A New Species of Hemilauxania Hennig (Lauxaniidae) from the Lower Eocene Oise Amber-The Oldest Record of Schizophora (Diptera)?

Hemilauxania parvula sp. nov., a new fossil species of the family Lauxaniidae (Diptera: Acalyptratae), is described and illustrated from Oise amber, France (Eocene, lower Ypresian, ca 53 Ma), and its relationship is discussed. Inasmuch as this first finding of a member of Schizophora in Oise amber probably represents the oldest known record of this group of Diptera, the age of Schizophora, based on the known fossil records, is discussed.

Pullimosina (Pullimosina) turfosa sp. nov. and other Sphaeroceridae (Diptera) from peat bogs in the North Caucasus (Russia).

The first data about Sphaeroceridae occurring on eight montane and foothill peat bogs of various types in the North Caucasus (Russia) are presented. A total of 38 species has been recorded and their affinity to peat-bog habitats is discussed. A single species is classified as a tyrphobiont, viz. the strongly brachypterous Pullimosina (Pullimosina) turfosasp. nov. being strictly associated with Sphagnum hummocks in peat bogs. This new species is described and illustrated in detail and its relationships, biology, and wing reduction are discussed. Only three species are considered tyrphophilous or probably tyrphophilous, viz. Ischioleptanitida (Duda, 1920), Phthitia (Kimosina) longisetosa (Dahl, 1909), and Spelobiaibrida Rohácek, 1983. The majority of recorded species do not have close affinity to peat bogs and are treated as tyrphoneutral, and Rachispodahostica (Villeneuve, 1917) is probably tyrphoxenous due to occasional occurrence in a peat bog. Species composition of Sphaeroceridae on Caucasian peat bogs is discussed in comparison to those known from peat bogs in other parts of Europe. Taxonomic notes are given on Minilimosina (Svarciella) species of the M.vitripennis group. Six species (including P.turfosa sp. nov.) are new additions to the fauna of Russia.

Updated taxonomic keys for European Hippoboscidae (Diptera), and expansion in Central Europe of the bird louse fly Ornithomyacomosa (Austen, 1930) with the first record from Slovakia.

The available keys for European Hippoboscidae are outdated and do not cover all species currently known from Europe. Therefore, identification keys to the eleven genera and 31 species of the European hippoboscids are provided here. Ornithomyacomosa (Austen, 1930) (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) is recorded for the first time from the territory of Slovakia based on one female found on a sand martin, Ripariariparia (Linnaeus, 1758). The list of keds and louse flies recorded from the territory of Slovakia is increased to 20 species. New host records for Slovakia are presented.

Clusiomitidae, A New Family of Eocene Fossil Acalyptratae, with Revision of Acartophthalmites Hennig and Clusiomites Gen. Nov. (Diptera).

The Eocene Baltic amber fossil flies of the genus Acartophthalmites Hennig, 1965 (Diptera: Acalyptratae) are revised. Seven species are recognized and described or redescribed. Five species, A. crassipes sp. nov., A. luridus sp. nov., A. rugosus sp. nov., A. tertiaria Hennig, 1965 (type species) and A. willii Pérez-de la Fuente, Hoffeins et Rohácek, 2018 are retained in Acartophthalmites while Clusiomites gen. nov. is described for two other species, C. clusioides (Rohácek, 2016) comb. nov. (type species) and C. ornatus sp. nov. Relationships of these fossil taxa are discussed and, because they cannot be confidently placed in any known family of Diptera, a new family, Clusiomitidae, is established for them. Clusiomitidae is recognized as a family of Opomyzoidea, probably most closely allied to Clusiidae. These results again confirmed that the diversity of acalyptrate flies was very high in the Mid-late Eocene amber forest.

The Herniosina story continues in the Mediterranean: H.calabra sp. nov. from Calabria and H.erymantha Rohácek, new female from the Peloponnese (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae).

A study of recently acquired material of Herniosina Rohácek, 1983 (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae: Limosininae) in the Mediterranean subregion revealed a new species, H.calabra sp. nov. (Italy: Calabria: Serre Calabresi Mts) and the first females of H.erymantha Rohácek, 2016 (Greece: southern Peloponnese: Taygetos Mts). Herniosinacalabra sp. nov. (both sexes) and the female of H.erymantha are described and illustrated in detail including structures of terminalia, their relationships are discussed and new information on their biology (habitat association) is given. An update of a key to all know species of Herniosina species is presented.

Protanthomyza grimaldii sp. nov., a further member of the extinct subfamily Protanthomyzinae (Diptera, Anthomyzidae) from Baltic amber.

A new fossil species, Protanthomyza grimaldii sp. nov. (Diptera, Anthomyzidae), is described from Baltic amber (Eocene, 48-34 Ma) based on two (male and female) inclusions. It is the ninth species of the †genus Protanthomyza Hennig, 1965 and †subfamily Protanthomyzinae Rohácek, 1998. Adult morphology of P. grimaldii sp. nov. revealed that the rich chaetotaxy of the thoracic pleuron, two anal veins and presence of the anteroventral process of the epandrium are plausibly shared by all species of Protanthomyza. Relationships of the new species, which belongs to a group lacking the ctenidial spine on the fore femur, are discussed.

