III!. J. Dip/erol. Res. 1Of 1 )20 March 1999

ISSN 1021- 1020© 1999 An International Journal of Dipterological Research

differences between Exechia fusca1804) and Exechia confinis Winnertz, 1863Mycetophilidae)

Morphological(Meigen,(Diptera,

OLA VI KURINA

Kurina, O. 1999. Morphological differences between Exechia fusca (Meigen, 1804)and Exechia cOllfillis Winnertz, 1863 (Diptera, Mycetophilidae). lilt. J. Dipterol. Res.,10(1): 53-57.

The Inorphological differences between two very closed species Exechia fusca andExechia confilJis are discussed. The detailed figures of males and females genitalsare given.

Ola';.:i KltrilJa. Institute of Zoology and Hydrobiology of Tartu UlliGersit)', VallellllJise46, Tartlt 51014, Estonia; Institltte of Zoolog)' and Botan)' of Estonian AgricultureUlJiGersit)', Riia 181, Tartu 51014, Estonia, e-ll1ail.· olaGi@zbi.ee

Ke)' ro'ords. Diptera, Mycetophilidae, Exechia.

Introduction

Exechia Winnertz, 1863 is a nUl11erous and widelydistributed genus among ftmgus gnats. Exechia speciesare distributed in all zoogeographical regions (Laf­foon, 1965; Colless & Liepa, 1973; Matile, 1980,1996; Hackl11an et aI., 1988; Plassmann, 1995). Thereare 61 species recorded in Palaearctic region (Hack­man et aI., 1988; Zaitzev, 1996). Many species areclosely related and they can be distinguished fromeach other by cOl11parison of male genitals. Suchspecies are also Exechia fltsca (Meigen, 1804) andExechia cOllfillis Winnertz, 1863. Chandler (1978)has distinguished Exechia f/lsca group in genus Exechiafor nal11ed two species.

E. fltsca is a holarctic species (Hackl11an et aI.,1988). E. [ol/fil/is is widely distributed in Europe(e. g. Krivosheina et al.. 1986; Hackl11an et al.. 1988;Plassnlann & Schlacht, 1990). Both species areassociated with the fruit bodies of l11acrofungi.According to Hackl11an and Meinander (1979) E.fllsca is polyphagous species. By Eisfelder (1955) itis registered on 128 species of 111acrofungi in Ger-

many. Chandler (1978) nlentioned this species alsoon Polyporaceus fungi. E. confinis is recorded onLactarius piperatus (Plassmann, 1971) and Paxillusinvolutus (Kurina 1994). By Hackman and Mein­ander (1979) Exechia sp. pr. confinis has been foundregularly on Paxillus involutus. According to litera­ture (e. g. Plassmann, 1989; Grundnlann, 1990) theactivity of imagoes is recorded in autumn and win­ter. In Estonia the owerwintering of the species havebeen found in caves (Kurina, 1996).

Material

The 111aterial for the present conu11unication iscollected in 1970-1996 fronl 27 sites in Estonia.Sweep-netting, collecting by exhauster fronl cavesand rearing frol11 nlacrofungi have been used as a111ethods of collecting. Part of the Inaterial is alreadypublished (Kurina, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998), but itis undergoing new critical study. The nlaterial isdeposited in the Institute of Zoology and Botany ofEstonian Agricultural University.

53 11It. J. Dipterologi[ol Research /0 /999

o. K/lrina: Morphological differences between E.\'echia f/lsca and Exechia cOllfillis 55

Figs 5-8. Laterodorsal view of large lateralappendage of gonostylus (5, 6), ventral view of

felnale tenninalia (7, 8).5, 7, Exechia fusca (Meigen, 1804)~ 6, 8, ExechiacOl/fil/is Winnertz, 1863. Scale equal to 0.1 mIn.

Vault. near Orissaare on SaareIllaa Island and Kal­lnistu cave in Tartu. Altogether 39 0' and 10 9 speci­Inens are exaInined.

Additi01/aI IIIattria1st"died. EXtchia co 11fi 11 isWinnertz. 1863 - 1 C). Russia. Sablino Tsarskoselsk.u peshcheri. leg. A. Stackelberg, 02.02.1925, det.A. Stackelberg. 1940. Deposited at the ZoologicalInstitute of Acadel11Y of Sciences, St. Petersburg,Russia.

