Conicera Meigen, 1830

Liu, Guang-Chun, 2023, Revision of the genus Conicera Meigen (Diptera, Phoridae) from China, Zootaxa 5380 (5), pp. 401-445 : 402

The genus Conicera Meigen

Conicera Meigen, 1830: 226 .

Hypocerina Malloch, 1913: 23 ; Schmitz, 1953: 281 (syn.).

Type species. Conicera atra Meigen = Phora dauci Meigen.

Diagnosis. Frons dark brown, broader than high, with fine setulae and dense microsetae. Frontal median furrow absent. Supra-antennal setae short, closed to each other, sometimes absent. Lower fronto-orbital setae present or absent. Male first flagellomere with apex drawn-out into long, tapered extension, bearing apical arista. Female first flagellomere globose, a little pointed at apex. Anepisternum bare, undivided. Scutellum with 2 pairs of setulae, anterior pair shorter than posterior. Fore tibia with a row of near-dorsal setulae, the uppermost is the longest. Posterior face of mid femur with or without sense-organ. The typical sense-organ consists of two parts: a slender groove or rounded pit, and a long tubular or short conical apical process. Mid tibia with the normal basal pair of setae, a short pre-apical seta and a short and a very long apical spur. Setulae below basal half of hind femur shorter than those of anteroventral row of outer half. Hind tibia without palisades, with an anterior and an anterodorsal setae near end of basal quarter, an anterodorsal just below middle, a short anterior seta in last quarter. Wing hyaline or light brown. Vein C often less than half of wing length. R 2+3 absent. A small setula at base of Rs (radial sector basisetula, Rs basisetula, RBS) present or absent. Alula with 1 seta. Abdominal tergites with scattered setulae, tergite II the broadest, others backward gradually narrow. Terminalia globose or ellipse. Surstyli developed, often with inner teeth. Anal tube short.

Schmitz (1953) divided the genus into three subgenera, Conicera , Tritoconicera and Hypocerina , based on presence or absence of vein Rs basisetula, sense-organ of mid femur and supra-antennal setae. However, subsequent studies showed that supra-antennal seta and Rs basisetula, except sense-organ of mid femur, should be plesiomorphic, therefore, the system is not generally accepted ( Borgmeier 1963, Disney 1990).

The taxonomic status of the genus is currently dubious. Schmitz (1953) noted that the genus is more closely related with Darwiniphora Schmitz and Gymnoptera Lioy. Borgmeier (1963) agreed that the genus was related to Gymnoptera , but Darwiniphora should be classified into Conicera . Brown (1992) established the subfamily Conicerinae and proposed that Darwiniphora is a sister group to Conicera and whose common ancestor was Contopteryx Schmitz and Gymnoptera Macquart. Subsequently, Brown et al. (2015) named this group to coniceres, containing Conicera , Darwiniphora , and Contopteryx .

Distribution. Cosmopolitan.