Tipula (Lunatipula) peliostigma Schummel, 1833

Syratt, Maksymilian, 2022, Tipula Linnaeus, 1758 (Diptera: Tipulidae) species new to Poland with notes on the distribution of a further four species, Dipteron (Oxford, England) 38 (4), pp. 1-12 : 1-12

Tipula (Lunatipula) peliostigma Schummel, 1833

MATERIAL EXAMINED (4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀). Kraków Bridge (Pomost Krakowski). Kraków –

Bronowice Małe, UTM DA14, reared from wet leaf litter in gutter (mainly Fraxinus excelsior L. and Corylus avellana L. leaves), 4 th instar larvae collected 9 V 2020, adult emergence 2-14 VI 2020, 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; 4 th instar larva collected 18 IV 2021, adult emergence 28 V 2021, 1 ♂, leg. det. M. Syratt; Kraków – Bronowice Małe, Struga Bronowicka stream, UTM DA14, reared from under bark of fallen Fraxinus excelsior , 4 th instar larva collected 28 IV 2021, adult emergence 10 VI 2021, 1 ♂, leg. det. M. Syratt.

Found throughout the Western Palearctic, as well as East Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

Described from Wrocław ( Schummel 1833), Mannheims (1965) later confirmed the presence of the species at the locus typicus. In addition, a figure in Theowald’s (1957) work is of an outer gonostylus of a specimen from Wrocław. The species has also been recorded from Kraków ( Nowicki 1870) and Puławy in the Masovian Lowland ( Savchenko 1964). The CCW ( Oosterbroek 2022) lists T. (L.) peliostigma from Poland and contains photos of adults from Warsaw. The species was not, however, included in Krzemiński’s (1991) checklist and its occurrence in the country is noted as doubtful and needing confirmation in the newer checklist ( Skibińska et Chudzicka 2007).

A thermophilic species of dry woodland and grassland, and hedgerows, with the latter being a much preferred habitat in the UK ( Dufour 1986, Heiss 2017, Stubbs 2021). Larvae can be found in leaf litter, under moss in broad-leaved forests, and in dead wood ( Oosterbroek et de Jong 2001, citing various authors). Interestingly, in Great Britain it seems to be an old bird nest specialist; the species has been reared from robin, blackbird and song thrush nests ( Stubbs 2021, citing various authors).

The Polish specimens reared from wet leaf litter were found together with Tipula

(Lunatipula) selene Meigen, 1830. Flight period is from April to August.