fungus gnats
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Zootaxa ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 5091 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-130
Author(s):  
EDNA MARIA AMARAL ◽  
SARAH SIQUEIRA OLIVEIRA ◽  
RAFAELA LOPES FALASCHI

Popularly known as fungus gnats, Mycetophilidae are found in humid environments usually associated with mushrooms and decaying wood. Their immature forms often feed on fungus fruiting bodies. Similar to most bibionomorphans, mycetophilids need due attention concerning their taxonomy and information on their natural history, especially in the Neotropical region. This work describes Monoclona carambeiensis sp. nov., a new species of Monoclona Mik, and furnishes information on the morphology of adults and immatures, besides notes and photographs on the life cycle of the species. Immature forms present on a piece of decaying wood with lichens and fungi were collected from Carambeí, Paraná, and reared in the laboratory. The emerged adult male was fixed in 80% ethanol. This is the first study describing an immature of a Neotropical species of Monoclona, and also the first record of the genus in the state of Paraná, Brazil. This is the third Neotropical species of Mycetophilidae to have its life cycle described, for a fauna with over 1,100 known species.  


2022 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane da Fonseca Duarte ◽  
Juliano Lessa Pinto Duarte ◽  
Patrícia da Silva Grinberg ◽  
Uemerson Silva da Cunha

ABSTRACT: Soilless cultivation of strawberry is in expansion in Brazil due to factors like the reduction of phytosanitary problems and the possibility of extending the crop period, as well as the ergonometric facility for management of the culture. However, black fungus gnats (Sciaridae, Diptera) are ubiquitous pests in the greenhouse production system, causing direct and indirect damage to plants. ThIS study evaluated the occurrence of black fungus gnats species in semi-hydroponic cultivation of strawberry and to identify the species, as well as to describe the symptoms in infested plants. The research was developed in commercial productions of strawberry, in five municipalities (Arroio do Padre, Canguçu, Capão do Leão, Pelotas and Turuçu) during July to December 2017, where adult samples were collected twice a month, with petri dish traps containing water and neutral detergent placed inside the greenhouses between the plants. A total of 2030 adult gnats belonging to two species were collected. Bradysia aff. impatiens, accounted with 90.79% of the total, and Bradysia aff. ocellaris, accounted with 9.21%. In order to assist the correct determination of species, males of both species were identified and illustrated. With respect to the symptoms observed during the research, it was possible to verify since the wilted crown of plants to the death of plants, which were confirmed by the presence of larvae in the root system. As the occurrence of these insects is recent in strawberry, there is no pesticide registered in Brazil, so management strategies (cultural, physical, and sanitary) also are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Peder Lindemann ◽  
Geir Søli ◽  
Jostein Kjærandsen

Exechia is a diverse genus of small fungus gnats, widespread in the Holarctic Region, while the fauna is largely unknown elsewhere, such as in the Afrotropical and Oriental Region. Members of Exechia can be arranged into several species groups, based on homologies in the male and female terminalia. The Exechia parva group is delimited, based on male terminalia possessing a pair of gonocoxal lobes on the apicoventral gonocoxal margin. Eight previously-described species can be placed in this group, of which six are from the Holarctic Region, while one is recorded each from the Oriental and the Afrotropical Regions. The Exechia parva group was reviewed and found to include 33 species, of which 24 were described as new to science and six were re-described. Identification keys to 32 species for males and nine species for females are provided together with illustrations and photos of male and female terminalia. Species delimitations were based on morphological examination of 94 male and female specimens, as well as DNA barcodes obtained from 124 specimens. Molecular and morphological species delimitations were mostly congruent, except in two cases where two species were delimited within a single Barcode Index Number (BIN). We found that each species is only known from a single zoogeographical region and that several species complexes are largely congruent with zoogeographical divisions, indicating that intercontinental barriers may have a strong impact on the species diversity of the group.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 786
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Anderson ◽  
Grace F. H. Sward ◽  
Christopher M. Ranger ◽  
Michael E. Reding ◽  
Luis Canas

Infestations of fungus gnats (Diptera: Sciaridae) can reduce the production of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.) grown as food crops within controlled environments. The objectives of this study were to assess the efficacy of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) and Steinernema feltiae against fungus gnat larvae. A bioassay was developed, whereby pasteurized straw was inoculated with Pleurotus columbinus and treated with Bti (Gnatrol®), S. feltiae (Nemashield®), or water. Fungus gnats (Lycoriella sp.) were released into each bioassay container for ovipositing onto the straw, thereby exposing the F1 larvae to treated or untreated substrate. Sticky cards within the containers entrapped fungus gnats emerging from the substrate as an indicator of larval survivorship. Following three bioassays, fewer fungus gnats emerged from straw treated with Bti compared to S. feltiae and the water control. Three additional bioassays using Pleurotus ostreatus also demonstrated that fewer fungus gnats emerged from straw treated with Bti compared to S. feltiae and the untreated control. Steinernema feltiae was generally ineffective. Monitoring substrate weight in the bioassay containers over time indicated that Bti and S. feltiae did not impede colonization by P. ostreatus. Incorporating Bti into straw substrate is a promising approach for managing fungus gnats infesting Pleurotus spp.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1546
Author(s):  
Marta Budziszewska ◽  
Patryk Frąckowiak ◽  
Aleksandra Obrępalska-Stęplowska

