A description of Heterometopia argentea Macquart (Diptera Dexiidae)
Abstract
This paper is the first of a series in which it is proposed to describe, more thoroughly than has hitherto been done, those Australian species of the Calyptrata which are the typical forms of various genera proposed by the earlier authors such as Macquart and Walker.
Considerable difficulty has been experienced in determining the genera and species that were described by most of these earlier authors, partly owing to the inadequate descriptions, and partly to the lack of the complete literature dealing with the subject; nevertheless a certain amount of recent and useful information has been and is still being published upon this group of Diptera, and this, together with the literature available at the present time, has made it possible for me to ascertain the identity of various species.
The Dexid described here was originally placed under the Tachinidae, and besides being typical of its genus it is the origin of a curious phenomenon which forms a subject matter under the notes. Moreover the sexes are determined, and the female is now described for the first time, unless perchance it has been described previously under another name.
