| Medetera | |
|---|---|
| Medeterasp. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Family: | Dolichopodidae |
| Subfamily: | Medeterinae |
| Tribe: | Medeterini |
| Genus: | Medetera Fischer von Waldheim, 1819 [1] |
| Type species | |
| Medetera carnivora (= Musca diadema Linnaeus, 1767) Fischer von Waldheim, 1819 | |
| Synonyms [2] [3] [4] | |
| |
Medetera is a large genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. [9] [10] It includes about 350 species worldwide. [11] The adults are commonly found resting on vertical surfaces such as tree trunks, on which they have a characteristic vertical upright stance. Because of this stance, they are sometimes known as "woodpecker flies". Medetera adults are predators of soft-bodied arthropods, while the larvae are predators of bark beetle larvae. [2] [12] [13]
A 2011 molecular phylogenetic analysis of Medetera and related genera found that Medetera is paraphyletic with respect to Dolichophorus , and that Thrypticus is a sister taxon to Medetera + Dolichophorus. [14]
Taxonomy follows Bickel (1985, 1987), [2] [12] though some of the species groups are treated as separate genera by other authors. [15]
Unsorted:
The following species are nomina dubia : [12]
The following species are synonyms of other species:
The following species have been transferred to other genera: [15] [52]
The following species are unplaced in the family: [52]