Limonia Meigen, 1803

Podenas, Sigitas & Podeniene, Virginija, 2017, Limonia crane flies (Diptera: Limoniidae) of Korea, Zootaxa 4231 (1), pp. 1-37 : 4-5

Limonia Meigen, 1803

Limonia Meigen, 1803: 262 ; Lackschewitz, Pagast, 1940: 4 –5; Geiger, 1986: 106; Savchenko, 1989: 328 –330. Type species Tipula tripunctata Fabricius, 1781 (= phragmitidis (Schrank, 1781)) .

Main body color varies from yellow to gray, brown or black. Medium sized crane flies, body length 5.3–12.1 mm, wing length 5.4–13.2 mm, sometimes reduced to 4.9 mm. Antenna 14-segmented. First thoracic segment elongate. Episternum setose. Claw with line of three to five additional spines. Wing wide with well developed anal angle, pattern varies from completely translucent and patternless to intensely pigmented. Vein Sc comparatively long with Sc1 reaching from base of Rs to branching point of Rs. Sc2 close to the apex of Sc1. R1 elongate and extends longitudinally, nearly parallel to frontal wing margin. R2 transverse and far before R1 tip. Discal cell closed, basal deflection of CuA1 at or slightly before branching point of M. Male genitalia with wide ninth tergite, posterior margin of which slightly emarginate. Gonocoxite with wide, but often low ventromesal lobe. Gonostylus single, situated apically, wider at base, distal part narrower and slightly arched. Penis elongate, simple with bifid apex that is turned at right angle downwards. Paramere wide at base, distal part differently shaped. Ovipositor from mediumlong to long, cercus usually long and narrow, slightly turned upwards.

Larvae with body coloration white. Body length 14–18 mm. All abdominal segments with dorsal and ventral creeping welts. Spiracular lobes reduced. Spiracular field bears two pairs (dorsal and ventral) of sclerites. Spiracle oblong and placed obliquely. Anal field consists of two pairs of white, fleshy anal papillae. Head capsule oval shaped, depressed dorsoventrally and slightly reduced. Caudal end of head capsule (frons) tridentate or without remarkable spines. Internolateralia fused with frontoclypeus. Clypeus consists of two parts: preclypeus and postclypeus. Labrum oval in shape with well developed sensory structures. Antenna cylindrical, three times as long as wide at base. Apical papilla button-shaped. Mandible large, heavily sclerotised, with well developed three apical teeth. Ventral margin with three smaller teeth; dorsal margin with small single tooth. Maxilla well developed, sclerotised at the base and setose at the apex, cardo large. Hypostoma with 9–11 teeth. Hypopharynx and prementum dentate.

Pupae with body coloration yellowish brown. Cephalic crest and mesonotal spines absent. Abdominal segments III–VII with dorsal and ventral creeping welts. Surface of abdominal segments smooth, without spines. Pronotal horns flattened, earlike.

Comments. Limonia are terrestrial crane flies. Larvae of this genus develop in the humus layer of leaf litter, decomposing fungi and decaying wood ( Tjeder, 1958; Lindner, 1958; Reush, 1988; Bryce, 1957; Buxton, 1960; Halme et al., 2012; Krivosheina and Krivosheina, 2011). Larvae of only L. flavipes ( Fabricius, 1787) , L. hercegovinae ( Strobl, 1898) , L. macrostigma ( Schummel, 1829) , L. nubeculosa Meigen, 1804 and L. phragmitidis ( Schrank, 1781) are described ( Bryce, 1957; Brindle, 1967; Lindner, 1959; Reush, 1988; Krivosheina and Krivosheina, 2011). L. flavipes , L. hercegovinae and L. phragmitidis are European species. L. macrostigma and L. nubeculosa are widespread species. L. macrostigma is known from Palaearctic and Oriental regions, when L. nubeculosa is found in Palearctic and Nearctic regions. Both of these species are confirmed for Korea.

Pupae of L. flavipes , L. macrostigma , L. nubeculosa and L. phragmitidis are described ( Bryce, 1957; Brindle, 1967; Reush, 1988).

Catalogue of the Crane Flies of the World lists 216 recent Limonia species ( Oosterbroek, 2016). They are distributed in all regions, but the highest species diversity is observed in Oriental region (91 species) and East Palearctic (47 species). Because the understanding of Limonia limits varies among authors, some of these species, probably, belong to some other genera, especially to Dicranomyia Stephens, 1829 . Limonia also includes 16 fossil species, with oldest representative from the Lower Cretaceous ( Evenhuis, 2014).