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Hi,

This magnificent golden Psychodidae came on the trap during a nocturnal prospecting on the Mediterranean coast.

On insecte.org we think of a Pneumia, perhaps P. nubila?


JC Bartolucci : France : Saint-Chamas : 13250 : 11/10/2023
Altitude : NR - Taille : 4 mm
Réf. : 340451


Thanks in advance

J.C.

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The species I know are from a limited geographical range. I have not yet seen this species on a picture, but maybe a museum specimen fits, than it is genus Tonnoiriella. T. nigricauda is a possibilty, but not sure at all.

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By the way: Pneumia nubila is very different.

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Here you can download an incomplete field guide for Netherlnds and Belgium: https://at-a-lanta.nl/weia/Motmuggen.html
Nigricauda is in it from the Bruxelles Museum.

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Thank you very much for the link to the documents which I did not know. Doing some research and I think I found: Tonnoiriella pulchra.

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It is not pulchra, but maybe nigricauda. Compare the fringes of the wings. I do not know how many species of this genus live in the south of France.

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OK, thank you for your answers. I think it's best to stick to Tonnoiriella sp.

The National Museum of Natural History mentions 4 species in France: Tonnoiriella fontinalis, Tonnoiriella nigricauda, Tonnoiriella pulchra, Tonnoiriella sieberti.

J.C.

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fontinalis and sieberti: I hav no idea how they look, so Tonnoiriella spec indeed is the best choice.

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On the other hand, the coloring of the legs (very ringed here) does not seem to correspond with Tonnoiriella. Also, on insecte.org, we will stick to Psychodinae. Thank you very much again for your answers.

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Hello, after further research, I think of Clytocerus:

https://www.mindat.org/paleoimg.php?id=62276

https://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/insectarium/Clytocerus-spec.-cat39047.html

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The white spots on the wings are indeed Clytocerus-like. Normally the antennae of Clytocerus are very hairy, which is absent here.

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Among the transmitted links, we see that some individuals only have the beginnings of bushy antennae. I think the angle of the photo may hide these first antennal articles. Another criterion that matches is the rings on the legs.

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After making your picture darker it becomes clear it's a Clytocerus, but not one of the four species from the Netherlands.
It is very well possible that there are useful characteristics in leg colouring, but I have not (yet) studied that. In fact no one studies characteristics which are useful for identifying them from pictures, except me. The Spanish pictures you foudn are validated by me, as far as possible. There is very much work to do here!

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Thank you very much and congratulations for the heavy task in which you are engaged with the Psychodidae!