Peromyia Kieffer 1894

Peromyia Kieffer, 1894

With 202 valid species in the world, including three species described in the present paper, Peromyia is the largest genus of the Micromyinae, and among the largest five genera of the Cecidomyiidae. Intense inventory work over several years has recorded nearly half of these species as occurring in Sweden (Jaschhof 2017b). This intrageneric diversity is classified in several species groups, some monophyletic, others introduced to ease the identification of species. As with Aprionus, information derived from male genitalic structures is crucially important for both the identification and classification of Peromyia. Supported by evidence from DNA barcoding, the boundaries separating discrete species are now more accurately defined than a couple of years ago (Jaschhof 1998). This improvement, however, corresponds with the fact that the morphological indicators for interspecific boundaries may be difficult to appreciate, unless one has extensive experience with Peromyia and a good reference collection at hand for comparative study (Jaschhof 2017b). The positive identification of species by morphological criteria has become particularly problematic in speciose groups, such as the P. caricis (Kieffer) group, the P. modesta (Felt) group, and the P. sanguinea (Kieffer) group. For a comprehensive review of Palearctic Peromyia, including a generic definition and descriptions of the included species groups, see Jaschhof (2017b).