Sobarocephala fuscifacies Sasakawa, 2011, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Clusiidae
Sobarocephala
Sobarocephala fuscifacies

description: Sobarocephala fuscifacies sp. nov.
(Figs 12–14)
Type material. Holotype male (BPBM 17244), Philippines, Luzon, Nueva Vizcaya, Dalton Pass, 915 m, 9–10. IV. 1968, M. D. Delfinado. Paratypes: 3, Philippines, Camarines Sur, Mt. Iriga, 500–600 m, 15. IV. 1962, H. M. Torrevillas; 4Ƥ, same data as holotype, D. E. Hardy and M. D. Delfinado; Ƥ, Philippines, Camarines Sur, 20 km E of Naga, Mt. Isarog, 500–600 m, 6. IV. 1963, H. M. Torrevillas, light trap.
Diagnosis. This small species is characterized by a black face with a distinct median carina, a trivittate mesoscutum, a narrow surstylus, a bare and apically pointed paraphallus, and the presence of fb and dp.
Description. MALE. Head shining yellow; frons faintly brown-tinged on dorsal half and orange on ventral half; ocellar triangle dark brown; face shiny brownish black. Antenna yellow, first flagellomere with brown spot surrounding base of arista, arista black; palpus yellow. Thorax yellow; mesoscutum weakly shining, slightly brown-tinged, blackish trivittate, median vitta inside of dc-lines (dc arrayed in pale area), anteriorly extending midway between anterior margin of scutum and transverse suture or almost to anterior margin of scutum, broadened behind level of third dc, extending to scutellum, and lateral vitta extending from transverse suture to base of pa through base of sa, connecting with brown notopleuron; pleura shining, propleuron, anepisternum, anatergite, katatergite, and mediotergite blackish brown, anepimeron more or less pale, katepisternum entirely yellow or brownish along anterior margin; scutellum shining, entirely black. Bristles on head and thorax yellowish brown. Wing hyaline, faintly tinged with brownish yellow on anterior half; calypter pale yellow, with margin brown, fringe yellowish brown; halter brownish yellow. Legs yellow; fore tibia and tarsus brown. Abdomen shining, dark brown to black including bristles; epandrium black, surstylus brown, cercus yellow.
Frons 1.2–1.4 times as wide as eye, almost parallel-sided; parafrontalia with ventral half slightly projecting beyond eye margin in profile; second or 2/3–3/4 as long as first or, third or as long as or slightly longer than first or; oh minute, in row below level of second or; oc minute; poc subequal to second or in length; face with median carina protruding distinctly beyond parafacialia in profile; gena 1/4–1/6 as high as eye; vi long, 3/4 as long as ivt; pm three. First antennal flagellomere shorter than broad, 1.3–1.7 times as wide as gena; arista densely plumose, with longest pubescence almost 1/2 as long as width of first flagellomere; palpus nearly 1/2 as wide as gena.
Mesoscutum with three dc, first dc about 1/2 as long as second dc, third dc longer than second dc, second dc situated just before level of sa, distance between first and second dc almost 1/3 as long as that between second and third dc; six or seven irregular rows of acr, three or four rows of them ending at level of third dc; scutellum with lsc 1/2 as long as asc. Wing 2.1–2.5 (2.5) mm long; costa very weak between apices of R4+5 and M1, with three sections in proportion of 31: 10: 5, r-m before middle level of cell dm (10: 15), M1 ratio 2.7–3.5, ultimate section of CuA1 about 1/2 as long as penultimate section. Mid coxa with two long basal setae; fore femur with several fb; fore tibia with short dp (1/2 length of mid tibial dp); mid tibia with dp and two spurs, one long and one short.
Epandrium with surstylus (Figs 12, 13) narrowing to apex, about 2/3 as high as epandrium, bearing long setae posteriorly and six to eight spinules along inner ventroapical margin; cercus small; proctiger well chitinized. Hypandrium (Fig. 12) subequal to phallus in length, with three setae. Phallapodeme 400 µm long; pregonite with two setulae, postgonite with five setulae; phallus 370 µm long, epiphallus distinct, basi- and mesophallus very short, distiphallus shield-shaped, paraphallus bare and pointed apically.
Body length 2.5–3.0 (3.0) mm.
FEMALE. Similar to male, but face yellow, brown spot on first antennal flagellomere larger than that of male and extending to projection of pedicel, median vitta on mesoscutum broader than that of male, extending almost to anterior margin of scutum; dc arrayed on dark area; facial carina lower and shorter than that of male; T7 and ovipositor yellow; wing length 2.9–3.2 mm, body length 2.8–3.3 mm.
Distribution. Philippines.
Remarks. This species is distinguished from its congeners by the characters stated in the key, and exhibits sexual dimorphism in facial color as described above. The females of Sobarocephala nigrofacies Soós, 1962, known from Brazil, and S. atrifacies Sabrosky and Steyskal, 1974, from Florida, have a black face (males unknown). Although these three species belong to the plumata -group, they are easily separable from each other by the color pattern of the mesoscutum: in S. nigrofacies, the mesoscutum is reddish brown behind the transverse suture but blackened laterally, and the pleura are black except for the propleuron; in S. atrifacies, the mesoscutum is yellow, with two black spots on the sa-areas and one spot on the mesal prescutellar area, and also the scutellum is entirely yellow.
Etymology. The specific name refers to the black face (Latin: fuscus + facies).
description: Published as part of Sasakawa, Mitsuhiro, 2011, Oriental species of clusiid flies (Diptera: Clusiidae: Clusiinae), pp. 1-28 in Zootaxa 3038 on page 10, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.205904