02094nas a2200241   4500008004100000245010700041210006900148300001200217490000700229520138000236653001901616653001401635653001501649653001501664653002601679653001701705653001801722653001401740653001501754100002501769700002401794856003401818       2002                        eng d00aPhylogenetic relationships of the lower Cyclorrhapha (Diptera: Brachycera) based on 28S rDNA sequences0 aPhylogenetic relationships of the lower Cyclorrhapha Diptera Bra  a445-4560 v333 aCyclorrhaphan Diptera are an extremely successful clade of ecologically and phylogenenetically important flies. Despite their significance the relationships among lower cyclorrhaphans ('Aschiza') remain controversial in spite of several morphologically based phylogenetic analyses. We sequenced a 2.7-kb fragment of 28S rDNA for taxa representing all lower cyclorrhaphan families (except Ironomyiidae), four schizophoran families, and seven empidoid outgroup taxa. Phylogenetic analysis of these data strongly supports a monophyletic Cyclorrhapha (including the enigmatic taxon Opetia nigra) that is divided into two clades - a well-supported Eumuscomorpha (Syrphidae + Pipunculidae + Schizophora), and a weakly-supported Platypezoidea (all non-Eumuscomorpha). Consequently, the former grouping known as Aschiza, which included syrphids and pipunculids, is not a valid monophyletic clade. Within Platypezoidea, most of our analyses place Lonchopteridae as sister group to Opetiidae, and strongly support the monophyly of Sciadoceridae + Phoridae. Among the Eumuscomorpha we do not recover the monophyly of Syrphoidea (Syrphidae + Pipunculidae). Instead, all analyses place Pipunculidae as the sister group to Schizophora. This novel finding has never been proposed based on morphological data and will require more data (both molecular and morphological) and taxa to confirm.10aDolichopodidae10aEmpididae10aEmpidoidea10aEremoneura10amolecular systematics10aPipunculidae10aPlatypezoidea10aSyrphidae10aSyrphoidea1 aCollins, Kenneth, P.1 aWiegmann, Brian, M.  u<Go to ISI>://ZOOR13900025261