Wood midges of New Zealand (Cecidomyiidae, Lestremiinae). Part III: tribe Peromyiini and remarks on the composition, origin and relationships of the fauna as a whole

With a total of 33 species, the genus Peromyia KIEFFER, 1894 is the predominant element within the New Zealand fauna of the Lestremiinae. These species belong to eight intrageneric groups, two of which - the P. novaezealandiae and spinigera groups - are apparently endemic to New Zealand. The remaining six species groups also occur in the Holarctic region. The following new species are described: Peromyia clandestina JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. culta JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. derupta JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. didhami JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. dissona JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. doci JASCHHOF spec. nov., P insueta JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. intecta JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. intonsa JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. katieae JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. latebrosa JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. memoranda JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. mountalbertiensis JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. multifurcata JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. novaezealandiae JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. obunca JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. perardua JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. pertrita JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. plena JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. praeclara JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. rata JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. rotoitiensis JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. sera JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. serrata JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. setosa JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. sinuosa JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. spinigera JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. squamigera JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. tecta JASCHHOF spec. nov., P. tumida JASCHHOF spec. nov. The New Zealand fauna of Lestremiinae appears to be depauperate and unbalanced. This fauna is considered to be of complex origin, with the most of the species evolving through vicariance (including subsequent radiation); a minor portion by natural dispersal events across the Tasman Sea, and a few species by human introduction. Pteridomyiini and Peromyiini are hypothesized to belong to the original components of the indigenous New Zealand fauna and, consequently, were among those tribes of the Lestremiinae that existed already in late Mesozoic (at least Upper Cretaceous) times.