The Ceratopogonidae (Diptera) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador with a discussion of their phylogenetic relationships and zoogeographic origins

Resumen

Abstract Eleven species of Ceratopogonidae are recognized on the Galápagos Islands. Four of these appear to be endemic, six are widespread occurring elsewhere on the continental Americas and one is of uncertain distributional status. One of the endemic species is described as new, Dasyhelea sinclairi Borkent. Each of the species is most closely related to taxa occurring elsewhere than on the Galápagos Islands (with one possible but unlikely exception of two of these being sister species), indicating at least ten independent invasions of the islands by the ancestors or ancestral populations of these species. It is uncertain whether the widespread species have been brought through the agency of man or through natural dispersal to the Galápagos Islands. Based on comparisons with the Ceratopogonidae fauna of oceanic islands elsewhere, the presence of endemic species only in the genera Forcipomyia and Dasyhelea on the Galápagos Islands is likely due to the superior dispersal capabilities of members of these genera. This may also explain the presence of those ceratopogonid species occurring both on the Galápagos Islands and the New World mainland.