BRACHYCERAEINI ZIMINA, 1960

Gibson, Joel F. & Skevington, Jeffrey H., 2013, Phylogeny and taxonomic revision of all genera of Conopidae (Diptera) based on morphological data, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 167 (1), pp. 43-81 : 63

BRACHYCERAEINI ZIMINA, 1960

Type genus Brachyceraea Röder, 1892: 366 . Genera included: Brachyceraea , Microbrachyceraea Kröber, 1940b: 217 , Neobrachyceraea Szilady, 1926: 587 . Uncontroverted morphological autapomorphy: scape quadrate (27). The single species of Microbrachyceraea possesses a quadrate scape and petiolate male abdomen, the two key characteristics of Brachyceraeini , thereby warranting its inclusion.

The presently proposed membership of Brachyceraeini matches the previously proposed definitions for the group. Zimina’s (1960) original description of Brachyceraeini includes the following diagnostic characters: antennae shortened; basisternum broad with very small posterolateral extensions; vein R 2+3 parallel to R 1 and meeting the costa midway between the end of R 1 and R 4+5. Hennig (1966) also suggests that the reduced antenna is probably a shared, derived apomorphy of the Brachyceraea . The present analysis confirms that the characteristic antennal shape is due to a reduction in the scape. The other characters included by Zimina are plesiomorphic to Conopinae .

Species examined – Brachyceraea brevicornis ; Microbrachyceraea pendleburyi Neobrachyceraea elongata ; Neobrachyceraea obscuripennis .