Tethininae

Tethininae
Tethina lusitanica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Superfamily: Carnoidea
Family: Canacidae
Subfamily: Tethininae
Hendel, 1916[1]

Tethininae, formally the family Tethinidae[2] is a paraphyletic group of tiny drab-coloured or grey Acalyptratae flies. There are over 115 species in 7 genera known from all zoogeographic regions.[3] They are inconspicuous flies which are still poorly known in some remote, huge, tropical areas (e.g. South America).[2]

Natural history

Tethininae are found in maritime, often littoral habitats. The adults are sometimes abundant in rotting seaweed. A few species occur inland, in association with alkaline habitats in arid zones. Except for the subantarctic genera Apetaenus and Listriomastax, little is known about the immature stages of the family, although presumably most are associated with rotting seaweed. Workers in dipterology which are unfamiliar with tethinids often associate these flies with the presence of seashores, particularly sandy beaches and coastal lagoons. This is true for most strictly thalassophilous species, which occur on dunes, sandy soil and wrack heaps stranded on the beach. However, many entomologists often ignore or simply overlook the fact that populations of certain species also inhabit biotopes situated far off from sea littorals, sometimes several hundreds of kilometres inland, and are almost always closely dependent on the proximity of continental saline environments. It is well known that most species, if not all, belonging to the subfamily Pelomyiinae are not thalassophilous flies, but are almost exclusively found inland, associated with meadows, mountain passes, forests, areas and waters polluted by rotting waste, industrial emissions or debris of slaughterhouses and poultry farms (sites of salt accumulation and enrichment), as well as desert oases. However, this is not infrequent in various species of the genus Tethina, too.

Genera

Subfamily Description

See

References

  1. ↑ Hendel, Friedrich (1916). "Beiträge zur Systematik der Acalyptraten Musciden (Dipt.)". Entomologische Mitteilungen 5 ((9-12)): 294–299.
  2. 1 2 McAlpine, D.K. (2007). "The Surge Flies (Diptera: Canacidae: Zaleinae) of Australasia and notes on Tethinid-Canacid morphology and relationships." (PDF). Records of the Australian Museum (The Australian Museum) 59: 27–64. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.59.2007.1468. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Munari, L.; Mathis, W.N. (2010). "World Catalog of the Family Canacidae (including Tethinidae) (Diptera), with keys to the supraspecific taxa." (PDF). Zootaxa (Magnolia Press) 2471: 1–84. ISSN 1175-5334. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  4. ↑ Munari, Lorenzo (1986). "Contributo alla conoscenza dei Tethinidae afrotropicali. II. Considerazioni tassonomiche sulla sottofamiglia Horaismopterinae Sabr. e descrizione di un genere e due specie nuove (Diptera, Tethinidae).". Società Veneziana di Scienze Naturali - Lavori 11: 41–52.
  5. ↑ Hendel, Friedrich (1934). "Revision der Tethiniden (Dipt. Muscid. acal.)". Tijdschrift voor Entomologie (Amsterdam: Nederlandse Entomologische Vereniging) 77: 37–54.
  6. ↑ Munari, Lorenzo (2000). "Beach Flies from South-Western coast of Australia, with Descriptions of a New Genus and Two New Species (Diptera Tethinidae).". Bollettino della Società Entomologica Italiana 132 (3): 237–248.
  7. ↑ Malloch, John Russel (1914). Formosan Agromyzidae (PDF). Annales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 12. pp. 306–336. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  8. 1 2 Munari, Lorenzo (2004). "Beach Flies (Diptera: Tethinidae: Tethininae) from Australia and Papua New Guinea, with descriptions of two new genera and ten new species." (PDF). Records of the Australian Museum (Australian Museum, Sydney) 56 (1): 29–56. doi:10.3853/j.0067-1975.56.2004.1395. ISSN 0067-1975. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Haliday, A.H. (1837 (available 1838)). "New British Insects Indicated in Mr. Curtis’s Guide". Annals and Magazine of Natural History 2: 183–190. doi:10.1080/00222933809512369. Check date values in: |date= (help);

Identification (Literature)

Species Lists

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