Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomic paper
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Corresponding author:
Academic editor: Vladimir Blagoderov
Received: 09 Apr 2015 | Accepted: 02 Jun 2015 | Published: 08 Jun 2015
© 2015 Sarah Oliveira, Fabiano Albertoni, Christopher Borkent, Dalton Amorim
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:
Oliveira S, Albertoni F, Borkent C, Amorim D (2015) First record of Neoempheria Osten Sacken (Diptera, Mycetophilidae) biology in the Neotropical region, with associations between its larvae and fungi. Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e5073. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.3.e5073
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Members of the family Mycetophilidae (Diptera) have life cycles that are typically associated with fungus. Their biology is relatively well known in the Palaearctic, though other regions are poorly known, and there are no associations recorded between mycetophilid immatures and fungi in the Neotropical region. Here we report the first association between a mycetophilid—Neoempheria puncticoxa Edwards—and fungi in this region. Immatures of N. puncticoxa were collected on fungi and some were reared in the laboratory until adult emergence. The immature stages and adult of N. puncticoxa are described and re-described respectively, and high resolution images and illustrations of the habitus, wings, thorax, male and female terminalia, immatures, and in situ specimens are given.
We report the first association between Mycetophilidae and fungi in the Neotropical region.
Immature, Fungivore, Natural History, Biodiversity, Ecology
Mycetophilidae (Diptera) is composed of 233 genera and ~4500 described species from all biogeographic regions (
Mycetophilidae adults are often found in moist environments—usually in damp woods, tunnels, in the cavities under tree roots, and under stream bank overhangs (
A number of papers have been published on the biology of mycetophilids, indicating their association with fungi in the Palearctic and Nearctic (e.g.,
Samples of fungi were collected in two different areas of Brazil, one in the State of Goiás (by FFA) and another in the northeast part of the State of São Paulo (by CJB and SSO). Both these areas have a biome classified as Semi-deciduous Forest, with a dry season from June to September. The fungi samples with mycetophilid larvae were transferred to plastic jars covered by a fine mesh. Samples were misted daily with water to maintain humidity. Five adults emerged from the fungi. All material examined, with the exception of the holotype, was kept pinned, preserved in 80% alcohol, or on slides, and housed in the Diptera collection of the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZSP), São Paulo, Brazil. The holotype of N. puncticoxa was examined at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London, UK (additional information on the holotype is available in
Methods for the preparation of specimens, photos and illustrations follow
Neoempheria puncticoxa Edwards
Immatures reared. 5 larvae, BRAZIL, Goiás, Goiânia, Polyporales fungi collected 22.i.2012, which 2 larvae pupated 05.ii.2012, 2♂ emerged 09.ii.2012, F.F. Albertoni Leg., det. S.S. Oliveira, viii.2013; 3♀, BRAZIL, São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Campus of the University of São Paulo, 21°13'30"S 47°51'01"W, Sparassis fungi collected on 19.iii.2013, adults emerged 05-09.iv.2013, S.S. Oliveira & C.J. Borkent Leg., det. S.S. Oliveira, viii.2013.
Additional adult material examined. N. puncticoxa Edwards holotype ♂ (see
Neoempheria
Neoempheria puncticoxa
(Figs
Neoempheria puncticoxa Edwards, 1940 adult. Male thorax; Ab – abdomen, anp – anepisternum, bas - basisternum, cxI-III – fore-, mid-, and hindcoxae, ha – haltere, ktp – katepisternum, ltg – laterotergite, anp – anepimeron, mep – mesepimeron, mes – metepisternum, mtg – mediotergite, pem – proepimeron, pes – proepisternum, pnt – pronotum, sc – scutum, sctl – scutellum.
Neoempheria puncticoxa Edwards, 1940 prepupal larva.
Redescription of adults
Male (Figs
Female (Figs
Mature larva [Probably fourth instar larva] (Figs
Head capsule relatively well sclerotized (Figs
One pair of prothoracic, and seven pairs of abdominal, lateral spiracles; prothoracic spiracle only slightly larger than abdominal ones. Spiracles on short, scale-like sclerite with a couple of small openings. Intersegmental areas with creeping welts (fleshy lobes slightly elongated across the body bearing rows of denticles – Fig.
Pupa (Figs
Adults. Laterotergite mostly yellow, anterodorsal margin brownish, bare. Mediotergite yellow ventrally, a brownish triangular mark dorsally, bare. Gonocoxite with large dorsal projection extending beyond apex of gonostylus; gonostylus well developed, deeply bifid, inner branch secondarily bifid and nearly bare, a few small spines on inner margin, external branch strongly setose; parameres strongly developed, with a dorsal, membranous, bare projection. Female apical cercomere rounded, ~¼ length of basal cercomere.
Larvae were found on two different species of polypore fungus, indicating that this species can feed on multiple fungi species, as found in other genera of the family (
Larvae of N. puncticoxa crawled over the surface of the fungal fruiting body (sporocarp), moving along slime trails and silk lines (Fig.
The use of immature data for a phylogenetic reconstruction of the relationships within the Mycetophilidae is still in its infancy, though there is growing information on larvae and pupae of different genera (
With increased information on the natural history of this and related Sciaroidea families, it will be possible to gain a better understanding of the evolution of fungus/Sciaroidea associations, as previously explored for the Keroplatidae (
The authors are very thankful to Juliano Marcon Baltazar (Msc., Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS, Brazil) for the fungi identifications. SSO benefited from Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) 2012/51577-3; FFA from FAPESP 2012/02441-1; CJB from a FQRNT Postdoctoral fellowship held during this project; and DSA from CNPq 314371/2009-5 and 457912/2012-0. We also deeply thank Maria Isabel Proti de Andrade Balbi for helping us so amiably with specimen preparation. Jukka Salmela, Olavi Kurina and Vladimir Blagoderov provided very helpful criticisms and suggestions of the manuscript.