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| Philetus kitsi
Cumming & Brooks, 2020
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The Nearctic genus Philetus Melander, 1928 is a rarely collected group of empidid flies that contains two western species, namely P. memorandus Melander and P. schizophorus Melander. The genus was fully diagnosed by Cumming et al. (2016) with both known species redescribed and their distributions mapped. Here we describe a third species of Philetus from a single male collected recently in the Richardson Mountains of the Yukon Territory in Canada and provide a key to species based on male morphology. Terms used for adult structures follow those of Cumming & Wood (2017) and methods follow those outlined in Cumming et al. (2016).
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| FigureS 1–2. Habitus photograph and collection locality. 1. Philetus kitsi sp. nov. habitus photograph, male holotype. 2. Shrub tundra locality in the Richardson Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada, where the holotype was collected using a Malaise trap (photograph: J.H. Kits). |
Philetus kitsi sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Philetus kitsi sp. nov. is characterized by male terminalia with elongate simple cercus connected to lengthened ventral subepandrial lobe with digitiform apex (Fig. 3) and thumb-like preapical medially-directed process (Fig. 5), large epandrial lobe with posteriorly hooked dorsal process, and hypandrium with dorsally prolonged narrow median apical process (Figs 3, 4). In addition, the longer more narrowly produced apex of the antennal postpedicel (similar to P. memorandus) separates this species from most specimens of P. schizophorus.
Distribution and seasonal occurrence. Known from shrub tundra in the Richardson Mountains of the Yukon Territory, Canada (Fig. 2). The single known male was collected at the end of July.
Etymology. This species is named in honour of our colleague, Dr. Joel H. Kits (CNC), who collected the only known specimen of this new species.
Jeffrey M. Cumming and Scott E. Brooks. 2020. A New Species of Philetus Melander (Diptera: Empididae) from the Yukon Territory, Canada. Zootaxa. 4718(3); 447–450. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4718.3.12
