ioo R. W. CROSSKEY 



PART II— A TAXONOMIC CATALOGUE OF THE AUSTRALIAN TACHINIDAE 



INTRODUCTION 



The only pre-existing published catalogue of the Australian Tachinidae is that 

 of Malloch (1928&), in which he listed eighty-eight genera and two hundred and 

 twenty-eight species. MaUoch's list was essentially only a very preliminary one 

 derived solely from the literature, and Malloch was well aware of its limitations, 

 as is evident from the following paragraph in the preamble to his catalogue which 

 deserves quotation: 'It will be seen that there is quite an array of species included, 

 but it is not to be assumed that all names standing in the list as apparently valid 

 species are in that category. I have not attempted to synonymize species, except 

 where previous workers have already done so, but I know many of the included 

 names will have to be sunk as synonyms of previously described forms appearing in 

 the catalogue. The work of weeding out such synonyms can only be done by someone 

 who will undertake a comprehensive study of the family, and definite identifications 

 will usually depend upon an examination of the type specimens of the species'. 



In the forty-four years that have elapsed since MaUoch's catalogue there has 

 been considerable, though spasmodic, interest in the taxonomy of Australian 

 Tachinids, and many Australian genera and species have been described since 

 that time (many of them by Malloch himself in his post-1928 papers); in addition, 

 many non-endemic genera have been recognized in the Australian fauna. In 

 the new catalogue that follows a total of 136 genera are treated as valid, and 

 421 species are listed as valid on the evidence available at the moment (there are, 

 of course, many undescribed genera and species known in museum collections and 

 the figures given are for named taxa only). A large number of names, both 

 generic and specific, are treated as synonyms. 



The catalogue is based on a study of very nearly all of the types of Australian 

 Tachinidae that are still in existence (the types are lost or missing in the cases 

 of only 29 out of a total of 487 nominal species-group taxa with an Australian 

 provenance). These studies of the types (including those of the type-species of 

 genera) have made it possible to weed out many of the obvious synonyms, 

 particularly among generic names but very often in the case of specific names 

 also. They have also made it possible to make reliable assignments of described 

 species to currently recognized genera, many of the placements so made involving 

 new combinations (as listed on p. 158). It cannot be claimed that all cases of 

 synonymy between specific names have been unmasked, and it is likely that future 

 critical generic revisionary work will reveal some additional specific synonyms. 

 (In difficult genera where specific criteria are uncertain at present it has been 

 considered best to maintain some or all of the specific names as valid until their 

 true status can be elucidated: cases of suspected synonymy have, however, been 

 indicated.) 



EXPLANATORY INFORMATION ON THE CATALOGUE FORMAT 



Arrangement of taxa and names. Subfamilies are placed in the conventional 

 order beginning with Phasiinae and ending with Goniinae. Tribes are in 



