Phalacrotophora, Enderlein, 1912

Brown, Brian V., 2004, Revision of the subgenus Udamochiras of Melaloncha beekilling flies (Diptera: Phoridae: Metopininae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140 (1), pp. 1-42 : 3

PHALACROTOPHORA

Segment 7 in Phalacrotophora species ( Fig. 1 ; see Appendix 1 for list of specimens examined) has a welldefined dorsal tergite and ventral sternite. Intersegment 7–8 is unmodified and membranous.

The last abdominal segment, formed from segments 8–10, differs in structure among various species. Some species have the dorsal sclerite of 9 + 10 (referred to as the U-shaped sclerite by Brown (1992) which is small ( Fig. 2 ) and similar to that in outgroup taxa like most Megaselia Rondani. The dorsal sclerite in other Phalacrotophora species is enlarged, triangular, and apically pointed ( Fig. 4 ), apparently an intermediate stage to the situation found in Melittophora and Melaloncha . Together with other characters, this variation in the U-shaped sclerite indicates that Phalacrotophora as presently defined is possibly paraphyletic.

The ventral structure of segments 8–10 also varies among species. In relatively primitive taxa, the apical lobes are broad and rounded ( Fig. 3 ), but in apparently more derived taxa (based on the dorsum of segments 8–10), they are narrowed ( Fig. 5 ) and begin to resemble the early stages of the same structures in Melittophora and Melaloncha .

Figures

Figures 1–7. Phalacrotophora species. Figs 1–3: P. berolinensis Schmitz. 1. Posterior segments of ovipositor, dorsal. 2. Segments 8–10, dorsal. 3. Segments 8–10, ventral. Figs 4 & 5: Phalacrotophora sp., Ecuador, Napo R. 4. Segments 8–10, dorsal. 5. Segments 8–10, ventral. Figs 6 & 7: Anepisternum, left lateral. 6. P. fasciata (Fallén). 7. P. rufiventris Borgmeier.