Mythicomyiids are tiny brachycerous flies (normally 1p;3 mm in length) that
frequent desert flowers chiefly in the spring and fall months. Recently, certain
genera of this family have been discovered to be associated with the primitive
gymnosperm Welwitschia in Namibia (Evenhuis, unpubl.), which supports
the hypothesis that primitive members of this family could be candidates for
potential pollinators of primitive angiosperms in the Cretaceous. The mythicomyiids
have traditionally been treated as a subfamily of Bombyliidae. Rohdendorf (1961b)
proposed raising the Cyrtosiinae (= Mythicomyiinae) to familial status, but
stated that corroborative work had to be done to verify his proposal. Zaitzev
(1992) has shown that the Mythicomyiidae are a monophyletic group basal to the
remainder of the Bombyliidae and has given characters to separate them from
Bombyliidae s. str. Yeates (1994) corroborates the monophyly and sister-group
relationship of the group to the Bombyliidae, but preferred to retain it as
a subfamily within the Bombyliidae. Phylogenetic analysis of the family by me
(unpubl.) supports the treatment of this group of flies as a separate family.
Kovalev in Kalugina & Kovalev (1985) described a single species from
the Jurassic of Siberia, which is similar in wing venation to members of the
extant Psiloderoides group of genera, adults of which lack mouthparts
and the immatures of which are parasitic on grasshopper egg pods in southern
Africa and Australia. The fossil species Crosaphis anomala (see under
Crosaphididae) may also be a member of this group of genera.
The genus Mesomyites Cockerell was originally placed by Cockerell (1917b)
in Empididae as closely related to Mythicomyia Coquillett. It has since
been relegated to synonymy under Styringomyia Loew in the Limoniidae.
An undescribed genus of Cyrtosiinae has been seen by me from the Oligocene Florissant
shales of Colorado marking the first fossil representation of the family from
the North American continent. The undetermined specimen illustrated by Kovalev
(1986: 150) as a possible Glabellula or other mythicomyiid from the Cretaceous
strata of western Mongolia has been examined by me and is in too poor a condition
to make any conclusions as to its systematic position among the Diptera. Some
of the venational and antennal characters illustrated by Kovalev are not evident
in the type specimen and it may not be a mythicomyiid.
Ref.: Zaitzev (1986, review of amber taxa; Evenhuis, 2002b, review of
Tertiary amber taxa).
Genus BORISSOVIA Evenhuis
BORISSOVIA Evenhuis, 2002b: xxx. Type species: Carmenelectra shechisme Evenhuis, 2002, by original designation.
rohdendorfi Zaitzev, 1986: 815 (1987: 150) (Proplatypygus).
PA: Russia (Siberia) (Upper Cretaceous) [A].
rohdendorfi Zaitzev, 1982: 104 (Proplatypygus). Nomen nudum.
Genus CARMENELECTRA Evenhuis
CARMENELECTRA Evenhuis, 2002b: xxx. Type species: Carmenelectra shechisme Evenhuis, 2002, by original designation.
shechisme Evenhuis, 2002b: xxx. PA: Baltic(Eocene/Oligocene)
[A].
*PLATYGASTER Zetterstedt, 1838: 574. Type species: Platygaster arcticus
Zetterstedt, 1838, by monotypy. [Preoccupied by Latreille, 1809.]
*SPHAEROGASTER Zetterstedt, 1842: 232 (new replacement name for Platygaster
Zetterstedt). Type species: Platygaster arcticus Zetterstedt, 1838, automatic.
[Preoccupied by Sturm, 1826.]
*GLABELLA Loew, 1873a: 210. Type species: Glabella femorata Loew,
1873, by monotypy. [Preoccupied by Swainson, 1840.]
*GLABELLULA Bezzi, 1902: 191 (new replacement name for "Platygaster
. . . und Sphaerogaster . . . und Glabella"). Type species:
Platygaster arcticus Zetterstedt, 1838, by subsequent designation of
I.C.Z.N. (1989: 148).
PROGLABELLULA Hennig, 1966e: 15. Type species: Proglabellula electrica
Hennig, 1966 [= Platygaster arcticus Zetterstedt, 1838], by monotypy.
brunnifrons Evenhuis, 2002b: xxx. NT: Dominican Republic (Oligocene/Miocene)
[A].
electrica Hennig, 1966e: 15 (Proglabellula). PA: Baltic Region
(Eocene/ Oligocene) [A].
grimaldii Evenhuis, 2002b: xxx. NT: Dominican Republic (Oligocene/Miocene)
[A].
hannemanni Schumann, 1991: 79. PA: Germany (Miocene) [A].
kuehnei Schlüter, 1976: 358. NT: Dominican Republic (Oligocene/Miocene)
[A].
Genus MYTHENTELES Hall & Evenhuis
MYTHENTELES Hall & Evenhuis, 1986: xxx. type species: Mythicomyia mutabilis Melander, 1961 [= Empidideicus propleuralis Malnder, 1950], by original designation.
baltica Evenhuis, 2002: xxx. PA: Baltic (Eocene/Oligocene)
[A].
MYTHICOMYIA Coquillett, 1893: 208. Type species: Mythicomyia
rileyi Coquillett, 1893, by monotypy.
dominicana Evenhuis, 2002: xxx. NT: Dominican Republic (Oligocene/Miocene)
[A] (N.L. Evenhuis, personal observation).
PALAEOPLATYPYGUS Kovalev, 1985: 186. Type species: Palaeoplatypygus
zaitzevi Kovalev, 1985, by original designation.
PALEOPLATYPYGUS. Incorrect original spelling of Palaeoplatypygus
(Kovalev, 1985: 185).
zaitzevi Kovalev in Kalugina & Kovalev, 1985: 186. PA: Russia
(Siberia) (Middle Jurassic) [C].
Genus PIEZA Evenhuis
PIEZA Evenhuis, 2002a: xx. Type species: Mythicomyia angusta Melander, 1961, by original designation.
dominicana Evenhuis, 2002a: xxx. NT: Dominican
Republic (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].
PROCYRTOSIA Zaitzev, 1982: 104. Nomen nudum.
PROCYRTOSIA Zaitzev, 1986: 817 (1987: 152). Type species: Procyrtosia
sukatshevae Zaitzev, 1986, by original designation.
sukatshevae Zaitzev, 1986: 817 (1987: 152). PA: Russia (Siberia)
(Upper Cretaceous) [A].
PROPLATYPYGUS Hennig, 1969b: 58. Type species: Proplatypygus
succineus Hennig, 1969, by monotypy.
succineus Hennig, 1969b: 58. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene)
[A].
hirsuta Scudder, 1890: 563 (Acrocera). NE: USA (Eocene)
[C].
This page last revised 17 October 2002.
