Two new Neuratelia Rondani (Diptera, Mycetophilidae) species from Western Palaearctic: a case of limited congruence between morphology and DNA sequence data

Taxonomic status of two European sibling and barcode-sharing species of Brachypogon Kieffer, 1899 (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

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Current State of DNA Barcoding of Sciaroidea (Diptera)-Highlighting the Need to Build the Reference Library

DNA barcoding has tremendous potential for advancing species knowledge for many diverse groups of insects, potentially paving way for machine identification and semi-automated monitoring of whole insect faunas. Here, I review the current state of DNA barcoding of the superfamily Sciaroidea (Diptera), a diverse group consisting of eight understudied fly families where the described species in the world makes up some 10% (≈16,000 species) of all Diptera. World data of Sciaroidea were extracted from the Barcode of Life online database BoldSystems (BOLD) and contrasted with results and experiences from a Nordic project to build the reference library. Well over 1.2 million (1,224,877) Sciaroidea specimens have been submitted for barcoding, giving barcode-compliant sequences resulting in 56,648 so-called barcode index numbers (BINs, machine-generated proxies for species). Although the BINs on BOLD already represent 3.5 times the number of described species, merely some 2850 named species (described or interim names, 5% of the BINs) currently have been assigned a BIN. The other 95% remain as dark taxa figuring in many frontier publications as statistics representing proxies for species diversity within a family. In the Nordic region, however, substantial progress has been made towards building a complete reference library, currently making up 55% of all named Sciaroidea BINs on BOLD. Another major source (31%) of named Sciaroidea BINs on BOLD comes from COI sequences mined from GenBank, generated through phylogenetic and integrative studies outside of BOLD. Building a quality reference library for understudied insects such as Sciaroidea requires heavy investment, both pre sequence and post sequence, by trained taxonomists to build and curate voucher collections, to continually improve the quality of the data and describe new species. Only when the BINs are properly calibrated by a rigorously quality-checked reference library can the great potential of both classical taxonomic barcoding, metabarcoding, and eDNA ecology be realized.

A contribution towards checklist of fungus gnats (Diptera, Diadocidiidae, Ditomyiidae, Bolitophilidae, Keroplatidae, Mycetophilidae) in Georgia, Transcaucasia

The fungus gnats of Georgia are studied based on 2682 specimens collected from 57 localities during 2011–2019. Altogether, 245 species are recorded including four species of Bolitophilidae, three species of Diadocidiidae, two species of Ditomyiidae, 34 species of Keroplatidae and 202 species of Mycetophilidae. 230 and 188 species are recorded from Georgia and the whole of Transcaucasia for the first time, respectively. Three new species – Sciophilageorgei sp. nov., Leiakatae sp. nov. and Anatellametae sp. nov. – are described including detailed illustrations of the male terminalia. Photographs are provided for an additional 38 species to highlight a variability of their general facies. Combined with earlier published data, the number of fungus gnat species in Georgia is set at 246. The estimated diversity of fungus gnats in Georgia is calculated using non-parametric methods and discussed with respect to other Western Palaearctic regions.

The northernmost record of a blood-sucking ectoparasite, Lipoptena fortisetosa Maa (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), in Estonia

Background

Deer keds are obligatory haematophagous parasites of large homeothermic animals, particularly cervids. Two of the five known species occurring in Europe—Lipoptenacervi (Linnaeus) and L.fortisetosa Maa—are known to have a relatively wide distribution. Lipoptenafortisetosa is considered to have been introduced into Europe with sika deer from the Eastern Palaearctic and is continuously expanding its range. Little is known about the medical importance of deer keds, but they can cause hair loss in cervids and are suspected to be vectors of several diseases.

New information

Details of the distribution of Lipoptenafortisetosa in Europe, including its northernmost record, are provided. This species has been shown to have a viable population in Southern Estonia. Furthermore, the differences from allied L.cervi are discussed, based on morphological and molecular characters.

Revision of the Neotropical Neuratelia Rondani (Diptera, Mycetophilidae, Sciophilinae): two new species, a new combination, and a new synonym

We describe two new Neotropical species of Neuratelia Rondani from the high Central Andes of Colombia, N.altoandinasp. nov. and N.colombianasp. nov. The holotype of Eudicranaelegans Lane actually is a species of Neuratelia and a new combination is proposed. Our examination of the holotype of Neurateliasapaici Lane from southeastern Brazil shows this species to be a synonym of N.elegans (Lane), which is formally proposed here. Neurateliasapaici is redescribed. The position of these three species within the genus is discussed. A key for the Neotropical species of Neuratelia is provided.

New and poorly known Palaearctic fungus gnats (Diptera, Sciaroidea)

Background

Fungus gnats (Sciaroidea) are a globally species rich group of lower Diptera. In Europe, Fennoscandian peninsula in particular holds a notable diversity, ca. 1000 species, of which 10 % are still unnamed. Fungus gnats are predominantly terrestrial insects, but some species dwell in wetland habitats.

