Background: Prior to this study, the moth flies in The Netherlands were represented by 61 species. Our findings derive from a citizen-science expedition in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam, one of the oldest public parks and best known parks in The Netherlands. The combination of citizen science and the exploration of a well-known urban park has allowed us to contribute to the knowledge of moth fly species present in The Netherlands. The findings from this study provide valuable insights into the distribution, taxonomy and genetic resources of Psychoda and Panimerus species, enhancing our understanding of insect biodiversity and promoting future research in this field.
New information: Our study provides two new geographical records of the moth flies in The Netherlands, namely, Psychodauniformata Haseman, 1907 and Panimerusmaynei (Tonnoir, 1920) elevating the total number of species to 63. Furthermore, we provide re-descriptions of the females of Panimerusnotabilis (Eaton, 1893) and P.goetghebueri (Tonnoir, 1919). Additionally, we make available for the first time, the sequence of the 5'-end of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene or COI Barcodes for Panimerusnotabilis, P.goetghebueri and P.maynei. These COI Barcodes serve as valuable tools for future species identification within the genus.
Keywords: COI barcoding; Psychodinae; Taxon Expeditions; citizen science; dark taxa.
Santiago Jaume-Schinkel, Gunnar Mikalsen Kvifte, Iva Njunjić, Menno Schilthuizen.