Winnertziini Panelius, 1965

Fedotova, Zoya A., Perkovsky, Evgeny E., Ross, Andrew J. & Zhang, Qingqing, 2022, A new genus and species of gall midges the tribe Winnertziini (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae, Porricondylinae) from lower Eocene Fushun amber from China, Palaeoentomology 5 (1), pp. 90-98 : 92-94

Superfamily Cecidomyioidea Newman, 1834 Family Cecidomyiidae Newman, 1834 Subfamily Porricondylinae Kieffer, 1913 Tribe Winnertziini Panelius, 1965

At the present time, there is no agreed single system for all taxonomic groups of gall midges. Individual changes made to the existing systems of subfamilies using different methods are not consistent with other taxa at the suprageneric rank.

Here we follow the generally accepted system of gall midges ( Gagné, 1989; Skuhravá, 1997; Tastás-Duque, 2000) with additions as previously published ( Fedotova, 2000; Fedotova & Perkovsky, 2009, 2016 a, 2017). Other classifications of gall midges ( Sikora et al., 2019; Dorchin et al., 2019; Gagné & Jaschhof, 2021) contain many comparable inconsistencies.

Recently, the phylogeny and taxonomy of the Cecidomyiidae was summarized by Sikora et al. (2019), taking into account data obtained by molecular methods ( Ševčík et al., 2016) to determine the place of the family in the phylogeny of the infraorder Bibionomorpha . Most of the subfamilies and tribes were hypothesized to be monophyletic groups ( Sikora et al., 2019) and these were included in a “Catalog of the Cecidomyiidae of the World” (Gagné & Jasсhhof, 2021). However, proposed system of Sikora et al. (2019) does not take into account the characters by which the subfamilies of archaic mycetophagous Porricondylinae and evolutionarily advanced phytophagous Cecidomyiinae were previously distinguished. The tribes of the subfamily Porricondylinae ( Winnertziini , Porricondylini) were raised to subfamilies, in line with the largest and most diverse subfamily Cecidomyiinae .

The weight of characters of the subfamilies Winnertziinae and Porricondylinae turned out to be significantly overestimated in comparison with the equivalent taxa of the supertribes of the subfamily Cecidomyiinae .At the same time, the rank of the supertribe is not used in the new classification of Gagné & Jaschhof (2021), and it is more likely that Porricondylinae and Winnertziinae could occupy this place.

All Porricondylinae s. l. differ from Cecidomyiinae and Lasiopterinae by not fused 1 st and 2 nd flagellomeres, by the presence of a short apical appendage on the 1 st tarsal segment, by the presence of a characteristic fork at the base of the R5 vein, by well-defined veins Rs and rm+m, often S-shaped. Sometimes the venation is greatly reduced. Gonocoxites are fused. The ovipositor consists of 2 dorsal and 2 ventral plates; the dorsal plates are usually 2–3-segmented, rarely 1-segmented. Sclerotized spermathecae in the female may be well defined. VIII abdominal segment of larva with 4 dorsal papillae located between spiracles. On the first 7 abdominal segments of the body, in addition to the anterior ventral papillae, 2 posterior ventral papillae are developed.

Recently, the subfamily Cecidomyiinae was also revised based on molecular genetic data ( Dorchin et al., 2019). In this case, the rank of the tribe turned out to be underestimated.

We consider the family Cecidomyiidae sensu lato comprise the subfamilies Porricondylinae s.l., Lasiopterinae and Cecidomyiinae , and the rank of the currently distinguished tribes corresponds to the supertribes. Two last subfamilies include supertribes: Lasiopteridi, Lopesiidi, Asphondyliidi, Mycodiplosidi , Aphidoletidi, Lestodiplosidi, Clinodiplosidi, Cecidomyiidi, Contariniidi ( Fedotova, 2000, 2014; Perkovsky & Fedotova, 2016 and other articles by authors on the taxonomy of gall midges). In all systems, the rank of the ancestral supertribes Brachineuridi and Stomatosematidi has not changed.

An improved dendrogram of gall midges was proposed based on the analysis of morphological characters of adults, pupae, and larvae ( Plakidas, 2017, 2018, 2019). The independence of the families Lestremiidae and Cecidomyiidae , united in the superfamily Cecidomyioidea , was confirmed. The raising in rank of the tribe Diallictiini (previously a subtribe), belonging now to the subfamily Porricondylinae was also justified ( Plakidas, 2019). Earlier, the phylogenetic relationships between nine subfamilies Cecidomyiidae s.l. were established on the basis of a cladistic analysis of the generic characters of larvae, pupae, and adults ( Tastás-Duque, 2000). These are all now considered tribes s.str. in Porricondylinae s.l. Among them, the higher gall midges are represented by the subfamily Cecidomyiinae . According to the world catalog ( Gagné & Jaschhof, 2021), the Porricondylinae s.l. is absent. It is divided into 2 subfamilies: Porricondylinae s.str. (with tribes Porricondylini and Asynaptini ) + Winnertziinae s.str. (with tribes Heteropezini and Diallactiini ) comprises 885 (282 + 603) species, including 88 fossil species (56 + 32) (10%), whereas the Cecidomyiinae s.l. —comprises 5,004 species, of which only 38 are based on fossils (0.8%).

The cosmopolitan tribe Winnertziini s.str. includes nine genera and 180 species( Gagné &Jaschhof, 2021; Nel, 2021).Fossil forms(five genera,14species)are represented by Cretowinnertzia angustula Gagné, 1977 from Upper Cretaceous Canadian amber; Libanoclinorrhytis jaschhofi Azar & Nel, 2020 and Libanohilversidia doryi Azar & Nel, 2020 from Lower Cretaceous Lebanese amber; 3 species of the genus Winnertzia from late Eocene Baltic amber ( W. affinis Meunier, 1904 , W. cylindrica Meunier, 1904 , W. radiata Meunier, 1904 ); one species from Lowermost Eocene Oise amber ( Electroxylomyia eocenica Nel & Prokop, 2006 ; Rhipidoxylomyia rasnitsyni Nel, 2021 ) and 6 species in 2 genera from late Eocene Rovno amber ( W. bellata Fedotova, 2005 , W. isotoma Fedotova, 2005 , W. recusata Fedotova & Perkovsky, 2008 , W. kapustini Fedotova & Perkovsky, 2008 , W. separata Meunier 1904 and Rhipidoxylomyia vaga Fedotova & Perkovsky, 2008 ) ( Meunier, 1904; Evenhuis, 1994; Fedotova & Perkovsky, 2005, 2008; Azar & Nel, 2020; Jaschhof, 2021; Nel, 2021). Some of these genera and species need additional study to confirm if they belong to the Winnertziini .

The new genus Fushuniola gen. nov. belongs to Winnertziini according following characters: short 2+10- segmented female antennae; flagellomeres with hairshaped sensoria; long thin ovipositor, curved dorsally; 3-segmented apical lobes of ovipositor and simple veins CuA and M3+4.