Discussion

By n1any authors (e. g. Edwards, 1925; Landrock,1927. 1940; Ostroverkhova, Stackelberg, 1969;Krivosheina et aI., 1986) the essential differencebetween E. f/lsca and E. confinis is the yellow lat­eral spots on the first segl11ents of the abdomen ofE. cOl/fillis. The abdol11en of E. fllsca is uniformlyblackish brown. Winnertz (1863) reported the yel­low spots on the third segnlent of the abdol11en ofE. cOllfi11is. Other authors (e. g. Landrock, 1927;Seguy. 1940; Krivosheina et al.. 1986) l11arked thespots on the second segl11ent. Nal11ed characteristicis very variable. in my material few specimens haveno Inentioned spots at all or they are indistinct.

Morphol11etric measurel11ents are widely variableand overlap for these two species, as presented in Table1. Stastically, differences can be detected, but these

Table 1. Measured lengths of wings and legs ofE~f!chia fllsca (n=25) and Exechia confinis (n=25).r-n1, radial-l11edial. crossvei.n; nll?~t., medial petiole;tl' t2' t3' fore. nud and 11lnd tibIa; Itars .1, Itars .2,......... IItars.l, , IIItars.l, , tarsal seg-l11ents of fore, l11id and hind tarsus. The lengths arein millimeters.

Mesaured parts E. f"sca E. confinis

r-111 0.30-0.43 0.33-0.43

m pet. 0.10-0.17 0.11-0.14tl 0.89-1.21 1.07-1.23Itars . 1 1.00-1.39 1.06-1.31Itars . 2 0.59-0.86 0.59-0.83Itars. 3 0.46-0.63 0.44-0.57Itars . 4 0.33-0.46 0.29-0.41

Itars. 5 0.23-0.30 0.23-0.30t2 1.20-1.60 1.31-1.53

Iltars. 1 1.07-1.51 1.17-1.44lI tars. 2 0.57-0.79 0.57-0.70lI tars. 3 0.41-0.57 0.44-0.56Iltars. 4 0.30-0.40 0.29-0.40Iltars. 5 0.21-0.29 0.23-0.29t3 1.57-2.10 1.81-2.0711I tars. 1 l. 04-1. 53 1.11-1.40Illtars. 2 0.47-0.71 0.50-0.63Illtars. 3 0.34-0.4 7 0.37-0.46Ill tars . 4 0.24-0.32 0.26-0.31Ill tars . 5 0.16-0.27 0.17-0.23

5

[6

7

8

Into J. Dipterological Research 10 1999

56 O. Kllrilla: iJlorphological dlfferellces betweell Exechia fusca and Exechia cOllfinis

differences have no significance in detenninationof species. For both species size and coloration canprobably depend on larval nutrition and environ­Inental conditions in larval and pupal stages.The best nlethod for species detennination is COln­parison of genitals. Male hypopygiu111s have beenfigured by: Landrock~ 1927, plate 7, fig., 38;Landrock, 1940, fig.~ 145; Ostroverkhova, 1979,plate 25, fig.~ 8; Krivosheina et aI., plate 41, fig.,1 - E.fusca; Landrock, 1912, fig., 17, 18; 1927,plate 7, fig.~ 25, 1940, fig.~ 146 - E. cOllfinis.Nobody has figured details of inner appendages ofgonostylus for both species, they are important foridentification too. Felnale genitals have been fig­ured by: Lundstronl, 1909, fig., 113, 114; Chan­dler, 1977, fig., 28 - E. fusca; Plasslnann, 1970,fig.~ 14; Chandler, 1977, fig., 29 - E. cOllfillis.More detailed drawings are given by Chandler(1977)~ but only in lateral view. The nlost inlpor­tant difference between fe111ale specitnens are theshape of gonocoxids in ventral view, that nobodyhas figured yet. Differences in lnale and felnalegenitals are analysed in Table 2 with respectivereferations to the figures.

Very close to the two species is Exechia styriacaStrobl, 1898. The species has been fond only inAustria (3d' 29). According to Strobl (1898), thespecies is very silnilar to E.col/fil/is~ and by Strobl(1910) to E. fllsca. In Strobl (1898) it is marked~

that the nlost outstanding difference between E.sfyriaca and E. cOllfillis is almost entirely browncoloration of hind tibia of E. styriaca. Possibly E.styriaca can be synonym to E. cOllfinis, but confir­Ination to this can not be found without type mate­rial.

Acknowledgements

This study has been a part of the research pro­graIn "'Biodiversity of Estonian fauna" in Instituteof Zoology and Botany, University of Tartu. I amgreatly indebted to Mr. Mart Jiissi for reading theInanuscript.

References

Apex of gonocoxid ventrally

Large lateral appendage of gonostylus on basis ofasetose elongated part

Table 2. Differences between genitals of Exechia fusca

(Meigen, 1804) and Exechia co1lfi1lis Winnertz, 1863

Medioventral appendage of gonocoxid

rounded on apex, 111inimum with depression apex, astwice as long as wide, C0I11- long as wide, conlpare fig.pare fig. 1, A~ 2, A.

