Neopleurophora Brown

Ament, Danilo Cesar & Amorim, Dalton De Souza, 2013, Taxonomic revision of the genus Neopleurophora Brown (Diptera: Phoridae), with the description of thirty seven new species, Zootaxa 3657 (1), pp. 1-93 : 5

Neopleurophora Brown

Neopleurophora Brown, 1992: 51 , Type species: Phora scutellata Brues, 1903 (by original designation).

Diagnosis. Anepisternum dorsally setulose, hind tibia with 1–4 anterodorsal setae and 3–6 posterodorsal setae, wing vein R 2+3 present, hypopygium elongated antero-posteriorly, rotated 90º, left lateral assuming a dorsal position, epandrium with a medial process (fused left and right surstyli), sometimes bifurcated.

Description. Body length, 2.4–3.8 mm ( Fig. 1 ). Frons pubescent, without median furrow (sometimes with a vestigial median furrow near ventral apex, as in Fig. 3 ), setation 4-4-4, with two large, dorsally directed supraantennal setae. Flagellomere 1 pubescent, oval. Arista pre-apical, pubescent; 0–2 lower genal and 0–3 upper genal, tiny setae ( Fig. 2 ). Anepisternum dorsally setulose, with one long seta, with one long seta. Foretibia with 1–2 dorsal setae and an anterodorsal row of strong setae. Midtibia with 1–2 anterodorsal setae and 1–4 posterodorsal setae. Hind femur large (height/length ratio, 0.35–0.44), sometimes with ventral row of strong setae near base. Hind tibia with 1–4 anterodorsal setae and 3-6 posterodorsal setae. Wing relatively uniform within the genus ( Fig. 4 ). Costa not swollen, 0.45–0.5 of the wing length; R 2+3 present; M 1 concave, curved posteriorly at apex; M 2 approximately straight; CuA 1 slightly sinuous. Tergites usually dark, with lighter posterior band, sometimes with dense microtrichia producing a silvery sheen. Tergite 6 twice as long as tergite 5, with some posterior setae. Hypopygium elongated antero-posteriorly, about twice as long as wide, rotated 90º, left lateral assuming a dorsal position ( Fig. 5 ). Epandrium with many long setae, especially in the right lateral. Left and right surstyli fused in a medial process sometimes bifurcated, with many long dorsal setae. Epandrial right posterior margin sometimes posteriorly projected, with or without subepandrial setulose process. Hypandrium bilobed, left lobe generally larger. Hypoproct with 2–13 large setae. Phallus composed by: (1) basiphallus ventrally connected to the hypandrium by the phallapodeme, sometimes with a dorsal process; (2) a core plate, sometimes entirely membranous, extending posteriorly from the basiphallus, generally bilobed at apex; and (3) a right arm, adjacent to the basiphallus, connected ventrally to the ventral plate. Regarding the epiphallus and the ventral plate, there are two main discrepant phallic morphologies in Neopleurophora : (1) free ending epiphallus, with membranous core plate, usually with ventral plate less developed, restricted to the right side ( Fig. 6 ); (2) epiphallus connected distally to an extension of the right arm that reaches the left side of the phallus. Ventral plate well developed, variable in shape ( Fig. 7 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1–7. Neopleurophora. 1. N. scutellata var. jamaicensis holotype habitus; 2. N. kungi head in lateral view; 3. N. lamasi head in dorsal view; 4. N. balbii wing; 5. N. megalopyga hypopygium in dorsal view (as the hypopygium is twisted it is the hypopygial left lateral); 6–7. Schematic drawings of the distinct main morphologies of the phallus found in Neopleurophora (colors representing homologies). Abbreviations: bs, basiphallus (in green); cp, core plate (in red); dp, dorsal process; epi, epiphallus (in blue); LGS, lower genal seta; ra, right arm; ssp, secondary scaled plate; UGS, upper genal seta; vp, ventral plate.