Annotated Catalogue of the Tachinidae (Insecta, Diptera) of the Afrotropical Region, with the Description of Seven New Genera

Description:

The Tachinidae are a diverse family of flies with a recognized fauna of about 1500 genera and 8500 species worldwide. All species are parasitoids of other arthropods, mostly insects, during their larval stage. This monograph catalogues the tachinid fauna of the Afrotropical Region, which was last catalogued in 1980. It is based on examination of the primary literature comprising about 525 references as well as the study of numerous name-bearing types and other specimens housed in collections. The classification is modernized and the names updated to provide nomenclatural, distributional and name-bearing type information for the 237 genera and 1126 species recognized from the region. Included within these numbers are seven genera and eight species that are described as new. Three genera and two species are newly recorded from the region. Taxonomic changes and nomenclatural actions include 25 new or revived species combinations, nine new or revived generic and specific synonymies, nine new lectotypes, five new replacement names for preoccupied names, and two new type species fixations for genus-group names. The catalogue is annotated with about 300 notes and a taxonomic index to all names is provided.