Systematics of the millipede-attacking flies Myriophora (Diptera: Phoridae)

A preliminary phylogeny of the millipede-parasitoid genus Myriophora was reconstructed by parsimony analysis using 20 morphological characters from 49 taxa (44 ingroup), representing over half of the putative New World species. Myriophora was not recovered as a monophyletic genus with respect to the closely related, army-ant associated genus Acanthophorides. Characters associated with the structure of the oviscape, antenna, and setation patterns are beginning to demonstrate their utility for classification within the genus. Species of Myriophora were recovered in two distinct clades, and Myriophora having host records all occurred in Clade I. This topology suggests that an entire clade within Myriophora may not attack millipedes or that sampling strategies for identifying hosts may need to be reconsidered. Furthermore, a subset of species in Clade II appear to have a restricted geographic distribution to Central America and northern regions of South America compared to the widespread New World distributions of species in Clade I.