Corresponding author: Olavi Kurina (
Academic editor: Chris Thompson
The females of the four continental
The genus
Species of
While the males of most
Material and collections from a wide range of Palaearctic sources were studied. The collecting methods, if known, are referred to in case by each specimen in the studied material section below. The following codens obtained from
Private collection of Kjell Hedmark, Orsa, Sweden.
Private collection of Allan Selin, Tallinn, Estonia.
Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo, Japan.
Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences (former Institute of Zoology and Botany), Tartu, Estonia.
Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
Museum of Zoology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Museum für Naturkunde Humbolt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
Zoologische Staatssammlung in München, Germany
Three of four species were photographed and figured based on material collected in Vuollerim (Sweden), while illustrations of
Compiled from (
1 | Wing hyaline ( |
|
– | Wing with apical or preapical dark band. Mesonotum dark brown to black. Coxae yellow or blackish. Cercus one- or two-segmented. Sternite VIII with single central incision apically ( |
2 |
2 | Wing tip darkened on about apical third ( |
3 |
– | Wing with preapical dark band leaving tip hyaline ( |
4 |
3 | Mid and hind coxae brown to black ( |
|
– | All coxae yellow or slightly darkened basally | |
4 | Last palpal segment elongated ( |
|
– | Last palpal segment not elongated ( |
Female. Thorax blackish, abdomen brown. Legs yellow, cx3 with small dark markings basally. All trochanters yellow, with small black apicoventral spots. Tibiae with dense brown setae. Scape and pedicel dark yellow, first flagellomere basally yellowish, rest of flagellum brown. Mouthparts pale yellow. Apical palpal segment 1.4–1.6 (n=2) times as long as penultimate segment. Wing with narrow preapical brownish band, gradually tapering towards hind margin. C terminating almost at apex of wing, R5 distinctly arched (
Male. Coloration and other non-terminal characters including palpi similar to female. Apical palpal segment is 1.4 (n=1) times as long as penultimate segment.
Habitus photos of European
Head and palpi of European
Female. Thorax brown to blackish. Abdomen entirely brown or first two segments slightly lighter. Legs pale to yellow, except cx2 and cx3 with dark markings basally and apically, all trochanters brown and f3 brown, with lateral parts lighter to yellow. Tibiae with dense brown setae. Scape and pedicel dark yellow, flagellomeres brown. Mouthparts yellow. Apical palpal segment 5.0–5.4 (n=4) times as long as penultimate segment. Wing with broad preapical brownish band, reaching hind margin but gradually paler. C terminating distinctly before apex of wing, R5 straight to slightly sinuate (
Male. Coloration and other non-terminal characters including palpi similar to female. Apical palpal segment is 4.7–5.7 (n=4) times as long as penultimate segment.
Wings of European
Female terminalia of European
Female terminalia of European
Female terminalia of European
Female terminalia of European
While studying the Swedish specimen from Vuollerim, it ran by the first attempt using the key by
Other material studied:
Female. Thorax dark brown to blackish. Abdomen entirely blackish brown or first three segments slightly paler laterally. cx1 entirely yellow or darkened in basal half, cx2 and cx3 entirely dark brown to black. Fore trochanter yellow basally, brown apically. Mid and hind trochanters brown. f1 and f2 yellow, f3 yellow with brown apical fifth. Tibiae yellow, apically slightly darkened, with dense brown setae. Scape, pedicel and flagellomeres brown. Mouthparts pale yellow. Apical palpal segment 1.8–2.2 (n=5) times as long as penultimate segment. Wing tip shaded on about apical third, with darkened area along fore margin. All veins reach wing margin, M2 sometimes basally obsolete or very weak, A1 ending close to, sometimes fused into base of CuA2. Terminalia brown. Cercus distinctly two-segmented, apical segment small, ovate. Gonapophysis IX membranous, widely protruding apically, not visible in lateral view. Tergite VIII larger than tergite IX. Sternite VIII apically with shallow medial incision, moderately emarginated basally.
Male. Coloration and other non-terminal characters including palpi similar to female. Apical palpal segment is 1.7–2.1 (n=5) times as long as penultimate segment.
This species was originally described by
Other material studied:
Female.Thorax bi-coloured; mesonotum yellow with variably developed black thoracic stripes; pronotum and propleuron yellow, other pleural parts brown to blackish. Abdominal sternites I-IV entirely yellow or slightly brownish; tergites of first four segments bi-coloured: basally yellow, apically brown (in a few occasions first four tergites entirely brown). Legs all yellow except dark brown band on apical fourth of hind femur. Tibiae densely covered with brown setulae. Scape, pedicel, and 3–5 flagellomeres yellow, rest of flagellum light brown. Mouthparts yellow. Apical palpal segment 4.1–4.4 (n=5) times as long as penultimate segment. Wing hyaline with slight yellowish tinge, all veins reach wing margin, M1 and CuA2 basally obsolete or very weak. Terminalia brown, cercus one-segmented, apically yellow. Gonapophysis IX membranous, subsquare with shallow incision apically, not visible in lateral view. Tergite VIII wider than tergite IX. Sternite VIII medially with deep and narrow incision, lateral incisions more shallow.
Male. Coloration and other non-terminal characters similar to female. The apical palpal segment is 4–5 (n=5) times as long as penultimate segment.
Besides its peculiar distribution (see
Known records of European
Species descriptions of fungus gnats are largely based and depending on characters in the male terminalia. Females are often ignored in taxonomic reviews and only a few generic reviews cover all or the majority of associated females (e.g.
Our study of
OK was funded by grant 7558 of the Estonian Science Foundation, JK by the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative. We are grateful to the European Commission’s Research Infrastructure for funding the study visits to MNHN via the SYNTHESYS programme (FR-TAF-956 for JK and FR-TAF-5005 for OK). We are much obliged to the curators M. Baylac (MNHN), C. Daugeron (MNHN), E. Nartshuk (ZIN), W. Schacht (ZSM) and J. Ziegler (ZMHB) for the opportunity to work with the collections and for loans of material. A. Polevoi (Petrozavodsk, Russia), in addition to valuable comments and information, is thanked for assistance in determining the first specimens of