Vitilevumyia Woodley, 2011, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Woodley, Norman E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Stratiomyidae
Vitilevumyia

description: Vitilevumyia gen. nov.
Type species, Vitilevumyia bobwoodleyi sp. nov., by present designation.
Diagnosis. The combination of the following characters will distinguish Vitilevumyia gen. nov. from all other known Stratiomyidae: elongate antennal flagellum with six undifferentiated flagellomeres; scutum and scutellum with unusual punctures each with a small internal tubercle (Figs 1–2); unarmed scutellum; very small, triangular wing cell r1; crossvein dm-cu absent, thus vein CuA1 forming the posterior segment of the discal cell. The form of the thoracic punctation and the reduced cell r1 are apparently autapomorphic for the genus.
Description. Male. Head slightly narrower than thorax in dorsal view (Fig. 1; female). Eyes dichoptic, upper frons nearly parallel-sided with ocellar tubercle slightly prominent; lower frons very short, transverse sulcus only visible laterally; narrow groove present between antennal bases, extending slightly onto face; face with margins slightly diverging ventrally, receding, with very narrow groove next to eye margin. Gena narrowly visible in lateral view, contiguous with similar postgena, merging evenly with postocciput, which becomes wider toward vertex. Eye large, ommatidia of uniform size, essentially bare with only minute, extremely sparse microtrichia visible only at high magnification. Antenna about twice length of head, scape about twice length of pedicel, flagellum cylindrical with six similar, unmodified flagellomeres, the apical flagellomere becoming conical apically (Fig. 2); all flagellomeres with evenly distributed, roundish, presumably sensory areas and flagellomeres 4–6 with vaguely differentiated areas on medial surfaces. Palpus apparently one-segmented (not dissected), nearly spherical.
Thorax with scutum convex; scutellum flat dorsally, evenly rounded posteriorly, without spines; both scutum and scutellum evenly set with round punctures each with small, internal tubercle often with a short hair (Figs 1–2); a few such punctures also present on anepisternum. Post-tegula with a few short hairs. Legs unremarkable, without modifications, without tibial spurs. Wing evenly set with dense microtrichia except basally, alula bare except for a few microtrichia apically; costal vein extending slightly beyond apex of R4+5, ending just before wing apex; R2+3 originating above or slightly distal to r-m and ending in R1 at or slightly before its apex, thus cell r1 is small and triangular in shape; R4 present; anterior edge of discal cell formed by part of M1 faintly developed; veins emitted from discal cell also weakly developed, especially M1 and M3, all ending in wing margin; crossvein dm-cu absent, CuA1 forming posterior edge of discal cell; A1 virtually straight; alula narrow, parallel-sided, narrowly rounded apically.
Abdomen narrower than thorax, about 1.7 times longer than wide, segments slightly narrowing toward apex, dorsally flat, ventrally slightly convex.
Female. Differs from male as follows: Head with palpi larger, more robust.
Abdomen slightly longer, more tapered apically (Fig. 1). Cercus one-segmented, short.
Etymology. The generic name is composed of the name of the island, Viti Levu, in the Fiji archipelago from which all specimens originated, with the addition of the ending - myia, meaning fly. The name is feminine in gen- der.
description: Published as part of Woodley, Norman E., 2011, Vitilevumyia, an enigmatic new genus of Stratiomyidae from Fiji (Diptera), pp. 62-68 in Zootaxa 2821 on pages 62-63, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.204445