256 R. W. CROSSKEY 



Gonia oestroides Walker, 1858a : 201. Putative provenance 'Hindostan'. Holotype <£ 

 [not $], BMNH, London, examined. The holotype is a specimen of the Palaearctic species 

 Gonia capitata (De Geer), but as the genus Gonia Meigen s. str. is unknown from the Oriental 

 Region it is considered that Hindustan is an erroneous provenance for oestroides ; its holotype 

 is presumed to have a Palaearctic origin. The new synonymy involved is here formally 

 established : 



Gonia oestroides Walker, syn. n. of Gonia capitata (De Geer, 1776). 



Homodexia obscuripennis Bigot, 1885a : xxvi. Ceylon. Not Tachinidae, belongs in the genus 

 Bengalia Robineau-Desvoidy of Calliphoridae (see Crosskey, 1971 : 299). 



Jurinia indica Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 : 36. Putative provenance Tndes orientales'. 

 Type(s) [? sex], lost. The original material was in Count Dejean's collection, the Diptera 

 from which are believed to be lost, and it is not possible to determine the identity of/, indica 

 by examination of any type-specimen. It appears certain, however, that the original locality 

 was wrongly recorded as Robineau-Desvoidy's description clearly does not fit any known 

 Oriental species and the forms belonging to the genus Jurinia Robineau-Desvoidy in its old 

 sense are entirely Neotropical or Nearctic. 



Despite the clear evidence of erroneously stated provenance and loss of the type(s) it is 

 possible to identify the species that Robineau-Desvoidy had before him with almost complete 

 certainty. It is considered to be, for reasons adduced below, the South American juriniine 

 species Xanthozona melanopyga (Wiedemann). 



Two points of evidence support this conclusion, the excellent fit of the original description 

 with the characters of X . melanopyga and the fact that Robineau-Desvoidy compared Jurinia 

 scutellaris Robineau-Desvoidy with indica. These are discussed further. 



(1) The description is of a rather large species in which the abdomen is bicolorous (basal 

 part clear yellow and last two visible segments black), the wings and calyptrae much blackened 

 ('cuillerons et ailes tres-noirs'), and the mesonotum black with the beginnings of ashy grey 

 vittae. These descriptive features, and all other parts of the original description, agree 

 perfectly with X. melanopyga but do not conform to any Oriental species. The mention 

 of the exceptionally blackened wings and calyptrae is particularly convincing evidence for 

 the identity of indica with melanopyga because the latter has the darkest wings and calyptrae 

 of any member of the Juriniini. 



(2) Robineau-Desvoidy (1830 : 36) described Jurinia scutellaris on the same page and 

 immediately following /. indica. He described it as very close to indica (with the words 

 'Priori similis' and 'semblable au /. indica') but differing mainly by having the scutellum 

 pale and the greyish lines of the mesonotum continuous. The female holotype of scutellaris 

 (from near Guaratuba in Brazil) still exists in the MNHN, Paris, collection and was examined 

 by Townsend (19316 : 165), who assigned the species to his genus Xanthozona Townsend, 

 1908. The fact that scutellaris, which Robineau-Desvoidy closely compared with indica, 

 belongs to Xanthozona strongly supports the supposition that indica, too, belongs in this 

 genus. 



The genus Xanthozona contains only two species (Guimaraes, 1971 : 74), melanopyga 

 and scutellaris, and it is concluded that Robineau-Desvoidy had both of these, his 'indica' 

 being in reality the same as Wiedemann's melanopyga. It is thought fully justified, for the 

 reasons adduced, to place indica as a new synonym of melanopyga, thus: 



Jurinia indica Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, syn. n. of Xanthozona melanopyga (Wiedemann, 

 1830 : 292). 



Although both names have the same year date the new synonymy does not disturb the 

 name melanopyga. The work of Wiedemann (1830) has long been accepted as having 

 priority over Robineau-Desvoidy (1830). Finally it is noted that the original, incorrect, 

 spelling of melanopyga in Wiedemann (1830 : 292) is 'melanoppyga' , although this is not 

 stated in Guimaraes's catalogue. 

 Masicera incivica Walker, i86ie : 305. Putative provenance 'Hindostan ?'. Syntypes 

 1 o* & 1 ?. BMNH, London, examined. Austen (1907 : 330) placed this nominal species in 

 the genus Aporomya Rondani, and Crosskey (1967c : 107) confirmed this by placing it in 



