Limonia nubeculosa Meigen, 1804

Podenas, Sigitas & Podeniene, Virginija, 2017, Limonia crane flies (Diptera: Limoniidae) of Korea, Zootaxa 4231 (1), pp. 1-37 : 24-26

Limonia nubeculosa Meigen, 1804

( Figs. 44–54 )

Limonia nubeculosa Savchenko, 1989: 334 –335.

Examined material: 1 male (pinned), North Korea, Ompo, 200 ft., V.20, 1938, Yankovsky ( USNM) ; 2 males, 3 females, 1 specimen of unclear sex (pinned), North Korea, Seren Mts. , altitudes from 3000 to 5000 ft., from June 25 to July 10, 1938, Yankovsky ( USNM) ; 8 males, 3 females, 2 specimens of unclear sex (pinned), North Korea, Kankyo Nando , Puksu Pyaksan, altitudes 5500 and 6000 ft., from June 22 to August 3, 1939, A. Yankovsky ( USNM) ; 1 female (pinned), N. Korea, Chonsani , 3000 ft., VI–20, 40 [1940], coll. Yankovsky ( USNM) ; 1 female (in ethanol, wing slide-mounted), S. Korea, Jinbu-myeon , Dongsan-ri, Odaesan NP, N 37.73920, E 128.59398, alt. 794 m, 2012.06.22 (1), S. Podenas, net ( NIBR) .

Adult. General body coloration brown, yellowish brown in some specimens. Male body length 5.3–7.3 mm, that of female 6.2–8.9 mm, wing length of male 8.2–8.9 mm, that of female 8.1–10.7 mm. Wing well developed, reaches far beyond tip of abdomen.

Head. Brownish-gray. Male antenna 1.6–1.8 mm long, female antenna 1.5–1.9 mm long, 14-segmented. Scape long, nearly cylindrical, brown. Pedicel short, brown with yellowish distal margin. First flagellomere yellow, remaining flagellomeres brown, nearly cylindrical, getting narrower towards apex. Verticils approximately twice as long as respective segments. Rostrum and palpus dark brown.

Thorax. Brownish yellow, sometimes yellow, semi-polished. Cervical sclerite dark brown. Pronotum brown with yellowish spots laterally and postero-dorsally. Ground color of mesonotal prescutum yellow. It has three distinct longitudinal stripes, median stripe with narrow yellow vitta, and setose margins, lateral stripe starts beyond pseodosutural fovea, lateral margin of sclerite widely brown. Scutal lobe with brown longitudinal stripe. Scutellum pale yellow along the middle, lateral margins brown. Mediotergite brown, lateral margins narrowly yellowish. Pleuron brown with yellow spot in the middle and yellow dorsal margin. Wing ( Fig. 44 ) grayish, costal area yellowish, most cells with large brownish cloudy spots, darker spots at base of Rs and tip of Sc. Venation: Sc1 long, nearly reaching branching point of Rs, Sc2 at Sc1 tip. Rs slightly arcuate. R2 very weak, nearly invisible. Basal deflection of CuA1 slightly before branching point of M. Halter 1.5–1.7 mm long in male, 1.1–1.8 mm in female, stem pale, knob pale with brownish base. Frontal coxa brown, middle and posterior yellow. Trochanters yellow. Femora yellow with three brown rings. Middle and apical rings always distinct, basal-most ring less distinct, in some specimens nearly missing. Rings separated by yellow area. Tibiae obscure yellow with slightly darkened apex. Basal tarsomere obscure yellow at base, turning brown to apex, remaining tarsomeres brown to dark brown. Male femur I: 4.6–5.5 mm long, II: 5.0–6.0 mm, III: 4.9–6.2 mm; tibia I: 6.4–6.7 mm, II: 5.4–6.4 mm, III: 5.8–6.8 mm; tarsus I: 6.0– 6.9 mm, II: 5.2–5.8 mm, III: 5.1–5.5 mm long. Female femur I: 4.4–5.8 mm long, II: 4.9–6.6 mm, III: 4.9–6.9 mm; tibiae I: 5.4–7.2 mm, II: 5.6–6.9 mm, III: 5.7–7.6 mm; tarsus I: 4.4–7.6 mm, II: 4.6–6.5 mm, III: 4.6–6.3 mm long.

