A review of Madagopsina Feijen, Feijen & Feijen (Diptera, Diopsidae) with description of a new species, key to the species, and discussion of intrageneric relationships

Abstract

For the recently established genus Madagopsina (Diopsidae, stalk-eyed flies), Madagopsina makayensis Feijen, Feijen & Feijen, sp. nov. is described from Madagascar. A concise catalogue is given for the genus and an identification key is presented for its six species. The differential character states are listed for the two species groups of the genus: the Madagopsina apollo species group and the Madagopsina apographica species group. The intrageneric relations are discussed based on morphology, geometric morphometrics analysis of wing shape, and allometric data for eye span against body length. Each of these three procedures places the new species in the M. apollo species group with Madagopsina parvapollina as its closest relative. New records are presented for M. apographica and M. parvapollina.

Submergence tolerance in immature stages of the stalk‐eyed fly Sphyracephala detrahens (Diptera: Diopsidae)

“…Sphyracephala detrahens (Walker, 1860) belongs to the subfamily Diopsinae (Diptera: Diopsidae; Kotrba, 2004) and is distinguished by the possession of lateral projections from the sides of the head, where the compound eyes are located, in both sexes. Adult flies of most species of Diopsinae have been found in littoral areas and rainforests (Genus of Diopsis : Feijen, 1984; Feijen & Feijen, 2009; Feijen et al, 2021, Genus of Sphyracephala : Papp et al, 1997; Simova‐Tošić & Stojanović, 1999; Hauser et al, 2011; Stoaks & Shaw, 2011; Feijen et al, 2017, Genus of Teleopsis : Burkhardt, 1972; Feijen, 1998; Feijen & Feijen, 2011). With the exception of some pest species of rice, the habitats of diopsid flies during egg, larval, and pupal stages, and the feeding behaviours of their larvae in the field are poorly understood (Alam, 1988; Alghali & Osisanya, 1982; Feijen, 1979; Feijen, 1985).…”

The aquatic Adephaga of the Makay, central-western Madagascar, with description of two new diving beetle species (Coleoptera, Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Noteridae, Dytiscidae)

“…Among the very few other taxa for which more or less systematic species inventories have been conducted in the Makay so far are bats ( Prié 2011 ), scorpions ( Lourenço and Wilmé 2015 , with description of Grosphus makay ), and leafhoppers ( Gnezdilov 2021 , with description of four new species endemic to the Makay). Additional species recently described from the Makay include an Apocynaceae plant ( Allorge et al 2015 ), a flea species living on bat ( Laudisoit et al 2012 ), a fly ( Feijen et al 2021 ), two millipedes ( Wesener 2020 ) and an ant ( Csösz et al 2021 ). To our knowledge, there are no published data concerning either Coleoptera or aquatic insects of the Makay apart from the recent description of the endemic diving beetle Laccophilus makay Manuel & Ramahandrison, 2020.…”