The Calliphoridae (Blowflies) (Diptera: Oestroidea) are Not a Monophyletic Group,

Abstract

To investigate the monophyly and phylogenetic relationships of the Calliphoridae (blowflies), 23 terminal monophyletic taxa within the Oestroidea and two outgroup taxa (Muscidae and Anthomyiidae) were scored for 45 adult and larval characters and subjected to analyses using parsimony. Search for trees of maximum total fit (using Pee-Wee) gave nine different trees for the possible values of the concavity constant, whereas search for minimum length trees under equal weights (using NONA and PAUP) gave two, different, trees. The preferred trees are those obtained from the maximum-fit searches since they are derived from a method that lowers the weight of characters showing within-terminal as well as within-tree homoplasy. The family Calliphoridae in various commonly used senses (excluding Oestridae s.lat.; including the Rhiniinae; excluding or including the Rhinoporidae; excluding or including Mystacinobia) does not appear to be a monophyletic group. It appears as such only in trees having a much lower total fit than the optimal trees (maximum fit approach) or only in a very small fraction of the numerous trees five or nine steps longer than the minimum length trees. The assemblage (Rhiniinae+Toxotarsinae+Chrysomyinae), sometimes assumed to be a natural taxon on account of common possession of a row of setae on the upper surface of the stem-vein, should likewise be rejected. A clade (Ameniini+Euphumosia+Phumosiinae+Mesembrinellinae+ Parameniini+Catapicephala) is possibly Gondwanian. A clade (Toxotarsinae+Chrysomyinae+Calliphorinae+ Luciliinae+Melanomyinae) contains all the sarcosaprophagous "blowflies". The group (Tachinidae+ Sarcophagidae) is possibly the monophyletic sister group of the Rhiniinae. Mystacinobia emerges from the analyses as the sister group of all other Oestroidea, and the family Axiniidae as the sister group of all the other non-mystacinobiine oestroids. Although Mystacinobia is a guano-feeder in all stages, the biology of the other basal oestroid taxa indicates that a reproductive association with living or dead invertebrates is the primitive oestroid pattern. Fossils having a bearing upon the estimation of the age of various oestroid clades are discussed. © 1997 The Willi Hennig Society INTRODUCTIONThe Calliphoridae (blowflies) are a rather heterogenous family of calyptrate flies encompassing about 1,000 species world-wide. Their larval habits are diverse and, in many parts of the world, they are 1 Various results from this paper were presented at the Nordic Phylogenetic Systematics Network Meetings in Stockholm, Sweden, September 1993, and in Bergen, Norway, August 1996; at the Third International Congress on Dipterology in Guelph, Canada, August 1994; and at the Symposium 'Higher-level Phylogeny of Diptera: Morphological and Molecular Evidence' at the XX International Congress of Entomology, Florence, Italy, August 1996. 28 RognesCopyright © 1997 by The Willi Hennig Society All rights of reproduction in any form reserved common and conspicuous insects which pose a permanent threat to the well-b...

Utility of COI, CAD and morphological data for resolving relationships within the genus Sarcophaga (sensu lato) (Diptera: Sarcophagidae): A preliminary study

“…The monophyly of the family and its three subfamilies, Miltogramminae, Paramacronychiinae, and Sarcophaginae, has been well supported (Giroux et al, 2010;Kutty et al, 2010;Pape, 1992Pape, , 1996. Little is known about the placement of the Sarcophagidae within the Oestroidea; it has been proposed that the sister family may be either the Tachinidae or the Calliphoridae, or even the still unnamed McAlpine's fly (Kutty et al, 2010;McAlpine, 1989;Nelson et al, 2012;Pape, 1992;Rognes, 1997).…”

Alvamaja chlorometallica gen. n., sp. n. from Europe – the first metallic Rhinophoridae (Diptera)

“…n. added to the matrix of Pape & Arnaud (2001: Table 2, p. 293). Character numbers and states are explained in that paper and in Rognes (1997 Etymology. The specific epithet chlorometallica is a latinized word to be treated as an adjective in the nominative singular, and is derived from chloros (Greek, meaning green) and metallum (Latin, meaning metal), referring to the shining green metallic body colour.…”

“…But since Calliphoridae most likely are not a monophyletic group, i.e. no synapomorphies are known which unite all its constituent subfamilies to the exclusion of other groups (Rognes 1997), it does not make sense to argue whether it is or is not a calliphorid. It makes sense, however, to argue for an inclusion in or exclusion from any of the constituent subfamilies of the "Calliphoridae" all of which seem to be monophyletic, i.e., on the basis of synapomorphic agreement with one or another of these groups.…”

“…This refers to character and state 18:1 in Rognes (1997), the source for this character in Pape & Arnaud (2001). In chlorometallica I can find no weakly convex subscutellum, rather the subscutellum is shaped as in most "calliphorids", thus should be coded as "normal" (i.e., with character state 18: 0).…”

Lista das espécies de Calliphoridae (Diptera, Oestroidea) do Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

“…Uma vez que trata-se de uma família de grande impacto na sociedade humana, existe a necessidade de estabilidade no grupo, levando a uma classifi cação conservativa (Shewell, 1987). Atualmente a família é dividida em 12 subfamílias: Auchmeromyiinae, Bengaliinae, Phumosiinae, Mesembrinellinae, Helicoboscinae, Toxotarsinae, Calliphorinae, Chrysomyinae, Luciliinae, Melanomyinae, Polleniinae e Rhiniinae (Rognes, 1997). Na Região Neotropical há registro de sete subfamílias, enquanto que no Brasil este número é de cinco.…”