Bradysia forficulata (BEZZI, 1914)

Menzel, Frank, Vilkamaa, Pekka & Smith, Jane E., 2013, Overview of the Black Fungus Gnats from the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, including a redescription of Hyperlasion viridiventris (FREY) (Diptera: Sciaroidea: Sciaridae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 63 (2), pp. 283-296 : 286

Bradysia forficulata (BEZZI, 1914)

( Figs 1–3 )

Synonyms:

= Sciara luravi JOHANNSEN, 1929 ; = Bradysia nocturna TUOMIKOSKI, 1960 .

Selected literature:

– TUOMIKOSKI (1960): 139 and 141, fig. 32f [as Bradysia nocturna ]; – FREEMAN (1962): 79 [as Bradysia sp. 1 ]; – HOLDGATE (1965): 383 and 396 [in part as Bradysia sp. ]; – MOHRIG & MENZEL (1993): 270 and 283, fig. 15d; – MENZEL & MOHRIG (2000): 141; – GASTON et al. (2003): 1095; – JONES et al. (2003): 241 and 246, fig. 28b; – MENZEL et al. (2006): 53 [all as Bradysia nocturna ]; – HELLER & WEBER (2013): 321, figs 4, 5; – MOHRIG et al. (2013): 159, figs 10a, 10b [all as Bradysia forficulata ].

Material from the archipelago:

Only known from the literature ( FREEMAN 1962, HOLD- GATE 1965, GASTON et al. 2003, JONES et al. 2003).

Distribution:

Cosmopolitan. Common and widely distributed in Europe ( Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia [European territory], Spain [mainland], Sweden, Switzerland). Also known from North America ( Canada: Alberta, British Columbia / USA: Arizona, California, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia). Outside Holarctic region only recorded from Gough Island (7 ♂♂ 2 ♀♀ in the BMNH collection) .

Description: See TUOMIKOSKI (1960): 139 and 141, fig. 32 f.

Discussion:

HELLER & WEBER (2013) consider Bradysia nocturna TUOMIKOSKI as junior synonym of Bradysia forficulata (BEZZI, 1914) . The genitalia of ‘ nocturna ’ and ‘ forficulata ’ are in fact identical, only in ‘ forficulata ’ the legs and antennae are elongated and the individuals are larger as a result of adaptation to life in caves. Bradysia forficulata is distributed through the whole of Europe and is also pre- sent in North America, including caves (REEVES 2000, REEVES et al. 2000). Additionally, it seems that B. forficulata [= B. nocturna ] is able to use microcaves such as burrows of moles, shrews, rabbits and other small mammals as well as of wasps. Burrows of the house mouse (Mus musculus), which was introduced on Gough Island in the 19th century, might serve as an appropriate habitat for Bradysia forficulata (BEZZI) .

Figures

Figs 1–7: Bradysia forficulata (BEZZI), male (Figs 1–3): – Fig. 1: Hypopygium in ventral view; – Fig. 2: Right gonostyle in ventral view; – Fig. 3: 4th flagellomere in lateral view. Bradysia tilicola (LOEW), male (Figs 4, 5); – Fig. 4: Hypopygium in ventral view; – Fig. 5: Apical part of left gonostyle in ventral view. Cosmosciara perniciosa (EDWARDS), male (Figs 6, 7); – Fig. 6: Hypopygium in ventral view; – Fig. 7: Apical part of right gonostyle in ventral view.