4 R. W. CROSSKE ¥ 
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 
