Phylogenetic relationships of Neotropical Empidinae lineages with regard to the entire subfamily

Empidinae is a large, heterogeneous group that is very diverse in the Neotropical region and, eventually, many species will be described. This group is interesting because males transfer nuptial gifts to females during mating, and phylogenetic study can help to understand the evolution of this behaviour. Empidinae includes 30 genera in two tribes, Empidini and Hilarini. In the Neotropical region there are 20 genera, however Empis, Lamprempis, Macrostomus, Porphyrochroa and Rhamphomyia (Empidini) and Hilara and Hilarempis (Hilarini) are the genera that best represent this subfamily in this region. In the present work were sequenced portions of two genes (the nuclear gene CAD and mtCOI) for a worldwide sample of Empidinae focused on the Neotropical region, with an aim to analyse the relationships between Neotropical lineages and to see where they fit in the entire group. The data show that Hilarini is monophyletic, while Empidini is paraphyletic, which corroborates previous studies. Many genera were recognized to be non-monophyletic, and because of this the classification of whole subfamily needs revision. The clade of Macrostomus + Porphyrochroa has good support and the sister group of this is found to be Lamprempis and not species of Rhamphomyia, as previously thought.