Bradysia species, commonly known as fungus gnats, are ubiquitous in greenhouses, nurseries of horticultural plants, and commercial mushroom houses, causing significant economic losses. Moreover, the insects from the Bradysia genus have a well-documented role in plant pathogenic fungi transmission. Here, a study on the potential of Bradysia impatiens to acquire and transmit the peanut stunt virus (PSV) from plant to plant was undertaken. Four-day-old larvae of B. impatiens were exposed to PSV-P strain by feeding on virus-infected leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana and then transferred to healthy plants in laboratory conditions. Using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time PCR (RT-qPCR), and digital droplet PCR (RT-ddPCR), the PSV RNAs in the larva, pupa, and imago of B. impatiens were detected and quantified. The presence of PSV genomic RNA strands as well as viral coat protein in N. benthamiana, on which the viruliferous larvae were feeding, was also confirmed at the molecular level, even though the characteristic symptoms of PSV infection were not observed. The results have shown that larvae of B. impatiens could acquire the virus and transmit it to healthy plants. Moreover, it has been proven that PSV might persist in the insect body transstadially. Although the molecular mechanisms of virion acquisition and retention during insect development need further studies, this is the first report on B. impatiens playing a potential role in plant virus transmission.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 364
Author(s):  
Jan Ševčík ◽  
John Skartveit ◽  
Wiesław Krzemiński ◽  
Kornelia Skibińska

A new fossil genus of Bibionidae (Diptera: Bibionomorpha), Burmahesperinus gen. nov., from the mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber, is described and illustrated (type species Burmahesperinus antennatus sp. nov., the other two species included are B. conicus sp. nov. and B. pedicellatus sp. nov.). The new genus is tentatively placed in a new subfamily, Burmahesperininae subfam. nov. of the family Bibionidae. Its possible phylogenetic position is briefly discussed. The new genus, as well as the subfamily, possesses the wing venation similar to the recent genus Hesperinus Walker, 1848, in combination with Brachycera-like modification of both the male and female antenna and the overall habitus typical of fungus gnats (Sciaroidea).


ZooKeys ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1026 ◽  
pp. 69-142
Author(s):  
Olavi Kurina

The fungus gnats of Georgia are studied based on 2682 specimens collected from 57 localities during 2011–2019. Altogether, 245 species are recorded including four species of Bolitophilidae, three species of Diadocidiidae, two species of Ditomyiidae, 34 species of Keroplatidae and 202 species of Mycetophilidae. 230 and 188 species are recorded from Georgia and the whole of Transcaucasia for the first time, respectively. Three new species – Sciophila georgei sp. nov., Leia katae sp. nov. and Anatella metae sp. nov. – are described including detailed illustrations of the male terminalia. Photographs are provided for an additional 38 species to highlight a variability of their general facies. Combined with earlier published data, the number of fungus gnat species in Georgia is set at 246. The estimated diversity of fungus gnats in Georgia is calculated using non-parametric methods and discussed with respect to other Western Palaearctic regions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina N. Hodson ◽  
Kamil S. Jaron ◽  
Susan Gerbi ◽  
Laura Ross

AbstractGermline restricted DNA has evolved in diverse animal taxa, and is found in several vertebrate clades, nematodes, and flies. In these lineages, either portions of chromosomes or entire chromosomes are eliminated from somatic cells early in development, restricting portions of the genome to the germline. Little is known about why germline restricted DNA has evolved, especially in flies, in which three diverse families, Chironomidae, Cecidomyiidae, and Sciaridae exhibit germline restricted chromosomes (GRCs). We conducted a genomic analysis of germline restricted chromosomes in the fungus gnat Bradysia (Sciara) coprophila (Diptera: Sciaridae), which carries two large germline restricted “L” chromosomes. We sequenced and assembled the genome of B. coprophila, and used differences in sequence coverage and k-mer frequency between somatic and germ tissues to identify GRC sequence and compare it to the other chromosomes in the genome. We found that the GRCs in B. coprophila are large, gene-rich, and have many genes with paralogs on other chromosomes in the genome. We also found that the GRC genes are extraordinarily divergent from their paralogs, and have sequence similarity to another Dipteran family (Cecidomyiidae) in phylogenetic analyses, suggesting that these chromosomes have arisen in Sciaridae through introgression from a related lineage. These results suggest that the GRCs may have evolved through an ancient hybridization event, raising questions about how this may have occurred, how these chromosomes became restricted to the germline after introgression, and why they were retained over time.


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