Tethepomyiidae

Last updated

Tethepomyiidae
Temporal range: Albian–Turonian
Tethepomyia zigrasi.jpg
Tethepomyia zigrasi
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Superfamily: Archisargoidea
Family: Tethepomyiidae
Grimaldi and Arillo 2008
Genera

Tethepomyiidae is an extinct family of small brachyceran flies known from the Cretaceous period of Laurasia. It is part of the extinct superfamily Archisargoidea. The family is characterised by "very large eyes, reduced mouthparts, a highly reduced antennal flagellum, and greatly reduced venation." [1] The ovipositor of Tethepomyia zigrasi has a hypodermic morphology likely used for injecting eggs into hosts. [2]

Taxonomy

Related Research Articles

Xylomyidae Family of flies

Xylomyidae is a family of flies known commonly as the wood soldier flies. They are xylophagous and are associated with dead or dying wood.

Apsilocephalidae Family of flies

Apsilocephalidae is a family of flies in the superfamily Asiloidea. The family was proposed in 1991 as a close relative of Therevidae distinguishable by genitalic characters. The family contains three extant genera and four extinct genera described from the fossil record..

Atelestidae Family of flies

Atelestidae is a family of true flies in the superfamily Empidoidea. The four genera were placed in a separate family in 1983; they were formerly either in Platypezidae or considered incertae sedis. While they are doubtless the most basal of the living Empidoidea, the monophyly of the family is not fully proven. The genus Nemedina seems to represent a most ancient lineage among the entire superfamily, while Meghyperus is probably not monophyletic in its present delimitation, and it is liable to be split up eventually, with some species being placed elsewhere. In 2010, the genus Alavesia, previously only known from Cretaceous fossils, was found alive in Namibia, subsequent species were also described from Brazil.

Acrocerinae Subfamily of flies

Acrocerinae is a subfamily of Acroceridae. They are small distinctive flies whose larvae are endoparasites of spiders. Adult hunchback-flies visit flowers to feed on nectar. Traditionally the subfamily included the genera now placed in Cyrtinae and Ogcodinae, but the subfamily in this sense was found to be polyphyletic and was split up in 2019.

The Hilarimorphidae or hilarimorphid flies are a family of Diptera. They are of uncertain placement and may be related to the Acroceridae. Most species are Nearctic.

Apystomyia is a genus of flies in the family Apystomyiidae. The genus contains the single living Apystomyiidae species, Apystomyia elinguis, which is primarily found in California. Details of its life history are largely unknown. The extinct genus Hilarimorphites is known from the Cretaceous Burmese and New Jersey ambers. Formerly placed in the Asiloidea, molecular phylogenetic studies in 2010 placed the genus unambiguously as a sister of the Cyclorrhapha within the clade Eremoneura.

Apystomyiidae Family of flies

Apystomyiidae is a small family of flies containing the living genus Apystomyia and the extinct genera Apystomima and Hilarimorphites. The single living Apystomyiidae species, Apystomyia elinguis, is native to California. Species of Hilarimorphites have been described from Mid to late Cretaceous Burmese and New Jersey ambers, while the single Apystomima species is from the Late Jurassic of Kazakhstan.

Serphitidae is a family of fossil apocritan wasps known from the Middle-Upper Cretaceous of Laurasia.

Cretomicrophorus is an extinct genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae from the Upper Cretaceous of Russia, France and the United States. The generic name is a combination of the Latin word creta ("chalk") and the generic name Microphorus.

<i>Schlingeromyia</i> Extinct genus of flies

Schlingeromyia is an extinct genus of small-headed flies in the family Acroceridae. The genus is known from Upper Cretaceous fossils in Burmese amber from Myanmar. It contains only one species, Schlingeromyia minuta.

<i>Burmacyrtus</i> Extinct genus of flies

Burmacyrtus is an extinct genus of small-headed flies of uncertain placement. The genus is known from Upper Cretaceous fossils in amber from Myanmar. It contains only one species, Burmacyrtus rusmithi.

Archichrysotus is an extinct genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. The generic name is a combination of the Greek prefix archi- and the generic name Chrysotus. The genus is known from Upper Cretaceous amber from the Taymyr Peninsula in Russia, New Jersey in the United States and Cedar Lake in Manitoba, Canada.

