Liogma brevipecten Alexander 1932
Creators: name: Imada, Yume
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Cylindrotomidae
Liogma
Liogma brevipecten

description: LIOGMA BREVIPECTEN ALEXANDER, 1932
(FIGS 1B, C, 2A, B, 4A, 5C, 6C, 7D–F, 8A–F, 9A–D, 10C, 11C, D, 15A–F)
Life history: This species is univoltine; adults emerge during May–July, in central Japan. Larvae of this species occur in well-moistened Mniaceae moss tufts in wet spots of forest or woodland, such as stream banks, trickling waters, rocks near waterfalls and lake margins. In Japan, they frequently co-occur with some other terrestrial moss-feeding species, such as L. serraticornis, L. mikado and T. kuwanai. In winter, the larva buries itself beneath the moss patches and sometimes its body is even embedded in the soft ground.
Egg: Length 0.9 mm (N = 1). Spindle-shaped, circular in cross-section, with a tapered front pole (Fig. 2A). Greyish yellow, apparently darker than T. kuwanai. Chorionic sculpture elongated and narrow, arranged as dotted dash lines; reticulated near micropyle (black arrowhead in Fig. 2A).
First-instar larva: Length 2.8 mm (N = 3). Body hyaline (Fig. 15E). Dorsal elongated cuticular lobes on thoracic and abdominal segments simple, outer surface covered with simple microtubercles (mtb) (Fig. 7C). Dorsal lobes on thoracic and abdominal segments with spinules present but less apparent than in later-instar larvae.
Final-instar larva: Length 14 mm (N = 47). Body colour dark green dorsally, due to oblique dark pigmentation on lateral side (Fig. 15A); colour generally uniform among individuals, brown individual unknown. Integumental surface rugulose due to undulated or reticulated ridges (Fig. 7D). Prothorax with two pairs of dorsal lobes along pronotal ridge, small and conical, with needlelike apices; anterior opening relatively smooth, without distinct tubercles (Fig. 15B); one pair of lateral lobes near the posterior end of the segment, small. Meso- and metathoracic segments with one pair of dorsal lobes; lateral lobes two pairs; ventral lobes two pairs, small and conical. Dorsal lobes on abdominal segments with translucent, sharply pointed apices; lobe covered with numerous sharp, translucent spinules on anterior and posterior sides of the lobes (Figs 6C, 7F, 15C); abdominal segments I and II–VII with two and four pairs, respectively. Lateral lobes on abdominal segments with sharp apices; abdominal segment I with three pairs; abdominal segments II–VII with four pairs (Fig. 5C); lobes bearing spinules as of dorsal lobes, but with lower density. Ventral lobes on abdominal segments small and conical. Anal segment with one pair of dorsal lobes bearing spinules; one pair of ventral lobes, devoid of spinules; dorsomedial lobe absent; lateral lobe absent; two pairs of ventral lobes, anterior pair papilla-like; four anal papillae present. Spiracular field with hair fringe (Fig. 10C). Elongated cuticular lobes internally containing tracheal branches (Fig. 15D).
Oviposition: Behaviour of four female individuals was observed in the field (5–13 May 2016, at Kibune, Kyoto, Japan). The adults occur in humid moss patches in woodlands, where ground water exudes continually. At the locality, several acrocarpous mosses and Chrysosplenium grayanum Maxim. (Saxifragaceae) abundantly grow on the mucky soil. Females lay eggs singly, inserting the abdomen into the tufts of Rhizomnium and Mnium mosses. The eggs (N = 19) are laid exclusively on moss shoots.
Host-plants: Larvae are found from tufts of moss species belonging to Mniaceae (Bryales). Recorded host-plants in the field include Plagiomnium acutum (Lindb.) T.J.Kop., Pl. cuspidatum (Hedw.) T.J.Kop., Pl. maximoviczii (Lindb.) T.J.Kop., Pl. vesicatum (Besch.) T.J.Kop., Rhizomnium hattorii T.J.Kop. and Rh. tuomikoskii T.J.Kop.
description: Published as part of Imada, Yume, 2021, Moss mimesis par excellence: integrating previous and new data on the life history and larval ecomorphology of long-bodied craneflies (Diptera: Cylindrotomidae: Cylindrotominae), pp. 1156-1204 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 193 on page 1179, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa177, http://zenodo.org/record/5752755