Dolichopodidae

Microphorites similis from Lebanese amber, with details of antenna and wing, from Grimaldi & Cumming (1999).

Belongs within: Empidoidea.
Contains: Hydrophorinae, Rhaphiinae, Sciapodinae, Medeterinae, Diaphorinae, Sympycninae, Eodolichopoditinae, Parathalassiinae, Neurigoninae, Dolichopodinae.

The Dolichopodidae, long-legged flies, are a cosmopolitan group of often metallic green flies. The Microphorinae and Parathalassiinae differ from other dolichopodids in not being metallic green, and in having wing cells dm and bm separated by a crossvein rather than confluent and have been classified in the past as members of the related family Empididae. Members of the Microphorinae have bare eyes that meet above the antennae in males, a two-segmented arista-like stylus, and wings with a well-developed anal lobe (Cumming & Sinclair 2009).

Characters (from Robinson & Vockeroth 1981): Mostly slender flies, 0.8-9.0 mm long; smaller forms often stout. Species usually green, sometimes yellow, more rarely brown or black, shining metallic to pruinose. Head with frons usually broad, narrower anteriorly, rarely bearing setae except along upper limit. Eye usually haired, occupying entire lateral surface of head; subocular surface of head exposed slightly in female of some species. Complete series of postocular setae present, sometimes sparse or very fine; single pairs of ocellar and vertical bristles strong. Palpus flat, sometimes greatly enlarged into strap or palette form; complex epipharyngeal armature and usually a deltoid hypopharynx present; labella usually flexible and spreading in repose; usually six or more narrow pseudotracheae present on inside surface of labella, located in furrows, extending from base toward margin, and showing various patterns of sclerotisation. Thorax with scutum usually strongly bristled, rarely with all but hindmost setae reduced; one postpronotal, two presutural supra-alar, and two notopleural bristles usually present; presence of presutural intra-alar bristle sometirnes correlated with presence of acrostichal bristles; one postsutural intraalar, two postsutural supra-alar, and one postalar bristle usually present; usually six pairs of large dorsocentral bristles present, namely two presutural and four postsutural, but sometimes one, two, or three anterior pairs reduced, and the fifth pair often displaced toward middle and sometimes lacking; acrostichal setae usually very small, biserial; scutellum haired or bare above, with two to six larger marginal bristles. Proepisternum with hairs or bristles above base of fore coxa, sometimes with one to many setae on upper half. Bristles absent from rest of lateral surface of thorax, but hairs sometimes present on some sclerites of mesopleuron and of metapleuron. Wing usually oval, about as long as body; membrane usually clear. C usually continuous to juncture with M₁ rarely vestigial beyond R₄₊₅; Sc usually ending in R₁; Rs arising at or very near level of crossvein h; R₄₊₅ unbranched; M often straight beyond crossvein dm-cu, sometimes forked or flexed near middle of last part; cells dm and bm united; crossvein r-m short, near wing base; vein A₁ and cell cup sometimes rudimentary or absent. Legs usually with large bristles on tibiae. Tarsi usually with bristle-like empodia and broad pulvilli. Abdomen with five or seven pairs of spiracles present in male, usually five pairs in female; spiracles situated in membrane below tergites. Sternite I vestigial or absent. Male with hind margin of tergite 5 sometimes modified; tergite 6 exposed or mostly retracted under tergite 5; tergite 7 exposed or partly or completely retracted, sometimes asymmetric; tergites 6 and 7 haired or bare. Sternites 2-5 usually well-developed, sometimes reduced in forms with large recessed terminalia; sternite 5 often enlarged, recessed, produced posteriorly or bearing projections; sternites 6 and 7 rarely well-developed and haired, usually weak and bare or even lacking; sternite 7 sometimes asymmetric. Tergite 8 vestigial or absent; sternite 8 well developed, lying laterally or dorsolaterally on left side of base of genital capsule, with weak to strong and sometimes long setae. Genital capsule apparently formed from fused elements of segment 9 (epandrium, hypandrium, and gonopods); segment 9 apparently rotated about 270° to the right in relation to segment 8, which in turn is rotated about 90° in relation to preceding segments; capsule then flexed downward and usually forward so that when at rest the cerci are ventral in position with the aedeagus projecting forward above them; ventroflexion usually involving also segments 6 and 7. Aedeagus usually long, slender, and projecting from capsule, rarely short or broadened near apex, with its base in front of and slightly below bases of cerci from whence it curves forward, downward, and then backward; distal portion usually supported and sometimes partly enclosed by a slender or rather broad aedeagal guide; ejaculatory apodeme distinct, lying in front of base of aedeagus. Posterolateral margin of capsule with one to three processes of varied form. Median sclerite of varied form present below bases of cerci, sometimes projecting well beyond the posterior margin of capsule. Genital capsule strongly asymmetric at base, with anterior opening on left side; most structures associated with capsule symmetric but some, especially aedeagal sheath and hypandrium, slightly to strongly asymmetric. Female with tergites l-5 and sternites 2-5 well-developed; rest of abdomen usually telescoped and retracted into segment 5. Tergites 6 and 7 and sternites 6 and 7 entire. Tergite 8 almost always retracted, posteriorly emarginate or divided, and bare, sometimes in the form of two elongate struts; sternite 8 entire or divided, sometimes much shorter than tergite 8; membrane behind sternite 8 usually deeply infolded and with many retrorse spicules. Proctiger formed of dorsal epiproct, ventral hypoproct, and lateral cerci; anterolateral corner of hypoproct or base of cerci sometimes fused with anterolateral corner of epiproct. Epiproct usually broadly rounded apically or partly or completely divided medially, with weak setae, usually with one to six pairs of short strong erect spinose setae near apex. Cercus lateral in position, usually slender and partly or entirely divided into a longer dorsal and a shorter ventral lobe each of which bears one or several setae. Spermatheca single, colorless, often coiled. Larva usually whitish, cylindrical, slightly tapered anteriorly. Head segment usually short, unsclerotised externally, with four lobes; lateral pair of lobes bearing peg-like antennae; anterior pair considered maxillary palpi; sclerotised internal parts brown to black, including mandibular-maxillary sclerites, slender labrum extending anteriorly from anterior remnant of cranium, pharyngeal sclerite, pairs of tentorial arms and metacephalic rods, and pairs of hypopharyngeal and labial sclerites ventrally. Posterior surface of terminal segment crossed with a vertical and a horizontal furrow; four or more lobes so produced usually elongate giving a truncated appearance; dorsal lobes each usually bearing a posterior spiracle, and fringed with a series of branched setae. Abdominal segments l-7 each with a pair of creeping welts on anterior margin.

