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The systematic position of Tonza Walker, 1864 is re-evaluated, based on the characteristics of immature stages and DNA barcodes. Larvae and pupae of Tonza citrorrhoa Meyrick, 1905 are described and illustrated for the first time. Larvae of this species form a loose web among the leaves and branches of the host plant, Putranjiva matsumurae Koidz. (Putranjivaceae Endl.). The immature stages of Tonza exhibit four unique apomorphies including: in the larva, the prolegs on A5 and A6 absent, and the seta L2 on the A1–A8 very small; in the pupa, four minute knobs are positioned in the middle portion on abdominal segments V and VI; while its caudal processes possess a W-shaped spine with numerous minute spines. These characteristics clearly distinguish Tonza from other yponomeutoid families and hence, we propose a new family group name, Tonzidae Kobayashi & Sohn fam. nov., for the genus Tonza. Existing DNA barcode data suggest a relationship with Glyphipterigidae Stainton, 1854. The family level status of Tonzidae fam. nov. provides a hypothesis that needs to be tested with larger molecular data.
Muscid species of the 'Spilogona contractifrons species-group' (Spilogona alticola (Malloch, 1920), S. arctica (Zetterstedt, 1838), S. contractifrons (Zetterstedt, 1838), S. orthosurstyla Xue & Tian, 1988) and of the 'Spilogona nitidicauda species-group' (S. nitidicauda (Schnabl, 1911), S. hissarensis Hennig, 1959, S. imitatrix (Malloch, 1921), S. platyfrons Sorokina, 2018) are notoriously difficult to distinguish. In this paper, their morphological features are analysed, images of the male head, frons and abdomen of all the species are given, and the male terminalia are figured. The study of extensive material has shown that all the morphologically recognised species in each of these groups are valid species. An identification key is provided for both groups of species. To confirm the morphological differences, genetic differences in the cytochrome oxidase I gene of flies of the 'Spilogona contractifrons speciesgroup' and of the 'Spilogona nitidicauda species-group' were analysed. It is shown that members of both groups of species have not only distinguishing morphological characters but also fixed substitutions in the DNA sequences. Since a low interspecific polymorphism is known in the Muscidae Latreille, 1802, the revealed genetic distances confirm the existence of separate species or subspecies in each of the groups studied.