Nothybidae

Nothybidae

External image

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Section: Schizophora
Subsection: Acalyptratae
Superfamily: Diopsoidea
Family: Nothybidae
Frey, 1927
Genus: Nothybus
Rondani, 1875
Type species
longithorax
Rondani, 1875
Species

See text

The family Nothybidae contains only the genus Nothybus, a group of colorful and elongate flies.

Taxonomy and description

The morphology of Nothybidae is distinctive. Their prothorax is elongate, with their front legs arising far back on the thorax, posterior to the anterior thoracic spiracle, making their head appear to rest on a long neck. They are also distinguished by their narrow wing bases, patterned wings, rayed arista, and swollen subscutellum.[1] There are 9 described nothybid species. First placed in Micropezidae, Frey recognized Nothybus as deserving a suprageneric rank, and Aczel raised the family Nothybidae.[2] While this group is placed in the Diopsoidea, its evolutionary relationships have never been robustly tested in a modern phylogenetic framework with molecular or morphological data. It is one of the few fly families for which there is no DNA data available on NCBI GenBank.

Biology

The biology of Nothybidae is poorly known, and the larval habitat is unknown. Some species may be larviparous as mature larvae have been found in preserved adult female specimens.[3]

Distribution

Species of the genus Nothybus are only found in Southeast Asia, primarily Borneo and Sumatra.[1]

Species

There are additional known but undescribed species from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oosterbroek, Pjotr (1998). "The families of Diptera of the Malay Archipelago". Brill. p. 107.
  2. ↑ Aczél, M. (1955). "Nothybidae, a new family of Diptera". Treubia 23: 1–18.
  3. ↑ Marshall, Stephen A. (2012). "Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera". Firefly. p. 349.

External links