Mycomya Rondani specimens from the islands of South-East Asia, i.e. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, are revised. The paper includes a key to the Mycomya species of the South-East Asian islands. The following six new species are described: M. shimai sp. n. from Java, Indonesia, M. pongo sp. n. from Sabah, Malaysia, and M. apoensis sp. n., M. nakanishii sp. n., M. paraklossi sp. n. and M. yatai sp. n. from Mindanao, the Philippines. The holotypes of M. klossi Edwards from Borneo, Malaysia, and M. minutata Edwards from Sumatra, Indonesia, were examined and their genitalia are described. M. occultans (Winnertz) is recorded from Java, Indonesia.
Three new species of Dasyrhicnoessa Hendel, 1934 and one of Pseudorhicnoessa Malloch, 1914 from the Indo-Pacific area are described and the male terminalia illustrated. Among these new species, Dasyrhicnoessa paradoxa sp. nov. and Pseudorhicnoessa longicerca sp. nov. are especially noteworthy for the morphological peculiarities of the male terminalia.
Two new black fly species, Simulium (Gomphostilbia) brinchangense and S. (G.) tanahrataense, are described on the basis of reared adult females, males, pupae and larvae from Cameron's Highlands, Peninsular Malaysia. These new species are assigned to the asakoae species-group within Simulium (Gomphostilbia) and taxonomic notes are given to distinguish each new species from six known species in Malaysia. Revised keys to identify all 21 species including 13 species from other countries are provided for females, males, pupae and mature larvae. The species diversity of the asakoae species-group in Cameron's Highlands is briefly noted.
Donald Henry Colless (24 August 1922–16 February 2012) was a taxonomist at the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) from 1960 until his retirement in 1987. He continued working in ANIC as an Honorary Fellow until his death in 2012. Don’s main scientific interests were in the taxonomy and biology of true flies, and in the theory of phylogenetic reconstruction and classification. Don was trained in entomology at the University of Sydney, and spent nearly two decades of his early career in Asia studying mosquitoes and disease transmission, first in the Army during the Second World War in New Guinea and Borneo (1942–45), then after the war in North Borneo (1947–1952) and as a lecturer in the Department of Parasitology at the University of Malaya (1952–1960) in Singapore. We list the 127 scientific papers and book chapters that Don published during his scientific career that spanned 64 years. Six of these papers were published in the prestigious international journal Nature, and he was Chief Curator of the ANIC from 1971–1977. Don had extremely broad taxonomic interests, publishing on the taxonomy of 18 families of Diptera that spanned the phylogenetic breadth of the order. He described as new to science the fly families Perissommatidae and Axiniidae, thirteen new genera and over 120 species and, with David McAlpine, authored the Diptera chapters in both editions of The Insects of Australia (Melbourne University Press, 1970 and 1991). He published a number of influential critiques of cladistic theory in the 1960's and 1970's, and advocated a phenetic approach to the discovery of taxonomic groups, and phylogenetic reconstruction.
Matched MeSH terms: Diptera/anatomy & histology; Diptera/classification*; Diptera/growth & development
A new species of Trichoformosomyia, T. abbreviata sp. nov., is described from Sabah, Malaysia. Trichoformosomyia sauteri Baranov is redescribed and it is newly recorded from China, Vietnam and Japan. A key to the three known species of Trichoformosomyia is given and monophyly of the genus is briefly discussed based on adult morphology.
The species of Billaea Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera, Tachinidae) from the eastern Palearctic and Oriental regions are revised. Ten described species are recognized, viz. B. atkinsoni (Baranov) (new records for Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand), B. ficorum (Townsend), B. fortis (Rondani), B. impigra Kolomiets (new record for China), B. kolomyetzi Mesnil, B. malayana Malloch, B. morosa Mesnil, B. robusta Malloch, B. steini (Brauer et Bergenstamm) and B. triangulifera (Zetterstedt) and nine species are described as new to science, B. brevicauda Zhang et Shima sp. nov. (China), B. carinata Zhang et Shima sp. nov. (China), B. chinensis Zhang et Shima sp. nov. (China and Vietnam), B. flava Zhang et Wang sp. nov. (China), B. kurahashii Zhang et Shima sp. nov. (Laos and Thailand), B. micronychia Zhang et Shima sp. nov. (China and Japan; previously misidentified from China as B. irrorata (Meigen)), B. papei Zhang et Shima sp. nov. (Malaysia), B. setigera Zhang et Shima sp. nov. (China) and B. verticalis Shima et Zhang sp. nov. (China). Billaea fasciata (Townsend, 1928) is treated as a junior synonym of B. ficorum (Townsend, 1916), syn. nov. Billaea irrorata is no longer recorded from the eastern Palearctic. A key to 19 species of Billaea from the eastern Palearctic and Oriental regions and 101 figures of male terminalia, bodies, heads and abdomens are given.
