Bradysia tilicola ( LOEW, 1850 )

Menzel, Frank, Vilkamaa, Pekka & Smith, Jane E., 2013, Overview of the Black Fungus Gnats from the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, including a redescription of Hyperlasion viridiventris (FREY) (Diptera: Sciaroidea: Sciaridae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 63 (2), pp. 283-296 : 286-287

Bradysia tilicola ( LOEW, 1850)

( Figs 4, 5 )

Synonyms:

= Sciara amoena WINNERTZ, 1867 ; = Sciara caldaria LINTNER, 1895 ; = Sciara coprophila LINTNER, 1895 ; = Sciara marcilla HUTTON, 1902 ; = Neosciara sexdentata PETTEY, 1918 ; = Sciara (Neosciara) nanella FREY, 1936 [more synonyms in MENZEL & MOHRIG (2000)].

Selected literature:

– LOEW (1850): 18 [as Sciara ]; – WINNERTZ (1867): 114 [as Sciara amoena ]; – LINTNER (1895): 394, figs 4, 5a–e, plate 1, figs 1–4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 11a [as Sciara coprophila ]; – HUTTON (1902): 192 [as Sciara marcilla ]; – FREY (1936): 15, plate 4, fig. 33 [as Sciara (Neosciara) nanella ]; – JOHANNSEN (1912): 120, 123 and 136, plate 3, figs 13, 144, plate 6, fig. 236, plate 7, fig. 259 [as Sciara coprophila ]; – TONNOIR & EDWARDS (1927): 797, plate 70, fig. 185 [as Sciara marcilla ]; – STEFFAN (1966): 22 and 35, figs 1, 5 [as Bradysia coprophila ]; – FREEMAN (1983): 36, figs 130–132; – MENZEL & MOHRIG (2000): 147, figs 132, 133 [all as Bradysia amoena ]; – MENZEL & HELLER (2005): 351; – MENZEL et al. (2006): 63; – MOHRIG et al. (2013): 171 [all as Bradysia tilicola ].

Material examined from the archipelago:

TRISTAN DA CUNHA ISLAND: Cave Point , in front of hut, 37°16'77"S 12°32'54"W, 71 ft. a.s.l., grassland and feral cattle, Malaise trap (site 18, sample T46 ), 1♂, 27–28. ii.2005 , leg. HÄNEL ( MZH).

Distribution:

Known from United States (California, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, New York), Azores [ Portugal], Canary Islands [ Spain], Morocco, Europe ( Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia [European territory], Slovakia, Spain [Iberian Peninsula], Sweden, Turkey (Asian territory), Russia (Asian territory: Altay), Nepal and New Zealand. New to Tristan da Cunha archipelago.

Description: See MENZEL & MOHRIG (2000): 147, figs 132, 133 [as Bradysia amoena ].

Discussion:

Bradysia tilicola is perhaps the most common species of Sciaridae worldwide. Due to its cosmopolitan distribution it has been described under different names 19 times. For a complete list of synonymies see MENZEL & MOHRIG (2000). The species is potentially present in nearly every house in the world with indoor plants. The larvae develop in flowerpots and may occasionally cause damage to the plants. The species is also found outdoors, but is never highly abundant. It may spread out actively from human settlements and is most likely to having been introduced with plants to nearly any place with human activities and also to Tristan da Cunha. There are already records from other archipelagoes like the Azores and the Canary Islands. For more detailed information about habitats see MENZEL et al. (2006).

Figures

Figs 1–7: Bradysia forficulata (BEZZI), male (Figs 1–3): – Fig. 1: Hypopygium in ventral view; – Fig. 2: Right gonostyle in ventral view; – Fig. 3: 4th flagellomere in lateral view. Bradysia tilicola (LOEW), male (Figs 4, 5); – Fig. 4: Hypopygium in ventral view; – Fig. 5: Apical part of left gonostyle in ventral view. Cosmosciara perniciosa (EDWARDS), male (Figs 6, 7); – Fig. 6: Hypopygium in ventral view; – Fig. 7: Apical part of right gonostyle in ventral view.