List of 'Target Taxa' for Phylogenetic Studies

by Torsten Dikow & Fritz Geller-Grimm

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The following list provides an overview of our thoughts on genera of which representatives are important to incorporate in phylogenetic analyses of the Asilidae - whether they are/will be based on morphological or molecular characters.

What do we mean by target taxa?
Well, we think that if a genus is a major part of the fauna of a particular zoogeographical Region it should be included in phylogenetic studies of the entire Asilidae or subtaxa of it. Other genera that have a very widespread distribution and are exceptionally speciose, e.g. Promachus Loew, 1848 or Leptogaster Meigen, 1803 (to name only two), should be included as well to understand the radiations of these genera and their relationship to other, not so speciose sister taxa. Yet other genera are included because of peculiar morphological characters or because they are the only representative of a subfamily in a particular region. All genera that are type genera for family-group names, e.g. subfamilies, tribes, or other subtaxa, should also be included in cladistic studies.

Our aim with these lists is:

• to encourage interest in collecting representatives of these genera to make ethanol-preserved material available for future DNA-sequence studies !
• to open up a discussion about important taxa for phylogenetic studies (inclusion or exclusion of certain genera that we missed while compiling these lists) !