New long-legged flies from mangroves on Pulau Ubin (Singapore) (Insecta: Diptera: Dolichopodidae)
Author
Grootaert, Patrick
Author
Velde,
Author
Isabella Van de
text
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
2024
2024-09-19
72
303
323
journal article
10.26107/RBZ-2024-0025
2345-7600
14683054
079CC651-8D4D-4B95-B022-388B2FA51FE2
Genus
Protomedetera
Tang, Yang & Grootaert, 2018
Type
species.
Protomedetera singaporensis
Grootaert &
Tang, 2018
(in
Tang et al., 2018
)
Protomedetera
comprise small species with a body length less than or at most
2 mm
. The genus is quite rare in
Singapore
and up until now, only two species were known from
Singapore
. The
type
species of the genus,
Protomedetera singaporensis
Grootaert &
Tang, 2018
(in
Tang et al., 2018
) was described from a single male found in the swamp forest at Nee Soon (
Singapore
). A second species
P. glabra
Tang et al., 2018
, found only in anthropogenic habitats, is more common in
Singapore
. This species was attributed to the genus
Protomedetera
, but it has a different morphology and should probably be attributed to another genus. The postpedicel does not bear long apical bristles and the position of the male terminalia on the abdomen is different.
P. glabra
was originally described from
Papua New Guinea
and the specimens found in
Singapore
were considered conspecific. Although the male terminalia of the specimens from
Papua New Guinea
and those from
Singapore
are similar, they are distinctly different in other characteristics and hence the taxonomy of this species group needs revision.