4 o R. W. CROSSKEY 



status for these entities is no longer recognized, and certainly cannot be justified in 

 view of the overall homogeneity shown by eutherine species; even Townsend seems 

 to have thought that his penchant for splitting had been carried rather far, as he 

 commented (Townsend, 1938 : 212) that it 'comes near conforming to the proverbial 

 genus for every species'. 



In Australia the Euthera fauna contains two described species, but it is likely 

 that others exist, as Paramonov (1953) surmises. Paramonov {op. cit.) has noted 

 how newly discovered species cut across the character differences that were previously 

 supposed to define subgenera (or genera) within the Euthera complex, and has 

 emphasized the need to refrain from any further description of subdivisions within 

 Euthera. This is a particularly appropriate plea, as it is obvious from a study of 

 undescribed species in museum collections that there is a more or less complete 

 intergradation of characters between the species of different regions and that it is 

 therefore impossible to maintain any valid subgenera or genera within the complex. 

 Van Emden (i960) took a similar view when he discussed Euthera in the Ethiopian 

 Region and formally established the synonymy of Preuthera with Euthera. 



The principal characteristics of Euthera and Eutherini are as follows. Head dichoptic, 

 eyes well separated in both sexes but frons a little contracted above in ^; $ usually with 

 proclinate orbital setae, these sometimes weakly differentiated or absent; $ with or without 

 a pair of small outwardly directed prevertical setae; face with a large vertical median keel 

 or with a large bulbous swelling, the carination formed into a definite sharp edge medially 

 (Text-fig. 24) ; ocellar setae usually weak, proclinate or divaricate ; antennae extremely long, 

 reaching to epistomal margin or beyond, inserted high on head; palpi present; two main 

 humeral setae, sometimes weak third, or third and fourth; acr setae varied, from 2 + 1 to 

 3 + 4; dc setae varied, usually at least 3 + 3, sometimes 4 prst dc or 4 or 5 post dc; pra seta 

 present, small; normally three post ia setae, if only two then standing near to each other and 

 remote from transverse suture; two sa setae (hind one sometimes very weak or undifferentiated) ; 

 two stpl setae (1 + 1); infrasquamal hairs absent; scutellum usually with three pairs of 

 marginal setae, but apical pair often very weak (crossed, divergent or parallel), apicals 

 sometimes entirely absent, discal scutellars normally present (at least one pair) ; wings boldly 

 patterned with black-brown colour (this extending along fore border and in two preapical 

 cross-bands which are evanescent posteriorly and of which the proximal one is much broader 

 than the distal one), alula unusually long and mainly black-brown; second costal sector bare 

 below; basal node of i? 4+5 bare (except in an undescribed Melanesian species in which three 

 or four minute hairs present) ; bend of M very abrupt, usually forming a right-angle or even 

 an acute angle, rarely with short M 2 appendix; cell R 5 long-petiolate ; lower calypter rounded 

 posteriorly; last section of Cu v from half to two-thirds as long as m-cu; legs with strong 

 setae and without scale fringes; hind tibia with two or three dorsal preapical setae, with or 

 without pv apical seta; hind coxa and abdominal base approximated, posteroventral declivity 

 of the thorax membranous medially; abdomen elongate-subovate, strongly convex dorsally, 

 apex not recurved; Ti + 2 with excavation reaching to its hind margin; abdomen with 

 strong setae; sternites concealed; no specialized ovipositor. 



The most useful spot characters for the genus are provided by the combination 

 of variegated black-brown and hyaline wing pattern, strong median facial keel, 

 exceedingly long narrow antennae, and very long-petiolate wing cell R h (Text-figs 

 24 and 77). 



It may be noted that Herting (1966 : 8) implies that the curious European 

 genus Redtenbacheria Schiner should be placed in the Eutherini. Such a placement 



