Diptera: Diadocidiidae) ” by Stephen W. Taber

Stephen W. Taber Professor of Biology

Stephen Taber received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Texas A&M University, his master’s in biology from Texas Tech University, and his doctorate in biological sciences from The University of Texas at Austin. During his time at SVSU, he has been the recipient of the Warrick Award for Excellence in Research and theBraun Fellowship Award for Research.

Abstract. A new species of Diadocidia Ruthe fungus gnat was discovered in the eastern Lower Peninsula of Michigan in a mixed pine and hardwood forest. Diadocidia longivena Taber is the fourth species recorded from North America and the first new species of this genus described from the Nearctic in 63 years. The fly belongs to subgenus Adidocidia Laŝtovka and Matile as do both of its congeners that were described in North America.

The fungus gnat genus Diadocidia Ruthewas formerly part of the enormous family Mycetophilidae but now it belongs to the family Diadocidiidae and includes 25 species (Falaschi 2016, Bechev and Chandler 2011). It is easily recognized by the colinear arrangement of wing veins r-m and bm-cu (Vockeroth 2009). Were it not for one fossil species the family would be monotypic with the nominate genus its only member.

The type locality of the new species was a mixed pine and hardwood upland in Huron National Forest, Ogemaw County, Michigan, USA. Flies were collected with large Malaise traps (BioQuip Products Inc., Rancho Dominguez, CA) erected in April 2019 when snow melt allowed access to the area. Material was retrieved every week and is expected to continue on this schedule until insect activity decreases in late autumn. All specimens were frozen in Malaise trap canisters until removed and placed in Petri dishes for sorting and identification with a stereomicroscope. Those of interest were soaked overnight at room temperature in a tissue culture dish with water, one drop of the wetting agent polysorbate to help submerge dry appendages and wings without breakage, and with two KOH pellets per 20 ml H2O to clear dark pigmentation, spread genitalia, and soften the specimens. Rain frequently enters the trap canisters in which case no polysorbate is needed. After a water rinse, an 80% ETOH soak, and a 100% isopropanol maceration each specimen was placed on a microscope slide with several drops of Euparal (Agar Scientific, Stansted, England). Cover slips were not used because material must be re-examined from different angles by applying additional mounting medium and waiting a few minutes for the previous application to reliquefy. Isopropanol sometimes reliquefies faster. The photographs shown here were taken with stereoscopic and high-power compound microscopes, (Olympus SZ40 Zoom and Olympus BH-2, Tokyo, Japan), provided with a digital SPOT idea camera (Diagnostics Instruments, Sterling Heights, MI). Stacking software was employed to combine series of images differing only in the chosen plane of focus into a single merged image with improved clarity (Zerene Stacker Version 1.04), thus overcoming depth-of-focus problems with thick specimens.

Descriptions followed the examples of modern Palearctic work (Papp and Ševčík 2005, Polevoi 1996), while drawing upon the morphological terminology of the standard reference on Nearctic Diptera (Vockeroth 1981), excluding certain characters that are either not used in identification keys, are likely variable, or both. Diadocidia longivena Taber new species

Diagnosis. The long R1 vein of the wing and the four strong setae near the apex of each gonostylus distinguish this species from all others known to the author. Type Material. Holotype. Adult male, Huron National Forest, 44.474 N, 83.977 W, Maltby Hills, 2.7 km west of Beal Road, several hundred meters N of Alcan Highway, Ogemaw Co., MI, 8 June, 2019, S. W. Taber, Saginaw Valley State University Insect Collection, University Center, MI. Paratypes. Seven adult males and one adult female with the same data as the holotype except one male specimen collected 16 June.

