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Posted by Juergen Peters on 21-01-2011 08:36

Hello!

A nightly 2 mm Psychodidae from our wintergarten last weekend (northwest Germany). In the gallery I only see Psychoda alternata with such spotted wings (?).

Edited by Juergen Peters on 05-02-2011 20:20

Posted by Gunnar M Kvifte on 22-01-2011 16:08

You are probably right, P. alternata seems to be the most common of the Psychoda (Tinearia) species. The related and superficially identical species, P. (T.) lativentris does also occur in Europe, but is not taken as often. The two are easy to tell apart on the shape of the female subgenital plate. http://diptera.info/forum/viewthread.php?forum_id=5&thread_id=22261 is an example of alternata.

Posted by Juergen Peters on 22-01-2011 20:02

Gunnar M Kvifte wrote:
You are probably right, P. alternata seems to be the most common of the Psychoda (Tinearia) species. The related and superficially identical species, P. (T.) lativentris does also occur in Europe, but is not taken as often.

Many thanks, Gunnar!

Posted by Louis Boumans on 05-02-2011 14:59

I am not 100% sure, but I am inclined to think this is Psychoda erminea. Psychoda (Tinearia) alternata has clear hair bushes, visible as dark sports, at the distal ends of the wing veins. Now these hairs could wear off, but as the spots on the central part of the wings are still clear, that does not seem a plausible explanation here.

Ps erminea can be found early in spring, on garden compost for example. A habitus picture of this species (by Niek van Wijk) can be seen here:

http://radon.uio....rcoufi.pdf

Edited by Louis Boumans on 05-02-2011 15:00

Posted by Louis Boumans on 05-02-2011 15:07

PS: In the link Gunnar provided you can actually see that in alternata the wing margin spots are in fact much more visible than the spots on the wing surface. This reinforces my belief Juergen's specimen is erminea.

Posted by Juergen Peters on 05-02-2011 20:19

Louis Boumans wrote:
PS: In the link Gunnar provided you can actually see that in alternata the wing margin spots are in fact much more visible than the spots on the wing surface. This reinforces my belief Juergen's specimen is erminea.

Many thanks, Louis. The markings seem in deed different.

Posted by Gunnar M Kvifte on 05-02-2011 20:47

Hm, erminea is a species I don't have in my collections yet. I would be very grateful for specimens in alcohol.

Posted by Juergen Peters on 05-02-2011 21:14

Hello, Gunnar!

Gunnar M Kvifte wrote:
Hm, erminea is a species I don't have in my collections yet. I would be very grateful for specimens in alcohol.

I am sorry, but I did not collect it. I am making photos only (and I can't remember to have found a spotted specimen like this, 99,9% of the Psychodas here are plainly couloured).

Posted by Louis Boumans on 05-02-2011 23:13

#10

I only have a couple of females .. and they have been in KOH. But I can spare one or two if you're interested, Gunnar.

The good thing about them is that they rarely come alone, so Juergen is likely to find some more in his wintergarten.

Juergen, I could find any better pictures of erminea on the net, so I hope you archive these in a place where we can find them back!

Posted by Gunnar M Kvifte on 06-02-2011 13:36

#11

I have to ask somebody how KOH affects DNA.
And of course, find P. erminea as new to Norway!

Posted by Louis Boumans on 06-02-2011 17:17

#12

Oh no, there won't be any DNA left, the soft tissues are completely dissolved. I have some unsorted material from a compost heap - mainly surcoufi - but that has been in 70% EtOH for 2 years so not ideal either. Two of my neighbours have well-established compost heaps, so I'll have a look when spring comes!