Australasian/Oceanian Diptera Catalog -- Web Version

The worldwide family Sepsidae contains some 250 described species of which 23 belong to the Australasian/Oceanian fauna. The genera Lasionemopoda and Parapalaeosepsis are endemic to the area covered by this catalog. Toxopoda atrata is endemic to Australia. The remaining species occur also in the Oriental Region and often elsewhere.

The wide distributions observed in many Australasian/Oceanian species are typical for the family as a whole and reflect the coprophagous habit of most Sepsidae. Some species have been spread over large territories in association with livestock. Adult flies are found mostly on animal and human excrement (less often on other rotting organic matter) where eggs are laid and larvae develop, and on nearby vegetation, carrion, fermenting tree sap, and shrubs and herbs.

Many Sepsidae apparently play an important biological role as decomposers of animal excrement. Some species may have a limited hygienic importance because of their association with human feces.

Out of the 4 subfamilies recognized in the family, the Toxopodinae (including here only the genus Toxopoda) and Sepsinae occur in the Australasian/Oceanian Regions.
Refs.: Duda (1926a,b), Zuska (1968, 1970, 1972, keys, rev.), Colless (1980, Australian distrib.), Zuska & Colless (1984, key, rev. Australian spp.).

AUSTRALOSEPSIS Malloch, 1925h: 314. Type species: Australosepsis fulvescens Malloch, 1925 [= Sepsis niveipennis Becker, 1903], orig. des.
SALTELLISEPS Duda, 1926a: 25. Type species: Sepsis niveipennis Becker, 1903, des. Hennig, 1949: 63.
frontalis Walker, 1860a: 163 (Sepsis). Indonesia (Sulawesi); Australia (NT, WA), New Caledonia (New Caledonia); Oriental Reg.
     tenella de Meijere, 1906a: 183 (Sepsis). Singapore.
niveipennis Becker, 1903: 143 (Sepsis). Egypt; widesp. Australia (excl. Tas), Fiji, New Caledonia (New Caledonia), PNG (Bismarck Arch, PNG), Solomon Is, Vanuatu; Mediterranean area, Afrotrop., Oriental Regs.
     atratula Malloch, 1925h: 315 (fulvescens var.). Australia (NSW).
     fulvescens Malloch, 1925h: 314. Australia (NSW).
     robusta Duda, 1926a: 31 (Saltelliseps niveipennis var.). Taiwan.

DICRANOSEPSIS Duda, 1926a: 43 (Sepsis subg.). Type species: Sepsisbicolor Wiedemann, 1830, orig. des.
bicolor Wiedemann, 1830a: 468 (Sepsis). China; Australia (NT, Qld), Guam, Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Maluku), PNG (Bismarck Arch, PNG), Solomon Is, Vanuatu; Oriental Reg.
     revocans Walker, 1860a: 163 (Sepsis). Indonesia (Sulawesi).
     bipilosa Duda, 1926a: 54 (bicolor var.). Taiwan & Singapore & India & "New Guinea."
papuana Ozerov, 1996: 149. PNG (PNG).

LASIONEMOPODA Duda, 1926a: 30. Type species: Sepsis hirsuta de Meijere, 1906, mon.
LASIONEMAPODA, error for Lasionemopoda.
hirsuta de Meijere, 1906a: 186 (Sepsis). Australia (NSW); widesp. Australia, Lord Howe I, NZ (NZ), Norfolk I.

MEROPLIUS Rondani, 1874: 175. Type species: Nemopoda stercoraria Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 [= Sepsis minuta Wiedemann, 1830], orig. des.
PARAMEROPLIUS Duda, 1926a: 37 (Meroplius subg.). Type species: Sepsis fasciculata Brunetti, 1909, mon.
fasciculatus Brunetti, 1909: 365 (Sepsis). Sri Lanka; PNG (PNG); Oriental Reg.
     plumata de Meijere, 1913b: 363 (Sepsis). PNG (PNG).

