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[ Frontispiece

BRITISH FLIES

0.L
Sis A
C r5VS^
F-wV-

VOL. V.

BY

G. H. VERRALL, F.E.S.

FELLOW OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

LONDON:

PUBLISHED BY GUBNEY & JACKSON, 10 PATERNOSTER ROAV
(Successors to Mr VAN VOORST)

January 1st, 1909

The Second Published Volume

aSS*®*1**

W

'{* 00t"f4j936 ☆)

■iv'ONAL MUS^-^

STRATIOMYIDAi

AND

SUCCEEDING FAMILIES

OF THE

DIPTERA BRACHYCERA

GREAT BRITAIN

BY

G. H. VERRALL

FELLOW OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

DRAWINGS OF J. E. COLLIN, F.E.S.

January i st, 1909

V .s' s'

\>v\s •

PREFACE

This volume requires very little preface, even though it has taken a long¬
time to produce. The delay has been partly caused by the abundance,
rather than the paucity, of literature upon the subject, as our British
species are very few in number as compared with those on the Continent,
while the common and more ancient species have, as a rule, been very
inadequately described. Very few of the British species can be considered
common, while many are exceedingly rare or local, and consequently
difficulties have arisen in obtaining specimens in first-class condition and
in identifying them.

My special thanks are due to Col. J. W. Yerbury, who has not only
given me innumerable specimens which have been taken by him in recent
years, but who has criticised in detail every line of the “ proofs ” as the
work has been going through the press ; I may not have accepted all his
suggestions, but have done so in hundreds of cases. My thanks are also
due to Mr P. H. Grimshaw, who has also examined all the “proofs,” and has
given valuable information as to localities, especially for Scotland. I hope
I have acknowledged other help in the body of the work.

G. H. VEPtRALL.

December 1908.

EXPLANATORY PAGE

This is the second volume published of an intended work on the British
Diptera. The volume is complete in itself, but yet may be part of an
entire work composed of about fourteen volumes as was outlined in the
“Explanatory Page” of the first volume. During the eight years which have
elapsed since the scheme was first promulgated some modifications have
become necessary, but not of a nature to necessitate any serious change.

The present Book would be Yol. Y. of the complete work, or a
Yolume on the STEATiOMYiDyE, &c., of Great Britain.

Two more volumes will be commenced at once ; one by myself on the
Chironomid^e, and one by Mr J. E. Collin on the group which is commonly
known as “ Muscid^e Acalyptrat^e.”

D 1 PT E R A.

The Diptera are usually separated into two great Suborders, which are
called

DIPTERA ORTHORRHAPHA

and

DIPTERA CYCLORRHAPHA.

These two suborders are almost equal in extent, and are distinguished
mainly by the form of their pupae, though other characters exist both in
the imaginal and larval stages whereby they can be differentiated.

The distinguishing characters of these two great suborders have been
given in the volume which dealt with the Syrphid^e, and it is therefore
only necessary to deal with the Orthorrhapha in this volume.

DIPTERA ORTHORRHAPHA.

The Orthorrhapha fall naturally into two great divisions, which are
known as Orthorrhapha Nemocera and Orthorrhapha Brachycera.
These two great divisions are so distinct that Osten Sacken considered
each of them to be a suborder equal in rank with the Diptera Cyclor-
riiapiia, and in confirmation of this opinion it may he noted that practically
all the writers before the recognition of the suborders Orthorrhapha
and CYCLORRHAPHA used to separate the Diptera into the Nemocera and
Brachycera. It would therefore be only necessary, after excluding the
CYCLORRHArHA, to restore the Brachycera to their old rank ; and then
(if three suborders of equal rank were accepted) they might well be
called the Nemocera* (vr)p.a, thread, and kg pa?, horn), Brachycera
(/3pa^c?, short, and tee pa?, horn), and Athericera (aOi'/p, awn, and tcepa ?,
horn).

* More correctly Nematocera, but antiquity and universal use sanctify the name.

A

2

BRITISH FLIES

Nobody has studied these higher divisions of the Diptera more
thoroughly than Osten Sacken, and nobody is more competent to
diagnose their distinctions ; consequently, I cannot do better than quote
his formulae as given in the Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift, vol. xxxvii.,
p. 422 (1892).

“ I. Palpi generally four-, or five-jointed,1 p e n d u 1 o u s, and more or less
“ filiform; antennae many-jointed (more than six-jointed), generally fili-
“ form (seldom pectinate), with the majority of the joints of the flagellum
“ of a homologous structure.” 2 — “JYemocera, Latreille.”

“IL Palpi one or two-jointed, porrect (not pendulous), the second
“ joint more or less clavate, larger than the first, which in this case
“ appears like a handle to the second; the joints of the antennal flagellum,
“ with rare exceptions, not homologous.” 3

“ Orthorrhapha Brachycera and Cyclori hapha Athericera.”

As additional characters for the Nemocera Osten Sacken later on added,
“ No macrochsetre ; no tegulte,(*) hut the antitegula (*) is almost always dis-
“ tinct; the alula and the axillary excision are hut little developed or
“ entirely absent. No discal cell (exceptions: Tipulidce, Bhyphidcv). Larvae
“ with a distinct head in the shape of a horny shell, mandibles with a
“ lateral mobility, opposed to each other like pincers ; round-headed
“ larvae.”

1 “ It is very probable that the palpi, in most cases, are only apparently five-jointed, the basal joint repre-
“ senting the maxilla, or a portion of it.”

2 “In this paper I have used the word homologous in its ordinary sense, as ‘ having the same relative
“ position, proportion, value, or structure’ (Webster’s Dictionary), and not in the narrower sense, used by
“ zoologists: for instance that the hand of man and the fore-foot of a horse are li om ol ogo us. Observe that
“ the joints of a flagellum, for being pectinate, do not cease to be homologous.”

3 “ ‘ Joints of the flagellum not homologous.’ I purposely use this, merely negative, definition, in order to
‘‘ leave room for the endless variety in shape of the third joint of the antenna- of the Brachycera."

(*) Tegula and antitegula = my thoracal and alar squama.

BRITISH FLIES

3

I would therefore give the following characters for the two great
divisions of the Orthorrhapha : —

NEMOCERA.

Palpi pendulous, generally four- or five-jointed and more or less fili¬
form ; when, as in Ae’des and some genera of Cecidomyidce., there are only
one or two joints, the structure of the antennae and the venation remove
all doubts.

Antennae, always with a many -jointed flagellum after t.he two basal
joints, and this flagellum always composed of a number of joints (G-39) of
which the majority are similar to each other ; these joints usually resemble
a string of beads or rings not necessarily all equal in length or pubescence,
and some of the joints of the flagellum are frequently verticillate, as in
Cecidomyidce (fig. 1), or verticillate plumose, as in Chironomus (fig. 3), or
rarely pectinate, as in Ctenophora (fig. 5), and sometimes remarkably

I

Fio. 2. — Perritsia veronica;. ?. x 42.

Fig. 1. — Per risia veronicce x 42.

elongate, as in Macrocera (fig. 7), and the joints almost always differ in
ornamentation and number in the sexes, as may fie seen in the female of

Fio. 3. — Chironomus $. x 22.

Ceciclomyia (fig. 2), or Chironomus (fig. 4), or Ctenophora (fig. 6) ; sometimes
the flagellum is merely composed of a series of rings rather closely crowded

BRITISH FLIES

4

together, as in Bibio (fig. 8), Simulium (fig. 9), or Bhyphus (fig. 10), and

Fig. 5. — CUnophora fiaoeolata x 11.

Fig. f>. — Ctcnophora flaveolala ?.

X 11.

then an approximation is made towards the annulated antennae of some

Fig. 7. — Macrocera centralis <$ . x S.

of the Braciiycera, such as Xylophagus (fig. 11), or the remarkable genus

Iihachicerus (fig. 12), but in all such cases the structure of the palpi and
the venation remove all doubts. The antennae are always more or less

Fio. 11. — Xylophagus atcr <$. x 20.

Fig. 12 — Rhachi cents fulvicornis 9-

l After Snellen van Vollenlioven.]

long, often longer than the head and thorax together, and often with very
many fewer joints in the female than in the male.

BRITISH FLIES

5

Wings with a venation ranging from very simple, as in Cecidomyidce

(fig. 13), to very complex, as in Tipula (fig. 14), but always with the anal
cell wide open and becoming wider open at the wingmargin instead of

Fig. 14. — Tipula varipennis <$ . x 5.

narrowing as in the Braciiycera, and this character at once removes all
doubt in such genera as Rhyphus (fig. 15) of the Nemocera, as compared

Fig. 15. — Rhyphus punctalus <$. x 10.

with Leptis (fig. 16) of the Braciiycera in which the anal cell is open,
though in most Brachycera the anal cell is closed either at or near the

O

Fig. U.—Lcplis sculapacca <5 • x S.

wingmargin or even withdrawn close to the wing-base. Discal cell rarely
present, except in Tipulidce and Rhyphidce.

G

BRITISH FLIES

Head, thorax, margin of scutellum, and legs without any macrochsetze,
unless the bristles which occur in the Mycetophilidce may be considered
such ; but Osten Sacken is of opinion that they are not true macrochsetse,
and in that family the palpi, antennae, and venation locate them at once.
Pubescence never dense and erect.

In all cases of doubt as to whether a fly belongs to the Nemoceka
through the palpi being only one- or two-jointed (as in Aedes or some
* genera of Cecidomyidcc), the structure of the antennae and the venation
should remove all doubt. When the antennae are shortened and the
flagellum (= third joint) is apparently only annulated (as in the
Bibionidce, Simulidce, or Rhyphidce), then the antennae never bear any
terminal style or arista, and the venation is either completely distinct
from any of the Braciiycera, or if rather similar to that of the
Braciiycera (as in Rhyplms ) the widened end of the anal cell deter¬
mines its position, and in these cases the manv-jointed pendulous palpi
are distinct.

Brauer gives the following characters for the larvae of the Nemo gera,
as distinguishing them from those of the Brachycera : “ Larvae with
“horizontally biting upper jaws; or with the mouth parts quite rudi-
“ mentary, in which case the larvae are peripneustic and have 13
“ segments.”

O

BRACHYCERA.

Palpi porrect (not pendulous), one- or two-jointed (sometimes rudi¬
mentary); if two-jointed the second joint is more or less clavate,
and larger than the first which appears to be a handle to the second
joint.

Antennae after the two hasal joints (of which the first is sometimes so
small as to be practically imperceptible) with a third joint (or flagellum)
of most varied structure (though similar in both sexes), but which is most

commonly a solid joint with an apical
(or sometimes dorsal) style or arista.
This joint may be annulated to such
an extent that it resembles the
flagellum of some of the Nemocera,
as for instance in Xylophagus (fig. 11),
or Hcxatovia (fig. 17), or Ccenomyia
(fig. 18), or even as in the extra¬
ordinary Rhachiccrus (fig. 12), and in
these cases there is no terminal style
or arista, but the venation (especially the anal cell) and the porrect palpi
at once separate them from the Nemocera; others have this third joint
very different from the two basal joints but still annulated, though the

BRITISH FLIES

7

annulations are considerably soldered together as in Stratiomys (fig. 19), or

Fig. 18. — Coenomyia ferrvginca £. x 22.

Fig. 10.— Stratiomys furcata 9- x 8.

Sargus (fig. 20), or Tabctnus (fig. 21), and in these the terminal style or
arista often becomes apparent. As a proof that these forms show a connect¬
ing link from the Nemoceka to the Athericera it may be noted that all

species with an annotated third antennal joint belong to the Eremoch.eta
(those groups which exhibit no macrochsetfe) ; after the Eremocileta the
third antennal joint is always solid (the My d aid a ; have an apparently

Fig. 22. — Bombylius major $.
X 23.

Fig. 23. — Thireva nobilitata 9-
X 30.

Fig. 24. — Asilus crabroniformis <J.
X 22.

jointed flagellum of quite a distinct type) and the terminal style or arista (if
any) becomes more regular as in Bombylius (fig. 22), or Tliereva (fig. 23),
aud when the Energopoda of Osten Sacken are reached and macrochsetse
become the almost universal rule this is still more the case, as in Asilus

8

BRITISH FLIES

(fig. 24), though not always, as in Laphria (fig. 25), until in the families
with a very short anal cell ( Empidce , Doliehopodidce, etc.) the third
antennal joint is comparatively simple, with a terminal style, as in

Fig. 25.— Laphria Jlava J .
x 20.

Fig. 26. — Empis tessellata 9 .
X 30.

Fig. 27. — Dolicliopus ungulalus <$.
X 33.

Empis (fig. 26), though the dorsal arista (so characteristic of the Atheri-
cera) does not make its appearance until in some genera of the
Dolichopodulcc (fig. 27). The an ten me are never very long, rarely as
long as the head and thorax together, though they are not uncommonly
elongate and porrect, and they are almost invariably similar in the two
sexes.

Wings with an apparently complex venation (though the complexity

is only caused by numerous cross-
veinlets), as in Nemestrina (fig.
28), or with a venation well de¬
veloped but of a comparatively
simple type which extends through
numerous families, until the group
fig. 28.— Nemestrina Perezii 9. x 5. of families is reached in which the

anal cell is drawn back to the base
of the wing, after which the venation becomes far more simple until it
reaches the most simple form in the Doliehopodidce (fig 29), in which it is

almost indistinguishable from many of the Athericera. The anal cell is
always contracted near the hindmaryin, even when it is open as in Leptis

BRITISH FLIES

9

Fig. 30. — Thereva annvlata $. x 10.

(fig. 16), and is most commonly closed either at the wingmargin (when
it may vary in the same species as to being open or closed), as in
Thereva (fig. 30), or near the
wingmargin, as in Oxycera
(fig. 31), or it may he closed
near the wing base, as in Em-
pis (fig. 32), or may become
obsolete, as in Dolichopus (fig.

29), and in these latter cases
the venation and the antenme

indicate the stepping stones to the Athericera ; discal cell almost always
present, though not obvious in some Empidce and in all the subsequent

families. Alula and axillary
incision well developed as a
rule, though sometimes obsolete.
Wing - membrane frequently
ribbed or rippled or merely
rumpled, being conspicuously
ribbed in some of the Strati-
omyidee, and rippled or ribbed in the Tabanidce, Nemestrinidce, Cyrtidce
(slightly), Bonibylidce, Therevidcc (slightly), Mydaidce, and Asilidce, but
not in the Lcptidce or Scenopi -
nidee, though exceptions may
occur, as I am unable to trace
anything of the kind in the
genus Nemotelus and in some
species of Dioctria. Squamae of
very varied development; the Fig. 32. — Emins lutca i . x 104.

alar pair being usually moder¬
ately developed, but small in the Cyrtidce and rather small in some Asilidce,
while they are difficult to see in the Bombylince and the Nemestrinidce,
well developed in the Therevidcc , and moderate to large in the Tabanidce ;
thoracal squamae very frequently absent, or only indicated by the mem¬
brane of the frenum, in the Lcptidce, Nemestrinidce, Bombylidce, Therevidcc,
Mydaidce, Scenopinidce, Apioceridce, Asilidce, and some of the Stratiomyidce,
but large and conspicuous and rather upraised in the Tabanidce, and

Fig. 31. — Oxycera pulclulla £. x 104.

enormous and depressed in the Cyrtidce.

Pubescence soft and equal in the Eremocireta, as there is no trace ot
long distinct hairs or bristly hairs or anything approaching to a bristle,
unless of such a structural nature as the thoracic spines of Ephippium,
the scutellar spines of Beris, Stratiomys, etc., or the femoral serration of
Xylomyia, etc., though the pubescence of the Leptidce is usually more rigid
than that of any of the Stratiomyidce ; in the Tromoptera {Bombylidce and
Therevidcc ) strong bristly hairs often occur on the sides of the thorax or
on the margin of the scutellum, and some of these hairs represent or form

10

BRITISH FLIES

characteristic bristles (fig. 33), and at the same time the legs hear small
spicules, or even bristly spines on the femora, which are quite distinct

from any structural serration, and the first
indications occur of an apical circlet of
spurs or spines on the tibiae ; the Derma-
tixa (Bcenopnniclce and Mydaidce) are of a
more coriaceous nature and, though not
truly chsetophorous, begin in some species
of Mydaidce to exhibit small spines (not
spicules) on the tibia? besides a rather
bristly serration beneath the hind femora ;
the Exergopoda ( Apioceridce and Asilido:)
and the Micropiioxa (Empidcc, Doluhopo-
didce) and subsequent families bear distinct
and legs (unless they are replaced, as in
some Asilidce, by dense coarse pubescence).

In all cases of doubt as to whether a fly belongs to the Brachycera
or the Nemo Cera (and doubt could only arise in some Stratiomyidce and
Lcptidce) because of an annulated flagellum-like third joint of the antennae
(as in Bhachicerus , Beris, Xylophagus, Ccenomyia, etc.), the contraction of
the anal cell towards the wingmargin provides an infallible character.

Brauer gives the following characters for distinguishing the larva? of
the Brachycera from those of the Nemocera: —

“ Larva? with parallel upwards and downwards or outwards and down¬
wards grinding jaws, which act in piercing, hacking, boring, or sucking.
Head not fully developed, only a jaw-case without ganglia present, which,
however, sometimes is almost a head because of the outwardly pro-
“ jeeting eyes. — Chain of ganglia beginning behind the jaw piece. — Larva?

with rudimentary mouth-parts, meta- or amphi-pneustic, and composed of
“ 10-12 segments.”

THE DIPTEEA ORTHOEEHAPHA BEACHYCEEA
may be divided into sixteen families, which have been associated into
groups or superfamilies in various ways.

The exact boundary line between the Ortiiorriiapha and the Cyclor-
RHApiia is still rather uncertain, and one of the last students of this
subject (de Meijere, Zool. Jahrb., xiv., pp, 87-132, 1900) is of opinion that
the Lonchop ter idee and Plioridce should commence the Cyclorrhapha
rather than close the Orthorrhapha. Osten Sacken’s final views (1902)
were that the Plioridce were true Orthorrhapha, but that they had no
“real affinity” with any other family. My own studies have not suffici¬
ently included these difficult questions, and consequently I am unable to
give any strong opinion, except to say that I believe the Plioridce to have
their nearest “affinity” in the Lonchopteridce, and the Lonchopteridce in
the Dolichopodidoe.

Pig. 33. — Thereva nobrlitata 9 • x 10.

macroelnetse on head, thorax,

BRITISH FLIES

11

DIPTERA ORTHOERHAPHA BEACHYCERA.

Short Table of British Families.

This short table of families is naturally subject to some exceptions.

1 (8) Three well-developed pulvilli (fig. 34). Species absolutely without

bristles.

2 (5) Third joint of antennae annulated.

(Conf. Xylophagus in Leptidce.)

3 (4) Praefurca starting almost opposite the base of the discal cell

(fig. 35). Tibiae without spurs (except in Xylomyia). Thoracal
squamae usually small. I. Stratiomyidtk.

4 (3) Praefurca starting considerably before the base of the discal cell

(fig. 39). Tibiae spurred on at least the middle pair. Thoracal
squamae large. IV. TabaniD/E.

5 (2) Third joint of antennae not annulated (except in Xylophagus).

Posterior tibiae spurred.

6 (7) Thoracal squamae small. Abdomen elongate, usually conical.

III. Leptidce.

7 (6) Thoracal squamae enormous. Abdomen balloon-like.

VI. Cyrtid^e.

8 (1) Two pulvilli only (tig. 42). Species not truly eremochaetous.

9 (16) Basal cells long; anal cell long and pointed or even open.

10 (13) Posterior cells three or four: small cross-vein absent (figs.

43 and 45).

11 (12) Furry species. Posterior cells four. VII. BoMBYLiDiE.

12 (11) Bare species. Posterior cells three. IX. Scenopinid^e.

13 (10) Posterior cells five; small cross-vein usually present (fig. 44).

14 (15) Vertex flush with the eyes; eyes of the male touching. Aerial

furry species. A7 II I. Therevid^e.

15 (14) Vertex sunken in both sexes between the bulging eyes; eyes of

the male widely separated. Pedestrian usually bristly species.

XII. AsiLIDiE.

16 (9) Second basal and anal cells short, the anal cell (when present)

being closed by a recurrent veinlet or with a blunt end (except
in Hybotince ) ; posterior cells never more than four.

17 (22) Longitudinal wing-veins comparatively normal and running out

fairly straight to the wingmargin.

18 (21) Wings rounded at the tip and with at least one apparent cross¬

vein near the middle of the wing.

19 (20) Upper basal cell about one-third the length of the wing.

Proboscis horny and pointed. XIII. Empid^e.

20 (19) Upper basal cell very short and indistinct. Proboscis stout and

pulpy. XIV. I)OLICHOPODID.E.

21 (18) Wings pointed at the tip and with no apparent cross-vein out on

the middle of the wing. Mouth-margin bristly.

XV. Lonchopterid.e.

22 (17) Longitudinal veins extremely abnormal, those on the main portion

of the wing being very faint (fig. 53). XVI. Phorid,e.

12

BRITISH FLIES

DIPTERA ORTHORRHAPHA BEACH YCERA.

Table of Families as distinguished by Venation.

Although there may he a few exceptional cases the families may almost
always he distinguished by the venation alone.

1 (24) Basal cells all three long (at least one-third the length of the

wing) ; the lower one (anal cell) being often open to the wing-
margin, and when closed ending in a point at more than half
the length of the anal vein. Alula usually well developed.
(Conf. TTybotinm in Fmpidce.)

2 (21) Posterior cells with their lower margin not running parallel with

the wingmargin. Discal cross-vein rarely placed much beyond
the middle of the discal cell but commonly before.

3 (18) Upper branch of the discal vein ending after the wing-tip.

4 (7) Pnefurca originating almost opposite the base of the discal cell.

Venation elaborate, and in all cases including the discal cell.

5 (6) Ambient vein absent. Discal cell always present, pentagonal

(except in Xylomyince) ; fourth posterior cell open (except in
Xylomyince). 1. Stratiomyid,e.

6 (5) Ambient vein present (though thin). Fourth posterior cell

bluntly closed. II. Acantiiomerid^e.

7 (4) Pnefurca originating well before the base of the discal cell, or

( Cyrtidce ) the discal cell absent or the venation reduced.

8 (17) 1 >iscal cross-vein normal.

9 (16) Posterior cells live (except in Hilar imorpha).

N.B. — The four following families exhibit the most perfect and yet
intelligible form of venation in the Brachycera. It is very similar in
all four families but is easily distinguished by a practised eye.

10 (15) Subcostal vein only moderately long and ending quite simple.

11 (12) Cubital fork large, triangularly wide open, and including the

wing-tip. IV. Tabanid^:.

(Conf. Vcrmileonince and Hilarimorpha.)

12 (11) Cubital fork usually much longer than wide (but not so in

Vcrmileonince and Hilar imorpha'), and often hardly including
the wing-tip.

13 (14) Discal cross-vein placed near the base (on at least the basal

third) of the discal cell. Fourth posterior cell never closed or
even contracted. Stigma usually well defined. III. Leptid^e.

14 (13) Discal cross-vein placed at about the middle of the discal cell.

Fourth posterior cell often acutely closed and usually con¬
tracted. VIII. Therevid^e.

BRITISH FLIES

13

15 (10)

16 (9)

17 (8)

18 (3)

19 (20)

20 (19)

21 (2)

22 (23)

23 (22)

24 (1)

25 (28)

26 (27)

27 (26)

28 (25)

29 (30)

30 (29)

Subcostal vein unusually long, and often receiving the radial
vein before its tip. Fourth posterior cell frequently closed.
Stigma absolutely absent. XII. Asilid^e.

Posterior cells four or three. Cubital fork (when present)
usually large and triangularly wide open, including the
wing-tip. VII. BOMBYLIDvE.

Discal cross-vein absent in British species; but when present
placed close to the base of the discal cell, and the continuation
of the cell beyond it closed by another cross-vein near
(sometimes beyond) the end of the discal cell. Venation in
British species very much reduced. VI. Cyrtid^e.

Upper branch of the discal vein ending before the wing-tip.

Venation very much reduced. IX. Scenopinid.e.

Venation elaborate. Veins near the wing-tip upcurved.

XT. APIOCERIDiE.

Posterior cells (at least the first and normal fourth) with their
lower margin running parallel with the wingmargin. Discal
cross-vein near the end of the discal cell.

Subcostal vein moderate in length and ending simple. “ Diagonal ”
vein present. V. Nemestrinid.e.

Subcostal vein remarkably long and receiving subsequent veins.
“ Diagonal ” vein not present. X. Mydaid^e.

Basal cells or at least the anal cell short, and (except in
Hybotinw ) with the lower branch of the postical vein re¬
curved so that the anal cell ends in an upper point, or the
anal or second basal cell absent. Posterior cells four or less.
Alula absent.

Venation showing at least one apparent cross-vein well out on the
disc of the wing. Wings rounded at the tip.

Basal cells usually long enough to be conspicuous. Badial and
cubital veins diverging at about one-third the length of the
wing. Cubital vein often forked. XIII. Empida^.

Basal cells very short or obsolete. Badial and cubital veins
diverging close to the base of the wing. Cubital vein never
forked. XIV. DoLiCHorommE.

Venation abnormal and not showing any apparent cross-vein out
on the disc of the wing.

Badial and cubital veins long and almost parallel, diverging close
to the base and ending almost at the wing-tip. Wing-tip
pointed. XV. Lonchopterid^e.

Badial and cubital veins forming one strong vein which extends
up to near the middle of the costa, and close to which they may
diverge ; subsequent veins faint and apparently arising from
this proefurca. Wing-tip rounded. XV 1. Phorid^e.

14

BRITISH FLIES

DIPTERA ORTHO R R H A PH A BRACHYCERA.

Tabit of fa a 2 Families.

1 ql2) Three equally well developed pad-like pulvilli ( fig. 34). Species
absolutely erem ehtetoua* EREMOCHJETA.

Third joint of the antennae usually annulated, and when a style or
- esent it is apical or sabapicaL Anal coil always long but
closed, r. at any rate, contracted near the wing-
margin : cubital vein almost always forked :
fourth posterior cell seldom closed* : thoracal
squamae often large. Species sometimes blood¬
sucking. but never predaceous in the perfect
state.

Exceptions may occur as follows : the pul-
villi may be only two in number ( Lam pmm >/ia ).
or may be obsolete (CuznophaHt.*. etc.) : the
femora more or less serrate beneath the bind
pair A’ /Iomyia. etc.), though the term eremo-
chaetous should be taken as strictly applying to
the thorax and scutellum only : the antennal
arista apparently only subapical or even sub-
dorsal (PacA*/p‘istrr. Aymphoromyia, etc.), and
the third joint not at all annulated ( Ltptida ,
etc. : the .anal cell only moderately long
J vein {Pachygast<er sp^ Xemotdus sp., Orycein

H irimtorpka. Cyrtid : urth posterior cell closed

J; /ft. Awithoi < erf dr. etc. .

Fl'j. £4. — J-Cu <r i~c

2 (11) Wing- veins nevex running parallel with the hindmargin of the
wing. ut all the veins near or after the wing-tip running out
almost straight t: the wingmargin.

The veins may become faint, curved, and incomplete >.

etc. . or bsolete og riot . or if they d : run almost parallel with thr
hindmargin (as in some - '* thr thoracal squamae then are
enormous.

> Thoratal squamae small or • ‘ solete, or if rather large < Straiicn

etc.) then covered on lx>th upper and under surfaces with
woolly pubescence, and the abdomen not balloon-like as in the
C fit -. and the fork of the cubital vein verv short and
wholly plated far let ore the wing-tip-.

■4 * Anil-lent vein - ;h ~en: r incomplete, though sometimes {Beri^r*

and _Ti h n r * the costal vein is continued for a short
distance after the end of the cubital vein : prtefurca ^ starting
almost opposite the base of the diseal c-ell except in the

* —y c.-— ~i^-» - - , ' . - ~ - - * i- 2.1 I. 2*5* . 1' ' y V " 1, ’ — . - — 2 1_ tt5 .1 * - 2 -*2. 2 T tllTlX.

-7 -- — — ■- *■- XaagL — — ;e-t iciissyrart rr i It.

- 0: - twi>nmT Tprr ' 12.- - 2 V 2 — r~ - £ 2*2*2212 11- 11 . '-£"1 ‘ ’ 11- » -III, >12 1 11:11-.

iC -2 Hit as i of xte ijfii T~i2_

; ~2 * 2 .-fc-Tir C* ’ -5 11- -thihIk- ■ 1_ - T%Z :C. £1 ' ' 'Mi -15.

BRITISH FL_ES

-- ■ ' .. > . : - liter. mcwis-d _ . . :yr

costa. and the other veins faint: cubical r;zk entire! v before
the wing-tip tm .ess in j. \ kuy’z / i*l cell i_wa-T5 d sed
Legs rather short and stout; tithe without sours exoett in
the JCyloTr ’n:vy? and a fe~ Bt u kt. Third antennal hint
(flagellum) always annulatei. Sontelltm :::en armed with
marginal spines. Proboscis never el innate :r him- Perfeo:
insects never blood-suckers. L SxKxrroifTED n

-• - :• '■ .-a crr.r n-,1 ■ l 3

The are Large to rather small lies, more :r less

" : -- ' hr: • st lyi . • and lat :n

' ttenei aid men. : •- istaally bha.’k

with orange or whitish markings, cm all the British <:■-:* -- etc
' setting green Iney n 7 ith the mu-mum : the

. from ah the Fahearcti Si et
(except a few Cyrti ■ •- by the sh ert prsefcrea. which starts ertesite to.
instead of considerably before, the base of the diseal eelL

The Ab/om */?,<<_? are somewhat aberrant, and cLjsely resemble the
‘ in m ny characters. stt:h as the rraefzr:*a start¬
ing' m ' r • - thee ntintmnce :

the costa- vein as an ambient vein to the end the se-mni veinlet from
' con - tn - f th- - d tell m l ml tel : to the - irred

I 'tert : ■ metim s s rrt 0 hini femera. bn: thev m_av

■■e distinguished from the A* a ’ • ■ ■- by the closed f urth t> m r

oil.

5 i4i Ambient vein complete even it faint: anterior veins never

crowded together near the costa; cubital fork almost am.
enclosing the tip of the wing or at any rate whenpresen
very nearly doing; so. Tibia? always more or less spur re 1
ScuteUuni very rarely armed Com;

6 (7) Gigantic flies. Thirel antennal joint always annotated. Tibia? with

a short indistinct spur on the middle pair only. Prtefurca
starting only a short distance before the 1 ase he diseal cell ;

16

BRITISH FLIES

cubital fork wide open and including the wing-tip ; fourth
posterior cell always bluntly closed ; squamae absent.

