A New Species of Eurhabdus from Jamaica (Diptera: Leptogastridae)

Abstract

Eurhabdus jamaicensis new species, is described from specimens collected in Jamaica. Aldrich (1923, p. 2-3) described the genus Eurhabdus and its genotype, E. zephyreus, from a single specimen, a female, collected at Higuito, San Mateo, Costa Rica. There is one other specimen of this species at the U. S. National Museum with the holotype. It, too, is a female and was collected at the same locality and by the same collector, Pablo Schild. No other species assignable to Eurhabdus has been described since, although Hull (1962, p. 317), Farr (1963, p. 20) and Martin (1965, p. 6) referred to an undescribed species occurring in Jamaica. It is this species that is described herein. Eurhabdusjamaicensis sp. nov. (Fig. 1-4) Male: Length, 9.5 mm. Head black, frons and face silver-white tomentose, greatly narrowed by the encroachment of the nearly holoptic eyes, proboscis short, the hypopharynx protruding, antennal segments 1 and 2 light brown, 3 dark brown with style about 5 times the length of segment 3, posterior head region sparsely grey pollinose. Thorax black, pronotum grey pollinose; mesonotum polished black dorsally, sparsely pollinose laterally, posterior calli and area immediately posterior distinctly grey pollinose, pleura black with a sparse, grey pollinosity; 1 prealar bristle, a few very short setae dorsally increasing in number posteriorly, and a few (7 to 8) setae in the upper mesopleural area. Scutellum very small, bearing a few, short setae. Abdomen dark brown, combined segments 1 and 2 and segments 3 and 4 sparsely grey pollinose apically, segment 5 pale brown in apical half, setae scant on first 3 segments but increasing gradually posteriorly and fairly conspicuous on the terminalia. Wings thickly beset with microtrichiae, violaceous irridescent, apical and posterior margins fringed with relatively long, pale yellow hairs; halteres longer than the thorax, pedicel pale yellow, knob black and distinctly flattened longitudinally. Legs. Fore and middle legs mostly pale, yellow-brown, but distinctly darker in the apical third of the femora; hind femora light brown, clavate, the clavate portion polished dark brown, but lighter at the apex; hind tibiae grey-brown, dark brown in about the apical quarter, apical third swollen; tarsi dark brown. HOLOTYPE: Male, Portland, Hardwar Gap, Green Hills, 20 July 1967, T. H. Farr. U.S.N.M. Type Number 72363. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.11 on Wed, 10 Aug 2016 06:10:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Farr: Eurhabdus jamaicensis New Species 325