Rhynchopsilopa Hendel, 1913

Zhang, Junhua, Yang, Ding & Mathis, Wayne N., 2012, A review of the species of Rhynchopsilopa Hendel from China (Diptera, Ephydridae), ZooKeys 216, pp. 23-42 : 25-26

Rhynchopsilopa Hendel, 1913

Rhynchopsilopa Hendel 1913: 96. Type species: Rhynchopsilopa magnicornis Hendel 1913, original designation. - Wirth 1968: 37-46 [review]. - Cogan and Wirth 1977: 330 [Oriental catalog]. - Freidberg and Mathis 1985: 13-20 [feeding habits].

Lissodrosophila Okada 1966: 45. Type species: Lissodrosophila longicornis Okada 1966, original designation. - Cogan and Wirth 1977: 330 [synonymy].

Diagnosis.

Small to moderately small shore flies, body length 1.7-2.8 mm; microtomentum generally sparse or lacking, cuticle appearing subshiny to shiny; mostly dark blue to black species.

Head in lateral view with antenna inserted at anterodorsal corner of head; frons conspicuously wider than long, often lenticular; a single, well-developed, proclinate fronto-orbital seta (sometimes an additional, distinctly shorter proclinate setula is present posteriad); reclinate seta and pseudopostocellar setae lacking or, in the latter case, very weakly developed; both medial and lateral vertical setae well developed; ocellar seta well developed, subequal in length to lateral vertical seta, proclinate, almost parallel; vertex convex; posterior ocelli situated immediately before convex vertex, ocelli forming an isosceles triangle. Antenna very elongate, pendant; scape exerted, oriented dorsally to anterodorsally; pedicel oriented anteroventrally, moderately elongate, lacking a prominent, well-developed dorsoapical seta; basal flagellomere pendant, very elongate, sometimes longer than face height; arista with 7-10 dorsal rays. Face depressed, mostly plain, lacking pits, transverse microrugosity or striae, bearing a sharp epistoma; a well-developed facial seta lacking; palpus whitish yellow to brown; proboscis elongate, longer than eye height, forming a well-sclerotized tube.

Thorax generally convex, dark blue to black, with microtomentum sparse to lacking; supra-alar seta absent; prescutellar acrostichal seta well developed; only posteriormost dorsocentral seta well developed; scutellum conspicuously wider than long, posterior margin broadly rounded, disc sparsely setulose; basal scutellar seta at most about 1/2 length or less than apical seta; anepisternum with 2 large setae. Wing mostly hyaline; crossveins not darkened; vein R2+3 usually extended to costal margin, lacking stump vein; R stem vein bare of setulae dorsally. Knob of haltere yellow to tan. Legs yellow to dark brown; forebasitarsus yellow to tan, only apical 1-2 tarsomeres dark brown.

Abdomen generally convex, bare of microtomentum, shiny, blackish; tergites 3-4 long, 5th tergite very short and lacking prominent, dorsally erect setae along posterior margin. Male terminalia: epandrium in posterior view as an inverted, rounded U (open ventrally), in lateral view generally elongate, usually thin to very thin, often slightly wider subventrally; cercus in posterior view thinly lunate to hemispherical; presurstylus, if present, short, no more than ½ length of postsurstylus, tapered to point ventroapically, apex bearing setulae, often greatly reduced or lacking; postsurstylus longer than wide, tapered to a ventral point, often with sinuous or curved margins; subepandrial plate usually bar-like, attenuate medially; pregonite bearing short setulae; aedeagus longer than wide, with sclerotized portion deeply bifurcate, appearing as 2 ventral extensions; phallapodeme long and narrow, in lateral view with a rod-like keel; hypandrium in lateral view moderately deep, pocket-like, or very shallow, nearly flat.

Key to species of Rhynchopsilopa from China