Tranomeringia scutellata, Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro, 2011

Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro, 2011, Oriental species of clusiid flies (Diptera: Clusiidae: Clusiinae), Zootaxa 3038, pp. 1-28 : 25

Tranomeringia scutellata sp. nov.

( Figs 42–44 )

Type material. Holotype male ( BPBM 17356), Philippines, Luzon, Camarines Sur, Mt. Isarog, 600 m, 5. IV. 1965, H. M. Torrevillas.

Diagnosis. Black, with scutellum yellow apically, legs largely yellow; facial carina and epistome distinctive; M1 ratio 6.0; surstylus with three inner apical spines.

Description. MALE. Head black; frons shining, with small, brownish spot between vertical angle and uppermost orbit; face brown, with yellowish brown carina; epistome dark brown; gena brown, silvery white tomentose; vi black; antenna with scape and pedicel pale brown, first flagellomere yellowish brown and darkened apically, arista brownish yellow; palpus black. Thorax shining black except for apical 2/3 of scutellum yellow. Wing hyaline, faintly infuscated on apical half between costa and R4+5; halter yellow. Legs yellow, but fore femur, tibia and tarsomeres 1–4 black. Abdomen black, weakly shining. Bristles black.

Frons slightly narrower than eye, slightly diverging ventrally; or three (broken or missing but detectable by pits); face with carina distinct, forming epistome on its ventral half; eye about 1.3 times as high as wide; gena about 1/5 as high as eye; vi 1.5 times as long as head height, upturned at middle with almost rectangular angle. Antennae separated at base by facial carina; first flagellomere shorter than broad, rounded apically; arista as long as eye height, distinctly but sparsely pubescent.

Mesoscutum with 0+2 dc, anterior dc slightly before level of postsutural ia, distance between two dc about 1.5 times as wide as distance between transverse suture and anterior dc; 10 rows of acr anteriorly, six rows of them ending at level of posterior dc; opa longer than posterior dc; scutellum with preapical lsc very short. Wing 2.8 mm long; costa with three sections in proportion of 40: 9: 6; r-m at distal 1/3 of cell dm; M1 ratio 6.0; CuA1 slightly ending before wing margin, with ultimate section equal to penultimate section in length. Mid tibia with long spur, hind tibial spur about 1/2 length of mid tibial spur.

Epandrium ( Figs 42–43 ) with surstylus about 1/2 as high as epandrium, narrowing ventrally, sparsely setulose, bearing three apical spinules; cerci almost entirely united with each other, with a shallow emargination before ventral apices, bearing two long apical setae; proctiger U-shaped, 100 µm long. Hypandrium ( Fig. 44 ) 170 µm long; pregonite weakly chitinized, sparsely setulose on tip; postgonite well chitinized, with two setae. Phallapodeme 130 µm long; basiphallus short, mesophallus coiled twice, spinulose on distal membrane, distiphallus membranous distally, paraphallus broader than distiphallus, hypophallus long but weakly sclerotized distally. Ejaculatory apodeme 240 µm long, 120 µm in greatest width.

Body length 3.2 mm.

FEMALE. Unknown.

Distribution. Philippines.

Remarks. This species is readily distinguished from Tranomeringia zosteriformis by its black head and thorax; in zosteriformis , the head and thorax are largely yellowish brown and the bristles are brownish yellow. The body coloration of this species is somewhat similar to that of the Papua New Guinean T. melasoma Sasakawa, 1966 , but this species has the entirely black thoracic pleura, and the apically yellow scutellum; in melasoma , the katepisternum is yellow on posterior half, and the scutellum is yellow lateroproximally.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the distinctive scutellum.

Figures

FIGURES 42 – 47. Male genitalia of Tranomeringia scutellata sp. nov. (42 – 44, holotype) and Clusia sexlineata Frey (45 – 47). 43, surstylus, inner view; 45, hypandrium, lateral view; 46, hypandrium and gonites, left half in ventral view. Scale = 0.1 mm.