II. ACANTHOMEEID/E
(not European).

7 (6) Moderate-sized flies. Third antennal joint rarely annulated.

Tibiae always spurred on the posterior pairs, and some¬
times on the front pair. Praefurca always starting con¬
siderably before the base of the discal cell; cubital fork
usually long and bell-mouthed, and usually including the

wing-tip ; fourth posterior cell very rarely closed, and then
only in a point near the wingmargin. Posterior cells five, or
very rarely ( Hilar tmorpha ) four; anal cell sometimes just
open at the wingmargin ; thoracal squamae absent. Legs,

BRITISH FLIES

17

and especially the tarsi, rather long and not stout even
though strong; front coxae long. Scutellum unarmed, except
in Ccenomyia. Perfect insects (with extremely rare exceptions),
not blood-suckers. HI. Lepthuk

The Leptidce are rather large to rather small elongate flies, not at
all flattened, but with a rather conical abdomen and with Ion"' win°'s.
Their colours are usually sombre, but many of the larger species have
extensive orange markings on the abdomen, while others bear very fugitive
golden pile. They may be distinguished from the allied families by the
spurred tibiae, the practical absence of the thoracal squamae, and (with
the exception of the Xylophaginae and Coenomyinoe) the simple third
antennal joint ; they also bear a characteristic pubescence, which is of
a sparse equal bristly nature, though quite devoid of strong bristles
( = macrocluetse).

The Xylophaginae and C oenomyinoe have a distinctly 8-annulated
flagellum, and are consequently allied to the
closing subfamilies of the Stratiomyidce, which
also agree with them in having the tibiae more
or less spurred; the entire ambient vein dis¬
tinguishes them but is not a very obvious
character, and further details of distinction are
given under their descriptions. The arista may *1IQ’ ss-—Symphoromyia
sometimes appear to be subdorsal ( Symphoro -
myia ) because of the peculiar formation of the third antennal ioint
(fig. 38).

8 (3) Thoracal squamae conspicuously large. Scutellum never armed.

9 (10) Head large and conspicuous, semicircular anteriorly, but fitting

posteriorly squarely on the front of the thorax, and about as
wide as, or wider than, the thorax ; antennae with the third

Fig. 39. — Tabanus macv.licorv.is 9 • x 3.

joint annulated, but very rarely llagelliform ( Hcxatoma , etc.),
and the basal annulation much larger than the others so as to
almost reduce the other annulations to a thick jointed style,
and never with any approximation to an arista. Thorax and
abdomen rather flat and broad, never at all gibbous; genitalia
never prominent. Venation normal; cubital fork very wide
open ; posterior cells always five ; small cross-vein always
present ; ambient vein distinctly entire. Tibke always spurred

B

18

BRITISH FLIES

on the middle pair, and sometimes on the hind pair. Thoracal
squamae large, but not enormous ; rather raised and not con¬
cealing- the halteres. Perfect insects all blood-suckers and
never small. IV. Tabanidal

The Tobanidce are the well-known biting “Horse Flies,” * which
annoy mankind as well as horses and cattle. They are often very large
(but hardly gigantic) bulky flies, ranging down to moderate but never small
size, and they are square-built with the thorax and abdomen moderately
flattened. Their colours are, as a rule, mottled brown and grey, except
in the brightly colored species of Chrysops, and in life the eyes exhibit
most brilliant hues of green with usually purple spots or bands. The
proboscis is inconspicuous in all British species, but in many species of
Pancjonia is remarkably long, thin, and porrect. The Tobanidce may
be easily known by their general appearance, peculiarly annulated third
antennal joint, and their large thoracal squamae, while the wide open
triangular fork of the cubital vein never truly occurs in any others of
the Ebemoch.eta.

The Pangonince may exhibit some little variation in venation, but
only of an unimportant nature, such as the closing of the first and
fourth posterior cells near the wingmargin through the approximation
and fusion of the veins.

10 (9) Head very small and inconspicuous, being almost globular and so

much depressed as to be overshadowed by the large gibbous
thorax, very holoptic in both sexes ; antennae with the third
joint never annulated, though sometimes elongate and strap¬
shaped without any style or arista, but usually very short
and with a long apical arista. Thorax and abdomen very

gibbous, the abdomen being rounded or even inflated like
a balloon; prothorax sometimes ( Philopota ) exceedingly de¬
veloped, and forming a dorsal shield on the front part of the
thorax ; genitalia never prominent. Venation usually eccen¬
tric; posterior cells varying from two to five (or apparently
six) ; small cross-vein usually absent, but sometimes indistinctly
present; ambient vein absent; discal cross-vein (when present)
close to the end of the prsefurca and close to the base of the
discal cell, and there is often a second cross-vein placed near

* I use the terms Horse Ply for Tabanidce, and Gad Fly or Bot Fly for CEstridce.

BRITISH FITES

19

the end of the discal cell. Tibiae without spurs or with only
very short blunt ones. Thoracal squamae enormous, depressed,
and completely covering the halteres. Perfect insects never
blood-suckers and never large. YI. Cyetid^e.

The Cyrtidce are medium sized to rather small humpbacked flies,
with a globular abdomen and comparatively (or very) small wings.
Their colours are dark with usually yellow or bone-white markings.
The head is usually ridiculously small in comparison with the thorax,
and is almost entirely composed of the two eyes. The mouth opening
is sometimes closed by a membrane, but in some (not British) species
there is a very long, thin, horny proboscis bent back under the body.
The larvae are parasitic on spiders, but (as far as known) the perfect
insects are harmless. They may be distinguished from all other
Brachyceea by the enormous thoracal squamae and the globular
abdomen.

11 (2) Wing-veins running parallel with the hindmargin of the wing

(fig. 41) in a very different fashion from any other Euemo-
CHiETA, and often reticulate.

The venation has some other peculiarities, as there is a
“ diagonal vein ” which runs as a continuation of the cubital
vein almost straight from its base to (or almost to) the hind-
margin of the wing, and when the discal cross-vein is present,
it is placed very near the tip of the discal cell. Antennse
with the third joint simple and bearing a terminal style.
Aerial insects of rather large size. V. Nemestrinid^e.

The Nemestrinidce inhabit the hot dry regions of the world, and
only a few occur in the South of Europe of which none are ever likely
to occur in Britain. Some of the species have most peculiarly reticulate
wings, and some have the proboscis longer than in any other Diptera.
The larvae are parasitic.

20

BRITISH FLIES

12 (1) Two pad-like pulvilli only, the empodinm being sometimes absent

or sometimes represented by a bristly hair (fig. 42). Species
not truly eremochsetous.

Third joint of the antennae never truly annulated, though indica¬
tions appear in the blunt antennae of Sceriopinidce and in the remarkably
jointed style or club of Mydaidoe, and while any style or arista is apical
or subapical in the earlier* groups, it may become dorsal in some of
the Micuophona. Anal cell almost always closed,
long in the earlier* families, but short in the Era-
pidce , and obsolete in the subsequent families ;
cubital vein almost always with a long fork in the
earlier* families, but often simple in the Empidoe ,
and almost always simple in the subsequent
families ; fourth posterior cell often closed in the
earlier* families; thoracal squamae always un¬
developed. Species often predaceous in the perfect
state, but never blood-suckers.

Exceptions may occur in the pulvilli being
obsolete ( Leptogaster , Anthrax , etc.) or (said to be)
three in number ( Cyrtosia ). The Scenopinidce

and Mydaidoe appear to be eremochsetous, but
they are curiously bald flies, and are undoubtedly
related to the Therevidce and Asilidce. Some
Asilidce are apparently not chsetopliorous, but that is caused by dense
coarse pubescence being substituted for the normal bristles (Laphria,
etc.). Some Bombylidce ( Platypygus , Cyrtosia , etc.) have the cubital
vein simple.

13 (24) Basal cells long, the anal cell being open or long and pointed,

because the branches of the postical fork only gradually
diverge, and the upper branch is usually connected with the
discal cell by the small cross-vein, though sometimes
( Bombylidce , Scenopinidce, etc.) it forms a part of the lower
margin of the discal cell; wing-venation usually elaborate.
Cephalic bristles on frons and vertex not strongly developed,
though sometimes visible in Asilidce. Often large or very large
species and seldom small, and when small usually with long
pubescence among the stronger bristles.

14 (17) Aerial species almost always clothed with dense furry pubescence.

Legs thin and only suitable for alighting, and consequently
armed with little more than spicules (not true bristles) on the
femora and tibiae. Eyes nearly always touching in the male
( = holoptic), and never bulged out because of a sunken vertex.

TROMOPTERA.

Sometimes long strong bristles or bristly hairs occur on the thorax
and scutellum, and then the legs bear stronger spicules, and in the
Therevidce apical circlets of spines occur on the tibiae. Antenna? with
an apical style (if any) which sometimes breaks up into a pencil of
hairs. Proboscis very long, thin, and porrect in many Bombylidce.
Very rarely some species are quite bare of pubescence ( Glabellvla ,
Systropus, etc.) and the exotic Systrojnnce are very elongate, very thin,
quite bare species.

Fic. 42. — Asilus era-
broniformis <J.

The term “ earlier " applies to all those families before the Empidce.

BRITISH FLIES

21

15 (16) Small cross-vein absent; posterior cells four or three; cubital
fork often wide open. Proboscis often long, thin, and porrect,
with very small sucker-flaps. Abdomen usually short and
rounded. Thorax, scutellum, and legs rarely with definite
chseto tactic bristles. VII. Bombylid^.

Fig. 43. — Bombylius major <£ . x 3.

The abdomen is very long and thin in the exotic genus fy/stropus,
and that genus has no pubescence or bristles except some short spicules
on the tibiae. The Toxophorince bear some remarkable curved bristles
on the thorax and especially on the enlarged shield-like prothorax, but
those bristles appear to be of some distinct nature and scarcely lend
themselves to chaetotactic arrangement. In the Anthracince the pro¬
boscis is short and the eyes of the male are scarcely more approximated
than those of the female, while the abdomen is rather oblong in
shape.

The Bomhylidaz are large or rather large or even rather small
(Phthiria) flies which are usually covered with a dense soft furry
pubescence which may obscure all the ground colour and hide any
chaetotactic bristles. The true Bombylinae have short rounded bodies,
and a remarkably long, thin, porrect proboscis. The species are sun-
lovers and are never predaceous in the perfect state, but are parasitic
in the larval stage on Hymenopterous and Lepidopterous larvae. The
imagines are most perfect hoverers, and almost live in the air during
hot sunshine.

16 (15) Small cross-vein present; posterior cells five; cubital fork long
and only moderately wide open ; subcostal vein reaching little
more than half the wing. Proboscis short and fleshy, with
large sucker - flaps. Abdomen rather elongate, tapering.
Thorax, scutellum, and legs with distinct chaetotactic bristles,

22

BRITISH FLIES

which form rows of spicules and an apical rosette on the
tibiae. VIII. Therevide.

The Therevidoe are moderate-sized Hies, which have a conical
tapering abdomen somewhat like that of the Leptidoe but clothed with
furry pubescence. They are the first family of the Brachycera to
show conspicuous chaetotactic bristles, and the ovipositor of the female
is armed with a rosette of spines like many of the Mydaidoe and
Asilidce.

17 (14) Pedestrian species, usually armed with strong bristles and only

occasionally ( laphria , Isopogon, etc.) clothed with dense coarse
pubescence, or (Dermatina) bare of both pubescence and
bristles. Legs strong, usually armed with strong bristles on
at least the tibke and tarsi. Eyes almost always widely
separated in both sexes ( = dichoptic), and frequently bulging
out from the deeply sunken vertex.

18 (21) Eremochsetous species in the sense that there are no strong

bristles on any part of the thorax or scutellum.

DERMATINA.

Usually dark rather leathery-looking species without any bristles
or pubescence except sometimes some pubescence on the head, sides of
the mesonotum, and basal corners of the abdomen, but there may be
spicules on the tibiae, strong serration beneath the hind femora, and
sometimes one or more apical spurs or spines on the hind or even
oil all the tibiae. Antennae with the third joint either elongate
without a style or arista ( Scenopinidce ), or with an apical style which
is developed into a (usually) long-jointed club (Mydaidoe). Venation
with the main ( = upper) branch of the discal vein ending before
the wing-tip ; posterior cells three to five. Very large to rather small
species.

The two families composing the Dermatina are at first glance very
dissimilar, but closer study shows that they have many important
characters in common. The total absence of thoracic bristles and the
discal vein ending before the wing-tip are quite sufficient characters
to distinguish them from all others.

BRITISH FLIES

23

19 (20) Wing-veins few and simple. Bather small oblong dark colored
species bare of all pubescence and bristles. Antennae with
the third joint ligulate, but without any style, arista, or
club. Legs short and without any bristles or spicules.
Venation with the upper branch of the postical fork forming
the whole lower margin of the disced cell ; subcostal vein
short and simple ; discal cross-vein near the middle of
the discal cell ; posterior cells three only.

IX. Scenopinidjs.

The Scenojnnidce are easily known by their rather small size, simple
venation, and peculiar antennae. They are very few in number, and
only the typical genus has been found in Europe.

20 (19) Wing-veins numerous and complex. Very large to moderate
sized usually dark colored species. Antennae with a remarkable

Fig. 40. — Syllegomydas cinctus & . x 3.

jointed usually clubbed style (except in Megascelus). Scutellum
small; metanotum very large. Legs powerful; hind femora

24

BRITISH FLIES

usually strongly serrated beneath, and the tibiae often with
rows of spicules and apical spines or with one or more apical
spurs on the hind tibiae. Venation with the subcostal vein very
long and receiving several subsequent veins before its tip; discal
vein curved up and ending before the wing-tip in either the
costa or the subcostal vein ; small cross-vein present and
placed close to the base of the upper branch of the postical
fork ; discal cross-vein (when distinct) near the end of the
discal cell ; posterior cells three, four, or five ; proof urea, very
short (except in Megascelus). X. Mydaidce.

The Mydaidce are usually gigantic or very large exotic flies, but
two or three species of moderate size occur in the south of Europe.
Their peculiar venation distinguishes them from all others, but is not
very different from that of the Apioceridce.

21 (18) Chsetophorous species in the sense that there are strong and
usually numerous bristles on the thorax, scutellum, and legs,
or at least on the sides of the mesonotum, except in the few
cases in which dense coarse pubescence is substituted.

ENERGOPODA.

Never bare leathery-looking species. Tibiae and tarsal joints with
apical circlets of spines. Eyes always widely separated in both sexes
( = dichoptic) and usually protruding. Antennae with a simple or
jointed apical style or sometimes without any style or arista. Vena¬
tion with the subcostal vein very long and often receiving the radial
vein before its tip ■ praefurca moderately long ; discal cross-vein near
the middle of the discal cell ; small cross-vein always present or almost
so; posterior cells almost invariably five. Very large to rather small
species, and the smallest Asilidce usually bear long pubescence as well
as bristles.

The two families composing the Energopoda are closely allied,
but yet perfectly distinct. Sometimes {Apioceridce) the venation
resembles that of the Mydaidce in that the upper branch of the discal
vein ends before the wing-tip, while the radial vein and the upper
branch of the cubital vein end in the subcostal, but that occurs very
rarely in the Asilidce (some species of Erax). When dense coarse
pubescence is substituted for bristles ( Laphria , etc.) it is of a very
different nature from the soft furry pubescence of the Tromoptera.
The Asilidce are all predaceous.

The Energopoda may be distinguished from the Dermatina by
the presence of strong bristles on the thorax, and from the Microphona
by their (usually) larger size and much more elaborate venation, which
practically always includes five posterior cells and a long pointed anal
cell.

22 (23) Face short and without any face-heard overhanging the mouth.

Palpi spatulate. Antennas with a very short style. Scutellum
large and concealing the metanotum. Venation rather similar
to that of the Mydaidce as the radial vein and upper branch of
the cubital fork curve up and end in the subcostal vein, while
the upper branch of the discal vein curves up and ends before

BRITISH FLIES

25

the wing-tip ; third veinlet from the discal cell abruptly
recurrent and closing the fourth posterior cell.

XI. ApioceridjE.
(not European)

The Apioceridce consist of about a dozen species from America and
Australia, one from South Africa, and perhaps one from Ceylon.

3 (22) Face rather long and always bearing (on at least its lower part)
a face-beard which overhangs the mouth.

Fig. 4S. — 1‘hilonicus albiceps <$. x 3.

Palpi never spatulate. Antennae with or without an apical
style or arista. Scutellum large or moderate sized, not con¬
cealing the metanotum. Venation not similar to that of the

26

BRITISH FLIES

Mydaidte, as the lower outer veins do not curve up and run
parallel with the hindmargin of the wing (except in a very
few species of Erax), but run out normally to the wing-
margin; upper branch of the discal vein ending long after
the wing-tip ; cubital fork long and not very wide open.
Vertical portion of the frons deeply sunken between the
protuberant eyes. Head well separated from the thorax by
a freely movable neck. Proboscis powerful, horny, and
without any fleshy labella, but never elongated. Genitalia
usually conspicuous. Predaceous flies, with strong grasping
legs, which are armed with bristles especially on the tarsi.

XII. Asililo*;.

The Asilidub are large to very large (but occasionally small)
powerful predaceous flies, known as the “Robber Flies,” par excellence.
They are not likely to be confounded with the species of any other
family, unless they might be with the Therevidue or Apioceridce ; from
the Therevidce they may be distinguished by the protuberant eyes,
absence of soft furry pubescence, and longer subcostal vein, and from
the Apioceridce by the very distinct venation (with exceedingly few
exceptions), face, palpi, and antennae. The European species are very
numerous and many are very difficult to distinguish, but they have
been well worked out.

24 (13) Anal cell short except in a few Empidce ( Hybotince ) and shorter

than the preceding basal cell (when that is present), and the
upper basal cell rather long in the Empidce only; postical
vein with its lower branch recurrent (except in the Hybotince)
and its upper branch quickly lost in the discal vein; cubital
vein simple except in a few Empidce ; small cross-vein quite
absent; posterior cells apparently never more than four, but
usually less ; wing-veins altogether few and simple ; alula
obsolete. Face bare or only slightly pubescent in the Micko-
phona, but with peristomal bristles in Lonchopteridce and side
or genal bristles in Phoridce, but with no face-beard or
pubescence as in Asilidce. Cephalic bristles usually strongly
developed. Species always small and distinctly chsetophorous.

The four subsequent families become more and more bristly, and
may be distinguished from the Energopoda by their reduced venation,
in which there are never more than four and commonly only three
posterior cells, and in which the cubital vein is forked in only a few
Empidce.

25 (30) Wing-veins (including cross-veins) fairly normal, or else the radial

and cubital veins extended to almost the wing-tip. Antenme
with three (or rarely two) joints obvious, besides any style or
arista.

26 (29) Wings rounded at the tip; venation fairly normal, with the radial

vein ending considerably before the wing-tip, and with at least
one apparent cross-vein well out towards the middle of the

BRITISH FLIES

27

wing, causing the discal cell to be present even if extended
back to the wing-base. Face, mouth-margin, and jowls with¬
out strong bristles. Thorax rarely with a soft pubescence.
Eyes of the male sometimes touching or approximated.
Imagines always predaceous. MICROPHONA.

27 (28) Wings with at least the upper basal cell rather long, as the
radial and cubital veins diverge at about one-third of the
length of the wing, and the discal cross-vein is distinct ;
second basal and anal cells sometimes about as long as the
upper basal cell, but often shorter or the anal cell absent ;
discal cell often present and separated from the second basal
cell by a cross-vein ; cubital vein often forked. Alar squama;
small. Proboscis almost always horny, often long and pointed.
Antenna? with the style or arista (if any) almost always apical ;
Abdomen normally with seven segments ; genitalia of the male
large and conspicuous. Colour never metallic green in palae-
arctic species. XIII. Empid^e.

Fig. 49. — Empis trigranvma J . x 0.

Iii the Tacky dr ominoe the second basal cell and the anal cell
become small or the latter may be absent ; but in the Hybotince the
anal cell is long but not pointed, the lower branch of the postical vein
being curved down into the anal vein considerably before the wing-
margin ; in the Hybotince , however, the second veinlet from the discal
cell is missing, and there are only four posterior cells even with the
inclusion of the anal cell. The proboscis is thick and almost fleshy in
Clinocera , etc. The antennae have a subdorsal arista in Ocydromia, etc.

28

BRITISH FLIES

The Empidce are small or occasionally moderately large predaceous
Hies, and form the last family of the Brachycera in which the basal
cells of the wing are rather long, but the general type of the venation
has become much more simple than in the previous families. Ordinary
pubescence is uncommon amongst them but rows of bristles are usual,
and strong bristles commonly occur on the vertex, thorax, and legs.

Dr A. W. Verrall is of opinion that the word Empidiaos is pedantic
and instances Euelpidae.

28 (27) Wings with the basal cells very short and indistinct, the second
one being merged into the discal cell, and the anal cell very
short; radial and cubital veins diverging from a swelling near
the wing-base, and the discal cross-vein indistinctly occurring
near the same spot; discal cell extended to the base of the
wing ; cubital vein never forked. Alar squamae fairly large
and bearing long ciliation. Proboscis large and stout and
almost always pulpy. Antennae with the style or arista apical or
dorsal. Thorax with rows of bristles. Abdomen normally with
only five or six segments (excluding the large male genitalia).
Colour usually metallic green. XIV. Dolichopodidve.

The venation is very similar to that of the Ejihi/dridce, from which
the Dolich opodidoi are distinguished by the antennae, genitalia, squamae,
ehaetotaxy, etc., as well as usually by the metallic green coloration,
and in life the Dolichopodidoe sit in a very distinct attitude.

The Dolichopodidce are always small Hies of aquatic habits, which are
almost always of a peculiar metallic green or blue-green colour. They
always rest in a characteristic erect attitude, the head and forepart being
raised high up, and the insect appearing to be standing on tiptoe.

The term Dolichopidce is incorrect ; the nearest defensible approach
is Dolichopodce.

BRITISH FLIES

29

29 (26) Wings pointed at the tip ; venation abnormal, as the radial and
cubital veins end close together at almost the wing-tip; no
obvious cross-vein, and the discal cell absent or reduced to a
short middle basal cell. Face with strong bristles round the
mouth-margin. Thorax with bristles but no pubescence.
Eyes widely and equally separated in both sexes. Antenme
short and porrect with a long subdorsal arista. Colour
always dull yellowish, brownish, or greyish, but never green
or metallic. ACROPTERA — XV. Loxchopteridte.

The Lonehopteridce are limited to the genus Loiiehoptera, which is
not known to have any obvious ally in the whole of the Diptera.
The species are small and very few in number, but some of them are
very common. They are easily recognised by their colour and their

peculiar venation, and they are the only group of Diptera in which
the venation is conspicuously distinct in the two sexes (figs. 5], 52).
The short basal cells and the divergence of the cubital and radial veins
close to the base of the wing may indicate relationship to the
Dolichopodidce, while the bristly face and frons may indicate a still
closer relationship to the Phoridce ; and the male genitalia in all three
families may indicate affinities.

30 (25) Wing-veins extremely abnormal and quite distinct from those of
any other Diptera ; * anterior veins up to the cubital vein

* The genus Aspisles in the Bihionidce has a similar venation.

30

BRITISH FLIES

strong and conspicuous, running into the basal half of the
costa, but the subsequent ve\s very faint and incomplete and
abnormally directed ; discal, postical, and anal veins very
difficult to trace. Palpi porrect, not jointed. Eyes widely
and equally separated in both sexes. Antennae apparently
composed of one large joint which bears a very long apical or
dorsal arista. Hind legs long and the femora flattened.

HYPOCERA— XYI. PHORID^E.

The Phoridce are always small flies of greyish black or yellowish
colour, which may be known at once by their peculiarly characteristic
venation. They are quick running, humpbacked flies, and some species
are always common on windows.

METAMORPHOSES

OP THE DIPTERA ORTHORRHAPHA BRACHYCERA.

The most elaborate systematic worker of recent times upon the
metamorphoses of Diptera was Brauer, who classified the whole of the
Diptera from larval characters (Denkschr. Akad. Wien., xlvii., 1883),
but one of the pioneers was Haliday, who in a little known paper (Nat.
Hist. Rev., iv., 177, 1857) indicated the main lines.

This is a subject upon which I have no personal knowledge, and,
while I might have made an imperfect translation of Brauer’s tables as
far as the Beachyceea were concerned, I have had the good fortune to
get Dr D. Sharp to write an original paper upon the distinctive characters
which exist in the larval stage of not only the Beachycera, but also of the
families (Platypezidcc, Pipunculidce, and Syrphidce ) which were included
in my previous volume.

BRITISH FLIES

31

Numerous valuable notes and descriptions of larvae have been given in
Part I. of a most excellent work, Diptera Danica, published by Lundbeck
in 1907 — Stratiomyidce to Cyrtidce of this present volume — but unfortun¬
ately it is now too late for me to make many quotations, or to refer the
following paper back to Dr Sharp.

On the Metamorphoses of the Diptera Brachycera

INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME
AND OF THE

Platypezidce, Pipunculidce, and Syrphidai
by D. Sharp, M.A.

Figures 54, 59, 60, 61, 65, 66, and 69 are copied from original
drawings made by Miss M. A. Sharp.

LAIIViE.

I. — Introductory.

In the volume of this series — (British Flies, vol. viii., 1901)—
previously published, the author summarised on pp. 1-6 the views of
Brauer as to the classification of Diptera.

Brauer’s system was believed by himself to be a natural — if not a
completely final one; and notwithstanding the just criticisms to which
it has been subjected it still holds the field. Its chief fault is the division
of the great orders into two — and only two — primary divisions.* This
fault was in part probably due to Brauer’s method of working by means
of dichotomic tables. In the summary given (as mentioned above) by
Mr Verrall, he alluded on p. 3 to the difficulties of comprehending
Brauer’s tabular work ; and I fully agree with what is there said.

Brauer’s system is largely based on the early stages. And he has
published tables of these, which he considered to be a complementary
part of his system. In the summary given by Mr Verrall these tables of
metamorphosis were not included. He now thinks it desirable they should
be given, at any rate in part.

We have therefore prepared a translation of those portions that
relate to the groups dealt with in this volume, and to the Syrphidce,
Platypezidcc, and Pipunculida’, the families monographed by Mr Verrall
in vol. viii.

The knowledge of Dipterous metamorphosis is still very incomplete,
but it has made some progress since the publication, in 1883, of Brauer’s
tables. We have therefore added some explanatory and supplementary
notes relating to the families it is now our object to elucidate.

The larvae of Diptera are in every case destitute of jointed legs. They usually
have the head of peculiar shape, small, or even to all appearance quite absent. The
larvae that most resemble them are the maggot-like larvae of Curcvlionidce. The
larvae of Curculionidce have little or no power of locomotion, whereas Dipterous

* Since this was written Professor Miall's criticism of Brauer’s two divisions has appeared in Tr. Ent. Soc.,
Loudon, 1907, p. 273. I quite agree with this distinguished savant in considering the two divisions, Orthor-
rhapha and Cyciorrhapha, at present incomprehensible.

32

BRITISH FLIES

of segment,
only five or
twenty. In
intercalated

larvm can usually move freely by means of projections of the body called pseudopods,
or by the aid of short bristles arranged so as to favour progression even in completely
maggot-like forms. The spiracles (to which we shall subsequently allude) ai’e also
of great aid in enabling us to decide whether a larva belongs to Diptera or not.
The more important of the characters available for the discrimination of the kinds
of Dipterous larvae are ; ] , the general form or shape, which is extremely varied ;
2, the nature of the head ; 3, the spiracles.

1. Under the heading of general form may be included the number of segments
behind the head. This is said by Schiner to be twelve, three of which are called
thoracic segments, and the others abdominal. Frequently the number apparent is
less than twelve. There is, moreover, no morphological criterion yet discovered by
which the segments can be numbered, and in many cases the segments cannot be
satisfactorily delimited in the present state of knowledge. Considerable work at the
embryological development is necessary for the satisfactory elucidation of this
elementary point. This difficulty is greatly increased by the remarkable variety as
regards the head, to which we shall presently refer. In Brauer's larger table it will
be noticed that in certain cases he uses a qualified expression instead
In Bleph aroceridce (not yet discovered in Britain) there appear to be
six segments in the larva, while in Thereva there are some nineteen or
the latter case the term “ Zwischen-segment is used by Brauer ; the
segments are supposed to be due to the connecting membranes between certain
segments taking on the appearance of true segments.

2. The head. — One of the characteristics of Diptera is the frequent occurrence of
diminution in size of the head, a character which we find repeated in parasitic
Hymenoptera and to a considerable extent in the social Hymenoptera where the
larvae are fed by the parents. The number of Dipterous families in which there is
a large head is but small. The most conspicuous case is the mosquitoes or Cvlicidce.
This condition of the head is called “ eucephalous.,; At the opposite extreme we find
an apparently complete absence of a head, as in the fiesh-feeding maggots. This is
the acephalous condition. There is no means whatever of framing an anatomical
definition of Eucephala and Acephala ; indeed the majority of the families of
Dipterous larvae are in an intermediate state. The term “ hemicephalous ” larvae
has been used by Dufour and others ; it may be applied to those forms in which the
skin of the neck is attached, not to the base of the head, but to the middle of it
as in Tipvlidce and Stratiomyidce, of. our fig. of Stratiomys (fig. 54), so that the back
part of the head is permanently inside the body. In many such cases the front part
of the head can be completely drawn back within the following segments, so that the
larva is then to all appearance acephalous. The student must be on his guard as to
this point. After the separation of these more or less definite forms of head, there
remain a very long series of cases (including most of the families dealt with in this
volume) in which the head is reduced to a greater or less extent in size, and in some
becomes of peculiar form. In some the head is always held exserted ; these are the
forms that approximate to the eucephalous condition. In other cases the larva usually
draws its head inside its body, exserting it only for purposes of movement or feeding.
These forms (Tahanidce, etc.) approximate to the acephalous condition.

