title: Reassessment of Paleotachina Townsend and Electrotachina Townsend and their removal from the Tachinidae (Diptera).
abstract: The monotypic genera Paleotachina Townsend, 1921 and Electrotachina Townsend, 1938 were originally described as fossils in amber but were later discovered to be inclusions in copal. Both taxa were originally assigned to the Tachinidae (Diptera) and this placement has continued to the present day. The holotypes of the two type species, P. smithii Townsend and E. smithii Townsend, were examined and the following taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are proposed: Paleotachina is transferred to the Muscidae and placed in synonymy with Aethiopomyia Malloch, 1921, syn. n.; P. smithii Townsend, type species of Paleotachina, is synonymized with Aethiopomyia gigas (Stein, 1906), syn. n.; Electrotachina is transferred to the Sarcophagidae and placed in synonymy with Dolichotachina Villeneuve, 1913, syn. n.; E. smithii Townsend, type species of Electrotachina, is recognized as a valid species of Dolichotachina comb. n. Images of the holotypes of P. smithii and E. smithii are provided and features that have helped place these copal inclusions in their new combinations are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Canadian National Collection of Insects, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0C6, Canada.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: O'Hara
authors.affiliation: Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Raper
authors.affiliation: Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, United Kingdom, and Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Adrian C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Pont
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Whitmore
keywords: Muscidae; Sarcophagidae; Tachinidae; amber; copal; inclusions