Heteromeringia melanoprotoma, Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro, 2011

Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro, 2011, Oriental species of clusiid flies (Diptera: Clusiidae: Clusiinae), Zootaxa 3038, pp. 1-28 : 20-21

Heteromeringia melanoprotoma sp. nov.

( Figs 28–31 )

Type material. Holotype male ( BPBM 17249), Laos, Vientiane Prov., Ban Van Eue, 31. XII. 1968, native collector. Paratypes: 2Ƥ, same data as holotype except 15. II. 1966.

Diagnosis. Largely black, but parafacialia, gena, and scutellum brown in male; first antennal flagellomere yellowish, narrowly brown on apex; dc three; fore tarsomeres flattened; surstylus with four or five spinules on inner tip; cerci united; hypophallus short or slender, distiphallus pointed apically.

Description. MALE. Head black except for dark brown orbit, parafacialia, face, and gena; frontalia grayish pruinose, parafrontalia shining; face blackened laterally, strongly shining; peristome black. Antenna brownish yellow, first flagellomere narrowly brown along apical margin, arista brownish yellow with base yellow; palpus black. Thorax black; mesoscutum slightly grayish dusted, weakly shining; pleura strongly shining, anatergite, katatergite, katepimeron, and mediotergite dark brown; scutellum brown. Wing hyaline, slightly infuscated on anteroapical 1/3; calypter yellow, with margin and fringe pale brown; halter yellow. Legs yellow, with all coxae and fore femur slightly brown-tinged, fore tibia and tarsus black. Abdomen shining black. Bristles black.

Frons as wide as eye, slightly converging ventrally; ventral part of parafrontalia and parafacialia linearly projecting above eye margin in profile; all or subequal in length; oc 2/3 length of poc; gena 1/5 as high as eye. Antenna similar to that of H. paraphalloides .

Mesoscutum with three dc, first dc 1/2 length of second dc, latter 3/4 length of third dc and situated just before level of sa-base, eight rows of acr but five or six sparse rows of longer acr behind level of second dc; scutellum with bsc 1/4 length of asc. Wing 2.8 mm long; three costal sections in proportion of 63: 10: 7, r-m beyond middle level of cell dm (14: 10), M1 ratio 3.8-5.0, ultimate section of CuA1 3/5 as long as penultimate section. Fore tarsomeres flattened laterally, almost as wide as distal width of tibia.

Surstylus ( Figs 28, 29 ) narrow, shorter than epandrial height, with four or five spinules on inner apex; cerci separated ventrally; pregonite with three or four strong apical setae, postgonite with one strong apical seta and 4–6 setulae. Phallapodeme 190 µm long; phallus ( Fig. 30 ) 750 µm long, epiphallus short, mesophallus broadend at middle, hypophallus distinctly short on right side and slender on left side, paraphallus simple, distiphallic tube pointed apically; ejaculatory apodeme ( Fig. 31 ) narrow, 230 µm long, 90 µm broad.

Body length 3.0 mm.

FEMALE. Similar to male, but head and scutellum entirely black, fore femur brown on distal 1/3, and fore tarsomeres broader than those of male.

Distribution. Laos.

Remarks. This species is easily separated from Heteromeringia melaena and H. paraphalloides sp. nov., which also have dark, compressed fore tarsomeres, by its yellow fore femur, male cerci separated ventrally, and presence of an apical seta on the postgonite. In H. melaena , the yellow fore femur is brown-ringed before the apex, the male cerci are entirely separated, and the postgonite is only setulose on the apex; in H. paraphalloides , the fore femur is black, the cerci are completely fused, and the postgonite is setulose apically.

Etymology. The specific name refers to the black face (Greek: melanos + protome).

Figures

FIGURES 25 – 35. Male genitalia of Heteromeringia abatanensis sp. nov. (25 – 27, paratype), H. melanoprotoma sp. nov. (28 – 31, holotype), and H. paraphalloides sp. nov. (32 – 35, holotype). See Figs 1 – 3 for explanation of parts; 31, 35, ejaculatory apodeme, lateral view; 27, HP, hypophallus. Scale = 0.1 mm.