Prosciara didactyla sp. n. and P. megachaeta Hippa & Vilkamaa, 1991 from Thailand (Diptera, Sciaridae)

Prosciara didactyla sp. n. and P. megachaeta Hippa & Vilkamaa, 1991 are reported from Thailand. The description of the genus Prosciara is revised

Two new species of Allodia subgenus Brachycampta Winnertz from Norway and Sweden (Diptera: Mycetophilidae)

Allodia (Brachycampta) huggerti sp. n. from Sweden and Allodia (Brachycampta) rindeni sp. n. from Norway and Sweden are described based on a few adult males. Detailed illustrations of their terminalia are provided. The A. (B.) barbata species group is defined for species of which both dorsal and ventral branches of the male gonostylus are reduced to slender lobes, and the two new species both belong in this species group. They differ from other species in the species group primarily by the structure of the apicoventral corners of the gonocoxite, by the shape of the hypandrial lobe, and in details of the gonostylus. The new species seem to be most closely related with each other and further to A. (B.) racemosa Zaitzev, 1992 known from Alaska. The new species are named in memory of their collectors, the late dr. Lars Huggert (1942–2003) and the late Helge Rinden (1967–1999)

Rocetelion humerale (Zetterstedt, 1850) (Diptera, Keroplatidae) rediscovered in Norway after more than 100 years, with description of the larva and its habitat.

Accepted for publication in Norwegian Journal of Entomology: http://www.entomologi.no/journals/nje/nje.htm.The large and conspicuous keroplatid species Rocetelion humerale (Zetterstedt, 1850) was previously documented with a single record from Norway only, a more than one hundred-year-old record of a male from Erfjord in Rogaland County, published in 1914, for which the voucher specimen has been searched for in vain in museum collections. In the summer of 2020, a new record of an adult male was photo-documented alive and then sampled from a barn in the village Førde in Sveio municipality, Vestland County. The following year, in October 2021, a population of larvae were located at a large, decaying log of beech (Fagus sylvatica) in the same area, a parsonage garden consisting of seminatural park landscape dominated by beech located just some 250 meters from the barn where the male was collected. The population of larvae living on this log was investigated also in 2022 with observations of active larvae in wintertime (early January), no findings in August but numerous spins and several larvae observed again in October. The living larvae were photo-documented and filmed. Five larvae were sampled, four of them successfully associated with the male through DNA barcoding. Both the adult male and the larvae are described and richly illustrated. Rocetelion humerale is redlisted as endangered (EN) in Norway and the new records are discussed in a wider context of records and the previous scarce knowledge of its biology abroad. The new data on its biology underscores the importance of leaving huge, windfallen logs of broadleaved trees to decay without cleaning up by removing them, and a practice to create fauna depots with large logs of dead wood in semi-park and park landscapes is suggested to help the species’ survival in lack of natural habitats with similar qualities

Diptera in mines and other cave systems in southern Norway

The dipterous fauna in 32 mines, 5 caves and some other cave systems in southern Norway has been studied with regard to species composition and periodicity. Some 20 000 specimens belonging to 80 species in 18 families were recorded. Mycetophilidae (95.0% ), Culicidae (3.2%) and Heleomyzidae (1.3%), dominated. With the exception of Speolepta leptogaster (Winnertz, 1863) (Mycetophilidae), a possible troglophile, all species must be regarded as trogloxenes, most of them habitual trogloxenes inhabiting cave systems for hibernation. Some differences regarding species composition in dif6ferent cave systems and between western and eastem Norway were demonstrated. Seasonal occurrence and sex-ratios reflect different life cycle strategies and seasonal adaptations among the habitual trogloxenes: hibernators, (Mycetophilidae, Culicidae), aestivators (Limoniidae, Bolitophilidae), species which seek cave systems independent of sex and season (Heleomyzidae, Trichoceridae), and opportunists (Chironomidae, Phoridae?, Dixidae?). Species belonging to other families are most likely accidental trogloxenes

A Siberian fungus gnat (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) species found in Estonia

The first European record of Exechia inaperta Ostroverkhova, 1979 is presented and its morphological difference from the allied E. exigua Lundström, 1909 is discussed. Diagnostic characters and detailed figures of male terminalia are given for both species. The new finding of E. inaperta in Estonia indicates a possibly disjunct Euro-Siberian distribution pattern of the South-Taiga, also observed in several other species of fungus gnats

New records and first DNA barcodes of the family Canthyloscelidae(Diptera) in Fennoscandia

Prior to this study, members of Canthyloscelidae, a small, relict family of nematocerous Diptera, have very occasionally been found in Fennoscandia. This led to the widely accepted opinion of canthyloscelids being rare elements of the regional fauna. New data presented here on the occurrence of the three European species suggest that this picture needs a more differentiated view. We report two localities with abundant catches of Hyperoscelis eximia (Boheman, 1858) by use of Malaise traps, and one locality with abundant catches of Synneuron annulipes Lundström, 1910 by use of light traps. Other records of these two species concern mostly single specimens and are scattered across Fennoscandia. Hyperoscelis veternosa Mamaev & Krivosheina, 1969, represented in our material by only a single female, is the first record in Sweden and the second documented finding in Fennoscandia. All three canthyloscelid species were successfully barcoded with large barcode gaps on The Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), and aligned with public barcodes of the North American Synneuron decipiens Hutson, 1977 in an ID-tree. Decaying logs of Norway spruce, Picea abies, presumably infested with brown rots caused by the bracket fungus Fomitopsis pinicola, were present in the near vicinity of most collecting sites, although the northernmost localities lie far from natural populations of this conifer. It is argued that the current conservation status of Canthyloscelidae in Fennoscandia should be maintained until a better understanding of adult and larval biology allows a more appropriate assessment. We also use the opportunity to emphasize, in our digital age, the crucially important role of depositing voucher specimens in public collections in order to validate records grey published online through photos or DNA barcodes

