Family LAUXANIIDAE Macquart, 1835

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Introduction

Lauxaniidae are a large acalyptrate family of flies that is well represented in Australia by 265 described species in 29 genera. There are at least another 100 species that have been recognised and await description. Lauxaniid species are encountered commonly and in a variety of habitats, such as shaded forests, mangrove swamps, dunes, and grasslands. Some species even occur on high mountain summits such as Mt Kosciuszko.
Important taxonomic literature for this family include numerous publications by J.R Malloch (particularly species keys in two Malloch papers in 1927, and a key to genera Malloch,1928), a key to world genera of Lauxaniidae by Stuckenberg, 1971, a major revision of the subfamily Homoneurinae (Kim, 1994) and a revision of the genus Poecilohetaerus Schneider, 1991.

Morphology
The size of most species in this family is small (~3-5 mm body length). Wings are either clear or marked with spots or stripes, somewhat like species from the family Tephritidae.

Biology
In Australia there has been limited research conducted on the biology of species in this family. Immatures of lauxaniid species are known to be saprophagous - associated with leaf litter, rotting vegetation, bird nests, and one species has been found on a guinea pig carcass. Larvae of Poecilohetaerus schineri have been found on carrot plants in Tasmania, but it is unclear whether larvae raised to adults were feeding on the plants or the substrate that the plants were grown in.

General References

Evenhuis, N.L. & Okadome, T. 1989. Family Lauxaniidae. pp. 576-589 in Evenhuis, N.L. (ed.). Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian Regions. Honolulu and Leiden : Bishop Museum Press and E.J. Brill 1155 pp.

Hamilton, J. et al. 2006. On the Fly, The interactive atlas and key to Australian fly families. [CD-Rom] CBIT & Australian Biological Resources Study, Brisbane & Canberra.

Kim, S.P. 1994. Australian lauxaniid flies: revision of the Australian species of Homoneura van der Wulp, Trypetisoma Malloch, and allied genera (Diptera: Lauxaniidae). East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia : CSIRO Information Services vii + 445 pp.

Malloch, J.R. 1927. Notes on Australian Diptera. No. X. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 52: 1-16 [11 July]

Malloch, J.R. 1927. Notes on Australian Diptera. No. xiii. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 52: 399-446

Malloch, J.R. 1928. Notes on Australian Diptera, No. XVI. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 53: 343-366 [15 October]

Schneider, M.A. 1991. Revision of the Australasian genus Poecilohetaerus Hendel (Diptera: Lauxaniidae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 30: 143-168 [Date published 31 May]

Stuckenberg, B.R. 1971. A review of the Old World genera of Lauxaniidae (Diptera). Annals of the Natal Museum 20: 499-610 [Date published 28 February]

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