Wheelerenomyia Explained

Wheelerenomyia is an extinct genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae that lived during the Eocene of the Baltic region. The genus currently contains 13 species, all of which were described from Baltic amber. Within the family Dolichopodidae, Wheelerenomyia is considered to be a member of the subfamily Sciapodinae, but its wing vein M is unbranched and strongly curved so it is considered closely related to members of the tribe Mesorhagini.^[1] The genus was first described in 1907 by Fernand Meunier, who named it after William Morton Wheeler.^[2]

Species

The genus contains 13 species. Originally it had only one species, W. eocenica; in 2008, Igor Grichanov moved 14 extinct species from other sciapodine genera (Amesorhaga, Nematoproctus, Psilopus – now Sciapus – and Neurigona) to the genus.^[1] In 2024, a new species, W. negrobovi, was described, while three others were synonymized.^{[3] [1]}

• †Wheelerenomyia bickeli (Negrobov & Selivanova, 2003)^[1]
• †Wheelerenomyia corcula (Meunier, 1907)^{[4] [1]}
• †Wheelerenomyia eocenica Meunier, 1907 (synonym: Wheelerenomyia subparva (Meunier, 1916)^[1])
• †Wheelerenomyia longicerca (Negrobov & Selivanova, 2003)^[1]
• †Wheelerenomyia negrobovi Grichanov, 2024^[3]
• †Wheelerenomyia originaria (Meunier, 1907)^{[5] [1]} (synonym: Wheelerenomyia quadrispinosa (Negrobov & Selivanova, 2003)^[1])
• †Wheelerenomyia pacata (Meunier, 1907)^{[1] [5]}
• †Wheelerenomyia parca (Meunier, 1907)^{[1] [5]}
• †Wheelerenomyia parva (Meunier, 1907)^{[1] [5]} (synonym: Wheelerenomyia parvula (Meunier, 1907)^{[1] [5]})
• †Wheelerenomyia pellucida (Meunier, 1907)^{[1] [5]}
• †Wheelerenomyia perastutula (Meunier, 1907)^{[1] [5]}
• †Wheelerenomyia perattica (Meunier, 1907)^{[1] [5]}
• †Wheelerenomyia vladimiri (Negrobov & Selivanova, 2003)^[1]

References

Web site: Evenhuis. N.L.. 2 Apr 2014. Family Dolichopodidae. Catalog of the fossil flies of the world (Insecta: Diptera) website. 2.0.

Notes and References

1. Grichanov. I. Ya.. 2008. Systematic notes on Sciapodinae from Baltic amber and on Dolichopodidae from Tanzanian copal (Diptera). Caucasian Entomological Bulletin. 4. 1. 137–139. 10.23885/1814-3326-2008-4-1-137-139. free.
2. Meunier. F.. 1908. Monographie des Dolichopodidæ de l'ambre de la Baltique. Le Naturaliste: Revue illustrée des sciences naturelles. 2. 22. 30. 57–59. French.
3. Grichanov . I. Ya. . A new species of long-legged flies with a brief review and key to species of the genus Wheelerenomyia Meunier from Eocene Baltic amber (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) . 2024 . Palaeoentomology . 7 . 1 . 141–147 . 10.11646/palaeoentomology.7.1.10 .
4. Meunier. F.. 1907. Monographie des Dolichopodidæ de l'ambre de la Baltique. Le Naturaliste: Revue illustrée des sciences naturelles. 2. 21. 29. 221–222. French.
5. Meunier. F.. 1907. Monographie des Dolichopodidæ de l'ambre de la Baltique. Le Naturaliste: Revue illustrée des sciences naturelles. 2. 21. 29. 209–211. French.