Chimeromyiidae, Grimaldi & Cumming, 2009

McAlpine, David, 2011, Observations on Antennal Morphology in Diptera, with Particular Reference to the Articular Surfaces between Segments 2 and 3 in the Cyclorrhapha, Records of the Australian Museum 63 (2), pp. 113-166 : 124

The Chimeromyiidae

The family Chimeromyiidae was established by Grimaldi et al. (2009) for the Early Cretaceous genera Chimeromyia and Chimeromyina . My information on the family is only that provided by these authors.

At least some taxa of Chimeromyiidae have a bulky conus inserted into antennal segment 3 (see figs 7A and 13B in Grimaldi et al., 2009). The pedicel of Chimeromyia burmitica Grimaldi & Cumming is described as “cup-shaped” and the basal flagellomere (postpedicel) is described as “possibly with inserted condyle on mesal surface,” presumably referring to a conus arising from the concave distal articular surface of the pedicel. The three-segmented arista may be clearly terminal to dorsal and sub-basal on segment 3 in the various chimeromyiid taxa.

To what degree the presence of a conus in the Chimeromyiidae affects the above hypothesis as to the groundplan state of the eremoneuran pedicel is at present hard to determine, and has not been considered in the design of Fig. 23. The three-segmented condition of the chimeromyiid arista suggested to Grimaldi et al. that this is possibly the plesiomorphic state for the Eremoneura.