Pterodontia Explained

Pterodontia is a genus of small-headed flies (insects in the family Acroceridae). There are at least 20 described species in Pterodontia.

Description

Pterodontia have eyes that are covered in hairs. Their antennae are attached below the middle of the head, and are small, short and inconspicuous. Their mouthparts are small and nearly imperceptible. The tibia have small, atypical spurs. The males have a tooth-like projection on the costal edge of the wing.

Species

These 19 species belong to the genus Pterodontia:

• Pterodontia aerivaga Seguy, 1962

^{c g}

• Pterodontia analis Macquart, 1846

^{c g}

• Pterodontia andina Brèthes, 1910

^{c g}

• Pterodontia davisi Paramonov, 1957

^{c g[1]}

• Pterodontia dimidiata Westwood, 1876

^{c g}

• Pterodontia ezoensis Ouchi, 1942

^{c g}

• Pterodontia flavipes Gray, 1832

^{i c g b}

• Pterodontia flavonigra Carrera, 1947

^{c g}

• Pterodontia johnsoni Cole, 1919

^{i c g b[2]}

• Pterodontia kashmirensis Lichtwardt, 1909

^{c g}

• Pterodontia longisquama Sabrosky, 1947

^{c g}

• Pterodontia mellii Erichson, 1840

^{c g}

• Pterodontia misella Osten Sacken, 1877

^{i c g b[3]}

• Pterodontia notomaculata Sabrosky, 1948

^{i c g b[4]}

• Pterodontia smithi Johnson, 1898

^{c g}

• Pterodontia virmondii Erichson, 1840

^{c g}

• Pterodontia vix Townsend, 1895

^{i c g b}

• Pterodontia waxelii (Klug, 1807)

^{c g}

• Pterodontia westwoodi Sabrosky, 1948

^{i c g b[4]}

Pterodontia variegata White, 1914

^{c g} is considered to be a synonym of Pterodontia mellii Erichson, 1840.^[5]

Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

Further reading

• Book: Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume I. 1981. McAlpine . J. F.. Petersen . B. V.. Shewell . G. E.. Teskey . H. J.. Vockeroth . J. R.. Wood . D. M.. Agriculture Canada, Research Branch. 978-0-660-10731-8.

Notes and References

1. Paramonov. S. J.. 1957. A review of Australian Acroceridae (Diptera). Australian Journal of Zoology. 5. 4. 521–546. 10.1071/ZO9570521.
2. Cole. F. R.. 1919. The Dipterous Family Cyrtidae in North America. Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 45. 1. 1–79. 25077002.
3. Osten Sacken. C.R.. 1877. Western Diptera: Descriptions of new genera and species of Diptera from the region west of the Mississippi and especially from California. Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. 3. 189–354. 10.5962/bhl.title.57939.
4. Sabrosky. C.W.. 1948. A Further Contribution to the Classification of the North American Spider Parasites of the Family Acroceratidae (Diptera). The American Midland Naturalist. 39. 2. 382–430. 10.2307/2421592. 2421592.
5. Winterton. S. L.. 2012. Review of Australasian spider flies (Diptera, Acroceridae) with a revision of Panops Lamarck. ZooKeys. 172. 7–75. 10.3897/zookeys.172.1889. 3307363. 22448114. free.