Apterachalcus [SEP] parent taxon
Apterachalcus
Apterachalcus is a genus of flies in the family Dolichopodidae. It has only one described species, Apterachalcus borboroides, known from New Zealand. It was originally described by Harold Oldroyd in 1955, who placed the species in "Acropsilus". However, Daniel J. Bickel determined that the species did not belong to "Acropsilus", and created a new genus for it in 1991.
It is wingless and somewhat laterally compressed, giving it a somewhat flea-like appearance. It has been found in the Auckland Islands
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of