Reassessment of Paleotachina Townsend and Electrotachina Townsend and their removal from the Tachinidae (Diptera)

By

O'Hara, James 1952-
Raper, Christopher
Pont, Adrian C. (Adrian Charles), 1941-
Whitmore, Daniel

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2013

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

361

Pages

27-36

Subjects

Amber , copal , inclusions , Muscidae , Sarcophagidae , Tachinidae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.361.6448

 

Abstract

The monotypic genera Paleotachina Townsend, 1921 and Electrotachina Townsend, 1938 were originally described as fossils in amber but were later discovered to be inclusions in copal. Both taxa were originally assigned to the Tachinidae (Diptera) and this placement has continued to the present day. The holotypes of the two type species, P. smithii Townsend and E. smithii Townsend, were examined and the following taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are proposed: Paleotachina is transferred to the Muscidae and placed in synonymy with Aethiopomyia Malloch, 1921, syn. n.; P. smithii Townsend, type species of Paleotachina, is synonymized with Aethiopomyia gigas (Stein, 1906), syn. n.; Electrotachina is transferred to the Sarcophagidae and placed in synonymy with Dolichotachina Villeneuve, 1913, syn. n.; E. smithii Townsend, type species of Electrotachina, is recognized as a valid species of Dolichotachina comb. n. Images of the holotypes of P. smithii and E. smithii are provided and features that have helped place these copal inclusions in their new combinations are discussed.