100 Rk. 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 (19280), in which he listed eighty-eight genera and two hundred and 
twenty-eight species. Malloch’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 Malloch’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 