3. The spiracles. — Dipterous larvae have the last pair of spiracles largely developed,
and they are frequently placed at the actual tip of the body; when not at the tip
they are usually placed dorsally rather than laterally. These are points of distinction
as compared with other orders of insects. Moreover when the spiracles are placed
at the tip of the body there frequently exist special arrangements for protecting
them ; and in these cases, to a superficial examination, these spiracles may appear
to be quite absent. In Tipvlidce this is the case because the extremity of the body
consists of soft processes that fold and contract, and so conceal the breathing organs ;
but every now and then the processes are expanded and the spiracles become
very conspicuous. In the Stratiomyidce the posterior spiracles are placed in a
special respiratory chamber at the tip of the body, and are therefore difficult of
detection.

When the posterior spiracles are the only pair that exists the larva is said to lie
metapneustic ; when in addition to these there is an anterior pair placed a little
behind the head the larva is amphipneustic ; when there are also intermediate spiracles
the larva is peripneustic. The frequency of the metapneustic and amphipneustic
systems is characteristic of Diptera ; the peripneustic system being the usual one in
other orders.

BRITISH FLIES

33

II. — Characters of the Larvae of Orthorrhapha Brachycera.
Translated from Denkschriften der matkematiscli-naturwissenschaftliclien Classe
der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenscliaften, vol. xlvii. (1883) :

I. Suborder: Orthorrhapha.

Larva with a mouth- or jaw-capsule or with a well-differentiated head. Nymph
free or enclosed in the larval skin. In either case the. larval skin bursts open (i.e.,
in the first case at the time of pupation of the larva, in the latter case only when
the fly first emerges together with the inclosed nymph-skin) through a straight longi¬
tudinal dorsal rent on the front end of the body and a rectangularly transverse rent
in front, in the form of a T-shaped slit, or sometimes through a transverse rent
between the eighth and ninth abdominal segments, and then on a place not previ¬
ously indicated by a seam (only in some Ceciclomyidce). The wings of the fly develop
at the same time as the emergence from the nymph-skin. Nervous-system very
diverse, the thirteen ganglia either all separate or united into two or more complexes.
In the early state there are always two head-, three thoracic-, and eight abdominal-
ganglia present.

The imagines are without the lunula above the antennae and the arched seam
above it, and also the ptilinum.

Characters of the Main Groups.

Sectio 1. Orthorrhapha nematocera.— Larva with opposing biting mouth-
parts, i.e., with horizontally moving mandibles ; or the mouth-parts entirely rudi¬
mentary, but then the larva is peripneustic with thirteen segments.

Sectio 2. Orthorrhapha brachycera— Larva with parallel jaws directed,
or working, upwards and downwards or outwards and downwards, which work in a
pricking, chopping, boring, or sucking manner. — (Head not well developed, only a
jaw-case without ganglia being present, which, however, sometimes is similar to a
head because of the outward projecting eyes.) *— Ganglia chain beginning behind the
jaw-apparatus— Larvae with rudimentary mouth-parts are meta- or amplnpneustic
and exhibit ten to twelve obvious segments.

(I.) Tribus Acroptera.

Only ten segments after the antenniferous and jaw-case-containing segments,
of which the last appears like two grown together. Fam. Lonchopteridce.

(II.) Tribus Platygenya.

Eleven or twelve segments behind the segment that bears the antennae, and
mouth-parts, or even apparently more than twelve segments because of subdivision
of segments.

Jaw- or head-capsule either entirely closed at the free parts, strongly clntmous
both dorsally and ventrally or membranous ventrally, sometimes very long, some¬
times short. If only an upper capsule and the chitinous part of the under lip remain
free, then it appears flat, formed of straight rods or of a plate running out as a rod,
of which the surface-area lies horizontal, or is sometimes absent.

t Hinder stigmata placed on the last segment dorsally or terminally, as horizontal
or vertical fissures, in which both the main tracheae open close together, or as
separated plates or tubes lying free or in a pit, enclosed by lips or processes, or there
are tracheal gills on the sides of the body instead of stigmata.

Group Homoeodactyla, Cyclocera Selim., pp.

(а) Head-capsule permanently exserted, the free part not retractile into the

subsequent segments. (it) Notacantha ( Stratiomyidci? , A ylophagidae).

(б) Head-capsule retractile, the free part capable of being deeply withdrawn into

the following segments : .

a The upper — to a great extent internal — part of the jaw-capsule, tubular or
elongate pyriform, simple or formed of long narrow intimately connected
plates. . . . {b) Tany stoma.

1. Hind stigmata united in a perpendicular fissure. ( labanida? ).

2. Hind stigmata ending separately in two plates or tracheal gills.

Leptidce, Acanthomendce.

* The student will do well to treat this parenthesis as metaphysical.

c

34

BRITISH FURS

b. Tlie upper in-grown [or internal] part of tlie liead-capsule resolved into rods,
cleft or forming a flat cleft-like plate. The rods sometimes only thickened
ribs of thin transparent narrow chitinous plates. (c) Bombylimorpha.

]. Hind stigma-plates large, round, terminal and free. Upper jaw-capsule
rather large and free, lunulate ; the in-grown part short, forked, narrow.
Mouth-parts of the mature larva rudimentary. F. Acroceridce.

2. Hind stigma-plates large, round, terminal, placed in a transverse cleft enclosed
by lips. Upper jaws hooked, with a straight acumen between them.
Lower jaw rudimentary. Upper jaw-capsule with the free part very
short, the internal part long. F. Nemestrinidoe.

tt Hinder stigmata placed on a band or segment before the last, or even on the
third from the end, usually small.

Group Heterodactyla (Tribus Orthocera Schin., pp.).

Hinder stigmata placed on the penultimate segment, or on a flat dorsal band
before the last segment. Intermediate segments few or none.

(a) Procephala ( Myclaidce , Asilida ?, Bombylidce).

Hinder stigmata placed sideways on the third segment from the end. Six or more
intercalated segments (see fig. 65).

(/>) Polytoma ( Therevidce , Scenopinidce).

(III.) Tribus Orthogenya.

Eleven to twelve obvious segments after the divisions bearing the antennae and
mouth -parts.

Jaw-capsule developed at the free end only dorsally as a lunate plate, the in-
grown end forming large plates or fish-bone structures. The chitinous skeleton of
the lower lip formed of two arched bands standing vertical and contiguous in an
angle anteriorly, which bear a certain resemblance in their union to the lower
jawbones of mammalia. Hinder stigmata placed terminally on the last segment,
sometimes on prolongations. Empidce , Dolichopoda.

The preceding table is largely taxonomic and is not very suitable for determining
larvae. Brauer (no doubt feeling this) has added in a footnote a more simple table
for the larva of the Beachycera, as follows :

“For determination, without reference to affinities, the larvae of Okthorehapha
Brachycera may be tabled as follows :

I. Larvae with a terminal fissure for the hind spiracles, in which the two main

tracheal trunks open near to one another.

(a) The fissure horizontal or transverse. Head-capsule not retractile.

Stratiomyiidce.

(b) The fissure vertical. Head-capsule retractile. Tabanidce.

II. Larvae with separated terminal spiracle-tubes or plates.

1. Hinder spiracles placed on last segment.

(a) Labial plate and rods behind it flat in one plane, or wanting, or soldered

with the capsule.

a Head-capsule not retractile, stigma-plates projecting. Xylophagidce.
aa Head-capsule retractile.

b Only ten segments behind the one that bears the antennae.

Acroptera [ = Eonchopteridce],
bb Eleven or twelve segments behind the one that bears the antennae.
7 Head-capsule long, in larger part internal, pyriform.

Leptidce, A canthomeridce.
77 Head-capsule short, the internal part flat or divided into rods.

Spiracles in a fissure, Nemest/rinidce.

Spiracles free, Acroceridce.

( b ) Labial plates and rods meeting angularly, in profile appearing bent.

Dolichopidce and Empidce.

2. Hinder spiracles placed anterior to the last segment.

a. On the penultimate segment. Asilidce , Bombyliidoe, Mydaidce.

an. On the antepenultimate segment. Therevidce , Scenopinidce.”

BRITISH FLIES

35

III. — Remarks and Illustrations.

With the aid of the above table of Brauer, and the following illustrations and
remarks, the student should be able to decide on the family of any British Brachy-
cerous larva he may have before him.

Suborder: Orthorrhapha Brachycera.

Fam. Stratiomyiid.e. Larvae of eleven very distinct segments and head, this
narrow, hemicephalous (fig.. 54), usually with an eye¬
like prominence on each side ; no pseudopods : ter¬
minal spiracles not visible, being placed entirely inside
a chamber, the orifice of which is usually closed or
obscure. Habits aquatic or in semiliquid matter.

Pupa coarctate. (This is not the case in any other
family of Orthorrhapha Brachycera.) The larvae
of this important family though very easily recog¬
nised exhibit considerable variety.

1. Stratiomyince. In this subfamily the last seg-

m

Stratiomys larva.

ment is more or less elongate and narrow (fig. 55),

I

Fig. 55.—

Stratiomys furcata
larva, natural size.

and the lips of the terminal breathing chamber are
fringed with fine hairs. The larva is peripneustic. Stratiomys and
Odontomyia are very frequently met with ; and according to
Haliday the larva of Oxycera is similar, though the genus is usually
placed in Clitellariince.

2. Clitellariince. Nenxotelus of this subfamily has been described

by Haliday. It has, in addition to
the head and eleven segments, a ter¬
minal lip visible from the upper side
of the body, and this lip bears only
a few bristles (fig. 56), not a fringe
of hairs. The cleft giving entrance to
the breathing chamber is transversely
elongate.

3. Sargince. Various descriptions
and several figures have been published of larvae
supposed to be Sargus or its allies ; but they are
either bad or the identification is
doubtful. The larva in the S >ar-

Fl0-alVeLofX!ot/usuSTuVr0m k probably very like .that

[After Haliday of JS enxotelus. I he slit giving
entrance to the breathing chamber
may or may not be visible from above, the accounts being-
unsatisfactory and to some extent contradictory.

4. Berime. The larva of Chorisops tibialis
has been imperfectly described and figured.

It appears to be generally similar to Nemo-
telus, but the cleft of the breathing chamber
is not visible from above (fig. 57).

5. Pachygastrince. Orifice of the respira¬
tory chamber very small, opening on the
upper surface of the terminal segment a little
before the extremity : the portion of the
segment behind this orifice marked off by a
more or less short and indistinct suture
(fig. 58).

6. Xylonxyiince. Orifice of the respiratory chamber forming
the posterior extremity of the body, looking backwards and
furnished with well-marked lips. Larva amphipneustic (fig. 59).

Fam. Acanthomerid.e. This family does not occur in

Fig. 57. — Last two
segments of Chorisops
- tibialis.

[After Handlirscli

Fig. bS.—Paeliygaster
orbitalis pupa, x 10.

Europe. The larva has been imperfectly described by Brauer,
and more recently by Karl Fiebrig. It is peculiar : thick-skinned, with small
head, and large prothoracic segment : retuse behind, and the spiracles concealed

36

BRITISH FLIES

by a flap. It lives in wood. Cf. Brauer, pi. ii., f. 25 ; and Fiebrig in Zeitschr. wiss.
Insektbiol., 1906.

Fam. Leptidje. Head exserted, but small : behind it eleven segments, the first
of these bearing on each side a small spiracle. The terminal segment is about as large
as the preceding one, and is (in Leptis) marked by longitudinal folds or grooves ; the
two ventral of these ribs have slightly longer free tips, so that beneath them there
is a small, cup-like depression in which the terminal two spiracles are placed ; these
are rather small (and are not accompanied by any chitinous plates as they are in the
somewhat similar larva of Tipulidc *). The larva is amphipneustic. There are no
pseudopods, but on the ventral aspect of the body there is intercalated between each
two abdominal segments an area that is a little prominent and bears some asperities
that assist in locomotion. The intercalation of these areas appears to cause the
purvate form usually assumed. The larva figured (fig. 60) is from the New Forest

Fio. 59— Pupa case of Xylornyia macula t a
showing the skin markings on one
segment, x 4-’r.

Fio. GO. — Young
Leptis larva,
x 12.

Fin. 61.— Xylophagiis
larva, x 4.

and is no doubt that of Leptis, as it agrees with the larva from which Marclial reared
L. tringaria (Bull Soc. ent. France, 1903, p. 234), the food being earthworms.
Atherioc, according to Brauer, has the terminal segment divided into elongate free
processes, and the intercalated areas of the abdomen replaced by pairs of prominent
pseudopods. The larva of Xylophagus is so different that it requires special description.

Xylophagus (fig. 61). Head a hard, elongate, and exserted pointed process. The
three thoracic segments with strongly cliitinised areas dorsally, and the prothoracic
segment is hard also beneath ; (these hard and colored areas are variable in extent).
There are eleven body-segments. The terminal one has behind a large very strongly
chitinised area terminating in two strong hooks ; this area bears the two spiracles : iii
front of it, on the same segment, there are four brown marks. On the under surface
of this segment there is a peculiar hieroglyph, a brown circle with a hooked wing on
each side. At the front margin of each abdominal segment there is both dorsally
and ventrally a transverse area bearing very minute brown spines ; the dorsal series
being connected with the ventral by two lateral very delicate series of asperities.
This larva is amphipneustic, the thoracic spiracles being very evident.

I have had before me I believe the larva of both X. cinctus and X. ater, but have
not noticed any distinction. Brauer’s figure (pi. iv., f. 83) of X. cinctus shows the

BRITISH FLIES

i

brown marks of the terminal dorsal segment differently placed to what they are in
my specimens, but his tig. 80 is hardly consistent with his fig. 83 on this point. The
larva is said to be predaceous ; it lives under bark, and can be kept alive for months
without animal food.

Fain. Tabanidjs (tig. 62). Head entirely invaginated. The rest of the body
consisting of twelve segments, the last of which is a short slender
tube so that the body appears pointed behind, or even at both ends :
at the apex of the terminal tube is placed the small spiracular
apparatus : the body is surrounded by pseudopods ; there is no pro-
thoracic spiracle, so that the larva is metapneustic.

These larvie are predaceous, eating small creatures either living
or dead ; they are usually aquatic or semiaquatic. The chief body
of information about them is Hart s account of the North American
forms, 1895. The various genera have a great family resemblance;

they are readily recognised by the completely in-
vaginate head, the circles of pseudopods, and the
small terminal breathing tube. The anus (placed
at the base of the eleventh body segment)
is accompanied by two large remarkable pro¬
minences.

Fam. N e mestiii n i ike. Head very small, re¬
tractile ; body-segments twelve. Posterior spiracles
terminal, well separated, placed in a transverse
fissure. Amphipneustic. This family is not likely
to be found in Britain. The only known larva
lives inside the bodies of coleopterous insects in
their early stages. Only one or two naturalists have
been able to study it, and the above-mentioned

characters are gathered from Brauer.

Fig. 03. — Young larva
of Astomella l.indenii.
[After Brauer

The larvae are parasitic
very minute, and the

Fam. Cyiitid.f (tig. 63).
in. spiders. The head is

posterior spiracles, according to Brauer, are accom
panied by peculiar large plates.

Fam. Bom by i, n o.K (tig. 64). Larva parasitic. Young larva consisting of a small

Fig. 62.—
Tabanus atrutus

larva.

[After Hart

exserted head and twelve segments : elongate and
with a pair of long setae : the penultimate segment
bearing two separated spiracles. When adult the
larva is very obese, has lost its long stiff bristles,
and looks very different. The anterior part of the
pupa is armed with strong spines. The British
species of Bombi/liidce are probably all connected
with bees, but many of the foreign forms live at
the expense of insects of other Orders.

Thereyid.k. Elongate and slender, cylindrical,
consisting of a head and twenty segments ; head
moderately large, exserted. Amphipneustic. The
thoracic spiracle placed on the second body-
segment ; the abdominal spiracle placed at the
side of the fourth segment from the apex ; the
terminal segment small. No pseudopods, but
there are a few tine bristles on the anterior three
segments. The increased number of segments is
supposed to be due to some of the true segments
being divided into two. Few larvae are known.

That figured (fig. 65) was found by Mr Martineau
in decayed turnips.

Fam. Scenopinidas. Larva like that of Thereva.

It has been found in houses, and it is still doubtful
whether it is predaceous or not.

Fam. Mydaid_e. Larva said to be similar to
that of the rapacious Asilidce.

Fam. ApiocEPamE. Larva probably unknown,
possibly belonging to the family is probably a Therevid.

slender : each thoracic segment

Fig. 64. — Young larva and pupa of
Bombylim pumilus Niels. = minor L.

[After Nielson

The one described by Brauer as

38

BRITISH FLIES

Fam. Asiltd.e. Larva cylindrical, consisting of a head and eleven or twelve
body -segments. Head moderately broad, exserted, armed in front with stout teeth
(differing according to kind). Amphipneustic : the abdominal spiracles not terminal,
but placed dorsally on the penultimate segment (or on an area intercalated between
the last segment and the true penultimate). The middle segments of the body may

Fio. 65.— Larva of Thcrcva nobilitata.

Fig. 66. — Laphria (?) larva, x 3.

bear either circles of pseudopods, or areas intercalated on the ventral aspect
between two segments. The larvae are reputed to be either predaceous or to feed
on roots. That figured (fig. 66) was found in the burrows of coleopterous insects in

a fir tree, and probably belongs to the genus
Laphria (cf. Brauer, pi. iv., figs. 60, 61, 63).

/ /

it '

Cyclorrhapha. Sectio Aschiza Becher.
three families the pupa is coarctate

Suborder :

In the

(cocoon-like), the final transformation occurring in
the skin of the larva. The head is to all appearance
wanting,* but is really present, though in the St/r-
phidce only revealed by dissection.

Fam. PlatypeziD-E. Larva broad and depressed ;
from above appearing to have only nine or ten seg¬
ments, but really consisting of a head and ten or
eleven segments, the head and the first following-
segment being placed entirely on the under surface
(exserted ; that is, inferior, but not invaginated) :
the sides of the body with long outstanding bristles,
and sometimes deeply indented and serrate ( Colli -
mi/ia) (fig. 67). Amphipneustic, the posterior spir¬
acles not, or but little prominent, rather widely
separated, placed at the base of the last segment ;
anterior spiracles prominent on the prothoracic segment beneath the body.

These peculiar larvae live in various kinds of agarics. For that of Platypeza see
Bergenstamm, Verb. Z.-b. Ges. Wien., 20, 1870, p. 37, pi. 3.

* Dr Perkins assures me that lie considers tlie larva of Pipunculus to be acephalous, as in Muscidm.

Fig. 67. — Larva of Callimyia amcena,
seen dorsally. [After de Meijere

BRITISH FLIES

39

Fam. Pjpunculid.e. Larva acephalous and with very indistinct parts of the
mouth : segmentation obscure, but the segments probably ten or eleven : amphi-
pneustic, anterior spiracles small, posterior conspicuous, placed close together, not at
the tip of the body, but some considerable distance before it. Puparium provided
with spiracular tubercles on the second ('?) segment, and with or without more
anterior minute spiracles. Posterior spiracles as in larva. Dehiscence of the pupa
occurs by detachment of the dorsal plate, through which the spiracular horns project.

Fig. OS. — Pipunculus juvator larva and F. Koebelei puparium, showing the dehisced dorsal plate

bearing the spiracular horns. [After Perkins

The larvae are parasitic, living in the interior of other insects, usually of
tera. Our chief source of information about them is Perkin’s Bull-exp. Stat.
i., 1905, p. 128, pi. vii. : but some important
points are not mentioned.

Fam. Syrphid.e. Larva apparently acepha¬
lous ; of about eleven segments, but this point
often difficult of discrimination. The skin
usually rough (often pigmented, especially in
subfamily Syrphince). Amphipneustic, the
abdominal spiracles placed quite close together
at the tip of the body ; the prominence some¬
times very hard. In the case of Eristalince,
not hard, but forming a flexible tube that may
be capable of extension to several times the
length of the body. Puparium with thoracic
spiracle-horns, that may lie short or long, and
sometimes with smaller anterior horns that
mark the position of the larval spiracles.

The abdominal spiracles also prominent, and
usually but little different from the condition
they exhibit in the larva.

The larvae of this extensive family show a
great range of variety in habits and in form.

The Chilosia group inhabit vegetable stems,
etc., and Merodon bulbs ; a great many of the
Syrphince are aphidiphagous. Eristalis larvae
are fond of the grossest filth. Xanthandrns
cointus attacks and devours lepidopterous
larvae, and Cacabumba pyrcistri has been
reared from lepidopterous pupae. Notwith¬
standing the large number of notices of
Syrphidce larvae in entomological literature,

there are but few good descriptions or figures, and I have been unable
intelligible diagnoses of the subfamilies from the larval characters.

Homop-

Hawaii,

feds*

Fig. 69.-

Xylota sylvar it* larva and
x 7.

puparium .

to form

ARRANGEMENT.

The systematic arrangement adopted by Bezzi in 1903 in the latest
Katalog der Paliiarktischen Dipteren is only a slight moditication of the
one proposed by Brauer in 1883, and is as follows :

DIPTERA

OUT HOUR H APH A BRACHYCERA.

PLATYGENYA

I Stkatiomyiio.e.

'N O T A C A N T II A . XYLOPHAGID.E.

CfENOMYIID.E.

HOMCEODACTYLA

T A N Y S T O M A

vBombylimor

(Tabanid.e.

I Leptidid.e.

I Acrocerijxk.

P II A I XT

I X EMESTRINI1AE.

[PROCEPH ALA

HETERODAOTYLA 1

' Pol y t o m a

j Mydaid.e.

. Asilid.e.

I Bombyliid.e,
f Therevid.e.

ISCENOPINID.E

ORTHOGENYA

ACROPTERA

| Empidid.e.

I DoLICHOPODID.E.

Lonchopterid.e.

In Brauer’ s scheme the Phorhle were placed under the Cyclorrhapha,
Sectio Aschiza, Tribus Hypocera, in company with the Platypezid^e ; the
Acanthomeriu/E were between the Tabanid.e and the Leptid.r, and the
Apiocerid.e were between the Mydaidzk and the Asilid.-e. Brauer also
used the terms Stratiomyid.e, Leptid^e, Mydaid.e, Bombylid.e,* Empid^e,
and Doliciiopoda, and he apparently included Ccenomyia in his
Xylopiiagiile.

In 1880 and 1882 Brauer had used the following terms derived from
Scliiner.

CYCLOCERA

I Notacantha.
ITanystoma.

and

j Bombylimorpha.

ORTHOCERA — j Procephala.

(Polytoma.

but Scliiner (1868) included the Leptidt: in liis ORTHOCERA.

* Haliday defended the use of such names as Bombylidce rather than the proper etymological form
Bomb’jliadce in order to preserve the uniformity of the termination, and quoted Dcucalidx from Deucalion.

40

BRITISH FLIES

41

The arrangement proposed by Osten Saeken in 1896 was as follows:

EREMOCHlETA

TIIOMOPTERA .

MYDAID/F

LStratiomyida (incl. Xylomyince).

| Tabanida.

j AcANTHOMERIDA.

I Lectio a (inch Xylophagince and Ganwmyince).

f N emestrinida.

| Cyrtida.

Bombylida.

There vid.e (inch Scenopinidce).

M YD A ID.E.

Asilida (inch Apiocerince).
Dolichopodida.

ENERGOPODA . . . ' Empida.

Lonchopterida.

V(?) Phorida.

'I’lie Gyrtid.e are the same as Brauer’s Acrocerida:.

The arrangement I have adopted in this work is very nearly the same
as Osten Sacken’s, but is somewhat modified as follows :

EREMOCHLETA

TROMOPTERA
DERMATINA .
ENERGOPODA

MICROPHONA

ACROPTERA .
HYPOCERA .

bSTRATIOMYIDA.

Acanthomerida.

Leptida.

Tabanida.

Nemestrinida.

Cyrtida.

/ Bombylida:.
ITherevida.

f ScENOPINIDA.

t Mydaida.

f Apiocerida.
t Asilida.

I Empida.

1 Dolichopodida.

. Lonohopterida.

. Phorida.

This volume deals with the EremogHlETA, Tromoptera, Dermatina,
and ENERGOPODA.

I am indebted to my namesake, L)r A. W. Yerrall of Trinity College,
Cambridge, for the formation of the words Dermatina (de/i^armo? = the
leathery one) and Microphona (yuKpo<s 0oVo?== murderer of little things).
I use the word Microphona as being in accord with the other names of
the superfarnilies in referring to the perfect insects, while the term
Orthogenya of Brauer was derived from the embryonic characters, and
also was imposed as of equal rank with the Platygenya.

My arrangement is identical with that of Aldrich in his Catalogue of

42

BRITISH FLIES

North American Diptera (1905) excepting in the exchange of places
between the Leptidce and Tahanidm, and in the fact that Aldrich uses
no superfamilies or subfamilies ; Aldrich, however, reversed the sequence
of the genera in the Stratiomyidce. The main points upon which I have
differed from Osten Sacken are as follows: —

Firstly; I include the Nemestrinidce and Gyrtid.oe in the Eremocileta
instead of doubtfully leaving them in the Tromoptera, and my reason
for this is that those two families agree with the Eremocileta of Osten
Sacken in being absolutely eremochsetous and in having three pulvilli.

I consider the combination of these two important characters separates
them naturally and scientifically from the other Tromoptera, while it unites
them with the Eremocileta. My interpretation of the Eremocileta
exactly coincides with Brauer’s Homceodactyla, and, as Brauer’s system
was mainly founded on embryonic characters, the coincidence becomes a
very strong confirmation of its accuracy. I prefer Osten Sacken’s title
for the group because it is founded upon the perfect insects, besides being
a better word. The Tromoptera (as interpreted by me) are composed of
only the Bombylidce and Therevidce, as I remove the Scenopinidce to the
next superfamily even though I believe in their affinity to the Therevidce;
in this arrangement there is great divergence from Brauer’s views.

Secondly; I have differed from Osten Sacken in removing the
Scenopinido: from the Tromoptera altogether, and in uniting them with
the My cl aider in a common superfamily, for which I propose the name
of Dermatina. Osten Sacken had already treated the Mydaidm as a
superfamily in themselves, and although Brauer widely separated the
Beenopinidce and Mydaidm in the arrangement I have quoted above, he
had in the previous year most elaborately worked out the relationship
of Sccnopinus and proved over and over again its affinity to the Mydaidce ,
in fact so much so that he wrote “ J ene kurzfiihlerigen Mydaiden
“ scheinen den unzweifelhaftosten Ubergang zu Scenopinus zu zeigen ” ; it
is again remarkable that when working on independent lines we have
arrived at the same result. The term Dermatina (SepyuTivos) refers to
the leathery appearance of most of the species, which are however not
leathery like the Pupipara but in the sense of a dull dark smooth body-
surface entirely devoid of bristle and pubescence.

Thirdly; I have acknowledged the family rank of the Apioceridcc, as I
cannot associate them with the Dermatina because they are distinctly
chaetophorous, nor is it possible to associate them with the Therevidoe
because of the very distinct venation, in which the subcostal vein is long
and the veins on the apical part of the wing are curved up so much that
the upper veinlet from the discal cell ends before the wing-tip. Osten
Sacken at one time contended that they were true Asilince (allied to some
species of Erax), but he subsequently considered that they were entitled
to be considered a subfamily of equal rank with the Asilince. I am

BRITISH FLIES

43

however of opinion that the scarcely excavated vertex, very short beard¬
less face, short collar, spatulate palpi, and upturned veins about the
tip of the wing distinguish them so much from the Asilidcc that they
cannot remain in the same family, though I group them in the same
superfamily.

Fourthly; 1 have reduced Osten Sacken’s Energopoda to the Apioceridcc
and Asilidcc only. The Asilidcc form an enormous but very well-defined
group, and in my opinion they are more closely allied to the Thcrcvidcc
than they are to the Empidce . The Energopoda may be distinguished
from the Micropiiona (Empiclcc and Dolichopodidce) by their more elaborate
venation (with live posterior cells), and by their powerful strongly armed
legs but weak cephalic bristles. The Empiclcc and Eolichopodidcc are
undoubtedly closely allied to each other and have a more simple venation
(tending towards the Atiiericera), weaker less strongly armed legs, and
more strongly developed cephalic bristles ; they are moreover large groups
of species of much smaller average bulk, and (both being predatory) may
bear the name of MiCROPHONA (murderers of little things); they have
already been closely associated by Brauer upon embryonic characters,
and he bestowed upon them the title of Ortiiogenya (6p9o$ yews) in
contradistinction to his Platygenya ( 7t\utvs yews)- 1 do not adopt the
name Orthogenya for them, because that title was of co-ordinate rank
with Brauer’s Platygenya, which was a group including all the previous
families of the Brachycera, while 1 desire to indicate a superfamily of
only equal rank with the Eremocileta or Tromoptera.

The lonchopfcridcc still remain a very distinct small family of rather
uncertain location which I leave at present under the old superfamily
name of Acroptera. J. C. H. de Meijere in Zool. Jahrb., xiv., pp. 87-132,
T. 5-7 (1900) has dealt at considerable detail with the larva of Lonelioptcra,
and has come to the conclusion that the family would more properly com¬
mence the Cyclorrhapha than end the Ortiiorrhapha, but the more I
study them the more I come to the opinion that their proper place is bet ween
the Eolichopodidcc and Phoridcc. The Phoridcc are also a remarkably
distinct and well-defined family concerning whose position there have
been numerous differences of opinion. For a long time they were believed
to belong to the Cyclorriiapiia, and whilst some writers (myself included)
placed them near the Borboridcc, others associated them with the Platy-
pezidcc under the superfamily name of Hatoceea ; more recent opinions
tend to place them in the Ortiiorrhapha though standing upon the
border line, and I have come round to this opinion myself. The term
Hypocera was originally founded for them only, and not being in a
position to dogmatise as to their affinities I leave them for the present,
by themselves under that superfamily name.

Other families have been proposed but have been merged into one or
other of the sixteen families now accepted, though some are still retained
by other writers. The old family Xylophagidcc (retained by Bezzi in his

44

BRITISH FLIES

Katalog of 1903) formed a convenient receptacle for any Stratiomyidce
with spurred tibiae and a commencement of an ambient vein together
with any Leptidce which have an annulated third antennal joint ; but 1
have followed Osten Sacken in dismembering and submerging the family.
Ihe Ccenomyidce (with spurred tibiae, annulated flagellum, ambient vein,
and armed scutellum) are now known to be rather closely allied to the
Xylophaginai and are therefore treated as a subfamily of the Leptidce ; they
had however been previously united by Westwood under his interpreta¬
tion of the Ccenomyidce. Westwood also formed a family called Beridai
for the Xylomyince and Bcrince combined. The Chiromyziclce comprise a
few South and Central American species which have been bandied about
between the Stratiomyidce and Ccenomyidce, but which according to the
origin of the pnefurca must he allied to the Berime and consequently
belong to the Stratiomyidce. The Anthraciclce have long since been
universally recognised as a subfamily ( Anthracince ) of the Bombylidce.

