Hydrotaea cyrtoneura Seguy, 1938

Vikhrev, Nikita E., 2024, Review of Hydrotaea dentipes species group (Diptera, Muscidae), Amurian Zoological Journal XVI (4), pp. 1008-1020 : 1013

Hydrotaea cyrtoneurina Zetterstedt, 1845

Hydrotaea cyrtoneura Seguy, 1938 syn. nov.

Hydrotaea indica Shinonaga & Tewari, 2008 syn. nov.

Type material examined: the holotype, of H. cyrtoneura Seguy, 1938 , ♂: China, Chekiang (= Zhejiang prov., Hangzhou , 30 ° N, 120 ° E) ( MNHN) .

Other material examined: 60♂ ♀ from ZMUM, ZIN and MNHN collections from: AZERBAIJAN; BELARUS: Gomel and Vitebsk regions; FRANCE, Gers dept.; KAZAKH- STAN, Almaty Reg., RUSSIA: Altai Republic, Crimea , Dagestan, Kaliningrad, Krasnodar, Mordovia, Moscow, Pskov, Vladimir, Voronezh regions; SERBIA; SPAIN, Alicante prov.; TURKEY: Antalya, Konya and Sakarya provinces; TAJISKISTAN, Vahdat Distr.; UZBEKI- STAN, Tashkent Reg .

Distribution. Widespread in the Palaearctic from W Europe to Korea. The northernmost records in European Russia are from 56 ° N. Also was recorded in the Oriental region: China (Henan), India (Tamil Nadu).

Synonymy. After the examination of the holotype of H. cyrtoneura in MNHN, Hennig ( Hennig 1962) came to a conclusion that H. cyrtoneura slightly differs from H. cyrtoneurina by shorter postpedicel, wider cheeks, and longer hairs on the eyes. I had a possibility to re-examine the holotype of H. cyrtoneura and simultaneously to compare it with the material of H. cyrtoneurina from MNHN (only 1 male specimen in the collection) and specimens from ZMUM, which I prudently took with me. The intraspecific variability of ZMUM specimens is large, ♂: body length from 4.5 mm to 7.5 mm; eye more or less densely hairy; cheeks wider or narrower. The type of H. cyrtoneura has no significant peculiarities beyond the intraspecific variability. So, I regard that H. cyrtoneura is a synonym of the widespread and common H. cyrtoneurina , Hydrotaea cyrtoneurina Zetterstedt, 1845 = Hydrotaea cyrtoneura Seguy, 1938 syn. nov.

H. indica Shinonaga & Tewari, 2008 was described from a large series of both sexes from India, Tamil Nadu State, Western Ghats, Ooty (= Udhagamandalam) (11.4 ° N 76.7 ° E) 2200–2500 m. From Kodaikanal (also Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, 10.25 ° N 77.50 ° E), H. cyrtoneurina was reported by Emden ( Emden 1965). Kodaikanal is also situated above 2000 m a.s.l. and is only 150 km south of Ooty, which is the type locality of H. indica . The description of H. indica ( Shinonaga, Tewari 2008: 212) fits the diagnostic characters of H. cyrtoneurina : hairy eyes; hairy notopleuron; t3 with a row of pv setae. The main diagnostic character offered by Shinonaga and Tewari ( Shinonaga, Tewari 2008) is that ‘ f 2 in basal half with about 5 strong spine-like bristles on ventral surface’. H. cyrtoneurina has the same bristles. Shinonaga and Tewari ( Shinonaga, Tewari 2008) compared H. indica with H. dentipes and H. similis , but have not compared it with H. cyrtoneurina . So, according to the principle ‘no difference, no validity’ ( Vikhrev 2013), I propose the following synonymization: Hydrotaea cyrtoneurina Zetterstedt, 1845 = H. indica Shinonaga & Tewari, 2008 syn. nov.