Paramixogaster Brunetti, 1923

Reemer, Menno & Sankararaman, Hariharakrishnan, 2024, Revision of the Oriental species of the hoverfly genus Paramixogaster Brunetti, 1923 (Diptera, Syrphidae, Microdontinae), ZooKeys 1208, pp. 1-48 : 1-48

Paramixogaster Brunetti, 1923

Generic diagnosis.

Among Microdontinae , Paramixogaster is one of two microdontine genera which combines a bare postpronotum with a constricted abdomen. The only other genus to which this combination of characters applies is the Neotropical genus Ceriomicrodon Hull, 1937 . This taxon differs from Paramixogaster in the widely rounded postero-apical corner of wing cell r 4 + 5 (angular in Paramixogaster ), and in the long and whip-like dorsal process of the phallus (short and as long as ventral process in Paramixogaster ).

In two African species, the abdomen is not clearly constricted in dorsal view, but tergite 2 is dorsoventrally flattened, making the abdomen appear constricted in lateral view ( Reemer and Ståhls 2013 a). There are no such species known from the Oriental Region.

Nomenclatural note.

As stated by ICZN article 30.1. 2, names ending in - gaster are feminine, so the genus name Paramixogaster will be treated as such in this paper. Thus, conventional Latin adjectives are treated as adjectives by default under the Code (1999, Article 31.2). Nevertheless, nouns do not need to agree in gender with the generic name ( ICZN, 1999, Article 31.2. 1) and species-group names that can be regarded as a noun or as an adjective, when the author did not indicate how to treat them, are treated as a noun in apposition and the original spelling is to be retained ( ICZN 1999, Article 31.2. 2).