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Three species of the genus Cryptochetum Rondani, 1875 from China are described and figured as new to science: C. euthyiproboscise sp. nov., C. glochidiatusum sp. nov., and C. longilingum sp. nov. An identification key to the known species of Cryptochetum from China is presented. The type specimens of the new species are deposited in the Henan Agricultural University.
Several taxonomic groups within Empidoidea Latreille, 1809 have been subject to unclear phylogenetic assignments along with multiple parallel hypotheses causing difficulties in classification and morphological identification. This study reviews the internal classification of the Ragadidae and includes a diagnosis and description of all included subfamilies and genera based on the results of an analysis of morphological characters using maximum parsimony. Illustration of important characters and a key to all genera in the family is given. The genus Hormopeza Zetterstedt, 1838 is found to be most closely related to Anthepiscopus Becker, 1891 and Iteaphila Zetterstedt, 1838, and the subfamily Iteaphilinae Wahlberg & Johanson, 2018 is therefore expanded to also include that genus. Hormopeza is consequently excluded from Ragadinae Sinclair, 2016. This study provides diagnoses, descriptions and keys in a contribution to a thorough classification of the empidoid groups and increased ease in morphological recognition.
The Oriental species of the genus Sphegina Meigen, 1822 are revised. The following 43 new species are described: Sphegina (Sphegina) abbreviata sp. nov. (Nepal), S. (S.) angustata sp. nov. (Nepal), S. (Asiosphegina) albolobata sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (Asiosphegina) amplistylus sp. nov. (Philippines), S. (A.) atrimanus sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) bifida sp. nov. (Sabah, Malaysia), S. (A.) bracon sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) brevipilis sp. nov. (China), S. (A.) clavigera sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) collicola sp. nov. (Malaysia), S. (A.) crinita sp. nov. (Java, Indonesia; Malaysia), S. (A.) dentata sp. nov. (Taiwan), S. (A.) distincta sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) exilipes sp. nov. (Java, Indonesia), S. (A.) farinosa sp. nov. (Sabah, Malaysia), S. (A.) fimbriata sp. nov. (Thailand), S. (A.) furcillata sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) ghatsi sp. nov. (India), S. (A.) gigantea sp. nov. (China), S. (A.) granditarsis sp. nov. (China), S. (A.) hamulata sp. nov. (India), S. (A.) hauseri sp. nov. (Nepal), S. (A.) incretonigra sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) inflata sp. nov. (Philippines), S. (A.) inventum sp. nov. (Sabah, Malaysia), S. (A.) karnataka sp. nov. (India), S. (A.) licina sp. nov. (Thailand), S. (A.) lobulata sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) lucida sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) nigrotarsata sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) nubicola sp. nov. (Thailand), S. (A.) ornata sp. nov. (China), S. (A.) perlobata sp. nov. (Taiwan), S. (A.) plautus sp. nov. (China), S. (A.) prolixa sp. nov. (Malaysia, Thailand), S. (A.) setosa sp. nov. (Nepal, India), S. (A.) spathigera sp. nov. (Philippines), S. (A.) spenceri sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) strigillata sp. nov. (Vietnam), S. (A.) taiwanensis sp. nov. (Taiwan), S. (A.) umbrosa sp. nov. (China), S. (A.) verrucosa sp. nov. (Vietnam) and S. (A.) vietnamensis sp. nov. (Vietnam). Sphegina. (A.) tenuis Brunetti, 1915 is not a synonym of S. (A.) javana de Meijere, 1914. The males of S. (A.) apicalis Shiraki, 1930, S. (A.) tricoloripes Brunetti, 1915 and S. (A.) varidissima Shiraki, 1930 and the females of S. (A.) achaeta Hippa, van Steenis & Mutin, 2015, S. (A.) index Hippa, van Steenis & Mutin, 2015, S. (A.) mirifica Hippa, van Steenis & Mutin, 2015 and S. (S.) quadriseta Huo & Ren, 2006 are described for the first time. Sphegina (S.) quadriseta is recorded for the first time in the Oriental region. A key to all the Oriental species of Sphegina is provided. The Oriental fauna of Sphegina now comprises 94 species.
Two species groups are proposed for Ommatius Wiedemann, normus and tibialis species groups, increasing the number to eight groups from the Americas. The normus group includes six species, two of which are new, O. nebulosus n. sp. and O. tepui n. sp., from Venezuela. This species group thus far extends from Venezuela southward into Paraguay and southern Brazil. Ommatius pulcher (Engel) is redescribed and a neotype designated. The tibialis group includes eight previously described species from eastern and southwestern United States. Ommatius gemma Brimley is transferred to the costatus group. Keys to the eight species groups and the species of the normus group with illustrations of diagnostic characters are provided. Notes and new distribution data are given for previously described species. The spelling of Ommatius norma Curran and O. ruficauda Curran are changed to agree in gender with the genus name, which is masculine.
