Every Single Specimen Counts: A New Docosia Winnertz (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) Species Described from a Singleton.

Olavi Kurina,Heli Kirik

doi:10.3390/insects12121069

Abstract

Simple SummaryA new fungus gnat species has been described from a single specimen collected from Georgia (Sakartvelo). The new species, named after its occurrence in Caucasia as Docosia caucasica sp. n., is distinguished from congeners by the characters in male terminalia and a unique COI sequence. As a substantial proportion of species in ecological communities tend to be rare, about 20–30% of new insect taxa have been described from a singleton so far. Therefore, following high-quality standards when describing new species, particularly when dealing with minimalistic material, is crucial. As much as possible, using multiple sets of characters, like morphology and DNA sequencing, is encouraged.A new species—Docosia caucasica sp. n.—has been described from material collected from the Lesser Caucasus Mountains in Georgia (Sakartvelo). The new species belongs to a group of Palaearctic species characterized by distinct posterolateral processes of gonocoxites and apically modified setae at the posteroventral margin of the gonocoxites medially. Within the group, D. caucasica sp. n. is most similar to D. landrocki Laštovka and Ševčík, 2006 in having a similar outline of the medial process of posteroventral margin of the gonocoxites and the gonostylus. There is also a marked difference within the partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene (COI) sequence of D. caucasica sp. n. and other Docosia spp. available in public databases. As the new species is described from a single male specimen only, the adequacy and code compliance of that are discussed.

Highlights

The genus Docosia Winnertz, 1864 of Mycetophilidae (Diptera) has gained considerable attention during the last few decades, based on both taxonomy as well as phylogeny
Within Mycetophilidae, Docosia species are characterised by medium size, dark brown to black body colour, unmarked wings, details of wing venation and distinctive male terminalia with combs of small spines on cerci in particular [12,19]
This communication is prompted by discovery of a new Docosia species from the material collected in Georgia (Sakartvelo)

Summary

Introduction

The genus Docosia Winnertz, 1864 of Mycetophilidae (Diptera) has gained considerable attention during the last few decades, based on both taxonomy as well as phylogeny. Supplementing phylogenetic studies, a number of new species have been described during the last few decades from the Palaearctic 86 extant Docosia species have been described, including 62 from the Palaearctic realm [7]. A considerable number of species has DNA information uploaded to the public databases (https://www.boldsystems.org/ (accessed on 2 November 2021); https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/ (accessed on 2 November 2021)) that enable and support species identification. This communication is prompted by discovery of a new Docosia species from the material collected in Georgia (Sakartvelo). Because the new species is represented by a single male specimen only, the adequacy and code compliance of such a description is discussed

Materials and Methods

Description of New Species

Discussion

Methods