow; infuscate; pterostigma absent; single long basal costal seta present; cell dm produced distally. Halter yellowish brown. Abdomen: Sclerites dark brown, with thin pruinescence, similar shade to thorax. Terminalia (Fig. 6): Hypandrium triangular, similar in length to epandrium, tapered distally, without lateral setae. Phallus straight with pair of expanded regions at apex of shaft and triangular expansion posteriorly; distiphallus slender, arched apically with expanded tip, more than one-half length of shaft. Ejaculatory apodeme slender. Epandrium rectangular, with long, thin setae. Clasping cercus digitiform, flattened, with tapered apex; inner face with peg-like setae concentrated at mid-length with a few scattered setae dorsally. Surstylus oval, tapered to beak-like projection, with small, lateral subapical ridge; dorsal margin without prominent posterior crest.
Female. Similar to male, except as follows: face dull brown; fore femur with anteroventral row of weak to strong setae.
Etymology. The collectors name Y. Areeluck is recorded prolifically on data labels from the Thai mountain, Doi Inthanon. It actually refers to a couple, Yuwadee and Thana Areeluck who are honoured by the specific epithet.
Distribution and Ecology. Clinocera areeluckorum sp. nov. is only known from the mountain Doi Inthanon in northern Thailand where it occurs in MHE habitat at and above 2,200 m (Fig. 22). Although this endemic species apparently shares the same habitat and geographical location as C. abbreviata sp. nov. it has maximum abundance during August (Fig. 19), at the height of the rainy season, occurring between the dual maxima during April–June and September–October of the latter species. There also appears to be a slight elevational segregation of the two species as C. abbreviata sp. nov. has a small preference for MHE at 2,500 m, whereas C. areeluckorum sp. nov. slightly favours MHE at 2,200 m. As with C. abbreviata sp. nov., there is no evidence that C. areeluckorum sp. nov. is associated with flowing water and immature stages are likely associated with water-saturated edaphic conditions.
description: Published as part of Sinclair, Bradley J. & Plant, Adrian R., 2022, Clinocera Meigen of Thailand (Diptera: Empididae: Clinocerinae), pp. 525-549 in Zootaxa 5200 (6) on pages 528-530, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5200.6.2, http://zenodo.org/record/14895260