Australian Fruit Flies — Hardy 
KEY TO KNOWN SPECIES OF 
Dacus {Melanodacus) 
Face yellow, with the usual black spots 
(Australia) niger Tryon 
Face entirely black (New Guinea) .... 
satanellus (Hering) 
Dacus (Melanodacus ) niger Tryon 
Fig. 9^, h 
Dacus niger Tryon 1927. Roy. Soc. Queens- 
land, Proc. 38(14): 211-212. 
This species was not collected by Krauss 
but a specimen from the Sydney area was sent 
in by him. It is easily separated from all 
known Australian Dacinae by its very black 
coloration, by the absence of yellow vittae on 
the mesonotum, as well as by the subgeneric 
characters. 
MALE. Dead: Occiput black except for a 
narrow yellow margin. The front is over two 
times longer than wide and with brownish 
spots on the sides and a brownish discolora- 
tion in the median portion. The facial spots 
are suboval, drawn into a point on the under- 
side. The third segments of the antennae are 
about one and one-third times longer than 
the face and nearly four times longer than 
wide. Thorax: Entirely shining black except 
for the hind three-fourths of the humeri, the 
notopleural calli, the sides of the scutellum, 
the metapieura, and the posterior two- thirds 
of the mesopleura which are yellow; the 
halteres are also yellow. The mesonotum is 
very minutely punctulate. Legs: Coxae and 
trochanters brown to black, femora yellow 
except for brown to black apices of the hind 
pair. Tibiae yellowish-red tinged with brown; 
the hind pair is darker in color, sometimes 
chiefly blackish. The tarsi are yellow, the 
apical subsegments are brownish tinged. 
Wings: Entirely hyaline except for a brownish 
stigmal spot and a faint indication of a costal 
band along the margin in the apex of cell R3. 
The cubital streak is not present although the 
base of the cubital cell is slightly yellowed. 
139 
Fig. 9. Dacus {Melanodacus') niger Tryon: a, ovi- 
positor, full length; b, apex of ovipositor. 
The narrowed portion of the cubital cell is 
very short; it is about half as long as vein 
Cuifl-lst A. Abdomen: Strongly narrowed 
basally, rather oval in shape. Entirely black 
except for two elongate yellow spots on the 
hind margin of the second tergum separated 
by a median black portion. The fifth tergum 
has a pair of narrow yellow marks extending 
longitudinally down the middle of the seg- 
ment separated by a black vitta. 
Length: Body, 5.0 mm.; wings, 4. 0-5.0 mm. 
FEMALE. The narrowed portion of the 
cubital cell is more elongate than in the male; 
it is about three-fourths as long as vein 
Cui+lst A. Ovipositor: The basal segment is 
black, the remainder is reddish. In in situ 
specimens the visible portion of the ovi- 
positor is about one and three-fourths times 
longer than the fifth tergum. The extended 
ovipositor is very short (Fig. 9^), being ap- 
proximately 3.0 mm. long. The piercer and 
the inversion membrane are both about 1.0 
