Lauxaniidae

Lauxaniidae
Homoneura sp.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Suborder: Brachycera
Section: Schizophora
Subsection: Acalyptratae
Superfamily: Lauxanioidea
Family: Lauxaniidae
Macquart, 1835
Subfamilies
Synonyms

Sapromyzidae

The Lauxaniidae are a family of acalyptrate flies. They generally are small flies (length 7 mm or less) with large compound eyes that often are brightly coloured in life. Many species have variegated patterns on their wings, but in contrast they generally do not have variegated bodies.

Some 1800 species of Lauxaniidae have been described and they comprise some 126 genera. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, most of the species occurring in tropical regions of Asia and the Americas; relatively few species occur in Afrotropical regions, and Lauxaniid species diversity declines strongly towards the more temperate regions; for example fewer than 200 European species have been described. Most species inhabit forests, where the adults usually are found sitting on leaves of the understory. They are far less common in open country, such as grassland habitats.[2]

Morphological details of Lauxaniidae

Description

For terms, see Morphology of Diptera
Lauxaniidae are small flies (2–7 mm in length). They are often rather plump, dull, or partly lustrous flies. The body colour varies from yellow to brown or black, or with a combination of these colours. The head is variable in shape, the face projecting or retreating, convex, flat or concave, usually without oral vibrissae (sometimes poorly developed, occasionally strong bristles near the vibrissal angle). The postvertical bristles converge (in rare cases parallel). The frons is wide, with two pairs of frontal bristles, the upper pair of which is always reclinate, the lower pair sometimes decussate. Interfrontal bristles are absent. The ocellar bristles are present or minute. The antennae are variable and the arista is plumose, pubescent to bare. The thorax has bristles, at least behind the suture. The scutellum is usually bare except for the marginal bristles. Propleural bristles are present or absent and one or two sternopleural bristles are seen. Tibiae all have a preapical bristle. The wings are marked or unmarked (in a number of species with spots along the veins). The wing venation is complete and the costa is continuous. The subcosta is entire and ends in the costa. The second basal and anal cells are short and the apical cell usually widely open. The abdomen is oval, rarely elongated.

Biology

The larvae are mostly saprophagous, feeding in leaf litter, soil, bird nests, etc. Larvae of some mine fallen leaves, others live in rotten wood, and some cause deformation of the flowers and pistils of violets.

Genera

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gaimari, Stephen D. &; Silva, Vera C. (2010). "Revision of the Neotropical subfamily Eurychoromyiinae (Diptera: Lauxaniidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. Auckland: Magnolia Press. 2342: 1–64. ISSN 1175-5334. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Merz, Bernhard (2004). "Revision of the Minettia fasciata species-group (Diptera, Lauxaniidae)" (PDF). Revue Suisse de Zoologie. Geneva: Muséum d'histoire naturelle. 111 (1): 183–211.
  3. ↑ Stuckenberg, B. R. (1971). "A review of the Old World genera of Lauxaniidae (Diptera)". Annals of the Natal Museum. 20 (3): 499–610.
  4. 1 2 3 Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio; Hernández-Ortiz, Vicente (2010). "76". In Brown, B.V.; Borkent, A.; Cumming, J.M.; Wood, D.M.; Woodley, N.E.; Zumbado, M. Manual of Central American Diptera. (Print). 2. Ottawa, Canada: NRC Research Press. pp. 1025–1030. ISBN 0-660-19958-0.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hendel, F. (1925). Neue Ubersicht uber die bisher bekannt gewordenen Gattungen der Lauxaniiden, nebst Beschreibung neuer Gattungen u. Arten. Arten. Encycl. Ent. (B II) Diptera. pp. 103–112.
  6. ↑ Walker, Francis (1860). "Catalogue of the dipterous insects collected at Makessar in Celebes, by Mr. A. R. Wallace, with descriptions of new species". Journal of the proceedings of the Linnean Society. Zoology. London: The Linnean Society. 4: 90–96.
  7. ↑ Шаталкин, Анатолий Иванович (2000). Определитель палеарктических мух семейства Lauxaniidae (Diptera) [Keys to the Palaearctic flies of the family Lauxaniidae (Diptera)] (Print) (in Russian). 5. Moscow: Zoologicheskie Issledovania. p. 102.
  8. ↑ SHI LI (China), DING YANG (China) & STEPHEN D. GAIMARI (USA). Species of the genus Cestrotus Loew from China (Diptera: Lauxaniidae) Zootaxa 2009: 41-68 (11 Feb. 2009) ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition
  9. 1 2 Davies, Gregory B. P.; Miller, Raymond M. (2008). "Revision of the Afrotropical species of Parapachycerina (Diptera: Lauxaniidae)" (PDF). African Invertebrates. Pietermaritzburg: Council of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum. 49 (2): 131–158. doi:10.5733/afin.049.0208.
  10. ↑ Özdikmen, H.; Merz, B. (2006). "Neoparoecus nom. nov., a replacement name for the preoccupied genus name Paroecus Becker, 1895 (Diptera, Lauxaniidae". Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft (Print). Société Entomologique Suisse. 79 (1-2): 63–64.
  11. ↑ Stuckenberg, B.R. (1971). "A review of the Old World genera of Lauxaniidae (Diptera)". Annals of the Natal Museum (Print). Natal: the Natal Museum. 20 (3): 499–610.
  12. ↑ Carles-Tolrá, M. (2006). "Sciasminettia Shewell, 1971: a new lauxaniid genus for Europe, with description of a new species and a key to known species (Diptera: Lauxaniidae)" (PDF). Heteropterus Revista de Entomología. Gipuzkoa: Heteropterus. 6:: 9–14. ISSN 1579-0681.
  13. ↑ Walker, Francis (1856). "Catalogue of the dipterous insects collected in Singapore and Malacca by Mr. A.R. Wallace, with descriptions of new species". Journal of the proceedings of the Linnean Society. Zoology. London: The Linnean Society. 1: 4–39.

Further reading

Identification

Species lists

Data related to Lauxaniidae at Wikispecies

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