Discovered in our backyard: a new genus and species of a new family from the Rocky Mountains of North America (Diptera, Tabanomorpha)

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A new genus of the Tabanomorpha, Oreoleptis,gen.n., assigned to the monotypic family Oreoleptidae, fam.n., is described from the Rocky Mountains of North America. The male, female, larva, and pupa of Oreoleptis torrenticola, sp.n. are described and illustrated. Adults were reared from larvae collected from torrential streams and rivers, and from pupae collected from riverbanks. No adults have been collected yet in the field. The larvae have two pairs of very long, ventrolateral, crocheted prolegs on abdominal segments 2–7, and a short, dorsal pair on segments 6–7. The larval head and mouthparts resemble those of athericids and tabanids. The mandibular hook has an internal canal, the basal mandibular sclerite is compressed with both condyles coming together and articulating on the tentorial phragma, the mandibular brush is located on a vertical rod, and the salivary pump is greatly enlarged. The adult male genitalia have aedeagal tines similar to athericids, tabanids, and Bolbomyia Loew; the hypandrium is fused with the gonocoxites; the epandrium is subrectangular, lying flat on the gonocoxites; and tergite 10 is present (a mixture of advanced and primitive features). The endoaedeagal process is reduced (as in athericids), and the gonocoxal apodemes are long and slender, an advanced condition shared by athericids and tabanids. The female has a long, extrusible postabdomen and ovipositor, two-segmented cerci, and the basal cercal segment has a prominent posteroventral lobe, typical of rhagionids and pelecorhynchids. Cladistic analysis assigns the genus Oreoleptis to sister group status of the Athericidae + Tabanidae. However, wing venation, simple, unmodified female abdomen, undivided first tergite, and two-segmented female cercus excludes this taxon from the Athericidae and Tabanidae. The relationships of the new family are discussed, and the phylogeny of the higher Tabanomorpha reassessed.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology: Invertebrates

Citation (CSE style): Zloty J, Sinclair BJ, Pritchard G. 2005. Discovered in our backyard: a new genus and species of a new family from the Rocky Mountains of North America (Diptera, Tabanomorpha). Systematic Entomology. 30(2):248–266. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2005.00270.x/abst....