Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 July 2009
An effort to ascertain the specific status of described Australian Calliphorine flies was started in 1922, when some conceptions of synonymy gathered from various sources were published by Johnston & Hardy. In 1925, Patton gave his opinions concerning the identity of the species after examining many types in Europe. In 1926, I drew attention to discrepancies that were at that time apparent in Patton's views, and gave further information that had accrued during the three previous years. In 1927, Bezzi revised the genus over a wide area, and his paper covering the Indo-Australian species is the outstanding contribution in so far as many genera previously proposed are reviewed. There followed in the same year a paper by Malloch on specific characters, which paper is highly suggestive and constructive, but unfortunately some of the species of earlier authors are incorrectly determined; and, indeed, this defect is noticeable throughout the series of papers referred to above, many names being perhaps wrongly placed as synonyms or species needlessly redescribed as new.
* [Miss Aubertin has kindly examined the type and informs us that it is a female with a broad front and agrees entirely with the definition of stygia adopted by the author.—ED.]
† [This species was first described by Adam White (Dieffenbach's Travels in New Zealand, ii, 1843, p. 291) from New Zealand only.—ED.]