Curtonotidae Explained

The Curtotonidae or quasimodo flies[1] are a small family of small grey to dark brown humpbacked flies (Diptera) with a worldwide distribution, but with very few species in the Nearctic, Australasian/Oceanian, and Palaearctic regions. Most members of the family are found in tropical to subtropical latitudes in Africa and the Neotropics. Many remain undescribed in collections, since little work on the family has been done since the 1930s.[2]

Description

For terms see Morphology of DipteraMedium-sized flies. The postvertical bristles on head are well developed and cruciate and there are three orbital bristles on head on each side of frons. Arista with long plumosity. Costa with two interruptions one more distal to the humeral crossvein and one before subcosta. Subcosta developed throughout its length up to costa. The posterior basal wing cell and discoidal wing cell are fused. The costa bears spinules.

Classification

The family has at various times been placed in the Drosophilidae, Diastatidae, and Ephydridae. In 1934 Duda proposed the family name Curtonotidae and nowadays family rank is now widely accepted.[3]

Genera and Species

Distribution

Biology

Greathead (1958) records the immature stages as scavengers within egg pods of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria . Cuthbertson (1936) reared an Afrotropical species, Cyrtona albomacula Curran, from human faeces in Zimbabwe. Others have been found in the burrows of warthogs and ant bears.

Fossils

Only one fossil species of Curtonotidae is known, Curtonotum gigas Théobald, from Oligocene deposits in France.

Identification

Gallery

See images at http://www.cedarcreek.umn.edu/insects/newslides/029089001001apo.jpg and at Diptera.info http://www.diptera.info/photogallery.php?album_id=74

References and sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Kirk-Spriggs . A.H. . 2011 . A revision of Afrotropical Quasimodo flies (Diptera: Schizophora; Curtonotidae). Part III - the Malagasy species of Curtonotum Macquart, with descriptions of six new species . African Invertebrates . 52 . 2 . 391–456 . KwaZulu-Natal . KwaZulu-Natal Museum . 10.5733/afin.052.0212. free .
  2. Kirk-Spriggs . A.H. . 2010 . A revision of Afrotropical Quasimodo flies (Diptera: Curtonotidae: Schizophora). Part II – the East African Afromontane genus Tigrisomyia gen. n., with descriptions of four new species. . African Entomology . 18 . 127–146 . 10.4001/003.018.0111.
  3. Klymko . John . Marshall . Stephen A. . 2011 . Systematics of New World Curtonotum Macquart (Diptera: Curtonotidae) . Zootaxa . 3079 . 1–110 . Auckland, New Zealand . Magnolia Press . 978-1-86977-802-6 . 10.11646/zootaxa.3079.1.1 . 10214/23360 . free .
  4. Kirk-Spriggs . A.H. . 2010 . A revision of Afrotropical Quasimodo flies (Diptera: Curtonotidae: Schizophora). Part I – the genus Axinota van der Wulp, with the description of three new species . African Entomology . 18 . 99–126 . 10.4001/003.018.0110.
  5. McAlpine, J.F. 1989. Chapter 116. Phylogeny and classification of the Muscomorpha. In Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Vol. 3. Coordinated by J.F. McAlpine and D.M. Wood. Agriculture Canada Monograph, 32. pp. 1397–1518.
  6. David Grimald, 1990 A phylogenetic, revised classification of genera in the Drosophilidae (Diptera) Bulletin of American Museum of Natural History 1971-139 http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/888

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