PARAPALAEOSEPSIS Duda, 1926a: 42 (Sepsis subg.). Type species: Sepsis plebeia de Meijere, 1906, mon.
POECILOPTEROSEPSIS Duda, 1926a: 42 (Sepsis subg.). Type species: Sepsis apicalis de Meijere, 1906, des. Hennig, 1949: 61.
apicalis de Meijere, 1906a: 168 (Sepsis). PNG (PNG); Australia (Qld), Indonesia (Maluku), PNG (Bismarck Arch), Solomon Is.
basifera Walker, 1859a: 124 (Sepsis). Indonesia (Maluku); PNG (PNG).
compressa Zuska, 1970: 54. PNG (Bismarck Arch); Australia (NSW, Qld), PNG (PNG).
     basifera, authors, not Walker, 1859, misid.
laffooni Steyskal, 1949: 168. Vanuatu; Australia (Qld), New Caledonia (New Caledonia), PNG (PNG).
     noumeae Steyskal, 1949: 168 (laffooni ssp.). New Caledonia (New Caledonia).
limbata de Meijere, 1906a: 169 (Sepsis). PNG (PNG); Australia (Qld), ?Indonesia (Maluku), PNG (Bismarck Arch).
mesopla Steyskal, 1949: 169. PNG (PNG).
plebeia de Meijere, 1906a: 171 (Sepsis). Australia (NSW); widesp. Australia, Lord Howe I, PNG (Bismarck Arch, PNG), Solomon Is.
ploskolapka Ozerov, 2003: 409. Australia (Qld).
spatulata Zuska, 1970: 59. PNG (PNG); PNG (Bismarck Arch).

SEPSIS Fallén, 1810a: 17. Type species: Musca cynipsea Linnaeus, 1758, des. Curtis, 1829: 245.
THREX Gistl, 1848: x (unjust. n. n. for Sepsis).
biflexuosa Strobl, 1893b: 225. Austria & Hungary; Hawaiian Is; Nearctic, Palearctic Regs.
dissimilis Brunetti, 1909: 355. India; Australia (NSW, NT, Qld, WA), Lord Howe I, Norfolk I, PNG (PNG), Vanuatu; Afrotrop., Oriental Regs.
     albopunctata Lamb, 1914: 323. Seychelles.
     hirtifemur Malloch, 1925h: 314. Australia (NSW).
indica Wiedemann, 1824: 57. India; PNG (PNG); Oriental Reg.
     decipiens de Meijere, 1906a: 177. PNG (PNG).
     spectabilis de Meijere, 1906a: 178. Singapore & PNG (PNG).
lateralis Wiedemann, 1830a: 468. China; Hawaiian Is, ?PNG (PNG); Afrotrop., Oriental, Palearctic Regs.
nitens Wiedemann, 1824: 57. India; Australia (NSW, NT, Qld), PNG (PNG); Oriental Reg.
     tuberculata Duda, 1926b: 64. Indonesia (Java) & Taiwan & Australia (Qld).
     coprophila, Malloch, 1925, not de Meijere, 1906, misid.
thoracica Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830: 742 (Micropeza). Not given [?France]; Hawaiian Is; Afrotrop., Oriental, Palearctic Regs.

XENOSEPSIS Malloch, 1925h: 315. Type species: Xenosepsis sydneyensis Malloch, 1925, orig. des.
PSEUDOMEROPLIUS Duda, 1926a: 25 (as gen.), 37 (Meroplius subg.).
Type species: Pseudomeroplius acrosticalis Duda, 1926 [= Xenosepsis sydneysis Malloch, 1925], subs. mon. Duda, 1926b: 11.
sydneyensis Malloch, 1925h: 315. Australia (NSW); Australia (Qld); Oriental Reg.
     acrosticalis Duda, 1926b: 11 (Pseudomeroplius). Australia (Qld).

TOXOPODA Macquart, 1851: 272(299). Type species: Toxopoda nitida Macquart, 1851, orig. des.
PODANEMA Malloch, 1928d: 308. Type species: Podanema atrata Malloch, 1928, orig. des.
atrata Malloch, 1928d: 308 (Podanema). Australia (Qld); Australia (NSW, Vic).
nitida Macquart--not Australasian/Oceanian.
ozerovi Iwasa, 2008: 459. PNG (PNG); Solomon Is.
shinonagai Iwasa, 1986: 659. PNG (PNG).
viduata Thomson, 1869: 586 (Sepsis). Hong Kong; ?PNG (PNG).