Prohercostomus

Prohercostomus Temporal range: Eocene, 37.2–33.9  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Dolichopodidae
Subfamily:	Dolichopodinae
Genus:	† Prohercostomus Grichanov, 1997 [1]
Type species
†Dolichopus noxialis Meunier, 1907
Synonyms [2] [3]
SympycnitesGrimaldi & Cumming, 1999 [4]

Prohercostomus is an extinct genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae, known from Baltic amber and Rovno amber from the Eocene. It was originally established as a subgenus of Hercostomus , but was later raised to genus rank. ^[5] It includes 13 species described by Fernand Meunier between 1907 and 1908 that were originally placed in the genera Dolichopus , Gymnopternus and Poecilobothrus . ^[6]

In 1999, a new genus and species Sympycnites primaevus was described from a single female labelled as being from Early Cretaceous-aged Lebanese amber. ^[4] This was considered unusual, because all other known fossils of Dolichopodidae in its strict sense (excluding the subfamilies Parathalassiinae and Microphorinae) were found in Cenozoic deposits. Dolichopodidae researchers later considered that the amber was probably mislabeled, and placed Sympycnites primaevus in synonymy with Prohercostomus noxialis in 2022. ^[2]

Species

• †Prohercostomus bickeli(Evenhuis, 1994) (synonym: Dolichopus vulgarisMeunier, 1907) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus ciliatus(Meunier, 1907) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus devinctus(Meunier, 1907) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus gracilis(Meunier, 1907) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus interceptus(Meunier, 1907) ^[7] – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus intremulus(Meunier, 1907) ^[7] (doubtful) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus inumbratus(Meunier, 1907) (doubtful) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus meunierianus(Evenhuis, 1994) (synonym: Dolichopus notabilisMeunier, 1907) – Baltic amber; Rovno amber
• †Prohercostomus minutus(Meunier, 1907) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus monotonus(Meunier, 1907) ^[7] – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus morbosus(Meunier, 1907) – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus negotiosus(Meunier, 1907) ^{[7] [8]} – Baltic amber
• †Prohercostomus noxialis(Meunier, 1907) ^{[7] [8]} (synonym: Sympycnites primaevusGrimaldi & Cumming, 1999) ^[2] – Baltic amber; Rovno amber

References

1. Grichanov, Igor Ya. (1997). "Prohercostomus, a new subgenus of the genus Hercostomus Loew (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from Baltic amber". Paleontological Journal . 31 (5): 520–522.
2. Bickel, D. J.; Martin, J.; Agnihotri, P.; Singh, H. (2022). "Dolichopodidae (Diptera) from the Eocene amber deposits of Cambay and Kutch Basins, India". Palaeoentomology. 5 (5): 475–486. doi:10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.5.9. S2CID   252472963.
3. Ulrich, H. (2004). "Phylogenetic considerations about an early colonization of the sea coasts by Dolichopodidae (Diptera)". Studia dipterologica. 11 (1): 233–243. Abstract
4. Grimaldi, David A.; Cumming, Jeffrey Malcolm (1999). "Brachyceran Diptera in Cretaceous ambers and Mesozoic diversification of the Eremoneura" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (239): 1–124. hdl:2246/1583.
5. Grichanov, Igor Ya. (2000). "Notes on Dolichopodidae (Diptera) from Ukrainian and Baltic amber". International Journal of Dipterological Research. 11 (3): 129–131.
6. Grichanov, I. Ya. (2024). "A New Extinct Genus of Long-Legged Flies, with a Brief Review and Key to Extinct Genera of Baltic Amber Dolichopodidae (Diptera)". Paleontological Journal. 57 (3 supplement): S246 –S261. doi:10.1134/S0031030123600051.
7. Meunier, F. (1907). "Monographie des Dolichopodidæ de l'ambre de la Baltique". Le Naturaliste: Revue illustrée des sciences naturelles. 2 (in French). 21 (29): 221–222.
8. Meunier, F. (1908). "Monographie des Dolichopodidæ de l'ambre de la Baltique". Le Naturaliste: Revue illustrée des sciences naturelles. 2 (in French). 22 (30): 45–46.

Evenhuis, N.L. (2 Apr 2014). "Family Dolichopodidae". Catalog of the fossil flies of the world (Insecta: Diptera) website. 2.0.