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Records of the Australian Museum (2012) Vol. 64 
connected to dorsocentral stripe anteriorly and posteriorly; 
scutellum orange-tawny with pale pruinescent zone on each 
side dorsally and usually pale pruinescent anterior margin; 
humeral callus whitish-pruinescent dorsally, tawny ventrally; 
pleura extensively whitish-pruinescent; upper proepimeron 
(behind spiracle) tawny, the tawny zone extending broadly 
and obliquely across upper mesopleuron to membranous cleft, 
but leaving small posterodorsal whitish zone on mesopleuron; 
remainder of pleura largely orange-tawny with whitish 
pruinescence, changing in appearance with angle of view. 
Legs mainly orange-tawny; fore femur with subapical brown 
mark, often more distinct on anterior than on posterior surface, 
with no brown zone on basal half; other femora with more 
distinct subapical brown to blackish mark; tibiae usually with 
brown to blackish distal zone, usually least developed on mid 
tibia; hind tibia usually with sub-basal brown zone, sometimes 
indistinguishable; fore and hind tarsi with segments 4 and 5 
brown, segment 3 usually partly brown; mid tarsus with at least 
segment 5 brown. Wing: largely hyaline, with diffuse brown 
spot in subcostal cell, small brown spot on anterior crossvein, 
and indistinct brownish suffusion on discal crossvein. Halter 
pale yellow. Abdomen tawny-brown to yellowish, not showing 
consistent pattern in dried specimens; all tergites thinly 
pruinescent, tergite 5 not less so than preceding tergites. 
Head slightly higher than long; cheek c. 0.29-0.34 as 
high as eye, with scattered small setulae often tending to 
form a single peristomial series anteriorly; face with rather 
narrow, rounded median carina; the following bristles 
present: inner and outer vertical, long subparallel to slightly 
convergent postverticals, ocellar, two fronto-orbitals, anterior 
one shorter, usually three postgenals, posterior one situated 
higher than anterior one. Antenna: segment 6 pubescent on 
whole length, with many hairs almost as long as its basal 
diameter. Palpus moderately large, setulose, with some distal 
setulae enlarged or thickened. 
Thorax. Mesoscutum with many non-seriate setulae, 
generally distributed except towards lateral margins; humeral 
callus with few setulae; scutellum approximately flat 
dorsally, without setulae; mesopleuron bare; stemopleuron 
ventrally in male with many long coarse setulae, in female 
these much less developed, leaving irregularly transverse 
series of major bristles well differentiated in front of coxae; 
pteropleuron (anepimeron) without setulae; hypopleuron 
(metepisternum) with minute downwardly directed setulae, 
varying in precise distribution and in number (two to twelve 
in examined specimens); the following, mostly large, thoracic 
bristles present: two dorsocentrals, prescutellar acrostichal, 
presutural, intra-alar, postalar, humeral, 1 + 1 notopleurals, 
proepisternal (propleural), small proepimeral (stigmatal), 
two upper sternopleurals. Fore femur with a series of large 
dorsal bristles, and on distal half, with posteroventral bristles 
better developed in female than in male, often with many fine 
almost erect ventral setulae, often including mollisetae, in 
male, these setulae fewer and shorter in female; mid femur 
with irregularly placed group of enlarged anterior setulae just 
beyond mid-length, one large posterior preapical bristle and, 
in male only, a comb-like series of posteroventral setulae 
just before apex; hind femur with one or two anterodorsal 
bristles near distal quarter, in male with many fine erect 
ventral setulae, in female these shorter and fewer; fore tibia 
with one preapical dorsal bristle; mid tibia with one preapical 
dorsal bristle and c. five terminal spurs of various sizes; hind 
tibia with long typical preapical dorsal bristle, one equally 
stout anterodorsal bristle between this and apex, and two 
apical ventral spurs of different sizes; hind basitarsus shorter 
and broader in male than in female, with many setulae, but 
lacking basal ventral cluster of short back setulae as seen in 
H. australica; fore and hind tarsal segments 2, 3 and 4 of 
male with median ventral scopulae (pads of very fine, dense 
pubescence), these undeveloped in female; segment 4 of 
each tarsus in male very short and relatively broad, almost 
crescentic, in female little longer, subtriangular. Wing: costa 
with large, well spaced anterior spines ( sensu Hackman & 
Vaisanen, 1985), progressively smaller distally, bordering 
second costal, subcostal, and marginal cells; separate series 
of anterodorsal spaced spines absent; vein 1 consistently 
without setulae on ventral surface; distal section of vein 6 
extending to margin, thick and well sclerotized on c. basal 
quarter of length, abruptly narrowed and weakened beyond. 
Abdomen. Pleural membrane without setulae in region of 
spiracle 1; sternite 1 somewhat sclerotized, divided medially, 
setulose, better developed in male than in female; sternite 
5 of male with compact zone of dense short, rather stout 
setulae on each side of bare median zone, setulae elsewhere 
on sternite 5 sparse and longer; sternite 5 of female without 
such differentiated zones, with scattered setulae slightly 
larger laterally than centrally. Male postabdomen: posterior 
margin of epandrium almost straight in profile, bordered 
by elongate basal plate of surstylus (visible in posterior 
view), internally without anterior process; surstylus (Fig. 
15) slightly broadened basally, with almost transverse basal 
articular margin and prominent setulose posterior marginal 
tubercle arising distinctly beyond base, main distal part 
almost hatchet-blade shaped, rather narrowed before distal 
expansion, which is broadly rounded anteriorly, subacutely 
angular postero-apically, with narrowly inflexed distal 
margin, patch of microtrichia on outer surface (present in H. 
steyskali, H. subacuta and related species) virtually absent; 
basal surstylar process absent; aedeagus complex, with 
elongate obtuse epiphallus (spinus); aedeagal apodeme large, 
deep, bilaterally compressed; cerci elongate ovate, leaf¬ 
like, joined by membrane for c. half length of each. Female 
abdomen: spiracles 1 to 7 located in pleural membrane 
and distinctly removed from margins of tergites; tergite 5 
and sternite 5 large and unmodified; postabdomen simple, 
not very extensile; tergite 6 and sternite 6 smaller than 
preceding sclerites; segment 7 narrower, with sternite divided 
longitudinally into two setulose plates; tergite 8 forming 
compact sclerite; sternite 8 elongate, setulose; apparent 
tergite 9 and sternite 9 small but distinct, setulose; cerci 
separate, subcylindrical with some apical setulae long and 
fine; spermathecae three, subspherical, with black cuticular 
lining, two of them attached to end of a common duct. 
Dimensions. Total length, S 5.4-5.9 mm, $ 6.4-6.5 mm; 
length of thorax, S 2.6-3.0 mm, 5 3.1-3.2 mm; length of 
wing, S 5.5-6.0 mm, $ 6.2-6.3 mm. 
Distribution. Queensland: east coast and nearby ranges as 
far north as Julatten district. New South Wales: coast and 
nearby ranges. Tasmania: mountainous areas of south— 
single record. This is the only helosciomyzid species known 
from the Australian tropics. 
Notes 
Helosciomyza bickeli and H. fuscinevris are the only 
Australian helosciomyzids with a setulose sternite 1. They 
also share the presence of minute hypopleural setulae. 
Helosciomyza bickeli differs from H. fuscinevris in the 
