Lonchaea, Lonchaea caledonica
Ecology: all the British rearing records relate to larvae collected beneath the bark of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris, both on fallen or cut trunks and on cut stumps. Recorded by Nuorteva (1967) (as L. laticornis of Hackman 1956) from puparia found under the bark of Scots pine in Finland and spruce Picea excelsa in Norway.
Description
Adult
Male : Eyes bare, hairs along mouth edge in a single row anteriorly. Antennae with segment 3 long, length 2.3x breadth, overall colour black but with orange area at base extending along basal fifth ventrally. Frons with numerous black hairs, those in front of anterior orbital bristle at most only half the length of the bristle. No hairs on the orbital plates above the orbital bristle. Thoracic dorsum with rather long black hairs, these more than half the length of the anterior orbital bristle. Notopleural depression bare apart from the two bristles. One stigmatical and one propleural bristle. On one side of thorax no hairs behind single strong sternopleural bristle, but on other side two scutellar bristles are present with one hair behind (comparison with the paratypes shows two sternopleurals to be an exceptional case) . Scutellum without hairs on disc, two hairs between apical scutellar bristles and four on each side between apical and lateral bristles. No hairs anterior to lateral pairs. Squammal fringes black. Legs dorsally with only metatarsus and t2 yellow although mid and hind legs have a bare yellow ventral stripe extending on to t3 and t4. Hypogigium; lobes of periandrium massive and rectangular in shape, almost the same size as the periandrium itself, long curved hairs at the tip. Posteroventral lobes of telomeres bluntly rounded and projecting only slightly beyond periandrium margin. Aedeagus two segmented, the apical section sinuous with a broadened base
Female : Generally as in male but with overall pilosity shorter and orange colour on antennal segment 3 more extensive. The type female has four hairs between apical scutellar bristles and no hairs behind the single strong sternopluerals. Ovipositor (drawn from a fresh specimen) with tergite 9 extending beyond sternite 9 by a distance greater than the length of the apical segment. In lateral view junction of tergite and sternite 9 rather sinuous. Connective tissue extending from tip of sternite 9 to apical segment. Apical segment separated by connective tissue from tip of tergite 9 by a distance equal to half the length of the apical segment, apical segment in lateral view with length slightly more than twice depth. Sub basal hairs strong, as long as apical segment, apical segment rather short haired but with a large number of short hairs at tip and on ventral surface giving it a rather brush like appearance .
Puparium. Length 4.25mm; width 1.25mm; anterior spiracles with 5-6 facets;
posterior breathing organs: with black, tapering, apical projections making each breathing tube appear as a pointed triangle; spiracular plate on the posterior margin of this triangle; ecdysial scar dorsal in position on the spiracular plate; locomotory organs : lateral ends of rows 2,3/4,5 and 6 comprising crescent-shaped bars of spicules, medially these rows with larger spicules; head skeleton : mandible about the same length as the intermediate sclerite; intermediate sclerite narrow and shorter than length of indented medial section of pharyngeal sclerite; dorsal apodeme present; ventral pharyngeal ridges present.
Pinus sylvestris woodlands