Japanagromyza cestra, Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro, 2010

Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro, 2010, A review of the Oriental Japanagromyza Sasakawa (Diptera: Agromyzidae), with descriptions of four new species, Zootaxa 2485, pp. 16-32 : 21-22

Japanagromyza cestra sp. nov.

(Figs. 4–7)

Diagnosis. This species is unique in having a hammer-like surstylus with many strong spines, and apically setose hypophallus.

Description. MALE: Black; parafrontalia weakly shining; arista dark brown; mesoscutum and scutellum gray dusted, very weakly shining; abdomen shiny, slightly pollinose. Wing with calypter pale brown, margin and fringe black; halter with stalk brown, knob yellow but faintly brownish tinged at base.

Frons as wide as eye; lunule almost semicircular; eye 1.3 times as high as wide; gena 1/10–1/12 as high as eye. First antennal flagellomere as long as wide or only a little longer than wide; arista as long as height of eye, bare.

Mesoscutum with 10 rows of acr before level of anterior dc but eight rows behind that, prsc slightly shorter than anterior dc. Wing 1.6–1.9 (1.9 in holotype) mm long, osta with three sections in proportion of 3.3–3.4: 1: 0.7–0.8, r-m almost at basal 1/3 of discal cell, ultimate section of M1 1.7–2.5 times as long as penultimate, ultimate section of CuA1 about 3/5 as long as penultimate. Fore tibia without lateral bristle.

S6 about 1.7 times as wide as long. Genitalia: Epandrium with strong spine near inner ventral margin just above surstylus; cercus 2/3 as high as epandrium, with one or two apical setae; surstylus projected anteroventrally at end, spinose on inner side: two rows of 10–17 spines along posterior margin, one or two spines at middle, and 7–9 apical spines (anterior one distinctly stronger than others). Proctiger weakly sclerotized, minutely spinulose at middle, with bushes of transparent hairs on latero-distal apices. Hypandrium 430–450 µm long, with basal apodeme about 1/3 as long as sidepiece. Phallapodme 550–560 µm long; phallus 380–410 µm long, basiphallus with right sclerite ovoid, left one narrow; hypophallus slender, weakly chitinized at base, right sclertie with apical spine and 2–4 apical setae, left one with two apical setae; distiphallus with two weakly chitinized tubules; ejaculatory apodeme 80–130 µm long, blade slightly expanded distally, 20–50 µm broad at end.

Body length 1.8–2.0 mm.

FEMALE and HOSTPLANT. Unknown.

Type material. Holotype 3 ( BPBM 17132), Malaysia, Sarawak, Bau District, Bidi, 90–240 m, 2. IX. 1958, T.C. Maa. Paratypes: 23, Malaysia, Sabah, Tenompok, 10–19. II. 1959, T.C. Maa; 3, China, Hong Kong Colony, IV. 1958, N.L.H. Krauss ( BPBM).

Distribution. Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak), China ( Hong Kong).

Remarks. This species is similar to Japanagromyza eucalypti in having yellow knob of the halter, but is readily distinguished by the absence of the fore-tibial lateral bristle, and presence of dense spines on the surstylus and two tubules of the distiphallus.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the hammer-like (Greek: kestra) surstylus.