Keroplatidae

Keroplatus tipuloides, from MacroID.

Belongs within: Sciaroidea.
Contains: Macrocera, Platyura.

The Keroplatidae is a group of fungus gnats whose larvae live in webs or mucous tubes in secluded habitats. Larvae feed on fungal spores or small animals caught in the web. The glowworms Arachnocampa of Australia and New Zealand produce light to lure prey; some Keroplatinae are also luminous.

Characters (from Vockeroth 2009): Body length 2.3–8.8 mm. Colour yellow to brown or black, often patterned. Usually three ocelli, middle ocellus small or rarely absent. Antenna with fourteen flagellomeres. Scutum uniformly setose or with bare longitudinal stripes; scutellum with posterior row of setae or with dorsal surface extensively setose. Scutellum sometimes with large membranous triangular basal area. Mediotergite bare. Pleural sclerites and prosternum variously haired or bare. Wing with Sc ending in C; R₂₊₃ present, ending in R₁ or C; base of M strong, weak or absent; Rs and M briefly fused at about one-third wing length. Foretibia with one apical spur, other tibiae with one or two spurs.

<==Keroplatidae [Ceroplatidae]
    |--Arachnocampa Edwards 1924 TE27 [Arachnocampidae, Arachnocampinae V09]
    |    |--*A. luminosa (Skuse 1891) [=Bolitophila luminosa] TE27
    |    |--A. flava WT11
    |    `--A. tasmaniensis N70
    |--Macrocerinae [Macroceratidae, Macroceridae] V09
    |    |--Paramacrocera Tonnoir & Edwards 1927 TE27
    |    |    `--*P. brevicornis Edwards in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927 TE27
    |    |--Eomacroceritis Hong 2002 H02
    |    |    `--*E. melanopoda (Hong 1974) [=Macrocera melanopoda] H02
    |    `--Macrocera V09
    `--Keroplatinae [Ceroplatinae] V09
         |  i. s.: Planarivora insignis V81
         |         Euceroplatus V81
         |           |--E. gressitti O98
         |           `--E. incolumis V81
         |         Hesperodes johnsoni V81
         |         Robsonomyia reducta V81
         |         Macrorrhyncha coxalis V81
         |         Asindulum montanum V81
         |         Paleoplatyura johnsoni V81
         |         Cerotelion V81
         |           |--C. bimaculatus Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927 TE27
         |           |--C. dendyi (Marshall 1896) [=Ceroplatus dendyi] TE27
         |           |--C. hudsoni (Marshall 1896) [=Ceroplatus hudsoni] TE27
         |           |--C. johannseni V81
         |           |--C. leucoceras (Marshall 1896) [=Ceroplatus leucoceras] TE27
         |           |--C. niger Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927 TE27
         |           |--C. tapleyi Edwards in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927 TE27
         |           `--C. vitripennis Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927 TE27
         |         Platyura V81
         |         Eoplatyura Hong 2002 H02
         |           `--*E. noda (Hong 1981) [=Platyura noda] H02
         |         Palaeoplatyura SS51
         |         Platyroptilon miersi SS51
         |         Apemon SS51
         |         Fenderomyia SS51
         |--Keroplatini V09
         |    |--Placoceratias V09
         |    |--Setostylus V09
         |    |--Ctenoceridion V09
         |    |--Heteropterna cressoni V09, V81
         |    |--Neoceroplatus V09
         |    `--Keroplatus Ross 1792 [=Ceroplatus Fabricius 1798] H02
         |         |--K. clausus V09
         |         |--K. mangalorensis Edwards 1929 G60
         |         |--K. mastersi Skuse 1888 G60
         |         |--‘Ceroplatus’ sessiodes RD77
         |         `--K. tipuloides L02
         `--Orfeliini V09
              |--Micrapemon V09
              |--Lapyruta V09
              |--Proceroplatus V09
              |--Pseudoplatyura truncata Tonnoir in Tonnoir & Edwards 1927 V09, TE27
              |--Isoneuromyia V09
              |--Neoplatyura V09
              |--Pyrtaula fenestralis V09, O98
              |--Xenoplatyura V09
              |--Plautyra V09
              |--Lyprauta V09
              |--Apyrtula V09
              |--Orfelia V09
              |    |--O. fenestralis CM91
              |    |--O. genualis V81
              |    `--O. nemoralis TC04 [=Platyura nemoralis M83]
              `--Neoditomyia V09
                   |--N. spinosa L88
                   `--+--N. andina L88
                      `--N. troglophila L88

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[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).

[G60] Gatenby, J. B. 1960. The Australasian mycetophilid glowworms. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 88 (3): 577–593.

[H02] Hong Y. 2002. Amber Insect of China. Beijing Scientific and Technological Publishing House.

[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.

[L88] Liebherr, J. K. 1988. General patterns in West Indian insects, and graphical biogeographic analysis of some circum-Caribbean Platynus beetles (Carabidae). Systematic Zoology 37 (4): 385–409.

[M83] Martin, N. A. 1983. Miscellaneous observations on a pasture fauna: an annotated species list. DSIR Entomology Division Report 3: 1–98.

[N70] Norris, K. R. 1970. General biology. In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 107–140. Melbourne University Press.

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

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[SS51] Shaw, F. R., & M. M. Shaw. 1951. Relationships of certain genera of fungus gnats of the family Mycetophilidae. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 117 (3): 1–23.

[TC04] Toft, R. J., & P. J. Chandler. 2004. Three introduced species of Mycetophilidae (Diptera: Sciaroidea) established in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist 27: 43–49.

[TE27] Tonnoir, A. L., & F. W. Edwards. 1927. New Zealand fungus gnats (Diptera, Mycetophilidae). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 747–878.

[V81] Vockeroth, J. R. 1981. Mycetophilidae. In: McAlpine, J. F., B. V. Peterson, G. E. Shewell, H. J. Teskey, J. R. Vockeroth & D. S. Wood (eds) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 1 pp. 223–246. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

[V09] Vockeroth, J. R. 2009. Keroplatidae (predaceous fungus gnats). 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. 259–263. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[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: 4 February 2021.