TACHINIDAE OF ORIENTAL REGION 113 



Proboscis normal, short or very short and not geniculate, the labellae broad and fleshy, 

 total length less than head height (if rarely the proboscis and labellae elongate and 

 about head height in total length as in Actia siphonosoma then sternopleuron with 

 a row of long sparse setulae in front of the mid coxa) ..... 2 



Thorax with two strong subequal prostigmatic setae, one directed upwards and the 



other downwards (Text-fig. 138) . . . PERIBAEA Robineau-Desvoidy 



Thorax with one strong prostigmatic seta, directed upwards .... 3 



Sternopleuron completely bare laterally in front of the mid coxa 



CEROMYA Robineau Desvoidy 



Sternopleuron with a regular row of fine hairs or setulae in front of the mid coxa 



(Text-fig. 137) ....... ACTIA Robineau-Desvoidy 



Tribe BLONDELIINI 



This tribe contains a rather heterogeneous assemblage of genera that are probably 

 polyphyletic. Some of the currently included genera such as Eophyllophila and 

 Uromedina have females with cruciate inner vertical setae and slightly, but evidently, 

 flattened fore tarsi, and it seems likely that such genera are really more closely 

 related to the Minthoini (tribe of Tachininac) than to the Blondeliini. The genus 

 Dolichocoxys seems to belong in the Minthoini instead of the Blondeliini (where 

 previously placed), and is therefore omitted from this tribe (see p. 87). 



The Blondeliini are nearly cosmopolitan and are distinguished from other Goniinae 

 by possessing the following combination of characters. 



Pre-alar seta very small, sometimes even absent or represented by a mere hair. Subapical 

 scutellar setae divergent and the apical scutellar setae usually very weak or absent. Wing 

 with bend of vein M forming an open evenly rounded curve or (if slightly abrupt) a widely 

 obtuse angle, M 3 appendix or fold absent; lower calypter not bent downwards on its outer 

 margin. 



This concept of the tribe is essentially due to the work of Mesnil (i960 et seq.), 

 who has done much to advance knowledge of the diverse members of the group, 

 and whose keys embrace many of the genera known from extra-Palaearctic areas 

 as well as those of the Palaearctic Region itself. It should be noted, however, 

 that some of the key characters that Mesnil uses are not quite so reliable as they 

 at first appear: an example is the submedian v seta of the mid tibia, which in Urodexia 

 may be present in some females but absent in other female specimens and in males. 

 Another feature of doubtful value as a generic key character is the development 

 of an abdominal 'tail' as occurs in the males of several Blondeliini (as also in Dolicho- 

 coxys in the Minthoini) . In Urodexia penicillum the fifth tergite of the male abdomen 

 is produced into an enormously elongate tail that is as long as the remainder of the 

 abdomen, whereas in Oxydexiops uramyioides (which on all other characters is 

 obviously congeneric with penicillum) the last abdominal tergite of the male is a 

 short cone lacking a tail: Malloch (19326 : 322) concluded that the difference between 

 a tailed abdomen in the first and the non-tailed abdomen in the second case did 

 not justify generic separation, and he therefore treated Oxydexiops as a synonym 

 of Urodexia. Mesnil (19606 : 649) treated both Urodexia and Oxydexiops as valid 

 genera, either overlooking or not accepting Malloch's synonymy, but I here agree 



