Oscinella capreolus ( Haliday, 1838: 187 ) Haliday, 1838

Nartshuk, Emilia P. & Tschirnhaus, Michael Von, 2012, New generic synomyms in the Chloropidae (Diptera, Acalyptratae), with additional taxonomic notes, Zootaxa 3267, pp. 44-54 : 48-52

4. Oscinella capreolus ( Haliday, 1838: 187) , comb. nov.

This taxon (the species name is a masculine apposition meaning the ”the roe deer”) differs from other Oscinella species by flattened and densely pubescent black arista. Body black; frons dull; ocellar triangle smooth and shining, extending to the front of frons; orbital setae 4 on each side, longer than remainder setulae of frons; first flagellomere round; genae narrower than first flagellomere; scutum and scutellum dusted; scutellum as long as wide at base with broadly rounded apex; pleura mainly shining; 1+2 npl (notopleural setae); wings brownish, halteres dark; body length nearly 2 mm. A rare Euro-Caucasian species, caught in Germany by the second author on Deschampsia cespitosa , Calamagrostis canescens , and Carex spp.

The second author expressed an opinion in his private comments to Sabrosky’s unpublished ”Checklist of the Chloropidae of the World”, (Appendix 3, letter of C.W. Sabrosky from 27.viii.1997) that Melanochaeta capreolus Haliday is an Oscinella Becker. Later his opinion was published (von Tschirnhaus, 1992: 482). The first author described this species in the genus Oscinella as O. coei Nartshuk, 1965 . Examination of the male genitalia supports this opinion.

As Elachiptera aterrima Strobl is a junior synonym of Oscinis capreolus , which is here transferred to the genus Oscinella , subsequently the genera Pachychoeta Bezzi, 1895 , Melanochaeta Bezzi, 1906 , and Pachychaetina Hendel, 1907 automatically become synonyms of Oscinella Becker, 1909b , because Oscinis capreolus Haliday is the type species of the three former ones. The taxa Melanochaeta Bezzi, 1906 and Pachychaetina Hendel, 1907 have priority before Oscinella Becker, 1909b . As many species of Oscinella , mainly O. frit (Linnaeus) , O. nartshukiana Beschovski and others are of extreme economic importance (3,013 articles and monographs on O. frit are in the database of the second author) we appealed to the ICZN [receipt of this application was published in BZN 68: 239] to conserve the generic name Oscinella Becker, 1909 .

Oscinella Becker, 1909: 120 [1910: 29].

Type species: Musca frit Linnaeus, 1758: 598 — Sweden.

Designation: ICZN, 1978: 203 (Opinion 1100). This designation cites as “Original References” the correct year 1909 of Becker´s new genus but combined it with a wrong publication which appeared only 15.iii.1910. [This is noted in our application to the ICZN. To understand the taxonomic puzzle of the creation of a new genus without any accompanying description, see Sabrosky (1973)].

Pachychoeta Bezzi, 1895: 72 (preocc. Bigot, 1857)— syn. nov.

Type species: Elachiptera aterrima Strobl, 1880: 34 — Austria, = Oscinis capreolus Haliday, 1838: 187 - England. Designation: original.

Melanochaeta Bezzi, 1906: 50 - replacement name for Pachychoeta Bezzi, 1895 — syn. nov.

Type species: Elachiptera aterrima, Strobl, 1880: 34 — Austria, = Oscinis capreolus Haliday, 1838: 187 - England. Designation: automatic. [Currently an application is with the ICZN (case 3576) to conserve Oscinella Becker, 1909 and by reversal of precedence with Melanochaeta Bezzi, 1906 .]

Pachychaeta Bezzi, 1906 nec Loew, justified emendation of Pachychoeta Bezzi, 1895 . (Articles 32.5.1 and 33.2.1 of the Code).

Pachychaetina Hendel, 1907: 98 - replacement name for Pachychoeta Bezzi, 1895 — syn. nov.

Type species: Elachiptera aterrima Strobl, 1880: 34 — Austria, = Oscinis capreolus Haliday, 1838: 187 - England. Designation: automatic. [Currently an application is with the ICZN (case 3576) to conserve Oscinella Becker, 1909 and by reversal of precedence with Pachychaetina Hendel, 1907 ].

Other Palaearctic and Oriental species hitherto included in the genus Melanochaeta must be listed now in the genus Lasiochaeta Corti, 1909 stat. rev. (with the type species Elachiptera pubescens Thalhammer ), which is restored here from synonymy. The species L. pubescens Thalhammer differs from species of the genus Elachiptera Macquart by a smooth surface of the scutum and the structure of the scutellum without warts at base of scutellar setae. As already published by von Tschirnhaus (1992: 482) the generic status of this type species cannot be completely solved: Lasiochaeta pubescens is an abundant species in the Mediterranean. It is recently spreading northwards (possibly the result of global warming), and becoming more and more abundant in the Netherlands and northern Germany. It has: 1) tiny warts at the basis of the apical scutellars (using 80x magnification) different from Oscinella ; 2) has, viewed from optimal dorsally [and not from oblique behind], a not completely rounded scutellum but between the more apart standing apical bristles a somewhat slightly truncated hind edge of the scutellum; many descriptions of Elachiptera species from several continents mention a completely rounded scutellum, thus, both characteristics occur; 3) the scutum (mesonotum) bears a pair of slightly impressed grooves like so many other genera of Oscinellinae , but without criss-cross arranged acrostichal setulae; 4) has the two prominent longer orbital bristles like Elachiptera ; 5) has a partly pubescent ocellar triangle described also for a number of world Elachiptera species; 6) has the slightly flattened and densely pubescent arista; 7) has prominent prolongated palpi; 8) has a typical form of the 1st flagellomere more similar to Elachiptera ; 9) has a typical male mid-femoral organ (slightly darkened); 10) has male genitalia more similar to Elachiptera than to Oscinella (as also Dr John Ismay confirmed Nov. 2003 working with the collection of the second author); 12) shows a distinct variation in the common colour like so many Elachiptera species worldwide, surely depending on the temperature during larval development (material from Egypt in the coll. von Tschirnhaus is especially light). Because of all these details pubescens was formerly ordered in keys for the genus Elachiptera . Extreme mass occurrence of females with ripe eggs was observed by the second author on a pure stand of Cynodon dactylon (L.) ( Poaceae ), 27.iii.1987, Frangocastello, south coast of Crete, Greece. But the species is abundant also on other presumed host grasses and on sedges.