TACHINIDAE OF AUSTRALIA 53 



calypter bare on the entire dorsal surface, only with the usual fringe-hair. Face 

 without median ridge. Humeral callus with two or three setae. Palpi not so 

 flattened. 2 + 3 dc setae .......... 13 



13 Abdomen with the tergites partially or completely fused on the dorsal surface, 

 sutures of the mid-dorsum largely obliterated. Scutellum rotund and nearly 

 always with distinct preapical (dorsal) setae. Second costal sector haired 

 ventrally. Fore tarsus not flattened. Robust forms with luteous or orange- 

 red colouring and rather broad wings, and with a characteristic row of strong 

 ad setae along the fore tibia. ...... GLAUROCARINI (p. 59) 



- Abdomen without any fusion of the tergites and all sutures between the tergites 

 complete and distinct. Scutellum slightly or strongly flattened and without 

 preapical (discal) setae. Second costal sector bare ventrally. Fore tarsus, 

 especially in £. strongly flattened. More slender or very slender forms with 

 mainly black coloration and long narrow wings, without a row of ad setae on 

 the fore tibia MINTHOINI (p. 64) 



Tribe PALPOSTOMATINI 



This curious small group, which appears exclusively to parasitize adult scarabaeoid 

 beetles, is very difficult to place systematically. It includes a small number of 

 forms with rather pallid luteous or light reddish brown colouring that are found 

 in Australia, Africa and the Oriental Region. It is far from clear how the group 

 should be defined, and it is possible that some New World forms such as Eutrixa 

 Coquillett and Eutrixoides Walton ought to be included within it; they appear 

 to be very similar to the Oriental genus Eutrixopsis Townsend, which is normally 

 placed in the Palpostomatini. Eutrixopsis, however, has a different conformation 

 to the head than typical palpostomatines, lacks definite vibrissae and has the 

 prosternum bare, and has a third pair of scutellar marginal setae, and it may be 

 a mistake to associate Eutrixopsis in the same tribe as Palpostoma; but if this 

 present association is correct then the palpostomatines may well have close affinity 

 to the ormiines and to Myiotrixa (both of which have resemblances in the head, 

 such as the long epistome and reduced vibrissae, to Eutrixopsis). The 

 Palpostomatini have not been studied in detail and in the absence of a reliable 

 placement they are here tentatively assigned to the Tachininae, though on certain 

 features they could equally well be placed in the Proseninae (with which the host 

 relations would certainly fit) ; Palpostoma itself, with its facial conformation and 

 bristled prosternum, even resembles some Blondeliini, and it is not entirely fanciful 

 to imagine some phyletic relationship to this tribe (as to some extent implied by 

 Mesnil's (1966 : 882) placement (under the name Palpostomina)). 



The type-genus Palpostoma is currently regarded as uniquely Australian, but 

 this is almost certainly only due to the fact that the group badly needs study on 

 a world basis. Comparison of material of the Oriental genus Hamaxia Walker 

 (synonym : Ochromeigenia Townsend) and the African genus Hamaxiomima Verbeke 

 has shown no differences of any significance from Australian material of Palpostoma, 

 and undoubtedly Hamaxia and Hamaxiomima ought to be treated as synonyms 

 of Palpostoma; it is inappropriate, however, to pursue this further in the present 

 work and definite synonymy is not established at this time. (The African genus 



