''Anepsiomyia'' is a genus of

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...

in the family

Dolichopodidae Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, are a large, cosmopolitan family of true flies with more than 8,000 described species in about 250 genera. The genus '' Dolichopus'' is the most speciose, with some 600 species. Dolichopodidae generally a ...

. It contains only one extant species from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, ''Anepsiomyia flaviventris''. The systematic position of the genus is currently uncertain: it has been variously placed in subfamilies such as

Sympycninae Sympycninae is a subfamily of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. In some classifications, this subfamily includes the genera of the subfamilies Peloropeodinae and Xanthochlorinae. Genera *'' Brevimyia'' Miller, 1945 *'' Calyxochaetus'' B ...

and

Peloropeodinae Peloropeodinae is a subfamily of fly, flies in the family Dolichopodidae. In some classifications, the genera of the subfamily are included in Sympycninae. According to a Molecular phylogenetics#Molecular phylogenetic analysis, molecular phylogen ...

Taxonomic history

The species ''Anepsiomyia flaviventris'' was first described as ''Porphyrops flaviventris'' by

Johann Wilhelm Meigen Johann Wilhelm Meigen (3 May 1764 – 11 July 1845) was a German entomologist famous for his pioneering work on Diptera. Life Early years Meigen was born in Solingen, the fifth of eight children of Johann Clemens Meigen and Sibylla Margare ...

in 1824. In 1857,

Hermann Loew Friedrich Hermann Loew (19 July 1807 – 21 April 1879) was a German entomologist who specialised in the study of Diptera, an order of insects including Fly, flies, mosquitoes, gnats and midges. He described many world species and was the first s ...

classified the species as its own genus, ''Anepsius'', which he considered to be most closely related to the genus '' Sympycnus''; the name ''Anepsius'' is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word (, 'cousin'), referring to this close relationship. Later,

Mario Bezzi Mario Bezzi (1 August 1868, in Milan – 14 January 1927, in Turin) was an Italian professor of zoology at the University of Turin. He was also director of the Turin Museum of Natural History (Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali (Regional Museum ...

found this name to be preoccupied by the

darkling beetle Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae, comprising over 20,000 species in a cosmopolitan distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin generic name that Carl Linnaeus assigned to some flour beetles ...

genus ''Anepsius'' (LeConte, 1851), so he renamed Loew's genus to ''Anepsiomyia'' in 1902. Two fossil species from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

were formerly placed in this genus, ''Anepsiomyia planipedia'' and ''Anepsiomyia atterraneus'' ; in 2024, they were transferred to the genera '' Medeterites'' and '' Palaeoargyra'', respectively.

Distribution

''A. flaviventris'' is found in Northwestern and central Europe, as well as in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

References

Dolichopodidae genera Peloropeodinae Taxa named by Mario Bezzi Asilomorph flies of Europe Palearctic insects {{Dolichopodidae-stub