Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomy & Inventories
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Corresponding author: Ina Gorban (inagorban@gmail.com)
Academic editor: Vladimir Blagoderov
Received: 18 Mar 2024 | Accepted: 03 Jun 2024 | Published: 14 Jun 2024
© 2024 Ina Gorban, Kai Heller, Olavi Kurina
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Gorban I, Heller K, Kurina O (2024) The number of Estonian black fungus gnats (Diptera, Sciaridae) doubled: the first records of 64 species. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e123368. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e123368
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Adult sciarid flies are small to medium-sized, delicate insects, typically black in colour and belonging to the superfamily Sciaroidea within the order Diptera. They exhibit a uniform appearance. Distinguishing them from other families of Sciaroidea is primarily achieved through their typical wing venation. Sciaridae are common in both natural and semi-natural ecosystems, where they play a significant role in decomposition during their larval stage. Prior to the current study, only one specific research project had been conducted on Sciaridae in Estonia. The number of sciarid species identified in Estonia was set at 67.
This research, conducted in north-eastern Estonia during 2015 and 2016, presents a comprehensive overview of Sciaridae diversity, shedding light on previously understudied aspects of Estonia's biodiversity. A total of 1038 specimens were identified, representing 91 species, amongst which 64 were previously unknown to Estonia. Notably, Corynoptera winnertzi (Mohrig, 1993) emerged as the most abundant species, followed by Corynoptera irmgardis (Lengersdorf, 1930), Corynoptera crassistylata (Frey, 1948) and Bradysia trivittata (Staeger, 1840). The genus Corynoptera Winnertz, 1867 exhibited the highest diversity, consistent with findings from broader European studies. This study underscores the importance of ongoing surveys for better understanding the distribution and composition of Sciaridae species in Estonia, emphasising the need for further research to delve into the intricate ecology and biology of these insects.
Sciaridae, Estonian black fungus gnats, biodiversity
The Sciaridae, commonly known as black fungus gnats, is one of the most diverse groups of flies, with a global distribution and a significant presence in Europe. These flies are typically small to medium-sized, ranging from 0.8 to 7.0 mm in body length and have long legs and antennae. While the family can be distinguished by the characteristic venation of their wings, identifying individual species can be challenging due to their similar appearance (
Adult Sciaridae are commonly found in shaded environments such as forests and swamps, while their larvae typically inhabit soil, leaf litter or dead wood (
In Europe, 700 species of sciarids have been registered (
All material of the present communication was collected with Malaise traps. We used "Czech type" traps from Ento Sphinx (http://www.entosphinx.cz/) with reconstructed collecting heads (see
Collecting localities are defined as forest patches within agricultural landscape. The numbers of forest patches correspond to those in
A selection of sampled forest patches and installed Malaise traps (MT). A Forest patch No. 26 is dominated by conifers and surrounded by arable land; B Forest patch No. 8 is temporarily wet and dominated by brush-wood; C Forest patch No. 18 harbours a lot of decaying wood; D MT set up in forest patch No. 8; E MT set up in forest patch No. 15; F MT set up in forest patch No. 4. Photos by O. Kurina.
Moulded slides were prepared for the identification of most Sciaridae male specimens. However, some were identified under a binocular microscope due to their visible differences, making moulded slides unnecessary. For the slide preparation, a small drop of Euparal, a mounting medium, was placed on to a clean microscope slide. The intact specimen was then carefully transferred on to the drop of Euparal and a coverslip was placed over it. These prepared slides were examined under a microscope, allowing for detailed observation of key morphological features.
The studied material was catalogued and deposited in the Kai Heller private collection, in the collection of Life Sciences Center of Vilnius University, Lithuania and in the insect collection IZBE – Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences (former Institute of Zoology and Botany), Tartu, Estonia.
The Simpson’s index of diversity for forest patches was calculated using the software EstimateS, Version 9.1.0. (
The voucher specimens data underpinning our research are available from a public dataset at https://doi.org/10.15156/BIO/2959324 (
A total of 1038 specimens were identified, representing 91 species, amongst which 64 were previously unknown in Estonia (Table
Sciaridae collected in north-east Estonia 2015–2016. The numbers of forest patches correspond to those in Fig.
