Taxonomic review of Tipula (Vestiplex Bezzi) crane flies (Diptera: Tipulidae) in Mongolia

Abstract

Fourteen species of Tipula (Vestiplex Bezzi, 1924) crane flies (Diptera, Tipulidae) known from Mongolia are taxonomically revised. Identification keys for males and females, redescriptions and illustrations of all species are presented. Most genital structures are illustrated for the first time. Tipula (V.) jakut Alexander, 1934 is designated as junior synonym of T. (V.) sintenisi Lackschewitz, 1933; T. (V.) kamchatkana Alexander, 1934 is designated as junior synonym of T. (V.) mediovittata Mik, 1889. Tipula (V.) balioptera Loew, 1863 and T. (V.) leucoprocta Mik, 1889 are listed as new records for the Mongolian fauna.

Six new species of Tipula (Vestiplex) Bezzi (Diptera, Tipulidae) from Tibet

“…All pictures were adjusted and assembled into plates with Adobe Photoshop CS6. The morphological terminology mostly follows Gelhaus (2005), Cumming & Wood (2017), de Jong (2017 and Starkevich et al (2020). Species group definitions follows Starkevich (2012).…”

Taxonomic Revision of Tipula (Vestiplex Bezzi) Crane Flies (Diptera, Tipulidae) in Taiwan with Descriptions of Six New Species

“…The deserrata species group was proposed by Starkevich [15] with a list of species revised in Men et al [38]. Another two species have been described recently from Tibet, China [48].…”

“…The species of subgenus T. (Vestiplex) have been separated by various authors into 17 species groups based on the characters of the male hypopygium. The coquillettiana, erectiloba, excisa, leucoprocta, nubeculosa, scripta, and virgatula groups are characterized by tergite 9 forming a shallowly concave saucer ( [6][7][8][9][10][11]). Another 10 species groups are characterized by a longitudinally divided tergite 9, along with features such as the shape of the ventral portion of tergite 9, the shape of the appendages of sternite 9, and other features discussed below: himalayensis species group (Alexander [12,13] and Edwards [14], as a subgroup of avicularia); avicularia, divisotergata, and subtincta [10]; arisanensis and coxitalis [4] (as members of T. (Oreomyza)); bicornigera, deserrata, and eurydice [15] and immota [16].…”

Two new crane fly species of the subgenus Vestiplex Bezzi, 1924 (Diptera, Tipulidae, Tipula) from Yunnan and Sichuan, China, with a key to species in the immota species group

“…The subgenus Vestiplex can be recognized by females having a powerfully constructed and heavily sclerotized cercus, usually with a serrated ventral margin, although margins may be smooth in some of the Asiatic species (Alexander 1935(Alexander , 1965Alexander and Byers 1981). The hypogynial valve is short to rudimentary, in the shape of blades or plates, or filamentous (Starkevich et al 2019a(Starkevich et al , 2020. Some species of the subgenus Vestiplex have tergite 9 of the male hypopygium forming a shallowly concave and sclerotized saucer (Alexander 1935;Alexander and Byers 1981;Starkevich et al 2020), while other species have tergite 9 divided by a pale membrane at the midline, with the posterior margin of the dorsal portion simple or bearing additional lobes, ventrally membranous or terminating in a pair of plates, sclerotized processes, armatures or flattened lobes (Alexander 1935;Alexander and Byers 1981;Men et al 2017;Pilipenko et al 2019;Starkevich et al 2019a, b).…”