Pyrgotidae

Sphecomyiella valida, copyright Carl Barrentine.

Belongs within: Tephritoidea.

The Pyrgotidae are a group of flies whose larvae are endoparasites of adult scarabaeid beetles. They may be divided between the subfamilies Pyrgotinae, in which sternites 1 and 2 are fused into a synsternite, and the Neotropical Teretrurinae, in which these sternites remain free (Hernández-Ortiz 2010).

Characters (from Hernández-Ortiz 2010): Medium to large-sized flies (body length 5–30 mm), body usually robust with long legs, wing pattern often spotted, banded or reticulated, rarely hyaline. Head spherical with frons large, antennal bases projecting anteriorly, pedicel elongate; arista setiform; ocelli often absent; frons weakly depressed, frontal bristles and vibrissa absent, face broad with deep antennal grooves; mouthparts of moderate size. Scutum mostly bare, setulose, or distinctly haired, sometimes black spotted, major bristles relatively short; scutellum short and broad with one to four pairs of marginal bristles. Legs long in both sexes, frequently without strong bristles, but covered in short setulae; hind tibia tapering to base or with strong constriction in basal third or near midlength. Wing with or without subcostal break, C weakening after vein R₄₊₅; Sc complete to C or disappearing close to C; R₁ dorsally setulose; R₂₊₃ sometimes with stump vein at apical third; cell cup closed by CuA₂ usually forming acute angle in lower apical corner, sometimes short. Preabdomen elongate, robust, more or less petiolate; lateral membrane broad; syntergite 1+2 elongate, usually with several long hairs on lateral sides near base. Female terminalia with syntergosternite 7 robust and strong basally forming conical tube turned ventrally, sometimes longer than rest of abdominal length. Apical margin of syntergosternite 7 sometimes provided with ventral hook-like sclerite or two apicolateral claw-like sclerites; aculeus usually shorter than length of syntergosternite 7. Male terminalia with epandrium globose, curved ventrally; lateral surstyli usually short and robust basally, medial surstyli without prensisetae developed; aedeagus coiled and elongated; glans more or less developed, sometimes partially sclerotised.

<==Pyrgotidae
    |--Teretrurinae [Teretrurini] H-O10
    |    |--Pyrgotosoma H-O10
    |    `--Teretrura H-O10
    `--Pyrgotinae H-O10
         |--Descoleia [Toxurinae, Toxurini] H-O10
         |    `--D. teretrura H-O10
         `--Pyrgotini H-O10
              |--Anapyrgota personta H-O10
              |--Idiopyrgota setiventris H-O10
              |--Carrerapyrgota H-O10
              |--Pyrgotella chagnoni S87
              |--Boreothrinax H-O10
              |    |--B. dichaetus H-O10
              |    `--B. shewelli S87
              |--Neopyrgota H-O10
              |    |--N. major H-O10
              |    `--N. picea H-O10
              |--Stenopyrgota H-O10
              |    |--S. crassitibia H-O10
              |    `--S. mexicana H-O10
              |--Pyrgota H-O10
              |    |--P. longipes H-O10
              |    |--P. lugens H-O10
              |    `--P. undata H-O10
              |--Leptopyrgota H-O10
              |    |--L. albitarsis H-O10
              |    |--L. amplipennis H-O10
              |    `--L. undulata H-O10
              `--Sphecomyiella [incl. Stirothrinax] H-O10
                   |--S. cribrata [=Stirothrinax cribratus] H-O10
                   |--S. knudseni [=Stirothrinax knudseni] H-O10
                   `--S. valida H-O10

Pyrgotidae incertae sedis:
  Cardiacera miliacea WT11
  Maenomenus ensifer H-O10
  Peltodasia flaviseta H-O10
  Lopadops H-O10
  Tropidothrinax H-O10
  Toxopyrgota K10
  Adapsilia O98
    |--A. aequalis O98
    `--A. illingworthana CM91
  Eumorphomyia CM74
  Campylocera robusta O98
  Tephritopyrgota O98
  Apyrgota O98
  Plectrobrachis O98
  Taeniomastix O98
  Trichopeltia O98
  Epice setifemur O98
  Euphya O98

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CM74] Colless, D. H., & D. K. McAlpine. 1974. Diptera (flies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers. Supplement 1974 pp. 91–96. Melbourne University Press.

[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).

[H-O10] Hernández-Ortiz, V. 2010. Pyrgotidae (pyrgotid 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. 955–961. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

[K10] Korneyev, V. A. 2010. Ctenostylidae (ctenostylid 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. 963–969. NRC Research Press: Ottawa.

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

[S87] Steyskal, G. C. 1987. Pyrgotidae. In: McAlpine, J. F. (ed.) Manual of Nearctic Diptera vol. 2 pp. 813–816. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada.

[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: 30 June 2021.