Achyrolimonia Alexander, 1965

Podenas, Sigitas & Byun, Hye-Woo, 2014, New Limoniinae crane flies (Diptera: Limoniidae) of Korea, Journal of Species Research 3 (2), pp. 167-182 : 168-169

Achyrolimonia Alexander, 1965

Achyrolimonia Alexander, 1965 (as subgenus of Limonia s.l.).

Achyrolimonia (as subgenus of Dicranomyia ): Savchenko and Krivolutskaya, 1976; Savchenko, 1983, 1989.

Achyrolimonia (as genus): Oosterbroek, 2014.

Type species - Limnobia trigonia Edwards, 1919 .

Medium-sized crane flies with wing length ranging from 6 to 10 mm. Antennal flagellomeres oval, proximal segments usually nearly rounded. Prescutum with light brown longitudinal stripes on darker background, or completely dark. Wing wide, with four or five large dark spots on frontal margin and dark area surrounding cord. Vein Sc long, tip of Sc 1 reaches approximately to the level of middle of Rs at least, usually longer. Sc 2 close to the tip of Sc 1. Radial sector (Rs) strongly arched at base. Discal cell closed. @asal deflection of CuA 1 at base of discal cell. Second anal cell comparatively wide, posterior margin of anal angle rounded. Male genitalia with wide, but short ninth tergite, gonocoxite with ventro-mesal lobe; two pairs of gonostyles, outer gonostylus long and narrow, inner gonostylus complicated. Penis simple, with narrow distal part. Ovipositor with comparatively short, slightly arched cercus and large hypovalvae.

Larval body coloration light, yellowish, with distinct segmentation. Abdominal segments 2 to 7 each with ventral and dorsal creeping welts formed by spinules. Larvae are metapneusnistic. Spiracular lobes are inconspicuous. Spiracular field covered by two dorsal and two ventral pale sclerites. Spiracles are oblong in shape and placed obliquely. Two pairs of anal papillae. Dorsal pair is more developed conus-shaped, ventral pair short, anterior pair 2-3 times as long as posterior ones. Head capsule hemicephalic, prognatous and is typical for all Limoniinae . @road and relatively short, with light colored frontal plate and dark brown-black lateral plates Hypostoma with nine or ten teeth of different size, deeply split behind. Larvae develop in decaying wood and fungus.

Pupal body light, five abdominal segments with dorsal and ventral creeping welts. Pronotal horns short and broad, tapered anteriorly. Numerous spiracular openings are situated laterally. End of female abdomen cone-likely narrowed with weakly developed terminal tubercles. End of male abdomen rounded with 2 small terminal projections (@rindle, 1967; Krivosheina & Krivosheina, 2011).

Genus includes 33 species with 2 subspecies distribut- ed world wide except Neotropics ( Oosterbroek, 2014). Most species are known from Afrotropics, 19; six species with one species having two subspecies are described from Oriental Region, Australia with Oceania have two species, three species are known from East Palearctic, West Palearctic has two species, additionally one species ( Achyrolimonia neonebulosa ) has transholarctic distribution and one subspecies is shared between Oceania and Oriental Region. No fossil species, belonging to that genus, were found so far ( Evenhuis, 2014).