Chandler, P. J. 1977. Studies of SOlne fungusgnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) including nineadditions to the British list. SystelJlatic ElItOfllolog)',2: 67-93.

Chandler, P. J. 1978. Association with Plants. Fungi.Ill: Stubbs, A. & Chandlar, P. (eds.) A Dipterist'sHalldbool·. The Afllateur ElItOll1ologists, 15: 199­211.

Colless, D. H. & Z. Liepa. 1973. Family Myc­etophilidae. 111: Delfinado, M. D. & Hardy,D. E. (eds.) A Catalog of the Diptera of the Ori­ellfal Regioll. VOIUfllf I. Suborder Nefllatocera.Honolulu: 444-463.

Edwards, F. W. 1925. British Fungus-Gnats (Di­ptera, Mycetophilidae). With a revised GenericClassification of the Family. TrailS. E 11toIII01. Soc.LOlldoll, 73: 505-670.

Eisfelder, I. 1955. Die haufigsten Pilzwohner. Ztschr.PiI.Z1·1I1lde, 18: 1-5; 19: 12-20.

Grundmann, B. 1990. Die Pilzmiickenfauna desHochsauerlandes (Diptera, Nematocera). Deche­niana, 143: 373-389.

Hackman, W. & M. Meinander. 1979. Dipterafeeding as larvae on macrofungi in Finland.£1111/. Zool. Fellll., 16: 50-83.

Hackman, W., Lastovka, P., Matile, L. & R. Vai­sanen. 1988. Family Mycetophilidae. Ill: Soos,A. & Papp, L. (eds.) Catalog//t' of PalaearcticDip/era. Vol. 3. Ceratopogollidae - iW)'cetophili­dat'. Budapest: 220-327.conical, COtllpare fig. 8.

Exechia cOllfillis

with sl11all lobe, conlparefig. 6.

Exechia f/lsca

iWALES

blunt, compare fig. 7~

without lobe, COlllpare fig.5;

- ~-- ---. --_._----~-- --_._-_.-..._-------~--

FE.lfALES

Inner structure connected with cercus

with two bristles on apex, with four bristles on apex,compare fig. I, B~ conlpare fig. 2, B.

Aedeagus

with depression on apex, with snlall tllound on apex,compare fig. I, C~ compare, fig. 2, C.

Apex of large lateral appendage of gonostylus

narrower as inner appen- as wide as inneres append-dages of gonostylus, C0I11- ages of gonostylus, conlparepare fig. 3, 0, E~ fig. 4, 0, E.

111/. J. Dip/erological Research /0 /999

O. Kllrilla: iJ/orphological differellces belween Exechia fllsca and Exechia confinis 57

Krivosheina, N. P., Zaitzev, A. I. & E. B.Yakovlev. 1986. IlIsecls as decolllposers of fllngii/l Ihe fon)sl of the Europeall part of USSR. Mos­cow: 310 pp. (In Russian).

Kurina, O. 1991. Mycetophilidae (Diptera) rearedfroln Inacrofungi in Estonia. Proc. Estolliall Acad.Sci. BioI.. 40: 84-90.

Kurina, O. 1994. New records of Mycetophili­dae (Diptera) reared from 111acrofungi in Esto­nia. Proc. Estollia1l Acad. Sci. BioI., 43: 216­220.

Kurina, O. 1996. Hibernation of fungus gnats(Diptera, Mycetophilidae) in Estonian caves. Stud.Dipterol.. 3: 221-229.

Kurina, O. 1998. Fungus Gnats in Estonia ( Di­ptera: Bolitophilidae, Keroplatidae, Macroceridae,D it 0 n1y iidae. D iadoc idi idae, Mycetophi1idae).Dissertiol. L1lliversit. Tartuell .. Tartu, 38: 200 pp.

Laffoon, J. L. 1965. Falllily MycetophiIidae(Fungivoridae). Ill: Stone. A. et a1. (eds.) A catalogof the Diptera of A Inerica 1Iorth of if!exico. Wash­ington: 169-229.

Landrock, K. 1912. Neue oder wenig bekanntePilzn1iicken. Briell. EIII. Ztg., 31: 175-185.

Landrock, K. 1927. Fungivoridae (Mycetophili­dae). Ill: Lindner, E. (ed.) Die Fliegen derPalaarctischell Region, 8: 1-196.

Landrock, K. 1940. Zweifliiger oder Diptera. VI:Pilzn1iicken oder Fungivoridae (Mycetophilidae).Ill: DahL F. (ed.) Die Tier-&Jelt Deulschlallds, 38:1 -166.