The Oriental, Australasian and Oceanian genus Caiusa Surcouf, 1920 is revised, species concepts being based on male and female genitalia. A key to males for all known species, and a key to females for all except one are given. All relevant types still in existence have been studied, complete synonymies given and the geographical distribution reconsidered. The eight species included in the genus are: Caiusa borneoensis sp. nov. (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam); Caiusa coomani Séguy, 1948 (China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam); Caiusa indica Surcouf, 1920 (Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam); Caiusa karrakerae sp. nov. (Malaysia, Thailand); Caiusa kurahashii sp. nov. (Indonesia, Japan, Philippines); Caiusa pooae sp. nov. (Thailand); Caiusa testacea Senior-White, 1923 (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka) and Caiusa violacea Séguy, 1925, stat. rev. (Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam). A lectotype is designated for Caiusa indica to fix the interpretation of the name. Caiusa nigronitens Senior-White, 1923, syn. nov. and Caiusa surcoufi Bezzi, 1927, syn. nov. are established as junior synonyms of Caiusa indica. Caiusa violacea is correctly diagnosed and errors in the original description of the female holotype are pointed out. Caiusa dubiosa Villeneuve, 1927 is established as a junior synonym of C. violacea, syn. nov. Seven Caiusa species have been reared from the egg mass of various species of frogs. The reproductive mode of the eighth species, i.e., C. indica, is unknown. Five species, i.e., C. borneoensis, C. coomani, C. karrakerae, C. kurahashii and C. violacea have been reared from one or more of the foam nesting frog species Chiromantis nongkhorensis (Cochran, 1927), Polypedates leucomystax (Gravenhorst, 1927), Polypedates megacephalus Hallowell, 1861, Rhacophorus annamensis Smith, 1924, Rhacophorus dulitensis Boulenger, 1892, Rhacophorus kio Ohler & Delorme, 2005 and Rhacophorus owstoni (Stejneger, 1907) all belonging in the family Rhacophoridae in Anura. These five Caiusa species all have a specialised ovipositor tip, with small spine-like setae on the ST8 and the hypoproct, probably enabling the flies to oviposit on a foam nest with a hardened outer surface. They form a monophyletic group on account of these features of the ovipositor, unique in the Oestroidea. The sixth species, C. testacea, has been reared from a frog egg mass, the frog species being unknown. Its ovipositor structure is also unknown. The seventh species, C. pooae, has been reared once from the jelly-like egg mass of Feihyla hansenae (Cochran, 1927), also in Rhacophoridae. Caiusa pooae females do not have spine-like setae on the ovipositor, a fact correlated with the soft outer surface of the jelly-like egg mass on which a C. pooae female had oviposited. The extreme rarity of C. pooae oviposition on Feihyla hansenae egg masses may indicate that this fly perhaps has another, unknown, regular oviposition substrate. Caiusa pooae and C. indica make up a second monophyletic group within Caiusa. Caiusa indica, the most common and most widespread species of the genus, has an ovipositor structure similar to C. pooae. Its breeding substrate is unknown and it occurs both within and outside the distributional area of Rhacophoridae. Possibly both C. indica and C. pooae share a regular oviposition substrate that has still to be discovered. The holotype female of Plinthomyia emimelania Rondani, 1875 from Sarawak is established as a member of the genus Bengalia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, thus Plinthomyia Rondani, 1875 becomes a junior synonym of Bengalia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, syn. nov. It is removed from the synonymy of Phumosia Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830.
