Falakia modesta (Winnertz, 1867) gen. et comb. nov., stat. nov. Fig. 5 Trichosia modesta Winnertz, 1867: 30–31. Trichosia hebes Loew, 1869: 161 syn. nov. Sciara mendax Tuomikoski, 1960: 13–14, fig. 3a [replacement name for Sciara modesta (Winnertz, 1867) nec Sciara modesta Staeger (1840)]. Sciara nursei Freeman, 1983: 161–162, fig. 1. Sciara marginata Mohrig & Krivosheina, 1983 in Mohrig et al. 1983: 2–3, fig. 1a–b. Trichosia longisetosa Yang, Zhang & Yang, 1998: 298, 305–306; fig. 13 syn. nov. Sciara ulrichi Menzel & Mohrig, 1998: 373 [replacement name for Sciara marginata Mohrig & Krivosheina nec Sciara marginata Rübsaamen, 1898]. Sciara modesta – Menzel & Mohrig 2000: 525. Diagnosis Wing membrane with macrotrichia at the apical half. Gonostylus with curved outer and depressed mesial margins, with 5–6 large spines on dorsal lobe of the gonostylus. BIN BOLD:AGN9700. Material examined CHINA – Shaanxi Province • 1 ♂; Yan’an, Ziwuling; 35°53′17″ N, 108°39′35″ E; elev. 1275 m; 10 Aug. 2019; Tao Li leg.; ZAFU, SXMH-560 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 9 Oct. 2019; ZAFU, SXMH-583 • 2 ♂♂; same data as for preceding; 10 Oct. 2019; ZAFU, SXMH-212, SXMH-958 • 6 ♂♂; Haopingsi Nature Reserve Station; 34°5′17″ N, 107°42′40″ E; 8 Jun. 2012; Zhaofu Yang leg.; ZAFU, BIOUG14065-G10, BIOUG14117-A02, BIOUG14117-B12, BIOUG14117-C09, BIOUG14118-B06, BIOUG14118-H03 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 22 Jun. 2012; ZAFU, BIOUG14138-G03 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 13 Jul. 2012; ZAFU, BIOUG14462-G03 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 3 Aug. 2012; ZAFU, BIOUG14239-H01. – Zhejiang Province • 1 ♂; Anji, Longwangshan Nature Reserve; 30°13′55″ N, 119°14′38″ E; 16 Jul. 2018; Caixia Liu leg.; Malaise trap; ZAFU, LW-XG406 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 15 Jul. 2018; ZAFU, LW-XG149 • 2 ♂♂; same data as for preceding; 16. Jul. 2018; ZAFU, LW-XG332, LW-XG402 • 3 ♂♂; same data as for preceding; 17 Jul. 2018; ZAFU, LW-XG379, LW-QMT161, LW-QMT183 • 2 ♂♂; same data as for preceding; 15 Aug. 2018; ZAFU, LW-XG695, LW-XG696 • 3 ♂♂; same data as for preceding; 16 Aug. 2018; ZAFU, LW-XG710, LW-XG795, LW-XG925 • 2 ♂♂; same data as for preceding; 15 Sep. 2018; ZAFU, LW-XG568, LW-XG575 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 17 Oct. 2018; ZAFU, LW-QMT327 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; 18 Nov. 2018; ZAFU, LW-XG500 • 1 ♂; Lin’an, Mt Tianmu; 30°12′6″ N, 119°15′19″ E; elev. 952 m; 29 Aug. 2018; Zuluan Chen leg.; ZAFU, TMM-903. Redescription Male Head (Fig. 5C) brown. Antenna mostly brown with apical 3–4 flagellomeres yellowish brown. Maxillary palpus pale. Eye bridge 3–5 facets wide (Fig. 5C). Face and clypeus with few setae. Maxillary palpus 3 segmented; basal segment with 5–6 setae; 2 nd segment with 8–10 setae; 3 rd segment long with 10–14 setae. Fourth antennal flagellomere 3.15 times as long as wide (Fig. 5F); neck shorter than broad with bottleneck-like; longest setae shorter than width of flagellomere. Thorax mostly dark, with few yellow spots. Wing (Fig. 5H) length = 2.62 mm; width/length = 0.38; R 1 /R = 1.66; c/w = 0.80; bM 1.2 times as long as r-m; Sc reaching the level of Rs; R 1 joining C just before the base of the M-fork; stM slightly shorter than M-fork; membrane with macrotrichia at the apical half; anterior veins dark brown; posterior veins light brown; stM weakly visible; bM and r-m non-setose; R, R 1, and R 4+5 setose; M 1, M 2, CuA 1, and CuA 2 with macrotrichia; anal vein faded; anal lobe with few sparse macrosetae. Legs pale or yellow; fore tibial organ (Fig. 5G) with 2–3 rows of dark hairs; fore tibial spur longer than tibial width; length of spur/width of foretibia = 1.36. Hypopygium (Fig. 5D–E) brown to dark brown and hairy; gonocoxite somewhat U-shaped, nearly as long as gonostylus; outer margin with normal setosity; ventral mesial margin with a row of short hairs at apical region; apex of the gonocoxite with a long, differentiated seta. Gonostylus (Fig. 5D–E) stout; broad at base, slightly attenuated at apex; with the mesial side impressed at the apical two third; outer and mesial margins with continuous long setae; apex round, slightly curving inward, with short bristles; with 1 anterior, 4–5 mesial, nearly straight, spines on dorsal lobe (Fig. 5E). Tegmen (Fig. 5D) bell-shaped; slightly higher than wide; with somewhat convex lateral margins and rounded apex. Aedeagus dark brown, with a Y-shaped fork. Distribution China [Oriental, Palaearctic], Europe and Far East Russia [Palaearctic], Canada and United States [Nearctic]. Remarks The oldest available species epithet “ modesta ” is hereby reinstated, because it is no longer combined with Sciara and thus the secondary homonymy is suspended. This species was erroneously synonymized with Sciara lackschewitzi (Lengersdorf, 1934) by Menzel & Mohrig (2000) under the name Sciara mendax Tuomikoski on page 524 and listed again under the unavailable combination Sciara modesta (Winnertz, 1867) on the next page. The authors placed it in the Sciara hemerobioides group. Falakia modesta gen. et comb. nov. is easily distinguished by the unique structure of the gonostylus with curved outer and depressed mesial margins, with 5–6 large spines on dorsal lobe of the gonostylus. Most species of the genus have a colourful thorax except for F. modesta and also F. obscura gen. et sp. nov. Falakia modesta is genetically divergent with four different BINs from the Palearctic, Oriental and Nearctic Regions (BOLD:AGN9699, AGN9700, AGN9701 and AAM9253). We are synonymizing the Chinese Trichosia longisetosa Yang, Zhang & Yang, 1998 with this species, even though the holotype is lost, because the original description including the figure matches well with F. modesta. The type locality is also the same as for our material form Zhejiang.

Published as part of Shah, Bismillah, Heller, Kai & Huang, Junhao, 2026, New insights into Chinese fungus gnats: description and molecular identification of Falakia gen. nov. (Diptera: Sciaridae) with six new species, pp. 201-225 in European Journal of Taxonomy 1034 on pages 215-217, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2026.1034.3167, http://zenodo.org/record/18351051