title: Extreme male leg polymorphic asymmetry in a new empidine dance fly (Diptera: Empididae).
abstract: A new dance fly (Empididae: Empidinae) with hugely modified male fore tarsus, either on the right, left, both or neither sides, is described from Japan. Such massive polymorphic asymmetry occurring with so high an incidence in a population is previously unreported. In view of the courtship behaviour of other Empidinae, we hypothesize that the oversized tarsus is a secondary sexual character employed by males for attracting females. Alternative hypotheses are also discussed. We suggest that this extraordinary new species is a potential model for the study of mating biology in Empidinae and the evolution of mating systems in general.
authors.affiliation: Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Département Systématique et Evolution, UMR 7205 CNRS, , 45 rue Buffon-CP 50, 75005 Paris, France. daugeron@mnhn.fr
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daugeron
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plant
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baylac
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004175:Diptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*; D005121:Extremities / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D013045:Species Specificity