Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2012
The genus Cremifania Czerny combines characters of various taxa which Hennig (1958) placed in two superfamilies, the Sciomyzoidea and the Lauxanioidea. In some ways it can be considered a taxonomic link between the two groups. Important characters of the genus are compared with homologous characters in related families and its taxonomic relationships are discussed. At the same time, a family tree for the major families assigned to both superfamilies is suggested.
Cremifania does not fit well in any family as they are now defined, but, because it fits best in the Chamaemyiidae, that family is redefined to embrace the genus. The family is then divided into two subfamilies, the Cremifaniinae, new subfamily, for Cremifania, and the Chamaemyiinae comprised of two tribes, the Chamaemyiini and Leucopini, new tribe; a key to all the suprageneric categories is presented.
A new Cremifania, the second known species of the genus and the first Nearctic one, is described from New Mexico.