Microphorites is an extinct genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae.

Eremoneura is a clade of flies within the Brachycera that includes the Empidoidea and the Cyclorrhapha and is a sister of the Asilomorpha. They are thought to have evolved around the Mesozoic. The group includes fossils described in the genus Chimeromyia from 125 million year old amber which show both empidoid and cyclorrhaphan characters. The monotypic family Apystomyiidae has also been placed within the Eremoneura as a sister of the Cyclorrhapha.

Burmese amber is fossil resin dating to the early Late Cretaceous Cenomanian age recovered from deposits in the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar. It is known for being one of the most diverse Cretaceous age amber paleobiotas, containing rich arthropod fossils, along with uncommon vertebrate fossils and even rare marine inclusions. A mostly complete list of all taxa described up until 2018 can be found in Ross 2018; its supplement Ross 2019b covers most of 2019.

Zhangsolvidae Extinct family of flies

Zhangsolvidae is an extinct family of brachyceran flies known from the Cretaceous period. Members of the family possess a long proboscis, varying in length between 1.3 and 7 mm depending on the species, and were probably nectarivores. A specimen has been found with preserved Bennettitales pollen, suggesting that they acted as pollinators for extinct gymnosperms.

Rhagionemestriidae is an extinct family of brachyceran flies known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It was first named as a subfamily of the Nemestrinidae by Ussatchov (1968), and was raised to full family status by Nagatomi and Yang (1998). They are considered to be closely related to the family Acroceridae. Similar to Acroceridae, members of the family possess a large hemispherical head, with eyes covering nearly all of the area.

Eremochaetidae Extinct family of flies

Eremochaetidae is an extinct family of brachyceran flies known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods of Asia. It is part of the extinct superfamily Archisargoidea. The morphology of the ovipositor of the only 3 dimensionally preserved genus Zhenia was initially interpreted as evidence of being an endoparasitoid of arthropods, however a subsequent study suggested that the ovipositor was used to deposit its eggs in plant material, similar to members of Tephritoidea. In a phylogenetic analysis, Ermochaetidae was found to be monophyletic, surrounded by a paraphyletic Archisargidae.

Archisargidae Extinct family of flies

Archisargidae is an extinct family of brachyceran flies known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It is part of the extinct superfamily Archisargoidea. Most members of the family are known from the Callovian-Oxfordian Daohugou biota of Inner Mongolia, China, and the equivalently aged Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan. The family has been found to be paraphyletic with respect to Eremochaetidae in a cladistic analysis.

Archisargoidea Extinct superfamily of flies

Archisargoidea is an extinct superfamily of brachyceran flies known from the late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) to early Late Cretaceous (Turonian). Most flies in the superfamily have large eyes and an elongated abdomen, preserved females have a sharp, piercing oviscapt used for injecting eggs into host matter. Their relationships with other members of Brachycera is controversial, they are usually considered close relatives of either Stratiomyomorpha or Muscomorpha. Internal relationships between the families are uncertain and the topology of the only cladistic analysis of the family was weakly supported.

References

  1. 1 2 D. A. Grimaldi and A. Arillo. 2008. The Tethepomyiidae, a new family of enigmatic Cretaceous Diptera. Alavesia2:259-265
  2. 1 2 Grimaldi, David; Arillo, Antonio; Cumming, Jeffrey; Hauser, Martin (2011-11-21). "Brachyceran Diptera (Insecta) in Cretaceous ambers, part IV: Significant New Orthorrhaphous Taxa". ZooKeys (148): 293–332. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.148.1809 . ISSN   1313-2970. PMC   3264415 . PMID   22287902.
  3. D. A. Grimaldi and J. M. Cumming. 1999. Brachyceran Diptera in Cretaceous ambers and Mesozoic diversification of the Eremoneura. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History239:1-121
  4. Grimaldi, David A. (2016-09-28). "Diverse Orthorrhaphan Flies (Insecta: Diptera: Brachycera) in Amber From the Cretaceous of Myanmar: Brachycera in Cretaceous Amber, Part VII". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 408: 1–131. doi:10.1206/0003-0090-408.1.1. ISSN   0003-0090. S2CID   89043544.