Syringogastridae, Prado, 1969

Marshall, S. A., Buck, M., Skevington, J. H. & Grimaldi, D., 2009, A revision of the family Syringogastridae (Diptera: Diopsoidea), Zootaxa 1996 (1), pp. 1-80 : 10

Monophyly of Syringogastridae

The monophyly of this distinctive family has never been questioned, however it is here further established by the following suite of apomorphic characters (plesiomorphic states in parentheses): (1) frontal-orbital bristle absent (present); (2) inner vertical bristle absent (present); (3) arista bipectinate (short-pubescent); (4) ocellar triangle differentiated (absent); (5) postpronotum not delimited from mesoscutum posteromedially (delimited by suture); (6) precoxal bridge present (absent); (7) posterior notopleural bristle small and hair-like (large and bristle-like); (8) supra-alar bristle absent (present); (9) subscutellum transverse, virtually absent (moderately developed); (10) prespiracular processes present (absent); (11) laterotergite flat (convex); (12) metasternum fused posteromedially with postcoxal bridge (metasternum separate from postcoxal bridge posteromedially); (13) alula absent (present); (14) spiracle of first abdominal segment in tergite (in membrane); (15) tergites 2 and 3 fused (separate); (16) hypandrial arms with large, setulose ventral lobe (lobe very small ( Centrioncus ) or absent); (17) proximal opening of basiphallus greatly enlarged, its dorsal margin articulated with hypandrial bridge (proximal opening small, dorsal margin not articulated with hypandrium); (18) four spermathecae (three or two).

Characters 5, 12, 16 and 17 were not previously recognised as synapomorphies of the family. Some characters appear convergently in other Diopsoidea as follows: (1): Diopsidae excluding Centrioncus , Megamerina , Gobryidae , some Psilidae ; (2): Centrioncus ; (3): Gobryidae , Nothybidae ; (4): Psilidae ; (6): many Diopsidae excluding Centrioncus , Gobryidae , Nothybidae ; (8): most Diopsidae excluding Centrioncus ; (9): most Psilidae ; (13): Diopsinae, Gobryidae , Nothybidae ; (15): some Diopsinae; (18): Cladodiopsis (Diopsidae) .