Phylogeny of Oestridae (Insecta: Diptera) THOMAS PAPE Department of Entomology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden Abstract. The phylogeny of Oestridae was analysed at the generic level using 118 characters from all developmental stages and including morphology, ontogeny, physiology and behaviour. Four major clades were given subfamilial rank with the phylogenetic relationship (Cuterebrinae (Gasterophilinae (Hypodermatinae + Oestrinae))). The subdermal parasites of the African elephant, Neocuterebra squamosa GruÈnberg and Ruttenia loxodontis Rodhain, had their most probable af®liation subordinate to the clade of stomach parasites, although their exact position needs further investigation. Genus Ochotonia Grunin, which is known from a single third-instar larva only, was the probable sister group of all other Hypodermatinae. Twenty-®ve oestrid genera were recognised as valid and those containing more than one species were de®ned through lists of autapomorphies. Cuterebra Clark was proposed as a senior synonym of Alouattamyia Townsend, Andinocuterebra GuimaraÄes, Pseudogametes Bischof and Rogenhofera Brauer. The clade of hypodermatine ungulate parasites (Hypoderma Latreille + Pallasiomyia Rubtzov + Pavlovskiata Grunin + Przhevalskiana Grunin + Strobiloestrus Brauer) remained largely unresolved, and genus Przhevalskiana emerged without de®ning characters. Introduction The bot ¯ies have received considerable attention probably ever since the domestication of hoofed animals that made bot ¯ies relevant to humans (cf. Papavero, 1977). Bot ¯ies continue to receive substantial attention, especially from applied entomologists, because of the signi®cant veterinary and medical importance of several species, from wildlife ecologists because of their mammal-parasitising habit, and, of course, from taxonomists studying them in their own right as part of our biological heritage. The group is exceptional among insects in having extensive information available for all stages of the life-cycle for several species and in being relatively well known with regard to reproduction and life cycle. Among Diptera they may be surpassed in this regard only by mosquitoes and midges. The early monograph of Brauer (1863), with several subsequent `NachtraÈge', represents a monumental milestone in bot ¯y research. A century later, Grunin's (1965, 1966, 1969) contributions to `Die Fliegen' provided an immense amount of morphological and biological data, although dealing almost exclusively with the Palaearctic fauna. Other important works include Zumpt (1965) on Old World bot ¯ies, Catts (1982) and Sabrosky (1986) on North American rodent and lagomorph bot ¯ies, and the general account of Wood (1987) and GuimaraÄes & Papavero (1999) on Neotropical species. Ferrar (1987) reviewed the literature on cyclorrhaphan immatures, which, in combination with a compilation of numerous illustrations, provides convenient access to much of the morphological and biological information discussed in this paper. However, despite the abundance of data, few studies have focused on phylogenetic issues beyond an attempt to arrange the bot ¯ies in distinct, or monophyletic (sub)families, e.g. Zumpt (1957). One notable phylogenetic, yet precladistic, study was done by Rubtzov (1939), who discussed the possible parallel evolution of bot ¯y stomach parasites and their hosts. Papavero (1977) provided an extensive phylo- genetic analysis of Oestrinae (treated by Papavero as a full family), but he did not apply a strictly cladistic argumentation, with the result that many sister-group taxa were de®ned as `A vs. non-A'. Sabrosky (1986) provided a cladogram of non- dermatobiine New World Cuterebrinae (Cuterebra Clark herein), but his way of presenting the character states on the cladogram makes an evaluation of character polarities some- what dif®cult. The aim of this study was to provide the ®rst genus-level phylogenetic analysis giving cladistic arguments for explicit taxon de®nitions at and above the generic level. In a broader perspective, this may serve as a phylogenetic framework for future studies on bot ¯y evolutionary ecology and biogeo- graphy. Correspondence: Thomas Pape, Department of Entomology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, PO Box 50007, SE 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: thomas.pape@nrm.se # 2001 Blackwell Science Ltd 133 Systematic Entomology (2001) 26, 133±171 Systematic Entomology (2001) 26, 133±171