Chonocephalinae Brown & Amorim & Kung 2015, SUBFAM. NOV.

SUBFAMILY CHONOCEPHALINAE SUBFAM. NOV.

Type genus: Chonocephalus Wandolleck.

Diagnosis. Male. Small, delicate flies. Head small. Frons of male strongly narrowed ventrally. Anepimeron not deeply W-shaped. Costa long, with thin, relatively short setae. Scutal and tibial setulae sparse, tibia without large setae. Wing vein R 2 +3 absent; base of vein M 1 not close to R 4 +5. No alular setae. Legs thin, cylindrical. Male terminalia globular. Female only known for Chonocephalus. Minute flies, dorsoventrally flattened. Frons broad rounded between antennae. Wing and halter absent. Abdomen with fully developed tergites, lacking dorsal accessory gland opening.

Included genera. Chonocephalus, Cyphocephalus Borgmeier.

Species of the genus Chonocephalus are plesiomorphic for a number of characters that are apomorphic in termitoxeniines (21, 22, 58), metopinines and phorines (the set of features apomorphic for the higher phorids). Also, nested features apomorphic for the Metopininae or for the Phorinae are plesiomorphic in Chonocephalus, giving robustness to the hypothesis of a sister-group relationship with the entire family except the sciadocerines. The presence of a greatly narrowed male frons defines the grouping of Chonocephalus and Cyphocephalus. It may be that Cyphocephalus is nested within Chonocephalus, but this has to be formally demonstrated with a detailed study of the subfamily.