Neurochaetidae

Neurochaetidae
Neurochaeta inversa, a species of upside-down fly.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Superfamily: Opomyzoidea
Family: Neurochaetidae
McAlpine, 1978

Neurochaetidae is a family of flies belonging to the order Diptera.[1] These flies are also known as upside-down flies because they maintain a "head downwards" orientation while walking on vertical or steeply sloped surfaces.[2] Neurochaetids date back to the Eocene–Oligocene boundary, with fossils of the extinct genus Anthoclusia in Baltic amber described by Willi Hennig,[3] and the extant genera are native to the Old World tropics and subtropics.[4]

Neurochaeta is the type genus for Neurochaetidae, and Neurochaeta inversa is the type species for Neurochaeta.[5]

Genera:[1]

  • Anthoclusia Hennig, 1965
  • Neurochaeta McAlpine, 1978
  • Neurocytta McAlpine, 1988
  • Neurotexis McAlpine, 1988
  • Nothoasteia Malloch, 1936

References

  1. ^ a b "Neurochaetidae". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  2. ^ McAlpine, David K. (2011). "The clawless upside-down fly, Nothoasteia clausa (Diptera: Neurochaetidae): notes on distribution, behaviour, and comparative morphology". Tijdschrift voor Entomologie. 154 (2): 159–165. doi:10.1163/22119434-900000312. ISSN 0040-7496.
  3. ^ McAlpine, David K. (1987). "Upside-Down Flies". Australian Zoologist. 23 (4): 53–55. doi:10.7882/AZ.1987.002. ISSN 0067-2238.
  4. ^ McAlpine, David K. (1988). "Studies on upside-down flies (Diptera: Neurochaetidae) Part 1. Systematics and phylogeny". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 110: 31–58. doi:10.5281/ZENODO.16380158.
  5. ^ McAlpine, David K. (1978). "Description and biology of a new genus of flies related to Anthoclusia and representing a new family (Diptera, Schizophora, Neurochaetidae)". Annals of the Natal Museum. 23 (2): 273–295. doi:10.5281/zenodo.10723540.