Sciophila immodesta, Chandler, 2009

Chandler, Peter J., 2009, The fungus gnats (Diptera: Bolitophilidae, Keroplatidae, Mycetophilidae) of Sardinia, with description of six new species *, Zootaxa 2318 : -

119. Sciophila immodesta sp. nov.

( Figs 27–29)

Type material. Holotype ♂: Sardinia (Cagliari), Plot Conecofor SAR1, Iglesias Marganai , 700 m, UTM 32S 0462853 4355582, 16.XI-2.XII.2005, leg. G. Chessa, deposited at CNBFVR.

Diagnosis. A medium-sized (for the genus) dark species with yellow legs, a uniform covering of both macrotrichia and microtrichia on the wing membrane, aedeagal apodeme with two divergent teeth, gonocoxites with a single broad tooth on dorsal lobe, gonostylus with ventral lobe bearing two apical megasetae and tergite 9 broad and blunt apically, bearing two long setae.

Description. Male. Head dark brown with brown bristling. Antenna probably about twice as long as thorax, but tips missing, with only 11 and 8 flagellomeres respectively; scape and pedicel yellowish brown, flagellomeres light brown, 2.5–3 times as long as broad. Palpus yellowish, slender.

Thorax dark brown with light brown bristling on mesonotum, scutellum and laterotergite. Mediotergite with a few setae. Wing clear with a uniform covering of both macrotrichia and microtrichia on membrane. Vein Sc ending in costa beyond level of base of Rs. Sc 2 at apical quarter of Sc, just before base of Rs. Vein R 4 close to and parallel with Rs, forming a small narrow radial cell. Costa extending 0.3 distance from R 5 to M 1. Crossvein r-m and stem of median fork short and subequal. Posterior fork beginning level with basal quarter of median fork. Vein A 1 reaching level of base of posterior fork. Veins setose except for Rs, R 4 and most of rm (except portion closest to radial cell, which is setose). Haltere yellow. Wing length 3.8 mm. Legs yellow, with irregular short dark setulae and setae a little longer than tibial width: mid tibia with 5 anterior, 3 dorsal and 3–4 short posteroventral setae; hind tibia with 5 anterior, 4 anterodorsal, 5 dorsal and 5–6 short posterodorsal setae. Fore metatarsus 0.9 length of its tibia. Tibial spurs long, yellow, 1:2:2, the anterior 0.8 times as long as posterior on mid and hind legs.

Abdomen including genitalia light brown with short brown bristling. Genitalia ( Figs 27–29) with gonocoxites only narrowly articulating basally, distally linked to aedeagal apodemes; outer tooth of aedeagal apodeme laterally directed and widely divergent from inner; dorsal gonocoxal lobe with a single broad apically pointed tooth; gonostylus with ventral lobe bearing two blunt tipped apical megasetae and internal lobes bearing apically enlarged megasetae. Tergite 9 ( Fig. 29) broad and blunt edged apically, bearing two long setae and enclosing cerci.

Female. Unknown, but see comments under Sciophila spp. females of the S. lutea Macquart, 1826 group.

Etymology. By analogy to S. modesta Zaitzev, 1982 which is a member of the S. lutea Macquart, 1826 group without teeth developed on the apodeme and gonocoxites, while here they are weakly developed.

Chorotype. Type 6 [3.02 of Vigna Taglianti et al. (1999)]. Mediterranean.

Italian distribution. Sardinia only.

Notes. This species belongs to the Sciophila lutea group, of which there are several species in the Mediterranean region ( Caspers 1991; Chandler 1994; Chandler & Gatt 2000; Chandler & Blasco-Zumeta 2001; Chandler et al. 2006; Bechev & Koç 2006). No species of this group had yet been confirmed from Italy but unidentified yellow females were reported from Bosco della Fontana ( Chandler 2004a) and S. corlutea Chandler, 2001 occurs in Corsica and other parts of western Europe. Bechev and Koç (2006), who described two new species from Turkey, provided a key to the species of this group. In their key S. immodesta runs to couplet 3 but differs from both alternatives in that there is a single small tooth on the dorsal gonocoxal lobe. Among known species it resembles S. corlutea in the form of the aedeagal apodeme except that the outer tooth is more divergent and laterally directed and the tooth on the gonocoxal lobe is absent in S. corlutea . It also differs in darker body coloration, but this may be infraspecific variation as found in some other species of the group.

Sciophila spp. ♀ ( lutea Macquart, 1826 group)

Material examined. S2 4–18.IV.06 ♀. S3 18.IV–2.V.06 ♀, 2–16.V.06 ♀. SAR1 30.VI–16.VII.04 ♀, 16.VII–1.VIII.04 ♀, 29.IV–20.V.05 ♀, 20.V–16.VI.05 2 ♀.

Notes. These are entirely yellowish specimens considered to belong to the Sciophila lutea group. Males are necessary for determination and it is possible that they belong to S. immodesta described above.