Rhinophoridae Robineau-Desvoidy, 1863

Miroslav Barták

Czech University of Agriculture, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Department of Zoology and Fishery, CZ-165 21 Praha 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic; bartak@af.czu.cz

Small to medium-sized flies, body length of European species ranging from 2.5 to 10.0 mm. Most species are black in ground-colour, never metallic. Metathoracic spiracle with both anterior and posterior fringes small, subscutellum convex but never greatly swollen as in Tachinidae. Lower calypter tongue-like or oval and diverging from scutellum, proepisternal depression bare. Crosskey (1977)  discussed a number of taxonomic characters in detail and Pape (1998) provided a general conspectus of the family. There are no unambiguous adult characters for an easy differentiation from the Calliphoridae and Tachinidae. The larval morphology, however, provides strong evidence of a monophyletic taxon (Pape 1992). The eggs are white, fusiform in outline and with a flattened dorsal hatching stripe bearing a plastron (for further details see Draber-Moňko 1997). So far as is known, all species are endoparasitoids of woodlice.

Altogether 45 species are known to occur in Europe (Pape 2004); 9 are listed in the present checklist (9 in the Czech Republic, 8 in Bohemia, 9 in Moravia, and 9 in Slovakia). Since the last version of the checklist, the number of species has not increased but has been completed (Gregor & Rozkošný 1999, Pape & Barták 2001). The species-richness of the rhinophorid fauna is moderately well known in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The basic characteristics of the family were given by Pape (1998). All the Czech species may be identified using the keys in the monograph by Herting (1961). The nomenclature in this checklist is that of the Fauna Europaea (Pape 2004).

References

[1] Crosskey R. W. 1997: A review of the Rhinophoridae (Diptera) and a revision of the Afrotropical species. Bulletin of  The British Museum (Natural History), Entomology 36: 1-66.

[2] Draber-Moňko A. 1997: The morphology of the egg of Rhinomorinia sarcophagina (Schiner, 1862) (Diptera, Rhinophoridae). Annales Zoologici 46: 225-232.

[3] Gregor F. & Rozkošný R. 1999: Calliphoridae, Rhinophoridae. In Rozkošný R. & Vaňhara J. (eds): Diptera of the Pálava Biosphere Reserve of UNESCO II. Folia Facultatis Scientiarium Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia 100: 403-410.

[4] Herting B. 1961: 64e. Rhinophoridae. In Lindner E. (ed.): Die Fliegen der palaearktischen Region, Vol. 9, pp. 1-36.

[5] Pape T. 1992: Phylogeny of the Tachinidae family-group (Diptera: Calyptratae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 135: 43-86.

[6] Pape T. 1998: 3. 53. Family Rhinophoridae. In Papp L. & Darvas B. (eds): Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera (with special reference to flies of economic importance), Vol. 3. Science Herald, Budapest, pp. 679-689.

[7] Pape T. 2004: Rhinophoridae. In Pape T. (ed.): Fauna Europaea: Diptera, Brachycera. Fauna Europaea version 1.1, http://www.faunaeur.org.

[8] Pape T. & Barták M. 2001: Rhinophoridae. In Barták M. & Vaňhara J. (eds): Diptera in an Industrially Affected Region (North-Western Bohemia, Bílina and Duchcov Environs) II. Folia Facultatis Scientiarium Naturalium Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Biologia 105: 485-487.