MlCHELSEN: Taxonomy ofSylvicola Verner MlCHELSEN Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen WOOD GNATS OF THE GENUS SYLVICOLA (DIPTERA, ANISOPODIDAE): TAXONOMIC STATUS, FAMILY ASSIGNMENT, AND REVIEW OF NOMINAL SPECIES DESCRIBED BY J. C. FABRICIUS Michelsen, V., 1999. Wood gnats of the genus Sylvicola (Diptera, Anisopodidae): taxonomie status, family assignment, and review of nominal species described by J. C. Fabricius. -Tijd-schrift voor Entomologie 142: 69-75. [ISSN 0040-7496]. Published 22 September 1999. Comments are given on the contents and relationships ol Sylvicola Harris, 1780, an important genus of anisopodid gnats. Tonnoirina Amorim & Tozoni, 1994 is sunk as a new junior syn-onym. At the family-group level aspects of nomenclature, fossils and taxon/lineage definitions are dealt with, and the phylogenetic sttucture of extant wood gnats discussed. It is preferred to treat them all in a single family and to abandon other formal supra-generic classification. A composite maxillo-labial 'mentum' is a remarkable state of the adult mouthparts that seems to combine the Mycetobia-and Olbiogaster-groups. Finally, the identity of three nominal species of Sylvicola has been checked and lectotypes designated on basis of authentic type material. All three are from Europe and were described by J. C. Fabricius. Sylvicola subfuscatus Krivosheina & Menzel, 1998 is a new junior synonym of S. fuscatus (Fabricius, 1775) and S. fuscatoides sp. n. is proposed for '5. fuscatus Fabricius' of recent authors. V. Michelsen, Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100, Copenhagen 0, Denmark. E-mail:
[email protected] Key words. -Diptera; Anisopodidae; Sylvicola; phylogeny; classification; nomenclature. Wood gnats or Anisopodidae in the sense of Hen-nig (1973) and Peterson (1981), i.e. including Sylvi-cola Harris, Olbiogaster Osten Sacken, Mycetobia Meigen and related genera, are today a small family of nematocerous Neodiptera (see Michelsen 1996a) with ca. 120 species described. However, a rich fossil record suggests that the direct lineage leading to the modern family can be traced back to early Middle Mesozoic (200+ Myr). The family is rather cos-mopolitan, occurring in arboreal habitats ranging from tropical to cold-temperate climates. A few species of Sylvicola-, the so-called 'window gnats', are very common in domestic situations. Anisopodid lar-vae are terrestrial saprophages living in decaying or-ganic matter. Rotting wood and sap runs seem favourable to many species of anisopodids, but a much wider range of breeding media, including ma-nure and decaying vegetables, are utilised by the com-mon window gnats. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and clarify various topics that relate to the systematics of Sylvico-la. The nomenclature and synonymy of the genus is considered first, followed by some supra-generic is-sues (family nomenclature, status of fossil names, re-lationships and classification of extant genera). Final-ly, the identity of nominal species of Sylvicola de-scribed by J. C. Fabricius (and other 18th century au-thors) is assessed. Acronyms for depositories: ZIUL, Zoological Insti-tute, University of Lund; ZMUC, Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen. Taxonomic status of Sylvicola Harris Over time there has been consensus on gathering most species of wood gnats into a single genus based on characters of the wing: vein R,,_, strongly sinuous and wing membrane with macrotrichia. By that diag-nosis the genus is large (about 75 extant species known) and distributed worldwide. Yet, the simple question of what name to apply for it has been a most contentious issue. Meigen (1818) ignored his own earlier (Meigen 1803, 1804) proposal of the name Anisopus, and all subsequent 19th century authors adopted the name Rhyphus Latreille, 1 804. Upon the discovery of an obscure pamphlet issued by Meigen (1800), Hendel (1908, 1928) introduced the senior name Phiyne, a course followed notably by German and French authors. However, a still older name was introduced through Coquillett's (1910) fixation of a 69
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