New records and first DNA barcodes of Sciarosoma nigriclava (Strobl, 1898) (Diptera, Sciaroidea incertae sedis) from Norway

New records of Sciarosoma nigriclava (Strobl, 1898) are presented from Engerdal in Hedmark and Gargialia outside Alta in Finnmark. This unique species, belonging to the enigmatic Heterotrichagroup still unplaced in family, has not been recorded in Norway since the genus and species was described under the name Sciarosoma borealis Chandler, 2002; at the time only a single male from Østmarka Nature Reserve in Akershus was reported. All four specimens of our new material were successfully DNA barcoded and aligned with a single additional sequence of the species available on The Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD), mined from GenBank. The assigned Barcode Index Number (BIN) for the species displays a considerable distance of some 15% to any other Diptera on BOLD, underscoring the isolated phylogenetic position of the species among the Sciaroidea. Both the new collecting sites are situated within or nearby old-growth pine and spruce forests, supporting the view that the species may serve as an indicator of pristine coniferous forest in the boreal Taiga

Updated checklist of Norwegian Mycetophilidae (Diptera) with 92% DNA barcode reference coverage.

Source at http://www.entomologi.no/journals/nje/nje.htm. Up to present 602 species and 65 genera of fungus gnats, family Mycetophilidae, are published from Norway. Extensive collecting supported by the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC) over the eight last years, with special focus on insect fauna in northern Norway, has documented 240 additional species and 2 additional genera from Norway, of which 118 species are considered as new to science. Based on a thorough review of the species previously published from Norway, we have crossed out six species as misidentified. One new synonym is established: Boletina conformis Siebke, 1863 syn. n. = Boletina plana (Walker, 1856). Two species are restituated based on integrative studies including DNA barcodes. These are Ectrepesthoneura bucera Plassmann, 1980 sp. restit., found to be a distinct species separate from Ectrepesthoneura ovata Ostroverkhova, 1977, and Trichonta trifida Lundstrom, 1909 sp. restit., found to be a distinct species separate from Trichonta vulcani (Dziedzicki, 1889). The updated, validated A-checklist includes 821 species of which 703 (86%) refer to formally described species and 118 (14%) to potentially undescribed species, referred to by their interim names as used on BOLD and in our databases. All species are documented with specimens in the museum collections at either Tromsø University Museum (TMU, 781 species, 95%) and/or the Natural History Museum in Oslo (NHMO, 382 species, 47%). Another 14 published species are transferred to a B-checklist with currently unvalidated species, as we fail to recover voucher representatives. Supported by the Norwegian Barcode of Life (NorBOL) network, we have DNA barcoded as many species as possible contributing to the reference library on The Barcode of Life Project (BOLD). Hence, 756 (92%) of the validated Norwegian species are currently documented with DNA barcodes and assigned Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) on BOLD, including the majority of the species considered new to science based on morphology (103 species, 87% of the 118). The checklist, is kept in a short format giving the published species names or interim names as used on BOLD and in our databases, depository information, assigned BINs with indications of discordance, and finally their (2015) Red List status in Norway. An accompanying dataset containing recording details and distribution of all new records from Norway of described species, is published on GBIF and on Norway’s Species Map Service (Artskart)

Coelosynapha, a new genus of the subfamily Gnoristinae (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) with a circumpolar, Holarctic distribution

Background - The subfamily Gnoristinae is one of the most diverse and taxonomically difficult subfamilies of Mycetophilidae, with new species and genera being described almost every year from various parts of the world. Through inventories of fungus gnats in the Nordic Region and Russia, a genus and species new to science was discovered, yet with links back to an illustration made by the late French entomologist Loïc Matile in the 1980s. DNA barcoding aligned it with yet another species new to science, distributed across Canada and documented through The Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) by Paul D. N. Hebert and colleagues at the BOLD team. New information - The new Holarctic genus, Coelosynapha gen. n. is described, consisting of two new species, the Palaearctic Coelosynapha loici sp. n. and the Nearctic Coelosynapha heberti sp. n. DNA-barcodes assign the two new species to distinctly separated (8.27% p-distance) Barcode Index Numbers (BINs) which are most closely aligned to unidentified species of Mycetophilidae from South Australia and Costa Rica on BOLD. The new genus shows morphological characteristics in between the two Holarctic genera Coelosia Winnertz, 1864 and Synapha Meigen, 1818 and further shows affinity to the southern continents genus Austrosynapha Tonnoir, 1929. The Palaearctic Coelosynapha loici sp. n., for which habitat requirements are best documented, is largely restricted to pristine, old-growth conifer (mostly spruce, Picea abies ssp. obovata) forests within the boreal vegetation zone, although it is also recorded from hummock tundra along the Anadyr River in Far East Russia

Review of the European Greenomyia Brunetti (Diptera, Mycetophilidae) with new descriptions of females

The females of the four continental Greenomyia Brunetti species in Europe are associated with the males, diagnosed and keyed, providing the first association and description of the females of Greenomyia baikalica Zaitzev, 1994 and Greenomyia stackelbergi Zaitzev, 1982. Colour photographs of their habitus and line drawings of their female terminalia are provided. Greenomyia mongolica Laštovka & Matile, 1974 is found to be a senior synonym of Greenomyia theresae Matile, 2002. syn. n. The diagnostic characters used to distinguish between Greenomyia and Neoclastobasis Ostroverkhova in keys did not hold up to a closer scrutiny and leave the status of Neoclastobasis as separate genus questionable