Species | Forest patch number | Total no. of specimens | ||||||||
3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 26 | ||
Bradysia affinis (Zetterstedt, 1838)* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Bradysia arcula Vilkamaa, Salmela & Hippa, 2007* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
Bradysia breviallata Mohrig & Menzel, 1992* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Bradysia excelsa Menzel & Mohrig, 1998* | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
Bradysia fenestralis (Zetterstedt, 1838)* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Bradysia fungicola (Winnertz, 1867)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Bradysia hercyniae (Winnertz, 1869)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Bradysia hilariformis Tuomikoski, 1960* | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
Bradysia inusitata Tuomikoski, 1960* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Bradysia lobulifera Frey, 1948* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Bradysia pectoralis (Staeger, 1840) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Bradysia pilistriata Frey, 1948* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Bradysia tilicola (Loew, 1850) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Bradysia trivittata (Staeger, 1840) | 5 | 15 | 2 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 61 | |
Bradysia vagans (Winnertz, 1868)* | 8 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 20 | |||||
Camptochaeta camptochaeta (Tuomikoski, 1960) | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
Claustropyga brevichaeta (Mohrig & Antonova, 1978) | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Claustropyga subcorticis (Mohrig & Krivosheina, 1985)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Corynoptera blanda (Winnertz, 1867)* | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||||||
Corynoptera boletiphaga (Lengersdorf, 1940) | 1 | 26 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 46 | ||||
Corynoptera crassistylata (Frey, 1948)* | 45 | 46 | 91 | |||||||
Corynoptera curvata Mohrig & Mamaev, 1987* | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Corynoptera defecta (Frey, 1948)* | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Corynoptera fatigans (Johannsen, 1912)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Corynoptera flavicauda (Zetterstedt, 1855)* | 4 | 1 | 5 | |||||||
Corynoptera forcipata (Winnertz, 1867) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||||
Corynoptera furcifera Mohrig & Mamaev, 1987* | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||||||
Corynoptera involuta (Frey, 1948)* | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 19 | ||
Corynoptera irmgardis (Lengersdorf, 1930) | 7 | 34 | 52 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 115 | ||
Corynoptera melanochaeta Mohrig & Menzel, 1992 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Corynoptera obscuripila Tuomikoski, 1960* | 2 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |||||
Corynoptera parvula (Winnertz, 1867)* | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 19 | ||||
Corynoptera parvulaformis Mohrig, 1985* | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Corynoptera piniphila Lengersdorf, 1940* | 13 | 13 | ||||||||
Corynoptera praeforcipata Mohrig & Mamaev, 1987* | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
Corynoptera saetistyla Mohrig & Krivosheina, 1985 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Corynoptera subdentata Mohrig, 1985* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Corynoptera subforcipata Mohrig & Menzel, 1990* | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Corynoptera subparvula Tuomikoski, 1960* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Corynoptera subtilis (Lengersdorf, 1929)* | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 21 | |||
Corynoptera tridentata Hondru, 1968 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||||||
Corynoptera unidentata (Hippa & Vilkamaa, 1994) | 8 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 46 | ||
Corynoptera winnertzi Mohrig, 1993* | 310 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 313 | |||||
Cratyna (Cra.) ambigua (Lengersdorf, 1934)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Cratyna (Cra.) cryptospina (Rudzinski, 1993)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Cratyna (Cra.) pernitida (Edwards, 1915)* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Cratyna (Pey.) vagabunda (Winnertz, 1867)* | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 25 | ||
Cratyna (Spa.) falcifera (Lengersdorf, 1933) | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 16 | ||
Cratyna (Spa.) nobilis (Winnertz, 1867) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||||
Ctenosciara hyalipennis (Meigen, 1804) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Dichopygina intermedia (Mohrig & Krivosheina, 1982)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Dolichosciara flavipes (Meigen, 1804)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Epidapus atomarius (De Geer, 1778)* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Epidapus gracilis (Walker, 1848)* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Epidapus microthorax (Börner, 1903)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Epidapus schillei (Börner, 1903)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Leptosciariella brevipalpa (Mohrig & Menzel, 1992) | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Leptosciariella dimera (Tuomikoski, 1960)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Leptosciariella fuscipalpa (Mohrig & Mamaev, 1979) | 5 | 1 | 6 | |||||||
Leptosciariella rejecta (Winnertz, 1867)* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
