Sciophila fractinervis | |
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Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Diptera |
Family: | Mycetophilidae |
Genus: | Sciophila |
Species: | S. fractinervis
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Binomial name | |
Sciophila fractinervis Edwards, 1940
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Sciophila fractinervis is a species of fungus gnat in the family Mycetophilidae.
Sciophila fractinervis is a tropical species and was originally described in 1940 by Frederick Wallace Edwards using specimens collected by Friedrich 'Fritz' Plaumann from the neighbourhood of Nova Teutonia, Santa Catarina, Brazil. [1] S. fractinervis has been found on cultivated greenhouse plants in the United Kingdom [2] and was recorded by Peter J. Chandler in 2010 on examples of commercially-grown Eustoma grandiflorum from Warwickshire. [3] This species was also recorded on greenhouse examples of Platycerium and Beaucarnea in the Netherlands in 2005. [4] S. fractinervis is considered by RINSE (Registry of non-native species in the Two Seas region countries) as a non-native species in Great Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. [5]
The larvae of Sciophila fractinervis are brown in colour and have a glossy appearance, due to being enclosed in a mucus tube created from labial glands around the mouth. [2]
The adults have a dark grey head with a yellowish face, a yellowish thorax, brown abdomen and yellow legs. [1] [3] The mouthparts are black. [1] The wings of the male measure 2.5 - 2.7mm and the wings of the female are 2.9 - 3.2mm. [3] [4] Females of the species have shorter antennae than males. [1]
Edwards observed that the macrotrichia (hairs or bristles) on the wings of S. fractinervis are less dense, and therefore more conspicuous than on the comparable species Sciophila ciliata. [1]
Sciophila fractinervis larvae build silky cocoons of webbing either on the basal leaves of their host plant or on the soil underneath. [3] The larvae eat fungus spores which grow upon the webbing to sustain themselves, mainly from saprophytic species of fungus that feed on decaying plant matter. [2] The webbing built by the larvae likely also provides a protective environment against predators as larvae have been observed retreating when the webbing is suddenly vibrated. [2] The leaves of the host plant do not appear to be damaged by the larval activity, at least in cultivated plant examples [2] [3] but the webbing is considered unsightly by commercial plant growers. [2] The larvae take about 7-10 days to pupate and emerge as adults. [3] [2]