Sobarocephala mitsuii Sasakawa Setae 1995
Creators: name: Yang, Shuailai
name: Guo, Yida
name: Yin, Xinming
name: Xi, Yuqiang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Clusiidae
Sobarocephala
Sobarocephala mitsuii

description: Sobarocephala mitsuii Sasakawa, 1995
(Figs 13 –18,21)
Diagnosis. Body mostly brown and yellow. Setae black. Head (Fig. 13) mostly yellow. Gena more than 1/9 height of eye. Arista brown, sparsely short plumose. 1 ocellar seta and 1 postocellar seta.
Thorax (Fig. 21) mainly yellow; mesonotum with brown subquadrate marking between dorsocentral setae; scutellum brown apically.Anepisternum brown.Prescutellar seta present.1posutural supra-alar seta, 0+3 dorsocentral setae, anterior seta small; inara-alar seta absent, 2 postalar setae, dark brown; 2 lateral scutellar setae, 1 apical scutellar seta, stronger, dark brown; 1 anepisternum seta, 1 katepisternal seta. Leg yellow, coxa white, fore tibia and tarsi brown. Wing (Fig.14) faintly clouded along vein R 2+3 on distal 1/4, the M 1 ratio 3.1; halter yellowish.
Abdomen brown; tergite 1 and tergite 7 yellowish, satae brown. Male genitalia (Figs. 15–18): epandrium yellow with dorsal half brown, height 1.6 times width. Cerci small, unified. Surstylus slightly higher than epandrium, tapering apically, posterior margin sinuate and almost completely lined with scattered rows of stout setae. Hypandrium 1 short distal and 2 short medial setae; pregonite slightly membranous; phallapodeme dilated at the apex; paraphallus elongated, hook-shaped, with 1 sharp nodule; distiphallus 3/5 length of phallapodeme.
Variation.According to Lonsdale (2014), Japanese male adults exhibit the following characteristics: scutum yellow without subquadrate marking; scutellum yellow with brown central stripe (darkest apically and sometimes yellow centrally and basally); katatergite and sometimes anterior margin of anatergite brown. Halter white. M 1 ratio 3.3–3.5. Abdomen yellow with medial stripe (tapering anteriorly) from tergite 1 almost to posterior margin of tergite 5.
Material examined 1 ♂, China, Jiangxi, Jingan, Sanzhualun, Guanyinyan. 29°03’56”N, 115°12’12”E, 1280 m, 2014.VII.21, leg. Kai Wang; 1 ♂ 1 ♀, China, Fujian, Wuyi Mt, Yangba, 27°43’48”N, 117°40’48”E, 704m, 2013. VI.14, Malaise trap; 1 ♂, China, Fujian, Wuyi Mt, Baihuxi, 27°43’48”N, 27°44′24″E, 752m, 2013. VI.14, Malaise trap; 1 ♀, China, Fujian, Wuyi Mt, Liaowangtai, 27°43’48”N, 117°39′36″E, 935m, 2013. VI.15, Malaise trap.
Distribution. China (Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian); Japan, South Korea.
Remarks. This Chinese specimen appears consistent with the variant appearance of the Chinese male of S. mitsuii described by Lonsdale (2014). The specimen is similar in appearance to to. S. uncinata, but S. mitsuii can be differentiated by having an apically brown scutellum and a surstylus that is more apically pointed with the posterior margin sinuate. In S. uncinata, the scutellum is brown medially and the surstylus is broadly rounded apically with a straighter posterior margin (Lonsdale 2014).
Comments. Lonsdale (2014) illustrations and redescription of S. mitsuii demonstrate intraspecific morphological variation. However, specimens examined from Fujian and Jiangxi provinces show congruence with Zhejiang province specimens: mesonotum yellow with brown subquadrate marking; scutellum yellow but brown at apex. These characters appears conserved in Chinese species, though verification through examination of additional specimens is required to confirm the stability of these morphological traits across its distribution range.
description: Published as part of Yang, Shuailai, Guo, Yida, Yin, Xinming & Xi, Yuqiang, 2025, The genus Sobarocephala Czerny, 1903 (Diptera, Clusiidae) from China, with description of two new species, pp. 484-492 in Zootaxa 5621 (4) on page 489, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5621.4.7, http://zenodo.org/record/15263079