''Viridigona'' 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 consists of 28 species which are distributed in the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeog ...

, with the exception of '' V. viridis'' which is known from the eastern United States. The generic name is a combination of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word (meaning 'green') and the ending of ''' Neurigona''', from which ''Viridigona'' is distinguished by its metallic green thorax and abdomen.

Species

The genus includes the following species: * '' Viridigona albisigna'' Naglis, 2003 – Peru, Venezuela * '' Viridigona amazonica'' Naglis, 2003 – Brazil, Venezuela * '' Viridigona argyrotarsis'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona asymmetrica'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona beckeri'' Naglis, 2003 – Brazil * '' Viridigona bisetosa'' Naglis, 2003 – Chile * '' Viridigona cecilia'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona costaricensis'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona flavipyga'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona guana'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona limona'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona longicornis'' Naglis, 2003 – Chile * '' Viridigona longiseta'' Naglis, 2003 – Belize, Brazil * '' Viridigona magnifica'' Naglis, 2003 – Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica * '' Viridigona merzi'' Naglis, 2003 – Chile, Argentina * '' Viridigona mexicana'' Naglis, 2003 – Mexico * '' Viridigona minima'' Naglis, 2003 – Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica * '' Viridigona nigrisigna'' Naglis, 2003 – Panama, Costa Rica * '' Viridigona panamensis'' Naglis, 2003 – Panama * '' Viridigona papallacta'' Naglis, 2003 – Ecuador * '' Viridigona ponti'' Naglis, 2003 – Brazil * '' Viridigona puntarena'' Naglis, 2003 – Costa Rica * '' Viridigona rondinha'' Naglis, 2003 – Brazil, Bolivia * '' Viridigona subrondinha'' Naglis, 2003 – Brazil * '' Viridigona teutonia'' Naglis, 2003 – Brazil * '' Viridigona thoracica'' (Van Duzee, 1931) – Panama, Dominica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru * '' Viridigona tinalandia'' Naglis, 2003 – Ecuador * '' Viridigona viridis'' (Van Duzee, 1913) – eastern United States, Costa Rica?

References

Dolichopodidae genera Neurigoninae Diptera of North America Diptera of South America {{Dolichopodidae-stub