Puliciphora rufipes Silva Figueroa, 1916

Mostovski, Mike B., 2004, New records of scuttle flies (Diptera: Phoridae) from South Africa, with description of a new species and hitherto unknown males, African Invertebrates 45, pp. 125-125 : 135

Puliciphora rufipes Silva Figueroa, 1916

Puliciphora rufipes Silva Figueroa, 1916: 17 ; Disney 1988: 279, figs 17, 18. (Type locality: Chile)

Material examined: SOUTH AFRICA: Western Cape: 15^, Klapmuts, Butterfly World , 8.ix.1997, associated with dead Papilio dardanus larvae, E. V . D. Westhuizen ( SAMC); KwaZulu­Natal: 2 _ 1^, Giant’s Castle Game Reserve (29º16.291'S: 29º31.208'E), 1676 m, 27.x.2003, Malaise trap, Leucosidea & long grass, J.G.H. Londt; 8 _, Himeville, 3– 5.iii.2004, Malaise trap, V . Kolyada & M. Mostovski; 4 _, Merrivale, Stuckenberg House (29º30'S: 30º15'E), 1021 m, 29.x.2003, on window, B. Stuckenberg; 1 _, Pietermaritzburg, Hilton (29º32'30.7"S: 30º18'18.4"E), 1131 m, 27.ix–13.x.2003, Malaise trap, M. Mostovski; 3^, same data except 28.x–12.xi.2003; 5 _ 1^, same data except 24.xii.2003 – 14.i.2004 ( NMSA) .

Distribution: Chile, Argentina, South Africa. This species was found for the first time in South Africa in Tulbagh, Western Cape (Disney 1988). This is the second record of P. rufipes in South Africa, but it is recorded for the first time inside an occupied house.

Remarks: This species has been recorded on pig carcasses in Argentina ( Centeno et al. 2002), which makes it important in forensic investigations.