A paper entitled “Notes pour la Classification des Dip teres,” published
by Aug. Lameere in Mcmoires de la Societe entomologique de Belgique, xii.
(1906), exhibits a most extraordinary lack of knowledge of Diptera in
general. To begin with, the author seems to have had an idea that Osten
Sacken divided the Diptera into only Nemocera and Brachycera, thus
completely failing to comprehend Osten Sacken’s idea of the Brachycera ;
then lie endeavours to separate Osten Sacken’s Nemocera Anomala from
the Nemocera altogether, and to associate them with the Brachycera.
Throughout the paper the author exhibits such an absolute want of personal
study of the Diptera and of their literature as to render his writings
worse than useless for students.

DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTERS.

It is very interesting to observe the gradual development of numerous
characters leading from the Nemocera to the Brachycera, and then to
trace those characters through the various families of the Brachycera on
to the Athericera.

Venation. — The anal cell is always wide open in the Nemocera, and
although it has a tendency in the Bhyphidce to contract about its middle
it widens out again towards the wingmargin, and in conjunction with this
character the Bhyphidce bear a general superficial resemblance to some of
the Leptidce, and further still the Bhyphidce belong to the few Nemocera
which possess a discal cell, so that in many ways they indicate the change
towards the Brachycera. In the Brachycera, on the other hand, the
postical vein begins by forking in a rather gradual fashion, so that its
lower branch approximates to or even joins the anal vein near the wing-
margin, and then the anal cell is either strongly contracted or even closed,
and in some cases ( Beris , etc.) the lower branch of the postical vein curves
down so abruptly that the anal cell is closed some considerable distance
before the wingmargin ; moreover, in all the earlier families of the Brachy-

BRITISH FLIES

45

ceka (up to the end of the Asilidce) the anal cell is very distinct and long,
but when the Micropiiona are reached the anal cell becomes very short,
and (with the exception of some Hylotince, which thereby naturally form
the first subfamily of the Empidce) the lower branch of the postical vein
bends down so abruptly or even recurrently as to close the anal cell quite
close to the base of the wing (or the anal cell disappears altogether), and
this continues through the Atiiericera with a few exceptions; some of
these exceptions however occur where they would be least expected, such
as amongst the Trypetidce or Ortalidce. The discaleell is present in almost
all the Brachyceea until after the Asilidce, so that with the curtailment
of the anal cell the discal cell also becomes at first uncertain and then
disappears; in many families the upper branch of the fork of the postical
vein is connected with the discal cell by the small cross-vein, but some¬
times this small cross-vein is absent and the upper branch of the postical
fork then forms for a greater or less distance the lower margin of the
discal cell, or sometimes (Scenopinidce) almost the whole lower margin;
in the Empiclce the discal cell often disappears and even when present has
almost all its lower margin formed by the upper branch of the postical
vein, and in the succeeding families of the Braciivcera the discal cell
entirely disappears, but reappears again in a different form in the S yrphidcv
and other families of the Atiiericera. The closed fourth posterior cell
(or its equivalent) becomes a strong feature in the Acanthomeridce,
Mydaidce, Apioceridce . and Asilidce, but is rare in other families, though it
occasionally crops up as in Xylomyia, Lampromyia, etc.

The antennae gradually change from a flagellum composed of
numerous joints in the Nemocera, in which the joints range from being
extremely individualised in the Cecido'inyidce, to the more solid annulated
flagellum of Bibionidcc or the remarkable pectination of Ctenophora, to a
more solid joint in the Braciiycera, in which however the earlier families
retain an obvious similar annulation, and even in the remarkable genus
Iihachicerus imitate the pectination; this annulation of the flagellum
becomes less and less distinct, and at the next stage ( Tabanidce ) the first
annulation grows much larger than the others and reduces these others
into a sort of style, and thenceforward the style becomes more and
more solid though still with indication of joints, and often ends in a thin
hair, until in passing to the next stage the third joint of the antennae
becomes a solid round, ovate, conical, reniform, or elongate joint, and
usually has a thin more or less hair-like apical arista ; in some Leptidce,
etc., this arista may appear to be placed rather dorsally in consequence
of the peculiar shape of the third joint, but it is not until the Dolichopodidcv
are reached that the arista becomes decidedly dorsal, and then when the
Brachyceea are passed it becomes normally dorsad and only exceptionally
apical. The absolute absence of any style or arista in the ligulate
antenna of Scenopinus, and the remarkable club-like style of Mydaida ,
omdit to five some clue to the relationship of the Dermatina. The

46

BRITISH FLIES

sexual differences in the antennae are very pronounced in most of the
Nemocera Vera of Osten Sacken, but disappear in his Nemocera
Anomala and in all the subsequent Diptera.

The clothing is usually absent in the Nemocera, though coarse pu¬
bescence of a peculiar nature occurs in many Bibionidce, Psychodidce, Culi-
cidce, and a few Mycetophilidce, and bristles may occur on the thorax and
less of a different chgetotactic nature from those in the Brachycera ; but
it is not until the Therevidce are reached that regular strong bristles occur
in the Brachycera, but thence onwards through the Asilidce powerful
bristles occur on the thorax and legs, until they become the rule in the
Micropiiona and subsequent families right away through the Atiiericera,
with occasionally lapses such as in Pipunculidce and Syrphidce. In the
families after the Asilidce, the cephalic bristles begin to develop and soon
become an important feature. The first indications of bristles on the legs
show as apical tibial spurs, and then spicules occur in rows on the tibire
{Leptidce, Bombylidce, etc.), and these spicules steadily develop until they
become conspicuous ( Therevidce ) and ultimately develop into strong-
spines ( Asilidce ) ; a serration beneath the hind femora occasionally occurs
even in the EREMOCimTA (. Xylomyia ), but does not seem to bear much
affinity to the stick -like spicules which occur there in the Bombylidce, nor
to the stouter bristles which are frequent in the Asilidce ; the serration
in the otherwise almost eremoehaetous Mydaidce may be of a similar
nature to that which occurs in Xylomyia. The strong bristles on the legs
reach their highest development in the pedestrian Asilidce, and Osten
Sacken has pointed out that this character becomes weak in aerial families,
which accounts for its absence in Pipunculidce and Syrphidce. The soft
eremoehaetous pubescence of the Stratiomyidce becomes coarser in the
Tabanidce and assumes a slightly bristly nature in the Leptidce, after
which the first indications of macrochaetae occur in the densely furry
Bombylince, but these macrochaetae are hidden away in the pubescence and
are sometimes more strongly developed in the females; in the later sub¬
families of the Bombylidce (such as the Toxophorince) the dense pubescence
becomes reduced and the macrochaetae are correspondingly developed,
while the converse holds good in some Asilidce in which the normal strong
bristles on both thorax and legs are replaced by dense coarse pubescence
( Laphria , etc.). An affinity may exist in the facial and frontal bristles of
the Lonchopteridce and Phoridce. The gradual growth of a minute pu¬
bescence on the metapleurae to the fan of bristly hairs or even strong-
bristles which occur in most Asilidce (with a remarkable lapse in Stcno-
pogon ) and Bmpidce is of interest, and in the Muscidce ( sensu latissimo )
remarkable strong bristles of another type usually occur on the mesopleurae
and metapleurae. The postocular festoon is a row of strong bristles which
occurs in most Asilidce on the upper part of the back of the head and
rather overhanging the eyes, and the commencement of this may be found
in some Tabanidce and Leptidce, or may even be indicated by the erect

BRITISH FLIES

47

ciliation which occurs in some species of Sargus, while it becomes an
important character in the Dolichopodidce. “ Touch hairs ” are some very
fine hairs which stand out from the normal dwarf bristles beneath the
joints of the front tarsi and on the apical portion of the front tibiae in
many Tabanidce and Leptidce and other widely divergent Dipt era, and
which evidently indicate in some cases affinity, but more likely in other
cases only a similarity of habit intended to effect some peculiar purpose ;
at one time I thought they were intended to provide blood-sucking species
with exceedingly delicate feelers, so that they could alight on a victim
without the slightest sense of touch being felt by the latter, and I am still
of opinion that they serve this purpose in many cases.

Sexual ornamentation is very rare in any marked degree in the
Brachycera except in the Microphona, though brighter colours naturally
often exist in one sex. The ornamentation of the legs, however, reaches
its height in the males of the Dolichopodidce and in the females of the
Empidce, and the males of some Dolichopodidce ( Psilopus , etc.) exhibit
some extraordinary sexual characters in the antennae.

The details of character development might be prolonged to any extent,
but scarcely come within the scope of this volume.

DIPTERA BRACHYCERA.

EREMOCHiETA.

Three pad-like almost equal pulvilli. Whole insect without
macrochsetse.

Head usually holoptic in the male, and sometimes ( Cyrtida ., Systropir.ee)
in both sexes, but on the other hand occasionally ( Xylophctyus , etc.)
dichoptic in both sexes ; vertex and frons never sunken enough between the
eyes to make the eyes protrude. Eyes very frequently brilliantly
colored in life and with conspicuous bands or spots ; facets usually
enlarged on the upper or front part in the male. An ten me polymorphic.

The words used by Osten Sacken in 1892 (Berl. Entom. Zeitschr.,
xxxvii., p. 429) when detailing the characters of Ins “ superfamily ”
Eremoch^eta were:

“ No macrochaetae ; three well-developed pulvilli; heads in the male pre-
“ dominantly holoptic and eyes very often bisected, with larger facets above
“ than below ; the eyes in both sexes often variegated in different colors ;
“ the structure of the antennal flagellum polymorphous, more inconstant
“here than in any other group of diptera; tegulae undeveloped in the
“ Leptidcc and Acanthomeridcc, very small in the Stratiomyidcc , and in full
“ development only in the Tabanida Axillary excision, alula and anti-
“ tegula, in most cases, distinctly developed. Discal cell, as a rule, present ;
“ five posterior cells, sometimes four, through the partial or total oblitera-
“ tion of a vein. Legs rather smooth. Larvae with elongate heads,
“composed of horny plates; mandibles not opposed to each other, but
“ moving with a more or less vertical mobility, and thus foreshadowing the
“ hook-shaped mandibles of the larvae of the CyclorrhapTia (Long-headed
“ larvae, Langkopfe of Marno).”

Osten Sacken however included only “ the families Stratiomyidcc,
“ Tabanida', Acanthomeridcc, and Leptidcc (plus Xylophagidae),” relegating
the Nemestrinidcc and Cyrtidcc to his superfamily Tromopteka; but
after an examination of those two families I have ventured to include
them in the Eremochada, because I do not find one word in the above
quotation which would not apply to them. I am also impressed with the
fact that they agree with the previously mentioned families in possessing
three almost equal pad-like pulvilli and in being absolutely eremochaetous,
while the other Tromoptera have only two pulvilli and are not absolutely
eremochaetous. Tt may not be a matter of much importance where the
boundary line is drawn between the Eremocha^ta and the Tromoptera,

48

ARRANGEMENT

49

but the association of two such sharply marked characters facilitates their
study. The remaining Tromoptera {Bombylidce and Thcrcvidce ) and all
the remaining Brachycera may then be distinguished by their possessing
only two pad-like pulvilli, with the empodium either absent or reduced to
a simple bristle ; so that there can be no confusion with the Eremoch^eta
even in those cases where bristles are replaced by dense or coarse
pubescence.

Other details given by Osten Sacken (Entom. Month. Mag., xxvii., 37,
1891) are worthy of quotation. In separating his Eremoceleta from the
Nemocera and the rest of the Brachycera, he says, “ 1. The eyes (in the
“ male) are predominantly holoptic ; exceptions are either only apparent
“ (as subcontiguous eyes, or, in the Sargidce, approximate eyes in one
“ genus, and absolutely contiguous ones in the very next one) or very
“ rare ( Xylophagus , with broadly dichoptic eyes in both sexes, some
“ Australian Chiromyzce, Hermetia , and some others may be considered as
“ exceptions ; but even Xylophagus has in Ccenomyia a close relative,
“ which is holoptic ; and so has Hermetia in its Australian relative
“ Massicyta *) ; 2. bisected eyes, with larger facets above than below (in
“ the male) are of very frequent occurrence ; 3. eyes of variegated colour
“ are more common in this Section than in any other of the whole order of
“ Dipt era, principally in the Stratiomyidce and Tabanidce ; 4. the antennae
“ in the group Eremochceta are characterised by what I should call a
“ morphological restlessness ; there is no other group of Dipt era in which
“ the structure of the antennae varies so much, even in closely related
“ genera. These various forms offer a complete transition from the thread-
“ like antennae with homologous flagellar joints, characterizing the Nemoeera
“ (such antennae occur, for instance, in Sahula varia, and in Xylophagus ),
“ to the disc-and-arista type, which becomes so common in the other
“ great division, the Cyclorrhapha. This transition is effected by the
“ joints of the proximal portion of the flagellum tending to coalesce and
“ to form a compound joint in various shapes, while the joints of the
“ distal portion gradually pass into the form of a simple bristle. Portions
“ of the antennae are often beset with more or less long and dense hairs,
“ but the analogue of what I called sensitive hairs in the Nemoeera , forming
“ a verticil, a pencil, or a plume, does not occur here ; 5. There are three
“ well-developed pulvilli, which is one of the most characteristic features
“ of the Eremochceta ; exceptions are rare. The legs are generally smooth,
“ without those bristles and spines that distinguish the Asilidce, and, in a
“ lesser degree, the Bombylidce and Therevidce.”

ARRANGEMENT.

I have (perhaps wrongly) departed from the usual sequence of
Stratiomyidce, Tabanidce, and Leptidce, in that I have placed the Leptidce

* “ The genera Psarnmorycter, Lampromyia, and Pheneus, forming the group Psammorycterinci, Loew, have a
“ narrow front in both sexes, and in this character, as in their whole appearance, seem to mimic the Asilidce ;
“ but here again their close relative, Triptotricha, has a holoptic head in the male.”

D

50

EREMOCH/ETA

second. My reasons for this are the evident gradations through Beris
and Xylornyia to Xylopliagus and Ccenomyia, though 1 can appreciate
the opinion that the annulated third antennal joint and the soft
pubescence of the Tabanidce show closer alliance to the Stratiornyidce ;
I am however inclined to place the annulations of the third antennal
joint of the Tabanidce as only the commencement of the jointed style
which subsequently prevails. The Acanthomeridce also are obviously
intermediate between the Stratiornyidce and Leptidce and may lead on to
the Tabanidce. The presence of “ touch-hairs ” beneath the front tarsi of
the Leptidce and Tabanidce show affinity, as may also the biting habits of
some species of Symphoromyia , and then the spurred tibiae of the Leptidce
would lead on to the Pangonince, though others may see closer relationships
between Atherix and Civvy sops. There may be stepping-stones, though I
write with little confidence, from the Tabanidce through the long proboscis
of the Pangonince to the Nemestrinidce, and then the superfamily would
end with the Cyrticlce, from which “ Natura non facit saltum ” to such
tromopterous Bombylidce as the bare humpbacked Glabdlula, Platypygus ,
etc.

Short characters for the distinction of the families are given in the
tables on pages 11 to 30, and fuller details and comparisons are given
under the characteristics of each family.

I. ST R ATI OM V I D JE

51

I. STRATIOMYID^E.

Fio. 70. — Stratiomys potamida 9 • x 8.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous eremochsetous Hies of rather large to
rather small size, which have the flagellum of the antenme annulated,
the tibiae without spurs (with rare exceptions), the ambient vein absent
(except to a partial extent in Xylomyince), and the squamae inconspicuous.

Head short, hemispherical or flattened, as broad as the thorax, and absolutely
without any sign of bristles. Face ranging from the soft arch of Stratiomys (fig. 71)

to the produced polished snout of Nemotelus
(fig. 72), not retreating below the antennaj,
sometimes uniformly pubescent or bare
and sometimes only the eye-margins bear-

Fig. 72. — Nemotelus nigrinus 9 • x 30.

ing fine pubescence ; jowls small but con¬
tinuous from the face to the back of the
head ; back of the head usually rather
inflated, at least on the lower part, -and
often showing (especially in the female) a
ribband of pale colour against the eyes ;

Fig. 71. — stratiomys potamida 9- x ii. vertex slightly raised, and the three ocelli

always clearly distinct. Proboscis fleshy,
sometimes rudimentary, but never elongated nor adapted for biting. Palpi not
conspicuous, one- to three-jointed. Eyes of the male usually contiguous on the
frons, but of the female widely separated ; when the eyes are hairy in the male they

52

EREMOCH.ETA

are almost always nearly bare in the female, and when the facets are enlarged on the
upper part of the eyes in the male they are always all small and equal in the female.
Antennae porrect, approximated at the base (fig. 73) and really three-jointed, but the

third joint (or flagellum) is always annulated and
often to such an extent as to resemble six or more
joints, while there is often an apical style or a long
thin apical or subapical bristle (or arista).

Thorax rather quadrangular, always more or less
pubescent and sometimes villose, but the pubescence
is always all of one nature, and there is no trace of
bristles or longer hairs, though occasionally strong-
structural spines occur on the sides of the thorax
near the wing-base (fig. 73) ; mesopleurae with a bare
space for the reception of the front femora ; protho-
racic plate rather broad and oblong or trapezoid.
Scutellum unarmed, or frequently armed with one or
two pairs of structural spines on the margin (which
may van- to three or four more or less irregular pairs),
and these are proved to be structural by the ordinary
pubescence of the disc being continued on to the tip
of the spines (fig. 74).

Abdomen composed of from five to seven or even
eight obvious segments, usually ovate and sometimes
flattened ( P achy gas trince, Clitellannce , and Stratio-
myinae), but sometimes elongate ancl
parallel sides ( Sargince , Berince, and
colour usually blackish, and often with

x 7.

with almost
Xylomyince ) ;
bright yellow

( Oxycera , Stratiomys, etc.) or greenish ( Oclontomyia , Oxycera, etc.) spots or mark¬
ings, or with conspicuous white markings in the male ( Xemotelus ) which are absent
in the female, or with conspicuous reddish orange coloring
( Beris ), and brilliantly green in all our British Sargince.

Pubescence slight or moderate, never concealing the ground
colour and all of one nature, as there are no traces of bristles
or even long hairs.

Legs of normal shape and size, fairly strong and entirely
destitute of any bristles or unusual ornamentation (except
a serration beneath the hind femora in some Xylomyince ),
never thickly pilose, though a moderate pubescence may
occur on the femora ; front coxm not unusually long ; tibia?
without any spurs except in the Xylomyince and in a

few Berime. Pulvilli and the pad-like empodium apparently forming three almost
equal pulvilli

Wings with either the peculiar characteristic venation of Stratiomys (fig. 70) and
its allied genera, in which the anterior veins as far as the end of the cubital vein
are crowded together on the fore part of the wing and the posterior veins are
remarkably faint, or with almost the normal venation of this group of families but
with the preefurca ( = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins) commencing
almost opposite the base of the discal cell, except in the Xylomyince (fig. 75). and
this character (as far as the Eremoch.eta are concerned) is peculiar to the
Stratiomyidce with the exception of a few Cyrtidce ; costal vein not reaching to
the tip of the wing and with no ambient vein after it, or with the ambient (or costal)
vein extended almost to the wing-tip (Berince), or with the ambient vein extended
in the aberrant Xylomyince far beyond the wing-tip to the end of the second veinlet
from the discal cell ; mediastinal, subcostal, and radial veins crowded together
(except in the Xylomyince) ; cubital vein simple, or more commonly forked but with
the fork always commencing long after the end of the discal cell and its upper
branch ending in the costa long before the wing-tip, while the lower branch also
ends before the wing-tip except in Xylomyince ; discal vein always enclosing a discal
cell, though the lower margin of the cell may anastomose with a portion of the
upper branch of the postical vein ; discal cell emitting two, three, or apparently four
veinlets to or towards the posterior wingmargin, but after excluding the last one
when it happens to be the upper branch of the postical vein there are normally three
veinlets, because when only two are visible ( Pachygaster , Beris, etc.) it is the third

I. STRATIOM YI1XE

53

veinlet which is obsolete or missing, and usually these three veinlets run towards
the wing-margin without any complication, but in Xylcmyinoe the third veinlet
bends rather abruptly down and joins the upper branch of the postical vein a little
before the wingmargin, and thereby causes a closed fourth posterior cell ; postical
vein with its usual fork, and very easily distinguished in spite of its upper branch
sometimes (in the absence of the small cross-vein) forming part of the lower margin
of the discal cell and being sometimes {Xylomyince) united before its tip with the
third veinlet from the discal cell, and in spite of its lower branch curving down and
becoming connected with the anal vein near or long before the wingmargin ; anal
cell always closed ; discal cross-vein always distinct and placed near or considerably

before the middle of the discal cell ; lower (small) cross-vein sometimes present and
sometimes absent ; posterior cells normally five, but when the third veinlet from the
discal cell is absent there are only four, all open to the wingmargin (except the
fourth one in Xylomyince) ; when at rest the wings lie flat on the abdomen with one
wing entirely covering the other. Wing-membrane almost always ribbed or wrinkled
and densely though minutely pubescent, but occasionally smooth and bare ( Xemo -
telns, etc.), or very slightly uneven ( Xylomyia ). Squamte rather variable in develop¬
ment ; alar pair always obvious but not at all large, and bearing a short fringe ;
thoracal pair sometimes absent ( Pachygaster , Berince, and Xylomyince), sometimes
tongue-shaped (Sargus and some Clitellarince), or sometimes large and conspicuous
and clothed all over the upper and under surfaces and on the margin with dense
almost woolly pubescence ( Stratiomys ). Halteres with a rather large knob, but often
concealed beneath the thoracal squamae when the latter are large.

This family would be well distinguished from its allies were it uot for
the aberrant Xylomyince, as the origin of the praefurca ( = the common
stem of the radial and cubital veins) being almost opposite the base of the
discal cell is a character not shared by any other family of the Ekemochata,
except a few Cyrtidce ; if the Xylomyince be excluded from consideration
it is most related to the Lcptid.ce through the Berince, but the Leptidce do
not have an annulated third antennal joint except in their aberrant groups,
and they always have at least some of the tibiae spurred, while in Strcitio-
myidee the tibiae are spurred in only some species of Berince (which include
only one European species); on the other hand, in the true Leptidce the
wings are never ribbed or rippled and the ambient vein is continued (even
though thin) round the wingmargin, the cubital fork is long and even its
upper branch does not end before the wing-tip. Consequently the only
difficulties lie between the Berince and Xylomyince on the one side, and the
Xylophagince and Ccenomyinte on the other side — omitting the exotic
Arthroceratince and Acanthomericlce — and the boundary line between these
is not easy to define in the perfect insects, though the Berince like all
other Stratiomyinoe may be at once distinguished through the origin of the
praefurca being opposite the base of the pentagonal discal cell; the
Xylomyince may be artificially known by the closed fourth posterior cell ;
the Xylophagince have spurred tibiae and an open fourth posterior cell ; and
the Ccenomyince are distinguished from all the Strationiyidce by the long
bell-mouthed cubital fork-cell.

54

EREMOCH^TA

The following contrasts may he noted between the more typical
Stratiomyidce and Leptidce.

Stratiomyidce

(excl. Berime and Xylomyince )
a Third joint of the antenna: fiagelliform
and distinctly annulated.
b Scutellum often armed.
c Abdomen rounded or oblong.
cl Pubescence soft.
e Tibiae without apical spurs.

/ Prmfurca starting opposite the base of
the discal cell.

<j Discal cell almost always pentagonal.
h Costal vein ending before the wing-tip
at the end of the cubital vein.

i Cubital fork (if any) short, and with
its lower branch ending long before
the wing- tip.

k Wing-membrane almost always ribbed
or rippled.

I Thoracal squamae often developed.

The Berime possess all the above
characters except e h and k, and are
only partially failing in them.

The Xylomyince fail in b e f g h i l .

Leptid.e

(excl. Xylophagince and Ccenomyince)
a Third joint of the antennae simple and
not annulated.
b Scutellum never armed,
c Abdomen conical.
d Pubescence rather stiff,
e Tib he on at least the posterior legs
spurred.

f Praefurca starting far before the base
of the discal cell.
g Discal cell hexagonal.

It Costal vein continued as a thin ambient
vein all round the liindmargin of the
wing.

i Cubital fork (absent in Hilar imorpha
only) long, and with its lower branch

• ending after the wing-tip.
k Wing-membrane smooth.

I Thoracal squamae absent.

The Xylophagince fail in a c d i.

The Coenomyince fail in abed.

The Tabanidce are the only other family with an annulated third
antennal joint, but in the great majority of them the basal part of that
third joint is large (tig. 76), and well distinguished from the remainder of the

joint, which forms an annulated cone, and that cone
seems to indicate a step towards the jointed style
which so frequently occurs in the subsequent
families. No confusion is likely to occur between
the Tabanidce and the Stratiomyidce, as the large
comparatively bare thoracal squamae and the tri¬
angularly wide open cubital fork (of which the
lower branch ends far after the wing-tip) at once
Fig. to. — Tabanus autumnaiis. 9. distinguish the former, and the venation of the

x 20 ,

Tabanidce is very distinct in many other respects
from that of any of the Stratiomyidce.

In short, in British species (after excluding the very distinct Tabanidce)
an annulated third antennal joint indicates a Stratiomyid or a Xylophctyus,
while spurred tibiae indicate a Leptid or a Xylomyia, and Xylomyia may be
distinguished from Xylophayus by its closed fourth posterior cell. In
European or exotic species other forms occur which are not so easily
separated.

The Stratiomyidce comprise about 1000 described species from all parts
of the world, of which rather more than 200 are Pahearctic, and about 53

I. STRATIOMYUXE

55

British. Of the 200 Paleearctic species about 160 belong to four genera
( Nemotelus , Oxycera, Stratiomys, and Odontomyia), and these four genera
are well represented in Britain. Very few, if any, species show any
marked powers of flight, and none are known to hover ; * they occur
rather sluggishly on flowers or may be swept up in low herbage (. Nemotelus ,
Oxycera ); the Sargince with their brilliant metallic green coloring love
to rest on the leaves of shrubs in the bright sunlight, and many of them
are then very active when alarmed; the males of Nemotelus sometimes engage
in an aerial dance over marshy ground, while the males of Chorisops tibialis
may often be seen dancing in small companies beneath the branches of trees.

The metamorphoses of a considerable number of species are well
known, and they prove the close relationship of Pachygaster, Sargus, Boris ,
Xylomyia, etc. The eggs are laid on plants at the margin of water or
even on the surface of the water, and the larvae are carnivorous or live on
decaying vegetable matter in water or in the earth; the young larvaj
resemble the old ones, and in many species the larvae are capable of
remarkable elongation, which has given them the name of “ rat-tailed
maggots,” a name also used for the larvae of some species of Bristalince.
Further details are given under various genera, but my remarks are only
compilations as I have no knowledge of the subject myself.

Arrangement The Palaearctic species of Stratiomyidce readily fall
into about six subfamilies, of which the Berince and Xylomyince show a
distinct tendency towards the Lcptidce in the more numerous visible
segments of the elongate parallel- sided abdomen, in the more elongate
cubital fork, and in the longer hexagonal discal cell ; these two subfamilies
may therefore be placed last (next to the Lcptidce), the Xylomyince being
last of all because of the spurred tibiae and especially because of the
prsefurca = (common stalk of the radial and cubital veins) originating long
before the base of the discal cell, though the armed scutellum of Ccenomyia
in the Leptidce might indicate some relationship to the Berince ; of the
remaining subfamilies the very distinct Pachygastrince are usually placed
first, though the presence of only two veinlets emerging from the discal cell,
the long portion of the upper branch of the postical vein which forms the lower
boundary of the discal cell, and the short anal cell would seem to indicate
relationship to the Berince ; on the other hand, the long-bodied species of
Sargus are more probably correctly placed next to the Berince, as is shown
by the increasing cubital fork, etc. ; between the Pachygastrince and the
Sargince come the Clitellarince and Stratiomyince, which might well form only
one subfamily as they are separated only by the weak character of the
presence or absence of the small cross-vein. A sequence is thus arrived
at from the small short-bodied unicolorous species of Pachygaster on to
Nemotelus nigrinus and the rest of the Clitellarince, and thence through
Pycnomalla to the Stratiomyince, and through unicolorous Odontomyice to
the short-bodied Sargince ( Microchrysa , etc.), and thence through the long¬
bodied Sargince to the Berince and Xylomyince. Other affinities may exist
in the bright metallic coloring of the Sargince and most of the Berince ;
in the short rounded third antennal joint and the long arista of Pachy¬
gastrince and Sargince, in the an ten me of the aberrant Oxycera tenuicornis
and the Berince, etc., etc.

* I consider the word “ hover ” to indicate the apparently motionless poise in the air of an individual speci¬
men while the wings are rapidly vibrating, but “ dance ” to indicate the rhythmical movement in the air of a
small group of specimens.

EREMOCHETA

Types of venation of the Stratiomyid.e.

Fig. 7S. — Clitellarinae (Xaaotd us v.liginosus).

Fig. i9. — Stratiomy in.t- ( Stratiomys jurcata).

Fig. SO. — aar’ia* (Sargus iridatus).

1. STR ATIOMYIDfE

57

Longitudinal (or long ) veins.

a Costa (or costal vein).

I> Mediastinal (or auxiliary) vein.
c Subcostal (or 1st longitudinal) vein.
d Radial (or 2nd longitudinal) vein.
e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal ) vein.

e' 1 PPer branch) Qf £jK, cubital fork.
e2 Lower branch;
f Discal (or Ath longitudinal) vein.
f1 Upper veinlet )

f2 Second veinlet J- from the discal cell.
f3 Third veinlet ]

g Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein. _

gi Upper branch of the postical fork (sometimes forming a part of the

lower margin of the discal cell).
g2 Lower branch of the postical fork.
h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

k Praefurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins. . .

Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal veins round the hindmargin of t ic

wing.

Cross (or transverse) veins.

io Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.

y Lower (or small) cross-vein. _ .

Anal cross-vein = g2 = the lower branch of the postical fork.

58

EREMOCH7ETA

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital fork-cell).

