Anthomyzidae Czerny, 1903

Jindřich Roháček

Department of Entomology, Silesian Museum, Tyršova 1, CZ-746 01 Opava, Czech Republic; rohacek@szmo.cz

Minute to small (1.3-4.5 mm), slender-bodied, yellow to black flies, usually with narrow long wings (rarely brachypterous or apterous) and short, slender legs. Arista pubescent to pectinate, ocelli and ocellar setae present, postverticals small, convergent (rarely absent), 1-3 reclinate orbitals, usually preceded by 1-2 setulae, vibrissa present. Thorax without anepimeral (pteropleural) setulae, fore femur with ctenidial spine (secondarily absent in several genera). Wing unicolourous or with dark spots, C usually with only subcostal break, Sc fused with R1 and forming a preapical kink on it. Tibiae without dorsopreapical setae. Male genitalia characterised by a folding apparatus between the aedeagal complex and hypandrium, phallapodeme with a robust ventral fulcrum connected with the hypandrium, and distiphallus bifid, composed of a membraneous saccus and a sclerotised filum. Adults are mainly associated with humid habitats, particularly with damp meadows, marshes, bogs and damp deciduous or mixed forests with rich undergrowth. Larvae are phytosaprophagous and/or partly phytophagous, usually feeding between the leaf sheaths of the tillers of grasses, sedges and other Cyperaceae, Typhaceae or Juncaceae and preferring plants damaged by other phytophagous insects. Several species are known to mine in dicotyledons and two species of Fungomyza Roháček, 1999 develop in the sporocarps of fungi.

Altogether 31 species are known from Europe and the adjacent island areas (Roháček 2004b, 2006); 19 are listed in the present checklist (19 in the Czech Republic, 19 in Bohemia, 17 in Moravia, and 18 in Slovakia). Since the last version of the checklist, the number of species has increased by 1 species in the Czech Republic (4 in Bohemia, 0 in Moravia) and by 1 in Slovakia. The family is well studied in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Palaearctic taxa have recently been monographed by Roháček (2006), who provided keys for their identification and also summarised all the available faunistic data from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The nomenclature used here also follows this monograph (Roháček 2006).

The author's research on Anthomyzidae was financially supported by the grant No. 206/06/0287 of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic.

References

[1] Roháček J. 1999a: Taxonomy and distribution of West Palaearctic Anthomyzidae (Diptera), with special regard to the Mediterranean and Macaronesian faunas. Bolletino del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino 16: 189-224.

[2] Roháček J. 1999b: A revision and re-classification of the genus Paranthomyza Czerny, with description of a new genus of Anthomyzidae (Diptera). Studia dipterologica 6: 239-270.

[3] Roháček J. 2004a: Anthomyzidae. Faunistic records from the Czech and Slovak Republics: Diptera. In Kubík Š. & Barták M. (eds): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca 11. Folia Facultatis Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia 109: 344.

[4]    Roháček J. 2004b: Fauna Europaea: Anthomyzidae. In Pape T. (ed.): Fauna Europaea: Diptera, Brachycera. Fauna Europaea version 1.1,
 http://www.faunaeur.org.

[5] Roháček J. 2006: A monograph of Palaearctic Anthomyzidae (Diptera) Part 1. Časopis Slezského zemského muzea Opava (A), 55 (suppl.1): 1-328.

[6] Roháček J. & Barták M. 2001: Anthomyzidae. In Barták M. & Vaňhara J. (eds): Diptera in an industrially affected region (north-western Bohemia, Bílina and Duchcov environs), II. Folia Facultatis Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia 105: 369-373.