Lonchoptera is a genus of spear-winged flies (Lonchopteridae). Their common name refers to their subacute (pointed) wings, which have a distinct and sexually dimorphic venation.
Description Species in Lonchoptera are tiny to small, at , slender, and yellow to brownish-black bristly.
The larvae are dorsally flattened, with two pairs of head bristles, and feed on rotting vegetable matter, including in one case brussels sprouts.
This genus can be distinguished from other spear-winged flies by several traits: foreleg tibiae have dorsal setae in the middle foreleg tarsi thinner than foreleg tibiae pointed wingtip without apical brown spot.
Species Species include:
Lonchoptera africana Adams, 1905 Lonchoptera alfhildae Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera anderssoni Joseph & Parui, 1976 Lonchoptera annikaae Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera apicalis (Okada, 1935) Lonchoptera barberi Klymko, 2008 Lonchoptera bifurcata (Fallén, 1810) Lonchoptera birmanica Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera birmensis Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera casanova Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera elinorae Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera excavata Yang & Chen, 1995 Lonchoptera fallax de Meijere, 1906 Lonchoptera hakonensis Matsumura, 1916 Lonchoptera impicta Zetterstedt, 1848 Lonchoptera japonica Matsumura, 1915 Lonchoptera kamtschatkana (Czerny, 1934) Lonchoptera longiphallus Klymko, 2008 Lonchoptera lutea Panzer, 1809 Lonchoptera maculata Smith, 1974 Lonchoptera malaisei Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera megaloba Klymko, 2008 Lonchoptera meijerei Collin, 1938 Lonchoptera nerana Vaillant, 1989 Lonchoptera nevadica Vaillant, 1989 Lonchoptera nigrociliata Duda, 1927 Lonchoptera nitidifrons Strobl, 1898 Lonchoptera occidentalis Curran, 1934 Lonchoptera orientalis (Kertész, 1914) Lonchoptera pictipennis Bezzi, 1899 Lonchoptera pinglongshanensis Dong, Pang & Yang, 2008 Lonchoptera pipi Andersson, 1971 Lonchoptera platytarsis (Okada, 1935) Lonchoptera pseudolutea Whittington & Beuk, 2022 Lonchoptera rava Whittington, 1991 Lonchoptera sapporensis Matsumura, 1915 Lonchoptera scutellata Stein, 1890 Lonchoptera stackelbergi (Czerny, 1934) Lonchoptera strobli de Meijere, 1906 Lonchoptera transvaalensis Stuckenberg, 1963 Lonchoptera tristis Meigen, 1824 Lonchoptera ugandensis Whittington, 1991 Lonchoptera unicolor Dong, Pang & Yang, 2008 Lonchoptera uniseta Curran, 1934 Lonchoptera vaillanti Zwick, 2004 Lonchoptera vesperis Stuckenberg, 1963
The entomologist Andrew E. Whittington in 2024 suggested that the genera Homolonchoptera and Spilolonchoptera are junior synonyms of Lonchoptera giving the genus additional eight species The status of genera in the Lonchopteridae (Diptera), and new records of Lonchoptera from Taiwan Andrew E. Whittington. Zoonova, 38. 2024: , being the following:
Lonchoptera brevicaudata Dong & Yang, 2013 Lonchoptera chinica Yang, 1998 Lonchoptera curtifurcata Yang,1998 Lonchoptera hainanensis Gao, Zhang & Yang 2021 Lonchoptera longisetosa Yang & Chen,1998 Lonchoptera tautineura Yang, 1998 Lonchoptera yangi Dong & Yang, 2013 Lonchoptera zhejiangensis Gao,Zhang & Yang 2021
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