Mesoclanis bruneata Munro 1950
Mesoclanis bruneata (Diptera: Tephritidae)
A Bitou fly with infuscated wing pattern: wing with almost complete, blackish-brown infuscation, the hind margin broadly hyaline and few costal hyaline spots, but the disc with subhyaline spots.
The dorsal thoracic stripes are wide, well-marked and contrasted. 4 scutellar bristles.
Length male 3.5 mm., female 4.0 mm.
Head (fig. 15) appears flattened in profile, the mean height is less than the length, the eye obliquely elongate, the facialia wide and the epistome strongly projecting; yellowish-brown, blackish behind, usually a strong (sometimes weaker) spot between antennre and eye and a more or less pronounced spot on sides of epistome.
Thorax black, on dorsum with 5 longitudinal dust stripes: median and lateral very dark brown, the median with a more or less extended, narrow, double, middle streak of grey, broad stripes between the brown, grey, pubescence on grey coarse, white, none on the brown; 4 bristles
wing (fig. 7) blackish brown (browner in older, pinned specimens), a few variable hyaline spots around costa and near apex, posterior margin more or less hyaline with some broken reticulation, on the disc are numerous, small, more or less yellowish spots (argents), variable in number and extent and more or less arranged in rows in each side of the veins and they have a tendency to become hyaline; in a few specimens the increase in the hyaline spots is in such a way and position as to indicate a transition to the typical pattern of the dubia group; the third vein is setuJose to beyond the upper cross vein, variably above, strongly below.
Abdomen black, dust moderate, grey, with the dark brown, submedian spots on terga well developed.
Description with illustrations and key in:
Munro, H.K. 1950. Trypetid flies (Diptera) associated with the Calendulae, plants of the family Compositae in South Africa. I. A bio-taxonomic study of the genus Mesoclanis. Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 13
Distribution: Cape Town to Knysna along the south-west Cape coast, and in the Natal Drakensberg (KZN & Lesotho)
Biology: Associated with Osteospermum incanum and O. moniliferum. Larvae develop in stems and twigs of the bushes, but galls may not be apparent. Munro explains: “The flies were once rather numerous on Chrysanthemoides incana bushes as Camps Bay (Cape Town), and when every effort failed to find larvae or puparia in flowers of achenes, nor were galls apparent, the author set to. work to cut ope.n the. stems of the plant. Puparia were then discovered in the rather thin twigs, there being no external indication of their presence as has been noted. In the Drakensberg, Mr. Marriott found galls (fig. 32) on young growth at soil level, as well as in the stems and tips of twigs.“
iNat observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/248728931
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