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

61’ Third posterior cell.

6C Fourth posterior cell.

7 Postical (or bth posterior) cell (or postical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or 1st) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal (or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Stratiomyida£.

The most characteristic points in the venation of this family lie in (1) the
praefurca and its origin ; (2) the cubital vein and its fork ; (3) the discal cell and the
veinlets issuing from it ; and (4) the postical vein and its fork. The last two of these
include the small cross-vein.

(1) The PfLEFUECA is the common base of the radial and cubital veins, and
originates from the subcostal vein. In the Stratiomyidce (except in the Xylomyinoe)
it has the distinctive peculiarity of originating opposite the base of the discal cell,
while in all the other families of the Brachycera (with the exception of some
Gyrtidoe and the concluding families) it originates very considerably before the base
of the discal cell. In many points the Xylomyinoe exhibit characters indicating an
affinity to the Lepticlce.

(2) The Cubital Vein forks from the radial vein at the end of the praefurca, and
is the vein above the discal cell which is (except in the Sargince) connected to the
discal cell by the discal cross-vein ; in the Sargince this discal cross-vein connects
the discal cell with the praefurca. The cubital vein is occasionally simple (figs. 84,
91), but is usually forked ; the fork may be very short and inconspicuous (fig. 79), or
may be long and conspicuous (fig. 82), but always originates after the end of the
discal cell, and (except in the Xylomyinoe) both branches of the fork end in the
costal vein before the tip of the wing.

(3) The Discal Cell is always present, and is connected above by the Discal
Cross-vein with the cubital vein (except in the Sargince when it is connected with
the praefurca), and usually below by the Small Cross-vein with the upper branch
of the postical vein, but sometimes the upper branch of the postical vein touches the
discal cell (fig. 79) or even anastomoses for a more or less extent (fig. 77) with the
under side of the discal cell, in which case the small cross-vein is absent. The discal
cell is almost always pentagonal (except in the Xylomyinoe) and emits two or three
veinlets (irrespective of the upper branch of the postical vein) towards the wing-
margin, and the number of the posterior cells varies from four to five, according to
the number of these veinlets ; two of these veinlets issue from what may be called
the end of the discal cell, and may occasionally appear to issue by a common stem,
or on the other hand either of them may be more or less obsolete ; the third veinlet
may be entirely missing (fig. 77), or may be abortive (figs. 151, 152), or may be com¬
plete, or may (in the Xylomyinoe ) unite near the wingmargin with the upper branch
of the postical vein (fig. 82).

(4) The Postical Vein is always a strong vein on the hind part of the wing
which invariably splits into two long branches. The upper branch is usually
connected with the discal cell by the small cross-vein, but sometimes it touches the
discal cell (in which case the small cross-vein is absent), and sometimes it forms for a
greater or less distance the lower margin of the discal cell. The lower branch almost

I. STRATIOMYID/E

59

invariably connects at or near the wingmargin with the anal vein and thereby
causes a closed anal cell, and in the Pachygastrince and B evince it curves down
sharply and connects with the anal vein far before the wingmargin. The absence
of an ambient vein, by which term is meant a thin vein continued after the end of
the lower branch of the cubital fork all round the wingmargin to the alula is a
peculiarity in the venation of the Stratiomyidai ; in the Bevince this vein is present
for a short distance, and in the Xylomyince it extends to the end of the second
veinlet from the discal cell, but in the allied Xylophagince it is complete though
faint. The crowding of the strong veins together near the costa with a correspond¬
ing faintness of the posterior veins is characteristic of the more typical subfamilies,
and altogether the venation of the Stratiomyidai (with the exception of the
XylomyincB ) should enable them to be at once distinguished from any other family
of the Diptera.

*** 1 am unable to agree with Girschner’s study of the venation of the Notacantha, Ann. Mus. Hung. iv.
279, V. (190(3), in which he is of opinion that the vein which 1 call the upper branch of the cubital fork is in
reality a lower branch of a radial fork, and that the radial vein has been anastomosed with the cubital
along what I call the stem of the cubital fork ; Girscliner has arrived at this opinion through a study of the
convex and concave veins, but I think he has overestimated their value, as his fig. 5 ( Sargus ) would make the
prasfurca a basal portion of the cubital vein, while in all his other figures it would be the basal portion of the
radial vein. Also I cannot agree with him that the ordinary radial vein is missing in Nemotelus ; I am of
opinion that it simply runs along very close to the subcostal vein.

Short Table of British Subfamilies of Stkatiomyid^e.

1 (8) Abdomen with only five or six obvious segments.

2 (5) Small cross-vein absent.

3 (4) Discal cell emitting only two veinlets (fig. 77) irrespective of the

upper branch of the postical vein. Pachygastrijge.

4 (3) Discal cell emitting three veinlets (fig. 78) irrespective of the

upper branch of the postical vein. Clitellarusge.

5 (2) Small cross-vein present.

6 (7) Antennae without any terminal style or arista, or at the utmost

with a short one. Stratiomyin.e.

7 (6) Antennas with a long thin terminal arista. Discal cross-vein

connecting the discal cell with the prof area. SarginvE.

8 (1) Abdomen with at least seven obvious segments.

9 (10) Praefurca commencing opposite the base of the discal cell; fourth

posterior cell wide open. Bering.

10 (9) Preefurca commencing far before the base of the discal cell; fourth

posterior cell closed. Xylomyin.e.

The C litella rince and Stratiomyince are perhaps unnaturally separated, as the
presence or absence of the small cross-vein is sometimes a debatable point.

Table of British Subfamilies of Str axiom YiD/E.

1 (8) Abdomen with only five or six obvious segments (figs. 85, 87, etc).

Cubital vein often not forked or with only a small indistinct
very short fork (fig. 83). Tibiae never spurred.

Species (except in some Sargince ) with a broad short ovate
abdomen. Flagellum with not more than six annulations.

2 (5) Small cross-vein absent (fig. 83), because the upper branch of the

postical vein forms a portion of the lower margin of the
discal cell.

60

EREMOCHJETA

3 (4) Discal cell emitting only two veinlets (fig. 83) towards the wing-

margin irrespective of the upper branch of the postical vein.

PachygastriNcE (p. 64).

Fig. 83. — Pochygaster atra 9 . x 12.

Small black flies with a peculiar venation, becau.se the discal cell
is large and apparently pentagonal and has its lower side formed for a
long space by the upper branch of the postical vein, so that if any
species of Clitellarince (or even of the other subfamilies) have the vein-
lets issuing from the discal cell obsolete, they can as a rule be at once
known by the short portion of the postical vein which forms the bottom
of the discal cell. Abdomen short and squat. Antennae with a globular
third joint, which has a long subterminal arista (fig. 83). Scutellum
unarmed.

4 (3) ifiscal cell emitting three veinlets (fig. 84) towards the wing-

margin irrespective of the upper branch of the postical
vein.

Clitellarince (p. 80).

Fig. 84. — Oxycera nigripes <J. x 8.

Small black Hies, which sometimes have conspicuous white mark¬
ings on the abdomen ( UTemotelus ), or which have handsome yellow or

I. STRATIOMYID.E

61

green markings ( Oxycera ), or large flies with conspicuous reddish color¬
ing ( Ephippium). Antennae at the utmost with only a short terminal
style. Scutellum usually with a pair of marginal spines.

The Clitellarince hardly form a subfamily distinct from the
Stratiomyinoe , but I have followed Brauer in separating them.

5 (2) Small cross-vein present (fig. 85), and consequently the upper

branch of the postical vein never quite touching the discal

cell.

6 (7) Antennte without any terminal style or arista, or at the utmost

with a short one. Discal cross-vein as usual connecting the
discal cell with the stem of the cubital vein.

Stratiomyinoe (p. 127).

Fig. 85. — Stratiomys potamida 9. x 4.

Large or moderately large flies, colored black, or black and yellow,
or black and green. Discal cell small ; anterior veins crowded to¬
gether, but the exterior and posterior veins faint and often incomplete.
Abdomen broad and flattened. Scutellum (practically) always with a
pair of marginal spines. Antennae with a long annulated third joint.

Fio. 80. — Sargus iridatus 9 •
x 30.

7 (6) Antennae with a long thin subapical arista (fig. 86). Discal cross-

EBEMOC H.CTA

veil ■ ? ‘ ■; j, ; ‘ • r~ov'-a and hence the

~s.~-.kl rein apparently Twice : irked fig. 87 1.

Saegcs^: p. 161

Ail tii*r British -]*ede- are briiliai.'ly -hiniug green in colour. and
most of them (.>ar'ru*. etc. have an elongate rather narrow abdomen.
Scutellum always unarmed.

% (1 Abdomen with at least seven obvious segments (figs. 88, 89).

Cubital vein almost always with a long conspicuous fork
■ fig 89). Tibi* (at least the middle pair) often -purred.

Moderately small to moderately large fie-.. Abdomen long and
almost psrallel-fcided but never brilliantly green. Antennae with an
elongate normally S-arnulated third joint which may have a very -hort
style.

9 (10) Pnefurca ( = common stem of the radial and cubital veins)
commencing almost opposite the base of the diseal cell :
fourth posterior cell (or its equivalent) wide open (fig. 88):
fiscal cell emitting only two veinlets to the wingmargin or
sometime- an abortive third: anal cell closed a considerable
istance before the wingmargin.. Tibi* without spurs in all
me Briu- h species. Costal vein ceasing abruptly just after
the tip of the lower branch of the cubital vein; seutellum
with four or more marginal spines. Beejjle (p. 196).

Moderate! v -mall -pedes of oblong -haoe. ea-ily recognised by theii
■venation and by their many-spined scuteJlum. Thorax without any
vellow markings even between the humeri and the wing-bases.

10 (9) Pnefurca commencing far before the base of the diseal cell; fourth
posterior cell closed (fig. 89) because the third veinlet from
the discal cell joins the upper branch of the poetical vein
before the wingmargin; discal cell emitting three veinlets;

I. STRATIOMYIDJE

63

anal cell extended almost to the wingmargin. Costal vein
continued faintly as an ambient vein beyond the tip of the
first veinlet from the (fiscal celL Posterior tibiae spurred.
Seutellum unarmed. Xylomyts'-E t p. 217 '.

Moderately small or moderately large species, which cL'selv
resemble th X ' we, but which are distinguished from all the

other xt > he by the pnefurea commencing’ far before the
of the (fiscal oelL and from all the Pahearotio E
closed fourth posterior cell.

\

Fldr. >>. - a - 1/ • *

64

STRATIOMYID.E

PACHYGASTRIN^.

Fia. 90. — Pachygaster atra 9. x 12.

Abdomen with only five or six obvious segments. Venation with the
lower cross-vein absent, so that the upper branch of the postical vein
forms for a long distance the lower margin of the discal cell ; discal cell
emitting only two veinlets irrespective of the upper branch of the postical
vein ; cubital fork short or absent. Tibiae without any spurs.

Eyes bare (unless in Artemi ta, a South American genus). Antennas with the
third joint annulated and globular in the European genus, and with a long sub-
terminal arista.

Thorax subquadrate. Scutellum unarmed in Pachygaster, but armed in some
exotic genera.

Abdomen broad and rounded in Pachygaster.

Legs rather short ; tibiae without any spurs.

Wings with only two veinlets issuing from the discal cell besides tire upper
branch of the postical vein, because the small cross-vein is absent and the upper
branch of the postical vein forms part of the discal cell for a considerable distance.
Four posterior cells, all of which are widely open; anal cell closed long before the
wingmargin. Wing-membrane in Pachygaster not rippled but minutely and densely
pubescent. Alula distinct but not much developed. Alar squamae very little
developed ; thoracal pair absent. Halteres with a rather large knob.

The essential characters of the Pachygastrince lie in the small number
of abdominal segments, whereby they are distinguished from the Berince
and Xylomyince ; in the two veinlets only from the discal cell (irrespective
of the upper branch of the postical vein), whereby they are distinguished
from all except some Borina: and some Stratiomyina •; and in the total
absence of the lower cross-vein, whereby they are distinguished from the
Sargince and Stratiomyina' ; beyond these characters Pachygaster is
distinguished from all except the Sargince by the long subterminal arista.

The Pachygastrince comprise about twenty genera from nearly all parts

1. PACHYGASTER

65

of the world, but only one genus {Pachygaster) is known in Europe
and North America. The metamorphoses of many species of Pachy-
gaster are well known and are mentioned under each species ; the larvm
live in debris under the bark of decaying trees, where they probably
feed on the frass of wood-boring Coleoptera. The perfect insects are very
sluggish, but may occasionally be found flying in large numbers.

One European genus. 1. Pachygaster.

1. PACHYGASTER.

Pachygaster Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 266 (1803).

Small squat almost bare flies, with a short ovate abdomen.
More or less shining black, but with the tibiae and tarsi always
mainly pale yellow.

Head flattened beneath, and consequently short and flat when viewed from
in front. Proboscis short and partly withdrawn, but with fairly large sucker-
flaps ; palpi small and inconspicuous. Eyes practically bare, usually touching on
the frons in the male (but not in P. orbitalis ) but widely separated in the female,
very large in both sexes. Antennae short, placed just below the middle of the
head when seen in profile ; third joint enlarged, orbicular, with four slight
annulations and a long subterminal arista ; arista usually bearing a very short
dense pubescence which has the effect of making it appear thickened except at the
extreme tip.

Thorax proportionately long, slightly broadened behind, arched, and with a deep
transverse suture which is V-shaped at the middle, while outside and behind the V the
disc of the thorax is inflated. Pubescence on the disc short and rather inconspicuous
even though dense. Scutellum long and rather triangular, with a shallow transverse
channel before its tip, and without any marginal spines, but extending far beyond
the mesonotum.

Abdomen very short, broader than long and broader than the thorax, ovate and
strongly arched, with five obvious segments. Genitalia narrow and usually con¬
cealed.

Legs simple ; femora longer than the tibiae ; basal joint of all the tarsi nearly as
long as the other four joints together. Pubescence very slight.

Wings (figs. 91, 94) with a venation rather like that of Peris, but the cubital vein
is much shorter and the apparently pentagonal discal cell rests for a much longer
space (in fact for about half its length) on the upper branch of the postical vein ;
discal cell emitting only two veinlets to the margin from its upper part, because the
lower (apparently third) veinlet is really a continuation of the upper branch of the
postical vein while the normal third veinlet is absolutely missing; cubital vein
usually distinctly forked (but not in P. minutissima , fig. 91); discal vein very faint
or even imperceptible on its basal part up to the beginning of the discal cell, and
its primary upward and downward fork forms an almost flat base to the discal cell ;
lower branch of the postical vein united to the anal vein well before the wing-
margin, and thereby causing the anal cell to be closed and with a long pedicil.

This genus is the only one of the subfamily which is known to occur
in Europe, and is well distinguished from all others (if Ncopachyg aster be
considered a synonym) by its antennse being placed at about (or but little
below) the middle of the head when viewed in profile, and by its short
orbicular third antennal joint which bears an almost (though not quite)
apical long thin almost bare arista, and by its unarmed scutellum.

Pachygaster is recorded from almost all Europe (but not by Bonsdorff
from Finland), North America, and Asia (including New Guinea), and
according to Austen is represented in the British Museum by a specimen

E

66

STRATIOMYIDJE

from Hobart, Tasmania. Macquart’s P. rufitarsis from Pondicherry does
not (according to his figure of it) belong to this subfamily, but more
likely to the Sargince. Only five well-distinguished species are known to
occur in Europe, all of which are now recorded from Britain, Scandinavia,
and Germany. The metamorphoses are unusually well known as all the
species have been bred, and in fact some of the species are much more
easily found as larvae or pupae than as imagines. The larvae have been
found in the rotten part of decaying trees and possibly feed on the decayed
wood, but more probably on the detritus and frass caused by wood-boring
Coleoptera. Notes upon this subject are given under each species and
especially under P. orbitalis, and attention is drawn to the frequency of
each species affecting its own particular kind of tree, or possibly the
Coleoptera which affect particular kinds of trees. Perris considered the
larvae to be closely allied to those of Sargus, while Austen has considered
them allied to Boris. In the perfect insects the venation is very similar
to that of Boris, while the antennae are allied to those of the Sargince, and
more especially to those of the genus Microchrysa.

Synonymy . — Pachygaster lias been a well-recognised homogeneous genus for nearly
a century, but in 1901 Austen proposed a new genus N eopachygaster for a species
which he called JY. meromelcena Perris, but which I recognise as P. orbitalis Walil-
berg ; the only distinctive characters given by him are the separated eyes in both
sexes, and the posterior orbits not produced into a prominent ridge in either sex,
but I can only consider these characters as of specific value, especially as Austen
suggests that P. Leachii might possibly be separated generically from P. atra, and
Dr Sharp hints at another genus for P. minutissima , which would leave only P. atra
and P. tarsalis in true Pachygaster , and as these two species differ remarkably in
the shape of the head and eyes we should soon have a genus for each species.
Aldrich (Cat. N. Amer. Dipt. 192) has indicated a North American species which
would apparently agree with A eopachygaster. The type of the genus must be
P. atra Panzer, and Meigen claimed priority for the name Pachygaster (1803) over
Yappo Latreille (1804).

Table of Species.

1 (2) Cubital vein not forked (fig. 91). 1 minutissima.

2 (1) Cubital vein forked (fig. 94).

3 (6) Wings with the basal half blackish when contrasted with the

apical half.

4 (5) Antenme dull black in the male, bright ochre in the female.

s*'b\*rx( . Atvn , 2 atra

5 (4) Antennae reddish at the base, but with the third joint darkened in

both sexes. S /■u-Arr\ 3 tarsalis.

6 (3) Wings entirely hyaline.

7 (8) Femora black except at the extreme tip. 4 orbitalis.

8 (7) Femora yellow except for a blackish ring near the tip of the hind

pair. 5 Leacliii.

1. P. minutissima Zetterstedt. Cubital vein not forked, but strongly
up-curved so that it ends near the radial vein.

The smallest European species of the genus ; easily dis¬
tinguished by the absence of any fork to the short up-curved

1. PACHYGASTER

67

cubital vein, and by its clear wings, black femora, and touching
eyes of the male.

^ . Head broad and flattened, being nearly twice as wide as deep when viewed
from in front, and a little longer than deep in profile; face and frons. shining
black and small, unless seen from below ; frons with a deep longitudinal
channel ; face with short pale grey pubescence near the eyes and with broad
side-cheeks ; jowls broad but shallow, shining black, and clothed with rather
abundant dark brownish pubescence which becomes longer and is whitish
grey behind the mouth opening ; the jowls pass on to the distinctly inflated
lower part of the back of the head ; upper half of the back of the head not in
the least inflated, but on the contrary rather sunken and with no apparent
pubescence ; vertex bare, shining black, long and narrow, extending fully half
way from the occiput to the antennae, and leaving the eyes touching for a
long space (eight or ten facets) almost down to the antennae ; ocelli slightly
raised, but the ocellar triangle practically bare. Eyes in profile very short
ovate, being rather longer than deep and with a slight angle between the
jowls and the beginning of the back of the head ; facets on the lower two-fifths
smaller than those on the upper three-fifths, and with the straight dividing-
line rather sharply defined ; in dry specimens the large facets are usually light
brown and the small facets more or less black brown except against the margin
of the eye. Antennae dull brownish black, placed below the most forward
part of the head ; arista shorter and less thin than in atra.

Thorax shining black, but a little dulled by the dense minute, punctuation
and the very minute adpressed grey pubescence ; pleurae more shining because
they are less punctate, and the sternopleurae with more obvious light grey
pubescence ; prothorax Avith almost a tuft of minute Avhitish grey pubescence.
Scutellum similar to the hind part of the thorax, rather elongate, and with a
transverse channel well before the tip.

Abdomen short ovate, being broader than long and considerably broader
than the thorax, brightly shining black, sparsely punctate, and with incon¬
spicuous though not scarce rather erect but very short dark grey pubescence,
which becomes rather longer about the basal corners. Belly shining black,
with rather sparse adpressed minute but fairly conspicuous whitish grey
pubescence. Genitalia small, protruding from the middle of the hind margin
of the fifth segment, and consisting of two narrow small blackish brown
lamellae and a shorter stouter middle piece which is reddish brown on the
middle of its base.

Legs dull luteous ; coxae, trochanters, and femora blackish brown, except at
the extreme tip of the femora ; hind tibiae rather browned, and the tips of the
four last joints of the anterior, and the three last joints of the hind, tarsi
slightly darkened above. Pubescence very slight, but there is a slight pale
fringe behind the front femora, and a more distinct darker fringe behind
the middle femora ; hind femora almost bare.

Wings almost hyaline., but with the subcostal cell and the stigma, opaque
pale greyish yellow ; cubital vein short and up-curved, Avithout any sign of a
fork (fig. 91) ; subsequent veins very pellucid. Squamae blackish brown, with

Fio. 91. — Pachygaster minutissima <$ . x 20.

dark grey fringes. Halteres blackish or broAvnish, with the upper part of the
large knob usually brownish yellow or sometimes even dirty whitish.

? . Very much like the male. Frons bare, shining black and broad being nearly
half the width of the head at the top and more than one-third its width at
its narrowest part Avhich is just above the antennae ; down the middle there

68

STRATIOMYID.E

is a distinct furrow. Face rather inflated, with the pubescence so short that
it appears to be bare ; jowls broad, shining black, and bearing much shorter
pubescence than in the male ; lower part of the back of the head considerably
inflated and bearing minute pale grey pubescence, while the upper half is less
inflated and is shining black and bare. Eyes in life with a beautiful purple streak
across the middle. Antennae dull orange, third joint large and conspicuous ;
arista tinged with orange, and as in the male short and not thin.

Thorax and scutellum shining black as in the male, with sometimes the
points of the humeri and the postalar calli chestnut.

Abdomen shining black as in the male, but with no longer pubescence
about the basal corners and no projecting genitalia.

Legs as in the male, but with scarcely any pubescence on the femora, and
with no darkening at the tips of the tarsal joints ; trochanters brownish.

Wings with the anterior veins brownish yellow up to the end of the cubital
vein. Squamae much paler than in the male, with smoky margins and pale
fringes. Halteres dull brownish-yellow, with the knob whitish.

Length about 27 5 mm.

This species varies a little, and in the only English specimen of the
male I have seen the head is in profile quite as deep as long, and when
seen in front not twice as wide as deep ; I have, however, seen continental
specimens almost the same. The var. unicolor of the female is very
pronounced, as the antennae are almost blackish brown instead of con¬
spicuous orange, and the only two specimens I have seen (which probably
came from Jaennicke) are slightly smaller. The English specimen of the
male has the knob of the halteres brownish yellow on the top. A variety
of P. tarsalis, mentioned under that species, in which the fork of the
cubital vein is practically absent, disposes of Dr Sharp’s suggestion that a
new genus should be formed for P. minutissima.

P. minutissima was first known as British from a male, which was
taken by Mr C. G-. Lamb at Horrington, near Wells in Somersetshire, in
July 1902, and recorded by Dr D. Sharp in the Entom. Mon. Mag., 1903,
p. 221, and since then a number of specimens have been bred by Dr Sharp
and Mr C. G. Lamb from larvae found under the bark of fir trees ( Pinus
sylvcstris ) at Craigmore, near Nethy Bridge in Inverness, in July 1906;
the majority of the larvae however like Perris’ specimens waited for
emergence until the spring of 1907. My description is mainly made from
two males given me by Mik from Lower Austria and from a female taken
at Asch in Bohemia ; I have however closely compared English specimens,
and also several specimens in Bigot’s collection which were labelled jpini,
tcncllus, and unicolor. It is recorded from Scandinavia, France, Germany,
and Austria, and is associated with Abies or Pinus. Perris (Annales Soc.
Entom. France, 1870, p. 210) found the larvae on Pinus maritimus
“ souvent en societes tres-nombreuses, sous les ecorces des pins labourees
“ par les larves des Tomicus et des Hyluryus, parmi les detritus et les
“excrements laisses par ces larves, et dont elles se nourrissent” ; he
farther stated that their growth is slow, being not less than ten months,
as the eggs are laid in June or July in the channels of Tomicus, and do
not hatch until April or May in the following year ; he gave a detailed
description of the larva, pupa, and perfect insect, accompanied by ten
figures.

Synonymy. — I see no reason to consider, as Jaennicke suggested, that Zetterstedt
had any admixture of another species under his name of P. minutissimus , and conse¬
quently Jaennicke’s P. tenellus becomes a simple synonym, and even his var. unicolor
had been previously observed by Zetterstedt (Dipt. Scand., xi., p. 4261). Perris’ P.

1. PACHYGASTER

69

pini is also a synonym, as Mik Las already observed, and I can to a large extent
confirm this from three specimens in Bigot’s collection which he probably obtained
from Perris, and which, though in very bad condition, I consider only P. minutissima.

2. P. atra Meigen. Wings conspicuously blackened on the basal half.
Antennae black in the male, orange in the female. Back of the head
considerably inflated.

Easily known by the diagnostic characters, though allied to

3 . Head when viewed in profile longer than dee]), and when viewed from m
front more than one and a half times broader than deep (fig. 92). Face and
frons when viewed from in front well below the middle of the head and forming
a small black triangle, but as the head is so much flattened the face is fairly
large when seen from beneath ; the face bears moderate blackish pubescence,
and in certain lights there is a very narrow pale eyemargin which bears very
short pale pubescence ; the flattened lower part of the head causes the jowls
to be shallow, but the lower part of the back of the head is very considerably
inflated and bears inconspicuous though dense short blackish pubescence,

Fig. 93. — F achy g aster atra <$. x 33.

Fig. 92.—Pachygaster atra <$ . x 33.

while the upper part of the back of the head is shining black, and is
inflated and bearing very short dense black postocular pubescence (fig. 93) ;
vertex long, narrow, and pointed, extending considerably more than half way
from the occiput to the antennae, and in fact leaving the eyes touching for
about only four facets ; ocellar triangle with some very tiny inconspicuous
blackish pubescence. Eyes irregularly circular when viewed sideways, not abso¬
lutely bare but with very slight inconspicuous short hairs ; facets without any
distinct difference in size or colour in dry specimens. Antennae dull blackish;
two basal joints with some black bristles beneath and at their tips ; arista long
and thin, in some lights almost whitish, but the very minute dense pubescence
makes it appear a little thickened except at the tip.

Thorax shining black, but dulled by the very dense coarse punctuation
and the very dense short blackish pubescence ; the pubescence is however
very much longer, more erect, and denser than in P. Leachii, and in certain
lights is slightly greyish ; pleurae more bare than the disc of the thorax and
more shining because less punctate, especially on all the impunctate brilliantly
polished middle part of the mesopleurse. Scutellum resembling the hinder
part of the thorax in colour and pubescence.

Abdomen shining black, but dulled by the very dense punctuation, and
every puncture bears a tiny blackish grey bristle ; about the sides of the
base there are some longer finer almost black hairs. Belly shining black,
with short depressed scattered pale grey pubescence. Genitalia exserted
from about the middle sixth of the last abdominal segment, dull orange.

Legs rather pale yellow even to the last joint of the tarsi, but the femora
all black except at the extreme tip; tibiae (especially the hind pair) with a
darkened ring soon after the base ; coxae blackish ; trochanters brownish ;
pubescence very slight, but a little exists on all the femora ; claws blackish.

70

STRATIOMYID7E

Wings (fig. 94) with a blackish tinge on almost the basal half, reaching up to
the end of the two large basal cells and still further into the postical fork
cell ; in some lights the blackish part contrasts very strongly with the
yellowish or hyaline outer part, the part of the costa immediately after the
darkened part being yellowish ; veins strongly marked and blackish on the
blackened part, yellowish on the radial and cubital, and faint but distinct
on the hyaline part ; cubital vein very distinctly foi’ked just after the middle
of the costal portion of the submarginal cell. Squamae small, blackish with
blacker margins and fairly long blackish fringes. Halteres blackish, rather
shining.

9 . Frons and face shining black ; eyes separated at the top by about one-third
the width of the head and gradually approximating until near the antennae,
where they are separated by about one-fourth the width of the head, after
which they gradually diverge again down to the mouth ; pubescence on the
frons light grey and so minute as to be hardly visible, but obvious fairly
dense and greyish black on the flat face : back of the head shining black,
pulled out on the lower part to almost half the width of the eyes, and even
on the upper part widely and conspicuously inflated, and all bearing a slight-
greyish pubescence. Antennae all dull orange ; arista long, pale yellowish.

Thorax and scutellum almost as in the male, but bearing only short
decumbent grey pubescence, which is however longer and greyer than in
P. Leachii.

Abdomen as in the male, but with short universal decumbent grey
pubescence ; ovipositor (when exserted) long and narrow, orange.

Legs as in the male.

Wings with the blackish basal half more contrasted against the subsequent
pale part with its yellow anterior veins.

Length about 3-5 mm.

This species is easily distinguished from all the others, except P.
tarsalis, by the blackish tinge on the basal half of the wing, while from
P. tarsalis it may be known by its differently colored antennse and its
much more inflated back of the head. P. tarsalis is also a larger stouter
insect, and has the blackened basal part of the wing usually less pro¬
nounced, and has a pair of slightly silvery shimmering spots on the frons
in both sexes, though most distinct in the female; those female speci¬
mens of P. tarsalis which have orange antennae may be distinguished by
the larger size of the antennae, besides other characters.

P. atra is the commonest species of the genus, but yet is by no means
common. I once found the female occurring in numbers on the windows
of the hotel near Weybridge Station, and on July 8, 1904, the males
were swarming by hundreds about two bushes out on the open part of
Chippenham Fen, when four females were also obtained but probably
through sweeping the bushes; Mr C. Morley once found it abundant on
bracken ( Pteris aquilina ) at Foxball in Suffolk. I am inclined to think
that the life of the male is a very short one. My records are not so
numerous as I expect they ought to be, as 1 have notes from only Devon¬
shire, Dorset, Kent, Middlesex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hereford, Glamorgan,
and Haddington, from May 19 to July 27. Tt is recorded from extreme

1. PACHYGASTER

71

North Europe to the Adriatic, and probably occurs over all Europe. The
metamorphoses are well known, and I quote from Macquart (Dipt, du
Nord de la France, 1826), “Ces larves, dit M. Carcel dans sa lettre d’envoi,
“ se trouvent dans le detritus du bois d’orme. Tant qu’elles prennent de la
“ nourriture, elles se tiennent dans la partie basse et humide. Je suis
“ sur qu’elles out besoin de plus d’une annee pour leur developpement ;
“ mais je ne sais si ce terme va au-dela de deux ans, ce que je presume.
“ Pres de se transformer, la Larve s’dleve vers la surface, y reste immobile,
“ sans changer de peau, et passe a l’etat de nymphe. Sa depouille sert de
“ coque a celle-ci sans changer de figure. Si on l’ouvre on trouve cette
“ nymphe sous la forme de l’insecte parfait, mais ayant toutes ses parties
“ enveloppees d’une mince pellicule, et n’occupant qu’une partie de son
“ domicile. Enfin la derniere transformation s’opere.”

