Cladistic analysis of Subfamily Bruchomyiinae (Diptera: Psychodidae)
Author
Wagner, Rüdiger
Author
Stuckenberg, Brian
text
Zootaxa
2016
4092
2
151
174
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4092.2.1
419cc1ea-ccb8-478b-81e4-47cde6bd13d0
1175-5326
260836
5C5C5915-F193-44EC-8D74-157D607B08A6
Fossil
Bruchomyiinae
Fossil
Bruchomyiinae
are documented from various deposits of Caribbean (12–20 million years b.p.), Baltic (40– 60 million years b.p.), and Burmese (100 million years b.p.) amber. To date the group is missing in geologically older strata,
e.g.
Lebanese amber. Psychodids in the mentioned deposits were identified as closely related to extant Phlebotominae, Trichomyinae,
Sycoracinae
and probably
Psychodinae
. The absence of
Bruchomyiinae
in deposits older than 100 million years b.p. may be incidental, but it remains remarkable as long as specimens are not confirmed.
FIGURE 8.
Tree from Bayesian analysis of 52 species and 29 characters of extant
Bruchomyiinae
. Posterior probabilities are given. Abbreviations: B—
Bruchomyia
, Bo—
Boreofairchildia
, E—
Eutonnoiria
, L—
Laurenceomyia
, N—
Nemopalpus
, Nt—
Notofairchildia
.
Baltic amber fossils represent separate phylogenetic lines. The most abundant species in the deposits,
N. tertiariae
(Meunier, 1905)
, has been repeatedly photographed and illustrated, so there is no dispute about its identity; however, the interpretation of its genitalia by Hennig (1972, p.48–49) is incorrect. A crested area of weak sclerotization of the elongate gonostylus lead Hennig to the assumption the distal area was a segment of its own and gonocoxites were the hypandrium. Photos and figures of the second species,
N. molophilinus
Edwards, 1921
provided by Wagner (2006) show evident differences from
N. tertiariae
,
i.e
. short and stout gonocoxites and gonostyli, epandrium with two lateral, distally divided projections.
N. inexpectatus
Wagner, 2012
, similar in the basic structure of the genitalia to
N. molophilinus
, was already figured by Henning (1972, p.48, fig. 41); gonocoxite stout but gonostyli short and s-shaped, epandrium without lateral projection but with a pair of small trifid appendages. Genitalia of
Nemopalpus hoffeinsi
Wagner, 2006
, are basically different; gonocoxites and hypandrium are fused to a ventero-central complex, gonostyli inconspicuous. Epandrium well-developed, with conspicuous posterolateral prolongations. Wing venation, particularly length relation of R2+3 and R2, differs from most Old World
Nemopalpus
; in
N. molophilinus
R2+3 is slightly longer than R2, in
N. tertiariae
about 2 times longer. In
N. hoffeinsi
, R2 is definitely longer than R2+3.
Nemopalpus scheveni
Wagner, 2006
, from younger Caribbean amber, clearly belongs in
Boreofairchildia
. Wing narrow, R2+3 more than 3 times longer than R2, r-m basal of medial fork, wing tip between R4 and R5, abdomen with lateral abdominal extensions with tufts of long setae; genitalia with elongate tergite 9, gonocoxite simple, gonostylus complicatedly built with 3 distal prolongations, and aedeagus flanked by pair of simple parameres.
Nemopalpus hennigianus
Schlüter, 1978
was described based on a female. It is impossible to determine whether or not
N. scheveni
is a synonymy of
N. hennigianus
; R2 is remarkably short, r-m basal of the medial fork, wing shape appears less slim as in other extant Neotropical species and in
N. scheveni
.
Recently another species was discovered from Burmese amber. It was impossible to identify wing venation of
N. velteni
, but the genitalia appear to be simple with tubular gonocoxites and gonostyli, subquadrate tergite 9 and soft oval cerci, aedeagus narrow, elongate and bifurcate. Findings of more species and specimens from Baltic and Caribbean Amber require an updated revision of fossil
Bruchomyiinae
(Wagner, in prep.).