Sobarocephala anonymos, Lonsdale, Owen, 2014

Lonsdale, Owen, 2014, Revision of the Old World Sobarocephala (Diptera: Clusiidae), Zootaxa 3760 (2), pp. 211-240 : 215

Sobarocephala anonymos spec. nov.

Figs 33–35

Description. Male. Holotype in poor condition with many setae missing, especially on head. Body length 2.6mm. Aristae missing. Setae brownish-yellow. Ocellar seta small, setula-like. Presutural intra-alar bristle absent. Two dorsocentral setae with enlarged setula in front of anterior dorsocentral. Acrostichal seta absent. One lateral scutellar seta. Head yellow with brown spot on outer surface of first flagellomere at base of arista, ocellar tubercle brown, and gena and parafacial paler and pilose. Scutum mostly yellow; pattern difficult to discern due to poor condition of holotype, but notopleuron and supra-alar region with brown spots that are possibly confluent posterolaterally with one pair of brown postsutural stripes outside dorsocentral rows. Scutellum yellow medially, brown laterally. Metanotum ochraeous with katatergite darker. Pleuron yellow with anepisternum brown. Legs partially missing; fore tibia brownish and fore tarsi light brown. Wings mostly collapsed; apparently unpigmented. Colour of abdomen difficult to discern, apparently yellow with brown dorsomedial stripe.

Female. Unknown.

Male terminalia. (Figs 33–35) Surstylus as high as epandrium and approximately 3/5 length with slightly produced subbasal lobe on posterior margin; inner-distal margin and angulate posterodistal margin with numerous stout spine-like setae. Cerci small, rounded, with one pair of longer apical setae. Lateral lobe of hypandrium large, subtriangular, with one long medial seta and one empty socket, and one small distal floating seta. Pregonite slightly clavate with few apical setae. Postgonite well-developed with several minute apical setae. Basal shield of distiphallus and epiphallus fused into multiply-carinate structure. Paraphallus with minutely spinulose apical process, and small, rounded lateromedial thumb. Distiphallus approximately 3/5 length of phallapodeme.

Etymology. The specific epithet Greek for “nameless, unknown”, referring to the person who collected this new species, denoted only as “Native Collector”.

Holotype: LAOS. Vientiane Prov.: Ban Van Eue, 15–31.vi.1967, Native Collector, Bishop (1♂, BPBM).

Comments. The terminalia of this species are similar to those of Sobarocephala nimbipennis ( Thailand) (Figs 45–47), although most of the posterior marginal setae on S. anonymos are long and pointed, not tubercle-like, and the surstylus is smaller with a shorter marginal surface posteriorly; the paraphallus is also comparatively atrophied and there is fusion of the epiphallus and the basal shield of the distiphallus. Externally, the colour pattern is difficult to discern, but the holotype is mostly yellow with a spot on the first flagellomere at the base of the arista, the lateral corners of the scutellum are brown, there is one pair of scutal stripes that may be confluent with other brown lateral markings, the abdomen has a brown dorsomedial stripe, and the anepisternum, fore tibia and tarsi are brown. Aristae are missing from the holotype, but for the purposes of the above key it is assumed that they are densely plumose basally, as seen in all other representatives of the S. plumicornis group for which full antennae are known.