Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Mycetophila?

Posted by victorengel on 13-01-2021 22:25
#9

John Carr wrote:
Both Mycetophila fisherae and M. unipunctata lack anterodorsal bristles on the hind tibia.

Laffoon, Jean L. 1957. A revision of the Nearctic species of Fungivora (Diptera, Mycetophilidae). Iowa State College Journal of Science 31(2):141-340.


I was reading through the paper to understand what the anterodorsal bristles are. It says, "The mid and hind tibiae bear a number of stout bristles arranged in longitudinal rows (Figs. 7, 8). Starting with the dorsal row and moving counterclockwise around the left tibia as seen from the distal aspect, these bristles are referred to as the dorsals, anterodorsals, anteriors, ventrals, and posteriors. The latter are weaker than the others." Counterclockwise around the left tibia to me is easier to interpret as outward dorsally around to inward ventrally. That way it applies to both sides. Unfortunately, the illustration has a leg unconnected to the body, so the question of which ones are the dorsal row is unclear. I think if the legs are held back, the dorsal ones are the dorsal ones, i.e., sticking straight up. The anterior ones would be the ones sticking out. If the legs are held out, the anterior ones would be pointing forward. So the anterodorsal bristles would be between these two rows.

If I'm interpreting this correctly, then I don't see anterodorsal bristles on either of my photos. Rather, I see a row of dorsals and a row of anteriors.

I assume the setulae are just the smaller hairs, and on my photos are nearly in line with the dorsal bristles, just barely closer to the body. Am I identifying these hairs correctly?

By the way, I used an online service to convert the linked document to a searchable one. Is that something that can be uploaded here? It's an 18 MB searchable PDF file.