The Curtotonidae or quasimodo flies[1] are a small family of small grey to dark brown humpbacked flies (Diptera) with a worldwide distribution, but with very few species in the Nearctic, Australasian/Oceanian, and Palaearctic regions. Most members of the family are found in tropical to subtropicallatitudes in Africa and the Neotropics. Many remain undescribed in collections, since little work on the family has been done since the 1930s.[2]
Medium-sized flies. The postvertical bristles on head are well developed and cruciate and there are three orbital bristles on head on each side of frons. Arista with long plumosity. Costa with two interruptions one more distal to the humeral crossvein and one before subcosta. Subcosta developed throughout its length up to costa. The posterior basal wing cell and discoidal wing cell are fused. The costa bears spinules.
Classification
The family has at various times been placed in the Drosophilidae, Diastatidae, and Ephydridae. In 1934 Duda proposed the family name Curtonotidae and nowadays family rank is now widely accepted.[3]
Curtonotum simile oviposits into wet sand under a Acacia in the Al Marmoum Conservation Reserve, Dubai, UAE.
Greathead (1958) records the immature stages as scavengers within egg pods of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria . Cuthbertson (1936) reared an Afrotropical species, Cyrtona albomacula Curran, from human faeces in Zimbabwe. Others have been found in the burrows of warthogs and ant bears.
Fossils
Only one fossil species of Curtonotidae is known, Curtonotum gigas Théobald, from Oligocene deposits in France.
Identification
Duda, O. (1934), Curtonotidae 6, 1,58d, 1-5 In: Lindner, E. (Ed.). Die Fliegen der Paläarktischen Region 6: 1–115. Keys to Palaearctic species but now needs revision (in German).
A.A. Stackelberg Family Curtonotidae in Bei-Bienko, G. Ya, 1988 Keys to the insects of the European Part of the USSR Volume 5 (Diptera) Part 2 English edition. Keys to Palaearctic species but now needs revision.
^ abcdefKirk-Spriggs, A.H. (2010). "A revision of Afrotropical Quasimodo flies (Diptera: Curtonotidae: Schizophora). Part II – the East African Afromontane genus Tigrisomyia gen. n., with descriptions of four new species". African Entomology. 18: 127–146. doi:10.4001/003.018.0111.
^Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. (2010). "A revision of Afrotropical Quasimodo flies (Diptera: Curtonotidae: Schizophora). Part I – the genus Axinota van der Wulp, with the description of three new species". African Entomology. 18: 99–126. doi:10.4001/003.018.0110.
^McAlpine, J.F. 1989. Chapter 116. Phylogeny and classification of the Muscomorpha. In Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Vol. 3. Coordinated by J.F. McAlpine and D.M. Wood. Agriculture Canada Monograph, 32. pp. 1397–1518.
^David Grimald, 1990 A phylogenetic, revised classification of genera in the Drosophilidae (Diptera) Bulletin of American Museum of Natural History 1971-139 [1]Archived 2013-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
McAlpine, J. P. (ed.), 1981–89.Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada Monograph
Papp, L. 1998. Family Curtonotidae. I: Papp, L. and Darvas, B. (Ed.). Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. 3: 497–502. Science Herald, Budapest.
Pollck, J.N., 2002 Observations on the biology and anatomy of Curtonotidae (Diptera: Schizophora), by J. N. Pollock Journal of Natural History, 36,14:1725 - 1745.New information concerning the biology and anatomy of Curtonotum quinquevittatum. During the hot, dry season the latter species leaves its warthog burrow refuges at night. Cyrtona spp. rest in densely shaded humid habitats during the same season, dispersing in the cooler parts of the year.
Meier, R., Kotrba, M., Barber, K. 1997. On the natural history and morphology of the egg, first instar larva, puparium, and female reproductive system of Curtonotum helvum (Curtonotidae; Ephydroidea; Diptera). American Museum Novitates 3219:1-20.[4]
Greathead, D.J., Kooyman, C., Launois-Luong, M.H. and Popov, G.B., 1994. Les ennemis naturels des criquets du Sahel ES collection Acridologie Opérationnelle no 8 (1994)[5] Some information on Curtonotidae on pp. 17–18.
Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Freidberg, A. 2007. The Palaearctic species of Curtonotidae (Diptera: Schizophora), with special reference to the fauna of Israel. Bulletin de l’Institut r. des sciences naturelles de Belgique (Entomologie) 77: 133–146.
External links
RU[permanent dead link] Revision of the Afrotropical species of Curtonotidae (Diptera: Ephydroidea) systematics, biology, immature stages and biogeography Proposal
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