Melanesomyia, a Tribally Unplaced New Genus of Dexiinae (Diptera: Tachinidae) from Indonesia (Maluku) and Papua New Guinea, with Description of Two New Species

Abstract

A brief review of Australasian dexiine systematics is given. A tribally unplaced new genus, Melanesomyia, is described to accommodate two new species and an undescribed species from the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, as well as the generically unplaced species "Dexia" nivifera Walker, 1861, from the Moluccas Islands, Maluku Province, Indonesia. New species are: M. kraussi and M. wauensis. A key to the species is provided. Melanesomyia appears to have affinity (likely an example of homoplasy) with the Australian genus Trichostylum Macquart, 1851, and Rasiliverpa Barraclough, 1992, which is known only from New Caledonia and Fiji.