This page represents the following TreeOfLife-200M taxonomic path.[1]
Based on observations of preserved specimens in the TreeOfLife-200M dataset, Austenmyia individuals exhibit a dull, opaque appearance due to the presence of body pruina.[1] The head is slightly wider than the thorax, and the face is flat, extending three times as far as the frons.[2]
Austenmyia is a genus of robber flies (family Asilidae, subfamily Dasypogoninae) established by M. Carrera in 1955. The genus is characterized by a mystax consisting of a few fine bristles arranged in a transverse row on the upper margin of the oral cavity. The proboscis is cylindrical, and the palpi have a developed, fusiform second segment. The antennae feature the first two segments equal in length, with the third segment equal in size to the two basal segments combined and possessing a microscopic concavity at the apex of the internal surface.
The thorax has a prosternum reduced to two plates between the anterior coxae. The mesonotum possesses well-developed lateral and dorsocentral bristles, while the scutellum is devoid of bristles. The legs are thin and elongated, with a small apical spur on the anterior tibiae. The wings are characterized by open fourth posterior and anal cells. The abdomen is approximately twice as long as the thorax and slightly wider at the base.
Austenmyia shares intermediate characteristics with the genera Macrocolus and Mirolestes. It is distinguished from Macrocolus by its antennal shape and the opaque, dull body surface, and from Mirolestes by the open fourth posterior cell, the presence of well-developed dorsocentral bristles, and the pilosity of the ocellar tubercle.
The type species is Austenmyia amazona Carrera, 1955, described from a specimen collected in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.