Spheginobaccha
There are 18 myrmecophilous species in this genus. The genus is readily separated from other microdons by the incomplete metathoracic bridge, round/oval basoflagellomere, occiput with a dorsolateral crease, and other characters
The genus Spheginobaccha is a rare group of flower flies restricted to the Afrotropical and Oriental faunal regions. Nothing is known of their biology. The genus was revised by Thompson (1974) and since then, only one paper has been published on the Afrotropical species (Dirickx 1995), in which two new species were described. Hull (1949) was the first to include the genus in the Microdontinae. Thompson (1969: 77) excluded the genus from the Microdontinae and later placed the genus in an intermediate position in the Milesinae (now Eristalinae) (Thompson 1972). Thompson (1974: 258) placed the genus in its own tribe and as a basal clade in the subfamily Eristalinae. However, recent DNA sequence data placed the group within the subfamily Microdontinae (Ståhls et al. 2003) and as sister to all other microdontines.
| Genus and species | Author and Year | Ant Host | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spheginobaccha aethusa | (Walker, 1849) | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha chillcotti | Thompson, 1974 | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha demeijerei | van Doesburg, 1968 | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha dexioides | Hull, 1944 | ants | South Africa |
| Spheginobaccha dubia | Thompson, 1974 | ants | South Africa |
| Spheginobaccha duplex | (Walker, 1857) | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha guttula | Dirickx, 1995 | ants | Madagascar |
| Spheginobaccha humeralis | (Sack, 1926) | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha knutsoni | Thompson, 1974 | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha lieftincki | Doesburg, 1968 | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha macropoda | (Bigot, 1883) | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha melancholia | Hull, 1937 | ants | Asia |
| Spheginobaccha pamela | Thompson & Hauser, 2015 | ants | South Africa |
| Spheginobaccha perialla | Thompson, 1974 | ants | Malawi |
| Spheginobaccha rotundiceps | (Loew, 1857) | ants | South Africa |
| Spheginobaccha ruginosa | Dirickx, 1995 | ants | Madagascar |
| Spheginobaccha stuckenbergi | Thompson & Hauser, 2015 | ants | Madagascar, South Africa |
| Spheginobaccha vandoesburgi | Thompson, 1974 | ants | Asia |
REFERENCES
- Reemer, M. & G. Stahls 2013. Phylogenetic relationships of Microdontinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) based on molecular and morphological characters. Systematic Entomology 38 (4): 661-688.
- Thompson, 1974. The genus Spheginobaccha de Meijere (Diptera: Syrphidae). Transactions of the American Entomological Society 100 (3): 255–287.
