Athericidae Nowicki, 1873

Rudolf Rozkošný

Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, CZ-61137 Brno, Czech Republic; rozk@sci.muni.cz

Mostly medium-sized (5.0-10.0 mm) brachyceran flies related to the Tabanidae. Eyes almost contiguous in males and widely separated in females; flagellum compact, reniform, with a subapical arista. Wing relatively large, with a more or less distinct dark pattern; legs with apical spurs on mid and hind tibiae. Abdominal tergites usually transversely fasciate, sometimes with an extensive pale pattern in males. The aquatic larvae are provided with pairs of prolegs on abdominal segments 1-7. Two dorsal and two lateral elongated tracheal projections are developed on abdominal segments 2-7 (or 6-7 in Atrichops). The larvae are predators of soft-bodied aquatic insect larvae. Adults may be found along watercourses, and aggregations of dead Atherix ibis females with attached egg-masses may be found below bridges and on the branches of trees over the water.

The Athericidae are a small family, with only 10 species in 4 genera occurring in Europe (Rozkošný 2005), and three species are known from the Czech Republic as well as from Slovakia. Since the previous version of the checklist (Rozkošný & Spitzer 1997), Atrichops crassipes has also been reliably recorded from the Czech Republic, both from Bohemia (Hřebík 2004) and from Moravia (Zapletal 2001). The morphology, biology and distribution of the Palaearctic genera has been dealt with by Rozkošný and Nagatomi (1997), and the Central European species may be identified using the key by Thomas (1997). Nomenclature follows the Fauna Europaea (Rozkošný 2005).

For financial support, the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic and the Masaryk University (grant No. MSM 0021622416) are acknowledged.

References

[1] Hřebík Š. 2004: Faunistic records from the Czech and Slovak Republics: Diptera: Athericidae. In Kubík Š. & Barták M. (eds): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca, Vol. 11. Folia Facultatis Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia 109: 332-333.

[2] Rozkošný R. 2005: Fauna Europaea: Athericidae. In Pape T. (ed.): Fauna Europaea: Diptera, Brachycera. Fauna Europaea version 1.2, http://www.faunaeur.org.

[3] Rozkošný R. & Nagatomi A. 1997: Family Athericidae. In Papp L. & Darvas B. (eds): Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera (with special reference to flies of economic importance). Vol. 2. Nematocera and Lower Brachycera. Science Herald, Budapest, pp. 439-446.

[4] Rozkošný R.  & Spitzer K. 1997: Athericidae. In Chvála M. (ed.): Check List of Diptera (Insecta) of the Czech and Slovak Republics. Karolinum - Charles University Press, Prague, pp. 44-45.

[5] Thomas A.G.B. 1997: Rhagionidae and Athericidae, snipe-flies. In Nilsson A. (ed.): Aquatic Insects of North Europe – A Taxonomic Handbook. Vol. 2. Apollo Books, Stenstrup, pp. 311-320.

[6] Zapletal J. 2001: Faunistic records: Athericidae. In Chvála M. (ed.): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca, Vol. 10. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica 45: 187.