Sapadrama Hancock & Marshall 2012

Genus Sapadrama Hancock & Marshall, 2012

Sapadrama Hancock and Marshall, 2012: 55.

Type species: Sapadrama citrina Hancock and Marshall, by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Medium to large flies, body length 8–15 mm, wing length 7–12 mm. Head somewhat gibbose; one pair each of black orbital plus medial and lateral vertical setae; frontal, posterior orbital, ocellar, postocellar and paravertical setae absent, genal seta and row of weak postocular setae present and black; face depressed and flat on dorsal half, convex on ventral half; antenna with third segment short and apically rounded, less than half height of face; arista plumose. Thorax without yellow medial vitta and with the following setae: lateral scapular, anterior and posterior notopleural, anterior and posterior supra-alar and intra-alar setae present; one pair of apical scutellar setae; other setae absent; greater ampulla absent; posteroventral corner of anatergite and posterodorsal corner of katatergite sometimes with inconspicuous, fine pale hairs; metathoracic postcoxal bridge broadly sclerotised. Legs without femoral spines; mid tibia with a pair of large ventroapical black spine-like setae in addition to several small apical ones, including one between the two large ones. Wing elongate; vein R 1 setose dorsally; apex of vein R 2 +3 well before wing apex, just beyond line of dm–m crossvein; r–m crossvein just before apical third or quarter of cell dm and well beyond apex of pterostigma; vein M 1 bare; cell cua blunt, without acute apical extension; vein CuA+CuP as long as cell cua. Abdomen elongate; female with oviscape about as long as tergites V+VI, with peculiar dorsoapical opening; eversible membrane with large ventral area of dense dark scales; aculeus about one-third length of oviscape, apically acute and dorsally curved to some extent. Male with lateral surstylus short, broad and distally blunt; forked vanes of phallopodeme not fused.

Biological information for Sapadrama is almost unknown except that the collecting environment for some specimens was on a broad-leafed understory plant (Hancock & Marshall, 2012), on the leaf of a Rubus sp. on which a sweet liquid was sprayed to attract flies, or on the surface of an understory humus layer close to a river (this study). Moreover, a female of S. citrina was observed to prick body of moth larvae using its abdomen (this study), which is suspected relating to the possible parasitic behavior of this genus.

With the addition of the new species described below, two species of Sapadrama are now recognized. So far as known the genus is restricted to the Oriental Region, but all of two species occur in China.

Key to known species of Sapadrama Hancock & Marshall

1. Predominantly yellowish to rufous species (Figs. 14–20); thorax mostly rufous; scutum rufous with four broad yellowish vittae: two medial vittae which from anterior margin and end at 1/3 apically before posterior margin, two lateral vittae which from 1/5 basally at anterior margin and end at posterior margin; wing with pterostigma half length of cell c................................................................................................ S. citrina Hancock & Marshall

- Predominantly black to brown species (Figs. 1–11); thorax black anteriorly and largely brown posteriorly; scutum completely black anterior to transverse suture, largely yellow to pale brown with two distinct black sublateral vittae posterior to transverse suture; wing with pterostigma small, about 1/5 length of cell c...................................... S. nigra sp.nov.