Boreofairchildia

Wagner, Rüdiger & Stuckenberg, Brian, 2016, Cladistic analysis of Subfamily Bruchomyiinae (Diptera: Psychodidae), Zootaxa 4092 (2), pp. 151-174 : 168-170

Fossil Bruchomyiinae

Fossil Bruchomyiinae are documented from various deposits of Caribbean (12–20 million years b.p.), Baltic (40– 60 million years b.p.), and Burmese (100 million years b.p.) amber. To date the group is missing in geologically older strata, e.g. Lebanese amber. Psychodids in the mentioned deposits were identified as closely related to extant Phlebotominae, Trichomyinae, Sycoracinae and probably Psychodinae . The absence of Bruchomyiinae in deposits older than 100 million years b.p. may be incidental, but it remains remarkable as long as specimens are not confirmed.

Baltic amber fossils represent separate phylogenetic lines. The most abundant species in the deposits, N. tertiariae (Meunier, 1905) , has been repeatedly photographed and illustrated, so there is no dispute about its identity; however, the interpretation of its genitalia by Hennig (1972, p.48–49) is incorrect. A crested area of weak sclerotization of the elongate gonostylus lead Hennig to the assumption the distal area was a segment of its own and gonocoxites were the hypandrium. Photos and figures of the second species, N. molophilinus Edwards, 1921 provided by Wagner (2006) show evident differences from N. tertiariae , i.e. short and stout gonocoxites and gonostyli, epandrium with two lateral, distally divided projections. N. inexpectatus Wagner, 2012 , similar in the basic structure of the genitalia to N. molophilinus , was already figured by Henning (1972, p.48, fig. 41); gonocoxite stout but gonostyli short and s-shaped, epandrium without lateral projection but with a pair of small trifid appendages. Genitalia of Nemopalpus hoffeinsi Wagner, 2006 , are basically different; gonocoxites and hypandrium are fused to a ventero-central complex, gonostyli inconspicuous. Epandrium well-developed, with conspicuous posterolateral prolongations. Wing venation, particularly length relation of R2+3 and R2, differs from most Old World Nemopalpus ; in N. molophilinus R2+3 is slightly longer than R2, in N. tertiariae about 2 times longer. In N. hoffeinsi , R2 is definitely longer than R2+3.

Nemopalpus scheveni Wagner, 2006 , from younger Caribbean amber, clearly belongs in Boreofairchildia . Wing narrow, R2+3 more than 3 times longer than R2, r-m basal of medial fork, wing tip between R4 and R5, abdomen with lateral abdominal extensions with tufts of long setae; genitalia with elongate tergite 9, gonocoxite simple, gonostylus complicatedly built with 3 distal prolongations, and aedeagus flanked by pair of simple parameres. Nemopalpus hennigianus Schlüter, 1978 was described based on a female. It is impossible to determine whether or not N. scheveni is a synonymy of N. hennigianus ; R2 is remarkably short, r-m basal of the medial fork, wing shape appears less slim as in other extant Neotropical species and in N. scheveni .

Recently another species was discovered from Burmese amber. It was impossible to identify wing venation of N. velteni , but the genitalia appear to be simple with tubular gonocoxites and gonostyli, subquadrate tergite 9 and soft oval cerci, aedeagus narrow, elongate and bifurcate. Findings of more species and specimens from Baltic and Caribbean Amber require an updated revision of fossil Bruchomyiinae (Wagner, in prep.).