Platypygus Loew

Gharali, Babak, Evenhuis, Neal L. & Almeida, Jorge, 2013, World synopsis of described species of the genus Platypygus Loew (Diptera: Mythicomyiidae: Platypyginae), Zootaxa 3745 (2), pp. 199-242 : 202

Genus Platypygus Loew

Platypygus Loew, 1844: 127 . Type species: Platypygus chrysanthemi Loew, 1844 , by monotypy. Loew, 1844: 127; 1846: 422; 1853: 31; 1856: 31; 1860: 174; 176; 1862: 25; 1869: 251, 252; 1873: 202; 1874: 416. Giebel, 1856: 253. Bigot, 1858: 587. Osten Sacken, 1858: 25. Schiner, 1868: 114. Stein, 1881: 491. Becker, 1889: 377; 1913: 436, 472. Schmiedeknecht, 1896: 156. Bezzi, 1898: 36; 1905: 247; 1924: 3; 1925: 189; 1926: 259, 260. Becker et al., 1903: 192. Becker & Stein, 1913: 507. Brunetti, 1909: 487. Kertész, 1909: 97. Verrall, 1909: 14. Cockerell, 1914: 232. Paramonov, 1926: 86, 87; 1929: 145, 157, 202, 205, 224; 1934: 16, 18, 19, 21; 1939: 26. Séguy, 1930: 80; 1949: 83; 1963: 254. Brues & Melander, 1932: 296. Engel, 1933: 122. Austen, 1937: 181. Hesse, 1938: 968; 1956: 14, 1967: 96. Efflatoun, 1945: 54. Melander, 1950: 140. Brues et al., 1954: 488. Rohdendorf, 1964: 90. Bowden, 1965: 203; 1975: 305; 1980: 384. Painter & Painter, 1965: 415. François, 1966: 157. Zaitzev, 1966: 139, 142; 1969: 558; 1986: 816; 1989: 45; 1992: 80. Steyskal & El Bialy, 1967: 17. Hennig, 1969: 59, 61; 1972: 16. Liepa, 1969: 18, 19. Mühlenberg, 1971a: 20; 1971b: 88, 95, 97. Charykuliev, 1972: 149. Hull, 1973: 262. Hall, 1976: 3; 1981: 596. Rohlfien & Ewald, 1979: 223. Evenhuis, 1983: 465, 467, 477, 480, 486, 487, 490, 491; 1991: 62; 1993: 97; 2002: 25. Theodor, 1983: 32, 33. Zaitzev & Kandybina, 1983: 32. Hall & Evenhuis, 1986: 325. Nagatomi et al., 1991: 596. Arnett, 1993: 21, 29, 40. Contini et al., 1995: 6. Hasbenli & Aktaş, 1995: 148, 149, 150. Poole et al., 1996: 75. Grimaldi, 1999: 392. Sabrosky, 1999: 251. Tschirnhaus et al., 2000: 384. Greathead & Evenhuis, 2001: 134. Carles-Tolrá & Báez, 2002: 108. Papp, 2003: 316; 2004: 137. Koçak & Kemal, 2009: 49. Popescu-Mirceni & Pârvu, 2009: 431. El Hawagry, 2011: 137. Gharali et al., 2011: 27.

Popsia Costa, 1863: 52 . Type species: Popsia ridibunda Costa, 1863 , by monotypy. Loew, 1873: 206. Bigot, 1893: clviii. Bezzi, 1898: 36; 1924: 3, 13. Pagano, 1901: 270. Becker et al., 1903: 191. Kertész, 1909: 97. Verrall, 1909: 14. Engel, 1933: 120. Paramonov, 1939: 26. Efflatoun, 1945: 54. François, 1966: 158. Hull, 1973: 261. Hall, 1975: 3. Evenhuis, 1991: 63. Poole et al., 1996: 75. Greathead & Evenhuis, 2001: 134. El Hawagry, 2011: 138. Synonymy by Bezzi (1898: 36).

In addition to the characters in the key above, Platypygus is distinguished from other genera of Platypyginae by the combination of following characters: postgena not developed posteriorly as an acute process; mesonotum highly arched; and presence of vein R2+3 at the middle of veins R4+5 and R1 (i. e., its apex equidistant from the ends of each vein). Hull (1973) gave a very detailed description of the genus but unfortunately based it virtually exclusively on Cyrtisiopsis crassirostris Hesse, which has since been transferred to Ahessea .

In our examination of specimens during this study we have noticed a distinct sexual dimorphism in size and color with females normally much larger and darker than males.