Australasian/Oceanian Diptera Catalog -- Web Version

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27. Family PELECORHYNCHIDAE

By Greg Daniels

Originally placed in the Tabanidae, the genus Pelecorhynchus was transferred to its own family, Pelecorhynchidae, by Mackerras & Fuller (1942). Pelecorhynchus occurs in Australia and Chile. Philip (1965) proposed Bequaertomyiinae as a western Nearctic subfamily with the monotypic Bequaertomyia Brennan the sole representative. Teskey (1970) transferred the eastern Palearctic and western Nearctic Glutops Burgess from Coenomyidae to Pelecorhynchidae, mainly because of similarities of the larvae. Teskey (1981b) maintained that the 3 genera above belong in the family but pointed out that the systematics of this and other primitive brachycerous families is still unsettled.

Within Australia, Pelecorhynchus is distributed south from about Fraser Island, Queensland, to the eastern highlands of New South Wales and Victoria, with small extensions to adjacent coastal areas, the highland massif of Tasmania, and the southwestern portion of Western Australia.

Adult pelecorhynchids are most often found either feeding from, or hovering around, blossoms of Leptospermum (Myrtaceae). In areas where suitable larval sites exist but which lack Leptospermum, adults can often be found hovering around Eucryphia moorei (Eucryphiaceae) blossoms, and much less often around blackberry blossoms, Rubus vulgaris (Rosaceae).
Males of several species are known to frequent hilltops, where they defend small territories.
Refs.: Mackerras & Fuller (1942, key, Australian spp., immat. descrip.).

Genus PELECORHYNCHUS Macquart

PELECORHYNCHUS Macquart, 1850: 332(28). Type species: Pelecorhynchus maculipennis Macquart, 1850 [= Silvius personatus Walker, 1848], mon.
CAENOPNYGA Thomson, 1869: 449. Type species: Caenopnyga maculipennis Thomson, 1869 [= Silvius personatus Walker, 1848], mon.
albolineatus Hardy, 1918: 64. Australia (Tas).
claripennis Ricardo, 1910: 408. Australia (Vic); Australia (NSW).
deuqueti Hardy, 1920b: 38. Australia (NSW).
distinctus Taylor, 1918a: 53. Australia (NSW).
eristaloides Walker, 1848: 193 (Silvius). "New Holland"; Australia (Tas).
fascipennis Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 65. Australia (NSW).
fergusoni Hardy, 1939a: 41. Australia (Qld); Australia (NSW).
flavipennis Ferguson, 1921b: 3. Australia (Vic); Australia (NSW).
fulvus Ricardo, 1910: 406. Australia (Vic); Australia (NSW, Qld).
fusconiger Walker, 1848: 192 (Silvius). Australia (Qld); Australia (NSW, Vic).

ssp. alpinensis Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 61. Australia (NSW).
ssp. fusconiger s. str. Australia (Qld); Australia (NSW).
var. rufibasis Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 61. Australia (NSW); Australia (Vic).
igniculus Hardy, 1918: 64. Australia (Tas).
interruptus Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 65. Australia (NSW).
kippsi Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 52. Australia (NSW).
lineatus Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 64. Australia (NSW).
lunulatus Mackerras & Mackerras, 1953: 38. Australia (NSW); Australia (Qld).
mackerrasi Daniels, 1977c: 73. Australia (WA).
mirabilis Taylor, 1917b: 513. Australia (Qld); Australia (NSW).
montanus Hardy, 1916: 269 (eristaloides var.). Australia (Tas).
nebulosus Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 63. Australia (NSW).
nero Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 62. Australia (NSW).
niger Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 68. Australia (NSW).
nigripennis Ricardo, 1910: 405. Australia (NSW, Vic); Australia (Tas).
occidens Hardy, 1933b: 414. Australia (Tas).
olivei Hardy, 1933b: 413. Australia (Tas).
personatus Walker, 1848: 192 (Silvius). Australia (NSW); Australia (Qld).
maculipennis Macquart, 1850: 332(28). "Nouvelle-Hollande."
ornatus Schiner, 1868: 98. NZ (NZ), error [= Australia].
maculipennis Thomson, 1869: 450 (Caenopnyga). Australia (NSW). [Preocc. Macquart, 1850.]
rubidus Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 54. Australia (NSW).
var. avittatus Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 55. Australia (NSW).
simplex Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 55. Australia (NSW).
simplissimus Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 56. Australia (NSW).
taeniatus Mackerras & Fuller, 1942: 66. Australia (NSW).
tigris Daniels, 1977c: 74. Australia (Vic).
tillyardi Taylor, 1918a: 54. Australia (NSW).

This page last revised 19 Augusat 1996