Abai, MR

6th International Congress of DipterologyNew molecular phylogenetic evidence on relationships of the'true' Empididae (s.s.)Wiegmann, B. M. (1), Collins, K. (2) & Moulton J. K. (3)(1) Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695,USA(2) Department of Biology, Fullerton College, Fullerton CA, USA(3) Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, The University of Tennessee,Knoxville, TN, USAThe high species and morphological diversity of empidoids has made itdifficult to achieve consensus on a higher-level phylogeny-basedclassification. Recent morphological and molecular studies have addedsignificant new support to family-level groups. Despite this importantprogress, definition and support for a ‘true’ Empididae and for itsconstituent subfamilies remains weak --especially in molecular data sets.In nearly all studies published to date, support is limited or contradictoryfor establishing relationships among Hemerodromiinae, Empidinae,Clinocerinae and Brachystomatinae, Multiple hypotheses have beenpresented for genera that have previously been placed in subfamiliesOreogetoninae and Trichopezinae. Here, we present new phylogeneticevidence and propose a monophyletic definition of ‘true’ Empididae (s.s)from a combined analysis of multiple nuclear genes. In particular, we focuson molecular evidence for the placement composition and relationshipsamong the traditional empidid subfamilies. Fossil and phylogeneticevidence supports a scenario of rapid radiation for these clades suggestingthat, in several key lineages, combination of morphological and molecularevidence may be critical for increased understanding of the evolutionaryhistory of dance fly diversity.Key Words: Empidoidea, Empididae, dance fly, molecular phylogeny∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗∗299