Avenaphora

Avenaphora is an extinct genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It is known from the Cretaceous of Lebanon and France.^[1][2][3]

Avenaphora Temporal range: 130.0–84.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Dolichopodidae
Subfamily:	Microphorinae
Genus:	†Avenaphora Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999[1]
Type species
†Avenaphora hispida Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999[1]

Avenaphora is a Dolichopodidae sensu lato of uncertain affinities. It was originally placed in the subfamily Microphorinae by Grimaldi and Cumming in 1999, but the authors suggested that it could actually have a closer affinity with Parathalassiinae or Dolichopodidae sensu stricto. A later article published in 2017 suggested that Avenaphora actually has more similarities to the Parathalassiinae than the Microphorinae or Dolichopodidae s.str., but the authors did not place the genus in the Parathalassiinae as it does not have clear synapomorphy with them.^[2]

Species

The genus contains two species:

• †Avenaphora gallica Nel, Garrouste & Daugeron, 2017^[2] – Piolenc amber, France, Early Santonian
• †Avenaphora hispida Grimaldi & Cumming, 1999^[1] – Lebanese amber, Barremian