Completing Linnaeus's inventory of the Swedish insect fauna: Only 5,000 species left?

Despite more than 250 years of taxonomic research, we still have only a vague idea about the true size and composition of the faunas and floras of the planet. Many biodiversity inventories provide limited insight because they focus on a small taxonomic subsample or a tiny geographic area. Here, we report on the size and composition of the Swedish insect fauna, thought to represent roughly half of the diversity of multicellular life in one of the largest European countries. Our results are based on more than a decade of data from the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative and its massive inventory of the country's insect fauna, the Swedish Malaise Trap Project The fauna is considered one of the best known in the world, but the initiative has nevertheless revealed a surprising amount of hidden diversity: more than 3,000 new species (301 new to science) have been documented so far. Here, we use three independent methods to analyze the true size and composition of the fauna at the family or subfamily level: (1) assessments by experts who have been working on the most poorly known groups in the fauna; (2) estimates based on the proportion of new species discovered in the Malaise trap inventory; and (3) extrapolations based on species abundance and incidence data from the inventory. For the last method, we develop a new estimator, the combined non-parametric estimator, which we show is less sensitive to poor coverage of the species pool than other popular estimators. The three methods converge on similar estimates of the size and composition of the fauna, suggesting that it comprises around 33,000 species. Of those, 8,600 (26%) were unknown at the start of the inventory and 5,000 (15%) still await discovery. We analyze the taxonomic and ecological composition of the estimated fauna, and show that most of the new species belong to Hymenoptera and Diptera groups that are decomposers or parasitoids. Thus, current knowledge of the Swedish insect fauna is strongly biased taxonomically and ecologically, and we show that similar but even stronger biases have distorted our understanding of the fauna in the past. We analyze latitudinal gradients in the size and composition of known European insect faunas and show that several of the patterns contradict the Swedish data, presumably due to similar knowledge biases. Addressing these biases is critical in understanding insect biomes and the ecosystem services they provide. Our results emphasize the need to broaden the taxonomic scope of current insect monitoring efforts, a task that is all the more urgent as recent studies indicate a possible worldwide decline in insect faunas.

A revised annotated checklist of louse flies (Diptera, Hippoboscidae) from Slovakia.

The list of all known locality and host records from the literature on louse flies from Slovakia are summarized, with the addition of new collection data. New locality data are provided for five species. Three species are added to the Slovakian list: Icostaminor (Bigot in Thomson, 1858), which was erroneously cited for Moravia instead of Slovakia in the previous checklist, and Ornithophilametallica (Schiner, 1864) and Ornithomyachloropus (Bergroth, 1901), which were overlooked from the last checklist. As a result, the louse fly fauna of Slovakia increases to 19 species: 12 autochtonous species and seven rare, non-native species only occasionally imported to Slovakia or migrating to the country with their hosts. This is by far the largest regional fauna of Hippoboscidae in Central Europe, and matches the richest southern European faunas. In total, 78 host-parasite associations concerning 46 bird-host species from eight orders and nine species of mammals, including humans, have been found from a literature review in Slovakia. Two host-parasite associations are reported from Slovakia for the first time: Ornithomyaavicularia (Linnaeus, 1758) on Prunellamodularis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Aves: Prunellidae) and Lipoptenafortisetosa Maa, 1965 on Homosapiens Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia: Hominidae).

A new Acartophthalmites Hennig from Eocene Baltic amber (Diptera, Acalyptratae).

A new fossil fly species, Acartophthalmites williisp. n. (Diptera: Acalyptratae: Opomyzoidea) from Baltic amber (Eocene, 56-33.9 Ma), is described based on a male originally assigned by Hennig (1969) to A. tertiaria Hennig, 1965, who erroneously also referred to it in the same work as "A. electrica Hennig" (unavailable name). The new species, representing the third named species of the extinct genus with unclear familial relationships Acartophthalmites Hennig, 1965, is herein described and illustrated in detail, and its systematic implications and relationships are discussed. From the morphological standpoint, the new species represents an intermediate form between the two formerly described species within the genus, therefore expanding the character combination diversity in this lineage of acalyptrate flies. The genus Acartophthalmites is considered to be most closely related to Clusiidae and, therefore, it is herein tentatively classified within the superfamily Opomyzoidea. The current work takes part of an effort to review the Acartophthalmites diversity in order to gain knowledge on the morphological data from the specimens described within the genus and ultimately enable a reliable analysis of its phylogenetic relationships with other acalyptrates.

Herniosina Rohácek: revised concept, two new species, new key and atlas of male and female terminalia (Diptera, Sphaeroceridae).

The taxonomic concept of Herniosina Rohácek, 1983 (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae) is revised on the basis of five W. Palaearctic species, thus excluding the E. Nearctic Herniosina voluminosa Marshall, 1987 whose inclusion caused the paraphyly of the genus. Two new species, Herniosina erymantha sp. n. (male only, Greece: Peloponnese) and Herniosina hamata sp. n. (both sexes, Cyprus), are described and illustrated, and the other three species, Herniosina bequaerti (Villeneuve, 1917), Herniosina horrida (Rohácek, 1978) and Herniosina pollex Rohácek, 1993, are diagnosed with an atlas of their male and female terminalia. The relationships of the redefined genus and of all its species are discussed, and their biology and distribution are reviewed. A new illustrated key to Herniosina species is given.