Trischidocera Villeneuve, 1915 includes two species, T. sauteri Villeneuve, 1915 (Taiwan and Malaysia) and T. yunnanensis Chao & Zhou, 1987 (China). The systematic placement of Trischidocera has been controversial. It was originally placed within the "Thryptoceratidae" (= "Actiidae"), then moved to Germariini, then considered an unplaced Tachinidae, and more recently placed in Ormiini. Here, the genus is revised, the type-species is redescribed and illustrated, and its systematic placement is discussed. The genus is removed from Ormiini and considered incertae sedis.
Four Oriental species of Aerumnosa Mohrig, 1999 (Diptera: Sciaridae), a genus previously known only from Papua New Guinea, are newly described and illustrated: Aerumnosa bituberculata sp. n. (India), A. gemmifera sp. n. (Malaysia: Sabah), A. horrifica sp. n. (Brunei, Thailand) and A. impar sp. n. (Malaysia: Sabah). On the basis of the new material, the genus is redefined. A key to the known species of Aerumnosa is presented, including four new species. An updated molecular phylogenetic analysis based on four gene markers (18S, 28S, 16S and COI) shows Aerumnosa to be a member of the subfamily Cratyninae. The monophyly of Cratyninae is well supported, which clade also includes the genera Hyperlasion Schmitz, 1919, Pnyxiopalpus Vilkamaa Hippa, 1999 and Pseudoaerumnosa Rudzinski, 2006. According to the present phylogenetic hypothesis, the monophyly of Cratyna Winnertz, 1967 s. l. needs to be revisited. The clade including Cratyna (s. str.) ambigua (Lengersdorf, 1934) appears as the sister group of Aerumnosa.
Seven species of Strongylophthalmyia are described as new species: Strongylophthalmyia armipes n. sp. (Malaysia), S. biloba n. sp. (Indonesia), S. bukittinggiana n. sp. (Indonesia), S. minutissima n. sp. (Thailand), S. prominens n. sp. (Vietnam), S. strigosa n. sp. (China), S. vichrevi n. sp. (Russia). New data on morphology and distribution of S. bifasciata Yang et Wang 1992 and S. malayensis Evenhuis, 2016 are provided.
We describe a gall midge Macarangamyia itiokai Elsayed Tokuda gen. n., sp. n. belonging to the subtribe Schizomyiina (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae: Asphondyliini) inducing petiole galls on Macaranga bancana (Miq.) in Lambir Hills National Park, Borneo, Malaysia. The new genus is distinguishable from all known genera of Schizomyiina by the unique dorsally-placed aedeagus slit, the short, membranous, protrusible ovipositor, with scattered strong setae ventrally and dorsally, and the presence of spiracles on all larval thoracic segments. It is compared and separated from its closely related Oriental genera of Schizomyiina.
Megaselia bangiensis Disney sp. nov., M. cumpapillarum Disney sp. nov., M. hyplongiseta Disney sp. nov. and M. selangorensis Disney sp. nov. were collected from rabbit carcasses placed in concealed environments in Bangi, Malaysia.
Larvae of a gall midge were found feeding on the fungal rust Maravalia pterocarpi (Pucciniomycetes: Pucciniales: Chaconiaceae) infesting the economically important sua tree Dalbergia tonkinensis (Fabaceae) on Hainan Island, China. The adults, pupae and larvae were collected, their morphology was studied and a segment of the Cytochrome Oxidase unit I (COI) mitochondrial gene was sequenced. The gall midge proved to be a species new to science that belongs to the genus Mycodiplosis (Diptera: Cecdiomyiidae). Comparison of the sequence to published Cecdiomyiidae sequences revealed that, despite being undescribed and unnamed, it was previously found in east and south-east Asia to feed on several rust species: Puccinia coronata (Pucciniomycetes: Pucciniales: Pucciniaceae) that develops on Lolium multiflorum (Poaceae), Puccinia sp. on Zea mays (Poaceae), Puccinia arachidis on Arachis hypogaea (Fabaceae) and Puccinia allii on Allium fistulosum (Amaryllidaceae). The new species is described and named here Mycodiplosis puccinivora Jiao, Bu Kolesik. It occurs in China, Japan, Thailand, Bangladesh and possibly Malaysia and Australia. In Hainan it has four to five generations per year.
