A new species of the extinct genus Microphorites Hennig (Dolichopodidae: Microphorinae) is described from a single male preserved in Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Santonian) Vendean amber (NW France). Microphorites magaliae n. sp., is mostly characterized by large compound eyes, flagellomere I with base bulbous and abruptly tapering to slender apex, thorax strongly hump-backed, with numerous acrostichal and dorsocentral setae, including a pair of elongate posterior setae on the mesoscutum, mesoscutellum with two long strong setae, wing vein C terminating just beyond R4 5, and R4 5 approximately equidistant between R2 3 and M1 along wing margin. It is the latest occurrence of the genus which is otherwise known exclusively from Early to mid-Cretaceous amber of Lebanon, Spain, and southwestern France. The existing key to all species of Microphorites is modified to include the new species.
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1 December 2014
Youngest Occurrence of the Genus Microphorites (Diptera: Dolichopodidae): A New Species in Late Cretaceous Vendean Amber
Vincent Perrichot,
Michael S. Engel