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. 2022 Nov 2;13(11):1012.
doi: 10.3390/insects13111012.

Discovery of a Lineage of Soil-Dwelling Medetera Species with Multi-Coloured Eyes in Southern Europe (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)

Marc Pollet  1   2 , Rui Andrade  3 , Ana Gonçalves  4 , Piluca Álvarez Fidalgo  5 , José Luis Camaño Portela  6 , Frédéric Belin  7 , Jonas Mortelmans  8 , Andreas Stark  9   10
Affiliations

Discovery of a Lineage of Soil-Dwelling Medetera Species with Multi-Coloured Eyes in Southern Europe (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)

Marc Pollet et al. Insects. .

Abstract

Seven species in the genus Medetera (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) are described here: Medetera aglaops sp. nov., Medetera corsicana sp. nov., Medetera gibbosipyga sp. nov., Medetera hispanica sp. nov., Medetera lusitana sp. nov., Medetera parva sp. nov., and Medetera rectipyga sp. nov. They all originate from the wider Mediterranean region in southwestern Europe (Iberian Peninsula, southern France, Corsica, Sardinia). The most striking feature in most of the species is the bi- or multicolour pattern of the eyes, most conspicuous in Medetera aglaops sp. nov. and Medetera lusitana sp. nov. This character is shared by the male and female sex and is thus not regarded as Male Secondary Sexual Character. All species belong to the Medetera apicalis species group sensu Bickel and are closely related based on shared characters in the hypandrium and cercus. Interestingly, three species with and four species without the basal pair of anterodorsal and posterodorsal bristles on the mid tibia are represented. This suggests that this diagnostic character has less phylogenetic relevance than previously anticipated. Unlike most Palaearctic Medetera, at least five of the new species are mostly found on rocky substrates in dry biotopes with a sclerophyllous vegetation. This further supports their relationship with species of the Medetera muralis subclade sensu Pollet, Germann and Bernasconi.

Keywords: Corsica; Iberian Peninsula; Mediterranean region; Sardinia; ecology; eye pattern; phylogeny.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no content-related role in any phase of this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Medetera species with bi-coloured eyes from Portugal. (A) Medetera aglaops sp. nov., male (lateral view); (B) Medetera aglaops sp. nov., male (frontal view); (C) Medetera aglaops sp. nov., female (lateral view); (D) Medetera lusitana sp. nov. (male) (photos: Rui Andrade).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Medetera aglaops sp. nov. (A–C) Portuguese specimens. (A) male, habitus; (B) male, face; (C) female, face; (D) Corsican specimen, male, habitus (photos: Andreas Stark).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Medetera aglaops sp. nov., Portuguese specimen (A) hypopygium, lateral view; (B) hypopygium, ventral view. Av epb: apicoventral epandrial bristles, bv epb: basoventral epandrial bristles, cer: cercus, hyp: hypandrium, pha: phallus, pgo: postgonite, sur: surstylus. Scale = 0.1 mm.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Medetera aglaops sp. nov., Corsican specimen, hypopygium, lateral view. Hyp: hypandrium, pha: phallus, sur: apical part of surstylus. Scale = 0.1 mm.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Medetera species, general habitus (A) Medetera corsicana sp. nov.; (B) Medetera gibbosipyga sp. nov.; (C) Medetera hispanica sp. nov. (photos: Andreas Stark).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Medetera hypopygia, lateral view (A) Medetera corsicana sp. nov.; (B) Medetera gibbosipyga sp. nov.; (C) Medetera hispanica sp. nov. Cer: cercus, hyp: hypandrium, pha: phallus, pgo: postgonite, sur: apical part of surstylus. Scale = 0.1 mm.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Medetera lusitana sp. nov. (A) male, general habitus; (B) male, head, in wet condition (frontal view); (C) male, head, dried superficially (frontal view) (photos: Andreas Stark).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Medetera lusitana sp. nov. hypopygium (A) lateral view; (B) ventral view. Cer: cercus, hyp: hypandrium, sur: apical part of surstylus. Scale = 0.1 mm.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Medetera species (A,B) Medetera parva sp. nov., male (A) general habitus; (B) head (frontal view); (C,D) Medetera rectipyga sp. nov., male (C) general habitus; (D) head (frontal view) (photos: Andreas Stark).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Medetera hypopygia, lateral view (A) Medetera parva sp. nov.; (B) Medetera rectipyga sp. nov. Cer: cercus, hyp: hypandrium, sur: apical part of surstylus. Scale = 0.1 mm.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of new Medetera species in southern Europe.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Cladogram of a selection of Palaearctic Medetera species on the basis of BOLD Systems sequences, including four of the new species described in this paper.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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