Pipunculus lenis Kuznetzov, 1991

Kehlmaier, Christian, 2008, Finnish Pipunculidae (Diptera) studies Part I: Taxonomic notes on Cephalops Fallén, 1810, Pipunculus Latreille, 1802 and Tomosvaryella Aczél, 1939, Zootaxa 1672, pp. 1-42 : 16-17

Pipunculus lenis Kuznetzov, 1991

( Figs 22–23, 27–28 , 59–60 , 79 , 88, 90 & 92 )

Pipunculus lenis Kuznetzov, 1991: 23

Pipunculus thomsoni auct. nec Becker, 1897

Material: Finland, N, Sibbo, Nevas, 6687:412: 1ɗ 1Ψ, 29.VI.–4.VII.1986; 4ɗ 8Ψ, 22.–28.VI.1986; 2ɗ, 29.VI.–4.VII.1986; 1Ψ, 18.–24.VI.1984, Albrecht; Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Schwarzwald, Kirchspielwald: 2ɗ, 19.VII.1992, Stuke ( PCCK); Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg, Schonberg: 1Ψ, 21.VI.1992, Stuke ( PCCK); Germany, Baden-Württemberg, Karlsruhe, Knielingen: 1Ψ, 15.VI.1992, Stuke ( PCCK); Great Britain, Buckham, S of London: 1ɗ, 30.VII.1951, Lindberg; Hungary, Hejőbába, Hejő régi medre: 1Ψ, 24.V.1986, Tóth ( HNHM); Hungary, Bakony, Cuha-v., Kardosrét: 1Ψ, 26.VI.1971, Tóth ( HNHM); Hungary, BNP Miskolc, Létrás-tető: 2Ψ, 22.VI.1983, Bessenyi ( HNHM); Hungary, Bükk hg., Síkfőkut: 1Ψ, 26.VI.1978, Draskovits ( HNHM); Hungary, Csèvharaszt: 1ɗ, 28.V.1986, Bessenyi ( HNHM); Hungary, Budajenő, Townes-csapada: 1ɗ, 20.V.1966, Horvátovich ( HNHM); Hungary, Tihany, Akasztódomb: 1ɗ, 5.VI.1958, Mihály ( HNHM).

Male: Body length: 5.0– 5.8mm. Wing length: 5.0– 6.1mm. Flagellum dark brown. Frons brown pollinose. Eyes meeting for slightly less than length of frons (14–18 facets). Occiput grey pollinose except posterior to ocellar triangle brown pollinose. Postpronotal lobe dark brown. Prescutum and scutum brown pollinose, anterolaterally with weak greyish pollinosity. Pleura grey pollinose ( Fig. 90 ). Scutellum with apical fringe of about 12 evenly spaced hairs. Subscutellum grey pollinose ( Fig. 88 ). LTC about 1.0–1.5 times LFC. Trochanter yellowish brown to yellow. Femur with base (optionally) and apex narrowly yellow. Hind femur distinctly concave ventrally in basal half ( Fig. 79 ). Tibia yellowish, ventrally darkened in apical two thirds. Hind tibia rather strongly bent (e.g. compared to P. tenuirostris ). Tarsi brown, with distitarsi darkest. Pulvilli of front legs slightly shorter than distitarsi. Tergite 1 anterodorsally brown, posterodorsally greyish-brown, laterally grey pollinose. Tergites 2–5 laterally with posterior half grey, anterior third to half brown pollinose ( Fig. 92 ). Dorsally, tergite 2 in anterior four fifths or entirely, tergite 3 in anterior two thirds, tergite 4 in anterior half, tergite 5 in anterior quarter to third brown pollinose. Membranous area key-hole shaped, with a weak but distinct vertical keel. Viewed dorsally, surstyli with inner margins angled ( Figs 22–23 ). Two of the three ejaculatory ducts are equally sclerotized in distal half, the third one appearing more membranous.

