41 



AUSTRALIAN BOMBYLIID^ AND CYRTID^ 

 (DIPTERA). 



By G. H. Hardy. 



Plates XVI. and XVII. 



(Read 11th July, 1921.) 



This catalogue of the Bomhyliidse and Cyrtidse of Aus- 

 tralia contains a key to the genera, and the description of 

 two new species belonging to genera in which no previous 

 species have been described from Australia. Also, there are 

 numerous synonyms suggested, and a number of species have 

 been placed in the genera they more readily conform to than 

 those in which they were originally placed. 



BOMBYLIID^. 



This study of the Bornbyliidse is based upon several 

 important collections. One of these, the Macleay Museum 

 collection, contains a large number of species, many of which 

 appear to be new, and it forms the basis for the study of the 

 species described from Australia. The writer's own collec- 

 tion contains species conforming to most of those described 

 from Tasmania by White, and also contains specimens from 

 Western Australia and New South Wales. A small, but very 

 valuable, collection formed by Dr. E. W. Ferguson, contains 

 some specimens identified by White by comparison with 

 Walker's types in the British Museum, and has been valu- 

 able in establishing the identity of some of the species. Other 

 specimens, including those in the Australian Museum, the 

 Queensland Museum, and the Agricultural Department of 

 Queensland, have also been examined. 



Much of the material in the above collections is inferior 

 in condition, and as many of the species are closely related, 

 making the differences between them difficult to determine 

 from old specimens, it is advisable to wait till sufficient new 

 material has accumulated before revising the species within 

 the various genera. 



The Australian species have been described under nearly 

 one hundred and fifty names, of which less than one hundred 

 are distinct, and of these fifty-two are recognised in the col- 

 lections under revision. 



