Lycoriella agraria (Felt, 1898)

(Fig. 4 A–E)

Sciara agraria Felt, 1898 [Felt (1898): 223, figs 1, 2, 11].

Common synonyms: Lycoriella multiseta (Felt, 1898); Lycoriella cellaris (Lengersdorf, 1934).

Literature: Johannsen (1912): 120, 130, fig. 124 (as Sciara multiseta); Lengersdorf (1934): 24, fig. 1 (as Neosciara cellaris); Tuomikoski (1960): 79, 85, figs 17c, 18f, 19c, 20f; Menzel & Mohrig (2000): 392 (both as Lycoriella cellaris); Mohrig et al. (2013): 209–210, fig. 35 a–c.

Material studied. NEW SOUTH WALES: 4 males, 24.viii.1978, Rydalmere, ASCT00049044 /49046/49047 (ASCU)/ ASCT00049045 (PWMP), leg. B.J. Loudon; 1 male, 25.viii.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00049049 (ASCU), leg. B.J. Loudon; 1 male, 8.viii.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00049050 (ASCU), leg. B.J. Loudon; 8 males, 14.vii.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00050455 (PWMP)/ ASCT00050456-50457 (ASCU)/ ASCT00054780 (PWMP) - 54784/54798, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 6 males, 11.vii.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00050442 /50446 (ASCU)/50454 (PWMP)/54789/54791/54793 (ASCU), leg. B.J. Loudon; 2 males, 19.viii.1981, Rydalmere, poultry manure heap, ASCT00050458 /50459, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 1 male, 5.ix.1980, Rydalmere, around mushroom house, ASCT00054752, leg. A.D. Clift (ASCU); 1 male, ii.1981, Wollongong, in mushroom house, ASCT00054776, unknown collector (ASCU); 1 male, 8.ix.1980, East Parramatta, in house, ASCT00054773, leg. S.R. Brown (ASCU); 1 male, 11.v.1978, George’s Hall, Sydney, ex mushroom compact, ASCT00054764, leg. A.D. Clift (ASCU); 1 male, 6.xi.1979, Maralya, ex mushroom compost, ASCT00054754, leg. A.D. Clift (ASCU); 1 male, 26.iv.1977, Bowral, ASCT00049051, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 15 males, 6.x.1978, Rydalmere, ASCT00049012-49026, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 9 males, 20.vii.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00049027-49031 /50440/50441/50443/50447, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 4 males, 13.vii.1979, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00049032-49034 /50444, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 6 males, 8.ii.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00049037 /49038/50438/50445/50448/50449, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 3 males, iv.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00050450-50451 /54740, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 2 males, 24.viii.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00054787 (PWMP)/54788 (ASCU), leg. B.J. Loudon; 2 males, 22.vi.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture, ASCT00077096-77097, unknown collector (ASCU).

VICTORIA: 8 males, iv.1978, Rydalmere, ex lab culture origin Melbourne, ASCT 00049041/49041/50377/ 50460/50507/50508/54741/54742, leg. B.J. Loudon (ASCU); 1 male, mercury vapour lamp, 31.v.1977, Melbourne, ASCT 00050453 (ASCU), leg. B.J. Loudon; 1 male, yellow pan trap in vegetable garden, xi.2015, Twin River Drive, South Morang, Victoria, # 86, leg. A. Broadley (PWMP); 6 males, MV light, 31.v.1977, Melbourne, ASCT 00050509/54806/54809/54810/54812/54814, leg. A.J. Stocker (ASCU); 1 male, 11.xi.1975, ex mushroom farm, Pearcedale, ASCT 00054816, unknown collector (ASCU); 3 males, iii.1977, Melbourne, ASCT 00054800- 54802, leg. A.J. Stocker (ASCU); 1 male, March 1977, ex lab culture, ASCT 00054803, leg. A. J. Stocker (PWMP); 1 male, 22.viii.1977, Melbourne, ex lab culture, ASCT 00000050439 leg. A.J. Stocker (ASCU).

Lycoriella agraria (Felt) was first collected from mushrooms in Albany, USA; as L. cellaris (Lengersdorf, 1934) in a house cellar, Bohemia, Czech Republic; from rotting straw in Finland [L. stramentorum (Frey, 1948)] and from a cave in Afghanistan (L. rufula Tuomikoski, 1960). It was reared from birds’ nests, rabbit burrows and squirrel drey in the United Kingdom (Freeman 1983). The species is rather seldomly found in Europe and seems to be more common in North America (Mohrig et al. 2013) and in Australia according to the data presented here.

Diagnostic remarks. Lycoriella agraria (Felt) is easy to identify as belonging to Lycoriella s. str. because of the following characteristics: a horseshoe-shaped border of the tibial organ on the fore tibia, a 3-segmented palpus with a deep and dark sensory pit on the basal segment, a densely haired intergonocoxal lobe on the ventral base of the hypopygium, a slender gonostylus with an apical tooth and a different number of spines as well as a long whiplash hair on the inner side. It differs from the two other pest species by having 3 spines inserted separately on the inner side of the gonostylus and a densely haired broad intergonocoxal lobe.

Economic importance. The first Australian record of Lycoriella agraria in the BCRI material is from 1975. This species has been collected from mushroom beds, mushroom compost and poultry manure in Victoria and New South Wales. It was reported as a damaging pest of mushrooms in a cellar in New York, USA by Felt (1898).

Distribution. Holarctic: Europe, Afghanistan, North America (USA, Canada); Australia.