Dolichopodidae

Checklist of Diptera of the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Dolichopodidae Latreille, 1809

Marc Pollet and Jiří Olejníček^†

Department of Entomology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN), Vautierstraat 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium, and Research Group Terrestrial Ecology (TEREC), Department of Biology, Ghent University (UGent), K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; mp@iwt.be

The long-legged flies or Dolichopodidae is the most derived family within the superfamily Empidoidea of the infraorder Muscomorpha. Apart from the recently included Microphorinae (Chvála 1983, Olejníček 1997, Sinclair & Cumming 2006), the family is characterized by a striking morphological homogeneity. Most species have a metallic green body colour and range in size between 1 and 10 mm. Wing venation reduced, and the body usually compressed laterally. Hypopygium twisted 360° against the abdomen, and often large and conspicuous. Legs usually long and slender (hence the family name), and often conspicuously ornamented in males. See Robinson and Vockeroth (1981) for an excellent morphological account of the family.

Dolichopodidae occupy all terrestrial habitats from coastal beaches to high altitude mountain sites, but they generally prefer humid areas where they are sometimes the most abundant dipteran family. Other species occur mainly on vertical structures such as tree trunks. The larvae of most species are found in moist soils or in the litter layer while other species depend on sap runs and tree rot holes for their development. Apart from the stem-mining larvae of Thrypticus, both adult flies and larvae of most species are predaceous and feed on soft-bodied invertebrates. The larval stages of many Medetera species prey on bark beetles.

The Dolichopodidae is one of the largest families of Diptera, with over 6000 described species in more than 200 genera (Grichanov 1999). In Europe, 790 species have been recorded in 61 genera (Pollet 2004b). The present checklist includes 346 species, with 324 recorded from the Czech Republic (279 in Bohemia, 251 in Moravia) and 217 from Slovakia. A total of 324 valid species was included in the 1997 checklist (Olejníček 1997). Since then, twenty-two species have been added to the fauna of the Czech Republic (12 each for Bohemia and Moravia).

Current knowledge of the distribution of Dolichopodidae in Europe is summarized by Pollet (2004b), and the same author (Pollet 2000) provides data sheets for 95 species and distribution maps for 295 species in Belgium.

References

[1] Beuk P. 1990: Synonymy and variability in Sympycnus. Empid and Dolichopodid Study Group Newsheet 9: 5-6.

[2] Brooks S. 2005: Systematics and phylogeny of Dolichopodinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae). Zootaxa 857: 1-158.

[3] Brooks S.E. & Wheeler T.A. 2005: Ethiromyia, a new genus of Holarctic Dolichopodinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 107: 489-500.

[4] Chandler P.J. (ed.): 1998: Checklists of Insects of the British Isles (New Series). Part 1: Diptera. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 12 (1), 234 pp.

[5] Chvála, M. 1983: The Empidoidea (Diptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. II. General Part. The Families Hybotidae, Atelestidae and Microphoridae. Fauna Entomologica Scandinavica 12: 1-279.

[6] Cole J.H. 1987: Dolichopodidae difficulties. Empid and Dolichopodid study group Newsheet 3: 2-3.

[7] Collin J.E. 1940: Critical notes on some recent synonymy affecting British species of Dolichopodidae (Diptera). Entomologist's monthly Magazine 76: 261-271.

[8] Foote R.H., Coulson J.R. & Robinson H. 1965: Family Dolichopodidae. In Stone A., Sabrosky C.W., Wirth W.W., Foote R.H. & Coulson J.R. (eds): A catalog of the Diptera of America north of Mexico. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Agriculture Handbook 276, pp. 482-530.

[9] Gosseries J. 1988: Some new names in the Dolichopodidae (Diptera). Bulletin et Annales de la Société royale belge d'Entomologie 124: 304-307.

[10] Grichanov I.Y. 1999: A check list of genera of the family Dolichopodidae (Diptera). Studia dipterologica 6: 327-332.

[11] Grootaert P. & Meuffels H.J.G. 1997: Dolichopodidae from Papua New Guinea XV. Scepastopyga gen. nov. and the establishment of a new subfamily, the Achalcinae. Journal of Natural History 31: 1587-1600.