Besides being bred from the detritus of the Elm ( Ulmus ), it is said to
have been bred from Populus alba and Pinus syl.vcstris, but I do not feel
full confidence as to the larvae on these being those of P. atra, as they may
possibly have belonged to one of the other species. Also from what we
know of P. minutissima (P. pini Perris) it is very probable that the
“ detritus ” may be the frass of wood-boring Coleoptera ; though the meta¬
morphoses of P. orbitalis, as proved by Dr D. Sharp’s researches, are made
in the sodden-wet rotten wood of Holly {Ilex).

3. P. tarsalis Zetterstedt. Wings rather blackened on the basal half.
Antennae brownish in both sexes, or sometimes orange in the female.
Back of the head but little inflated.

The largest and stoutest European species.

et. Head about as long as deep when viewed in profile (fig 95). Face and frons
forming a small rather shining black triangle ; frons with a deep middle
channel, and the two consequent raised sides with a slight silvery shimmer
caused by minute closely adpressed pubescence ; face with very short and
very inconspicuous even though dense pubes¬
cence ; jowls extremely narrow ; back of the
head a little inflated on the lower third and
bearing rather short blackish pubescence there,
but hollowed rather than inflated on the upper
part (fig. 95) and apparently bare; vertex
shining black, long and narrow, extending
about half way towards the antennae and
leaving the eyes touching for about ten facets ;
proboscis brownish yellow. Eyes practically
bare ; facets on the larger upper part of the
disc larger than those near where the eyes
touch, and distinctly larger than those on the
lower part. Antennae dull brownish, rather
yellowish brown on the two basal joints, but usually more or less darkened
or even blackened at the tip of the third joint ; basal joints with only minute
pale bristles beneath ; arista yellowish, long, and thin except at the base.

Thorax and scutellum moderately shining black, but rather dulled by
the dense and coarse punctuation ; pubescence dense but most exceedingly
minute and depressed backwards ; mesopleurse polished purplish black on
their middle. Scutellum long, and with a distinct transverse furrow before
the tip.

Abdomen shining black, but a little dulled by the very dense rather coarse
punctuation, while from every puncture a tiny short black or grey decumbent

Pig. 95.-

-Pachygaster tarsalis £ .
x 33.

72

STRATIOMYIM

bristle arises. Belly shining black, with more conspicuous short depressed
blackish to greyish pubescence. Genitalia small.

Legs rather obscure pale yellow even to the last joint of the tarsi, but
the femora all black except at the extreme tip ; coxae black ; trochanters
brownish ; hind tibiae sometimes obscurely darkened except at the tip. Pu¬
bescence practically none, though a short inconspicuous filiation exists behind
the anterior femora.

Wings with a rather inconspicuous (or sometimes conspicuous) blackish
tinge on about the basal two-fifths, but pale yellowish hyaline on the rest
especially at the stigma ; veins on the blackish part blackened up to
the end of the basal cells ; radial and cubital veins yellower and thicker
than the faint pale yellow veins on the apical part of the wing; cubital vein
forked well beyond the middle of the costal margin of the submarginal cell.
Squamae brownish yellow to greyish black with short greyish black fringes.
Halteres dull brownish black, but the base of the stem dull orange.

$. Frons shining black, with a longitudinal middle channel; frons about one-
fourtli the width of the head at the top and scarcely or only very gradually
narrowing down almost to the antennae ; above the base of each antenna is a
rather silvery patch, but the frons has a scattered erect dark pubescence which
is so minute that it may be overlooked ; back of the head moderately inflated,
slightly more so on the lower than on the upper part, shining black and
apparently bare, because any pubescence is so exceedingly minute. An ten me
with the third joint much larger than in the male, dull brownish or even
quite orange, with the annulations rather distinct.

Thorax and scutellum so densely and coarsely punctate that they are
almost dull black ; humeri in perfect specimens with a chestnut dot, but the
postalar call i black. Pubescence light grey, very tiny and decumbent on
the disc, but more obvious on the scutellum and on the lower part of the
pleurae.

Abdomen as in the male, but the ovipositor long, narrow, and brownish.

Legs as in the male, but there is short pubescence on the middle femora,
and more obvious minute pale pubescence on the hind tibiae.

Wings as in the male.

Length about 3-75 mm.

This species varies a little in the colour of the antennae and tibiae, but
may always be easily distinguished from P. atra by its larger and more
robust appearance and by the shape of the head. It shows some relation¬
ship to P. orlitalis in the slight silvery gloss on the frons just above the
antennae, but is easily distinguished by the touching eyes of the male and
by the absence of the silvery sides of the face in both sexes, and also by the
darkened basal part of the wing. A curious variety of the female was
taken in the New Forest by Miss M. A. Sharp, in July 1904, in which
the fork of the cubital vein is so indistinct as to be almost absent ; the
length and direction of the cubital vein and the size at once distinguish it
from P. minutissima.

P. tarsalis was introduced by me as a British species in 1886 from a
female without history in the late Mr Wilson Saunders’ collection ; and
Dr D. Sharp recorded (Entom. Mo. Mag., Sept. 1903) three specimens
caught in the New Forest in the summer of 1903 on an old broken Beech
(. Fagus); several females were again taken in July 1904 and bred in
considerable numbers in subsequent years, and in 1907 Dr Sharp bred
several specimens from larvae found on Pine ( Pinus ) at Nethy Bridge.
There is a female in the British Museum which was bred from rotten
Poplar (. Populus ) on June 18, 1898, by Mr A. Beaumont, and Lundbeck
says the larvae occur also on “ oaks and apple-trees.” A male bred indoors
by Dr Sharp in 1905 appeared as early as April 30. It is recorded
from southern Sweden to middle Germany.

1. PACHYGASTER

73

Synonymy. — Not much doubt can attach to Zetterstedt’s original description of
P. tarsalis, and Loew has pointed out that P. robustus of Jaennicke is obviously
only the same species. Considerable doubt must however arise concerning
P. meromelas Dufour, especially as two males in Bigot’s collection (on one pin and
with a pupa case (tig. 100) attached), which were evidently so named by Leon
Dufour himself, are only P. tarsalis , and two others (upon another pin) are a female
P. tarsalis (with orange antennae) and a probable male P. orbitalis. It is notable
also that the only specimen of P. tarsalis which had previously been bred (as
mentioned above) came from a rotten poplar. I have dealt with this at greater
length under the synonymy of P. orbitalis , because that has usually been considered
a synonym of P. meromelas. An additional ground for confusion has evidently
arisen in that both Jaennicke and Loew professed to know the male of P. orbitalis
or meromelas in specimens which had the eyes touching, a circumstance which tends
to prove that they both must have had males of P. tarsalis before them when they
described the supposed male of P. orbitalis. It appears, therefore, that neither
Jaennicke, Loew, or Leon Dufour knew what they meant in both sexes under the
names of P. argentifer and P. meromelas. I find that I have a note about three
specimens of P. meromelas in Dufour’s collection, now in the Jardin des Plantes at
Paris ; they consist of two males of P. tarsalis accompanied by a very long-haired
pupa, and a broken third specimen which is certainly not P. orbitalis.

4. P. orbitalis Wahlberg. Wings all hyaline; femora black except at
the tip. Eyes separated, and the sides of the face silvery white, in both
sexes.

A shining black species with hyaline wings and black
femora.

£ . Head (fig. 96) about one and a half times higher than long when seen in

profile. Frons practically bare, at its narrowest part (fig. 97) about one-sixth or
one-seventh the width of the head, but slightly widening up to the vertex and
down to the antenme, shining black with the shining black ocellar triangle
considerably elevated and surrounded by a polished triangle which is con¬
tinued rather widely down the middle to the white patches above the
antennae, while the sides of the frons are slightly duller and are very sparsely
punctate ; above the antennae there is a pair of large almost silvery white
patches which occupy the whole width from eye to eye, but which have a narrow
channel dividing them. Face steadily widening downwards from the antennae
to the lower angle of the eyes, where it is nearly one-third the width of the
head ; the whitish patches above the antennae are continued down the si les
of the face as conspicuous almost silvery white eyemargins, which leave only
about the middle third of the face black ; pubescence absent except for the white
down on the eyemargins ; jowls very narrow, black, and merging into the very
slightly inflated lower part of the back of the head ; higher up on the back of
the head there is a very narrow shining black rim almost behind the edge of
the eye, on which is a very short though close black postocular ciliation ;
vertex shining black, with minute black pubescence behind the ocellar
triangle ; proboscis black, pubescent, mainly retracted into the mouth-

74

STRATI OM Y1 DiE

opening. Eyes broad ovate, but when viewed sideways slightly flattened
behind, and when viewed from in front of course flattened against the frons
and face ; facets all equal ; the eyes in life have a greenish hue with evasive
purplish brown markings on the upper half, and with a median horizontal
purplish brown band extending four-fifths of the way across from the front
margin. Antennas orange, with either the tip of the third joint blackened or
all its margin except across the base or even still more darkened except at
its base ; the two basal joints slightly bristly beneath, and the third joint
faintly annulated ; arista blackish, thin, and long, being about three times as
long as the antennas.

Thorax shining black, but dulled behind the suture by dense punctuation ;
this dense punctuation extends above the suture about the middle part but then
grows sparser until all the front part of the thorax is bare, brilliantly polished,
and impunctate ; moreover, the suture is very deeply and broadly impressed
and at the middle extends backward V-shaped, and outside and behind the
slopes of the V are large post-sutural humps of which the front part is impunc¬
tate ; and in addition, right out on the forepart of the disc well away from
the suture or any margin, there is on each side a rounded patch which is almost
but not quite impunctate and bare ; with the exception of the impunctate
portions the disc of the thorax beai’s conspicuous short depressed white
pubescence ; pleurae mainly bare and polished, but rather before the hind-
margin of the mesopleurse there is a rather conspicuous band of brilliant
white pubescence, and the lower part of the sternopleurae bears a few short
clear white hairs. Scutellum moderately elongate, dulled by rather dense
punctuation, and with minute dull white pubescence.

Abdomen shining black, rather obscured by punctuation and by the tiny
dark (in some lights grey) bristles which arise from each punctuation ;
pubescence longer and greyish about the basal corners. Belly black, with
minute sparse white pubescence. Genitalia (when visible) rather large, ending
in a pair of rather long oval dark brown small lamellae.

Legs yellow, but the coxae and the basal five-sixths of the femora black
or blackish ; trochanters obscurely brownish ; pubescence on the femora
slight, pale, and inconspicuous.

Wings hyaline, but soon after the base the subcostal vein is blackish and
the costa brownish up to the base of the pale yellowish grey stigma, where
the darkening abruptly terminates ; basal veins rather thick and rather
conspicuously yellowish, as well as the postical vein as far as the base of the
discal cell, and then similarly thick and colored veins extend up the inner side
of the discal cell and on up to the end of the cubital fork ; all the other veins
rather faint ; fork of the cubital vein almost before the middle of the sub-
marginal cell. Squamae obscurely blackish glassy with yellowish margins and
pale fringes. Halteres with the large knob yellowish white, but with the
stem darkened.

9. Very similar to the male, and in fact very difficult to distinguish. Frons
(fig. 98) at its narrowest part about one-fifth the width of the head ; white

patches above the antennae more conspic¬
uous ; back of the head slightly more
inflated. Antennae with the third joint
distinctly larger and sometimes all darkened.

Thorax with shorter and less conspicuous
wlrite pubescence especially on the front
part. Ovipositor (when exserted) long,
narrow, and yellowish.

Legs with occasionally a small darkened
patch behind the middle of the front
tibia?.

Wings with the two dark veins, especially the subcostal, sometimes more
conspicuous or sometimes only brownish yellow.

Length about :P25 mm.

This species is easily distinguished from all the other European species
by the silvery white eyemargins to the face, while the male is distinguished

1. PACHYGASTER

75

by the widely separated eyes on its frons. When I say from all other
European species I must call attention to a specimen in Bigot’s collection,
which is one out of four exponents of P. meromclas, as this specimen has
the frons only about one-tenth the width of the head, and the silvery
pubescence on its thorax has a tendency to run into five stripes on the
forepart, between which are polished bare impunctate intermediate stripes ;
the antennae are dark and the third joint is especially small and dark; the
eyes are almost round, and the wings have the subcostal and costal veins
yellowish and not blackened; this specimen may be a distinct though
closely allied species, but I think it is only a remarkable variety.

P. orbitalis was first recorded as British by Mr E. E. Austen in the
Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine for October 1901, under the name of

Fig. 99. — Pachygaster orbitalis

pupa, x 10.

Fig. 100. — Pachygaster tarsalis pupa case,
x 10 ; identified by Dufour as P.
orbitalis.

Neopachyg aster meromelcena. A number of specimens were bred from
larvae and pupae found by Dr 1). Sharp in a decaying Holly {Ilex) at Bank
near Lyndhurst in the New Forest on June 1, and the perfect insects
emerged from June 8 to 28. Dr Sharp has since found it again in the same
tree and in other similarly decaying hollies; it was bred in abundance in
July 1904, and through the guidance of Dr Sharp I obtained and bred a large
number in 1905. The pupae (fig. 99) I obtained were found under the thin
bark of decaying holly trees down near the base of the trees where the bark
was more or less moist. Mr F. Jenkinson caught one specimen at Lynd¬
hurst on July 3, 1901. Dr Sharp has informed me that the debris in
which the larvae occur may be in an almost liquid state, but that the larvae
will bear complete drying up and will recover again upon the application
of moisture. It is somewhat remarkable that Dr Sharp should have found
the larvae on decayed Holly only, as the species had been previously
supposed to be associated with dead Poplars ( Populus ). I have strong
reasons for believing that the various species of Pachygaster, when properly
identified, will be found to be almost confined to their own group of trees
or rather to the debris and frass of wTood-boring Coleoptera which live in

76

STR ATI OM Y I DiE

certain trees, such as P. orbitalis to Holly ( Hex ), P. atra to Elm ( Ulmus),
P. minutissima to Pine ( Pinus ), P. tarsalis to Beech ( Fagus ), and Poplar
( Populus ), and P. Leachii to Oak ( Quercus ). At present we have a record
of P. atra from beneath the bark of Pinus sylvestris, but as this record was
made by Schilling, who was not a dipterologist, in 1829, when P. minutis¬
sima was unrecognised, it is easy to imagine that an error might have
arisen ; I believe, however, that Dr Sharp has bred P. tarsalis from
Beech, Poplar, Elm, and Pine. Carcel’s record of P. atra in rotten wood in
an Elm {Ulmus) is undoubtedly correct as it was tested by Macquart; P.
minutissima { — P. pini Perris) has been associated only with Pine {Pinus) ;
P. meromelas was bred by Dufour, who was a very imperfect dipterologist,
from beneath the bark of an old dead Poplar {Populus), and his species has
been hitherto believed to be synonymous with P. orbitalis, but I believe a
mistake has been made in this, and that his species is really a synonym of
P. tarsalis ; P. Leachii has been bred from a Boletus found in a hollow oak
{Quercus), which may well mean that it lived on the detritus from some
Coleopterous larvae which fed on either the Boletus or on the Oak {Quercus),
and it has also been bred from old turnip stems {Brassica Bo pa) ; P.
orbitalis according to Wahlberg “Hab. in ligno Populi c-seso,” but he does
not absolutely say that it was bred from Populus, though it may be pre¬
sumed that it was. Now that so much attention has been drawn to the
larvae of this genus, which can apparently be easily reared, while the perfect
insects are usually very uncommon, we may hope that further investigations
will be made with a view to determining the exact nature of their food.
P. orbitalis is known with certainty from Scandinavia, Germany, and
France.

Synonymy. — There can be but little doubt that this is the true P. orbitalis of
Wahlberg (1854), because he says “orbitis infra antennas late argenteis,” and he
gives amply sufficient distinctive characters as against the four other known
European species ; the only point in his description which can be demurred to is
“ nervis pallidis,” because the subcostal vein at any rate can scarcely be considered
pale on its basal part ; Wahlberg failed to recognise the male, which is not to be
wondered at, as he naturally would expect it to differ from the female in the usual
way. The next comparatively certain synonym is P. argentifer of Jaennicke (1866),
but either his supposed male must have been only P. tarsalis or his word “ unbehaart ::
as applied to its eyes must have been a misprint for “ ungenahert ” ; such an error on
the part of Jaennicke is not improbable because in his description of P. Leachii he
gave “ hinterschienen ” when he meant “ hinterschenkel,” but when he went on to
describe the male of his P. argentifer as having “die Schwinger... schwarzlich...auch
der Stiel schwarz/5 it became certain that his male did not belong to /'. orbitalis.
Loew (1870) disposed of P. argentifer as an absolute synonym of the species which
lie called P. meromelas , and I think he was quite right inasmuch as I think Loew
made just the same mistake as Jaennicke about his male, so that his (single) male
was also only P. tarsalis; in support of this contention it is quite certain that
Loew if he had known the true male of P. orbitalis could not have failed to notice
the broad frons, and, as I shall say under my remarks about P. meromelas of Dufour,
the bred specimens of P. tarsalis, or perhaps I should say the immature specimens,
show very little darkening on the basal half of the wing. P. meromelas of Leon
Dufour (1841) is in my opinion impossible to identify now either by description or
by types ; the description is as follows :

“Ater, pedibus pallis, femoribus nigris ; alis immaculatis nervis a basi ad
“ medium atris antennis rufo-fuscis.”

“ Long. 1 1 2 lin. — Hab. in populetis Gallite meridionali-occidentalis.

“ Cette espece, dont les caracteres sont constans, a la taille et la physionomie clu
“ P. pallipennis , qui est commun sur les feuilles de nos noisetiers, mais elle en differe
“ par la couleur noire des euisses et des nervures de la moitie posterieure des ailes :

1. P AC HYG ASTER

I l

“ les tibias ont aussi un pen de brun vers leur base.” This description at once
excludes P. atra and P. Leachii , both of which were well known to Dufour, and
it maybe concluded that it excludes P. minutissima ; it is therefore limited to P.
tarsal is and P. orbitalis ; Loew, in adopting the name, was evidently influenced by
the words “alis immaculatis” and by the type specimen which he possessed, but iii
bred or immature specimens of P. tarsalis , especially when the wings are folded, the
darker base of the wing becomes very vague, and I think I can prove that the type
specimens are valueless ; further, close examination of Dufour’s description notes
the words nervis a basi ad medium atris an tennis rufo-fuscis ” which apply better
to /'. tarsalis , and most fatal is “ les tibias ont aussi un peu de brun vers leur base,”
a character which essentially does not apply to P. orbitalis , but does apply to P.
tarsalis more than to -any other European species of Pachygaster ; beyond this I am
impressed by the omissions in Dufour’s description, such as the silvery orbits the
whitish halteres, and the broad frons of the male, which are characters that I believe
could not have been overlooked ; I am also impressed with the food-plant, as we
have evidence that P. tarsalis breeds in Poplar, while P. orbitalis seems to have a
very strong partiality for Holly. Dufour’s figure of the larva of P. meromelas favours
P. tarsalis , but his description of the pupa agrees with P. orbitalis. As to type
specimens, Bigot was much better off than Loew as he possessed four against Loew’s
one ; the two specimens above the label “ P. meromelas £ Landes L. Duf (nomh) ”
are on one pin and are accompanied by a pupa case (fig. 100), and are both P.
tarsalis f ; the two labelled “ P. meromelas ? Landes L. Duf (nomh) ” are also on
one pin, the lower one being P. tarsalis f and the upper one either a remarkable
variety of P. orbitalis $ or an undescribed species which I have noticed in my
remarks above. Under these circumstances I consider that Dufour’s P. meromelas
cannot be recognised either from description or from known types, and that at any
rate it cannot be accepted as the name for the species now under discussion and
that it is equally certain that the male of Jaennicke’s P. argentifer and Loew’s P.
orbitalis do not belong to this species but probably to P. tarsalis. Loew, in 1872,
suggested that this species might be the Nemotelus frontalis of Olivier, Encycl!
metli., viii., 184 (1811), but I cannot help believing that Olivier’s species referred to
Nemotelus nigrinus, especially as he seems to have fully recognised the characters of
the genus Nemotelus. It is also suggested that Fallen had this species mixed up
with liis Sargus pachygaster, because lie notes, “Alae vel hyalinae vel saepius ad
basin dimidiato-nigrae : — Halteres albi.”

5. P. Leachii Curtis. Wings without any blackish hue on the basal
half. Legs yellow with only a blackish ring near the tip of the hind
femora.

A neat shining black species with hyaline wings and pale
yellow femora.

V

<$. Head in profile quite as long as high, but not circular because the front part
bulges out and the hind part is flattened. Face and frons forming a very
small shining black triangle when viewed from in front, but, as the under side
of the head is very much flattened, the face when viewed from below is not so
very small and bears some very short pubescence ; frons quite bare ; jowls
very small, shining black ; back of the head shining black and slightly puffed
out on the lower part but disappearing higher up behind the eyes ; vertex
shining black and bare, very long, narrow and pointed as it extends half way
from the occiput to the antennae ; ocelli slightly raised and with minute dark
pubescence behind ; proboscis brownish yellow. Eyes very nearly bare,
touching for about one-third (but below the middle) of the distance between
the occiput and the antennae ; facets on the upper part larger than those
on the lower part, but without any distinct contrast ; in life they are
reddish brown on the large facets and dark brown on the small facets, but
without much contrast in colour. Antennae orange, but with the two small
basal joints blackish or at least brownish and bearing tiny bristles beneath ;
arista long, thin, whitish yellow, rather densely but so minutely pubescent
as to appear merely slightly thickened except at the tip.

Thorax shining black, thickly but not coarsely punctate in front of the

78

STRATIOMYIM

suture and with the actual front part quite impunctate and consequently bare
and polished, but rather more coarsely punctate behind the suture; pubescence
very minute, recumbent, and scarcely visible in front of the suture because it
is blackish there, but rather more obvious after the suture because it is
greyish yellow there ; pleurae with scarcely any pubescence, and with nearly
all the mesopleurae impunctate and very brilliantly polished. Scutellum
shining black, slightly dulled by the dense coarse punctuation and by minute
blackish pubescence.

Abdomen shining black, rather densely but not very coarsely punctate,
and each punctuation bearing a tiny decumbent blackish bristle, though
towards the tip these tiny bristles become scarcer and more greyish. Belly
brightly shining black, and bearing fine rather sparse, depressed, almost
whitish, short pubescence. Genitalia (when exserted) about as wide as a
third of the hindmargin of the fifth abdominal segment, blackish with slight
orange colorings.

Legs yellow, slightly obscure on the femora ; tarsi pale yellow even to the
last joint, though the tiny claws are black ; coxae blackish ; trochanters
yellow; hind femora with a rather indefinite blackish ring just before the
'tip. Pubescence very slight, but there are some tiny pale hairs behind the
anterior, and in front of the hind, femora.

Wings almost hyaline and minutely pubescent all over, but the stigma is
pale yellowish and the veins pale brownish yellow on the anterior part up to
the end of the cubital vein and farther still along the costa and on the stem
and lower fork of the postical vein, while the other veins are very faint ; fork
of the cubital vein distinct and almost perpendicular, well beyond the middle
of the submarginal cell. Squamae blackish, with brownish orange margins
and fringes. Halteres with large blackish knobs, but with brownish orange
stems.

$. Very much like the male. Frons shining black, at the top about one-third
the width of the head but gradually diminishing in width down to the trans¬
verse channel a little above the antennae where it is about one-fifth the width
of the head ; after this the eyes very gradually diverge down to the mouth ;
pubescence on the frons so short and sparse as to be almost imperceptible
even though pale, unless viewed absolutely sideways, but more visible on the
very short face ; lower part of the head so much flattened that the jowls
can hardly be traced when viewed sideways, but when seen from beneath they
are fairly wide and are shining black ; back of the head obviously puffed out,
especially on the lower part, but not so much as in P. air a, and bearing
very inconspicuous tiny pale pubescence. Eyes more circular than in the
male. Antennae all dull orange, with the third joint larger than in the male
and sometimes slightly brownish.

Thorax and scutellum rather more densely punctate than in the male,
except on the impunctate front part of the thorax, and both bearing very
short decumbent light grey pubescence except on the bare polished parts.

Abdomen with more uniform tiny decumbent greyish bristles ; ovipositor
(when visible) long and yellowish.

Legs more whitish yellow, and the blackish marking just before the tip of
the hind femora sometimes reduced to a blotch on the front part, and
sometimes with even that only brownish.

Wings almost as in the male. Squamae paler, being brownish or orange.
Halteres with the knob more brownish.

Length about 3-35 mm.

This species is very easily distinguished from the other four European
species by its yellow femora, while its hyaline wings with the forked
cubital vein distinguish it from all except P. orbitalis.

P. Lcachii is by no means a common species in England, though I
expect it will be found to be much more widely distributed than is known
at present, and perhaps when its breeding habits are known it may be
found more commonly. Perris (Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1870, p. 212)
Stated that he bred it from larvae found in a Boletus in a hollow oak, or as

1. PACHYGASTER

79

he stated later on (1. c., 1876, p. 180) in rotten wood taken from the
hollow in an old oak, and again (1. c., p. 193) he said that he bred two speci¬
mens from old turnip stems? (“ pieds de navet en fructification ”). I have
records from Cornwall (Scilly Isles, Penzance and St Ives), Somerset (near
Wincanton), Devonshire (Torcross and Leach’s original discovery), Dorset
(Glanville’s Wootton and Wareham), Sussex (Three Bridges), Cambridge¬
shire (Cambridge, Chippenham Fen), Suffolk (Farnham), Gloucestershire
(Mr C. J. Wainwright), Herefordshire (Tarrington), and Glamorgan
(Porthcawl), from June 21 to August 12, so that at present the records are
almost restricted to the southern half of England. Abroad it is recorded
from Scandinavia, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary.

a Synonymy. — No doubt can arise concerning Curtis’s original description and
figure, but Walker introduced an unfortunate complication in his Insecta Britannica
Diptera by twice referring to the dark marking on the hind “tibiae” when he meant
the hind “femora,” and strange to say Jaennicke in Berl. Ent. Zeitschr., x., p. 22],
says, “Die Hinterschienen sincl vor der Spitze breit braun geringelt,” which Loew
incorrectly quoted as “ schwarz geringelt.” Walker also incorrectly described the
lialteres as pale yellow, a character which could only apply to P. orbitalis.
IMacquart’s P. pallipennis is an obvious synonym. It is worthy of note that in
Curtis's original edition (1824) of British Entomology, figs. 2, 3, being the head and
antennae, are apparently drawn from P. Leachii, but in the reprint (issued in 1862) a
fresh drawing has been made for fig. 3, which has probably been made from P. atra.

80

STRATIOMYID.E

CLITELLARIN^.

Abdomen short, with only five or six obvious segments. Lower cross¬
vein absent, so that the upper branch of the postical vein forms for a
short distance the lower margin of the discal cell; discal cell emitting

three veinlets irrespective of the upper branch of the postical vein ; cubital
fork short or absent. Tibite without any spurs.

Antennae with or without a short apical or subapical arista, or with a short style,
almost homologously jointed or with the annulated third joint obviously oval.

Thorax squarely built. Scutellum with two marginal spines ( Oxycera , etc.) or
unarmed ( JYemotelus , etc.).

Abdomen short and broad, often arched, oval or conical, and sometimes even
broader than long, but usually a little longer than broad, with only five or six
apparent segments.

Legs stout, moderate in length ; tibiae without any spurs.

Y ings with three incomplete or faint veinlets issuing from the discal cell, besides
the upper branch of the postical vein which appears to issue from the discal cell
because the small cross-vein is absent, and therefore the upper branch of the
postical vein forms for a varying distance the lower margin of the discal cell ; five
wide open posterior cells (if the subapical and postical cells be included). Wing-
membrane minutely and densely pubescent in all the European genera except
JSemotelus , but in that genus practically bare; ribbed in Oxycera , rippled in
Ephippium and Lasiopa, but with only slight folds in Nemotelus, Clitellaria , and
Pycnomalla. Alulae large, folded against the scutellum when at rest. Squamae (alar)
moderately small, and with a short fringe ; thoracal pair either absent, or moderately
developed, and when developed with a long delicate fringe and with both the dorsal
and ventral surfaces pubescent.

The essential characters of the Clitcllarinm lie in the small number
of abdominal segments, whereby they are distinguished from the Berincv
and Xylomyincc ; the three veinlets from the discal cell, irrespective of the
upper branch of the postical vein, whereby they are distinguished from
the Pachygastrince and some Berinev and Street iomyincc ; the absence of the
lower cross-vein, whereby they are distinguished from the Sargince and
Stratiomyincc. The boundary line between them and the Stratiomyince is
very slight at times, as (in Bpliipptium for example) the upper branch of

CLITELLARINcB

81

the postical vein sometimes touches the discal cell for so minute a space
that it may almost be taken for the small cross-vein, but in such cases the
species are taken as belonging to the Clitellarince ; the antennse of
Pycnomalla are rather similar to those of Straiiomys.

The Clitellarince comprise about fifteen genera from almost all parts of
the world ; rather more than a hundred species have been recorded from
the Palsearctic region, but nearly fifty of these belong to Ncmotclus, and
about forty to Oxycera. In Britain we have only these two genera (unless
Ephippium should re-occur), and about fifteen species. The metamorphoses
of a few species are known and are mentioned in the descriptions.

Table of the European Genera of Clitellarince.

1 (2) Basal antennal joint three or four times as long as the second ; the

six-ringed flagellum apparently forming one long peg-shaped
joint with a short conical terminal style. Pycnomalla.

Large St7'atiomys-\\ke species.

2 (1) Basal antennal joint at the utmost twice as long as the second

joint or shorter.

3 (8) Scutellum armed with two marginal spines.

4 (5) Thorax with a strong spine on each side just before the wing-

base (fig. 102). 2. Ephippium.

Large red and black flies.

5 (4) Thorax without any strong spine on its sides.