The Bradysia luctifica group is characterized for a number of species with an Oriental-Australasian distribution. The group includes the following species: Bradysia abrupta sp. n. (Malaysia: Pahang, Selangor), B. calicula sp. n. (Malaysia: Sabah), B. conflexa sp. n. (Malaysia: Pahang), B. fornicata sp. n. (Malaysia: Pahang), B. luctifica (Skuse, 1888) (Australia: South Australia, Indonesia: Ceram, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea), B. robusta Mohrig, 2015 (Papua New Guinea) and B. torosa sp. n. (Papua New Guinea: Bismarck Archipelago). The species are keyed and the new species are described and illustrated.
The species of Estheria Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae) from the East Palearctic and Oriental regions are reviewed. Eighteen species are recognized: the fourteen previously described, E. acuta (Portschinsky, 1881), E. alticola Mesnil, 1967, E. bucharensis (Kolomiets, 1974), E. cinerella Mesnil, 1967, E. cristata (Meigen, 1826), E. decolor (Pandellé, 1896), E. flavipennis Herting, 1968, E. lacteipennis Mesnil, 1967, E. maculipennis Herting, 1968, E. magna (Baranov, 1935), E. nigripes (Villeneuve, 1920), E. pallicornis (Loew, 1873), E. petiolata (Bonsdorff, 1866) and E. picta (Meigen, 1826), and four species described as new to science, E. hirtinerva Zhang Shima sp. nov. (W China, Nepal), E. prostata Zhang Shima sp. nov. (W China, Nepal), E. tibetensis Zhang Shima sp. nov. (W China, Nepal) and E. wangi Zhang Liang sp. nov. (W China, Pakistan). Estheria acuta and E. decolor are newly recorded for China, E. magna is newly recorded for Malaysia, Pakistan and Vietnam, and E. pallicornis is newly recorded for Nepal. An identification key to the 18 species of Estheria so far known from the East Palearctic and Oriental regions is included, together with 126 figures of heads and habitus of males and females, and male terminalia and known distributions.
The genus Chaetonerius Hendel has 25 valid species, predominantly distributed in the Afrotropical Region with only three species recorded for the Oriental Region. Herein, we describe a new species, Chaetonerius colavitei sp. n., from material collected in Thailand and Malaysia.
The Strongylophthalmyia punctata subgroup, comprising 24 species with armored fore femora, and restricted primarily to SE Asia, is reviewed. Eighteen new species, S. albisternum, n. sp. (Thailand), S. borneensis, n. sp. (Borneo), S. caestus, n. sp. (Philippines), S. darlingi, n. sp. (Sumatra), S. federeri, n. sp. (Philippines), S. hauseri, n. sp. (Thailand, Vietnam), S. indochinensis, n. sp. (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam), S. inundans, n. sp. (Philippines), S. laosensis, n. sp. (Laos), S. lowi, n. sp. (Peninsular Malaysia), S. malayensis, n. sp. (Peninsular Malaysia), S. nigripalpis, n. sp. (Peninsular Malaysia), S. oxybeles, n. sp. (Sumatra), S. pappi, n. sp. (Thailand), S. phillindablank, n. sp. (China), S. sichuanica, n. sp. (China), S. sumatrana, n. sp. (Sumatra), and S. thailandica, n. sp. (Thailand) are described and illustrated, S. microstyla Shatalkin and S. punctata Hennig are redescribed based on examination of the holotypes, and a key to species of the subgroup is presented. A general taxonomic overview of the genus Strongylophthalmyia is given with discussion of and keys to proposed species groups.
Matched MeSH terms: Diptera/anatomy & histology; Diptera/classification*; Diptera/growth & development
Six Oriental species of Evaza Walker, 1856 were described by J.C.H. de Meijere in the period between 1911 and 1924. The type specimens are now deposited in the Museum Naturalis (Leiden). All species were redescribed, photographed and their diagnostic characters were defined. Male terminalia of five species with known males were illustrated in detail. The revised species were compared with recently described new species from Oriental China. Additional material belonging to the revised species was recorded for the first time from the following countries: Evaza demeijerei Brunetti, 1923 (= E. pallipes de Meijere, 1916a) and E. discolor de Meijere, 1916a were found in Malaysia, E. javanensis de Meijere 1911 in Singapore, E. kerteszi de Meijere, 1914 in Laos and Malaysia and E. maculifera de Meijere, 1914 in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The bee fly genus Euchariomyia Bigot is reviewed and new records from the Oriental Region are given. Five names (for four species-level taxa) have been associated with species in the genus. Examinations of types, as well as homotypic and topotypic specimens, shows all five names to belong to a highly variable single species, Euchariomyia dives Bigot. The following species are here shown to be the same as Euchariomyia dives Bigot: Bombylius pulchellus Wulp, 1880, Bombylius scintillans Brunetti, 1909, and Bombylius brunettii Senior-White, 1922, n. syn. The genus is known primarily from the southern and eastern Oriental Region and ranges into the Palaearctic in eastern China. We extend the distribution of the genus with new records in the southeastern Oriental Region [Indonesia (Sumatra), Laos, Peninsular Malaysia, and Vietnam].
