Parydra (Chaetoapnaea) pusilla ( Meigen, 1830 )

Parydra (Chaetoapnaea) pusilla ( Meigen, 1830) View in CoL

( Figs. 18 View FIGURE 18 , 101–104 View FIGURES 101–104 )

Ephydra pusilla Meigen 1830: 126 View in CoL ; locus typicus not given [presumably Stolberg]; holotype ♂ [MNHN, Becker 1902].

Napaea pygmaea Robineau-Desvoidy 1830: 800 ; locus typicus not given [presumably France]; holotype ♂ / ♀ [missing from coll. Robineau-Desvoidy, Mathis & Zatwarnicki 1995]; synonymy by Cogan (1984).

Ephydra infecta Haliday 1833: 175 View in CoL ; type-locality: „Holywood in Downshire“ [Britain]; 3 syntypes [NMID, de Courcy Williams & O'Connor 1989]; synonymy by Haliday (1839).

Ephydra (Parydra) nasuta Stenhammar 1844: 192–193 View in CoL ; type-locality: „in Ostrogothia ad Häradshammar et prope Sudercopiam; in Bahusia ad Marstand“, „Lapponia et Bottnia“ [ Sweden]; syntype ♂ ♀ [MZLU, UZIU, Mathis & Zatwarnicki 1995]; synonymy by Haliday (1856).

Material examined: 242 specimens from Germany , Finland , Iceland and European Russia with new country records from Georgia: GEORGIA : 1♀, 12.vii.2019, Kochki river s Epremovka [41.189°N 43.748°E] GoogleMaps ; 1♀, 11.vii.2019, lake Kartsakhi wsw Kartsakhi [41.236°N 43.249°E] GoogleMaps ; 1♀, 10.vii.2019, small lake 2.2 km ene Imera [41.650°N 44.215°E] GoogleMaps ; 2♂♂, 3.vii.2019, Snostskali river 0.6 km se Achkhoti [42.618°N 44.624°E] GoogleMaps ; 1♂ 1♀, 4.vii.2019, Snostskali river se Akhaltsikhe [42.588°N 44.667°E] GoogleMaps ; 1♀, 11.vii.2019, Vachiani lake [41.357°N 43.436°E] GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis: A distinctive small Parydra species with the silver dusted face bearing two strong facial setae. The male terminalia is uniquely characterised by the large semicircular hypandrium ( Fig. 102 View FIGURES 101–104 ) in dorsal view. Males are also unique in having sternite 5 densely setulose.

Distribution in Europe: Widely distributed and not rare in boreal, Atlantic and continental Europe, rarer or unrecorded in southern Europe. Outside of Europe it has been reported from Turkey ( Pârvu & Popescu-Mirceni 2006, Popescu-Mirceni 2011) and its distribution reaches east Asia ( Krivosheina 1995).

Biology: Inhabits a wide variety of more or less vegetated freshwater or saline wetlands. Polyvoltine with the long flight period spanning at least from February until October and probably year-round. Stigmatomyces trianguliapicalis has been reported to grow on P. pusilla ( Rossi et al. 2010) . Nielsen et al. (1954) illustrate the larvae. The larval diet is currently unknown.