Descriptions of five new species of <i>Helina</i> Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Muscidae) from China

The genus Helina Robineau-Desvoidy was described by Robineau-Desvoidy in 1830, with Helina euphemioidea subsequently designated as type species. It can be recognized by the following characters (Xue 1998): Vein Sc usually rather sinuous, dorsal surface of veins R 1, R 4+5 and radial node all bare, ventral surface of radial node with setulae in a few species, vein M straight; mid femur usually with a distinct subapical a, hind tibia without an isolated strong pd between middle and apex, apical ad of hind tibia usually longer than tibial diameter; tergites 3 and 4 almost always with a pair of dark black spots; apical parts of male cerci obtuse in posterior view, female terminalia elongate and telescopic. The species of this genus are found in all regions of the world. 45 Nearctic species have been listed by Huckett (1965a, 1965b) and 89 Palaearctic species by Pont (1986). There are 32 Oriental species (Pont 1977) and 52 Australian and Oceanian species (Pont 1989). Furthermore, 96 Afrotropical spacies have been listed by Pont (1980) and 90 Neotropical species by Carvalho et al. (2005). China has an abundance of natural resources, and to date more than 167 species have been described from China, which have been summarised by Xue (in Xue et al. 2005). The present paper reports five new species: H. combinisetata sp. n., H. discombinisetata sp. n., H. flavipulchella sp. n., H. subsetiventris sp. n., and H. xingkaiensis sp. n. The type specimens are deposited in the Diptera collection of the Institute of Entomology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China.