Dicerura unidentata Spungis, 1987

Jaschhof, Mathias & Spungis, Voldemars, 2018, Towards reliable identification of male Dicerura: descriptions of three new and seven poorly known species in the Palearctic region (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae, Porricondylinae), Zootaxa 4422 (1), pp. 85-103 : 98-99

Dicerura unidentata Spungis, 1987

Figs 28–31

Spungis (1987) based his description of D. unidentata on three larvae found in Latvia, of which one developed into

a male adult. Subsequent records of males of this species are from Finland ( Jaschhof et al. 2014) and, as shown

here, from Estonia, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The female of D. unidentata remains unknown.

Diagnosis. Dicerura unidentata is a typical member of the dentata group. Characteristic of the gonocoxites,

the ventral emargination is angular-shaped and bordered by small, inconspicuous protuberances with both setulae and large microtrichia ( Fig. 28 , ↓1); around the emargination is a darkly pigmented area. The subrectangular

tegmen is 2.5 times longer than broad and provided with 4–6 small barbs of various sizes apicolaterally ( Fig. 31 , ↓2). The additional, single barb present at the tegminal apex (therefore the species’s name, unidentata ) is in most of the specimens studied here reduced to a roundish, sclerotized knob ( Fig. 31 , ↓3), in other specimens it is

untraceable. The subtriangular gonostylus is about 1.5 times longer than broad; the mediobasal lobe is somewhat

angular and provided with 5–15 short bristles among sparse, large microtrichia ( Fig. 30 ). The apical fork of the

ejaculatory apodeme takes up more than one third of the apodeme’s total length ( Fig. 31 ). The apex of the ninth tergite, which is broadly rounded to truncate, is covered with dense, thick microtrichia ( Fig. 29 , ↓4). Species with

similar genitalia are D. dentata and D. dispersa . In distinction from D. unidentata , the tegmen of D. dentata is provided with more and slightly larger barbs that together form a saw-blade structure on either side ( Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013: fig. 50E), while the tegmen of D. dispersa is constricted subapically, not parallel-sided ( Jaschhof & Jaschhof 2013: fig. 51C).

Remark. Unlike stated by Spungis (1987), and in accordance with most Dicerura , the palpus of D. unidentata has four segments.

Material examined. Finland: 9 males, Lapponia enontekiensis, Kilpisjärvi, SW slope of Saana, 15–30 June 2006, MT, J. Penttinen (in MZH). Estonia: male, Ida-Virumaa, Mäetaguse, 1–13 June 2011, MT, H. Aia & EMTP (in IZBE). Slovakia: 2 males, Muránská planina NP, Muránská Lehota, 12 April–24 May 2012, MT, J. Roháček & J. Ševčik (specimens nos A7772–A 7773 in SDEI). Ukraine: 3 males, Crimea, Crimean Mountains NR, Mount Babugan, 6 June 1986, sweepnet, Z. L. Berest (in IBUL).

Figures

FIGURES 28–31. Dicerura unidentata, male, from Estonia. 28: Genitalia, ventral. 29: Ninth tergite, dorsal. 30: Gonostylus, ventral. 31: Tegmen and ejaculatory apodeme, ventral. Scales 0.05 mm. Arrows refer to characters described in the diagnosis.