<==Dolichopodidae B13
    |--+--Parathalassiinae GC99
    |  `--+--Neurigoninae WJ18
    |     `--+--Dolichopodinae WJ18
    |        `--Chrysotimus flaviventris WJ18
    `--Microphorinae [Microphoridae, Microphorini] CS09
         |--Avenaphora Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
         |    `--*A. hispida Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
         |--Microphor GE05
         |    |--M. crassipes WJ18
         |    `--M. holosericeus WJ18
         |--Schistostoma CS09
         |    |--S. sycophantor [=Microphorus sycophantor] CS09
         |    `--S. yakimensis [=Microphorus yakimensis] CS09
         `--Microphorites Hennig 1971 GC99
              |--*M. extinctus Hennig 1971 GC99
              |--M. oculeus Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99
              `--M. similis Grimaldi & Cumming 1999 GC99

Dolichopodidae incertae sedis:
  Eurynogaster RV81
  Hydrophorinae B13
  Rhaphiinae TWY16
  Austrosciapus ZS10
  Sciapodinae B13
  Medeterinae B13
  Enlinia [Enliniinae] B09
    |--E. ciliata RV81
    |--E. magistri B09
    `--E. saxicola RV81
  Diaphorinae B13
  Cheirocerus RV81
  Acropsilus Mik 1878 B13
    `--A. protractus Robinson 1963 B13
  Xanthochlorus helvinus B09, RV81
  Sympycninae B13
  Calyxochaetus patellifer B09
  Microcyrtura campsicnemoides B09
  Harmstonia B09
  Psilopiella rutila RV81
  Argyra currani B09
  Syntormon tricoloripes B09
  Plagioneurus [Plagioneurinae] B09
    `--P. unvittatus B09
  Achalcus utahensis B09
  Achradocera barbata B09
  Parasyntormon inornatus B09
  Keirosoma B09
    |--K. albicinctum B09
    `--K. slossonae RV81
  Telmaturgus B09
    |--T. costaricensis B09
    `--T. parvus RV81
  Lamprochromus B09
  Neoparentia caudata B09, RV81
  Cryptopygiella musaphila B09
  Australachalcus B09
  Pharcoura B09
  Micromedetera wirthi B09
  Microchrysotus mirabilis B09
  Dominicomyia chrysotimoides B09
  Symbolia costaricensis B09
  Somillus [incl. Ionthadophrys, Pseudargyra] B09
    `--S. nubillus B09
  Lyroneurus B09
  Stolidosomatinae B09
    |--Stolidosoma abbreviatum B09
    |--Sympycnidelphus B09
    `--Pseudosympycnus B09
  Pinacocerus nodicornis B09
  Filatopus B09
  Phrudoneura Meuffels & Grootaert 1987 B13
    |--P. abbreviata B13
    `--P. collessi Bickel 2013 B13
  Xiphandrium pudicum CM70
  Eodolichopoditinae H02
  ‘Psilopus’ Meigen 1908 nec Poli 1795 nec Gould 1838 H02
    `--P. algirus Macquart 1847 E12
  Phacaspis Meuffels & Grootaert 1988 GTG19
  Prosystenus zherikhini GC99

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B09] Bickel, D. J. 2009. Dolichopodidae (long-legged 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. 1 pp. 671–694. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[B13] Bickel, D. J. 2013. The family Dolichopodidae (Diptera) of the Pilbara region, Western Australia in its Australasian biogeographic context, with the description of 19 new species. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 83: 291–348.

[CM70] Colless, D. H., & D. K. McAlpine. 1970. Diptera (flies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 656–740. Melbourne University Press.

[CS09] Cumming, J. M., & B. J. Sinclair. 2009. Empididae (dance flies, balloon flies, predaceous 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. 1 pp. 653–670. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[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.

[GTG19] Grootaert, P., C. Taylor & B. Guénard. 2019. Three new species of Rhaphium Meigen, 1803 from mangroves in Hong Kong (Diptera: Dolichopodidae: Rhaphiinae). European Journal of Taxonomy 540: 1–21.

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

[RV81] Robinson, H., & J. R. Vockeroth. 1981. Dolichopodidae. 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. 625–639. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

[TWY16] Tang, C., N. Wang & D. Yang. 2016. Rhaphium (Diptera: Dolichopodidae: Rhaphiinae) from China with six new species. Zootaxa 4162 (3): 581–593.

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

[ZS10] Zborowski, P., & R. Storey. 2010. A Field Guide to Insects in Australia 3^rd ed. Reed New Holland: Sydney.

Last updated: 31 January 2021.