Relationships and Classification of the Pseudopomyzidae (Diptera: Nerioidea) David K. McAlpine Australian Museum, 6 College St, Sydney 2000 McAlpine, D.K. (1996). Relationships and classification of the Pseudopomyzidae (Diptera: Nerioidea). Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 116: 223-232 Some groundplan character states of the Nerioidea are examined with special refer-ence to the morphology of the Pseudopomyzidae. The Heleomyzidae are interpreted as a closely related outgroup to the Nerioidea. The Neriidae are possibly the sister group to the Pseudopomyzidae. Groundplan characters of the Pseudopomyzidae are reviewed. Although of small morphological diversity, there are few apparent autapomorphies for the family. The seven recognized pseudopomyzid genera are placed in three informal groups, though the monophyly of these is imperfectly demonstrated. Manuscript received 11 Apr 1995, accepted for publication 22 Nov 1995. KEYWORDS: Pseudopomyzidae; phylogenetic relationships. INTRODUCTION The aim of this paper is not to present a taxonomic revision of the Pseudopomyzidae, but to look at their principal morphological features, in order to estab-lish family limits and relationships and to contribute to an understanding of the nerioid groundplan. Because the pseudopomyzids appear to be particularly primitive representa-tives of the Nerioidea, this study has the potential to throw some light on the origin and phylogeny of the superfamily. This group has been given family status by D. McAlpine (1966, 1994), Hennig (1969 and elsewhere), and Krivosheina (1979). I initially pointed out significant resem-blances to the Cypselosomatidae and therefore referred the Pseudopomyzidae to the superfamily Micropezoidea (now termed Nerioidea on grounds of priority). Griffiths (1972) merged the Pseudopomyzidae with the Cypselosomatidae and was followed by others, notably J. McAlpine (1989). As there are some impressive and consistent differ-ences between Cypselosomatidae s.str. and Pseudopomyzidae, and because I question the validity of their supposed synapomorphies, I retain family status for Pseudopomyzidae. The living Pseudopomyzidae are distributed in the Palaearctic Region (Pseudopomyza Strobl and Polypathomyia Krivosheina), Oriental Region (Tenuia Malloch — Philippines), Australasian Region {Pseudopomyza), and the Neotropical Region (Latheticomyia Wheeler, Heloclusia Malloch, Pseudopomyzella Hennig, Pseudopomyza, the first extending into the United States). A satisfactory key to living genera has been given by Krivosheina (1979). The biology of the Pseudopomyzidae is very little known. Krivosheina (1979, 1984) recorded the larvae of Polypathomyia stackelbergi Krivosheina living under the bark of rotting logs of several tree species. Frey (1952) stated that the adults of Pseudopomyza atrimana (Meigen) gather in the afternoon over rotting logs in Finland, a habit which suggests a similar larval habitat to that of P. stackelbergi. Proc. Linn. Soc. n.s.w., 116. 1996
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