Abai, MR

6th International Congress of DipterologyPhylogeny of Asilidae with special reference to the positionof Leptogastrinae based on morphology of imagines(Diptera: Asiloidea)Dikow, T.American Museum of Natural History, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, Central ParkWest at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA & Cornell University, Department ofEntomology, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USADespite ongoing interest in species-level revisionary studies, phylogeneticrelationships within Asilidae are poorly understood and have never beenaddressed in a comprehensive morphological analysis. The present analysisaims to provide the first detailed higher-level phylogenetic hypothesis withparticular reference to the position of Leptogastrinae within Asilidae. Theoutstanding morphological characteristics of Leptogastrinae made Martinpostulate in 1968 that it should be ranked as a distinct family sister toAsilidae. This adelphotaxa relationship was supported by a recentlypublished molecular phylogenetic study involving 26 Asilidae species ofwhich 2 were representatives of Leptogastrinae. In the present study,morphological features of the imagines are used to resolve relationshipsamong 158 species sampled from 139 genera, 39 of the 42 recognisedtribal taxa, and all 11 currently recognised subfamily taxa. Asilidae issupported as monophyletic based on a number of autapomorphies withrespect to the included outgroup taxa (1 Nemestrinidae and 14 Asiloideaexemplars). A taxon comprising Apioceridae and Mydidae is the sistergroupto the Asilidae. The analysis supports monophyly of six Asilidaesubfamily taxa and non-monophyly of five. Leptogastrinae ismonophyletic and nested deep within Asilidae, contradicting its previousplacement as adelphotaxon to all other Asilidae. Acronyches maya, amorphologically distinct Stenopogoninae from Mexico, is supported as thesister-taxon of Leptogastrinae. Dasypogoninae and Stenopogoninae, bothmorphologically heterogeneous taxa, are shown to be non-monophyletic.The monophyly of Apocleinae and Laphystiinae with respect to Asilinaeand Laphriinae, respectively, assumed by previous authors, could not bedemonstrated. Many tribal taxa were recovered as monophyletic. Based on61