Abstract
Five new species of Keilbachia Mohrig are described: Keilbachia adstricta, K. constricta, K. cracens, K. fratercula and K. truncata. The species are the first sciarids recognized from New Caledonia and are similar in stmcture to the New Guin-ean K. indigena Mohrig and the Indomalayan K. adunca Hippa & Vilkamaa. A key to the Australasian species of Keilbachia is provided. Various groups of the Diptera of New Caledonia have been studied rather intensively since the late 1980's, and the results have been published mainly in the seven volumes of Zoologia Neocaledonia (Tillier 1988, Chazeau & Till-ier 1991, Matile et al. 1993, Najt & Matile 1997, Najt & Grandcolas 2002, Grandcolas 2008, 2009). Of the Bibion-omorpha, the known New Caledonian fauna includeBibionidae (Fitzgerald 2004) and some groups of Sciaroidea (Matile 1986: Lygistorrhinidae, Matile 1988a: Ditomyiidae, Matile 1988b: Keroplatidae, Matile 1991, 1993: some mycetophilid tribes). These studies show a high degree of endemism of the New Caledonian fauna, at least at the species level. However, the level of endemism in New Caledonia varies widely among insect groups (Cranston 2010). This is the first part of an ongoing study of the New Caledonian sciarid fauna in preparation by the present authors.
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