Genus Falakia gen. nov.

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Type species

Falakia galactica gen. et sp. nov., here designated.

Diagnosis

Medium-sized, mostly colourful species. Antennal flagellomeres bottle-neck-like as in Sciara and Hirtipennia. Wing membrane mostly covered with macrotrichia. Gonostylus without apical tooth, and with a group of 3–7 spines arranged in various patterns on a distinct dorsal lobe.

Etymology

This genus is named in honour of the late Mr Falak Shah (Manki, Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), father of the first author, in tribute to his unwavering sacrifices in supporting the first author’s education, despite financial hardships.

Description

Mostly bright species, only few with dark colour. Head generally brown or dark brown. Antenna typically yellowish brown with basal three flagellomeres yellow. Eye bridge 3–4 facets wide. Face and clypeus with few setae. Maxillary palpus long, 3-segmented; basal segment with several bristles. Fourth antennal flagellomere 2.85–3.66 times as long as wide; neck short, bottleneck-like; longest setae shorter than width of flagellomere. Postpronotum setose. Wing mostly large with width/length = 0.36–0.41; membrane almost completely covered with macrotrichia, Sc fainted, reaching the level of Rs; R 1 joining the C at or beyond the base of the M-fork; stM weakly visible; R, R 1, and R 4+5 setose; M 1, M 2, CuA 1, and CuA 2 with macrotrichia. Haltere pale to yellowish brown, with long stem. Legs mostly yellowish; coxae darkened; femora and tibiae yellow to yellowish brown; fore tibia without noticeable spines; fore tibial spur usually longer than tibial width. Abdomen mostly setose. Hypopygium mostly brown; gonocoxite generally as long as or longer than gonostylus; inner side of gonocoxite mostly non-setose or rarely found short hairs. Gonostylus stout, without apical tooth; apex with short hairs, with a group of 3–7 spines (megasetae) arranged in various patterns on a dorsal lobe. Tegmen membranous, longer than wide. Aedeagal rod mostly long, with a fork, Y-shaped.

Distribution

Palearctic, Oriental, and Nearctic regions.

Remarks

The genus is closely related to Hirtipennia in having the wing membrane covered with macrotrichia and bottle-neck shaped antennal flagellomeres, but can be differentiated by lacking apical tooth at the gonostylus and having an extended dorsal lobe with a group of spines (megasetae). Both genera are sharing characters with Sciara by having the same kind of antennal flagellomeres, the wing with Sc extended to or beyond Rs, and no conspicuous spines on the tibia. Some species of Sciara also have macrotrichia on the wing membrane to a lesser extent, only a few have a more complete coverage. But species of Sciara are generally larger and often darker. In an unpublished phylogenetic analysis using whole mitogenomes on Sciaridae from China, Falakia gen. nov. came out in between different clades of Sciara. In order to keep the morphologically well-defined Falakia and Hirtipennia as distinct genera, the paraphyletic and species-rich genus Sciara will be split into new, defined species groups (Shah et al. in prep.), later to be treated as distinct genera.

World checklist of the species of Falakia gen. nov.

Falakia bicolor gen. et sp. nov. [OR, PA]

Falakia craniata gen. et sp. nov. [OR, PA]

Falakia flavomarginata (Mohrig & Mamaev, 1982) gen. et comb. nov. [PA]

Falakia galactica gen. et sp. nov. [OR, PA]

Falakia modesta (Winnertz, 1867) gen. et comb. nov., stat. nov. [NE, OR, PA]

Falakia obscura gen. et sp. nov. [OR, PA]

Falakia varia gen. et sp. nov. [OR, PA]

Falakia xizangensis gen. et sp. nov. [OR, PA]

Key to the known species of Falakia gen. nov.

1. Dark brown to black body coloration (Fig. 5A–B) ........................................................................... 2

– Body partly yellowish or reddish (Fig. 2A) ...................................................................................... 3

2. Gonostylus with dorsal spines in 3 groups, completely covered behind the lobe, not visible in ventral view (Fig. 6F–G); wing membrane completely covered with macrotrichia (Fig. 6E) ....................... ................................................................................................................... F. obscura gen. et sp. nov.

– Gonostylus with dorsal spines in 2 groups, partly covered behind the lobe, partially visible in ventral view (Fig. 5D–E); wing membrane with apical half covered by macrotrichia (Fig. 5H) ................... ................................................................. F. modesta (Winnertz, 1867) gen. et comb. nov., stat. nov.

3. Gonostylus very slender, finger-like (Fig. 4E–F) ................................... F. galactica gen. et sp. nov.

– Not as above ..................................................................................................................................... 4

4. Gonostylus with 3 subapical, short, nearly straight, spines on third dorsal lobe (Figs 2E–F, 3B–C) ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

– Gonostylus with 5–7 distinct, robust spines on dorsal lobe (Figs 7E–F, 8A–B) .............................. 6

5. Wing membrane with macrotrichia at apical two thirds; bM nearly as long as r-m (Fig. 2D). Gonostylus with three nearly straight subapical spines on an additional dorsal lobe (Fig. 2E–F). Tegmen with convex lateral margins and broadly round apex (Fig. 2E) .... F. bicolor gen. et sp. nov.

– Wing membrane with macrotrichia at apical three quarters; bM longer than r-m (Fig. 3F). Gonostylus with three, nearly straight, subapical spines on the third dorsal lobe (Fig. 3B–C). Tegmen quadrangular, with flat apex (Fig. 3A) ...................................................... F. craniata gen. et sp. nov.

6. Gonostylus with 3 longer and 4 shorter dorsal spines in a single row (see Mohrig et al. 1982: 173, Fig. 2A–B) .................................. F. flavomarginata (Mohrig & Mamaev, 1982) gen. et comb. nov.

– Gonostylus with dorsal spines not in a single row but in 3 groups .................................................. 7

7. Gonostylus somewhat oblong, dorsal lobe with slightly shorter spines; with central group unified bearing 3–5 spines (Fig. 7E–F). Tegmen with coarse apex. (Fig. 7E) ........... F. varia gen. et sp. nov.

– Gonostylus somewhat oval, dorsal lobe with relatively longer spines; with central group more separated 3–5 spines (Fig. 8A–B). Tegmen with broadly round apex (Fig. 8A–B) ........................... ............................................................................................................. F. xizangensis gen. et sp. nov.