Phylogenetics and taxonomy of Ventrops - the largest genus of Afrotropical Rhinophoridae (Diptera)

Abstract

Three new species of the Afrotropical genus Ventrops Crosskey, 1977 (V. aethiopicus, sp. nov., V. freidbergi, sp. nov. and V. stuckenbergi, sp. nov.) are described, and all seven known species are included in a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis both to provide a rigorous argumentation for the generic affiliation of the newly described species, and to provide a first explicit hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships between the included species. Also, by including exemplar species from several genera of the Rhinophoridae as outgroups, this analysis is the first explicitly phylogenetic definition of the genus Ventrops within a broader systematic context. The seven species of Ventrops are arranged in three species groups (milichioides-group, hannemariae-group and aethiopicus-group).