Protonephrocerus
Jeff Skevington- Protonephrocerus florissantius
- Protonephrocerus chiloensis
Introduction
The single extant species of Protonephrocerus is known only from Chile and Argentina. One undescribed species also occurs in this region but it appears that there are unlikely to be any other extant species of Protonephrocerus discovered. The hosts of Protonephrocerus are unknown.
Characteristics
Protonephrocerus look superficially like some Pipunculinae. However, the hind margin of the eye is excised medially as in Nephrocerus. The wing has a pterostigma (absent in Nephrocerus).
Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships
This is the most enigmatic genus of Pipunculidae from a classification perspective. They resemble Nephrocerus in some ways and Pipunculinae in other respects. They are currently considered to be the sister group to Nephrocerus, but we are collecting molecular evidence to test this hypothesis. I suspect that more data will show that they are actually the sister group to the Pipunculinae.
References
Aczél, M. L. 1948. Grundlagen einer monographie der Dorilaiden (Diptera). Dorilaiden-Studien VI. Acta Zoologica Lilloana 6: 5-168.
Rafael, J. A. 1988. Considerações sobre a filogenia de Nephrocerinae e descrição do macho de Protonephrocerus chiloensis Collin, 1931 (Diptera, Pipunculidae). Revista Brasileira de Entomologia 32: 465-470.
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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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- First online 02 November 2005
Citing this page:
Skevington, Jeff. 2005. Protonephrocerus. Version 02 November 2005 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Protonephrocerus/54669/2005.11.02 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
