Abstract
The New World family Syringogastridae (Diptera, Acalyptratae) with the single genus Syringogaster is revised. Eleven new extant species are described in four newly recognized species groups to give a total of 20 extant species (S. brachypecta, S. apiculata and S. tenuipes in the rufa-group; S. atricalyx, S. figurata, S. plesioterga, and S. dactylopleura in the figurata-group; and S. nigrithorax, S. brunneina, S. sharkeyi and S. palenque in the brunnea-group; Marshall & Buck are the authors of all extant new species). The craigi-group includes two new fossil species, S. miocenecus Grimaldi and S. craigi Grimaldi, each described on the basis of a unique Miocene (ca. 17 myo) amber specimen from the Dominican Republic. Morphological and molecular characters are used to estimate phylogenetic relationships among species of Syringogastridae, and between Syringogastridae and related diopsids. The fossil species appear to form the sister group to the Central and South American figurata group, and reveal Antillean extinction of the family from earlier in the Tertiary.References
Baker, R., Wilkinson, G.S. & DeSalle, R. (2001) Phylogenetic analysis of sexual dimorphism and eye-span allometry in stalk-eyed flies (Diopsidae). Evolution, 55, 1373–1385.
Bremer, K. (1994) Branch support and tree stability. Cladistics, 10, 295–304.
Cresson E.T. (1912) Descriptions of several new neotropical acalyptrate Diptera. Entomological News, 23, 389–396.
Cresson E.T. (1914) The male of Syringogaster brunnea Cresson, from Peru (Dipt.). Entomological News, 25 (6), 26.
Curran, C.H. (1934) The families and genera of North American Diptera. Ballou Press, New York, 512 pp.
Feijen, H.R. (1989) Diopsidae. In: Griffiths, G.C.D. (Ed.), Flies of the Nearctic Region, 9 (12), 1–122.
Felsenstein, J. (1985) Confidence limits on phylogenies: an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution, 39 (4), 783–791.
Griffiths, G.C.D. (1972) The phylogenetic classification of the Diptera Schizophora with special reference to the structure of the male postabdomen. W. Junk, The Hague. 340 pp.
Hennig, W. (1958) Die Familien der Diptera Schizophora und ihre phylogenetischen Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen. Beiträge zur Entomologie, 8 (5–6), 505–688.
Hennig, W. (1965) Die Acalyptratae des Baltischen Bernsteins und ihre Bedeutung für die Erforschung der phylogenetischen Entwicklung dieser Dipteren-Gruppe. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, 145, 1–215.
Kotrba, M. (2004) Baltic amber fossils reveal early evolution of sexual dimorphism in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera: Diopsidae). Organisms, Diversity and Evolution, 4, 265–275.
Kotrba, M. & Balke, M. (2006) The systematic position of Cladodiopsis Séguy, 1949 and the origin of sexual dimorphism in stalk-eyed flies (Diptera: Diopsidae) inferred from DNA sequence data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 38, 843–847.
Marshall, S.A. (2005) Globopeza, a new genus of micropezid fly from Ecuador and Venezuela (Diptera, Micropezidae, Taeniapterinae). Studia Dipterologica, 11 [2004], 537–541.
McAlpine, D.K. (1997a) Gobryidae, a new family of acalyptrate flies (Diptera: Diopsoidea), and a discussion of relationships of the diopsoid families. Records of the Australian Museum, 49, 167–194.
McAlpine, D.K. (1997b) Relationships of the Megamerinidae (Diptera: Nerioidea). Beiträge zur Entomologie, 47, 465–475.
McAlpine, J.F. (1981) Morphology and terminology – adults. In: McAlpine, J.F., Peterson B.V., Shewell, G.E., Teskey, H.J., Vockeroth, J.R., & Wood, D.M. (Eds.), Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Vol. 1. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Monograph 27, 9–63.
McAlpine, J.F. (1989) Phylogeny and classification of the Muscomorpha. In: McAlpine J.F. & Wood, D.M. (Eds.), Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Vol. 3. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Monograph 32, 1397–1518.
Meier R. & Baker, R. (2002) A cladistic analysis of Diopsidae (Diptera) based on morphological and DNA sequence data. Insect Systematics and Evolution, 33, 325–336.
Meier, R. & Hilger, S. (2000) On the egg morphology and phylogenetic relationships of Diopsidae (Diptera: Schizophora). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 38, 1–36
Papavero, N. (1964) Notes on the myrmecomimicry of Syringogaster rufa Cresson (Diptera, Acalyptratae, Megamerinidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo), 16 (12), 110–113.
Prado, A.P. do (1969) Syringogastridae, uma nova família de dípteros Acalyptratae, com a descrição de seis espécies novas do gênero Syringogaster Cresson. Studia Entomologica, 12 (14), 1–32.
Sorenson, M.D. (1999) TreeRot, version 2c. Boston University, Boston, Mass.
Swofford, D.L. (2001a) PAUP*: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and Other Methods), Version 4.0b10 for 32-bit Microsoft Windows. Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, Mass.
Swofford, D.L. (2001b) PAUP*: Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and Other Methods), Version 4.0b10 (Altivec) for Macintosh OS 9. Sinauer Associates Inc., Sunderland, Mass.
Watrous, L.E. & Wheeler, Q.D. (1981) The out-group comparison method of character analysis. Systematic Zoology, 30, 1–11.