Tethinidae Hendel, 1916

Jindřich Roháček

Department of Entomology, Silesian Museum, Tyršova 1, CZ-746 01 Opava, Czech Republic; rohacek@szmo.cz

Minute to small (1.5-3.5 mm) acalyptrate flies, with yellow to black, densely micropubescent body (yellow, grey or brown). Head large with relatively small eyes; antenna small, arista subbasal, very short pubescent. Frons with 1-5 pairs of orbital setae (lateroclinate or reclinate), ocelli and ocellar setae present, postvertical (= postocellar) setae short, strongly inclinate; gena bare or with sparse, thin setulae (Pelomyiinae), ventrally with more or less distinct peristomal setae. Face with shining protuberance near vibrissal pore (in West Palaearctic Tethininae). Thorax with a rich chaetotaxy, including long dorsocentral setae. Tibiae without preapical dorsal setae. Wing unspotted (except for Tethina pictipennis from Morocco), with a pale yellow to brownish tinge; C with subcostal break, Sc distally fused with apex of R1 cells bm and dm confluent or separate, cell cup present but small, A1 and A2 absent or unpigmented. Most of the members of the family are halobionts, strictly associated with salty habitats, e.g. coastal saltmarshes, seashore wrack, sandy beaches, shores of inland salt lakes, alkaline springs etc, and only a few species are also known from habitats that are apparently without increased salinity (forests, meadows, deserts). Several species are capable of utilising secondary anthropogenic habitats, particularly those with alkaline enriched areas (Munari 1998, Roháček 1992). The preimaginal stages and life-histories of Tethinidae are largely unknown; some species have been reared from deposits of seaweed.

Altogether 35 species are listed from Europe and adjacent areas in the Fauna Europaea (Munari 2004), but this number is no longer accurate due to recently discovered synonymies (Munari 2006). Because of the inland position of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, only 4 species are included in the present checklist (3 in the Czech Republic, 2 in Bohemia, 2 in Moravia, and 4 in Slovakia). No species has been added since the last version of checklist but there are changes in the nomenclature of the included taxa (Foster & Mathis 2003, Munari 2006). The family was fully characterised by Mathis and Munari (1996) and Munari (1998) who also provided modern keys to genera. There is no comprehensive identification tool for the European species; those occurring in Central Europe can be identified using Collin (1966, largely outdated.): Soós (1981), Munari (1998) and Munari and Ebejer (2001). All the faunistic data from the Czech Republic and Slovakia were summarised by Roháček (1992). The nomenclature used in present checklist follows that in the Fauna Europaea (Munari 2004), with changes proposed by Munari (2006).

References

 [1] Collin J.E. 1966: A revision of the Palaearctic species of Tethina and Rhicnoessa. Bollettino del Museo civico di Storia naturale di Venezia 16: 19-32.

[2] Foster G.A. & Mathis W.N. 2003: A revision of the genera Pelomyia Williston and Masoniella Vockeroth (Diptera: Tethinidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 619: 1-63.

[3] Mathis W.N. & Munari L. 1996: World Catalog of the Family Tethinidae (Diptera). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 584: i-iv, 1-27.

[4] Munari L. 1998: 3.19. Family Tethinidae. In Papp L. & Darvas B. (eds): Contributions to a Manual of Palaearctic Diptera. Volume 3. Science Herald, Budapest, pp. 243-250.

[5] Munari L. 2004: Fauna Europaea: Tethinidae. In Pape T. (ed.): Fauna Europaea: Diptera, Brachycera. Fauna Europaea version 1.1, http://www.faunaeur.org.

[6] Munari L. 2006: New synonymies and lectotype designations in western Palaearctic Tethinidae, with some remarks on the intraspecific variability of the surstylus of Tethina strobliana (Mercier, 1923) (Diptera: Brachycera, Acalyptrata). Bollettino del Museo civico di Storia naturale di Venezia 57: 101-115.

[7] Munari L. & Ebejer M.J. 2001: Three new species of Tethina Haliday, 1838 from Malta and Tunisia, with a revised key to the alboguttata-group (Diptera, Tethinidae). Bollettino del Museo civico di Storia naturale di Venezia 51 (2000): 131-145.

[8] Roháček J. 1992: Tethinidae (Diptera) of Czechoslovakia: a faunistic survey. Časopis Slezského zemského muzea Opava (A) 41: 127-131.

[9] Soós Á. 1981: 60. család: Tethinidae – Szikilegyek. Fauna Hungariae 149, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, pp. 129-137.