Lissocephala metallescens (Diptera: Drosophilidae)—high resolution diagnostic images

Lissocephala metallescens (de Meijere, 1914) was described from Java and later found to be widespread from India throughout southeast Asia to New Guinea, Australia, and islands of the SW Pacific (New Hebrides, Santa Cruz Is, Solomon Is, and Tonga). Malloch (1928, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 53: 343–366) described Liodrosophila australis based on Mossman (northern Queensland) specimens, a species later synonymized with Lissocephala metallescens by Bock (1982:108). In Australia specimens have been collected from Torres Strait islands (Moa, Mt Adolphus), various rainforests of Cape York Peninsula (Heathlands area, Iron and McIlwraith Ranges) and from Cooktown, and Cape Tribulation to as far south as Townsville. The species is commonly found on fungi and occasionally occurs in the hundreds. The 1914 and 1928 descriptions together with Bock’s (1982) redescription and Okada’s (1985, Kontyû, Tokyo, 53: 335–345) analysis of the relationship between Lissocephala Malloch, 1929 and Mulgravea Bock, 1982 (as Thyreocephala Okada, 1985, a synonym) in SE Asia and New Guinea, provide taxonomic context. Three other Australian Region Lissocephala species (L. fijiensis, L. powelli, and L. versicolor) and the Mulgravea type species—M. minima Bock, 1982—are imaged by McEvey (2025, 2026a,b,c,d).