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Title: GENERA OF THE SUBFAMILY TACHINISCINAE (DIPTERA: TEPHRITIDAE), WITH DISCUSSION OF THE POSITION OF DESCOLEIA ACZÉL (TEPHRITOIDEA INCERTAE SEDIS).

Author
item KORNEYEV, VALERY - UKRAINE
item Norrbom, Allen

Submitted to: Instrumentas Biodiversitatis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2005
Publication Date: 7/10/2006
Citation: Korneyev, V.A., Norrbom, A.L. 2006. Genera of the Subfamily Tachiniscinae (Diptera: Tephritidae), with Discussion of the Position of Descoleia Aczél (Tephritoidea incertae sedis). Instrumentas Biodiversitatis. 7:105-155.

Interpretive Summary: Fruit flies include some of the world's most important pests of fruit and vegetable crops, causing billions of dollars of agricultural losses annually. Less than 200 of the more than 4,400 known species are pests, however, and most of those are exotic. To be able to exclude the harmful species from the United States, taxonomic tools to identify the pests from the other species and basic biological information for all the species are critical. This paper describes 2 new species and reviews 9 poorly known genera in the most primative subfamily of fruit flies. We provide a identification key to the genera and analyze their relationships. Numerous illustrations are also included, and new distribution data are reported. This information will be of use to regulatory agencies such as APHIS-PPQ and to ecologists, insect identifiers, taxonomists and conservationists.

Technical Abstract: Nine genera of the subfamily Tachiniscinae are reviewed and described or briefly redescribed, and a key to them, and two genera incertae sedis superficially similar to tachiniscines, is provided. Agnitrena, gen. n. (type species A. igniceps sp. n. from Argentina), related to Neortalotrypeta Norrbom is described. Bibundia fenestrata (Grünberg), stat. n. is removed from synonymy with B. hermanni Bischof. The subfamily Tachiniscinae is the sister-group of the other subfamilies of Tephritidae; this lineage has existed at least since the Upper Oligocene or Lower Miocene and is the earliest branch of the family. Unlike other Tephritidae, the members of the Tachiniscinae are believed to be parasitoids of other insects. It is shown that the genus Descoleia Aczél does not fit the concept of the family Pyrgotidae, to which it was originally assigned. Its relationships with Tephritidae are tested. In spite of its superficial similarity with some Tachiniscinae, current evidence does not support its inclusion in this subfamily. Descoleia shares certain apomorphies and plesiomorphies with both Pyrgotidae and Tephritidae, but no unambiguous synapomorphies with either one of them, and the familial position of the genus remains uncertain. Nosferatumyia, gen. n. (type species N. no sp. n. from Madeira) described here from a single male, superficially resembles members of the tribe Ortalotrypetini, but the dorsal setae on midtibia are lacking, and females, which have the most essential characters of tachiniscines, are unknown.