Leptosciariella scutellata (Staeger, 1840)* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Leptosciariella subpilosa (Edwards, 1925) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Leptosciariella subspinulosa (Edwards, 1925)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Leptosciariella trochanterata (Zetterstedt, 1851)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Leptosciariella yerburyi (Freeman, 1983)* | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 9 | |||||
Leptospina truncata (Tuomikoski, 1960)* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
Lycoriella acutostylia Mohrig & Menzel, 1990* | 1 | 10 | 1 | 12 | ||||||
Lycoriella brevipila Tuomikoski, 1960* | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||
Lycoriella conspicua (Winnertz, 1867)* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Lycoriella lundstromi (Frey, 1948) | 2 | 2 | ||||||||
Lycoriella micria Mohrig & Menzel, 1990* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Prosciara prosciaroides (Tuomikoski, 1960) | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||
Pseudolycoriella brunnea (Bukowski & Lengersdorf, 1936)* | 3 | 10 | 13 | |||||||
Pseudolycoriella subbruckii (Mohrig & Hövemeyer, 1992) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Scatopsciara atomaria (Zetterstedt, 1851) | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||
Scatopsciara calamophila Frey, 1948 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||
Scatopsciara edwardsi Freeman, 1983* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Scatopsciara fritzi Mohrig & Menzel, 1992* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Scatopsciara vitripennis (Meigen, 1818)* | 11 | 11 | ||||||||
Sciara flavimana Zetterstedt, 1851* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Sciara hebes (Loew, 1870) | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||
Sciara hemerobioides (Scopoli, 1763) | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Sciara ruficauda Meigen, 1818* | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Trichosia caudata (Walker, 1848) | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||
Trichosia confusa Menzel & Mohrig, 1997 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Trichosia edwardsi (Lengersdorf, 1930)* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
Trichosia lengersdorfi Heller, Köhler & Menzel, 2016* | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
Trichosia splendens Winnertz, 1867* | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
Xylosciara heptacantha Tuomikoski, 1957* | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||
Xylosciara misella (Frey, 1948)* | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||
Zygoneura sciarina Meigen, 1830* | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Our research presents a comprehensive and updated overview of the diversity and distribution of Sciaridae species in Estonia, which was previously understudied. The results highlight a greater diversity of fungus gnats in Estonia than previously thought, underscoring the importance of ongoing surveys to enhance our understanding of the composition and distribution of these insects.
Our research highlights the dominance of the genus Corynoptera, which was found to be the most diverse with 25 species in Estonia. The high abundance of Corynoptera species is consistent with previous studies, which have shown that this genus is commonly found in Europe (
Significantly, our study revealed that the majority of identified species were represented by 10 or fewer individuals, whereas only a few species had more than 50 individuals. Amongst the recorded species, 29 and 19 were represented by singletons and doubletons, respectively. This suggests a much higher species richness and emphasises the necessity of surveying a large number of individuals to fully capture the diversity of insect populations, as rare species may be easily overlooked. When comparing the different forest patches, most of them have Simpson's index of diversity (D) over 0.8, indicating a high probability that two randomly collected individuals belong to different species (Table
Basic data of the sampled forest patches near Lasila, north-east Estonia along with summarised results of the collected Sciaridae. The Simpson’s index of diversity is calculated using the following equation: D = 1 - ∑ n (n-1) / N (N-1) where n represents the number of individuals of each species in all samples of a specific trap and N is the total number of specimens of all species collected by that trap. The index is not calculated for forest patch No. 4 because the trap was repeatedly destroyed during the collecting period, rendering the data incomparable. The forest patch area and distance are sourced from
Forest patch number |
3 |
4 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
15 |
18 |
26 |
Coordinates |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Area (ha) |
0.56 |
1.75 |
0.41 |
0.82 |
1.06 |
0.07 |
0.73 |
1.23 |
0.13 |
Distance to closest patch (m) |
14 |
30 |
30 |
10 |
10 |
16 |
18 |
8 |
151 |
Collected specimens |
412 |
8 |
109 |
107 |
158 |
84 |
39 |
83 |
37 |
Species |
26 |
8 |
24 |
26 |
30 |
30 |
19 |
30 |
17 |
Singletons per Malaise trap |
13 |
8 |
14 |
14 |
13 |
16 |
12 |
16 |
11 |
Singletons per project |
3 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Unique species per project |
4 |
0 |
7 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
Simpson’s index of diversity |
0.42 |
NA |
0.86 |
0.75 |
0.86 |
0.94 |
0.93 |
0.94 |
0.87 |
Olavi Kurina was supported by institutional research funding from the Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia and funding from the Estonian Research Council (TT14). We are grateful to Kessy Abarenkov from the University of Tartu, Estonia, for her support in data processing and uploading to public repositories. Pekka Vilkamaa (Helsinki, Finland), Hans-Georg Rudzinski (Schwanewede, Germany) and Rob Deady (York, UK) suggested valuable improvements to the manuscript.
The list of all studied specimens of Sciaridae collected from north-eastern Estonia, 2015-2016.