| Atelestidae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Atelestus pulicarius | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Diptera |
| Superfamily: | Empidoidea |
| Family: | Atelestidae Hennig, 1970 |
| Genera | |
| |
Atelestidae is afamily offlies in thesuperfamilyEmpidoidea. The fourgenera were placed in a separate family in 1983;[1] they were formerly either inPlatypezidae (which are not even particularly closely related) or consideredincertae sedis. While they are doubtless the mostbasal of the living Empidoidea, themonophyly of the family is not fully proven.[2] ThegenusNemedina seems to represent a most ancient lineage among the entire superfamily, whileMeghyperus is probably not monophyletic in its present delimitation, and it is liable to be split up eventually, with some species being placed elsewhere.[3] In 2010, the genusAlavesia, previously only known from Cretaceous fossils, was found alive in Namibia,[4] subsequent species were also described from Brazil.
Atelestidae has been shown to form the sister group to the remaining members of the Empidoidea superfamily. Subfamilies includeAtelestinae andNemedininae.[5]
.png)
Atelestidae are small (2–3 mm) greyish-dusted flies. They are quite similar toEmpididae andRagadidae as all three families have asymmetrical male terminalia without rotation, and the origin of vein Rs (radial sector) is at a distance from humeralcrossvein (h) as long or longer than length of h. However, it is distinguished from Ragadidae by a costa ending at or near the first and second medial vein (M1+2), and from Empididae by having theprosternum separated from proepisternum.[5]
They have a disjunct distribution, being found in both theHolarctic and southernNeotropical regions (Chile).
Based on the most recent phylogenetic studies,[5] the relationship between Atelestidae and other members of Empidoidea is as follows. The placement of Atelestidae is emphasized in bold formatting.
| Atelestidae | |
