New morphological characters for classifying Phoridae (Diptera) from the structure of the thorax
Author
Brown, Brian V.
Author
Amorim, Dalton De Souza
Author
Kung, Giar-Ann
text
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
2015
2015-01-29
173
2
424
485
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12208
journal article
10.1111/zoj.12208
0024-4082
5333617
SUBFAMILY
CHONOCEPHALINAE
SUBFAM. NOV.
Type
genus:
Chonocephalus
Wandolleck.
Diagnosis. Male. Small, delicate flies.
Head
small.
Frons
of male strongly narrowed ventrally.
Anepimeron
not deeply W-shaped.
Costa
long, with thin, relatively short setae.
Scutal
and tibial setulae sparse, tibia without large setae.
Wing
vein
R
2
+3 absent; base of vein M
1
not close to
R
4
+5. No alular setae. Legs thin, cylindrical. Male terminalia globular. Female only known for
Chonocephalus
. Minute flies, dorsoventrally flattened. Frons broad rounded between antennae. Wing and halter absent. Abdomen with fully developed tergites, lacking dorsal accessory gland opening
.
Included genera.
Chonocephalus
,
Cyphocephalus
Borgmeier.
Species of the genus
Chonocephalus
are plesiomorphic for a number of characters that are apomorphic in termitoxeniines (21, 22, 58), metopinines and phorines (the set of features apomorphic for the higher phorids). Also, nested features apomorphic for the
Metopininae
or for the
Phorinae
are plesiomorphic in
Chonocephalus
, giving robustness to the hypothesis of a sister-group relationship with the entire family except the sciadocerines. The presence of a greatly narrowed male frons defines the grouping of
Chonocephalus
and
Cyphocephalus
. It may be that
Cyphocephalus
is nested within
Chonocephalus
, but this has to be formally demonstrated with a detailed study of the subfamily.