Pelloloma was described by Vockeroth (1973) as a new genus from South Africa, based on P. nigrifacies. Kassebeer (2000) described two new Pelloloma species from Kenya (Pelloloma freidbergi) and Uganda (Pelloloma winkleri).
Adapted from original description (Vockeroth 1973).
MALE.
Head: black with only narrow anterior margin of front dark orange; silvery-grey pollinose with vertical triangle, small semicircular area above antennae, facial tubercle and a medial vitta below it, and anteroventral angles of gena shining. Face black, entirely black. Eye bare. Eyes of male touching for a distance about 2/5 as long as frontal triangle. Occiput moderately swollen; Vertical triangle large; area immediately surrounding ocellar triangle slightly swollen. Pile of vertical triangle brown, that of front and dorsal part of postcranium (=occiput) golden, rest of head pile nearly white. Antenna with scape and pedicel orange-brown, basoflagellomere and arista black.
Thorax: Scutum and scutellum shining black with short dense erect golden pile, the former with narrow anterior margin lightly grey pollinose, the latter with anterior declivity densely grey pollinose. Subscutellar fringe entire, short, dense, in several rows. Pleural pile golden above, pale yellow below. Dorsal and ventral Katepisternal pile patches broadly separated, the latter of only a few pile. Metasternum bare. Wing clear; stigma pale brown. Wing membrane with bare areas as follows: first costal cell; base of second costal cell to middle of cell anteriorly and to end of basal 1/4 posteriorly; most of cell R1; cell R1 to level of fork of Rs; cell R except most of apical 2/3 behind spurious vein; narrow posterior strip on basal 1/3 of cell R2+3; small area at base of cell R4+5; cell BM except apex and median strip before apex; broad anterior margin of cell CuP; very narrow strip in front of vein A2 extending almost to its apex, and a slightly shorter strip behind vein A2. Calypter white with yellow margin and white fringe. Haltere yellow-orange. Legs almost entirely shining to sub-shining black and bright orange as follows: coxae and trochanters black; proleg with basal 1/4 of femur and apical four tarsal segments black, second tarsal segment brownish; otherwise orange; metaleg mostly black, extreme apex of femur and basal 1/4 of tibia orange, ventral surface of tarsus orange-brown. Pile of legs yellow. Metacoca with posteromedial apical tuft of pile.
Abdomen broadly oval, nearly flat, with moderately broad distinct margin from near apex of tergum 2 to apex of tergum 5; black and bright yellow-orange, shining. Tergum 1 black; tergum 2 with lateral margin, anterior margin and tapering truncate incomplete medial black vitta; tergum 3 with lateral margin black, tergum 4 with lateral margin and very narrow posterior margin black; tergum 5 black except for minute anterior yellow-orange area on left side. Sternum 1 blackish, pollinose; sterna 2 to 4 yellow-orange, subshining; sterna 5 to 8 densely pollinose, black except for an obscure anterior yellow-orange area on sternum 8. pile of abdomen short, rather dense, mostly erect, entirely pale yellow to white. Genitalia: Tergum 9 reduced, short; cercal notch very broad and shallow. Surstylus attached along most of posteroventral margin of tergum 9, broad basally, then strongly narrowed and continued posteroventrad as a long slender process which tapers to a slightly curved apex, with a few short hairs near base. Sternum 9 very long, posterior end deep, posterior margin nearly straight, posteroventral emargination very shallow and with a short deeply-divided lingula. Superior lobe articulated just below posterodorsal angle of sternum 9, short but extending ventrad to lower margin of sternite, the dorsal portion compressed, the ventral portion broadened and rather strongly depressed, the lateral margin extended into a triangular and narrower bluntly-rounded process, the median margin broadly rounded and with a single marginal hair, the apex curved slightly caudad. Aedeagus one-segmented, rather strongly sclerotized throughout, in lateral view subtriangular with apex subtruncate, broad anterodorsally, mostly moderately compressed and with extreme apex strongly compressed, with a strong emargination in anterior margin, and with a pair of thin diagonal lateral flanges beginning on median third of dorsal surface and extending anteroventrad. Aedeagal apodome very large, occupying most of cavity of sternum 9, the anterior half a single strongly compressed plate, the posterior half hollow, of two divergent plates joined anteriorly and dorsally but broadly separated posteriorly and ventrally, Ejaculatory apodeme large, elongate-triangular, strongly compressed except at narrow posterior end where it is abruptly broadened and transverse, the transverse portion ending on each side in a heavily sclerotized knob.
FEMALE.
Similar to male, differing as follows: Front black, shining except for a narrow lateral silvery-pollinose area on lower half which is abruptly broadened just above level of antennal base and confluent below with pollen of face. Front with fascia of black hairs across ocellar triangle. Bare areas of wing more extensive, extending farther distad in all cells. Pro- and mesotrochanters orange-brown; protarsus with second segment orange-brown; mesotarsus with second segment orange. Abdomen more extensively black; terga 2 to 4 with continuous black medial vitta which is broadened at posterior margin of each tergum to form a very narrow transverse black fascia; tergum 5 with a pair of short obscure basal yellow-orange maculae.
Pelloloma nigrifacies Vockeroth, 1973.
Vockeroth, J.R. (1973) Some new or uncommon Syrphini (Diptera: Syrphinidae) from southern Africa. The Annals of the Natal Museum 21, 595-607.
unless otherwise stated