Taeniapterinae

Taeniaptera lasciva, copyright Hans Hillewaert.

Belongs within: Nerioidea.

The Taeniapterinae are a group of slender, long-legged flies whose larvae, where known, are found in dung and decaying vegetable matter. The genus Taeniaptera is widespread in the New World tropics with some species being synanthropic and common in disturbed areas. The genus Chaetotylus, known from Bolivia and Ecuador, is characterised by conspicuously thoracic bristles with four to six pairs of dorsoventral bristles; other genera usually have fewer dorsoventral bristles (Marshall 2010).

See also: Flies on stilts.

Characters (from Marshall 2010): Katepisternum with dense, fanlike, vertical row of posterior bristles; subscutellum not developed; cells bm and dm separate (crossvein bm-cu present); upper calypter with tightly packed comb of short bristles; male with surstyli absent.

<==Taeniapterinae M10
    |--Chaetotylus M10
    |--Cardiacephala M10
    |--Hoplocheiloma fabricii M10, S87
    |--Parasphen frontalis M10
    |--Ptilosphen viriolatus M10
    |--Tenthes citatus M10
    |--Grallomyia tarsata M10
    |--Poecilotylus similis M10
    |--Mesoconius hemithorax M10
    |--Zelatractodes M10
    |--Globopeza ecuadorensis M10
    |--Phaeopterina M10
    |--Pseudeurybata M10
    |--Calosphen M10
    |--Planipeza M10
    |--Cliobata M10
    |--Mimegralla CM91
    |--Grallipeza M10
    |    |--G. nebulosa S87
    |    `--G. unifasciata M10
    |--Scipopus M10
    |    |--S. belzebul M10
    |    `--S. limbativertex M10
    |--Rainieria M10
    |    |--R. alternata M10
    |    `--R. antennaepes M10
    |--Calobatina S87
    |    |--C. geometra S87
    |    `--C. geometroides M10
    |--Plocoscelus M10
    |    |--P. arthriticus M10
    |    |--P. conifer M10
    |    `--P. harenosus M10
    |--Metasphen [incl. Globomyia] M10
    |    |--*M. vigilans M10
    |    |--M. gilvimana M10
    |    `--M. obscura M10
    `--Taeniaptera M10
         |--T. albibasis M10
         |--T. annulata M10
         |--T. lasciva M10
         |--T. trivittata M10
         `--T. vulgata M10

*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).

[M10] Marshall, S. A. 2010. Micropezidae (stilt-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. 2 pp. 805–813. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[S87] Steyskal, G. C. 1987. Micropezidae. In: McAlpine, J. F. (ed.) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 2 pp. 761–767. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

Last updated: 30 June 2021.