Abstract
A new family of eremoneuran Brachycera, the Chimeromyiidae, is proposed for two genera and eight species of a distinctive, monophyletic group of flies in 125–100 myo amber. The new family is related to the Empidoidea and basal Cyclorrhapha. Four new species of Chimeromyia are described: C. pilitibia Grimaldi and Cumming (in Lebanese amber), C. mediobscura Grimaldi and Cumming, C. alava Arillo and Grimaldi (in Spanish amber), and C. burmitica Grimaldi and Cumming (in Burmese amber). A new genus, Chimeromyina Arillo and Grimaldi is also described, for a primitive new species C. concilia (in Spanish amber). New details of these flies are described, particularly of male and female terminalia, and the relationships between this and other eremoneuran families are discussed.References
Alonso, J., Arillo, A., Barrón, E., Corral, J.C. & Grimalt, J. López, J., López, R., Martínez-Delclòs, X., Ortuño, V., Penalver, E., and Trincão, P.R. (2000) A new fossil resin with biological inclusions in Lower Cretaceous deposits from Álava (northern Spain, Basque-Cantabrian Basin). Journal of Paleontology, 74, 158–78.
Azar, D. (2000) Les ambres Mésozoïques du Liban. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Paris, Orsay. 202 pp.
Brown, B.V. (2007) A further new genus of primitive phorid fly (Diptera: Phoridae) from Baltic amber and its phylogenetic implications. Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 513, 1–14.
Cruikshank, R.D. & Ko, K. (2003) Geology of an amber locality in the Hukawng Valley, northern Myanmar. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 21, 441–455.
Cumming, J.M., Sinclair B.J. & Wood, D.M. (1995) Homology and phylogenetic implications of male genitalia in Diptera - Eremoneura. Entomologica Scandinavica, 26, 121–151.
Delclòs, X., Arillo, A., Peñalver, E., Barrón, E., Soriano, C., López del Valle, R., Bernárdez, E., Corral, C. & Ortuño, V.M. (2007) Fossiliferous amber deposits from the Cretaceous (Albian) of Spain. Comptes Rendus - Palevol, 6, 135–149.
Engel, M.S. & D. Grimaldi (2009) Diversity and cladistics of the Mesozoic wasp family Stigmaphronidae. Denisia, in press.
Grimaldi, D. & Cumming, J. (1999) Brachyceran Diptera in Cretaceous ambers and Mesozoic diversification of the Eremoneura. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 239, 1–124.
Grimaldi, D.A. & Engel, M.S. (2005) Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press, New York/Cambridge.
Grimaldi, D., Engel, M.S. & Nascimbene, P.C. (2002) Fossiliferous Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Burma): its rediscovery, biotic diversity, and paleontological significance. American Museum Novitates, 3361, 1–72.
McAlpine, D.K. (2002) Some examples of reduced segmentation of the arista in Diptera-Cyclorrhapha, and some phylogenetic implications. Studia dipterologica, 9, 3–19.
Nascimbene, P. & Silverstein, H. (2000) The preparation of fragile Cretaceous ambers for conservation and study of organismal inclusions. In: D. Grimaldi (Ed.), Studies on Fossils in Amber, with Particular Reference to the Cretaceous of New Jersey. Leiden: Backhuys Publishers. pp. 93–102.
Rasnitsyn, A.P. & Ross, A.J. (2000) A preliminary list of arthropod families present in the Burmese amber collection at The Natural History Museum, London. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, London (Geology), 56, 21–24.
Sinclair, B.J. & Cumming, J.M. (2006) The morphology, higher-level phylogeny and classification of the Empidoidea (Diptera). Zootaxa, 1180, 1–172.
Stuckenberg, B.R. (1999) Antennal evolution in the Brachycera (Diptera), with a reassessment of terminology relating to the flagellum. Studia dipterologica, 6, 33–48.