Myospila propinqua (Stein)

Couri, Marcia S., Pont, Adrian C. & Daugeron, Christophe, 2010, The Muscidae (Diptera) of New Caledonia 2503, Zootaxa 2503 (1), pp. 1-61 : 37

23. Myospila propinqua (Stein)

Spilogaster propinqua Stein, 1900a . Holotype male, Maluku, Indonesia, in MCSNG ( Pont, 1966: 100).

Diagnosis. Width of eyes in male intermediate, frons broadening towards lunule; antenna with pedicel yellow and postpedicel dark brown; scutum brown, light-grey pollinose; two brown stripes along dorsocentral line; anterior spiracle yellow; upper posterior katepisternal very long; scutellum yellow on apical third; calypters and halter yellow; femora brown at apex, tibiae and tarsi yellow; wing slightly yellowish, more intense on anterior half; abdomen grey with round brown marks on all tergites; male surstylus and cercal plate as in Figs 112 and 113 and female ovipositor as in Fig. 123 of Vockeroth (1972).

Material examined: NSMT. New Caledonia: Hienghène : 21–22.ii.1978, S. Shinonaga, 2 ♂, Shinonaga det.

BMNH. New Caledonia: Thio : 50 km E of Nouméa, 18.ii.1958, 1 ♂, H. Shima. Tinchialit: 2020 ft, 22.viii– 10.ix.1949, 1 ♂, L.E. Cheesman .

Comments. Two males in NSMT were identified by S. Shinonaga in 1981, but the species was not listed in Shinonaga et al. (1991), who only recorded a “ Myospila sp. ”. Pont (1966) referred this species to Helina subgenus Helinella Malloch , a group that was synonymised by Vockeroth (1972) with Myospila . See Vockeroth (1972) for full description and discussion of this genus and species. The Myospila sp. mentioned by Shinonaga et al. (1991) from Thio (50 km E of Nouméa, 19.ii.1978, S. Shinonaga) is probably the female of M. propinqua .

Distribution. Indonesia (Maluku), New Caledonia ( New Caledonia), PNG ( PNG), Rennell I., Solomon Is, Vanuatu.