Family NEMINIDAE McAlpine, 1983

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Introduction

Neminidae are a small family known only from the Australasian, Afrotropical and Oriental regions. Currently only 14 species are described in four genera. Six species occur in Australia. McAlpine (1983) first described these six species in subfamily Nemininae, as a subset of family Aulacigastridae. The group was subsequently elevated to family status as family Neminidae by Freidberg (1994).

Nothing is known of the life histories of Nobody Flies. They have been associated with Alocasia plants and eucalypt tree trunks. An abrupt zig-zagging walk has also been observed. Their apparent rarity in collections may be due to a short flight period, collecting difficulty and their small size. However, since three sympatric species were taken in a single collecting event at Tahmoor, NSW, the fauna is undoubtedly much larger.

General References

Barraclough, D.A. 1999. The Southern African species of Neminidae (Diptera: Schizophora). Annals of the Natal Museum 40: 31-45 [Date published December]

Evenhuis, N.L. 1996. Family Aulacigastridae. In, Evenhuis, N.L. (ed.) 2007. Catalog of the Diptera of the Australasian and Oceanian Regions. Online Version.

Freidberg, A. 1994. Nemula, a new genus of Neminidae (Diptera) from Madagascar. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 96(3): 471-482 [Date published July]

McAlpine, D.K. 1983. A new subfamily of Aulacigastridae (Diptera: Schizophora), with a discussion of aulacigastrid classification. Australian Journal of Zoology 31: 55-78

McAlpine, D.K. 1985. A new species of Aulacigastridae from Papua New Guinea and characterisation of species groups in the genus Nemo (Diptera, Schizophora). Australian Entomological Magazine 12(3-4): 47-50 [Date published June]

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