Chionea (Chionea) mirabilis n. sp., a new species of snow fly (Insecta, Diptera, Limoniidae) from Korea

Winter-active insects have attracted the attention of numerous biologists. Since the beginning of the 19th century such research focused on their ecology (activity on snow cover, caves, burrows) and morphology (apterism). The most abundant winter active insects belong to the Diptera. The snow crane flies belonging to the genus Chionea (Diptera, Limoniidae) have an Holarctic distribution with 14 Palaearctic and 18 Nearctic species. Few data about these organisms have been reported from Eastern Asia. This region represents a very interesting area, from a biogeographical point of view, to investigate the spread and evolution of this genus. In this paper Chionea (Chionea) mirabilis n. sp., from South Korea is described and illustrated. This species shows two very interesting particularities not present in other species: the apically enlarged tibiae and wings that are longer than in the other described species.