Planetella, Westwood, 1840

Ševčík, Jan, Hippa, Heikki, Burdíková, Nikola, Sopuch, Kryštof, Skuhravá, Marcela & Bruun, Hans Henrik, 2023, Integrative taxonomy of Central European Planetella (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) indicates high species diversity, intraspecific variation and low host specificity, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 63 (2), pp. 413-450 : 418

Key to species of Planetella recognized in this study

The following key is based on males only because females have not been reliably associated for most of the species. The number of flagellomeres appears as an important character, especially if it is different than 12. Like in most other Cecidomyiidi , males have distinctly binodose flagellomeres, usually 12-segmented, but superficially looking like 24-segmented (actually with 24 nodes). In all the species included in this paper, where the sexes were associated, males and females have the same number of flagellomeres, while their shape and structure is much simpler in females, and the antennae are also substantially shorter in females. In males, an additional short apical flagellomere of variable shape is usually present but sometimes not counted or overlooked in the past. We have tried to specify this in descriptions and keys. The other useful characters are body coloration, mainly of the thorax and abdomen, the presence or absence of the eye-bridge, and details on the male terminalia, especially the shape of the gonostylus and gonocoxite, the shape of hypoproct, and the shape and size of cerci. In any case, a safe identification of particular species should be based not only on morphological characters but also on DNA sequences, ideally from more than one specimen.

1 Antennae with 12 binodose flagellomeres, sometimes with an additional small apical segment, shorter than penultimate one. ....................................................... 2