Tachydromiini
Creators: name: Shamshev, Igor V.
name: Vasilenko, Dmitry V.
name: Perkovsky, Evgeny E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Hybotidae

description: Key to fossil genera of Tachydromiini and Cretoplatypalpus group
Remarks. We have included Symballophthalmus (tribe Symballophthalmini) in the key because fossil records of this primitive genus are highly likely. The key somewhat suffers from fragmented data in some genera, as noted.
1 Scutellum with at least 6 setae. Prosternum usually separated from proepisternum (unknown state in Mesoplatypalpus and Electrocyrtoma)...................................................................................... 2
– Scutellum with at most 4 setae. Prosternum usually fused with proepisternum (except Archiplatypalpus)................ 6
2 Wing with cell cua. Eyes holoptic or dichoptic …............................................................ 3
– Wing without cell cua. Eyes dichoptic (unknown state in male of Mesoplatypalpus)................................ 5
3 Wing cuneiform; crossvein bm-m at most slightly oblique, touching crossvein r-m (Chvála 1975: fig. 23). [Additional character: eyes holoptic.] Extant genus, no known fossils......................................... Symballophthalmus Becker
– Wing at apex of cell br as broad as at middle; crossvein bm-m strongly oblique, relatively broadly separated from crossvein r-m................................................................................................ 4
4 Wing with cell cua extending nearly to middle of cell bm (Kovalev 1978: fig. 1b; Grimaldi & Cumming 1999: fig. 34). Eyes dichoptic. Scutellum with 6 setae. Mesozoic: Upper Cretaceous, Russia, Taimyr and Cedar Lake, Manitoba............................................................................................. Cretoplatypalpus Kovalev
– Wing with cell cua extending far beyond middle of cell bm (Cockerell 1917: fig. 5). Eyes probably holoptic. Scutellum with more numerous setae. Mesozoic: mid-Cretaceous, Burmese amber.......................... Electrocyrtoma Cockerell
5 Costal vein ending just slightly past apex of vein R 4+5 (Grimaldi & Cumming 1999: fig. 35). Scutellum with 8 setae. Mesozoic: Upper Cretaceous, Cedar Lake, Manitoba .................................. Mesoplatypalpus Grimaldi & Cumming
– Costal vein ending at apex of vein M 1. Scutellum with 6 setae. Cenozoic: middle Eocene, Sakhalinian amber............................................................................................. Eoplatypalpus gen. nov.
6 Eyes holoptic (Kovalev 1974: fig. 1). Prosternum separated from proepisternum. Mesozoic: Upper Cretaceous, Russia, Taimyr......................................................................... Archiplatypalpus Kovalev
– Eyes dichoptic. Prosternum fused with proepisternum........................................................ 7
7 Wing cell cua more or less formed, with vein CuA distinct and vein CuA+CuP present, although sometimes faint (Chvála 1975: fig. 24). Eyes with upper margins closer to level of ocellar tubercle, divergent near ocellar tubercle with distance between eyes wider than frons (Sinclair et al. 2023: fig. 9C). Mid leg usually raptorial, with femur thickened and armed with two rows of spine-like setae ventrally, tibia often ending in sharp spur. Extant genus; Cenozoic: upper Eocene, Baltic amber............................................................................................. Platypalpus Macquart
– Wing cell cua absent (vein CuA+CuP absent); vein CuA usually present (sometimes absent in recent species) (Chvála 1975: fig. 26). Eyes with upper margins extending far beyond ocellar tubercle, slightly convergent or parallel behind ocellar tubercle with distance between eyes usually slightly narrower than frons (Sinclair et al. 2023: fig. 8A). Mid leg simple, at most with some modifications in male (subbasal clusters of spine-like setae, excavations and tubercles). Extant genus; Cenozoic: uppermost Eocene, shales of Florissant Formation, Colorado, USA; upper Eocene, Baltic amber................. Tachypeza Meigen
description: Published as part of Shamshev, Igor V., Vasilenko, Dmitry V. & Perkovsky, Evgeny E., 2025, A new genus of hybotid dance fly (Diptera: Hybotidae, Tachydromiinae) from the Eocene Sakhalinian amber, pp. 283-294 in Zootaxa 5575 (2) on pages 291-292, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5575.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/14746881