Revision of the New Zealand endemic genus Pseudoscelolabes Collin (Diptera: Hybotidae: Ocydromiinae).

Pseudoscelolabes Collin, 1933, an endemic New Zealand genus, is revised, including the description of a new species, P. lesagei Sinclair Barros sp. nov. The male and female terminalia of the genus are described and illustrated for the first time. An identification key to the two included species and a map with distribution records are provided. The relationships of the genus within Ocydromiinae are discussed.

Neotropical Chvalaea Papp amp; Földvári (Diptera: Hybotidae: Ocydromiinae): new records, an illustrated key to species and description of three new species.

Three new species of Chvalaea Papp Földvári are described and illustrated: Chvalaea annularis sp. nov., C. ecuadoriensis sp. nov., and Chvalaea sinclairi sp. nov. In addition, an illustrated key, distribution map, new records, and updated diagnoses of all Neotropical species are presented.

FAMILY HYBOTIDAE.

Hybotidae is a diverse family of the order Diptera, suborder Brachycera, superfamily Empidoidea. Hybotid flies are generally yellow to black, are morphologically diverse, and are distributed worldwide. The monophyly of the family is based on: palpifer and fore tibial gland present, laterotergite bare and R4+5 unbranched. Hybotids are mainly predators and are usually found on the vegetation, logs and other surfaces, or in flight during displacement and forage. This catalogue, based on the study of specimens and available literature records, summarizes and updates the information on the Colombian fauna of Hybotidae, which includes 19 species distributed in six genera.

New species of Oropezella Collin (Diptera, Hybotidae, Ocydromiinae) from Brazil and Costa Rica, with comments on the relationships among species-groups.

The following sixteen new species of Oropezella from Brazil and Costa Rica are described and illustrated: Oropezella aquila sp. nov., O. arcuata sp. nov., O. bicolor sp. nov., O. bipunctata sp. nov., O. clavata sp. nov., O. costaricensis sp. nov., O. falcata sp. nov., O. flavida sp. nov., O. granulosa sp. nov., O. longifrons sp. nov., O. planti sp. nov., O. plaumanni sp. nov., O. rafaeli sp. nov., O. spathula sp. nov., O. uncata sp. nov. and O. undulata sp. nov. A new combination is proposed: Oropezella amazonica (Rafael & Ale-Rocha, 1990) is transferred from Ocydromia. Additionally, an identification key to all 25 Neotropical and Andean species of Oropezella is provided. A cladistic analysis of Oropezella using 29 species from the Neotropical, Andean, Palearctic and Neozelandic regions is performed and its results and implications discussed. 

A new apterous species of Platypalpus Macquart (Diptera: Hybotidae, Tachydromiinae) from Ecuador.

Tachydromiinae is a very diverse subfamily of Hybotidae that comprises quite small predaceous flies. It is clearly monophyletic and its species are distinguished from other subfamilies by the apomorphic loss of vein M2 and cell dm, neither pterostigma nor pseudotracheae, phallus with the apex not articulated and ejaculatory apodeme not fused to the base of phallus (Sinclair & Cumming 2006). Platypalpus Macquart belongs to the tribe Tachydromiini and it is defined by the following characters: eyes bare, separated in both sexes, postpronotal lobe differentiated, scutum longer than broad (except in P brevicornis species-group), mid leg raptorial, mid femur thickened and armed with rows of spine-like ventral setae, mid tibia usually with a somewhat prominent apical projection, wing with veins A1 and CuA2 present (cell cup present) (Grootaert & Shamshev 2012). The genus is the most diverse of those in the Tachydromiinae, with approximately 550 species found almost worldwide, but preferentially inhabiting cold and temperate regions in the Nearctic and Palaearctic; it is particularly diverse in the latter region with 295 described species, whereas only 22 species are known from the Neotropics (Yang et al. 2007). In the tropics it is more diverse at higher altitudes and in cold regions, with few species known at lower altitudes and in tropical areas, where they likely compete with species of Elaphropeza Macquart that occupy similar habits and niches (Grootaert & Shamshev 2012). This apparent competitive exclusion is the probable reason the genus is not very diverse in tropical regions (op. cit.). This paper describes a very curious new wingless species of Platypalpus from the Parque Nacional Cajas, Ecuador. It is the first wingless species described in the genus and is the 23rd species known from the Neotropical Region.