Rediscovery of Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) incapax Starý, 2005 (Diptera, Limoniidae), a crane fly species flightless in both sexes and probably endemic to Sardinia.

Rediscovery of Rhabdomastix (Rhabdomastix) incapax Starý, 2005 in Sardinia made it possible to update the description of the male and to provide the first description of the female of this species. Notes on the wing reduction, ecology, and behaviour of this species are appended.

Fauna europaea: Diptera - brachycera.

Fauna Europaea provides a public web-service with an index of scientific names (including important synonyms) of all extant multicellular European terrestrial and freshwater animals and their geographical distribution at the level of countries and major islands (east of the Urals and excluding the Caucasus region). The Fauna Europaea project comprises about 230,000 taxonomic names, including 130,000 accepted species and 14,000 accepted subspecies, which is much more than the originally projected number of 100,000 species. Fauna Europaea represents a huge effort by more than 400 contributing taxonomic specialists throughout Europe and is a unique (standard) reference suitable for many user communities in science, government, industry, nature conservation and education. The Diptera-Brachycera is one of the 58 Fauna Europaea major taxonomic groups, and data have been compiled by a network of 55 specialists. Within the two-winged insects (Diptera), the Brachycera constitute a monophyletic group, which is generally given rank of suborder. The Brachycera may be classified into the probably paraphyletic 'lower brachyceran grade' and the monophyletic Eremoneura. The latter contains the Empidoidea, the Apystomyioidea with a single Nearctic species, and the Cyclorrhapha, which in turn is divided into the paraphyletic 'aschizan grade' and the monophyletic Schizophora. The latter is traditionally divided into the paraphyletic 'acalyptrate grade' and the monophyletic Calyptratae. Our knowledge of the European fauna of Diptera-Brachycera varies tremendously among families, from the reasonably well known hoverflies (Syrphidae) to the extremely poorly known scuttle flies (Phoridae). There has been a steady growth in our knowledge of European Diptera for the last two centuries, with no apparent slow down, but there is a shift towards a larger fraction of the new species being found among the families of the nematoceran grade (lower Diptera), which due to a larger number of small-sized species may be considered as taxonomically more challenging. Most of Europe is highly industrialised and has a high human population density, and the more fertile habitats are extensively cultivated. This has undoubtedly increased the extinction risk for numerous species of brachyceran flies, yet with the recent re-discovery of Thyreophoracynophila (Panzer), there are no known cases of extinction at a European level. However, few national Red Lists have extensive information on Diptera. For the Diptera-Brachycera, data from 96 families containing 11,751 species are included in this paper.

Diversity, distribution and biology of Romanian flat-footed flies (Diptera, Opetiidae and Platypezidae) with taxonomic notes on Callomyiasaibhira Chandler.

Altogether 18 species of the families Opetiidae and Platypezidae are reported from Romania, based on newly studied material and previously published records. The following three species are recorded from Romania for the first time: Agathomyiavernalis Shatalkin, 1981, Callomyiasaibhira Chandler, 1976, and Lindneromyiahungarica Chandler, 2001. The presented differential diagnosis and a detailed redescription of body and genitalia of the male of Callomyiasaibhira are based on one specimen which is the first male found in Europe. Information about distribution and biology of all 18 Romanian species is provided as well as photographs of selected important species. Finally, a new checklist of all Romanian species is given.

A worldwide review of the genus Arganthomyza Rohácek, with revision of the Nearctic species (Diptera: Anthomyzidae).

World representatives of the genus Arganthomyza Rohácek, 2009 (Diptera, Anthomyzidae) are reviewed, keyed and their relationships are discussed on the basis of a phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters. The Nearctic species of Arganthomyza are revised, described and illustrated, and first data about their biology and distribution are given. Five new species, A. carbo sp. n. (Canada, USA), A. acuticuspis sp. n. (USA), A. bivittata sp. n. (Canada, USA), A. duplex sp. n. (Canada, USA) and A. disjuncta sp. n. (Canada, USA) are described and A. socculata (Zetterstedt, 1847) is newly recorded from the Nearctic Region (USA: Alaska). Based on the phylogenetic analysis, four main clades/species groups are recognized within Arganthomyza, represented by the following species: A. barbarista Rohácek, 2009 (A. barbarista group); A. setiplanta (Rohácek, 1987), A. versitheca Rohácek, 2009 and A. carbo sp. n. (A. setiplanta group); A. acuticuspis sp. n., A. bivittata sp. n. and A. duplex sp. n. (A. duplex group); A. disjuncta sp. n. and A. socculata (Zetterstedt) (A. socculata group). Considering the contemporary distribution and relationships of Arganthomyza species, it is hypothesized that the A. barbarista group and A. setiplanta group originated in East Asia while the A. duplex group and the A. socculata group each has its origin in the Nearctic Region.