Phora limpida Schmitz, 1935

Mostovski, Mike B., 2016, A review of scuttle fly genera of Israel (Diptera: Phoridae), with new records and an identification key, Zootaxa 4137 (1), pp. 61-72 : 68

Phora limpida Schmitz, 1935

Material. Israel: 2♂ Hermon Mt [33°25'N 35°51'E], 2000 m, 9.vii.1975, A. Freidberg, M. Kaplan; 1♂ same but 15.viii.1976; 1♂ Meron Mt [33°00'N 35°25'E], 14.v.1974, M. Kaplan; 1♂ ‘Qusbiye’ [= Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve, 32°57'N 35°43'E], 15.iv.1982, F. Kaplan; 2♂ Zikhron Ya'akov [32°35'N 34°57'E], 1.iv.1998, A. Freidberg.

Remarks. This species and Ph. atra are similar to each other and differ from their congeners in possessing a long well-sclerotized thorn-like process on the right side of the hypandrium, as well as in a peculiar shape of the epandrial lobes on the left side ( Disney, 1993). The enigmatic Ph. congolensis Beyer, 1965 may also belong to this small group, judging from the illustration of its genitalia ( Beyer, 1965, fig. 4). Regrettably, the genitalia of the only holotype of this Afrotropical species borrowed from the Royal Museum for Central Africa had been detached from the pinned specimen and could not be located. Judging from Beyer’s sketchy drawing, Ph. congolensis may turn to be a synonym of either Ph. atra or Ph. limpida but proving this is impossible at the moment. Until further material from the Afrotropics is available, the identity of Ph. congolensis remains unclear.