New information

Eight new fungus gnat species, belonging to the families Keroplatidae (Orfeliaboreoalpina Salmela sp.n.) and Mycetophilidae (Sciophilaholopaineni Salmela sp.n., S.curvata Salmela sp.n., Boletinasasakawai Salmela & Kolcsár sp.n., B.norokorpii Salmela & Kolcsár sp.n., Phroniasompio Salmela sp.n., P.reducta Salmela sp.n., P.prolongata Salmela sp.n.), are described. Four of the species are known from Fennoscandia only whilst two are supposed to have boreo-alpine disjunct ranges, i.e. having populations in Fennoscandia and the Central European Alps. One of the species probably has a boreal range (Finnish Lapland and Central Siberia). Type material of Boletinacurta Sasakawa & Kimura from Japan was found to consist of two species, and a further species close to these taxa is described from Finland. Phroniaelegantula Hackman is redescribed and reported for the first time from Norway. DNA barcodes are provided for the first time for five species.

Ctenosciara alexanderkoenigi sp. n. (Diptera: Sciaridae), an exotic invader in Germany?

A new species of the genus Ctenosciara Tuomikoski, 1960 is here described based upon a single specimen, obtained from collectings in the garden at Museum Alexander Koenig in Bonn. Ctenosciaraalexanderkoenigisp. n. differs from all other congeneric European species by its striking coloration and distinct male genitalia. However, DNA barcoding reveals associations with two specimens from New Zealand. Therefore a recent migration of Ctenosciara species from the Australasian Region, the likely center of origin of the genus, is discussed. A key to the European species of Ctenosciara is provided. Barcoding results reveale that Ctenosciaraexigua is not clearly distinguished from Ctenosciarahyalipennis by its COI sequence (both share the same BIN BOLD:AAH3983) and that its species status may be questionable.

A new species of Docosia Winnertz from Central Europe, with DNA barcoding based on four gene markers (Diptera, Mycetophilidae)

A new species of Docosia Winnertz, Docosia dentata sp. n., is described and illustrated, based on a single male specimen collected in Muránska planina National Park in Central Slovakia. DNA sequences (COI, COII, CytB, and ITS2) are included and compared for 13 species of Docosia. There was found only little congruence between the molecular results and previous scarce data about interspecific relationships based on morphology. The COI and CytB gene markers showed the highest interspecific gene distances while ITS2 showed the lowest ones. An updated key to the 23 Central European species of Docosia is also presented.

A new case of an Holarctic element in the Colombian Andes: first record of Cordyla Meigen (Diptera, Mycetophilidae) from the Neotropical region

Three new species of Mycetophilidae – Cordylamonticolasp. n., Cordylapseudopusillasp. n. and Cordylareductasp. n. – are described from the Colombian Andes, representing the first described species of Cordyla Meigen from the Neotropical region. Colour photos of their habitus, wing and terminalia are provided. The morphological affinities of male terminalia are discussed in a worldwide context. The distributional pattern of the genus clearly indicates a case of northern elements reaching the north-western region of the Neotropics that corresponds to a secondary extension of a Holarctic clade to the south.

Additions to the list of Finnish Bibionomorpha (Diptera, Nematocera)

A total of 12 gnat species are reported for the first time from Finland (3 Cecidomyiidae, 1 Keroplatidae, 8 Mycetophilidae), and the occurrence of Macroceranigropicea Lundström in Finland is verified. All material was collected from the Finnish Lapland, mainly from the north boreal ecoregion. Two of the recorded species are likely to be pyrophilous, associated with forest fire sites. A photo of the ventral appendage of the gonocoxite of Brevicornusetigerum Zaitzev is provided for the first time. The male hypopygium of Mycetophilaharuspica Plassmann is redescribed.

The Mycetophilaruficollis Meigen (Diptera, Mycetophilidae) group in Europe: elucidating species delimitation with COI and ITS2 sequence data

European species of the Mycetophilaruficollis group are compared on the basis of morphology and sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit one (COI) and the ITS2 region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. The study represents the first evaluation of morphology-based species delimitation of closely related fungus gnat species by applying molecular information. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the male terminalia are presented along with a key for the identification of all nine European species of the group. Phylogenetic analyses of molecular data generally supported the morphological species discrimination. The barcoding region of COI superseded ITS2 rDNA in resolving species. In the COI barcoding region interspecific differences ranged from 2.9 to 10.6% and the intraspecific distance from 0.08 to 0.8%. Only COI data distinguished between the similar and closely related Mycetophilaichneumonea and Mycetophilauninotata of which the latter was observed to include cryptic species. The host range of some species is suggested to be narrower than previously considered and to depend on the forest type. Presented evidence indicates the importance of analysing sequence data of morphologically very similar mycetophages reared from identified host fungi for elucidating species delimitation as well as their geographic and host ranges. New country records, viz. Estonia for Mycetophilaevanida, Georgia for Mycetophilaichneumonea, Mycetophilaidonea and Mycetophilaruficollis, and Norway for Mycetophilastrobli, widen the known distribution ranges of these species.