Sarcophaga (Australopierretia) australis (Johnston and Tiegs)

Dowton, Mark & Pape, Thomas, 2013, A key to the Australian Sarcophagidae (Diptera) with special emphasis on Sarcophaga (sensu lato), Zootaxa 3680 (1), pp. 148-189 : 155

Sarcophaga (Australopierretia) australis (Johnston and Tiegs)

(Figure 14a,b,c)

Helicobia australis Johnston and Tiegs, 1921

Morphological characters. Vein R 1 setulose on basal 0.5. Gena with setulae only black. Occiput with at least one row of black setulae behind the ocular setae, with setulae only yellow/white ventrally. Prescutellar acrostichal setae present. Proepisternum not uniformly setulose, with only a few black setulae. Hind tibia with short setulae. Females with short setulae on the 1st and 2nd abdominal sternites. Body length 5–10 mm.

Geographical distribution. Australia (Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia)—AUSTRALASIAN/OCEANIAN.

Biology. Sarcophaga australis was reared from decaying meat by Johnston and Tiegs (1921), and has been documented in association with grasshoppers and sea turtle eggs ( Fuller 1938; Hall & Parmenter 2008). This species has also been collected at decayed-carrion baits by KAM.

Taxonomy. This species belongs to the monotypic subgenus Australopierretia . DNA barcode sequences of S. australis have been deposited in both GenBank and BOLD.