A new species group in Megaselia, the lucifrons group, with description of a new species (Diptera, Phoridae)
Author
Haeggqvist, Sibylle
Author
Ulefors, Sven Olof
Author
Ronquist, Fredrik
text
ZooKeys
2015
512
89
108
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.512.9494
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.512.9494
1313-2970-512-89
7F66197C6E1E4E0EBD9D7DED9922D9FF
Taxon classification Animalia Diptera Phoridae
Megaselia lucifrons (Schmitz, 1918)
Aphiochaeta lucifrons
Schmitz, 1918
Material examined.
Lectotype: male, pinned, Netherlands, Baaksem, Holl. Limbg. 11. VIII. 1915, coll. Schmitz (ZFMK).
Swedish material.
Suppl. material 1.
Differential diagnosis.
Males are easily distinguished from
Megaselia subnitida
by the triangular-shaped lighter patch on the base of the hind femur.
Megaselia lucifrons
also has a
shiny
frons (hence its name), whereas the frons is matte in
Megaselia subnitida
. Males can be distinguished from
Megaselia albalucifrons
by the broader left lobe of the hypandrium (Fig. 6a). The lobe is also darker in
Megaselia lucifrons
than in
Megaselia albalucifrons
. The left side of the epandrium has long thin hairs at the lower apical part that are typical for the species (Fig. 5a).
Distribution.
Megaselia lucifrons
is widely distributed in Sweden and has been found in all 29 SMTP traps from which we have studied material. The species is also reported from many other European countries (e. g.
Prescher et al. 2002
;
Brenner 2004
;
Schmitz 1928
;
Durska et al. 2010
;
Schmitz 1934
;
Bonet et al. 2011
), however, for findings after 1988, when
Megaselia subnitida
was synonymized with
Megaselia lucifrons
, it is often impossible to determine from the literature alone whether the records refer to
Megaselia lucifrons
or
Megaselia subnitida
.
Biology.
Material from the SMTP shows that
Megaselia lucifrons
likely has two generations per year (Fig. 8), alternatively the flies overwinter as adults, as has been found for a number of other
Megaselia
species (
Disney 1994
).
Megaselia lucifrons
is found in different kinds of habitats from the SMTP, often in connection to trees or forest (Suppl. material 1).