Limnia testacea Sack, 1939

Mortelmans, J., 2020, Resurrection of the name Limnia testacea (Diptera: Sciomyzidae), with L. setosa as a new synonym, and the first record of L. testacea from Mongolia, Zoosystematica Rossica (China) 29 (1), pp. 101-108 : 103-106

Limnia testacea Sack, 1939 , comb. resurr.

( Figs 2–6)

Limnia testacea Sack, 1939: 73 .

Limnia setosa Yano, 1978: 7 , syn. nov.

Type material examined. Lectotype of Pherbina testacea , female, China, “ Mandchourie , Charbin / 26.VII.1937. W. Alin ” ( SDEI) . Paralectotypes of Pherbina testacea : 2 females, with the same labels ( SDEI) . Holotype of Limnia setosa , male [examined by author from photos], Japan, “Type N° 2083 / Holotype Limnia setosa Yano male / Japan, Honshu, Aichi, Kasugai, 15 V 1965, T. Okadome / sweeping paddy field” ( ELKU) .

Additional material examined. Russia, Khabarovsk Terr., 1 male, Bol’shekhekhtsirskiy Nature Reserve ,

sweep-net, 26. VI .1993 , B.A. V. Viklund leg. ( NHRS- BYWS 0002711 / Loan 053/2018; NRM). Mongolia, Bulgan Aimag: 1 male, 1 female [not examined by author], 20.7 km ESE of Khutag-Öndör , 49.39419°N 102.69452°E, 25–26.VII.2005, C. R. Bartlett leg., W.L. Murphy det. ( UDCC) .

Resurrection of the name Limnia testacea

Sack, 1939

The generic concepts of Limnia , Pherbina and Psacadina are well accepted. The best keys for identifying the genera of Sciomyzidae from the Palaearctic are found in Rozkošný (1987, 1998) and, more recently, in Knutson & Vala (2011). The author tested these three commonly used keys with the type materials of L. setosa and Ph. testacea , and these types keyed out Limnia confidently. The couplets in Rozkošný (1987, 1998) and in Knutson & Vala (2011) used to discriminate Limnia from other Tetanocerini Limnia . However, setulation is variable and is not considered here as a generic character for Limnia . Sueyoshi (2001) gave a thorough overview of this variation, as did Seddighi Sadr & Mohamadzade Namin (2017) when describing Limnia kassebeeri Seddighi Sadr et Mohamadzade Namin, 2017 , a species also bearing one seta on the anepisternum. Przhiboro (2016) described the setae on L. setosa as follows: “In our specimens, some external characters differ from those given by Yano (1978: 7–8, 22–23), Rozkošný (1987: 66, 68) and Sueyoshi (2001: 498, 503; 2010: 5): anepisternum at posterior margin with 1–3 distinct setae varying from fine short to medium sized, anepimeron with one medium sized seta and without hairs.”

(2) Other species of Tetanocerini with reticulated wings known from the Palaearctic (besides Limnia , Pherbina and Psacadina ) can be differentiated by use of the keys in Rozkošný (1987, 1998) and, more recently, in Knutson & Vala (2011).

When all of these characters are considered, the resurrection of L. testacea is doubtless the proper action to take.