Mycetophilidae (Diptera) with amphinotic distribution: taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography

Abstract

The family Mycetophilidae is the second most diverse of the suborder Bibionomorpha (Diptera), with 233 genera and about 4.500 species known from all biogeographical regions. The monophyly of Bibionomorpha and Mycetophilidae is well corroborated in the literature. The family has been divided in the subfamilies Sciophilinae, Gnoristinae, Mycomyiinae, Leiinae, Manotinae, Allactoneurinae, Mycetophilinae. The subfamilies SciophiJJnae, Gnoristinae, and Leiinae include taxa demonstrated to present austral distribution, i.e. disjunct between Australia, New Zealand, and temperate areas of South America-technically referred to as amphinotic taxa. Knowledge on the relationships between and within these genera, however, is still incipient. This project intends to make a phylogenetic analyses of Mycetophilidae genera with austral distribution, proposing an interpretation for the biogeography of the group. This will be made with the study of the phylogenetic relationships between the species in these genera and estimating the age of the clades and, hence, the age forests to which they are associated. These analyses include revisions of the taxonomic diversity of these genera, with descriptive studies at the species level so as to construct the phylogeny. The age of the clades will be inferred using molecular tools, with calibration of the rate of evolution made using Mycetophilidae fossils known from the Cretaceous and Eocene. (AU)