Cyclorrhapha

Lonchoptera lutea, copyright Saxifraga.

Belongs within: Neoneura.
Contains: Syrphoidea, Schizophora, Platypezoidea.

The Cyclorrhapha are a clade of flies in which the larvae have developed the familiar 'maggot' form, with the head desclerotised and invaginated into the body. Representatives include Lonchoptera, a cosmopolitan genus of small, slender flies with apically pointed wings. The biology of Lonchoptera is largely unknown though adults may sometimes be found in large numbers in humid habitats (Petersen 1987).

The earliest cyclorrhaphans are known from the Cretaceous (Grimaldi & Engel 2005). Possible examples include Chimeromyia, a genus of slender flies known from Lebanese amber. The name of this genus refers to its members combining features of the Cyclorrhapha with those of its living sister group, the Empidoidea. Lonchopterites prisca, also from Lebanese amber, resembles modern Lonchoptera but has a terminal rather than subapical antennal arista and two pairs of fronto-orbital setae (Grimaldi & Cumming 1996).

Synapomorphies (from Grimaldi & Engel 2005): Face with pair or more of thick vibrissae; abdominal plaques lost in adults; embryos not developing in amnion; larvae saprophagous 'maggots' with maxilla absent, head desclerotised and invaginated; pupariation in ecdysed cuticle of last larval instar; arista with two small basal segments; proboscis retractile, withdrawn at rest into large oral cavity; female terminalia without acanthophorite spines.

<==Cyclorrhapha [Aschiza, Muscides, Muscomorpha, Myionomorpha]
    |  i. s.: Neria cibaria WJ18
    |--Chimeromyia Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GE05, GC99
    |    |--*C. intriguea Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
    |    |--C. acuta Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
    |    `--C. reducta Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
    `--+--Lonchopterites Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GE05, GC99
       |    `--*L. prisca Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
       `--+--+--Syrphoidea RS10
          |  `--Schizophora RS10
          `--+--Platypezoidea WT11
             `--Lonchopteridae [Acroptera, Anatriata, Lonchopteroidea, Lonchopteromorpha, Musidoridae] WT11
                  |--Lonchopteromorpha Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
                  |    `--*L. asetocella Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
                  `--Lonchoptera Meigen 1803 [incl. Musidora Meigen 1800 (nom. inv.)] P87
                       |--L. bifurcata BW09 [incl. L. dubia CM91, L. furcata O98]
                       |--L. borealis P87
                       |--L. fallax P87
                       |--L. lutea P87
                       |--L. occidentalis P87
                       |--L. tristis P87
                       `--L. uniseta P87

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BW09] Buck, M., N. E. Woodley, A. Borkent, D. M. Wood, T. Pape, J. R. Vockeroth, V. Michelsen & S. A. Marshall. 2009. Key to Diptera families—adults. In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 1 pp. 95–156. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[CM91] Colless, D. H., & D. K. McAlpine. 1991. Diptera (flies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 717–786. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[GC99] Grimaldi, D., & J. Cumming. 1999. Brachyceran Diptera in Cretaceous ambers and Mesozoic diversification of the Eremoneura. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 239: 1–124.

[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.

[O98] Oosterbroek, P. 1998. The Families of Diptera of the Malay Archipelago. Brill: Leiden.

[P87] Peterson, B. V. 1987. Lonchopteridae. In: McAlpine, J. F. (ed.) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 2 pp. 675–680. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

[RS10] Rafael, J. A., & J. H. Skevington. 2010. Pipunculidae (big-headed flies). In: Brown, B. V., A. Borkent, J. M. Cumming, D. M. Wood, N. E. Woodley & M. A. Zumbado (eds) Manual of Central American Diptera vol. 2 pp. 793–803. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[WJ18] Wahlberg, E., & K. A. Johanson. 2018. Molecular phylogenetics reveals novel relationships within Empidoidea (Diptera). Systematic Entomology 43: 619–636.

[WT11] Wiegmann, B. M., M. D. Trautwein, I. S. Winkler, N. B. Barr, J.-W. Kim, C. Lambkin, M. A. Bertone, B. K. Cassel, K. M. Bayless, A. M. Heimberg, B. M. Wheeler, K. J. Peterson, T. Pape, B. J. Sinclair, J. H. Skevington, V. Blagoderov, J. Caravas, S. N. Kutty, U. Schmidt-Ott, G. E. Kampmeier, F. C. Thompson, D. A. Grimaldi, A. T. Beckenbach, G. W. Courtney, M. Friedrich, R. Meier & D. K. Yeates. 2011. Episodic radiations in the fly tree of life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 108 (14): 5690–5695.

Last updated: 18 July 2021.