Dicranoptycha diacantha Alexander, 1938

Podenas, Sigitas & Byun, Hye-Woo, 2014, New Limoniinae crane flies (Diptera: Limoniidae) of Korea, Journal of Species Research 3 (2), pp. 167-182 : 171-173

Dicranoptycha diacantha Alexander, 1938

Alexander, 1938: 141; Savchenko, 1983: 93.

General color of thorax brownish gray, that of abdomen brownish yellow. @ody length of male about 9.5 mm, female 9.2-10.9 mm. Wing length of male 11.1 to 11.3 mm, female 10.5-11.4 mm.

Head light gray, densely pruinose, posterior margin turning into brown. Dorsal part of head covered with scarse long erect brown setae. Vertex wide. Length of female antennae 1.75-2.20 mm. Scape cylindrical, brown. Pedicel widening distally, a trifle paler than scape in male, but distinctly lighter, even yellowish in some females. Flagellum 14-segmented, basal flagellomere with lighter base, but the remaining of flagellum uniformly brown. @asal segments short, oval, more distal flagellomeres elongate, spindle-shaped, distal segments nearly cylindrical. Apical flagellomere elongate, slightly exceeding in length penultimate. Verticils long, brown, 1.5-2 times exceeding length of respective segments. Short pubescence, covering segments is dense on ventral side and very scarse on dorsal side of flagellum. Rostrum covered with grayish pruinosity, brown to light brown, darker in male lighter in female. Palpus short, blackish with somewhat paler base, covered with erect brown setae. Mouth parts brown.

Thorax generally dark brown, but covered with dense gray pruinosity. Pronotum brownish gray. Pruinosity denser dorsally, less so laterally. Ground color of mesonotal prescutum brown, but covered with dense light gray pruinosity. Prescutum with three dark brown to blackish longitudinal stripes, that are more or less confluent posteriorly. Scutal lobes dorsally dark brown, laterally turning light brown to reddish brown, covered by dense gray pruinosity. Scutellum dark brown, but covered with light gray pruinosity, which is denser frontally. Mediotergite same color as scutellum. Pleura brown, covered with rather dense gray pruinosity. Wing ( Fig. 2A ) brownish, costal and subcostal cells, together with wing base yellowish. Stigma indistinct, not darker than remaining wing area, any other darkenings missing. Veins brown. Venation: Sc 1 long, reaching beyond branching point of Rs, Sc 2 close to Sc 1 tip. Rs long, slightly arched at base. R 3 and R 4 long and parallel to each other and both distinctly arched before wing margin. Discal cell long and narrow, about 2.5 times as long as wide. @asal deflection of CuA 1 distinctly beyond branching point of M, slightly before middle of discal cell. @oth anal veins long and nearly straight. Anal angle medium-sized, comparatively narrow. Length of male haltere 1.4-1.7 mm, that of female 1.3-1.6 mm. Haltere yellow, just base and knob slightly brownish. Frontal coxa brown basally, yellow distally, base covered with gray pruinosity. Medial and posterior coxae yellow, but base of medial coxae slightly brownish. Trochanters yellow, with dark brown distal rim, which do not extends onto dorsal surface. Leg brown, bases of femorae yellowish, distal end of tibiae blackened, tarsus brown basally, turning blackish distally. Legs covered with short, semi-erect brown setae. Male femur II: about 8.4 mm, III: about 8.4 mm; tibiae II: about 9.3 mm, III: about 9.3 mm; tarsus III: about 7.3 mm long. Female femur I: about 6.5 mm long, III: about 8.5 mm; tibiae I: about 8.4 mm, III: about 8.9 mm; tarsus I: about 7.8 mm, III: about 7.0 mm long. Claw simple, without additional spines.

Male abdomen generally yellow with blackened caudal segments and indistinct brownish lateral lines. @asal sternite gray with brown posterior margin, remaining sternites yellow, just caudal sternites dark brown to blackish. Female abdomen somewhat darker, basal abdominal segment gray, remaining segments yellow, caudal segments brown, but not so distinctcly dark as in male. Ninth tergite of male ( Fig. 2 @) blackish at base, reddish brown posteriorly, posterior margin slightly concave without any lateral arms, which are mentioned in original description ( Alexander, 1938). Gonocoxite simple, elongateoval. Outer gonostylus sickle-shaped, wide at base, point- ed and blackened at apex. Inner gonostylus distinctly longer than outer gonostylus, wide and fleshy, with blunt apex and covered with sparce setae. Interbase straight, comparatively wide and blunt-apexed (most probably, it was missinterpreted as lateral tergal arm by Alexander (1938)). Paramere with two long and distinct lateral spines. Ninth sternite with two long, round-tipped median lobes and deep narrow groove between them ( Fig. 2C ). Aedeagus very long, distinctly arched and well visible even in dry specimens. Ovipositor ( Fig. 2D ) generally yellow with darkened base. Cercus fleshy, setose, with wide-rounded apex. Hypovalvae wide, setose, reaching to about four fifths of cercus.

Elevation range in Korea. Species is known to occur at altitudes from about 1500 m to nearly 2000 m.

Period of activity. Adults are flying from middle of June to the beginning of October in Korea.

Habitat. According to Savchenko (1983), adults are found in broad leaved and mixed forests on dryer southern slopes.

General distribution. Species is known from Far East of Russia (Primorye) ( Savchenko, 1983) and North Korea ( Alexander, 1938).

Examined materials ( Fig. 7 @): Holotype: 1@, Seren Mts., Corea, 5-6000’, X-3.1937, Yankovsky; Non-type material identified by S. Podenas: 1, Seren Mts. , [ Corea], 5000 ft., VIII-2.1938, Yankovsky; 1 North Korea, Kankyo Nando , alt. 6000 ft., VII-31.1939, A. Yankovsky; 3 North Korea, Chonsani , alt. 4000 ft., VI-17.1940, A. Yankovsky; 1@, 1 , North Korea, Pontani Paiktusan , alt. 3800 ft., VII-21.1940, A. Yankovsky; also compared with 1@, 2 and 1 specimen with unclear sex from Far East of Russia, Primorskiy kray, Nature reserve Kedrovaya Padj , 22.VII.1988 (VU) .

Figures

Fig. 2. Dicranoptycha diacantha. A. wing. @. male genitalia, dorso-lateral view. C. ninth sternite of male genitalia. D. ovipositor, lateral view.

Fig. 7. Distribution maps of Korean Limoniinae crane flies. A. Achyrolimonia neonebulosa. @. Dicranoptycha diacantha. C. Dicranoptycha prolongata. D. Helius (Helius) gracillimus. E. Helius (H.) obliteratus. F. Helius (H.) polionotus.