Apsectrotanypus johnsoni

Moved

Moved from Midges.

… John R. Maxwell, 8 December, 2008 - 8:21am

I can't tell

Like the drunk looking for his keys under a light, I assumed it was a Tanypodinae species because that's the only book I have. I can't figure out the wing veins. It has some features of different species of Psectrotanypus, like the wing of one and the upper legs of another, but no species has that combination of features. There's also a similar wing pattern in another genus.

… John F. Carr, 10 November, 2008 - 6:08pm

Probably Psectrotanypus johnsoni

The wing banding is a perfect match for Psectrotanypus johnsoni (Coquillet). There is no identical pattern in the entire subfamily. Zavrelimyia sinuosa has similar wings, not as good a match, and apparently no bands on the femur. Some of the thorax colors may be closer.

Quoting Roback(1) about P. johnsoni, excluding hairs and micrometer measurements:

Male -- about 4.0 mm, head light. AR 2.0-2.1; eyes iridescent; eye ratio 0.7. Pronotum light. Thorax light yellow-brown, vittae not distinct; scutellum, pleura, mesosternum, and postnotum light; Postnotum with dorsal hairs. Legs light; femora with preapical bands; tibial base and apex darker; apices of T1-2 darker; T3-5 darker. Wing 3.6mm, banded as in [figures]; apex with some darker hairs giving appearance of a third band; no color in membrane as in other bands; moderately haired; halteres light. Abdomen light; 9T haired.

The description of the tribe notes "mesonotum densely haired."

… John F. Carr, 7 December, 2008 - 6:45pm

Thanks

I did have a question, Neartica lists what I guess is/was Psectrotanypus johnsoni as Apsectrotanypus johnsoni Coquillett 1901 (Tanypus). Do you know the tie-breaking authority on diptera? The Diptera Site?

… John R. Maxwell, 7 December, 2008 - 10:49pm

Placement

Fittkau (1962) defined Apsectrotanypus as a genus.

Roback (1971) demoted it to subgenus within Psectrotanypus.

Roback (1978) considered it a subgenus within Macropelopia.

Others give it full genus status. I don't think there's a compelling reason not to follow nearctica and call it a genus.

… John F. Carr, 8 December, 2008 - 6:06am

Here is a link, not sure if you have it.
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/~ethanbr/aim/Keys/Diptera/id_dom.html

… John R. Maxwell, 8 December, 2008 - 8:21am

Placement

Is Tanypodinae safe, or not really?

… John R. Maxwell, 10 November, 2008 - 6:42pm

Leave it for now

I'm not willing to commit to subfamily yet. We may need to wait until the other subfamilies get filled out more to show that they don't also have brown spotted species.

… John F. Carr, 11 November, 2008 - 3:12pm

Yes and no.

Yes, it appears to be a male Chironomidae, but very ornate and lovely. These are great shots. Moving to family page.

… Eric R. Eaton, 11 May, 2008 - 8:40pm