Mutations are the ultimate basis of evolution, yet their occurrence rate is known only for few species. We directly estimated the spontaneous mutation rate and the mutational spectrum in the nonbiting midge C. riparius with a new approach. Individuals from ten mutation accumulation lines over five generations were deep genome sequenced to count de novo mutations that were not present in a pool of F1 individuals, representing parental genotypes. We identified 51 new single site mutations of which 25 were insertions or deletions and 26 single nucleotide mutations. This shift in the mutational spectrum compared to other organisms was explained by the high A/T content of the species. We estimated a haploid mutation rate of 2.1 × 10−9 (95% confidence interval: 1.4 × 10−9 – 3.1 × 10-9) that is in the range of recent estimates for other insects and supports the drift barrier hypothesis. We show that accurate mutation rate estimation from a high number of observed mutations is feasible with moderate effort even for nonmodel species.
An inventory of Sciaridae (Diptera: Sciaroidea) from a eutrophic fen and a spring brook in Viidumäe Nature Reserve (Estonia, Saaremaa Island) recorded a total of 60 species, of which 57 are new records for Estonia, including two that are new to science and described herein as Cratyna (Diversicratyna) palustricola sp. nov. (Estonia) and Sciara bryophila sp. nov. (Estonia, Finland). This has raised the number of Sciaridae known from Estonia from 6 to 63.
A review of biological control efforts against Diptera of medical and veterinary importance includes pertinent literature of major dipterous taxonomic groups where some success has been achieved or where work is currently being conducted on species breeding in aquatic (e.g., mosquitoes, blackflies, tabanids) and terrestrial habitats (muscids, tsetse, etc.). Most effort has been directed against aquatic Diptera because of the human and animal disease agents they transmit. Research has established that the natural enemy component frequently is responsible for significant population reduction and indispensable to integrated control which seeks to maintain populations below annoyance or disease transmission levels. The manipulation of natural enemies through introduction and/or augmentation has in some cases provided satisfactory control, and sustained releases of natural enemies over several years may overcome the relative high cost of massive release rates. Ultimately, to guarantee the existence and maximum expression of resident natural enemies has become almost universally accepted, and challenging, to sound control practices. Indeed, chemical industry recognizing this, has sought to manufacture products such as Bacillus toxins, juvenile hormones, and baits that are minimally disruptive to existing natural controls. Although such easily applied products have been widely adopted, their cost continues to become prohibitive with developing resistance, as was observed earlier with many organophosphate and chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides. Further advancements in the control ofthese Diptera should continue to embrace a sound appreciation for the natural control component and nurture ways to allow its maximum expression. Keyword Index: Biological Control, Diptera, Medical, Veterinary.
Container-breeding Aedes spp. (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes can be surveilled at low cost using ovitraps. Hence, this method is a preferred monitoring approach of dengue vectors in low-resource settings. The ovitraps consist of a cup filled with water and an oviposition substrate for female mosquitoes. The attractiveness of the substrates for female mosquitoes can greatly differ due to differences in texture, color, and smell of the materials used. We compare four oviposition substrates, which are all low priced, easy to transport, and easy to purchase, to maximize the success of Aedes egg sampling. Sampled egg material is often reared to adulthood for further taxonomic identification and transported to (international) laboratories for specialized vector research. Here we introduce a transport technique for sampled eggs. In addition, we explored the impact of international transport by means of a bilateral hatching experiment in Nepal, the country of origin, and in Germany, in a laboratory specialized in ecophysiological research. The best low-cost oviposition substrate for the dengue vectors Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Aedes aegypti (L.) was found to be a white cotton sheet. The introduced transport technique of sampled eggs is easy to build from laboratory and household materials and ensures good transport conditions (i.e., temperature and relative humidity). Even under good temperature (17.4–31.0 °C) and humidity conditions (58.9–94.2%), hatching success of eggs was found to be reduced after international transport to Germany when compared to the hatching success of eggs in Nepal. We postulate that air pressure during international transport may have reduced the hatching success and strongly recommend pressure-regulated transport boxes for egg transport via airplane. As the proposed operation procedure is useful in assisting the monitoring of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti in low-resource settings, Aedes researchers are encouraged to follow it for the sampling and transport of Aedes eggs.
Two new endemic genera of Therevinae are described from Madagascar. Rinhatiana gen. nov. contains three new species (R. arctifestuca gen. et sp. nov., R. cracentis gen. et sp. nov. and R. latifestuca gen. et sp. nov.) as well as R. distincta (Lyneborg, 1976) comb. nov., which is transferred from Stenopomyia Lyneborg, 1976. Tianarinha gen. nov. is described containing two new species, T. goodmani gen. et sp. nov. and T. micet gen. et sp. nov. All species are diagnosed and figured along with distribution data.