402 THE EMPTY QUARTER

4. FLIES (DIPTERA) OF THE RUB' AL KHALI.

(With acknowledgments to Miss AtrBBETiN of the British Museum.)

(a) Calliphoridae.

(1) Rhynchomyia callopsis Loewe. 1 $.

(2) 3 <J of a creature, probably referable to the genus Araba,
from Bani Zainan. Miss Aubertin says ' she has never seen any-
thing like these before, and does not quite know what to make
of them.'

(6) Tachinidae.
1 specimen of an unidentifiable Tachinid,

5. GRASSHOPPERS (ORTHOPTERA) OF THE RUB* AL KHALI.
(With acknowledgments to Mr. B. P. UVABOV of the British Museum.)

(a) Mantidae.

(1) Eremiaphila laevifrons, Uvar. A single adult from Shuqqat
al Khalfat, and numerous indeterminable larvae, perhaps of the
same species, from six widely scattered localities. Originally
described from Masqat.

(2) Genus ?, probably new, but only one immature specimen",
collected from IsTaifa.

(6) Acrididae.

(1) Schistocerca gregaria, Forsk. Desert Locust. Specimens
from five localities in Al Rimal.

4(2) Platypterna pictipes, TJvar. 1 specimen from Shuqqat al
Khalfat. Described from Masqat and also taken by me at Jidda.

6. WASPS, BEES, ETC. (HYMENOPTERA) .FROM THE RUB'
AL KHALI, COLLECTED BY MR. PHILBY.

BY MB. HUGH SCOTT,
Of the British Museum.

So far as it is possible to draw conclusions from the material,
these Hymenoptera are southern Palaearctic forms, with little or
no Ethiopian or Oriental affinity. It is noteworthy that one
widely spread species of ant is represented in the Rub' al Khali by
a variety previously recorded from Syria (i.e. Palaearctic), but in
the Qara Mts. by a subspecies widely distributed in Tropical
Africa. This may indicate a certain line of division between the
faunas of the southern coastal mountains of Arabia and the desert
to the north of them. But as many of the species are represented
by single or very few specimens, and can only be referred to their
genera, without more precise determination, it is risky to generalise
too much.