Physocephala pusilla, (Meigen, 1804)

Stuke, Jens-Hermann & Clements, David K., 2019, New conopid records from the Afrotropical Region (Diptera) - Part 3: Physocephalini, Bonn zoological Bulletin 68 (2), pp. 209-273 : 232

P. pusilla (Meigen, 1804)

( Fig. 36 )

Conops pusilla Meigen 1804

Material. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: 1♂ 2♀♀, 4.xii.2010, 60 km w Banibo [3°50′N 16°44′E], 630 m, leg. J. Halada, coll. CULSP .

Afrotropical specimens of this otherwise Palaearctic spe- cies have previously caused confusion, and for a long time were suspected of belonging to a different species. Somewhat surprisingly, however, their morphological characters fall within the variability of P. pusilla as recently defined by Stuke (2016). Physocephala pusilla had not previously been recorded from the Afrotropi- cal Region and was assumed to be a Palaearctic species ( Stuke 2017a). Together with P. antiqua , P. vittata and Conops elegans Meigen, 1804 , this is the fourth example of a very variable and mainly Palaearctic species with a distribution which extends into the Afrotropical Region.

Figures

Fig. 36. Habitus of Physocephala pusilla (Meigen, 1804) (♂, w Banibo).