Sarcophaga (Sarcorohdendorfia) narabondxii, Geisler & Pape, 2023

Geisler, Lucas & Pape, Thomas, 2023, Two new species of the ‘ Big Yellows’ (Diptera: Sarcophagidae: Sarcophaga), Zootaxa 5311 (2), pp. 190-202 : 195-197

Sarcophaga (Sarcorohdendorfia) narabondxii sp. nov.

Figs 13–14

Type material: Holotype ♁: LFloridaI / SolomonIs / Mar 1945 / GEBohart. Terminalia glued to a separate piece of cardboard pinned under the specimen. Deposited in USNM.

Type locality: Solomon Islands, Central Province, Nggele Islands [= Florida Islands] .

Etymology: The name narabondxii (from Narabond = a fictional nation, and xii = Roman numeral for twelve) was chosen as an homage to the players that portray the fictional group of soldiers from the twelfth company of the fictional nation Narabond, which is part of the Danish live-action roleplaying universe Niraham and the community “Nordlenets Saga ”. The junior author (LG) is an active member, and soldiers will dress in black and yellow colours reminiscent of the present species. Suggested pronunciation: n/ɑː/r/ɑː/bonds/ɪaɪ/.

Description: Male—Head: Width of frons at narrowest point 0.04 x width of head (n = 1). Tomentum bright yellow across entirety of face with greyish spot on the post-gena and a black patch inside the ocellar triangle. Frontal setae equally strong from vertex to the upper part of parafacial plate, stretching past lunule and all the way to the end of the frontoorbital plate. Ocellar triangle with scattered setulae, ocellar setae equal to the weakest of the frontal setae. Inner vertical seta stronger than strongest frontal setae, outer vertical seta approximately 0.5 x length of inner vertical seta. Antenna with black scape and pedicel, golden brown postpedicel with golden brown arista. Palpus black. Vibrissa well developed [judged from the socket, the seta itself has been lost]. Genal and postgenal setae yellowish. Thorax: Yellow tomentum, matching colour of head; dorsally with three black stripes, middle stripe running from presutural scutum to approximately 0.5 of the length of scutellum, lateral stripes running from presutural to 0.9 of the length of postsutural scutum. Prosternum with black setae laterally. Chaetotaxy: acrostichals = 0+0, dorsocentrals = 5+2 (one broken but socket remaining), intra-alars = 2+2, supra-alars = 2+3, postalars = 2, anterior postpronotal = 0, basal postpronotal = 2, basal scutellars = 1, subapical scutellars = 2, apical scutellars = 1, discal scutellars = 0. Legs: Brown with greyish yellow area posteriorly on fore femur. Hind tibia with long and strong setosity along posterior surface. Wing: Veins brown with cubital vein and anal veins fading distally. Wing membrane hyaline, subcostal and discal cell with brown tint. Alula whitish to light brown. Upper and lower calypter whitish with yellow edge. Vein R4+5 with dorsal setulae at base, cell r4+5 open at wing margin. Abdomen: T1+2 black with two lighter grey spots on each side of median line, T3–5 with yellow tomentum except for black anterior bands; black median stripe reaching T5. Median marginal setae present on T4 and T5. Posterior margin of ST4 with patch of densely set short, bristly setae on a raised ‘hump’ covering about a third of the posterior margin. Terminalia: Cercus gently curved, with dorsal surface equipped with several robust setae in the middle. Hypandrium with posterior margin folding downwards as a pair of rugose or striated lobes. Pregonite deeply split, with larger tip blunt; postgonite tapering, with sigmoid anterior margin. Juxta tapering; vesica broad, with subapical tooth on a long, slender ‘neck’, apically with blunt tip; lateral stylus at least twice as long as juxta, with distal fourth partly membranous and without serration along the concave surface.

Remarks: The holotype label gives the locality as “LFloridaI”, but the initial L is here interpreted as an error. The US navy had a base on Nggela Sule, which is the larger of the two main islands often referred to as Florida Islands ( United States 1947), and George E. Bohart probably collected the specimen when deployed there as a medical entomologist ( Entomological Society of America 2011).

Morphologically S. narabondxii sp. nov. is most similar to S. isorokui (Shinonaga) but separable by the features given in the key. The sparse current material would indicate that S. narabondxii sp. nov. is found only on the Nggela Islands, while S. isorokui is restricted to Bougainville Island more than 500 km to the west.

Figures

FIGURES 10–14. Sarcophaga (Sarcorohdendorfia) spp. 10–12. Sarcophaga (Sarcorohdendorfia) confusio sp. nov. [holotype, in NHM-DK]. 10. Habitus, lateral view. 11. Genitalia, lateral view, slide mounted. 12. Epandrium, surstylus and cercus, lateral view. 13–14. Sarcophaga (Sarcorohdendorfia) narrabondxii sp. nov. [holotype, in USNM]. 13. Habitus, lateral view. 14. Terminalia, lateral view. Scales. 10, 13 = 1.0 cm; 11, 12, 14 = 0.5 mm. Abbreviations: ce = cercus; jx = juxta; ls = lateral stylus; su = surstylus; ve = vesica.