Aphaniosoma praeditum Ebejer 2023, sp. nov.

Aphaniosoma praeditum sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: D13D537C-3D4D-4920-942D-02230AAC3907 Figs 72–73 Diagnosis A yellow species with longitudinal scutal vittae and 5 th tarsomeres black in both sexes (Fig. 72A); strong presutural, prealar and dorsocentral setae. Male with elongate surstylus only slightly curved at its short setulose apex and easily visible without dissection; it has a highly modified hind femur and hind trochanter. Similar species: A. pteropus Ebejer, 2021, from Cyprus and A. cristatum sp. nov. have a strongly modified hind trochanter and a small tubercle on the hind femur, but quite unlike those in A. praeditum sp. nov., where the femur has a quadrate projection and the hind trochanter has a long and narrow process. Etymology The species epithet is derived from the Latin ‘ praeditus ’ meaning ‘endowed’ and refers to the characteristic modification of the hind leg in the male. Material examined Holotype ISRAEL • ♂; ‘ En Mor; 16 Mar. 1995; B. Merz leg.; MHNG-ENTO-00097309. Paratypes ISRAEL • 3 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; MHNG • 1 ♂; ‘ En Gedi; 19 Mar. 1995; A. Freidberg leg.; SMNHTAU • 1 ♂; Dead Sea, ‘ Enot Zuqim; 31°43ʹ N, 35°27ʹ E; alt. - 400 m; 25 Mar. 2000; M.J. Ebejer leg.; on Tamarix sp.; MJE. Description MEASUREMENTS. Body length: male 1.5 mm, female 1.5 mm. Wing length: male 1.6 mm, female 1.6 mm. Male (holotype) HEAD. Yellow except for black ringed ocelli and two large dark patches on occiput separated by broad yellow vitta from vertex to neck; head almost spherical; frons narrowed anteriorly: at level of antennae about 0.6 × as wide as at level of anterior ocellus; gena: narrow in front, deeper behind, in profile, below middle of eye, about half height of eye, with numerous pale setulae; occiput in profile barely visible behind eye above, with long postocular setulae in one row; 2 long pale vibrissal setulae; face short, poorly sclerotized and depressed; median carina not visible; antenna yellow, pedicel paler than basal flagellomere and with distinct short dark seta dorsally; basal flagellomere with fine pubescence along anterior margin, shorter than diameter of first segment of arista; first segment of arista yellow, second black, with fine pubescence; chaetotaxy: 2 strong fronto-orbitals with three very short setulae interior to them, paraverticals short and convergent; 1 inner and 1 outer vertical, both strong; ocellars as long as posterior fronto-orbital; about 14 short dark setulae across middle of frons all more or less of uniform size. THORAX. Yellow; scutum covered with dense pale microtomentum, with broad black longitudinal vittae leaving only very narrow yellow lines between them; scutellum yellow; mediotergite dark brown; pleura yellow with black on middle of katepisternum and meron; chaetotaxy: 1 postpronotal, 1 incurved intra-postpronotal, 1 long presutural, 2 notopleurals, 1+2 intra-alars, 1 postalar, 1+3 dorsocentrals, 0+5 acrostichals with prescutellars, 4 scutellars, 1 anepisternal with 2 shorter and thinner setae below it, 1 katepisternal at upper posterior corner with 2 short thin setae anterior. WING. Veins yellowish brown; distance on costa between R 2+3 and R about 0.4 × that between R 4+5 and M 1; distance between crossveins about 1.3 × as long as posterior crossvein, which is about 0.4 × as long as apical section of M 4. Haltere pale yellow. 4+5 LEGS. Fore femur with long setulae on posterior aspect and middle femur with setulae along anteroventral aspect not much shorter than diameter of femur; numerous pale setulae scattered on legs; apico-ventral seta on mid tibia present; claws black and pulvilli normal; 5 th tarsomere of all legs black; hind trochanter (Fig. 72D) modified with long narrow process, obliquely truncate at tip where it is covered with several very fine setulae; hind femur at junction with trochanter bearing a quadrate process. ABDOMEN. Tergites brown dorsally over basal ⅔; tergite 5 narrow dorsally and broader than tergite 4 laterally; tergites with fine pale setulae; sternites 5 and 6 highly modified, each with long posterior lobes directed antero-ventrally in sternite 5 and postero-ventrally in sternite 6; those of sternite 6 bearing distinct black spinose setae (Fig. 73). HYPOPYGIUM (Figs 72B–C, 73A). Epandrium narrow; surstylus long, pale, only slightly curved at tip and on posterior aspect with a few very short fine setulae; hypandrium with narrow lateral arms ending at lower margin of epandrium; pregonite not identified; postgonite narrow and about as long as surstylus, but lying very close to aedeagus; epiphallus shorter; distiphallus pale, mostly membranous and appears irregularly cylindrical; cercus large, fused with the opposite side and pale with apical pair of long setae. Female As in male, but without secondary sexual characters. Variation No significant variation noted in this series of specimens. Distribution Israel.Published as part of Ebejer, Martin J., 2023, The genus Aphaniosoma Becker, 1903 (Diptera: Chyromyidae) in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, with descriptions of new species, pp. 1-161 in European Journal of Taxonomy 872 on pages 125-129, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.872.2131, http://zenodo.org/record/801830