New faunistic records of the family Mycetophilidae (Insecta, Diptera) from Morocco

Abstract

A total of 54 species of Mycetophilidae are recorded for the first time in Morocco, of which 38 species are new to North Africa. A first checklist of Moroccan Mycetophilidae is appended, containing 64 species in 25 genera.

New species and other new records of the family Mycetophilidae (Insecta, Diptera) from Morocco

“…The produced apical margin of the gonocoxites, bearing strong apical setae, is an especially unusual feature. This and the gonostylus concealed within the gonocoxites in ventral view distinguish it from the other three Rymosia species recorded from Morocco, R. affinis Winnertz, 1864, R. beaucournui Matile, 1963, and R. pseudocretensis Burghele-Balacesco, 1966 ( Banamar et al 2020 ).…”

“…The male from Aïn El Ma Bared and the female from Azrou were listed under L. bimaculata by Banamar et al (2020) . The female (Fig.…”

“… Ševčík et al (2020) noted that 57 species were now known from the Palaearctic region; of these about 20 have been recorded from around the Mediterranean, many of them little known apart from their original description. When the previous account of Moroccan Mycetophilidae ( Banamar et al 2020 ) was prepared, the material of Docosia had not yet been fully investigated, only the distinctive species D. gilvipes (Haliday in Walker, 1856) then being recorded. Although a larger number might be anticipated, so far five further species have been recognised in the available material, two of which are recorded here; the others are apparently previously undescribed and will be treated elsewhere.…”

“… Banamar et al (2020) included Moroccan records of 64 species of Mycetophilidae , of which 54 were newly recorded, but they noted that most of the species recorded are widespread in the Mediterranean region and more widely in Europe and the Palaearctic Region. However, also found were some species that were new to science.…”

“…These and some other species identified after that publication are treated here. Results are presented in the same taxonomic order as by Banamar et al (2020) and Kettani et al (2022) in the Catalogue of Moroccan Diptera , except that Docosia Winnertz, 1864 is placed in subfamily Gnoristinae rather than Leiinae following recent phylogenetic studies using molecular methods (e.g. Kaspřák et al 2019 ).…”