Spiniphora, Malloch, 1909

Spiniphora View in CoL and its relatives

Spiniphora , Kuenburgia , Trispiniphora , Triphleba schulmanae and amber genus F form a clade based on the synapomorphic hind tibia with ventral setae, although this is absent in the last two genera. Living species of Spiniphora are recovered here as paraphyletic in relation to Trispiniphora , Triphleba schulmanae and the amber genus F. However, the position of the clade Triphleba schulmanae + amber genus F is not strongly supported and could easily change with the inclusion of additional information on genitalia and wing morphology of these taxa.

The large clade including Spiniphora , Kuenburgia and six other genera is sister to the clade comprising Chaetopleurophora + amber genus A, based on the elongated sternite 7 of females. In spite of this characteristic also being indicated as synapomorphic for the clade Spiniphora + Chaetopleurophora by Brown et al. (2015), it is not exclusive to these taxa and could not be observed in certain of the above-mentioned taxa. Support for this large clade including Spiniphora and Chaetopleurophora is therefore relatively low.