¥

82

STRATIOMYIM

6 (7) Antennae more or less elongate, and with a thickened style (fig.

103) (conf. Oxyeera tenuicornis). Clitellaria.*

Middle-sized dark colored softly pubescent flies.

7 (6) Antennae short, and with a subterminal arista (fig. 104) except in

0. tenuicornis (fig. 110). 3. Oxycera.

Rather small or small usually black and yellow flies.

Fig. 104.— Oxyeera Morridi 9- x 27.

Fig. 103. — Glitellaria cinerascens 9 . X 22.

8 (3) Scutellum unarmed.

9 (10) Face produced roundedly (fig. 105). Lasiopa.

Middle-sized dark colored flies.

10 (9) Face produced more or less snout-like (fig. 106). 4. Nemotelus.

Small black or black and white flies.

Fig. 105. — Lasiopa villosa 9 • x 15.

Fig. 108. — Nemotelus uliginosus $ ■ X 22.

Peritta Becker (Zeitschr. Hymen. Dipt., vi., 10, 1906) apparently
belongs to the Clitellarince, even though Becker says “ nov. genus
“ Odontomyinarum” because he says “Aus der Diskoidalzelle entspringen
“ 4 deutliche Langsadern,” and beyond that he says that the scutellum
is unarmed which is a character that I believe never occurs in the
Stratiomyince. The latter character would place it near Lasiopa , with
which the form of the face seems to agree, but it is said to have
antennae like Oxycera , a six-segmented abdomen in the female, and
bare wings. When founding the genus Becker had seen only two
females from Algeria.

* There can be no doubt that Meigen established the genus Clitellaria in 1803 for Stratiomys cphippivm,
but he enlarged the scope of the genus in 1822, and as a genus had previously been proposed for S. ephippium
I see no objection to Meigen’s name remaining for the rest of his enlarged genus, and consequently I do not see
any need for lvertesz's new name Adoxomyia.

2. EPHIPPIUM

83

2. EPHIPPIUM.

Ephippium Latreille, Hist. Nat. Crust. Ins., iii., 448 (1802).
Ephippiomyia Bezzi, Zeitschr. Hym. Dipt., ii., 191 (1902).

Head rather small but as wide as the front part of the thorax ; face arched, but
not projecting in profile beyond the eyes, densely pubescent ; palpi long and densely
hairy. Eyes of the male touching for a long space on the frons and with the facets
all equal in size, of the female widely separated ; densely hairy in both sexes.
Antennae about as long as the head ; basal joint cup-shaped, not much longer than
the second ; third joint elongate, indistinctly annulated until near its tip, and ending-
in a long pointed apical style.

Thorax slightly longer than broad, contracted in front, and with a conspicuous
hornlike spine on each side just before the wing-base (fig. 102); humeri raised in a
blunt projection. Scutellum well elevated at its base above the level of the hind-
margin of the thorax, and bearing two very large thick hairy marginal spines set
well apart.

Abdomen ovate, flattened, slightly broader and longer than the thorax and
scutellum together.

Legs strong ; front coxae large.

Wings with the venation of the Clitellarince, but the small cross-vein almost
exists as the upper branch of the postical vein only touches the discal cell for a
minute space ; veinlets from the discal cell usually complete. Wing-membrane
strongly rippled but not ribbed. Alulae unusually large, so that when the wings are
closed they are folded up against the sides of the scutellum. Alar squamae absent ;
thoracal pair small but distinct, hardly pubescent on the surfaces.

This genus is distinguished from all others by the remarkable spines
on the thorax just before the wing-base.

Ephippium contains only two Palaearctic species, one of which is only
known from Japan, while the other occurs over most of Europe and is said
to have been taken in England. The metamorphoses have often been
observed, and the larva (according to Markel and Heyden) appears to be
parasitic in the nests of Formica fuliginosa, though Westwood (Introd.
Mod. Classif. Ins., ii., p. 533) refers to von Boser who found a larva in a
rotten nut tree, and stated that although it was more than half grown
when found yet it was two years in arriving at the perfect state.

Synonymy . — The genus Ephippium was founded by Latreille in 1802, and lie
then gave “ Exemples. Stratiomys microleon ; ephippium F. ” ; he made no
mention of the peculiar spines on the thorax, but his name alone would prove that
he intended it to apply to “ ephippium ” rather than to “ microleon In 18u5 (Hist.
Nat. Crust. Ins., xiii., p. 341) he placed Stratiomys ephippium Fab. as his first
species and renamed it Ephippium thoracicum , and in 1809 he redescribed the genus
in more detail and gave as one character “ Thorax utrinque unidentatus,” and at the
same time relegated microleon to Stratiomys.

I have not seen his description in Diet, d’hist. nat., xxiv., p. 192 (1804), but it was
then that he first gave the new specific name of thoracicum m accordance with the
custom of those days when raising an old specific name to generic rank. The genus
has several times been sunk under Glitellaria under a misapprehension that that
name held priority, and in such cases the specific name ephippium has been retained.
In Scudder’s Nomenclator (1882) a name Ephippium has been recorded as having-
been established by Bolten. Mus. (ed. 2, p. 116) Moll., Biv. in 1798, and apparently
upon that authority Bezzi in 1 9> 2 changed the name to Ephippiomyia ; I have
however tried to obtain particulars about the supposed name of 1798, but I cannot
even trace the existence of the work in which it was supposed to have been founded ;
the description (if any) may have been given unscientifically, and until evidence of a
clear nature is forthcoming, I must decline to change the name which had stood
unchallenged for exactly a hundred years.

The genus Potamida Meigen (1800) was I believe not established under the Buies
of Nomenclature, and consequently has no claim of priority.

84

STRATIOMYIDiE

1. B. thoracicum Fabrieius. A largo conspicuous fly. Thorax red ;
abdomen, etc., black.

A large black fly which has the whole disc of the thorax
bright red.

$ . Head comparatively small, being about as wide as the front part of the thorax
Face and frons shining black, and flush with the eyes though the face is
arched ; both face and frons covered with long porrect dense black pubescence ;
frons with a narrow middle furrow • jowls and lower part of the back of the
head small and the latter hardly inflated, but both bearing dense black
pubescence ; all round the hindmargin of the eye there is a fairly broad equal
greyish black eye-collar which is without any long pubescence, but which
bears a minute adherent forwards-directed scaly pubescence which is fairly
conspicuous and whitish, but on the upper part (which is obscurely tinged
reddish) this minute pubescence is inconspicuous because it is darker ; vertex
conspicuously elevated, shining black, rather small even though produced
to a long point, and bearing rather short abundant black pubescence ; pro¬
boscis large, dull black ; palpi long and jointed, the end joint being linear
and projecting forwards from the head, and this joint has a brownish tinge
and is clothed with long black bristly hairs which spread out at the tip like
a birch broom. Eyes densely clothed all over with moderately long black
pubescence ; touching for about one-third the distance between the vertex
and the antennae ; facets all equal. Antennae dull black, in profile inserted a
little below the middle of the eye, about as long as the head ; the two
basal joints transverse cup-shaped, but the basal joint has a short narrower stem
which makes it rather longer than the second one ; both basal joints clothed
with rather conspicuous black bristly hairs ; third joint (including the style)
about two-and-a-lralf times as long as the two basal joints together, and
gradually tapering to a point ; third joint (without the style) about as bulky
as the two basal joints for about half its length, after which it quickly con¬
tracts to about half the diameter and then maintains that size up to the style ;
it is very indistinctly annulated until the last two rings, which are distinct
(especially the last one), and these two rings bear minute dorsal bristles at
the tip ; style long thin and pointed being more than half as long as the third
joint, and bearing at its tip a minute thread-like arista, and also bearing some
minute bristles about its base as well as two or three more before half its
length.

Thorax densely covered all over its disc (except just in front and on its side-
margins) with felt-like matted red pubescence which practically conceals the
black ground colour ; it gradually widens from the humeri to the postalar
calli and is slightly longer than its broadest part ; away from the red disc it
is all deep black and moderately shining ; humeri standing out as blunt points,
and the dorso-pleural suture deeply impressed ; just after the thoracic suture
and just before the wing-base there is on each side a long erect horn-like
spine, which is shining black and pointed, and which bears on its basal part
a few rather short black bristly hairs. Pubescence, besides the red felt,
consisting of some inconspicuous short reddish orange hairs scattered amidst
the red felt, and of fairly abundant rather long black hairs on all the black
part of both thorax and pleurae. Scutellum shining black, though roughly
densely and coarsely punctate, conspicuously raised above the level of the
hindmargin of the thorax, and bearing on its margin two very large upturned
thick shining black spines, which are longer than the scutellum itself and
which are hardly reduced to a point at their tip ; these spines are densely
clothed with conspicuous coarse black pubescence except just at the tip, which
is bare and usually rather brownish.

Abdomen shining black, ovate, flattened on all the disc but distinctly
margined, rather broader and rather longer than the thorax and scutellum
together, densely but finely punctate, composed of live almost equally long
segments (basal segment rather the shortest) ; pubescence on the four basal
segments apparently none, as all over the disc it is black or rusty black and
very short and dense, but there are a few longer black hairs about the basal
corners, and the hairs on the absolute sidemargins are slightly longer and are

2. EPHIPPIUM

85

rusty black. On the fifth segment the pubescence is light grey and more con¬
spicuous, as it is longer and less depressed. Belly shining black and apparently
bare, but slightly dulled by the dense very short depressed rusty black bristly
pubescence. Genitalia small, only a pair of small elongate oval lamellae being-

visible.

Legs black, but the junctions of the joints of the tarsi are reddish and the
soles appear red from the dense short red pubescence ; the legs are strongly built,
the front coxae being large and strong, the hind femora slightly clavate in
consequence of a little enlargement beneath about a third before the tip, and
the hind tibiae shortened, curved, slightly dilated for a long space before the
middle, and more distinctly dilated about the tip quarter. Pubescence behind
the anterior femora just existing though inconspicuous, but on all the rest of
the legs short, adherent, and all black or rusty black. Pulvilli orange, the
middle one shorter and more pad-like than the other two ; claws obscurely
orange at the base.

Wings very strongly blackish all over, the outer part being only a little
faded ; the three veinlets from the discal cell to the wingmargin and the
upper branch of the postical vein almost straight and usually quite complete,
though sometimes the third one fails to reach the wingmargin ; origin of the
radial vein very far removed from the base of the wing and almost opposite
the base of the discal cell ; fork of the cubital vein very short ; upper branch
of the postical vein just touching the discal cell for so minute a space that a
small cross-vein almost exists, lower branch joining the anal vein well before
the wingmargin ; wing-membrane strongly rumpled all over but not ribbed ;
alulae blackened and with a slight dark fringe. Alar squamae absent ;
thoracal pair small but distinct, brownish black with long blackish fringes,
but only microscopically pubescent on the surfaces.

$ . V ery much like the male. Eyes as hairy as in the male, separated on the frons by
about one-fifth the width of the head; frons shining black, parallel-sided for
about its upper half, after which it is a little wider but again almost parallel¬
sided, and the lower half of the face is again a little widened, so that altogether
there is not much difference in the width of the space between the eyes at the
vertex and at the mouth ; frons with a large shallow transverse depression soon
after its middle and with a narrow middle furrow down its lower part, closely
punctate all about the shallow depression and only a little less so above that,
but with a shining almost impunctate space just below that ; face shining, with a
rather large circular depression just under the antenna? ; frons, face, joAvls, and
lower part of the back of the head with dense erect black pubescence, except
that usually the frons is partially or wholly brownish orange haired between
the ocelli and just before the antennae, or a slight greyish pubescence may
extend still further down outside the antennae ; all round the back of the
eyes there is a broad distinct almost flat eye-collar (wider than in the male on
especially the upper part), the fiat upper part of which bears short adherent
but conspicuous grey forwards-directed pubescence, but on the lower part
such pubescence is browner and rather inconspicuous though a narrow greyish
border extends all along under the lower part of the eyes ; palpi distinctly
orange red.

Thorax, abdomen, legs, wings, squamae, halteres, etc., practically as in the
male, but the middle pulvillus is more like the other two.

Length about 12 mm.

This species has no ally in Europe. It varies very little, but I have
seen two or three specimens in which the third veinlet from the discal
cell distinctly fails to reach the wingmargin, and in one of these the first
veinlet disappears for a short distance at about a third from its origin ;
in the female the amount of brownish pubescence on the frons varies a
little.

E. thoracicum has at the present time but faint claims to be considered a
British species, but I have included it because I have very little doubt about
its having been taken at Darenth Wood in Kent, and at Coombe Wood in

86

STRATI0MYID7E

Surrey, in the earlier part of the last century. Walker says “Very rare ;
“ has been found in Coombe Wood, Surrey and in Darenth Wood, Kent.
“ In the British Museum, and in Mr Desvignes’ collection (E.).” Donovan
figured it in 1813, and said it was taken at Coombe Wood on June 4, 1812,
by George Milne, Esq., Kent, and that it had occurred in the woods about
Highgate, while Swainson is said to have taken three specimens at one
time. Stephens said (Illustrations of British Entomology, Suppl. 27) that
he possessed a pair which had been “taken in June in “Coombe Wood.”
The late Mr J. C. Dale kept a note-book upon British Diptera which is
now in the possession of the Hope Museum at Oxford, and in it is the
following note concerning this species: “Coombe Wood, Surrey, Trunks
“ of Trees, June 4, 1812, G. Milne, Highgate, Middlesex.” Of the three
specimens in Dale’s collection one male and one female were labelled
“ Desvignes’ coll.,” and on the female was the label “ Coombe Wood,” but the
other female bears no history. It would appear from this that Donovan
figured it the year after G. Milne took it. I remember being present at
Stevens’ Auction Rooms when J. C. Dale bought Desvignes’ specimens.
The possibility of its having occurred in Britain is rendered probable
by the occurrence of a specimen at Venlo in the Netherlands, and
through Macquart including it in his Dipteres du Nord de France. It
has been bred from the nest of Formica fuliginosa, and a full account
has been given by Markel in Germar’s Zeitschrift, v., p. 266 (1844), and
Latreille when describing the species in 1809 said “ larva in arboribus ? ”
It has been recorded from Central and Southern Europe.

Synonymy. — This species was first described by Fabricius in his Systema
Entomologica (1775) under the name of Stratiomys ephippium; in 1802 Latreille
established the genus Ephippium , and in 1804 according to the custom of the time
renamed the species thoracicum ; an attempt has been made to change the generic
name upon the ^grounds of its pre-occupation in the Mollnsca and in that case to
reinstate the specific name “ ephippium but I cannot agree with that, because of
the reasons I have already stated.

3. OXYCERA.

Oxycera Meigen, Illig. Mag., II., 265 (1803).

Handsome black and yellow or black and green flies of
moderate or small size ; almost, bare and usually of a black
ground colour with conspicuous yellow or green spots and
markings, but the pale markings are sometimes so much
extended as to become predominant.

Head broader than deep when seen from in front ; face and frons in the male
forming a flat almost equilateral or squat triangle, as the eyes touch on the frons
while the jowls are hardly visible, but in the female the frons and face are almost
equally wide from the vertex to the mouth ; lower half of the back of the head
considerably puffed out and bearing moderately long pubescence ; vertex in the
male elongate, with the ocellar space more or less elevated ; proboscis retracted, but
with broad sucker-flaps. Eyes touching in the male for a considerable distance,
but widely separated in the female • ranging from being practically bare in both sexes
to being densely hairy in the male, and then the eyes of the female may bear some
slight pubescence ; in the male the facets on the larger upper part are conspicuously
larger and usually abruptly contrasted in size with the small facets on the smaller
lower part, and very frequently there is a strong contrast in colour in dried specimens

3. OXYCERA

87

(i.e., light brown and dark brown) between the two sets of facets. Antennae moderately
long, with the two basal joints almost equal in length, but the third joint (or
flagellum) peg-shaped and with four annulations followed
(except in 0. tenuicornis ) by a two-jointed subapical bristle
(fig. 107), which bears at its tip a microscopical filament-like
arista.

Thorax oblong, rather arched, with the humeri and the
postalar calli prominent. Pubescence fairly dense but not very
conspicuous, and leaving a large triangle on the mesopleurae
bare and polished. Scutellum with one conspicuous pair of
subapical spines.

Abdomen short and almost rounded, strongly arched, and
with five obvious segments.

1* • 1 X* ilia 1UI •

Pegs Simple. _ Oxyccra pulchella 9- x 32.

Wings (figs. 108 and 109) with the normal venation of the
Clitellarince. Cubital vein with or without a fork ; discal vein faint, and the
discal cell emitting three veinlets towards the wingmargin of which the third is
often missing, and besides these three the upper branch of the postical vein appears
to issue from the discal cell close to the second basal cell because there is no small
cross-vein, and consequently the upper branch of the postical vein forms for a short
distance the lower margin of the discal cell ; none of the veinlets issuing from the
discal cell nor the upper branch of the postical fork reach the wingmargin ; wing-
membrane rippled, very minutely but very densely pubescent. Alula well de¬
veloped. Squamte (alar) moderately well developed, but the thoracal pair practically
absent or represented by a small or large long fringed lobe.

This genus is well distinguished from the rest of the Palsearctic
Clitellarince by its armed scutellum, and by the comparatively short
antenna: which have a short basal joint and a subterminal arista (except
in 0. tenuicornis). The Central- American genus Aocliletus must be almost
if not quite inclusive of 0. tenuicornis, as Osten Sacken says it is “ an
“ Oxycera with a stout terminal joint to the antenna, instead of an aristi-
“ form style”; but his statement that Aocliletus has after the fourth joint
of the flagellum “ an elongated body, a little longer than the two preceding
“ joints taken together, without any distinct articulations, and placed
“ somewhat at an angle to the axis of the antenna,” does not at all
agree with 0. tenuicornis ; I have therefore retained that species in the
genus Oxycera, with which it agrees in all other characters, especially as I
look with suspicion on all genera in the Stratiomyidce which are formed
on the terminal joint of the antenna alone.

Oxycera is recorded from all Europe, Asiatic Russia, Celebes,
Africa (Caffraria), and North and South America, but apparently Europe
and Northern Asia form the headquarters of the genus, as about forty
species are known to occur there, of which eleven are now described as
British and one or two more ( 0 . leonina and 0. Fallenii) are likely to occur.

The metamorphoses are well known, as Heeger in Sitz. Acad. Wiss.
Wien., xx. (1856) has figured and described in much detail the larvte
of 0. Meicjcnii and 0. trilineata, while Haliday in Nat. Hist. Rev.,
iv., 193 (1857) described and figured the larva of (probably) 0. Morrisii.
Haliday says that this “larva occurred among the Confervae and March-
“ antia on the face of a dam serving for an outlet to the superfluous water
“ of a mill-race, and continually moistened by a shallow but rapid fall of
“running water”; he considered the larva allied to Nemotehis. I have
usually taken the perfect insects by sweeping in the neighborhood of
water or marshy ground, though I have seen 0. pulchella on the leaves of
shrubs.

88

STRATI0MYID7E

Table of Species.

1 (8) Cubital vein simple (fig. 108).

N.B. — This character is very important, though it often requires very
close examination to avoid being overlooked, as the outer
margin of the stigma may be misleading.

2 (3) Abdomen yellow at the tip only. Wings with a conspicuous

darkening about the middle. 1 analis.

3 (2) Abdomen with side spots as well as the tip yellow. Wings without

any darkening about the middle.

4 (7) Thorax moderately shining. Scutellum and legs more or less

black.

5 (6) Legs with more than the knees pale. Scutellum often mainly

pale. Small, weak species. 2 pygmcea.

6 (5) Legs with only the knees pale. Scutellum black. Smallish,

sturdy species. 3 nigripes.

7 (4) Thorax brilliantly shining. Scutellum and legs conspicuously

yellow. 4 formosa.

8 (1) Cubital vein forked (fig. 109).

N.B. — Compare note under 1 (8).

9 (10) Antennae elongate, and without any terminal arista (fig. 110).

Small species. 5 tenuicornis.

Fig. 110. — Oxycera tenuicornis $> . x 32.

3. OXYCERA

89

10 (9) Antenme barely half as long as the head, and with a subterminal

arista (fig. 111).

Fig. 111.— Oxycera Morrisii ?. x 27.

11 (20) Face more or less conspicuously black, on at least the middle.

12 (13) Scutellnm with only the tip yellow. 6 Morrisii,

13 (12) Scutellnm practically all yellow.

14 (15) Abdomen yellow at the tip only. Wings without any darkening

about the middle. 7 tcrminata.

15 (14) Abdomen with side spots as well as the tip yellow.

16 (17) Abdominal spots all united on the sidemargin.

17 (16) Abdominal spots isolated. Rather large species.

18 (19) Legs extensively yellow.

19 (18) Legs nearly all black.

20 (11) Face all (or nearly all) green or yellow.

0. leonina is likely to occur in Britain and is closely allied to 0. terminata, but
has a pale spot at the base of the abdomen as well as one at the tip.

8 pardalina,

9 pulchella.
10 dives.
11 trilineata.

1. O. analis Meigen. Cubital vein not forked. Abdomen with only
the tip yellow. Wings conspicuously darkened about the discal cell.

A medium -sized species which is very easily distinguished
by the diagnostic characters.

d . Face and frons forming a small black almost equilateral triangle which is
moderately shining ; frons with a moderate middle depression ; face and
frons clothed all over with short inconspicuous, though not scarce dark
greyish pubescence, and this pubescence increases in length under the eyes to
the jowls (though the space under the eyes is very narrow), and it becomes
more conspicuous on the moderately puffed-out lower part of the back of
the head ; upper part of the back of the head reduced to a mere line against
the eyes, and with a dense short black postocular ciliation ; vertex black,
rather shining, long and pointed ; ocellar triangle and the adjoining part of
the occiput with some distinctly longer black pubescence • proboscis yellow.
Eyes touching for about one-third the distance between the occiput and the
antennae, clothed with obvious and rather dense black pubescence ; facets on
the upper part large and rather light brown, sharply separated from the
smaller dark brown facets on the lower part. Antennae dull black, rather
short, as even with the style included they are scarcely equal to half the
length of the eye; style shorter than the annulated joint.

Thorax and scutellum shining black and very densely punctate, with a
narrow yellow line running from the black humeri to the wing-base and with

90

STRATIOMYIDyE

the margins of the postalar call i indistinctly brownish ; pubescence blackish,
rather dense but of various lengths while some of it on the disc is greyish ; on
the pleurae the pubescence is abundant and longer and is greyish, but leaves a
large bare and polished triangle on the mesopleurae. Scutellum all black and
bearing short black pubescence but with its pair of spines dirty orange with
their extreme tip (and sometimes the extreme base) blackish ; metanotum
all shining black.

Abdomen shining black with only the extreme tip pale yellow, and with
all the disc a little obscured by very dense punctuation ; pubescence incon¬
spicuous but fairly long about the base and sides, mostly black but dark grey
on the disc after about the middle. Belly shining black with sparse punctua¬
tion, and with short sparse greyish pubescence. Genitalia protruded, mainly
blackish but with short thick brownish yellow terminal lamellae.

Legs black and orange ; coxae and trochanters black ; femora shining
black but with the tip rather broadly orange ; anterior tibiae orange with
sometimes just a small blackish spot beneath near the middle, but the hind
tibiae mainly blackish with the base and tip and the upper side obscurely
orange ; tarsi all orange, though sometimes the posterior pairs have the base
of the two last joints blackish. Pubescence slight and inconspicuous, but a
slight greyish pubescence exists behind the anterior femora, near the base of
the hind femora, and about the coxae and trochanters.

Wings slightly brownish, with the discal cell and its neighborhood and the
margin of all its veins conspicuously blackened and sometimes forming an almost
sharply defined blackish blotch about the discal cell, but sometimes with the
middle third of the costa almost blackish brown and spreading down as a
cloud across the discal cell and down the postical vein to the base of its fork
and even darkening the postical vein to its origin ; the other anterior veins
(up to the end of the cubital) rather darkened, but the hinder and outer veins
very faint ; cubital vein without any trace of a fork. Squamae small, blackish
with dark grey fringes. Halteres clear pale orange, with the base of the stem
blackish brown.

$ . Frons brightly shining black with sometimes tiny orange spots almost on the
occiput where the swollen back of the head ends against the narrowed vertex ;
frons nearly half the width of the head, and with a considerable depression just
above the antennae and a faint narrow depressed line down the middle ; the
space between the eyes narrows very slightly from the vertex to about the
middle of the frons and thence widens very slightly down to the mouth, where
it is scarcely wider than at the top of the vertex ; pubescence on the frons
very short and very inconspicuous, all dark except for a few grey hairs just
above the antennae • face shining black, retreating, and small because the
antennae are placed below the middle of the head, but on the extreme eye-
margins there is an obscure but obvious orange streak from about the level
of the antennae to about half-way down the face ; pubescence on the face
short but rather conspicuously whitish grey; space beneath the eyes still very
shallow, but the back of the head from bottom to top very considerably and
nearly equally puffed out though slightly narrowed about the middle, and
all shining black with short inconspicuous greyish pubescence ; no longer
pubescence about the vertex. Eyes with very short, sparse, inconspicuous
dark pubescence ; facets all small and equal.

Thorax colored as in the male but less coarsely punctate, and the yellow
side lines and the markings about the postalar calli more distinct in pale
specimens ; pubescence all grey and short. Scutellum entirely yellow except
at the extreme base and side corners or all along the actual margin.

Abdomen as in the male, but with shorter pubescence. Ovipositor very
much resembling the male genitalia.

Legs as in the male.

Wings with the dark middle blotch less conspicuous in pale specimens.
Squamae with paler fringes.

Length about 5 mm.

This species does not vary much as far as my experience goes, but
Loevv says that it varies a good deal in the abdominal markings ; he states

3. OXYCERA

91

that traces of yellow spots occur not uncommonly at the hind corners of the
third and fourth segments, and that commonly in the female but rarely
in the male two small isolated yellowish spots occur out on the fourth
segment at some distance from the foremargin and still further from the
sidemargins, and that sometimes even the third segment may bear a
similar pair of spots. The only variation I have noticed lies in the
presence or absence (or obscure presence in the female) of a pair of yellow
spots right at the back of the vertex, and I have never seen these spots
conspicuous in a British specimen, though I have seen them quite yellow
in a specimen from Kowarz’s collection and in that same specimen the base
of the annulated antennal joint is orange.

0. analis is very uncommon in England, and is one of those species
which have been found in only Dorset and Herefordshire ; it occurs
occasionally at Glanville’s Wootton in Dorsetshire, where Curtis found
it from June 18 to July 1 “on small oaks in a copse”; Dr J. H.
Wood has taken it at Wall Hills near Ledbury in Herefordshire, and
Colonel Yerbury has taken it in that neighborhood, while Mr C. J. Wain-
wright caught three specimens at West Malvern in Herefordshire.
Dr Wood has informed me that he found it on a marshy bog on the sedgy
margins of old silting-up pools. My records range from June 1 to
July 17. Although Kertesz’s Katalog gives “Europa” as its distribution
I can only find records from Middle Europe, and it does not seem to
occur far north or far south.

Synonym}!. — Walker’s description is very bad, but can only refer to this species ;
one female in Bigot’s collection was labelled 0. terminata ?

2. O. pygmaea Fallen. Cubital vein not forked. Scutellum more or
less black about the base. Legs considerably blackish brown, but with
obvious yellowish parts. Small, weak species.

A small species very much like 0. nigripes but paler and
weaker.

J . Face and frons forming a rather wide triangle and covered with almost silvery
white tomentum, but with just the middle of the face inconspicuously barer
and blacker, and the frons with just the top angle and a narrow middle line
blackish ; the white tomentum extends round under the eyes and about half¬
way up the back of the head against the eyes ; this lower half of the back of
the head is considerably puffed out and bears very short pale pubescence ;
upper part of the back of the head flush with the eyes and bearing only a
grey pubescence, but there is still a long whitish pubescence on the absolute
back of the head ; vertex black, rather long and pointed, extending down
almost half-way to the antennae ; just above the ocelli there is a very short
pale pubescence ; proboscis orange. Eyes touching for about one-third the
distance between the occiput and the antennae, and bearing very inconspicuous
wide-scattered short hairs ; facets on the larger light brown upper part con¬
spicuously and abruptly larger than those on the smaller dark brown lower
part. Antennae moderate in length for an Oxycera , dull black ; style slightly
longer than the annulated joint.

Thorax moderately shining black because it is so roughly and densely
punctate ; humeri with a small round yellow spot which is extended as a
yellow line along the top of the mesopleurse, and this yellow line widens when
near the wing-base ; these yellow^ markings are continued across the pteropleurae
and down the front of the metapleurae, and also usually exist as a spot on the
top hind corner of the sternopleurm ; postalar calli conspicuously orange,

92

ST R AXIOM YI1XE

except in very dark specimens. Pubescence yellow, rather short and depressed,
but abundant enough to be fairly conspicuous, while it is longer, whiter, and
still more obvious (because it is more erect) on the front and hind parts of the
pleurae ; mesopleurse with middle and upper parts bare and polished.
Scutellum usually with only the basal third black and the rest (including the
two spines) orange, but sometimes the whole scutellum is black and the
spines blackish orange ; it is more shining and less punctate than the thorax
and is almost bare ; metanotum rather dull black.

Abdomen moderately shining black, but the disc (especially on the second
segment) so crowdedly punctate as to become rather dull ; the third and
fourth segments have a yellow spot at each hind corner, and these spots are
connected along the yellow sidemargins and just encroach on to the extreme
hind corners of the second segment, while the whole tip of the abdomen
the apical half of the fifth segment) is also yellow and is connected narrowly
along the sidemargins with the other yellow markings. Pubescence very
minute and inconspicuous, black or blackish grey and stubby on the disc but
pale about the tip, while as usual it is longer and paler about the basal
corners. Belly shining black, with a small pale yellow spot on the base of
the first segment, and a large pale yellow spot on the base of the second
segment which may be isolated or may be transverse and connected with the
yellow sidemargins ; or the belly may be yellow with a large black spot on
each of the third, fourth, and fifth segments ; pubescence ubiquitous, but
short, depressed, pale and inconspicuous.