Matched MeSH terms: Diptera/anatomy & histology; Diptera/classification*; Diptera/growth & development
A catalogue of world species of Lonchaeidae is provided. Ten valid genera and 611 valid species in two subfamilies are listed. For each valid species the list includes author, year of publication, full publication name, page number of original description and, where known, type locality and type depository. All validly named taxa described before 1 January 2023 are included and for species where there are issues relating to taxonomy, distribution, type status or type depositories, 84 supplementary notes are provided. Colour plates are provided showing a representative species of each genus. The world distribution of Lonchaeidae is tabulated by genus, species and biogeographical realm. Details on species that occur in more than one realm and information on online maps that are available for each species is provided. A synopsis of the fauna of each realm is given that includes references to the key literature sources. The use of following nominal genus as valid is necessary due to the previously used nominal genus not meeting ICZN publication standards: Priscoearomyia Morge, 1963a (previously considered a junior synonym of Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), new status. The following is a new genus authority necessary due to the previously used authority not meeting ICZN publication standards: Neosilba Waddill & Weems: 1978 (for Neosilba McAlpine, 1962). The following four genus names are new synonyms: Dasyops Bezzi, 1891 (= Dasiops Rondani, 1856), Lonchaba Korytkowski & Ojeda 1971(= Lonchaea Fallén, 1820), Protearomyia Hennig, 1967 (= Priscoearomyia Morge, 1963a) and Togocesa Koçak & Kemal, 2010 (= Lonchaea Fallén, 1820). The following five names represent new species authority details necessary due to the previously used names not meeting ICZN publication standards, or previous mistakes or uncertainties: Priscoearomyia cordillerensis (McAlpine, 1983) (for Protearomyia cordillerensis McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia greciana (McAlpine, 1983) (for Protearomyia greciana McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia martinia (McAlpine, 1983) (for Protearomyia martinia McAlpine, 1962). Lonchaea orientalis MacGowan, 2013 (for Lonchaea orientalis MacGowan, 2007). Neosilba certa (Walker, 1853) (for Neosilba certa (Walker, 1850-1856), Neosilba certa (Walker, 1850) and Neosilba certa (Walker, 1852)). The following four species names are new synonyms: Lonchaea angustitarsis Malloch, 1920a (= Lonchaea deutschi Zetterstedt, 1837), Lonchaea avida McAlpine, 1960 (= Lonchaea choreoides Bezzi, 1923), Lonchaea palpata Czerny, 1934 (= Lonchaea peregrina Becker, 1895), Silba malaysia MacGowan, 2007 (= Silba kuantani MacGowan, this work). The following 12 species names are new combinations: Priscoearomyia cordillerensis (McAlpine, 1983; Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia greciana (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia hermonensis (MacGowan & Freidberg, 2008: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia iberica (MacGowan 2014a: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia jonesi (MacGowan & Reimann, 2021: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia mallochi (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia martinia (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia occidentalis (MacGowan 2016: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia rameli (MacGowan, 2014a: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia trichopleura (McAlpine, 1983: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Priscoearomyia withersi (MacGowan, 2014a: Protearomyia McAlpine, 1962), Silba malaysia (MacGowan 2005a; Lonchaea Fallen, 1820) The following new replacement name was necessary due to homonymy: Silba kuantani MacGowan (for Silba malaysia MacGowan, 2007), The following three species are removed from the Lonchaeidae: Lonchaea albimanus Walker, 1858, Lonchaea brasiliensis Walker, 1853 and Lonchaea discrepans Walker, 1861. A First Reviser action was taken on Neosilba laura and N. lauraea Strikis, 2011 with N. laura being chosen here as the correct original spelling.