Lundstrom, C. 1909. Beitrage zur Kenntnis derDipteren Finnlands. IV. Supplement Mycetophi­lidae. Acta Soc. Fau1Ia Flora Fe1l1l., 32: 1-63.

Matile, L. 1980. Superfamily Mycetophiloidea. 111:Crosskey. R. W. (ed.) Catalogue of tht Dipteraof the Afrotropical Rtgioll, London: 216-230.

Matile, L. 1996. Falllily Mycetophilidae. Ill: Aus­tralasian/Oceanian Diptera Catalog - Web ver­sion. Last revised 18.08.1996., http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/ento/aocat/myceto/htnl1, accessed19.01.1998.

Ostroverkhova, G. P. 1979. Fungus-gnats (Di­ptera, Mycetophiloidea) of Siberia. Tonlsk: 308pp. (In Russian).

Ostroverkhova, G. P. & A. A. Stackelberg. 1969.Mycetophilidae - fungus gnats. Ill: Key of IlIsectsof Europeall part of USSR, Leningrad, 5(1): 265­320. (In Russian).

Plassmann, E. 1970. Zur Taxonolnie der Fungi­voridae (Diptera). Sellci'enbergialla BioI., 51: 393­400.

Plassmann, E. 1971. Uber die Fungivoriden-Fauna(Diptera) des N aturparkes Hoher Vogelsberg.Oberhessische Natur-&Jiss. Zeitschr., 38: 53-87.

Plassmann, E. 1989. Winteraktivitat von adultenPilzllllicken eines Birkenbestandes des ostlichenschleswig-holsteinischen Hiigellandes (Diptera,Nelllatocera, Mycetophilidae). Elltot1l0faulla, 10:257-272.

Plassmann, E. 1995. Slidamerikanische Pilzmiickenin der Zoologischen Staatssamlll1ung Mlinchen(Diptera, Nematocera, Mycetophilidae). £1ItOl110­faulla, 16: 369-372.

Plassmann, E. & W. Schlacht. 1990. Ein Beitragzur Pilzmiickenfauna Spaniens mit Beschreibungzweier neuer Arten (Diptera, N ematocera, Myc­etophilidae). Elltol1l0faulla, 11: 141-151.

Seguy, E. 1940. Faune de France. Dipteres Nellla­toceres, Paris, 36: 365 pp.

Strobl, B. G. 1898. Die Dipteren von Steiermark.4 (Nachtr. I). /J/itt. Natur-&J. Fer. Steierlll., 34:192-298.

Strobl, B. G. 1910. Die Dipteren von Steiermark.5 (Nachtr. 11). Mitt. .iVatur-&J. Fer. Steierr1l., 46:45-293.

Winnertz, J. 1863. Beitrag zu einer Monographieder Pilznliicken (Mycetophilidae). Verh. Zool.­Bot. Ges. IV/ell, 13: 637-964.

Zaitzev, A. I. 1996. Six new species of fungusgnats of the tribe Exechiini from Sakhalin andKuril Islands (Diptera, Mycetophilidae). lilt. J.Dipterol. Rts., 7: 67-70.

Rectived 10.111.1999

lilt. J. Dipterological Research 10 /999

54 O. K/lril/a: l1orphological differences between Exechia f/lsca and Exechia confinis

A

3

D

E

~D

4

B

A

B

2Figs 1-4. Ventral view of gonocoxid (1, 2) and ventral view of gonostylus (3, 4).

1, 3, Exechia f/lsca (Meigen, 1804); 2, 4, Exechia cOllfillis Winnertz, 1863.

A - Inedioventral appendage of gonocoxid; B - inner structure connected with cerci; C - aedeagus; D ­elongated asetose part of lateral appendage of gonostylus; E - inner appendages of gonostylus. Scale equal to

0.1 mm.

Exechia fusca (Meigen, 1804)

118 6' and 90 9 specilnens were reared by Inefron1 27 species (42 fruit bodies) of Agaricales s. I..Material was collected at Islet of Abruka near Saa­ren1aa Island, Viidun1ae Nature Reserve, Orissaareon Saarel11aa Island, Puhtu near Virtsu, Vonnsi Is­land, Oonga southeast of Haapsalu, Rannan1etsa southof Parnu, Nigula Nature Reserve, Tanlsa-Altll1ae nearElva, Vapral11ae northeast of Elva, Tiksoja near Tartu,Jarvselj a southeast of Tartu, Kohala northeast ofRakvere and Varudi northeast of Rakvere. 36 ()specil11ens were sweep netted by Ine at Orissaare,Piiri on Muhu Island, Riguldi, Kaselnetsa south ofSaku near Tallinn, Oonga, Nigula Nature ReserveTaevaskoja north of Polva, Jarvselja Tiksoja, Rahninear Tartu, Voore east of Jogeva and Kohala. I 6'

specinlen was collected by Prof. H. Relnll1 at Kaariku,southwest of Otepaa, but Inethod used is not known.2 6' speciInens collected by nle with a exhauster fromKahnistu cave in Tartu. Altogether 157 6' and 90 9specimens are exan1ined.

