Sinops Zhang, Yang & Mathis, 2005, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Zhang, Junhua
name: Yang, Ding
name: Mathis, Wayne N.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Ephydridae
Sinops

description: Sinops gen. nov.
Type species. Sinops sichuanensis sp. nov.
Diagnosis. Male body length 2.2–2.4 mm, wing length 2.5–2.7 mm. Head black, subshiny; frons dark colored, usually contrasted with lighter facial coloration. Two pairs of strong lateroclinate orb; medial facial area and lower facial margin with setae, of which 3–4 setae are lengthened laterally; oral setae well developed; gena with 1 distinct seta longer and stronger than other genal setae. Arista with short pubescent­like hairs.
Thorax generally black, subshiny. Three pairs of postsutural dc, presutural dc absent (except in S. nepalensis); acr weak and short, continuing in a posts row to base of scutellum; 1 strong presutural seta; posterior npl much farther from notopleural suture than anterior npl; katepisternal seta weaker than anepisternal seta; 1 strong sa, psa absent; 2 pairs of sc. Legs subshiny black. Forefemur with row of pv, and without row of spine­like setae, midfemur with row of av. Pulvilli well developed; claws short and distinctly curved. Wing: C extended to apex of M; distance between R2+3 and R4+5 less than that between R4+5 and M but more than 1/2 that between R4+5 and M.
Abdomen generally black, subshiny. Male genitalia: Epandrium large and broad, parallel­sided in posterior view; cerci long, thickened at base and slender at apex; gonite falcate at base in lateral view. Female genitalia: Cerci rather thick, nearly trapezoidal in lateral view, brownish yellow at base and yellow at apex. Sternite 8 divided into 2 nearly triangular sclerites.
Distribution. The genus is known only from Asia and is currently represented by four species.
Etymology. Sinops is a Latinized combination of sino, meaning of or pertaining to China and the Chinese, and ops, meaning eye or face and which is a common generic ending in the tribe Dagini.
Remarks. Sinops is in the tribe Dagini and comprises what was formerly known as “the fluvialis group” of Psilephydra (Mathis and Zatwarnicki 1988), and the species of that group are here transferred to Sinops as new combinations: S. fluvialis (Miyagi 1977; Japan), S. kaskiensis (Mathis 1988; Nepal) and S. nepalensis (Mathis 1988; Nepal).
Sinops and Psilephydra are similar in having three postsutural dc. Sinops is distinguished from Psilephydra and other genera of the tribe Dagini by the well­developed lateral facial setae; the well­developed anterior notopleural seta; the distance between R2+3 and R4+5 being less than that between R4+5 and M but more than 1/2 that between R4+5 and M; the robust epandrium that is higher than wide; the gonite that is retracted and invisible from a posterior view and that is separated beneath the aedeagus, and the thick phallapodeme. In Psilephydra, the facial setae are reduced, hair­like, the distance between R2+3 and R4+5 is equal to that between R4+5 and M, the epandrium is as long as wide and the gonite is visible from a posterior view, the gonites loop beneath the aedeagus, and the phallapodeme is slender (Mathis 1982, Mathis and Zatwarnicki 1988).
description: Published as part of Zhang, Junhua, Yang, Ding & Mathis, Wayne N., 2005, A new genus and species of Ephydridae (Diptera) from the Oriental Region, pp. 31-43 in Zootaxa 1040 on page 34, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.169819