Grallipeza cliffi new species

Figs. 15–19

Description: Size: 6–8 mm. Colour: Head orange except shining brown clypeus, dark apical third of palpus, and velvet black anterior third of frontal vitta. Thorax orange, scutellum and parts of scutum darkened; katepisternum with a posterodorsal silvery pollinose patch. Fore femur yellow on basal half, black or dark brown on distal half, tarsomere one and tarsomere two off-white, tarsomere three darkened distally, other tarsomeres brown. Mid and hind femur brown in distal third, brown area with a yellow preapical ring. Katepisternal bristles golden. Abdominal tergites 1–3 (male) or 1–4 (female) pale, contrasting with dark posterior tergites. Female abdominal pleuron cream yellow except for a small dark patch under each lateral margin of tergite 6; tergite 7 shining dark brown, darker along posterior margin, oviscape shining dark brown except for paler tip.

Head: Arista conspicuously long-haired at least over basal 3/4, hairs as long as scape width (Fig. 16). Pedicel with long ventroapical bristles, one almost as long as first flagellomere. Frontal vitta broadened and raised in front of ocelli; narrow, parallel-sided and depressed behind ocelli (Fig. 19).

Thorax: Cervical sclerite flat ventrally, that of female ventrally microtrichose with minute pits (not the distinct field of pores found in some congeners). Fore femur with only small ventral setulae. Two distinct dorsocentral bristles, postpronotum with only small setulae, 3–5 suprahumeral bristles forming a row of 3–5. Fore femur without ventral bristles. Wing: Anal cell microsetulose along margins only, otherwise bare; wing membrane with a weak, almost straight-edged discal band extending from anterior wing margin to Cu (Fig. 18).

Female abdomen (only one poor dissection available): Oviscape short, constricted at base (Fig. 17). Common spermathecal duct almost parallel-sided, slightly expanded but not strikingly swollen before branching into short, thick ducts leading to rounded cone-shaped spermathecae (Fig. 15). Single spermathecal duct slightly thinner than common duct; ending in a small, irregularly formed T-shaped single spermatheca.

Male abdomen: No dissection available; this species is known from only one male. Genital fork deeply cleft basally, mesal surface of each arm with a broad basal bulge with about 5 closely packed teeth, remainder of mesal surface with about 10 more widely spaced teeth; outer surface long-haired.

Type material: Holotype male (USNM): Jamaica. Runaway Bay, ii.1969, W.W. Wirth, streambed. Paratype female (USNM): Jamaica: St. Andrew Parish, Hardwar Gap, 23.v.1975, Ashley Gurney.

Comments: The desclerotized abdominal tergites suggest a close relationship between G. c l i f f i, G. marleyi, G. nigrivitta and G. albiterga, but female internal structures of these species are strikingly different (Figs. 11, 15, 42). Although no males were dissected and there is only a single poor dissection of a female G. cliffi available, what is known of internal characters suggests that this species is not closely related to any other Caribbean Grallipeza . Grallipeza cliffi is easily recognized by the isolated dark anterior area of the frontal vitta, and the type specimens are apparently distinguished by the apically darkened palpus (like many mainland congeners but unlike other Caribbean species). In addition to the type specimens, one specimen (male, Above Rocks District, Sept 16, 1917 (493), Harold Morrison. USNM) was tentatively identified as this species but has uniformly orange palpi. More specimens are needed from Jamaica to adequately characterize the three currently recognized endemic Jamaican Grallipeza, and to ascertain the true diversity of Grallipeza on the island.

Etymology: Grallipeza cliffi is named for the Jamaican musician Jimmy Cliff.