Atelestidae

Atelestidae Temporal range: Berriasian–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Superfamily:	Empidoidea
Family:	Atelestidae Hennig, 1970
Genera
Waters and Arillo 1999 Atelestus Walker, 1837

Atelestidae is a family of flies in the superfamily Empidoidea. The four genera were placed in a separate family in 1983;^[1] they were formerly either in Platypezidae (which are not even particularly closely related) or considered incertae sedis. While they are doubtless the most basal of the living Empidoidea, the monophyly of the family is not fully proven.^[2] The genus seems to represent a most ancient lineage among the entire superfamily, while is probably not monophyletic in its present delimitation, and it is liable to be split up eventually, with some species being placed elsewhere.^[3] In 2010, the genus , previously only known from Cretaceous fossils, was found alive in Namibia,^[4] subsequent species were also described from Brazil.

Atelestidae has been shown to form the sister group to the remaining members of the Empidoidea superfamily. Subfamilies include and .^[5]

Description[]

Right wing of Atelestus pulicarius, showing humeral crossvein (h), radial sector (R_s), costa and first and second medial vein (M₁₊₂).^[5]

Atelestidae are small (2–3 mm) greyish-dusted flies. They are quite similar to Empididae and Ragadidae as all three families have a symmetrical male terminalia without rotation, and the origin of vein R_s (radial sector) is at a distance from humeral crossvein (h) as long or longer than length of h. However, it is distinguished from Ragadidae by a costa ending at or near the first and second medial vein (M₁₊₂), and from Empididae by having the prosternum separated from proepisternum.^[5]

They have a disjunct distribution, being found in both the Holarctic and southern Neotropical regions (Chile).

Systematics[]

Based on the most recent phylogenetic studies,^[5] the relationship between Atelestidae and other members of Empidoidea is as follows. The placement of Atelestidae is emphasized in bold formatting.

Genera[]

• Subfamily Atelestinae Hennig 1970
  • Collin, 1933 Chile, Recent
  • Waters & Arillo, 1999 , Albian, Burmese amber, Cenomanian Namibia, Brazil, Recent
  • † Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 Lebanese amber, Barremian
  • Atelestus Walker, 1837 Palearctic, Recent
  • † Coram et al., 2000 Lulworth Formation, United Kingdom, Berriasian
  • † Kaddumi, 2007 , Albian
  • Loew, 1850 Palearctic, Nearctic, Recent
• Subfamily Nemedininae Sinclair & Cumming, 2006
  • † Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 , Campanian
  • Chandler, 1981 Baltic amber, Eocene, Palearctic, Recent
  • † Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 New Jersey amber, Turonian Canadian amber, Campanian
  • † Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 New Jersey amber, Turonian
  • † Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 Lebanese amber, Barremian
  • † Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999 Canadian amber, Campanian

Footnotes[]

References[]

• Chvála, M. (1983): The Empidoidea (Diptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. II. General Part. The families Hybotidae, Atelestidae and Microphoridae. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 12: 1–279.
• Moulton, J. K. & Wiegmann, B. M. (2007): The phylogenetic relationships of flies in the superfamily Empidoidea (Insecta: Diptera). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43(3): 701-713. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.02.029 PMID 17468014 (HTML abstract)
• Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) (2007): Atelestidae. Version of 2007-NOV-29. Retrieved 2008-JUL-30.
• Wahlberg, E. & Johanson, K.A. (2018): Molecular phylogenetics reveals novel relationships within Empidoidea (Diptera). Systematic Entomology 43(4): 619–636. doi:10.1111/syen.12297

External links[]

Wikispecies has information related to Atelestidae.

• Dipterists Forum
• Diptera.info Images.