R. W. CROSSKEY 



SYNOPSIS 



A detailed conspectus is provided of the Australian Tachinidae, a group that has hitherto 

 lacked any taxonomic synthesis. Original keys are given to the family-group taxa and to 

 the genera and subgenera so far recognized in the fauna; many undescribed forms are known 

 and the preliminary nature of the keys is therefore emphasized. Preliminary characteriza- 

 tions are given for family-group taxa to aid towards formalized diagnoses on a world basis. 

 A complete systematic catalogue is given of all described Australian Tachinidae, based upon 

 an examination of almost all extant primary types, and the known host relations are shown 

 by up-to-date host-parasite and parasite-host lists. Nomenclatural changes established in 

 the taxonomic catalogue are summarized and include 14 new genus-group synonyms, 26 new 

 species-group synonyms, 83 new generic combinations, and two new names for preoccupied 

 homonyms; 12 lectotypes are newly designated. An annotated glossary is included of the 

 terms used in the taxonomy of adult Tachinidae, and figures are given to illustrate the glossary 

 and the keys. 



PREAMBLE 



Australia possesses a rich and varied tachinid fauna, most of which is still 

 undescribed. Some 420 named species are recognized at present, but it is obvious 

 from an examination of unidentified material in the collections at Canberra and 

 London that this number represents only a small proportion of the species that 

 will ultimately be recognized: it is probable that when fully worked out the 

 Australian Tachinidae will muster some 1500-2000 species. 



This fauna, though not enormous by the standards of some insect families, 

 presents considerable taxonomic difficulties (Colless & McAlpine, 1970) and 

 it will certainly be many years before any comprehensive monographic treatment 

 can be prepared and the multifarious new genera and species adequately described 

 and named. In the meantime the practical identification of Australian Tachinidae 

 is bound to present a problem for which the services of a specialist in the group 

 are likely to be required, if only to distinguish rapidly the known from the unknown 

 elements in the fauna. At present there is no full-time Australian specialist 

 working on the group, despite the fact that there is a very real need for taxonomic 

 studies to be undertaken on the Australian tachinids because of their role as 

 parasites of other insects and their potential importance as biological control 

 agents. Australia suffers from many serious insect pests of economic significance 

 (such as the chafer-grubs of sugar-cane and the Eucalyptus defoliators), all of 

 which are attacked by tachinid parasites that are assumed to play an important 

 part in naturally regulating the populations of their hosts; few attempts have 

 yet been made, however, to exploit the Tachinidae of Australia for biological 

 control purposes. 



It will be an essential prerequisite for future investigations into the value of 

 Australian tachinids as biological control agents that the flies themselves can be 

 rapidly and accurately identified. At the moment only a small fraction of the 

 fauna can be so named, since the great bulk of species remain unstudied and 

 undescribed. An enormous untouched taxonomic field, with a direct bearing on 

 the practical control of insect pests, awaits the Australian student willing to take 

 up the systematics of the Australasian Tachinidae as a whole (attention cannot 



