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Cytotaxonomy ofCalliphoridae (Diptera)

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Abstract

A modification of the general system of classification ofCalliphoridae is proposed in this report. Information about the chromosome complements of about 90 species is provided including references to the earlier literature on chromosomes of this family. With one exception all species studied by us or by earlier investigators have 2n=12. The total complement length of 556 complements from 83 species averaged 66.4 μ. Most species have a short heteromorphic sex pair but the size and morphology vary considerably and one species,Hemipyrellia fernandica, seems to have a quadrivalent sex-chromosome complex in a 2n=14 complement. The autosomal pairs vary in both length and arm ratios between the species but seem to be more stable than the sex chromosomes. Only minor variations were found between different collections of the same species except for two collections ofCalliphora croceipalpis. Although presently available data on the chromosomes of Diptera species suggest that increases in total complement length accompany evolutionary progress, no such general trends were obvious in either the total complement lengths or chromosome morphology, either within or between the tribes ofCalliphoridae. Thus the karyotypical reorganizations in the family have apparently not been directly associated with changes in the general morphological features of the adults which may have responded in these respects more extensively to genetic mutations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, Roma, Lesotho, Africa

    J. W. Boyes

  2. Biosystematics Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa

    G. E. Shewell

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  1. J. W. Boyes
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  2. G. E. Shewell
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Boyes, J.W., Shewell, G.E. Cytotaxonomy ofCalliphoridae (Diptera). Genetica 45, 435–488 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01772870

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