Ropalomera Wiedemann, 1824

Ale-Rocha, Rosaly & Pollet, Marc, 2019, First records of Ropalomeridae (Diptera, Acalyptratae) from French Guiana, Zoosystema 41 (1), pp. 1-5 : 3

Genus Ropalomera Wiedemann, 1824

Ropalomera Wiedemann, 1824: 17 .

MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND SYSTEMATICS Species of this genus are recognized by the following features: predominantly brown body coloration, wide and deepened frons, frontal setae weak or absent, ocellar, postocellar, inner and outer vertical and postpronotal setae present, face with welldeveloped hemispherical tubercle, arista plumose, dorsocentral setae lacking, projection of hypandrial arms (“spinus titillatorius”, “epiphallus”) anchor-shaped, with short or long branches.

Ropalomera is probably a natural group with several derived characters, the most prominent of which are the dorsal projection of the hypandrial arms with lateral branches as an anchor-shaped structure (Kirst & Ale-Rocha 2012) and the bristles inserted on the callus at the dorsal apex of the mid femur. Ropalomera can be distinguished from Apophorhynchus by the presence of an ocellar seta; from Rhytidops and Willistoniella by the central tubercle on the face, while a carina is lacking; from Kroeberia , Lenkokroeberia and Dactylissa by the plumose arista; and from Mexicoa by the presence of postpronotal setae, a plumose arista and 1-3 setae on the upper margin of the metathoraxic spiracle.