Female: Body length: 4.9–5.9mm. Wing length: 5.0– 5.9mm. Flagellum brown to yellowish brown. Frons entirely grey pollinose. Postpronotal lobe variable, yellow to dark brown. Prescutum and scutum grey pollinose in anterior quarter to third, laterally down to wing base, otherwise brown pollinose (posterior half can be rubbed off). Pleura and subscutum grey pollinose. LTC about 0.6–1.1 times LFC. Trochanter yellowish. Femur with base and apex narrowly yellow. Tibia yellowish, darkened ventromedially or in apical two thirds. Tarsi darkened dorsally, distitarsi darkest. Pulvilli of front legs slightly shorter than distitarsi. Tergites 3–6 dorsally shining, laterally grey. Tergite 1 anterodorsally, tergite 2 dorsocentrally or in anterior half brown pollinose, otherwise grey pollinose but can be shiny posterodorsally. Tergite 3–4 can show a very narrow anterior stripe of brown pollinosity. Ovipositor in lateral view with robust, slightly curved piercer ( Fig. 59 , length of piercer can slightly vary). Transition from base to piercer ventrally with a (weak) step.

Annotations: It has been shown above that, being synonymous with P. campestris , P. t h o m s o n i Becker, 1897 has long been misinterpreted by most other authors, e.g. in the commonly used identification keys provided in Kozánek (1981a, b), leaving the morphospecies in question without a valid name. The decision was taken to place it under the name of P. l e n i s, which was described from the female holotype and a female paratype collected in northwestern Russia. Although these types, deposited at ZISP, could not be studied, Kuznetzov’s (1991) original description and illustration of the ovipositor fits very well the concept presented here. This way, the introduction of a new name can be avoided, bearing in mind that additional eastern Palaearctic taxa might eventually turn out to be conspecific with P. l e n i s, e.g. P. amuricus Kunetzov, 1991 .

The differentiation of male P. l e n i s from P. tenuirostris is rather problematic and may not always be possible. Typically, the male of P. l e n i s is larger in body and wing size and the compound eyes meet for a higher number of facets. Also, the hind tibia of P. l e n i s is more strongly bent and the surstyli have their inner margin more distinctly angled. Other differences, like a slightly longer and more dense pilosity of the legs for example, are hard to quantify and are disregarded in the identification key.

Figures

FIGURES 22 – 29. Surstyli in strictly dorsal and outer surstylus in lateral view of male Pipunculus lenis (22 – 23 & 27 – 28) and Pipunculus tenuirostris (24 – 26 & 29). Scale bars = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 55 – 66. Ovipositor in lateral and dorsal view of female Pipunculus lichtwardti (55 – 56), Pipunculus tenuirostris (57 – 58), Pipunculus lenis (59 – 60), Pipunculus carlestolrai (61 – 62, taken from Kuznetzov (1993 a), no scale given), Pipunculus dimi (63 – 64) and Pipunculus fonsecai (65 – 66). Scale bars = 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 74 – 83. Scanning electron micrographs of scutellum and left hind leg in anterior view of male Pipunculus violovitshi (74), Pipunculus zugmayeriae (75 & 81), Pipunculus oldenbergi (76 & 80), Pipunculus elegans (77), Pipunculus campestris (78 & 83), Pipunculus lenis (79) and Pipunculus fonsecai (82). Scale bars = 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 84 – 92. Light photographs of male Pipunculus ssp. 84: Head and thorax of Pipunculus violovitshi; 85: Syntergosternite 8 of P. violovitshi; 86: right hind leg in anterior view of Pipunculus wolfi; 87: subscutellum of Pipunculus campestris; 88: subscutellum of Pipunculus lenis; 89: Pleurae of P. campestris; 90: Pleurae of P. l e n i s; 91: Abdomen of P. campetris; 92: abdomen of P. l e n i s. Scale bars = 0.5 mm.