Leptospina
Ordo: Diptera
Familia: Sciaridae
Subfamilia: Sciarinae
Name
Leptospina Mohrig & Menzel, 1997 stat. rev. – Wikispecies link – ZooBank link
- Leptosciarella (Leptospina) Mohrig & Menzel, 1997[1] : 83–84 – type species: Trichosia dentata Mohrig & Krivosheina, 1979
Description (male)
Head. Eye bridge 3–5 rows of facets. LW-index of 4th antennal flagellar segment 1.9–3.2; Transition of basal part to neck pronounced. Palpomeres 3., rarely 2. First palpomere with numerous bristles; with only some sparse sensillae. Thorax. Thoracic setae strong or normal. Posterior pronotum usually setose. Laterotergite bare. Legs. Frontal tibia with a patch of setae. Front tibial organ mostly dark. Front tibial organ not bordered. Tibial spurs elongate, of equal length. Claws untoothed. Wings. Wings darkened, of normal shape. Wing membrane without macrotrichia. Wing venation normal. M-fork of normal shape. R1 inserting at or slightly before base of m-fork; posterior veins without macrotrichia. Halteres of normal length. Abdomen. Abdominal setae normally strong and dense. Hypopygium concolour with abdomen. Inner margin of gonocoxites normally U-shaped; inner part of hypopygium densely setose; elongated setae on valves of hypopygium absent. Gonostylus elongate; inner margin straight, or concave. Apical tooth present. Apical awl-like setae present and often very long and robust. Megasetae on inner part of gonostylus absent. Tegmen rounded; central process absent. Measurements. Body size 2.0–3.8 mm. Wing length 2.1–3.3 mm.
Diagnosis
Leptospina belongs to the basal subfamily Sciarinae together with Sciara, Trichosia, Trichosiopsis and Hirtipennia. In contrast to Leptospina, these genera are characterized by setose wing veins, whereas Leptospina has bare posterior wing veins. Another distinguishing character is the presence of an apical tooth and strong and long awl-like setae dorsally of it. Also, Leptospina exhibits the structure of an “inverse white V” at the base of the gonocoxites and the tegmen is rounded, not rectangular like in Trichosiopsis.
Etymology
gr. leptos = slender; lat spina = spine. The name is composed of the same prefix as in Leptosciarella to show the similarity with that genus (now Trichosiopsis) and also refers to the strong spines at the gonostylus.
Discussion
Leptospina was originally defined as a subgenus of Leptosciarella because of the close similarity of both taxa regarding the male genitalia. However, the lack of macrotrichia on the wing veins is a distinguishing character. Sometimes these macrotrichia are missing also in some species of Trichosiopsis, but there the loss is secondary and often accompanied by reduction of size, whereas for. Leptospina it may be the primary condition. It has been shown by Shin et al. (2013)[2] in a genetic analysis, that Leptospina has an isolated position, opposed to all other genera of Sciarinae. Leptospina is therefore to be treated as a distinct genus.
Distribution
Species of this genus mainly have a Northern and Eastern Palaearctic distribution.
Species list
Leptospina atricha - Leptospina dentata - Leptospina lobodentata - Leptospina nigrosetosa - Leptospina nudinervis - Leptospina subdentata - Leptospina truncata
References
- ↑ Mohrig, W.; Menzel, F. 1997: Revision der paläarktischen Arten von Trichosia Winnertz sensu Tuomikoski, 1960 (Diptera, Sciaridae). – Teil II. Gattungen Leptosciarella Tuomikoski, 1960 und Trichodapus gen. nov. Studia dipterologica, 4(1), 41–98.
- ↑ Shin, S.; Jung, S.; Menzel, F.; Heller, K. et. al. 2013: Molecular phylogeny of Black Fungus Gnats (Diptera: Sciaroidea: Sciaridae) and the evolution of larval habitats. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 66(3), 833–846. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2012.11.008.
