Sobarocephala zuluensis Stuckenberg

Lonsdale, Owen, 2014, Revision of the Old World Sobarocephala (Diptera: Clusiidae), Zootaxa 3760 (2), pp. 211-240 : 233

Sobarocephala zuluensis Stuckenberg

Figs 3, 66–68

Sobarocephala zuluensis Stuckenberg, 1973: 586 .

Redescription (Fig. 3). Male. Body length 3.5mm. Arista densely plumose basally. Setae brown. Presutural intraalar seta absent. Two dorsocentral setae with additional enlarged setula nearly half length of anterior dorsocentral. Acrostichal seta absent. One lateral scutellar seta. Head yellow with thin brown stripe dorsally on first flagellomere, ocellar tubercle brown, and face, parafacial and gena white. Scutum yellow with central brown stripe (edges faded) nearly attaining anterior margin, and notopleuron light brown. Scutellum brown with small lateral yellow spot in corner. Metanotum light brown with one pair of thin yellow stripes lateral to scutellum. Pleuron and legs yellow with coxae white, fore tibia and tarsi brown and dorsal margin of anepisternum light brown. Halter entirely white. Wing lightly clouded (darker apically and in first radial cell). M1+2 ratio 3.7. Abdomen brown.

Female. Unknown.

Male terminalia. (Figs 66–68) Annulus well-developed with spiracle enclosed marginally. Cerci rounded and projecting with setae short. Surstylus 4/5 height of epandrium, subtriangular and with posterobasal margin produced into pointed, medially directed lobe; numerous tubercle-like setae on distal 1/3 of inner face. Hypandrial complex illustrated from Stuckenberg’s (1973) original figure (most of hypandrial complex missing from original dissection). Hypandrial arm long, bulbous apically; ventral lobe with one minute distal and two long medial setae. Pregonite clavate with several medial and apical setae. Phallapodeme and postgonite well-developed. Basiphallus and epiphallus slightly elongate. Distiphallus approximately 3/5 length of phallapodeme; paraphallus long, thin and spinulose apically with thumb short and rectangular.

Holotype: SOUTH AFRICA. Ngoge Forest between Eshowe & Empangeni Zululand, Stuckenberg, ii.1957 (1♂, NMSA).

Comments. Sobarocephala zuluensis differs most obviously from other Afrotropical Sobarocephala in having a brown central stripe that nearly attains the anterior margin of the scutum and a pointed posterobasal lobe on the surstylus. Sobarocephala recava also has a central stripe, but it is short and quadrate and accompanied by one pair of faint medial spots behind the transverse suture.