E:>""echia confinis Winnertz, 1863

6 6' and 10<;> specin1ens were reared by Ine fron15 fruit bodies of Paxillus involutus, collected atPallasll1aa on Muhu Island, Oonga, Pikasilla north­east of Torva, Talnsa-Altn1ae and Kohala. 106' speci­n1ens were sweep netted by 111e at Orissaare Oonga,Nigula Nature Reserve, Melliste southeast of Tartuand Maetaguse south of Johvi. 23 C) specil11enscollected by 111e with exhauster froln Maasi Castle

lilt. J. Dipttrulugical Restarch 10 1999

o. Kltrilla: Morphological differences between E:r:echia fusca and Exechia confillis 55

Figs 5-8. Laterodorsal view of large lateralappendage of gonostylus (5, 6), ventral view of

felnale tenninalia (7, 8).5, 7, Exechia fllsca (Meigen, 1804); 6, 8, ExechiacOllfillis Winnertz, 1863. Scale equal to 0.1 mIn.

Vault. near Orissaare on Saarelllaa Island and Kal­111istll cave in Tartu. Altogether 39 0' and 10 9 speci­111enS are exalllined.

Additiollal IlIattrial studied. Extchia cOllfi11 isWinneI1z. 1863 - 1 0'. Russia. Sablino Tsarskoselsk.II peshcheri. leg. A. Stackelberg 02.02.1925, de1.A. Stackelberg. 1940. Deposited at the ZoologicalInstitute of Acaden1Y of Sciences S1. Petersburg,Russia.

Discussion

By 111any authors (e. g. Edwards, 1925; Landrock,1927. 1940; Ostroverkhova, Stackelberg, 1969;Krivosheina et aI., 1986) the essential differencebetween E. fllsca and E. cOJ/finis is the yellow lat­eral spots on the first seglnents of the abdolnen ofE. cOllfillis. The abdolllen of E. fllsca is uniformlyblackish brown. Winnertz (1863) reported the yel­low spots on the third seglnent of the abdomen ofE. cOllfillis. Other authors (e. g. Landrock, 1927;SegllY. 1940; Krivosheina et al.. 1986) 111arked thespots on the second seglnen1. Nallled characteristicis very variable. in Iny material few specilnens haveno lnentioned spots at all or they are indistinct.

Morpholl1etric n1easuren1ents are widely variableand overlap for these two species as presented in Table1. Stastically, differences can be detected but these

Table 1. Measured lengths of wings and legs ofExechia fusca (n=25) and Exechia confinis (n=25).r-n1, radial-Inedial. crossvei.n; n1J?~t., Inedial petiole;tl' t2' t3' fore. nlld and 11lnd tIbIa; Itars .l, Itars .2,......... IItars .l, , IIItars .l, , tarsal seg-111ents of fore, lnid and hind tarsus. The lengths arein millilneters.

Mesaured parts E. fusca E. cOllfinis

r-111 0.30-0.43 0.33-0.43

m pet. 0.10-0.17 0.11-0.14tl 0.89-1.21 1. 07-1.23Itars . I 1.00-1.39 1.06-1.31Itars . 2 0.59-0.86 0.59-0.83Itars . 3 0.46-0.63 0.44-0.57Itars . 4 0.33-0.46 0.29-0.41Itars . 5 0.23-0.30 0.23-0.30t2 1.20-1.60 1.31-1.53Il tars . I 1.07-1.51 1.17-1.44II tars . 2 0.57-0.79 0.57-0.70Il tars . 3 0.41-0.57 0.44-0.56II tars . 4 0.30-0.40 0.29-0.40II tars . 5 0.21-0.29 0.23-0.29t3 1.57-2.10 1.81-2.07

Illtars. 1 1.04-1.53 1.11-1.40IlI tars . 2 0.47-0.71 0.50-0.63IlI tars . 3 0.34-0.47 0.37-0.46IlI tars . 4 0.24-0.32 0.26-0.31Illtars. 5 0.16-0.27 0.17-0.23

5

[6

7

8

lnt. J. Dipterological Restarch /0 /999