Genus Laxotela Winterton & Irwin, 1999

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Regional Maps

• Laxotela Winterton, S.L. & Irwin, M.E. 1999. Laxotela — a new genus of Therevidae (Diptera) from Australia. Entomologica Scandinavica 30: 299-310 [300].

  Type species:

   Laxotela whitei Winterton & Irwin, 1999 by original designation.

Introduction

Laxotela is a distinctive genus, described initially for five species, and closely related to Belonalys (Winterton & Irwin 1999). Both genera have velutum patches on the fore and hind femora and gonocoxites, open wing cell m3, and males have an enlarged ventral lobe on the genitalia. In their phylogenetic revision of Agapophytinae using both molecular and morphological data, Winterton et al. (2001) placed Laxotela with Belonalys as an clade sister to Agapophytus+(Pipinnipons+Acupalpa). Winterton (2007a) described a further two species and moved the unplaced Spatulipalpa ornata Kröber into Laxotela based on the original description alone, as no specimens are known to exist. Laxotela has a distinct southern, or Bassian, distribution in Australia with the most northerly record being collections of L. gaimarii and L. metzi from Carnarvon National Park in Central Queensland.

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Brigalow Belt South (BBS), South Eastern Highlands (SEH) ; ACT, NSW, Qld, SA, WA: Esperance Plains (ESP), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA) ; ACT, NSW, SA: Kanmantoo (KAN), South East Corner (SEC) ; ACT, NSW, SA, Vic: Australian Alps (AA) ; NSW: Sydney Basin (SB) ; NSW, WA: Jarrah Forest (JF), Warren (WAR) ; Qld: South Eastern Queensland (SEQ) ; Tas: Tasmanian South East (TSE)

General References

Winterton, S.L. 2007. New species of Laxotela Winterton & Irwin from Australia (Diptera: Therevidae: Agapophytinae). Zootaxa 1407: 57-64

Winterton, S.L. & Irwin, M.E. 1999. Laxotela — a new genus of Therevidae (Diptera) from Australia. Entomologica Scandinavica 30: 299-310

Winterton, S.L. in Winterton, S.L., Yang, L., Wiegmann, B.M. & Yeates, D.K. 2001. Phylogenetic revision of Agapophytinae subf. n. (Diptera: Therevidae) based on molecular and morphological evidence. Systematic Entomology 26: 173-211

History of changes