Description. Holotype. Adult male (Fig. 1). Length in Euparal = 4.8 mm. Body brown except for wings; antenna with 14 flagellomeres, lateral ocelli almost touching compound eye. Thorax: laterotergite glabrous, setae of head, thorax and abdomen black, halteres brownish-yellow, tibial spurs dark brown, all tarsal claws small and simple with a basal tooth. Wing (Fig. 2): Length = 4.2 mm, smoky without pattern, clothed with dark macrotrichia and microtrichia, vein R1 unusually long and nearly straight, extending to almost the midpoint of the cell formed by the M fork, C continues past its confluence with R4+5 to half the distance between that confluence and M1, sc-r absent, Sc reaching costa proximad of r-m.Abdomen: tergite 9 broad and slightly flattened at the apex, cerci clothed with setae of various lengths but none as strong as a bristle; each gonostylus with 2 dark claws at the apex, gonostylus (Figs. 3, 4) with a ventral row of four long, dark, strong setae or bristles, (the three basalmost setae homologous to the three bristles of Diadocidia trispinosa Polevoi 1996, Figs. 7 and 9); aedeagus (Fig. 5) a simple rod of length 0.1 mm. Female: as for the male except for the terminalia (Fig. 6). Etymology. The new species is named for the long R1 vein of the wing. Biology. Juveniles of D. longivena are unknown. Distribution. The new species is known only from its type locality. Remarks. The female cercus (Fig. 6) resembles that of Diadocidia spinosula Tollet (Laŝtovka and Matile 1972, Fig. 20) and Diadocidia. stanfordensis Arnaud and Hoyt (Arnaud and Hoyt 1956, Fig. 1E) whereas sternite eight resembles that of D. ferruginosa (Meigen) (Laŝtovka and Matile 1972, Fig. 19). But the female of D. ferruginosa has swollen proleg tarsi of segments 2-4 (Hutson et al. 1980) as shown here for an unidentified female Diadocidia species collected at the type locality of D. longiseta (Fig. 7), whereas the female of the new species has simple proleg basal tarsi (Fig. 8) like those of the male.

Figure 1 Diadocidia longivena, male habitus. Length = 4.8 mm.

Figure 2 Diadocidia longivena, male wing, length = 4.2 mm.

Figure 3 Diadocidia longivena, male terminalia; dorsal view.

Fig. 4. Diadocidia longivena, male terminalia; ventral view.

Figure 4 Diadocidia longivena, male terminalia; ventral view.

Figure 5 Diadocidia longivena, aedeagus.

Figure 6 Diadocidia longivena; female terminalia.

The most recently described Nearctic species of this genus is D. stanfordensis from 1956 in California. The only other species described from the Nearctic was Diadicidia borealis Coquillett in 1900 from British Columbia. A fourth species, D. ferruginosa has been reported from Canada and The United States (Fisher 1941) but it was described from German material in 1830 and its status is questionable (Bechev and Chandler 2011). The long 1st flagellomere places D. longivena in subgenus Adidocidia Laŝtovka and Matile (Papp and Ševčík 2005) with D. borealis and D. stanfordensis. The larval and pupal stages of the new species are unknown. The larva of its close relative D. stanfordensis dwells in a slime tube in and/or under logs and stumps (Arnaud and Hoyt 1956), leaving a molluscan-like slime trail in its wake. Diadocidia larvae have also been associated with fungi (Hutson et al. 1980).

This research was funded by a Ruth and Ted Braun Fellowship awarded to the author at Saginaw Valley State University and by the Earl L. Warrick Award for Excellence in Research at the same institution.

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Established in 2018, the Center for Community Writing works to promote writing throughout the Great Lakes Bay Region. Coordinated by Helen Raica-Klotz and Christopher Giroux, the Center serves as an umbrella organization for various other initiatives, including the Saginaw Community Writing Center (SCWC), the Bay Community Writing Center (BCWC), and the Saginaw Bay Writing Project (SBWP).

The Center for Community Writing continued to operate its community writing centers in 2019–2020. Housed in Saginaw’s Butman-Fish Library and established in October 2015, the SCWC is the first community writing center of its kind in the state of Michigan and is funded by the Saginaw Community Foundation. The BCWC opened its doors at the Wirt Public Library in Bay City in September 2017; it is funded by the Bay Community Foundation. Both centers offer specialized workshops on a given topic (like résumés, cover letters, or short fiction) as well as individual consultations on any piece of writing a community member chooses. Because of the pandemic, these services began to be offered online in Spring 2020.

Under their auspices, and through funding provided by community member Dr. Debasish Mridha, the community writing centers published another issue of Still Life in 2020. The only community arts journal sponsored by a university in the state of Michigan, Still Life offers creative writing opportunities for writers of all ages and can be found online and in print. In 2019, Still Life was once again honored with a first-place award from the American Scholastic Press Association.

In 2019–2020, with support from Dr. Marc Peretz, dean of the College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences, the community writing centers also continued to offer a series of semester-long creative writing seminars for inmates housed at the Saginaw Regional Correctional Facility in Freeland, Michigan. These workshops were led by SVSU Writing Center tutors Matthew Chappel and Lizzy Kennedy.

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