Eloeophila Rondani, 1856

Podenas, Sigitas, Park, Sun-Jae, Byun, Hye-Woo, Kim, A-Young, Klein, Terry A. & Aukštikalnienė, Heung-Chul Kim and Rasa, 2020, New data on Limoniinae and Limnophilinae crane flies (Diptera: Limoniidae) of Korea, Journal of Species Research 9 (4), pp. 492-531 : 513-514

Eloeophila Rondani, 1856

Eloeophila Rondani, 1856: 182-183 ; Savchenko, Krivolutskaya, 1976: 59; Savchenko, 1983: 50; 1986: 302- 306; 1989: 81-82.

Ephelia Schiner, 1863: 222; Lackschewitz, 1940: 72.

Trichephelia Alexander, 1938b: 73 .

Limnophila (Elaeophila) Edwards, 1938: 77-78 ; Ishida, 1959: 2-3.

Type species: Limnobia marmorata Meigen, 1818 (= maculata ( Meigen, 1804)) (Palearctic).

Adult.

Small to medium-sized crane flies with body length 3.5-10.0 mm and wing length 5.5-10.5 mm. Body coloration varies from yellow to brown and dark brown, often densely dusted with gray.

Head: Rounded posteriorly without neck-like extension. Vertex wide without tubercle, or with very small and indistinct tubercle. Antenna with 14-segmented flagellum, usually longer in male, reaching wing base or base of abdomen, if bent backwards. Flagellomeres elongate, sometimes oval, especially in female, apical segment subequal in length to preceding. Verticils long and distinct, usually longer than respective segment.

Thorax: Prothorax elongate, frontal margin nearly straight. Mesonotal prescutum with small tubercular pits, pseudosutural fovea contrastingly polished black or brown, four longitudinal stripes, usually more distinct posteriorly. Pleuron with bare katepisternum, meron distinct, thus middle and posterior coxae removed from each other. Wing iridescent, long and narrow, usually with distinct pattern of many dark spots at wing base, at frontal margin, around branching points of veins and at apices of longitudinal veins. Arculus present, vein Sc long, reaching wing margin close to the branching point of Rs, sc-r slightly before tip of Sc. R 1 short, longitudinal or oblique, R 3 and R 4 diverging. Cell m 1 long with long stem. Discal cell always present, elongate. Cell bm always with additional cross-vein, m-cu distinctly beyond base, usually from one-third to the middle of discal cell. Anal vein long, sinuous, reaching wing margin beyond the level of Rs base. Anal angle wide, posterior margin widely round- ed. Wing cells without macrotrichiae. Wing squama setoseless. Legs with tibial spurs, usually foreleg with single spur, middle and posterior legs with two spurs each.

Abdomen: Tergites with paired transverse sutures. Male terminalia elongate, approximately as wide as the rest abdominal segments. Ninth tergite wider than longer, posterior margin usually with wide but shallow emargination. Gonocoxite elongate, without interbase, often enlarged at base on ventro-mesal surface, two pairs of terminal elongated gonostyli, outer gonostylus sclerotised with one - three apical spines, inner gonostylus fleshy and setose. Aedeagus simple, short and straight. Ovipositor with long and narrow cercus and hypovalva, distal part of cercus usually slightly raised upwards.

Last instar larva.

Body covered with light brown pubescence, length up to 14 mm. Last abdominal segment (anal segment) constricted, penultimate inflated.

Head capsule: elongate-oval, depressed dorsoventrally and strongly reduced. Labrum trapezoid, sensory structures placed anteriorly. Clypeus distinctly divided from labrum, trapezoid, slightly sclerotized with a tuft of long hairs anteriorly, with fissure separating lateral part into a prominent lobe. Frons reduced. Antenna elongated, longer than mandible, basal segment cylindrical with upper part directed outward, apical segment short and sculptured, placed subterminally. Mandible sickle shaped, with a single sharp, curved apical tooth and few prominent teeth at the base. Maxilla narrows toward the tip with apical part directed outward and elongate, fusion of inner and outer parts incomplete, basal part sclerotized, apex with sensory structures. Cardo reduced into small sclerite. Ventral part of head capsule joined-up with the hypopharyngeal bar, consisting of two large lateral plates and a transversal bar. Labial palpus well developed. Posterior part of head capsule consists of one pair of internolateralia and two pairs of externolateralia, internolateralia wider than externolateralia.

Spiracular disc: Spiracular field surrounded by four cylindrical, elongate and pointed lobes. Dorsal lobe reduced and inconspicuous. Ventral pair of lobes longer or subequal to lateral pair. Spiracular lobes could be sclerotized or without sclerites. Spiracles small, circular and widely separated.

Anal field: Anus surrounded by four short, white and fleshy anal papillae.

Pupa.

Length up to 12 mm. Body coloration brown. Head and thorax much darker than the rest of the body.

Head: Cephalic crest inconspicuous, consisting of four unequal lobes. Antennal sheaths short, reaching one-third of wing length.

Thorax: Respiratory horns elongated with minute annulations along entire length, apex slightly flattened and rounded. Dorsum of thorax smooth. Tip of wing reaching posterior margin of second abdominal segment. Legs reaching posterior margin of third abdominal segment, hind pair slightly longer than other pairs.

Abdomen: Segments II- VII with inconspicuous annuli. Tergites and sternites with transverse rows of small spinose tubercles and few scattered spines in between them on posterior and anterior parts. The middle part of pleurite forming sharp edge with two spines. Terminal segment of female pupa elongate, that of male blunt.

A total of 86 species belong to the genus Eloeophila worldwide ( Oosterbroek, 2020). No recognized subgenera. The most diversity belongs to the Palearctic fauna with 35 species (20 species in West Palearctic and 17 in East Palearctic), Nearctic Region with 22 species, Oriental with 20 species, and Afrotropical Region with 9 species. Genus is not present in Australian and Neotropical Regions. One fossil species is described from Eocene period in Baltic amber ( Podenas, 2003).