Fossil evidence of social insect commensalism in the Phoridae (Insecta: Diptera)

Fossil phorid flies display various levels of morphological change that are correlated with myrmecophily (association with ants) and termitophily (association with termites) in the modern fauna. Three discrete episodes in the evolution of limuloidy, a defensive body form, are documented from Eocene Baltic amber. Extinct fossil stem-group taxa of the modern myrmecophilous genus <i>Aenigmatias</i> Meinert are described, with three new species – <i>A. longicornis</i> sp. nov., <i>A. primitivus</i> sp. nov. and <i>A. nigeroticus</i> sp. nov. – recognized and illustrated. <i>Protoplatyphora</i> Brues is synonymized with <i>Aenigmatias</i>, with its single previously described species, <i>A. tertiarius</i> (Brues), considered a new combination. <i>Chaetopleurophora bisetosa</i> Brown, 2007 is transferred to <i>Aenigmatias</i> as <i>A. bisetosus</i> (comb. nov.). An unrelated <i>Aenigmatias</i>-like fossil is described as <i>Pseudaenigmatias ctenitibia</i> gen. et sp. nov., and belongs to a modern termitophilous clade. <i>Limulomyia tyche</i> Brown, 1999 is interpreted as a separate, already highly limuloid lineage not related to either of the other two limuloid groups. A key to fossil <i>Aenigmatias</i> is given, along with a phylogenetic analysis of fossil taxa. Fossil specimens have profound implications for our knowledge of the evolution of the limuloid body form found in modern species of <i>Aenigmatias</i>. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DE779D49-7636-4B1D-9F7D-CF3FF6D3CE97

化石蚤蝇（Phoridae）呈现出不同程度的形态变化，这些变化与现生类群中的蚁栖性（与蚂蚁共生）和白蚁栖性（与白蚁共生）特征相关联。本研究从始新世波罗的海琥珀中，记录到了防御性体型——鲎体型态（limuloidy）演化的三个独立阶段。文中记述了现生蚁栖性蚤蝇属<i>Aenigmatias</i> Meinert的已灭绝干群类群化石，识别并图示了3个新种：<i>A. longicornis</i> sp. nov.、<i>A. primitivus</i> sp. nov. 及<i>A. nigeroticus</i> sp. nov.。原扁蚤蝇属<i>Protoplatyphora</i> Brues被归并入隐蚤蝇属<i>Aenigmatias</i>，其此前仅记述的单一物种<i>A. tertiarius</i> (Brues) 被确立为新组合名。<i>Chaetopleurophora bisetosa</i> Brown, 2007 被转移至隐蚤蝇属，新组合名为<i>A. bisetosus</i> (comb. nov.)。1个与<i>Aenigmatias</i>形态相似但非近缘的化石类群被记述为<i>Pseudaenigmatias ctenitibia</i> gen. et sp. nov.，该类群隶属于现生白蚁栖性演化支。<i>Limulomyia tyche</i> Brown, 1999 被认为是一个独立的、高度特化的鲎体型演化支，与另外两个鲎体型类群均无亲缘关系。文中提供了化石隐蚤蝇属类群的检索表，并对化石类群进行了系统发育分析。本次研究的化石标本，对于我们理解现生<i>Aenigmatias</i>物种所具有的鲎体型态的演化历程具有重要意义。http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DE779D49-7636-4B1D-9F7D-CF3FF6D3CE97