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What can be said about this one?

location: Porto, Portugal
date: 04/03/2010

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Strange.

Either a curious Empidid or a Therevid, I'd guess.
No Rhagionidae


Theo

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Thanks Theo.:) I'm a little bit confused about this one:|

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Wiedemanniinae (Empid)

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Rhagionidae, I suspect Ptiolina.

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Not Ptiolina. Can you get me a close up of the antenna (lateral view), or better, the specimen (;))?

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Can I play? Vermileo sp. Based on wing, body is quite different.

Walter

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No, cell cup is closed in Vermilionidae.

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Thank you guys for your effort!

Paul, the photo below is the best I can do. But I'm sure I can send the specimen to you.:)

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Hmm, difficult to see enough detail about its segmentation...

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Nevermind, I'll try to send the specimen soon.

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Very interesting specimen. I cannot fit it in the genera currently covered by the Manual op Palaearctic Diptera, at least not on the basis of these pictures. Arthroceras appears to be closest: 4 spp., A. gadi (Paramonov), A. japonicum Nagatomi, A. leptis (Osten-Sacken), A. rubrifrons (Nagatomi); from the Siberian part of Russia and Japan.

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What a mystery this turned out to be.:D

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Hi Paul,

You had it right (as taxonomy currently stands): it is Ptiolina sp.

I have submitted a manuscript that shows that Ptiolina, as currently defined, is paraphyletic. This particular specimen should actually be called Omphalophora sp. This is on the basis of many consistent features (including DNA); most evident here is the position of the R5, which is posterior to the wing tip. So you can call it Ptiolina for now, but beware of upcoming change.

It is a great group. Cheers!

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Hi again Rui and Paul,

Another difference between some species of Omphalophora (such as this one) and Ptiolina spp. is the condition of cup. In Omphalophora, cup may be open or closed. Whereas, as far as I know, Ptiolina always has a closed cup.

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Thank you very much for the information Peter! What species are most likely for this specimen to belong to?

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After examining the specimen and comparing with the descriptions of Narchuk it appears that Ptiolina cinereofasciata is closest. However, it might well be a new species and since this was a female I can only urge you to try to find a male (or preferably males), too.

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Great, thanks a lot Paul!:D Do you think this time of the year they are still around? If so I can try to go to the place where I found it soon.:)

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Three and a half months later? Probably not. Still, perhaps you can find other nice goodies if you try anyway. ;)

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Yes, I'll try, thanks!

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On the last 23rd I went to the place where I found this species and I managed to collect 7 specimens.

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Below you can see the 7 genitalia of all specimens. Are there any males among them?

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At least no. 3-7. Not certain about no. 2 in this view.

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Great! Next week I'll send them to you, if it's ok.

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It is. ;)

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They arrived and it appears we have a problem...

I looked at the specimens and immediately was not happy with Ptiolina (sensu stricto or sensu lato) anymore. It just did not feel right. So I ran it through Majer's key to the genera in the Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. The shape of the antennae, with enlarged flagellum, rules out some genera. The next split in the key is whether the laterotergite is bare or setose. Setose laterotergites ar found in Symphoromyia, Rhagio and Chrysopilus, not in Ptiolina. These specimens have a setose laterotergite! Checking other genera I see that it might have something to do with Spatulina. However, in Europe there is only one, rather enigmatic species. I have not been able to find a recent description that includes the laterotergite, but apparently the mid tibiae have two long spurs, the other tibiae should not have those. A second species of Spatulina was described from China and this species has a setose laterotergite. The laterotergite should be bare in Spatulina according to Majer's key. The Chinese species (one specimen only!) lacks the hind legs but the one remaining mid leg has two long spurs on the tibia. The Portuguese specimens have two long spurs on tibiae of both the mid legs and the hind legs.

Perhaps Peter Kerr and Majer can shed some light on this.

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Wow, quite interesting. Nice job Rui! Yes, Spatulina engeli Szilady is enigmatic. From what is known, it is a Ptiolina (and I synonymized these genera), but additional evidence may be used to support this idea or otherwise, certainly. Having fresh specimens helps!!

There is little evidence that the damaged Chinese specimen is Spatulina. See my comments in Kerr (2010). Again, more specimens would help.

The fact that it has a setose laterotergite and tibial spur formula of 0:2:2 is remarkable, given the antennal morphology. Stylospania is a monotypic chrysopiline genus found in the Philipines (a single specimen) that has a setose laterotergite, 0:2:2 tibial spurs, and stylate antennae. This is the only genus that is known to have this suite of character states, afaik.

A good synapomorphy for the Chrysopilinae is the presence of femoral scales (Kerr 2010: figs. 65, 66). These are often difficult to see because they are often the same color as the leg and lie flat. It is worth checking for, anyway. I'm beginning to believe that this is what you have. Very unusual, in any case.

Paul, perhaps we can work on it together! I'd like to see more of this, I'm sure it'd make a worthwhile paper!

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Well, you can start with sending me an eprint of that 2010 paper, because I did not see that one yet. I must admit I had already forgotten it was published, though I retweeted the Zootaxa announcement #dipera_info. When I return to the office the week after next (the South of the country comes to a stand-still here because of the carnaval so I might just as well take the whole week off) I can check against the comments and the figures. One of the most conspicuous things about the antannae in these specimens are that there is virtually no segmentation visble after the pedicel, though there is a small dorsal seta in the area where you would expect transition between the first and second flagellar segment.

Peter, did you see the Spatulina and it does not have setose laterotergites?

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Those are great news!!! Thank you! I’ll try to collect more specimens.
Peter, I would also be interested in a digital copy of your work on the phylogeny and classification of Rhagionidae.
Below you can see a photo of the habitat.

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Well, the effort was splendid already. Now let's see if we can even expand. Is it all dry area or are there humid patches as well? One of the Dutch localities had Ptiolina on humid moss patches on trees, presumable near the larval habitat.

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This species was found in a slope in which plants like Ulex sp. and heather grow. The most abundant trees in this place are eucalyptus, which cover a big area. In the valley there’s a small river in which margins one can find some agricultural fields, oaks, willows, etc. There are also small streams that run down the slope. Besides the river there are no wet zones that I’m aware of and it seems to me that this species is clearly associated to the driest place you can see in the images.

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Satellite image of the place. The red spot marks the area where the flies were collected.

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I’ve captured this scene of a Pisaura mirabilis spider feeding on a specimen.:)

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The spider probably also knows that it is something special. ;)

There is eucalyptus tree there. Next you tell me the flies wre probably imported with eucalyptus saplings...

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Brilliant!