The extinct genus Pareuthychaeta in Eocene ambers (Diptera: Schizophora: Ephydroidea)

Abstract

Pareuthychaeta Hennig was previously known only from two described species in Eocene Baltic amber (Lutetian, ca. 42 Ma), Pareuthychaeta electrica Hennig and Pareuthychaeta minuta (Meunier), some details of which are revised based on new specimens. A third Baltic species is described, Pareuthychaeta mcalpinei Grimaldi, sp. nov. Another species, Pareuthychaeta eoindica Grimaldi, sp. nov., is described in earliest Eocene (Ypresian-aged, ca. 50â'52 Ma) amber from Gujarat, western India. Comments are provided on the relationships of Pareuthychaeta to Recent genera of Diastatidae sensu lato (including Campichoetinae), and implications of this extinct genus are discussed regarding biogeography and the early Paleogene Schizophora radiations. © 2012 Copyright Entomological Society of Canada.