Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig, 1998

Mohrig, Werner & Kauschke, Ellen, 2019, New Black Fungus Gnats (Diptera, Sciaridae) of North America. Part V. Genera Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig and Phytosciara Frey, Zootaxa 4543 (2), pp. 261-283 : 262

Genus Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig, 1998

Type species: Sciara bruckii Winnertz, 1867 [ Winnertz (1867): 38–39].

Literature: Menzel & Mohrig (1998): 367–369; Menzel & Mohrig (2000): 464–480; Mohrig (2003): 34–37; Mohrig et al. (2004): 277–286. Mohrig et al. (2013): 225–231.

= Ostroverkhovana Komarova, 2002 syn. n.

Type species: Ostroverkhovana borealis Komarova, 2002 [ Komarova (2002): 27–29; figs. 1–6].

Comments. Heller (2012) identified the type species of the genus Ostroverkhovana Komarova, 2002 as a species of Pseudolycoriella , similar or identical to Pseudolycoriella nodulosa ( Mohrig & Krivosheina, 1985) . We did not study the type but we agree with Heller (2012) that the species Ostroverkhovana borealis Komarova belongs to the genus Pseudolycoriella . However, we do not agree with Heller (2012) that the presence of a lobe at the ventral base of the hypopygium is sufficient for the foundation of a new subgenus. Intergonocoxal structures appear in species of Pseudolycoriella as lobes with or without bristles.

Diagnostic characters. The genus is characterized as follows: bristles on flagellomeres have mostly large basal pits but sometimes (only in a few species) a net-like surface structure; mouth parts are usually short, sometimes somewhat elongated (1/3 of the height of the head); palpi with three segments, basal segment slender, with more than one bristle, without a deepened area of sensillae; scutum and scutellum are mostly densely haired; wings are not reduced, except for Psl. semialata ( Edwards, 1913) and with a typical Sciaridae venation; posterior veins without macrotrichia in almost all species; c longer than w; the tibial organ of the fore tibia is variable in shape, often with a semicircular border; claws are usually toothed; gonostylus is variable in shape, always without an apical tooth; in most species with two more subapically inserted spines of different lengths (in some species with one spine only, in others with three or more spines at the apex of the gonostylus) and with one (occasionally with 2–3 or none) subapical whiplash hairs, directed towards the base of the hypopygium; whiplash hair (hairs) are as long as or longer than spines and inserted near the apex of the gonostylus (not in or below the middle like in Lycoriella and Mohrigia ); the ventral base of the hypopygium (intergonocoxal space) is mostly without a lobe or a distinct bristle patch; tegmen is variable in shape with or without a finger or horseshoe-like inner structure; the aedeagus usually has a large furca.