Mesotrichoca Jaschhof & Jaschhof, 2008

Jaschhof, Mathias & Jaschhof, Catrin, 2008, Catotrichinae (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Tasmania, with the description of Trichotoca edentula gen. et sp. n., Zootaxa 1966 (1), pp. 53-61 : 58-59

Genus † Mesotrichoca Jaschhof & Jaschhof gen. n.

Type species: † Catotricha mesozoica Kovalev 1990 . Diagnosis. This genus differs from extant Catotrichinae , Catotricha and Trichotoca , in the considerably shorter and broader wings and shorter legs. The ratio of wing length to width is 2.1 in Mesotrichoca , but 2.6–3.1 in Catotricha spp. and 3.0– 3.4 in Trichotoca spp. Mid legs (femora through tarsi) are slightly longer than the body in Mesotrichoca , but 1.5 times as long as the body in Catotricha and twice as long as the body in Trichotoca .

Discussion. Wing venation, antennal structure, and a remarkable overall resemblance give sufficient evidence for Mesotrichoca being indeed a catotrichine (cf. Kovalev 1990: fig. 136). Body proportions of the one specimen preserved, though apparently in good shape, are the only characters available to compare Mesotrichoca with the other catotrichine genera. We assume that broad wings and relatively short legs are plesiomorphous character states. The relatively short flagellomere necks and stout nodes of Mesotrichoca might be apomorphous, but we cannot be sure whether or not these are artifacts. Clearly apomorphous features are not recognizable for Mesotrichoca , which appears to be an extinct sister-group to the living catotrichines, ( Catotricha + Trichotoca ). Kovalev (1990: 175) pointed out that the generic classification of mesozoica with Catotricha – something he himself questioned – rendered Catotricha one of the oldest recent genera of Diptera . We do not see any indication for mesozoica being a member of the genus Catotricha in the narrowed here sense.

Etymology. The name Mesotrichoca is composed of meso -, from Mesozoic, and - trichoca, an abbreviated anagram of Catotricha . The gender of this noun is feminine.