Family SCATOPSIDAE



Scatopsidae are a cosmopolitan family of small-sized (0.6­p;5 mm in length) nematocerous flies. The biology of taxa is poorly known. Immatures of extant forms have been recorded from various forms of decaying plant and animal matter such as winery waste and under the bark of senescent trees and bird and mammal excrement. Adults apparently feed at flowers.

The described fossil record of this family is restricted to various Tertiary strata, though earlier records of unpublished material are known. In addition to the determined material listed below, Zherichin & Sukacheva (1973) recorded 28 specimens of undetermined species of Scatopsidae from the Upper Cretaceous amber of Siberia, McAlpine & Martin (1969) and Cook (1981: 317) recorded undetermined material from the Upper Cretaceous Canadian amber, and Schumann & Wendt (1989: 41) recorded the family from the Miocene Bitterfeld amber of Germany. Ross & Jarzembowski (1993: 406) recorded the family from the Lower Cretaceous, possibly based on unpublished material.

Ref.: Cook (1971, review of Mexican amber taxa).


Genus PROCOLOBOSTEMA Cook

PROCOLOBOSTEMA Cook, 1971: 60. Type species: Procolobostema hurdi Cook, 1971, by original designation.
hurdi Cook, 1971: 60. NT: Mexico (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].
incisum Cook, 1971: 61. NT: Mexico (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].
longicorne Cook, 1971: 60. NT: Mexico (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].
obscurum Cook, 1971: 61. NT: Mexico (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].


Genus REICHERTELLA Enderlein

*REICHERTELLA Enderlein, 1912b: 268. Type species: Scatopse femoralis Meigen, 1838 [misidentification, = Scatops niger Meigen, 1804], by original designation.
fasciata Melander, 1949: 16. NE: USA (Oligocene) [C].


Genus RHEGMOCLEMINA Enderlein

*RHEGMOCLEMINA Enderlein, 1936: 55. Type species: Scatopse vaginata Lundström, 1910, by monotypy.

Subgenus NEORHEGMOCLEMINA Cook

*NEORHEGMOCLEMINA Cook, 1955: 358. Type species: Rhegmoclemina parvum Cook, 1955, by original designation.

Unidentified sp.-NT: Dominican Republic (Oligocene/Miocene) [A] (Cook, 1990: 390).


Genus SCATOPSE Geoffroy

*SCATOPSE Geoffroy, 1762: 450. Type species: Tipula notata Linnaeus, 1758, by subsequent designation of I.C.Z.N. (1957a: 86).
SCATHOPSE. Incorrect original spelling of Scatopse (Geoffroy, 1762: 544; I.C.Z.N., 1957a: 86).
SCATOPS, error for Scatopse.
bilaminata Cook, 1971: 58. NT: Mexico (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].
crassicornis Meunier, 1907b: 394. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].
fasciola Meunier, 1907b: 394. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].
gracilis Keilbach, 1982: 347. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].
[Available by bibliographical reference to Loew (1850b: 32).]
grassaris Meunier, 1907b: 392. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].
primula Cook, 1971: 58. NT: Mexico (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].
subsimilis Meunier, 1907b: 393. PA: Baltic Region (Eocene/Oligocene) [A].
Unidentified sp.-PA: Japan (Pleistocene) [K] (Saigusa, 1974: 431).


Genus SWAMMERDAMELLA Enderlein

*SWAMMERDAMMELLA Enderlein, 1912b: 265. Type species: Scatopse brevicornis Meigen, 1830, by original designation.
prima Cook, 1971: 58. NT: Mexico (Oligocene/Miocene) [A].


This page last revised 17 February 1997 by nle