Parydra (Parydra) littoralis ( Meigen, 1830 )

Parydra (Parydra) littoralis ( Meigen, 1830) View in CoL

( Figs. 11, 71–74 View FIGURES 71–74 )

Ephydra littoralis Meigen 1830: 116 View in CoL ; locus typicus not given [“Coll. Winthem“]; lectotype ♂, des. by Cresson (1930) [NMW, Cresson 1930].

Material examined: 125 specimens from France, Germany and Portugal .

Diagnosis: Males and females of P. littoralis are distinguished from other Parydra s. str. by the black to dark brown setulae on the middle coxa. Males are additionally separated from all other European Parydra by the dense black setulae ventrally in the anterior 2/3 of the middle tibia, obvious strong setae posteroventrally on the middle femur and shining areas on the middle tibia. ♂ terminalia are unique in having the phallus and phallus apodeme separated ( Fig 73 View FIGURES 71–74 ) and having a characteristic notch in the lateral margin of the postgonite ( Fig. 71 View FIGURES 71–74 ). ♀ resembles Chaetoapnaea but can be recognised by the strongly dusted face, which is slightly convex in lateral view, broad gena (gena-eye ratio = 0.4–0.5), and, usually, the presence of a distinct projection apically on the scutellum. Parydra quadripunctata females can be similar but usually have the apices of the radius r 4+5 and media m with contrasting darkening and the middle tibia without shining areas.

Distribution in Europe: Widely distributed in central Europe and Britain. Less frequent reported from Spain ( Zatwarnicki & Blasco-Zumeta 2004), Morocco ( Vitte 1988, 1991), the northern Balkan peninsula including Bulgaria ( Beschovski & Zatwarnicki 2004, Hubenov 2018) and Serbia ( Krivosheina & Ozerov 2022) and Ukraine ( Krivosheina 2014). Recorded in Scandinavia north to 62°N ( GBIF 2024).

Biology: Adults are found in wetlands with dense vegetation and, usually, dead organic material. Parydra littoralis shows a preference for forested habitats but can also be found in open wetlands. Adults have been recorded from April to August and P. littoralis may be polyvoltine.