A new article on Mydidae by Torsten Dikow, reviewing the Afrotropical genera Namibimydas and Nothomydas and describing four new species in from Namibia has been published in African Invertebrates.
For details and download of a free PDF see either the Bibliography or the publication site.

Ph.D. student Julia Almeida from Brazil spent the last four months studying Mydinae taxonomy and phylogeny while visiting Torsten Dikow at the FMNH. Read more here.

ESA meeting attendance - Torsten Dikow attended the 59th annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in Reno, Nevada, USA where he presented a talk entitled “Phylogeny and historical biogeography of Apioceridae and Mydidae inferred from morphological characters of imagines (Diptera: Asiloidea)”. See link to the presentation on slideshare.net and other presentations here.

Brazilian collections: Torsten Dikow travelled to Brazil (26 July - August 7) in order to visit three collections and study Mydidae and Asilidae specimens important for the NSF REVSYS project.

The Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZSP) in São Paulo, the insect collection at the Universidade de São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto, and the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Aamazônia (INPA) in Manaus were visited. The most interesting Asilidae species studied is the enigmatic Carebaricus rionegrensis (Lamas, 1971) from central Argentina of which the only specimens ever collected are deposited at MZSP and which is the closest relative of the diverse Australian genus Bathypogon. A preliminary analysis of adding Carebaricus rionegrensis to the morphological matrix published in 2009 (Dikow 2009) confirms the sister-group relationship of the two genera.
Several interesting Mydidae species were studied at MZSP and INPA and the discovery of a yet unstudied specimen of Messiasia wilcoxi Papavero, 1976, which was collected just a month before the sole holotype (deposited at MZSP) had been collected, is of great significance.

Torsten also joint four dipterists from INPA for a day in the field at three nature reserves north of Manaus. Although no Mydidae were collected, some 11 species of Asilidae were collected, i.e., Lampria bicolor, Smeryngolaphria sp., Andrenosoma sp., Ommatius dentatus Scarbrough, 1993, Ommatius costatus Rondani, 1850, Ommatius neotropicus Curran, 1928, Mallophora sp., Leptogaster sp., Anarmostus iopterus (Wiedemann, 1828), and two Atomosiini sp. (identifications of Asilinae and Ommatiinae by Rodrigo Vieira).

Torsten also attended the 30th annual meeting of the Willi Hennig Society in São José do Rio Preto where he was an invited speaker and presented a talk entitled, “Molecules and morphology: insights from phylogenetic analyses of insect taxa.”

Sara Parilo, biology undergraduate student from Roosevelt University in Chicago, is assisting Torsten Dikow in databasing Mydidae specimens. Read more about her project here.

Torsten Dikow visited the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDMC), California, USA to study the small, but interesting Apioceridae, Asilidae, and Mydidae collection that is particularly strong for insects from southern California, USA and the Baja California peninsula in Mexico.

Entrance area of the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Male of Mydas fisheri Wilcox et al., 1989 in lateral view photographed in the collection of the SDMC.
Mexico, Baja California Sur, San Bartolo, 28.viii.1982, D. Faulkner J. Brown, SDMC. This specimen is a paratype of M. fisheri Welch and Kondratieff, 1990, which is a junior synonym of M. fisheri Wilcox et al., 1989.

Torsten also attended the 58th annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America held in San Diego and presented a talk entitled, “Phylogeny of Mydidae inferred from morphological characters of imagines (Diptera: Asiloidea)”. The presentation can be viewed here.

As part of the NSF REVSYS grant, Torsten Dikow travelled to Germany (October 18–20) to visit the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart (SMNS) and the Messel Research Station, near Frankfurt, to study the Senckenberg Research Institute fossil collection housed there. The aim of these museum visits was on the one hand to study type specimens and other specimens of extant species of Apioceridae, Asilidae, and Mydidae flies and on the other hand to study fossil specimens of Asilidae and Mydidae from the Cretaceous and Tertiary: Eocene deposited in these museums.
The oldest known Mydidae (Cretomydas santanensis), described recently from the Crato Formation of Brazil (112 myo), was examined and morphological characters added to a phylogenetic matrix of this family that Torsten is currently working on. Three new fossil species of Asilidae were identified from the Messel Oil Shale (48–51 myo) of which two can be placed in existing taxa, i.e., Leptogastrinae and Ommatiinae, and another one needs additional study.
The SMNS Diptera collection was also extensively studied and the female of Vespiodes phaios was discovered. This species had just been described from a single male from south-eastern Kenya (see this previous news item) and this female comes from north-eastern Tanzania.

A new paper on Mydidae by Matthew van Dam, describing a new species of Rhaphiomidas from northern Mexico, has just been published in Zootaxa. In addition to the new species, this paper provides a well-illustrated and updated dichotomous identification key to all species of Rhaphiomidas.
See the Bibliography for details about the paper and a link to freely download a PDF.

A major update to the Mydidae specimen database has been made. The map shows now 2628 specimens representing 298 species in 61 genera. In particular, the Afrotropical coverage has been enhanced so that now each genus is at least shown with the distribution of the type specimens. Check the new map out here.

As part of the NSF REVSYS grant, the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris, France was visited by Torsten Dikow in order to study the many holotypes of Mydidae deposited there as well as several Asilidae types. Read more news about this trip here.

The first publication resulting from the NSF REVSYS grant has been published. Torsten Dikow wrote a short paper on the Mydidae fauna of the United Arab Emirates recording four species (three of which are new records for the UAE). The publication is part of the 3rd volume of the book Arthropod Fauna of the United Arab Emirates edited by Antonius van Harten. (see bibliography for complete reference).

Eremomidas arabicus Bequaert, 1961 (Leptomydinae), Perissocerus arabicus Bequaert, 1961 (Rhopaliinae), as well as Rhopalia gyps Bowden, 1987 and Rhopalia olivieri Macquart, 1838 (Rhopaliinae) are now recorded from the UAE. In addition, Eremomidas arabicus has been recorded for the first time from Oman and represents the first Mydidae species recorded from this country. The publication is accompanied by photographs of Eremomidas arabicus in the wild taken by Jan Batelka and Rhopalia olivieri in the laboratory taken by James Turner.

As part of the NSF REVSYS grant, the Natural History Museum in London, UK was visited by Torsten Dikow in order to study the many holotypes of Mydidae deposited there as well as several Apioceridae and Asilidae types. Read more news about this trip here.

Torsten Dikow presented the first results from the NSF REVSYS grant in a poster at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA entitled “New data on the distribution of Mydidae in the Afrotropical and Oriental regions (Diptera: Asiloidea)”. A manuscript describing the new species and providing the new distribution records will be submitted shortly.

Torsten Dikow visited the American Museum of Natural History Diptera collection in New York City to re-organise their Mydidae collection and borrow specimens for the project.