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Photo#383021
short-winged fly - Boletina

short-winged fly - Boletina
Dixville, Coos County, New Hampshire, USA
April 6, 2010
Size: 4mm
Found in leaf litter.

Images of this individual: tag all
short-winged fly - Boletina short-winged fly - Boletina short-winged fly - Boletina short-winged fly - Boletina short-winged fly - Boletina short-winged fly - Boletina short-winged fly - Boletina

Unnamed as of c. 1980
MND says one species of Boletina is dimorphic in wing length. This is the short-winged form, wing half as long as abdomen. The species was undescribed when that chapter was written. I don't know if it has been described since c. 1980.

 
That's a long time
to have specimens without ever getting them described. If it's still undescribed, I wonder if that's common to take so long.

Hmmmmm....
Pretty sure this is not a Mycetophilidae, but rather a Sciaridae...I could be wrong though...

 
Differences
This fly has moderately long tibial spurs, no eye bridge, and an angled R-M crossvein.

 
Well....
Sciarids do have tibial spurs (and the ones on this specimen seem normal, not elongate) and not all species have an eye bridge (especially apterous or subapterous forms - MND). The wing venation character is interesting, but on insects with shortened wings sometimes these characters are distorted. The antennae are very sciarid-like, as is the general coloration and mouthparts. I am going to stick with Sciaridae as my guess....hopefully someone will confirm.

Moved
Moved from Flies.
John, I saved the specimen, and will ask if anyone at UNH can help with this one.

Boletina
This is probably a highly pregnant female of Boletina (Mycetophilidae, Sciophilinae), a large genus for which the old keys prove unsatisfactory. I hope one of the fly experts will comment.

Gnat, I think
Long coxae suggest a fungus gnat (in the broad sense). Can you check your photos and see whether there are long, short, or no tibial spurs? This shot appears to show none but there may be one the same color as background and another out of focus. Also, do you have a shot of the top of the head, showing count of ocelli and presence or absence of eye bridge?

 
More pictures added
It does have tibial spurs and 3 ocelli.

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