Annotated catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta, Diptera) of the Afrotropical Region, with the description of seven new genera

Abstract

Citation: O'Hara JE, Cerretti P (2016) Annotated catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta, Diptera) of the Afrotropical Region, with the description of seven new genera. ZooKeys 575: 1-344. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.575.6072 AbstractThe Tachinidae of the Afrotropical Region are catalogued and seven genera and eight species are newly described. There are 237 genera and 1126 species recognized, of which 101 genera and 1043 species are endemic to the region. The catalogue is based on examination of the primary literature comprising about 525 references as well as numerous name-bearing types and other specimens housed in collections. Taxa are arranged hierarchically and alphabetically under the categories of subfamily, tribe, genus, subgenus (where recognized), species, and rarely subspecies. Nomenclatural information is provided for all genusgroup and species-group names, including lists of synonyms (mostly restricted to Afrotropical taxa) and name-bearing type data. Species distributions are recorded by country within the Afrotropical Region and by larger geographical divisions outside the region. Additional information is given in the form of notes, numbering about 300 in the catalogue section. Seven genera and eight species are described as new: (Villeneuve, 1910), comb. n.; Blepharella orbitalis (Curran, 1927), comb. n.; Bogosiella pomeroyi Villeneuve, 1923, comb. revived; Brachychaetoides violacea (Curran, 1927), comb. n.; Carceliathrix crassipalpis (Villeneuve, 1938), comb. n.; Charitella whitmorei (Cerretti, 2012), comb. n.; Dyshypostena edwardsi (van Annotated catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta, Diptera)...

Molecular phylogenetics and piercer evolution in the bug‐killing flies (Diptera: Tachinidae: Phasiinae)

“…The Gymnosomatini s.l. clade is composed of two subclades: the Gymnosomatini s.s. and the former ‘Trichopodini’ (recently included within Gymnosomatini by O'Hara & Cerretti, based on findings of Cerretti et al ., ). The latter are represented by (( Trichopoda Berthold + Acaulona van der Wulp) + Xanthomelanodes Townsend).…”

“…Phasiinae constitute the smallest of the four subfamilies of Tachinidae yet still contain over 600 described species belonging to about 100 genera (Crosskey, ; Herting, ; Wood, ; Herting & Dely‐Draskovits, ; Ziegler, ; O'Hara & Wood, ; Richter, ; O'Hara et al ., ; Evenhuis, ; O'Hara & Cerretti, ). Even so, some of the most extreme morphological variation within Tachinidae can be found in this subfamily (Fig.…”

Checklist of the superfamilies Oestroidea and Hippoboscoidea of Finland (Insecta, Diptera)

“…While world catalogues has been published for Sarcophagidae (Pape 1996) and Hippoboscidae (Dick 2006) only regional (Herting and Dely-Draskovits 1993) or genus-level (O’Hara 2012) catalogues exist for the other oestroid and hippoboscoid families. The Finnish species of Oestroidea and Hippoboscoidea were last listed by Hackman (1980).…”

A new species and synonymy of the Neotropical Eucelatoria Townsend and redescription of Myiodoriops Townsend

“…This is particularly true for flies in the family Tachinidae, where the Neotropical fauna represents more than 35% of the total described species (O’Hara 2013a, b). In this region, approximately 3000 species belonging to 817 genera are known (O’Hara 2012; O’Hara 2013a, b), making the Neotropics the region with the highest number and the most narrowly defined tachinid genera of any biogeographic region. The primary describer of these taxa, C.H.T.…”

“…This over-splitting, compounded by the great diversity of tachinids in the Neotropics, has limited progress toward our understanding of the family in this region (e.g., it is the only major biogeographic region without a generic key). There currently remain 544 valid tachinid genera described by Townsend (O’Hara 2012, 2013a), and much work is needed to revise, redefine, and make sense of this profusion of finely split taxa.…”