Sapadrama nigra Chen & Wang, 2023

Chen, Xiaolin & Wang, Yong, 2023, A new species of Sapadrama Hancock & Marshall (Diptera: Tephritidae) from China and an updated key to the known species, Zootaxa 5353 (5), pp. 488-494 : 489-491

Sapadrama nigra Chen & Wang sp. nov.

(Figs. 1–13)

Diagnosis. Medium to large sized, predominantly black and brown species, body length 8.0–9.0 mm, wing length 7.0– 8.3 mm. Head usually with one pair each of black orbital and medial and lateral vertical setae. Frons with medial black mark. Scutum with two narrow isolated black vittae posterior to transverse suture (not connected to black area before the transverse suture); scutellum with one pair of apical scutellar setae. Wing elongate, pterostigma small, about 1/5 length of cell c; mostly hyaline, with large dark brown mark from apex of vein R 2+3, extending over apical 2/5 of cell r 2+3, distal 3/5 of cell r 4+5, and anterior of cell m, narrowly connected to small brown mark covering crossvein dm–m; separate from small isolated brown mark covering crossvein r–m. Legs mostly yellow to orange; fore femur with oblong black spot or streak on its anterior surface and with or without smaller oblong spot on posterior surface, mid and hind femora with long dark streak on anterior surface. Abdomen completely black, oviscape about as long as tergites V+VI, and with peculiar dorsoapical opening.

Description (female). A medium to large predominantly black and brown species (Figs. 1–2). Body length 8.0–9.0 mm; wing length 7.0– 8.3 mm.

Head (Figs. 5–6). Largely yellowish except for mark on frons, face and occiput black. Head somewhat gibbose, with swollen face and postgena, slightly higher than long in lateral view (Fig. 5), and slightly wider than thorax in dorsal view. Frons with somewhat arrow-shaped medial black mark between and anterior to orbital setae and extending posteriorly to ocellar tubercle (Fig. 6), about 2.3 times as long as wide, and narrower than eye width in dorsal view. Face almost complete black, depressed on dorsal half and convex on ventral half (Fig. 5). Antenna short, about 1/3 as long as face; 1 st flagellomere yellow, about 1.8–2.0 times as long as pedicel, 2.0–2.1 times as long as wide, apex rounded; pedicel black; arista plumose, longest hairs about two-thirds width of 1 st flagellomere. Occiput black with one slender medial yellow vitta (Fig. 6), swollen ventrally. One pair each of black orbital and medial and lateral vertical setae (length of lateral vertical setae about 1/2 length of medial); frontal, posterior orbital, ocellar, postocellar and paravertical setae absent, genal seta and row of weak postocular setae present and black.

Thorax (Fig. 4). Black anteriorly and largely brown posteriorly. Scutum completely black anterior to transverse suture, and largely yellow to brown posterior to transverse suture with two isolated black sublateral vittae, not connected to black anterior scutal area, scutum about 1.4 times as long as wide, with transverse suture shallow. Postpronotal lobe black. Pleura with proepisternum completely black, anepisternum blackish on anterior 2/3 except for yellow spot at anterior-upper corner and yellow-brown on posterior 1/3, black mark on anepisternum continuing onto dorsal and anterior half of katepisternum, other parts of katepisternum yellowish; anatergite and katatergite brown. Scutellum brown laterally and yellowish centrally. Subscutellum yellow-brown, mediotergite largely black but with central yellowish vitta (Fig. 4). Thoracic chaetotaxy: 1 pair scapular; 1 postpronotal; anterior and posterior notopleural, anterior and posterior supra-alar and intra-alar setae present; one pair of apical scutellar setae; other setae absent. Metathoracic postcoxal bridge broadly sclerotised.

Wing (Fig. 3). Elongate; pterostigma small, yellow-brown, apically acute and about 1/5 length of cell c; apex of vein R 2+3 well before wing apex, beyond line of crossvein dm–m; vein R 4+5 bare; crossvein r–m forming almost right angle with cell dm, placed just before apical third of cell dm and well beyond apex of pterostigma; cell dm broadening evenly from base to apex; cell cua blunt, without acute apical extension. Wing mostly hyaline, with large dark brown mark from apex of vein R 2+3, extending over apical 2/5 of cell r 2+3, distal 3/5 of cell r 4+5, and anterior of cell m, narrowly connected to small brown mark covering crossvein dm–m; separate from small isolated brown mark covering crossvein r–m. Haltere yellow.

Legs (Figs. 1–2). Fore and mid coxae yellow, hind coxa yellow to brown; fore femur with oblong black spot or streak on its anterior surface and with or without smaller oblong spot on posterior surface, mid and hind femora with long dark streak on anterior surface; fore tibia and tarsus black; mid tibia yellow apically and dark basally, mid tarsus yellow; hind tibia black except for apex, hind tarsus yellow. Legs without femoral spines; mid tibia with pair of large apical black spine-like setae in addition to several small apical spine-like setae, including one between two large ones.

Abdomen (Fig. 9). Completely black and elongate; oviscape (Figs. 7–8) about as long as tergites V+VI, and with peculiar dorsoapical opening; aculeus about one-third length of oviscape, slightly expanded subapically, apically acute (Figs. 10–13), and dorsally curved to some extent, the tip nonserrate (Fig. 13); eversible membrane with faintly indicated taeniae and large ventral area of dense dark scales, also with shorter and sparse scales laterally and dorsally (Fig. 12).

Male. Unknown.

Distribution: China (Guizhou, Hubei).

Type data: Holotype ♀ ( IZCAS), China: Guizhou, Tongren, Yinjiang, Ziwei town , 20 September 2021, 1245m, Xiaolin Chen , Yong Wang and Ning Huangfu . Paratypes: 1♀, same data as holotype ; 1♀, China: Hubei, Wufeng, Houhe , 2 October 2002, Guanglin Xie .

Etymology. The species epithet nigra is of Latin derivation and refers to the predominantly black color of its body.

Biology. The flies from Guizhou were collected on the leaf of an undetermined Rubus species (Fig. 1), on which some sweet liquid was sprayed to attract the flies. These flies are agile and ran fast when they were collected.

Remarks. This species is similar to S. citrina Hancock & Marshall in general wing pattern and in having the oviscape with a dorsoapical opening, but it differs from the latter by having the scutum completely black anterior to the transverse suture, and with two distinct black sublateral postsutural vittae (the scutum rufous with four broad yellowish vittae from the base to apex in S. citrina ); wing with the pterostigma small, about 1/5 length of cell c (the stigma longer, about half length of cell c in S.citrina ); body predominantly black and brown (body predominantly yellowish and rufous in S. citrina ).