''Austroconops'' 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 ...

belonging to the family

Ceratopogonidae Ceratopogonidae is a family of flies commonly known as no-see-ums, sand flies or biting midges, generally in length. The family includes more than 5,000 species, distributed worldwide, apart from the Antarctic and the Arctic. A 2025 study fro ...

(no-see-ums or biting midges). Though the genus is currently restricted to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, fossil members are known from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. According to

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

analysis, ''A. mcmillani'' and ''A. annettae'' are

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

, with the fossil species being more basal lineages. Species: *'' Austroconops annettae'' *†''

Austroconops asiaticus ''Austroconops'' is a genus of flies belonging to the family Ceratopogonidae (no-see-ums or biting midges). Though the genus is currently restricted to Australia, fossil members are known from the Cretaceous of Eurasia. According to cladistic an ...

'' *†'' Austroconops borkenti'' *†'' Austroconops fossilis'' *†'' Austroconops gladius'' *†'' Austroconops gondwanicus'' *''

Austroconops mcmillani ''Austroconops'' is a genus of flies belonging to the family Ceratopogonidae (no-see-ums or biting midges). Though the genus is currently restricted to Australia, fossil members are known from the Cretaceous of Eurasia. According to Cladistics, ...

'' *†'' Austroconops megaspinus'' *†'' Austroconops perrichoti'' *†'' Austroconops sibiricus''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q14556741 Ceratopogonidae Taxa described in 1959