Bradysia crassicornis ( Skuse, 1890 )

Mohrig, Werner, Kauschke, Ellen & Broadley, Adam, 2019, Revision of black fungus gnat species (Diptera, Sciaridae) described from the Hawaiian Islands by D. E. Hardy and W. A. Steffan, and a contribution to the knowledge of the sciarid fauna of the Galápagos Islands, Zootaxa 4590 (4), pp. 401-439 : 406-409

Bradysia crassicornis ( Skuse, 1890)

( Fig. 4 A – C )

Sciara crassicornis Skuse, 1890 [ Skuse (1890): 407].

Literature: Broadley et al. (2016): 419 – 421, fig. 11 A – C.

= Bradysia aspercera Mohrig, 2016 syn. n.

Bradysia aspercera Mohrig, 2016 [Mohrig (2016): 5, fig. 2 a – d].

= Bradysia molokaiensis ( Grimshaw, 1901) sensu Hardy , syn. n.

Sciara molokaiensis Grimshaw, 1901 [ Grimshaw (1901): 2, Plate 1, fig 1].

Literature: Shaw (1952): 491, 493 (as Sciara molokaiensis ); Shaw (1952): 495, fig. 5 (as Sciara (Lycoriella) stonei ); Hardy (1960): 226 – 227, fig. 74 a – c (as Sciara (Lycoriella) molokaiensis ); Steffan (1973a): 355 – 356.

Material studied: 1 female, “homotype”, vii.1952, Pu‘u Kolekole Moloka‘i , leg. M. Tamashiro ( BPBM) ; 1 female, “homotype”, vii.1952, Pu‘u Kolekole Moloka‘i , “ ♀ head on slide”, leg. M. Tamashiro ( UHIM2016.14958 ) ( UHIM) ; 1 male, “homotype”, vi.1952, Pu‘u Kolekole Moloka‘i , “ ♂ genitalia on slide” [this genitalia slide is missing], leg. M. Tamashiro ( UHIM2016.14959 ) ( UHIM) ; 2 males, 1 female, vii.1953, Pu‘u Kolekole Moloka‘i, leg. D.E. Hardy; 2 females, “homotypes”, vii.1952, Manawainui, Valley, Moloka‘i , leg. D.E. Hardy ( UHIM2016.14956 /14957) ( UHIM) ; 1 male, 1 female, x.1952, Hawai‘i, Keanakolu 5200 ft., leg. D.E. Hardy ; 2 males, 2 females, ii.1954, O‘ahu, Barbers Point , leg. D.E. Hardy (1 male, 1 female in PWMP) ; 2 males, 2 females, ii.1954, Honolulu, U.H. Campus, on windows, leg. D.E. Hardy; 3 males, 20.iii.1962, O‘ahu, Leeward , at light, leg. D. Wilton.

Conservation status. Embedded in Canada balsam. Head, palpus, antennae and wings mostly separated, morphological structures in good condition.

Comments. Sciara molokaiensis Grimshaw (1901) was inadequately described on the basis of a single female collected by R.C.L. Perkins in the Moloka‘i Mountains in September 1893. The female holotype, which we have not studied, is deposited in the BMNH. The re-identification of B. molokaiensis (Grimshaw) is discussed by Steffan (1973a: 355). We follow the opinion of Hardy and Steffan that Bradysia molokaiensis (Grimshaw) sensu Hardy belongs to the genus Bradysia near to B. scabricornis Tuomikoski, 1960 . It is characterized by rough flagellomeres with the scape, pedicel and the first flagellomere pale yellowish; hypopygium short haired and with a closed base, an elongate slender gonostylus with 4 (sometimes 5) apical spines, a somewhat wider than long tegmen with a large area of fine teeth, a rather long aedeagus and distinctly toothed claws. The Hawaiian specimens were compared with the holotype of Bradysia aspercera Mohrig, 2016 from Papua New Guinea and they are identical. The specimens of B. molokaiensis (Grimshaw) from Hawai‘i are also conspecific with Bradysia crassicornis ( Skuse, 1890) , described from New South Wales, Australia, therefore B. aspercera Mohrig and B. molokaiensis ( Grimshaw, 1901) are junior synonyms of it.

Distribution. Australia; Hawai‘i; Papua New Guinea.

Figures

FIGURE 4 A–C. Bradysia crassicornis (Skuse, 1890). Specimen from Barbers Point, O’ahu. A. Hypopygium; B. Head with basal segments of flagellomeres; C. Tibial organ of fore tibia.