Abdomen. Tergites brown with obscure yellow posterior margins. Sternites yellow at base of abdomen, getting brown towards distal end. Male genitalia ( Fig. 45 ) rusty yellow. Ninth tergum slightly emarginate at posterior margin. Gonocoxite slightly elongate with wide, but low ventromesal lobe. Gonostylus elongate, slightly arched, getting narrower distally, densely setose. Paramere wide at base, distal part distinctly narrower. Penis extending distinctly beyond parameres, bifid at apex. Ovipositor ( Fig. 46 ) yellow. Cercus long and slightly arched, hypovalva with brown spots at base and along dorsal margin.

Larva. Length 14.3–15.9 mm, width 1.2–1.3 mm. Body white. Abdominal segments II–VII with dorsal and ventral creeping welts, first abdominal segment with ventral creeping welt only. Creeping welts with brown spines, arranged into longitudinal rows. First thoracic and abdominal segments II–VIII wider than longer. Second and third thoracic and first abdominal segments very short.

Head capsule. Oval in shape, depressed dorsoventrally and slightly reduced, dorsal suture reaches only one third of head capsule lenght. Labrum elongate-oval with numerous sensory structures: long seta in the middle of anterior part and small papilla and long seta next to it; sensory circle area with three sensory papilae inside it and two separate sensory pits located nearby posterio-lateral side of labrum ( Fig. 47 ). Clypeus distinctly divided from labrum, consisting of sclerotised narrow postclypeus and membranous wide preclypeus (preclypeus with anteriolateral projection). A long seta located nearby anterio-lateral side of clypeus. Caudal end of head capsule tridentate ( Fig. 48 ). Basal segment of antenna cylindrical, more than twice as long as wide, with few very short sensory structures apically. Apical segment short, button-shaped. Mandible conus-shaped, with three large similar in shape and size apical teeth ( Fig. 49 ), three smaller triangular teeth on ventral side. Dorsal margin toothless. Hypopharynx and prementum dentated. Hypostoma bears 11 teeth, middle tooth most prominent ( Fig. 50 ).

Anal division. Spiracular lobes reduced. Spiracular field rectangularly shaped and fringed with short firm setae. Marginal setae are interrupted by short bare area on lateral margin of spiracular field. Spiracular field bears two pairs (dorsal and ventral) of sclerites. Dorsal sclerite elongate, weakly sclerotised, inner part reaches spiracle ( Fig. 51 ). Two setae (one very short, one long) located on dorsal sclerite near the outer margin. Two long setae above spiracle, near the margin of spiracular field. Ventral sclerite small, triangularly shaped, weakly sclerotised. It bears long and short apical setae. Spiracle oblong and placed obliquely. Anal field consists of two pairs of anal papillae.

Pupa. Male 9.7–10.2 mm, female 10.0– 10.4 mm long. Abdomen yellowish brown. Head, thorax, wings, legs and terminal segment darker than the rest of the body. Head: cephalic crest absent. Surface smooth. Antennal sheaths short, only slightly extending beyond base of wing. Thorax: pronotal horn flattened, as long as wide ( Fig. 52 ). Dorsum of thorax smooth. Abdomen: segments III–VII with dorsal anf ventral creeping welts. Surface of abdominal segments smooth. Male terminalia with short anterior and posterios spines, dorsum of terminal segment with additional large finger-shaped outgroove and addtinional ventral spine ( Fig. 53 ). Terminal segment of female elongate, sheaths of cerci longer than valves ( Fig. 54 ). Cercus bears small apical spine. Dorsum of terminal segment with additional elongated outgroove.

Elevation range in Korea. This species was recorded from altitudes ranging from 60 m to more than 1800 m.

Period of activity. Adults are active and on the wing from end of May through the beginning of August.

Habitat. Dense mixed groves on mountain slope near temporary rivulet. Larvae and pupae develop in wet soil, leaf litter, rotten wood and fungi.

General distribution. Widely distributed in the Holarctic Region. Savchenko (1989) mentions L. nubeculosa for the northern part of the Korean Peninsula without listing specimens on which that record is based. It is here recorded from South Korea for the first time.

Figures

FIGURES 44 – 54. Limonia nubeculosa. 44: wing; 45: male genitalia, dorsal view; 46: ovipositor, lateral view; 47: clypeus and labrum, dorsal view; 48: caudal end of head capsule, dorsal view; 49: right mandible, dorsal view; 50: hypostoma, ventral view; 51: spiracular field; 52: pronotal horn of pupa, lateral view; 53: male pupa terminalia, lateral view; 54: female pupa terminalia, lateral view. 47 – 51 after Reusch, 1988; 52 – 54 after Brindle, 1967.