Macrocera phalerata Meigen, 1818

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

15. Macrocera phalerata Meigen, 1818

? Macrocera penicillata Costa, 1857

Literature records. Sardinia ( Chandler 2004a).

Material examined. S1 18.IV–2.V.06 2 ♀, 2–16.V.06 3 ♀, 3–17.X.06 1 ♀, 17–31.X.06 2 ♂♂ 4 ♀. S2 4 –18.IV.06 2 ♂♂ 5 ♀, 18.IV–2.V.06 5 ♀, 16–30.V.06 2 ♀, 13–27.VI.06 1 ♀, 3–17.X.06 4 ♀. SAR1 16.II–15.VI.04 1 ♀, 5–22.XI.04 1 ♀, 29.IV–20.V.05 2 ♀, 20.V–16.VI.05 1 ♀, 13–30.IX.05 7 ♂♂ 3 ♀, 30.IX–17.X.05 2 ♂♂ 4 ♀, 6.X–5.XI.06 1 ♂. T1 6–7.VI.1981 1 ♂ 1 ♀, 21.X.1981 1 ♂ . T2 31.V.1981 2 ♀.

Chorotype. Type 3 [1.03 of Vigna Taglianti et al. (1999)]. Western Palaearctic , including North Africa, Israel and Iran .

Italian distribution. Northern mainland ( Dahl et al. 1995; Kurina 2008) and Sardinia.

Notes. Chandler (2004a) recorded this species from Sardinia based on the specimens from T1 and T2 cited above. The Sardinian material of this species mostly has three brown stripes indistinctly indicated on the mesonotum in contrast to most European material, which has the mesonotum mainly yellow without a central stripe and the lateral stripes reduced to supra-alar patches. Although resembling M. parcehirsuta Becker in that respect, no structural difference from typical M. phalerata has been found and they are concluded to be conspecific. The description of M. penicillata Costa, 1857 , based on a male from near Napoli on the Italian mainland ( Costa 1857), resembles more typical specimens of M. phalerata in having only the two dark patches on the thorax and is considered likely to be synonymous. It has not been recorded since its original description and has been distinguished on the male antennae being 4 times body length compared to about 3 times in M. phalerata ; this is to some extent subjective depending on the degree of contraction of the abdomen and the antennae appear 4 times body length in some of the Sardinian specimens.