Published April 21, 2006 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Atelestidae

  • 1. Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, 53113 Bonn, Germany. E-mail: b. sinclair. zfmk @ uni-bonn. de Invertebrate Biodiversity, Agriculture and Agri Food Canada, C. E. F., Ottawa, ON, Canada K 1 A 0 C 6. E-mail: cummingjm @ agr. gc. ca

Description

Atelestidae

Atelestinae Hennig, 1970: 1, 3, 5, 6. Type genus Atelestus Walker, 1837.

Atelestidae Chvála, 1983: 85, 228.

The definition of this family is expanded here to include the new subfamily, Nemedininae. In the Atelestidae, the epipharyngeal blades are absent, female tergite 10 is also absent and males possess distinctively long processes of the gonocoxal apodemes and a shortened hypandrium (Sinclair & Shamshev 2003). Barták (2000) first proposed the assignment of Nemedina to the Atelestidae. Molecular analyses consistently assign the Atelestidae as the

sister group to the remaining Empidoidea (Collins & Wiegmann 2002a; Moulton & Wiegmann 2004). The following two subfamilies are recognized.

Nemedininae n. subfam.

Type genus Nemedina Chandler, 1981.

This is an ancient lineage that is represented by a single extant genus and several extinct genera (Grimaldi & Cumming 1999). The venation of this new subfamily is unique in the Empidoidea, characterized by the apex of cell br modified through the inclusion of a short vertical Rs and recurrent r­m, with radial and medial veins closely approximated (Chandler 1981; Grimaldi & Cumming 1999; Sinclair & Arnaud 2001; Sinclair & Shamshev 2003). This distinctive venation also characterizes five extinct genera from Cretaceous ambers (Grimaldi & Cumming 1999). See the Taxon sampling section for further discussion.

Atelestinae

The Atelestinae are defined on the presence of the subapical surstyli and the U­shaped male tergite 8. The following extant genera are included in the Atelestinae: Acarteroptera Collin, Atelestus Walker, and Meghyperus Loew (Chvála 1983).

Notes

Published as part of Sinclair, Bradley J. & Cumming, Jeffrey M., 2006, The morphology, higher-level phylogeny and classification of the Empidoidea (Diptera), pp. 1-172 in Zootaxa 1180 (1) on pages 1-172, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1180.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10087256

Files

Files (2.1 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:0e3726502cf03bd441d459b8dd4f9c67
2.1 kB Download

System files (16.0 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:7ecf545003cc8c490399a4baec2fad08
16.0 kB Download

Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Family
Atelestidae
Kingdom
Animalia
Order
Diptera
Phylum
Arthropoda
Taxon rank
family

References

  • Hennig, W. (1970) Insektfossilien aus der unteren Kreide. II. Empididae (Diptera, Brachycera). Stuttgarter Beitrage zur Naturkunde, 214, 1 - 12.
  • Walker, F. (1837) Notes on Diptera. The Entomological Magazine, 4 (1836), 226 - 230.
  • Chvala, M. (1983) The Empidoidea (Diptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. II. General Part. The families Hybotidae, Atelestidae and Microphoridae. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica, 12, 1 - 279.
  • Sinclair, B. J. & Shamshev, I. V. (2003) A new species of Nemedina Chandler from mid - Asia (Diptera: Empidoidea) resolves the phylogenetic position of this enigmatic genus. Journal of Natural History, 37, 2949 - 2958.
  • Bartak, M. (2000) Atelestidae. In Bartak, M. & Vanhara, J. (Ed.), Diptera in an industrially affected region (North-Western Bohemia, Bilina and Duchcov Environs). Vol. 1. Folia Facultatis Scientiarium Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia, 104, 201 - 202.
  • Collins, K. P. & Wiegmann, B. M. (2002 a) Phylogenetic relationships and placement of the Empidoidea (Diptera: Brachycera) based on 28 S rDNA and EF - 1 sequences. Insect Systematics and Evolution, 33, 421 - 444.
  • Moulton, J. K. & Wiegmann, B. M. (2004) Evolution and phylogenetic utility of CAD (rudimentary) among Mesozoic - aged eremoneuran Diptera (Insecta). Molecular Phlyogenetics and Evolution, 31, 363 - 378.
  • Chandler, P. J. (1981) Nemedina alamirabilis sp. n., a new genus and species of Diptera Eremoneura of uncertain affinities, from Hungary. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 27 (1 / 2), 103 - 113.
  • Grimaldi, D. & Cumming, J. (1999) Brachyceran Diptera in Cretaceous ambers and Mesozoic diversification of the Eremoneura. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 239, 1 - 124.
  • Sinclair, B. J. & Arnaud, P. H., Jr. (2001) Nemedina eocenica new species (Diptera: Empidoidea) from Baltic amber. Myia, 6, 1 - 8.