Latheticomyia Wheeler, 1956

Latheticomyia (Wheeler 1956: 305, Figs 1 a–c, 2a–f; Hennig 1969: 591, Figs 1–4, 18; Prado 1984: 48A.1, catalog; McAlpine 1987: 760, Figs 1–5; Buck & McAlpine 2010: 824, Figs. 1, 2, 4–6).

Specimens of Latheticomyia can be identified by following combination of characters according to Wheeler (1956) and Hennig (1969): Medium-sized flies (2.5–4.0 mm), mostly black with prominent yellow areas on head, mesonotum, scutellum, pleuron, and legs; postocellar bristles convergent; inner and outer verticals strong; occiput flat or slightly concave; ocellar bristles strong, proclinate and divergent; frons longitudinally depressed to sunken between orbits, becoming more sunken anteriorly; each orbit with three reclinate orbitals, anterior one close to antennal base; antenna somewhat porrect; arista weakly pubescent, inserted dorsally and subapically; face flat and receding in profile, sunken medially, without foveae, bearing small fine hairs on posterior portion, between antennae; one pair of moderately strong vibrissae, one row of uniseriated genal bristles, one genal and one postgenal bristle stouter; five pairs of dorsocentral bristles, including three postsutural, one around transverse suture and one presutural; scutellum small and flat; three pairs of large marginal scutellar bristles, apical pair being largest. Fore femur with moderately stout bristles; costal vein broken or weakened just beyond humeral crossvein, and a definite costal break just before apex of R1; costal vein reaching M1 vein; subcostal vein strong basally, weaker apically, curving toward and fusing with R1 far from apex, the latter somewhat thickened at its union with costal vein. Anal cell well developed; anal vein ceasing abruptly far from wing margin; last section of CuA1 usually failing to reach wing margin, its length a little more than half that of crossvein dm-cu; bm-cu crossvein absent or partially present as a stub; male genitalia large and complex, bent beneath abdomen. Female abdomen long and slender, tapering at apex slightly telescoped.