New material of Paleopsychoda jarzembowskii Azar & Maksoud, 2022 from Bqaatouta amber outcrop, showing the importance of insect fossils in biostratigraphy

Abstract

The family Psychodidae Newman, 1834 comprises about 3,000 living species of small hairy nematoceran flies (Azar & Maksoud, 2022). To date, seven psychodid subfamilies are recognized within this family, namely Bruchomyiinae Alexander, 1921; extinct Datziinae Stebner, Solórzano Kraemer, Ibáñez-Bernal & Wagner, 2015; Horaiellinae Enderlein, 1937; Phlebotominae Rondani, 1840; Psychodinae Newman, 1834; Sycoracinae Rondani, 1856; and Trichomyiinae Tonnoir, 1922 (Azar & Maksoud, 2022). Some authors consider the psychodid group to consist of two families, i.e., Psychodidae and Phlebotomidae (Williams, 1993; Azar et al., 1999). This taxonomic treatment is based only on the hematophagous and medically important aspects of the phlebotomines. Nevertheless it is unfounded, because the phylogenetic relationships between the psychodid subfamilies remain unresolved, even if there is a possible sister-group relationship between the Phlebotominae and Psychodinae (Curler & Moulton, 2012). We consider that recognising phlebotomines as a separate family would necessitate also giving separate familial rank to all the currently recognised subfamilies, which is not adopted here.