TACHINIDAE OF ORIENTAL REGION 53 



pleuron not or only very weakly differentiated from prescutum. Posteroventral declivity of 

 thorax very deep and semi-sclerotized (resembling that of Cylindromyiini). Prosternum and 

 prosternal membrane bare. Propleuron bare. Humeral callus with one seta, this sometimes 

 with one or two small hair-like setulae in addition. Mesonotal chaetotaxy very reduced. 

 o + 1 ia seta; acr setae absent or at most one prescutellar pair; o or 1 prst dc seta, 1-3 post dc 

 setae; pro, seta absent or if present then minute; one sa seta; two postalar setae. Suprasquamal 

 ridge and postalar wall bare, o + 1 or 1 + 1 stpl setae. Pteropleural seta strong. Barette 

 bare. Hypopleural setae represented by a bunch of long hairs. Infrasquamal setulae absent. 

 Scutellum usually with only two pairs of setae (basals and subapicals), sometimes weak pair of 

 apicals and very weak pair of preapicals present, laterals always absent. Wings very long and 

 narrow, veins bare (except for one or two minute hairs on basal node of R i+i ). Second costal 

 sector bare ventrally. Cell R b open. Bend of vein M very near to wing margin and with well 

 developed M 2 appendix. Last section of vein Cm, exceptionally short (about one-third as 

 long as m-cn or less). Calyptrae bare. Legs exceedingly long and slender, often with sinuous 

 tibiae in g. Fore coxa bare on inner anterior surface. Femora without v setae. Leg setae 

 very reduced in size. Fore tibia with one pv seta. Mid tibia without ad setae, with a small 

 (often minute) submedian v seta, and one p seta. Hind tibia with from 2-4 small ad and pd 

 setae, two d preapical setae and no pv apical setae. Abdomen very elongate, subcylindrical 

 or finely and gradually tapered (Text-figs 108, 114, 115), Ti -f- 2 not excavate to hind margin, 

 no discal setae (except occasionally one pair on T5). Ti + 2, T3 and T4 normally with one 

 pair each of median marginal setae, these sometimes absent. Sternites concealed (except Sti). 



SUBFAMILY TACHININAE: KEYS TO THE TRIBES AND GENERA 



This is the subfamily that van Emden (1960), in dealing with the Ethiopian 

 Tachinidae, referred to as the Macquartiinae, but Tachininae is the correct name 

 under the rules of nomenclature. It is an enormous group of extremely hetero- 

 geneous flies that cannot be readily defined, and tends to be used as a repository 

 for a miscellany of disparate forms (almost certainly polyphyletic) that cannot be 

 fitted into the other subfamilies, at any rate as these are understood at present. 

 Moves are afoot by specialists to re-appraise the Tachininae, and these seem likely 

 to result in the removal of several tribes from the subfamily and their placement 

 in other subfamilies - either in a much widened concept of the Proseninae (Dexiinae) 

 or in the extra subfamily Voriinae (already recognized by Verbeke, 19626, and to 

 some extent by other authors). As subfamiliar classification is currently in a 

 state of flux it has been thought best for present purposes to treat the Tachininae 

 in the wide sense adopted by van Emden {op. cit.) and in my recent review of 

 Australian Tachinidae (Crosskey, 19736) ; the latter work contains a summary of 

 the principal characteristics shown by the Tachininae in this sense. 



As regards the tribes within the Tachininae I have to a very large extent followed 

 the pattern set by van Emden (i960) as I have found his tribal concepts (in the 

 main) to be as practical as any when dealing with a little known tropical fauna. 

 Nevertheless it is recognized that tribal classification on these lines might be faulted 

 as 'over-split' and tending to conceal some rather obvious close phyletic relation- 

 ships: for example the Voriini, Wagneriini, Campylochetini and Phyllomyini are 

 clearly very close and could be treated as contribal, and the same could be said 

 of the Linnaemyini, Ernestiini and Tachinini which could be merged to one tribe 

 (and which are but very distantly related to the Voriini group of tribes). The 



