TY - JOUR
T1 - Discovery of a remarkable new species of black fungus gnat (Diptera, Sciaridae) from termite nests in Malaysia
AU - Sutou, Mitsuaki
AU - Maruyama, Munetoshi
AU - Komatsu, Takashi
AU - Kanao, Taisuke
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dr Rosli Hashim (University of Malaya) for his assistance in the field. MS thanks Dr Motomi Ito (University of Tokyo) for facilitating the molecular experiments. This paper was partially supported by a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad and Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of JSPS (Young Scientists B: 22770085) to M. Maruyama.
PY - 2012/4
Y1 - 2012/4
N2 - A remarkable new species of black fungus gnat Pnyxiopalpus roslii sp. nov., was discovered from nests of the termite Nasutitermes proatripennis in Ulu Gombak, Malaysia, and is described based on the female morphology and DNA barcodes. This is the first record of a termitophilous black fungus gnat from South-east Asia. The new species is easily distinguished from its known congeners by the degeneration of all thoracic setae into tiny setulae. This species is described as a symbiont of the host termite based on field observations and the examination of specimens. The "wing stump" structure of the new species indicates that this species has wings after eclosion and later loses them, an adaptation to a cryptic life. A second still undescribed termitophilous species of Pnyxiopalpus was observed walking in a marching column of the termite Longipeditermes longipes in Ulu Gombak.
AB - A remarkable new species of black fungus gnat Pnyxiopalpus roslii sp. nov., was discovered from nests of the termite Nasutitermes proatripennis in Ulu Gombak, Malaysia, and is described based on the female morphology and DNA barcodes. This is the first record of a termitophilous black fungus gnat from South-east Asia. The new species is easily distinguished from its known congeners by the degeneration of all thoracic setae into tiny setulae. This species is described as a symbiont of the host termite based on field observations and the examination of specimens. The "wing stump" structure of the new species indicates that this species has wings after eclosion and later loses them, an adaptation to a cryptic life. A second still undescribed termitophilous species of Pnyxiopalpus was observed walking in a marching column of the termite Longipeditermes longipes in Ulu Gombak.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859188905&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84859188905&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00222933.2012.654478
DO - 10.1080/00222933.2012.654478
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84859188905
VL - 46
SP - 969
EP - 978
JO - Journal of Natural History
JF - Journal of Natural History
SN - 0022-2933
IS - 15-16
ER -