lunule

In the laboratory, morphological features of each specimen including shell morphology, umbo, lunule, radial ribs, posterior slope, escutcheon, hinge ligament, growth lines and cardinal teeth were recorded.

Phyllomyza Fallen, 1810 (Milichiidae: Phyllomyzinae) is characterized by the following features: 3 lateroclinate orbital setae; occiput not strongly concave in top view; palpus and 1st flagellomere in male usually greatly enlarged, longer than broad; lunule usually with a pair of setae (Brake 2000).

Head (Figs 3, 4): Frons rather narrow, less than 0.4 x of total head width; frontal vitta markedly narrowing downwards: on upper part more than V of frontal width, above lunule much narrower than parafrontalia.

Other less frequent changes were Beau's lines (14%), splinter hemorrhages (12%) [Figure 4], longitudinal ridging (12%), paronychia (10%), longitudinal melanonychia (4%) [Figure 5], perilunular erythema/red lunule (5%) [Figure 6] and twenty nail dystrophy (3%).

Lunule well developed, flat and wide, ornamented with smooth striae.

Shell with strongly sloping dorsoposterior margin meeting short posterior margin with an obtuse angle; anterior margin convex; ventral margin flatly convex; valves angulated from umbonal area to ventroposterior margin; area dorsal to angulation concave; beaks tightly incurved near anterior margin, prosogyrate; lunule and escutcheon not deeply impressed; comarginal ridges become coarser during growth with equal-sized interspaces, eight in 2 mm near ventral margin; internal features not observed.

The pale half-moon shape at the base of each nail is called the lunule, which shows where the hardening process is not yet complete.

Mature specimens, paired and unpaired, were situated next to a lunule on the oral side of the burrowing sand dollar Astriclypeus manni, which is considered to be their host (Fig.

The lunule in the southern quahog is at least as wide as high in the southern quahog, but is narrower in the northern quahog.

They were easily recognized by the lack of prominent subscutellum (fig.2), presence bare greater ampulla at the wing base (fig.3), absence stout bristles on the meron (fig.4), antennal pedicel with a complete dorsal seam, the ptilinal suture and lunule were present (fig.5).

The genus Neophyllomyza Melander, 1913 (Milichiidae: Phyllomyzinae) can be separated from other genera of the subfamily Phyllomyzinae by the following characteristics: paired cruciate setae present along the middle of the front; fron-to-orbital setae extending quite to antennae, the upper ones diverging, the lower converging; face excavated, cheeks narrow, oral vibrissae large; proboscis long, slender, geniculate; lunule small, bare; one humeral, 2 notopleural, one presutural, 2 supra-alar; one katepisternal, no anepisternal setae (Melander 1913; Brochu & Wheeler 2009).