Canthyloscelidae Shannon, 1927

Jindřich Roháček

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

Small to medium-sized (2.5-9.0 mm), relatively stout, usually dark coloured Nematocera resembling Scatopsidae. Eyes large, holoptic and narrowly separated below antennae; ocelli present but medial ocellus small or absent; palpus four-segmented; antenna relatively short, with 12-16 segments, terminal one elongate. Wing relatively long and narrow, without anal lobe, clear or slightly tinged. Posterior veins well developed and often pigmented. Costa extended beyond apex of R4+5. Vein R1 free or fused with anterior branch of Rs. R2+3 ending close to apex of R1 or fused with it. M1, M2, CuA1 and CuA2 present, A1 well developed or absent. Legs stout, mid and hind femora sometimes clavate and mid and hind tibiae curved. Abdomen long and slender, somewhat dorsoventrally flattened and posteriorly widened. Gonocoxites medially fused; 9th male sternite displaced to a posterior position on terminalia; surstyli well developed. The xylosaprophagous larvae live in the moist, rotting wood of stumps and fallen tree trunks; adults can be found in the immediate vicinity of the larval breeding sites. All species are associated with primeval forests and are considered endangered in terms of nature conservation throughout the whole of Europe.

Haenni (1997) placed the Synneuridae as a subfamily within the Canthyloscelidae and adopted this concept in the Fauna Europaea (Haenni 2004). However, the recent phylogenetic reclassification by Amorim (2000) has reduced the Synneurinae into the synonymy of the Canthyloscelinae, which is followed here. Altogether 3 species are known to occur in Europe (Haenni 2004); all of them are listed in the present checklist (2 in the Czech Republic, 2 in Bohemia, 1 in Moravia, and 3 in Slovakia). Since the last version of the checklist (in which the Synneuridae and Canthyloscelidae were treated as separate families), the number of species in the Czech Republic has increased by 1 (2 in Bohemia, 0 in Moravia) and in Slovakia also by 1. Knowledge of these relict species in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has recently been enlarged thanks to research efforts in virgin forest reserves (Barták & Preisler 2006, Roháček 2006). The family has been treated in detail by Haenni (1997) who also presented a key to Holarctic genera. The European species can be identified by means of Hutson (1977). The nomenclature used here corresponds to that in the Fauna Europaea (Haenni 2004) except for the suprageneric classification which follows Amorim (2000).

References

[1] Amorim D. de S. 2000: A new phylogeny and phylogenetic classification for the Canthyloscelidae (Diptera: Psychodomorpha). Canadian Journal of Zoology 78: 1067-1077.

[2] Barták M. & Preisler J. 2006: Faunistic records. Canthyloscelidae. In Kinkorová J. (ed.): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca 13. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica 50: 141.

[3] Haenni J.-P. 1997: 2.13. Family Canthyloscelidae. In Papp L. & Darvas B. (eds): Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. Vol. 2., Nematocera and Lower Brachycera. Science Herald, Budapest, pp. 273-279.

[4] Haenni J.-P. 2004: Fauna Europaea: Canthyloscelidae. In Jong H. de (ed.): Fauna Europaea: Diptera, Nematocera. Fauna Europaea version 1.1, http://www.faunaeur.org.

[5] Hutson A.M. 1977: A revision of the families Synneuridae and Canthyloscelidae (Diptera). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 35(3): 67-100.

[6] Roháček J. 2006: First case of syntopic occurrence of three species of Canthyloscelidae (including Synneuridae) (Diptera). In Kinkorová J. (ed.): Dipterologica bohemoslovaca 13. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Biologica 50: 105-107.