Legs blackish brown on the basal half or three-quarters of the anterior
femora and on still more of the hind femora, with the orange colour extending
more on the under side than dorsally ; trochanters yellowish, and sometimes
even also part of the coxae and the base of the femora ; tip of the femora
dull orange ; anterior tibiae usually with a rather small brownish ring about
their middle which extends all down the front side to the tip, or sometimes
the tibiae all blackish brown except on the orange base and extreme tip ; hind
tibiae all brownish black except on the obscurely orange base and extreme tip ;
tarsi black, but the base of the posterior pairs orange. Pubescence slight,
there being only a few pale hairs behind the anterior femora and a rather
sparse minute depressed pale pubescence on the femora and tibiae.

Wings almost hyaline but the stigma light brownish yellow ; anterior
thick veins light brown, but the posterior thin veins almost pellucid ; cubital
vein not forked, and the hyaline part of the submarginal cell as long as the
stigma. Squamae (alar) very small, blackish brown with brownish fringes ;
thoracal pair absent. Halteres yellow.

? . Frons about two-fifths the width of the head, but very variable in colour : the
normal form (fig. 112) is deep orange with a fairly wide (a quarter of the

frons) black middle stripe and a long large arched
black spot against each eye, which leave two con¬
spicuous deep orange irregular stripes starting sepa¬
rately a little behind the ocelli and running down
almost to the antennae, but widening out so that they
practically extend to the eyemargins at the sides of the
ocelli and at their end a little before the antennae ;
but pale forms occur in which the frons is orange with
only a rather narrow black middle stripe wdiick occupies
the vertical triangle and runs into the black face just
above the antennae, while a very narrow black channel
is extended diagonally on each side from the black
vertex to the black margin against the eyes on the
upper two-thirds of the frons ; a very dark form has the frons black with
obscure bluish orange markings which consist of two large badly defined broad
spots extending from behind the ocelli to half-way down the frons and of two
badly defined roundish spots a little above the antennae, Avhile the upper
third of the back of the head behind the eyes is blackish orange but blacker
still on a small spot on its middle close against the eyemargin ; pubescence
of the frons very short, pale and rather sparse. Face black with its sides
broadly covered with silvery whitish dust, and all the face bearing very short

Fig. 112.—

Oxycera jiygmcen $ . x 25.

3. OXYCERA

93

whitish pubescence, and the pubescence becomes rather longer on the black
sides of the mouth ; back of the head inflated to half the length of the eye,
orange except on a long black streak against the upper third of the eye, and
glossed with silver on all the lower part; absolute back of the head black ;
pubescence very short and all pale. Eyes small ; facets all equal.

Thorax with the yellow line from the humeri usually rather wider and
more connected and more conspicuous than in the male, and the spot on the
sternopleurce larger. Pubescence on the thorax and scutellum more con¬
spicuous.

Abdomen with its margin all yellow from the middle of the second
segment to the tip and widening out on the third and fourth segments but
very narrowly connected with the tip. Belly with a small yellow spot on the
middle of the base of the first segment, and yellow on most of the middle of
the second segment, and on the hindmargins of the third, fourth, and fifth
segments.

Legs orange with a broad shining brown or blackish (sometimes incom¬
plete) ring on all the femora a little before the middle ; coxae and trochanters
paler than in the male, but the rest of the legs as in the male.

Wings as in the male. Squamae and their fringes paler.

Length about 3 mm.

This species is easily distinguished by its simple cubital vein and its
partially darkened legs and scutellum ; it varies a good deal in the extent
of black coloring on these parts and on the frons of the female, but not
to such an extent as to cause any doubt. Its nearest ally is the next
species, 0. nigripes, but that is a larger and more squarely built species
besides being much blacker.

0. pygmcea is probably the commonest of our small British species of
Oxycera, but yet is decidedly local though abundant in its localities. My
records are limited to but very few counties, but Curtis and Dale recorded
it from various localities in South Dorset, and Curtis stated that it was
common at Seaton in Devonshire ; Colonel Yerbury has taken it in Woolmer
Forest in Hampshire, and he and Dr Wood have of course found it
abundantly in various localities in Herefordshire, whilst I found it in
numbers at Tuddenham Fen in Suffolk; the Royal Scottish Museum
possesses it from Aberlady in Haddington, and if 0. nigripes is only a form
it has occurred near Inchnadamph in Sutherland. The records extend from
June 22 to July 20. Dr Wood considers that it prefers the wettest parts
of small bogs. It is recorded from South Sweden to Austria.

Synonymy. — This has been very commonly called 0. muscaria Fabr., because of
Meigen’s mistake (Syst. Beschr., iii., 346) in stating that they were synonymous,
but 0. muscaria is now considered to be a very distinct South European species!
The var. affinis of Dale has I believe never been described, and it is possible that
my 0. nigripes may be only a strong dark northern form, though at present I
prefer to retain it as distinct because of its larger size and squarer build.

3. O. nigripes Verrall. Cubital vein not forked. Scutellum all black.
Logs black with only the knees orange. Larger than 0. pygmeea.

Very much like 0. pygmeea but rather larger and stouter,
and altogether much blacker (figs. 84, 101).

3. Head longer in proportion to depth, when seen in profile, and comparatively
broader when seen from in front, than in 0. pygmeea. Face with the black
middle portion more defined, and the lower margin of the eyes running less
straight from the puffed-out lower part of the back of the head to the front ;
upper part of the back of the head less hollowed out from the eyes. Eyes less
round, touching for a short distance, almost bare ; facets separated in size as

94

STRATIOMYIDiE

in 0. jn/gvuea, but tlie space occupied by the small facets seems to be larger
in proportion. Antennae dull black or brownish black ; third joint longer and
more distinctly annulated ; arista stouter than in 0. pygmcea, quite as long
as the annulated third joint, and with a more obviously thickened basal joint.

Thorax moderately shining black, thickly punctate, and with the orange
markings reduced in amount ; humeral point oidy, and a narrow line running
thence along the upper margin of the mesopleurae to the wing-base and
extended obscurely under that and irregularly on to the end of the thorax,
orange; postalar calli brownish orange Pubescence short, depressed, and
more brownish yellow than in 0. pygmcea , though often pale greyish yellow
towards the sides and sometimes blackish on the disc ; on the pleurae longer,
more erect and greyish white, except on the polished bare middle and upper
parts of the mesopleurae. Scutellum all black, but the spines sometimes
brownish orange ; pubescence inconspicuous, very short, and brownish yellow;
metanotum black, with a slight greyish dust.

Abdomen shining black, but very thickly punctate on the disc of the
second, and part of the third, segments ; orange markings usually as in dark
specimens of 0. pygmcea but with the lateral spots rather larger, and in one
of my four specimens the sidemargins of the third and fourth segments are
only obscurely brownish orange and running out near the hind corners as
obscure orange spots, of which those on the fourth segment are the largest
and brightest, while the apical half of the fifth segment is isolatedly brownish
orange ; pubescence rather more brownish or greyish yellow about the basal
corners. Belly shining brownish black, with all the middle part of the second
segment and the hindmargin of the third segment obscurely orange, or with
at least most of the disc of the second, third, and fifth segments slightly
browner than the rest ; pubescence ubiquitous, short, recumbent, and pale.

Legs black (hardly at all brownish black), with just the knees and the
extreme tip of the posterior tibiae rather obscurely orange ; trochanters
rather yellowish. Pubescence moderate and whitish behind the femora.

Win "'s hyaline, but the stigma brown and the anterior thick veins dark
brown. ° Squamae with light grey fringes.

Frons black with four
commence just behind

orange spots (fig. 113) of which the two larger ones
the ocelli as in 0. pygmcea , and extend about half¬
way down the frons but never extend to the eyes ;
the two smaller spots are a little above the antenna?
but in the same line as the elongate upper spots,
almost round and occasionally indistinct or even
Face with the middle black part more
occupying about the middle
head even more puffed out,
against the upper part of the
widened at its lower end and
even quite) across the orange

absent,
sharply defined and
third ; back of the
and the black streak
eyes rather suddenly
extended half-way (or

Fig. 113.—

Oxycera nigripes ? .

x 25.

Antennae longer and

band, and this orange band is paler below this inter¬
ruption, and sometimes so much so as to be blackish
orange above and pale yellow below, but the lower
part has less silvery gloss than in 0. pygmcea.
blacker than in 0. pygmcea , and with the third joint
more distinctly annulated ; the fourth annulation being very similar to the
basal joint of the style; style stouter than in 0. pygmaea.

Thorax as in the male, but occasionally the extreme tip of the scutellum
is dark reddish orange.

Abdomen with the pale markings more restricted than in 0. pygmcea , so
that the tip is almost (or sometimes apparently quite) isolated.

Legs as in the male, but sometimes almost as orange as in very dark
specimens of 0. pygmcea.

Wings as in the male.

Length about 4 mm.

This species, as far as is known to me, varies but very little, but as all
the fifteen specimens I have seen were caught in a space of about six

3. OXYCERA

95

yards square that is not surprising. The very limited variations occur in
the amount of pale markings on the frons of the female, the pale band
behind the eyes of the female, the extreme tip of the scutellum in the
female, and to a small extent the amount of pale coloring on the legs.
All these variations tend towards 0. pygmcea, but the more I study the
specimens the more I believe them to be distinct, because of the larger
and stouter build, the longer larger antenme which have the basal joint
of the thicker style more dilated, and the less silvery inflated lower
part of the back of the head, besides the darker coloring and thoracal
pubescence.

0. nigripes has occurred on only July 20 and 21, 1886, in some
abundance on a small grassy glade by the side of the small river which
flows down Ben More of Assynt, about a mile from Inchnadamph in
Sutherland. In the same very limited spot Orimarga virgo also occurred,
and both species could be caught by sweeping.

Synonymy. — There should be no synonymy for a new species, but I cannot help
believing that some of the records of 0. pygmcea must refer to this species, especially
when authors have been limited in their material like (for example) Jaennicke in his
remarks in Berk Ent. Zeitschr., 1866, p. 226, and it is possible that similar specimens
caused J. C. Dale to propose the name 0. affinis for what was subsequently con¬
sidered a variety of 0. pygmcea ; while Loew in Berl. Ent. Zeitschr., i., p. 32 mentions
that the female of 0. pygmcea is very variable in the extent of the yellow marking
of the head. 0. nigripes may be only a large stout dark mountain form of 0.
pygmcea , but I am disposed to consider it a distinct species. Although the name
0. nigripes appeared in my List of British Diptera, 1888, it has remained until now
a mere catalogue name, as no previous description has been given, and why there¬
fore it appears as a good species in Kertesz’s lvatalog with 0. pardalina Walk, (nec
Meig.) as a synonym is strange, especially as I consider that Walker’s 0. pardalina
is only a bad description of Meigen’s 0. pardalina.

4. O. formosa Meigen. Cubital vein not forked. Thorax brilliantly
shining ; scutellum and legs entirely yellow.

A small species easily known by its brilliantly shining
thorax and completely pale legs.

J. Face and frons forming a small black equilateral triangle; jowls almost
absent, but the lower part of the back of the head moderately inflated and
bearing moderately long greyish white pubescence ; vertex raised and forming
a triangle apparently only rather longer than broad as any prolongation
forward is very narrow and inconspicuous, bearing tiny pubescence above the
ocelli ; proboscis in life conspicuously whitish yellow. Eyes touching for
about two-thirds the distance between the occiput and the antennae, practi¬
cally bare ; facets- on the upper two-thirds conspicuously larger than those on
the lower third and the contrast rather abrupt ; in life the eyes are rich
brownish red with green reflections, and with a narrow almost equal deep
purple band a 1 1 across at the top of the small facets. Antennm not long,
all black or with the two basal joints sometimes brown ; arista almost as long
as the annulated third joint and with a tiny white apical hair.

Thorax brilliantly shining black, practically impunctate and almost bare
as the pubescence is reduced to some minute sparse pale hairs which do not
extend to the broad middle front part of the disc ; a large yellow spot on each
side extends from the humeri above the dorso-pleural suture to the transverse
thoracic suture, while the humeral knob and a line all along the upper margin
of the mesopleurse are also yellow, and this line is irregularly but obviously
continued under the wings to the end of the pleurae just below the base of
the halteres, and there is an obvious yellow spot on the top part of the sterno-
pleurae ; postalar calli conspicuously yellow, and the yellow colour extends a

96

STRATIOMYIM

little upwards on to the disc and forwards to the wing-base and behind
almost to the yellow scutellum ; in one specimen there is a pair of small
orange spots near the centre of the disc; pubescence on the pleurae reduced
to a few pale hairs on the front and back parts. Scutellum bright yellow and
practically bare ; s] tines orange ; metanotum shining black.

Abdomen shining black but rather dulled on the disc through the crowded
coarse punctuation ; the third and fourth segments bear on the sides large
yellow spots which are connected along the sidemargins with the yellow tip,
and this yellow tip is equal all across and does not extend triangularly on to
the disc; the yellow sidemargins extend up on to the hind corner of the
second segment ; pubescence very short, black and stubby on the disc but
I tale about the tip, and longer and pale about the basal corners. Belly (in
life) yellow with blackish bands across the third, fourth, and fifth segments
and sometimes less distinctly across the second and sixth, the bands on the
third and fourth segments being broadest ; pubescence very short and very
scattered, bristly and apparently all black. Genitalia yellow.

Legs (including coxa}, trochanters and even last joint of all tarsi) entirely
yellow, so that only the claws are black. Pubescence almost absent, but
some short very inconspicuous pale hairs occur behind the femora.

Wings (fig. 108) hyaline, but the mediastinal and subcostal cells and the
stigma yellowish ; stigma at its outer end margined so strongly as to almost
indicate a fork of the cubital vein ; anterior veins pale yellow but distinct ;
hyaline part of the marginal cell after the stigma longer than the stigma.
Squamae (alar) small and blackish with light grey fringes ; frenum blackish.
Halteres orange.

$ . Frons mainly yellow but with the middle of the top of the vertex broadly
black, and with a black broad rather irregular stripe extending from that
down the middle of the frons to the antennae, and also a narrower black line
sloping from the black vertex forwards to the upper frontal corner of each
eye ; all the face and jowls black as well as the absolute back of the head
(connected with the black vertical space), but there is a broad shining clear
yellow postocular collar ; there is some short whitish pubescence on the lower
part of the back of the head, but nowhere else on the head. Eyes in life
dark reddish brown with greenish reflections, and with a rather narrow
almost equal purple band just above the middle extending all across except
close to the hindmargin.

Thorax shining black, but the yellow markings almost predominate as
they only leave three broad black lines and two black spots ; the middle
black line is broad and extends from the extreme front of the thorax (where
it extends all across) to the hindmargin ; the side lines are rather close to
the middle one but are much shortened anteriorly, and the middle line is
widened out considerably before the hindmargin so that the three black lines
coalesce ; above the wing-base (but margined anteriorly by the suture) there
is on each side a rather large roundish black spot, and in dark specimens this
spot is connected with the black side lines, and the line of the suture seems
to narrowly connect the three middle lines ; pleurae black on all their lower
part, but yellow on the upper part and on the upper part of the hypopleurae.
Pubescence as in the male.

Abdomen black with the margin yellow all round (including the side-
margins of the two basal segments), and this margin widening out on to the
disc of the third and fourth segments (but less so on the second) sometimes
in a broadly rounded manner and sometimes pointedly triangular, and some¬
times widened at the tip. Belly with the black bands smaller. Ovipositor
with the lamellae all orange.

Legs, wings, etc., as in the male.

Length about 3-25 mm.

This species is well distinguished by its simple cubital vein, its
brilliantly shining thorax, and its entirely pale scutellum and legs ; but I
possess a male of an undescribed closely allied species from probably
Central Asia which has the front tarsi almost all blackish brown. The

3. OXYCERA

97

principal variation 1 have seen is caused by the presence of a pair of small
yellow spots on the disc of the thorax of the male, each spot being well
isolated and placed just behind the suture, and one such specimen was
taken by Mr C. Morley at Barnby Broad in Suffolk on July 2, 1904, and I
have seen a second similar specimen. My description has been made
from quite freshly killed specimens, but in dry specimens the yellow
markings usually become orange.

0. formosa occurs in rather numerous colonies, each colony occupying
a very small space, in a few localities in England. I have records from
Dorset (Gflanville’s Wootton), Hants (Woolmer Forest), Sussex (near
Lewes and at Guestling), Surrey (near Beigate ?), Suffolk (on Pteris and
flowers of Spircea ulmaria at Foxhall, taken by Mr C. Morley), Norfolk
(Wroxham), Cambridgeshire (in Willow Beds near Whittlesford, and in
Chippenham Fen in wet spots on the drive through the Forty Acre Wood),
Glamorganshire (Porthcawl in abundance), and of course in several locali¬
ties in Herefordshire. Dr Wood states that it occurs on marshy bogs or on
the sedgy margins of old silting-up pools. My records extend from June
23 to August 10. It is recorded from many parts of Europe, extending
southwards to Italy but apparently not further north than South Sweden.

Synonymy. — Meigen originally described this species from details sent to him by
Wiedemann, but at the same time described it as 0. muscaria Fabr. in more detail
and from personal knowledge ; he subsequently (Syst. Beschr., iii., 346) discovered
this synonymy and corrected his mistake, but at the same time fell into another
mistake by stating that his 0. pygmcea was the true 0. muscaria Fabr., while all the
time 0. muscaria of Fabricius was an Italian species of which O.flavvpes Loew is
probably a synonym.

5. O. tenuicornis Macquart. Cubital vein forked. Antennae remark¬
ably elongate and without any terminal style (fig. 114). Legs all black,
except at the front knees (J), or with at least the apical half of the front
tibiae and all the front tarsi black (?).

A very distinct species, because of its long antenna; which
apparently have no terminal style.

d . Face and frons forming a rather flat shining black triangle ; face with rather
broad whitish bands down the sides, upon which there is a very short
inconspicuous whitish pubescence, but upon the rest of the face there is a
fairly abundant erect black pubescence ; face in profile slightly prominent
in front of the eyes, but its lower part almost flush with the eyes, as is
also the front part of the jowls, and the whitish sides of the mouth are
very narrow ; back part of the jowls and lower part of the back of the
head distinctly inflated and moderately shining black, and the pubescence
on the lower part of the jowls and all about the back of the mouth
longer and rather conspicuously greyish white, but the upper half of the
back of the head almost flush with the eyes and bearing a short dense
black stubby postocular ciliation ; vertex shining black, considerably elevated,
and with only short and slight black pubescence. Eyes bare (sparse micro¬
scopical hairs occur), practically touching for almost half the distance between
the occiput and the antennae ; facets on more than the upper half large and
(in death) pale reddish brown, but the small facets on less than the lower
half blackish, and the contrast between the two rather sharply defined.
Antennae dull blackish, very long, being as long as the head itself in
profile ; two basal joints short and bearing tiny black bristles ; third joint
practically bare and formed of six distinct annulations, of which the last one

G

98

STRATIOMYIM

is twice as long as the penultimate and these two joints form the apical style
of which the tip may be microscopically pubescent.

Thorax shining black, brighter than in 0. pygmcea but not nearly so
bright as in O.formosa, and not densely punctate, with a rather narrow yellow
line from the humeri to the wing-base. and thence (sometimes obscurely) on to
the postalar calli ; pubescence on the disc short, dense, and black, but longer on
the front part, while all about the sides it is longer and is greyish black : on the
pleurae it is longer and is greyish white except on the large bare middle part
of the mesopleurae. Scutellum shining black, and bearing short inconspicuous
black pubescence ; spines long and dull obscure yellowish or even blackish
yellow ; metanotum shining black.

Abdomen all shining black except narrowly and sometimes only indistinctly
on the yellowish hindmargin of the last segment, moderately densely
punctate, but not enough to make it appear dull ; pubescence on the
disc black and so minute as to be almost imperceptible, but about the
basal corners and sides longer and blackish or greyish. Belly all black, and
bearing only very short inconspicuous pubescence. Genitalia, when protruded,
mainly blackish, and with a pair of short thick lamellae.

Legs black, with the front knees rather broadly orange, and the basal joint
of the hind tarsi obscurely orange. Pubescence very slight, but j ust perceptible
behind the anterior femora.

Wings slightly smoky blackish or brownish, with a fairly conspicuous
brown or almost blackish stigma, and with the basal and anterior veins
darkened ; the darkened basal veins extend only to the base of the discal
cell, but the rest of the discal cell is clearly visible though faint ; cubital
fork placed at about the middle of the submarginal cell. Squamae (alar)
small, blackish, with grey fringes ; thoracal pair absent except for an obscure
line. Halteres with large orange knobs.

$ . Frons nearly half the width of the head, brilliantly shining black and very
sparsely punctate, with a pair of widely separated pale yellow almost occipital
spots well remote from the upper eye-angles, and with a pair of long narrow
transverse pale yellow stripes just above the antennae which unite rectangularly
with the equally narrow whitish yellow facial sidemargins, and these in their
turn extend doAvn to the mouth and usually connect under the eyes with the large

Fig. 114.— Oxyccrct tenuicornis 9- x 32.

spot on each side behind the lower part of the eyes ; face, which is hardly
broader than the frons, consequently nearly all shining black ; pubescence
on the frons and face very slight and very sparse and all pale yellow, but on
the moderate-sized jowls and on the lower part of the back of the head longer
and more distinct ; back of the head all very much pulled out, but slightly
narrowest about the middle though broad even there, and with a large
long pale yellow spot on each side against the eyemargin just below the
middle ; on the polished black part of the head above this spot there is
scarcely any pubescence, but behind the ocelli there is a minute forward-
directed pubescence. Eyes small but remarkably bulging. Antennae as in
the male (tig. 114).

Thorax shining black, finely and sparsely punctate ; humeral knobs and
a line along the upper margin of the mesopleurae yellow, more broadly than
in the male and continued rather vaguely beneath the wing-base along the

3. OXYCERA

99

under margin of the metapleurse ; postalar calli conspicuously yellow ;
pubescence very short and slight, whitish and sloping backwards on the
front part but sloping rather forwards on the rest of the disc, longer and
more obvious on the pleurae except on the bare middle part of the meso-
pleurse. Scutellum and its spines entirely yellow, with practically no
pubescence.

Abdomen shining black, with the tip and narrow sidemarginal lines
(except on the basal segment) yellowish, but the sidemarginal lines hardly
connect with the tip, as that consists of only the extreme hindmargin of the
last segment and the base of the genitalia; pubescence all very minute.
Genitalia brownish orange.

Legs mainly darkish orange, but at least the tip part of the front tibiae
and all the front tarsi black ; femora usually slightly obscured about the
middle, and there are variable and badly defined dark markings on the
posterior legs to the extent that sometimes the tibiae are all black except
about the base and at the extreme tip, and the tarsi black except on the basal
joint of the hind pair ; or on the other hand, the posterior tibiae may have
only vague dark markings, and the basal joint of the middle tarsi and the
two basal joints of the hind tarsi may be orange ; or again, the front femora
may be clear orange, and the hind femora may have a broad obscure ring
about the middle.

Wings altogether more hyaline than in the male, with the darkened veins
and the stigma sometimes more yellowish. Alar squama; dull brownish with
paler brownish fringes. Halteres whitish yellow.

Length about 4 mm.

This species requires no comparison with any known European one
because its antennae dissociate it from all the other species of the genus, but
in other respects it would come near 0. terminata. It varies considerably
as mentioned above in the colour of the posterior legs, and even the black
tip to the front tibiae may vary from three-fifths to two-fifths, but yet
that and the black front tarsi give a good distinctive character. I believe
this is the first occasion upon which the male has been described, except
for Brunetti’s statement in The Entomologist, xxii., p. 84 (1889) that the
legs of the male are “ all entirely black,” which is as incorrect as his state¬
ment that the legs of the female are “ yellow with black tarsi tips.”

An extraordinary variety of the male (fig. 115) was taken at Torquay on
June 8, 1901, which may be immature, but which
mves such remarkable abdominal markings that
they may afford a clue to the true relationship of
this abnormal species. The abdomen is blackish
brown with three pairs of very large subquadrate
obscurely yellowish spots on the second, third, and
fourth segments, so that on these segments the
abdomen may be described as obscurely yellowish
with a fairly broad black dorsal line and narrower
hindmargins, though when seen from above the
front corners of the segments are indefinitely tri¬
angularly obscured ; the basal segment is nearly all
indistinctly yellowish, and the hind half of the
fifth (and apparently all a sixth) segment yellowish ;
genitalia blackish, with a pair of short thick brown
lamellae. Belly black, with the yellowish upper
markings indistinctly showing through. Legs black, tip third of the front
femora and basal third of the front tibiae orange; posterior tibiae black
with the base obscurely brownish orange ; hind tarsi entirely black ;

Fig. 115. — Oxycera tenuicornis
6 , var.

100

STRATIOMYIDJE

pubescence behind the anterior femora slight and greyish white. Alar
squamae glassy whitish, with a rather darkened margin and with short
pale fringes. The abdominal markings of this specimen are entirely
distinct from those of any known Oxycera, and are in proportion more like
those of Odontomyia ornata ; perhaps some day the discovery of the larva
and the examination of immature imagines may lead to important results.

A male in Bigot’s collection from Colorado labelled 0. Crotchi Osten
Sacken, has the antennae of almost identical structure; it may be correctly
named but has only the basal joint of the antennae blackish, the other
joints being mainly reddish orange; it has no basal pair of abdominal spots
and the strong wing-veins are yellowish without any trace of reddish; it is
by no means allied to 0. tenuicornis except in the structure of the antennae.

0. tenuicornis is very local, and is apparently confined to the extreme
west of Europe and (according to Becker) to the Canary Isles. Macquart
first described it in 1834 from a female taken near Bordeaux, and Mr J. C.
Dale caught one female at Glanville’s Wootton in Dorsetshire in 1842 ;
a few other specimens were taken near this last locality by Mr C. W. Dale
at various times, but it was not until 1897 that any other locality was
known. In 1897 and subsequently it has been taken in considerable
numbers in various localities in Herefordshire (Devereux Pool, Wool-
hope, and Shobdon Marsh) by Dr J. H. Wood and Colonel Yerbury ;
Mr C. G. Lamb has taken it at Milford in Hampshire; Colonel Yerbury
found it fairly common at Porthcawl in Glamorgan, and informed me that
some specimens were sitting on the leaves of Privet ( Ligustrum ), while
others were obtained by sweeping the nearly dry bed of a stream in the
sand-hills; Mr C. J. Wainwright took three females at Shaldon in Devon¬
shire, and it occurred sparingly in the marshy ground near the river
Deben in Suffolk on July 1, 1907. Dr J. H. Wood states that its habits
are similar to those of 0. analis. The dates range from June 18 to July
15, but I have mentioned above an extraordinary variety which was taken
on June 8, 1901, at Torquay in Devonshire by Mr C. J. Wainwright.

Synonymy. — Macquart’s original description of liis 0. tenuicornis in Suite a
Buffon, Dipteres, t. i., 251 (1834) is as follows :

“5. O. tenuicorne. — Oxycera tenuicornis Nob.”

“Long. 2 lig. 7 • Semblable a VO. muscaria. Troisieme article des antennes
“ plus grele et plus allonge que dans les autres especes ; style court et peu distinct.
“ Quatrieme segment de l’abdomen un peu borde de jaune. Moitie posterieure des
“ jambes noire ; posterieures noires.”

“ De Bordeaux ; cabinet de M. Mahieu.”

Macquart’s 0. muscaria was undoubtedly our 0. pygmaia, as is proved by its
size (“ If lig.”), and his description of the antennae could apply to only this species.
By “quatrieme segment de l’abdomen un pen borde de jaune,” which Loew con¬
sidered “unbestimmt unci unklar,” he obviously referred to the last abdominal
segment, and by “Moitie posterieure des jambes noire” he evidently meant that the
end half of the front tibiae was black, which is one of the strongest characters of this
species. Loew probably had seen only the original female specimen from which
Haliday had described the species, and consequently he could have had no idea of
the range of variation in the species.

J. C. Dale’s original description of 0. longicornis in Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., viii..
431 (1842) was obviously written by Haliday and is as follows :

“Curtis’s Guide, genus 1217, Oxycera.”

0. lonyicornis. — “Nigra, macula laterali verticis, orbita interna supra antennas
“ repanda, thoracis vitta laterali, scutello et abdominis limbo flavis ; antennis capitis
“ longitudine apice pariun attenuatis. 7 .

3. OXYCERA

101

“ Mr Haliday has this unique species, and I cannot give the exact measure, but
“ it is about the size of 0. muscaria.

“Nigra subglabra. Antennae solito longiores et graciliores, articulis extremis
“ parum attenuatis, unde stylus indiscretus : os flavum : orbita postica et interna
“ flavse, haec supra antennas in margine frontis inflexa. Vertex utrinque macula
“ flava. Thorax vitta laterali flava pone alas dilatata. Scutellum flavum. Abdomen
“ limbo tenui flavo. Halteres albidi. Alae hyalinae nervis introrsum flavicantibus.
“ Pedes cum coxis ferruginei : tibiae anticae apice. posteriores medio, tarsi antici
“ toti, posteriores apice fusci.”

“ Seems very much similar to Macquart’s 0. tenuicornis , but the peculiar marking
“ of the head may afford a distinction, as Macquart leaves us to infer that his agrees
“ in that with 0. muscaria , very different from yours.” — Hal. MSS. (in litteris).

Of course the 0. muscaria of the above description refers to 0. pygmcea.
Walker’s description of 0. terminata in Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 23 (1851) probably
refers to the female of 0. tenuicornis, but what he meant by “abdominis vittis
“ duabus posterioribus flavis ” nobody has ever been able to understand, and he
made no reference to the long antennae ; his 0. longicornis refers again probably to
Dale’s original female specimen.

6. O. Morrisii Curtis. Cubital vein forked. Scutellum with only the
tip yellow. Abdomen with five transverse whitish yellow isolated spots.

A very distinct species.

$ . Face and frons forming a small rather flat triangle ; face with well-defined
whitish side-stripes which are covered with dense short white tomentum, and
the frons with less defined whitish side-bands, so that the extreme top of the
frons, the middle of the frons, and all the middle of the face are black ; face
almost disappearing below the eyes but the jowls and the back of the head
rather shining black, and all this part bearing fairly abundant rather long
white pubescence ; lower part of the back of the head puffed out, but the
upper part hollowed out behind the eyes and without any trace of any
postocular filiation there when viewed from in front ; vertex shining black,
long and pointed, extending nearly half-way to the antennse ; behind the
ocelli there is a slight dark fringe across the occiput, but there is practically no
pubescence in front of them. Eyes touching for about a third of the distance
between the occiput and the antennae, and bearing very inconspicuous short
sparse pubescence ; facets on the larger upper part large and light brown, but
those on the smaller lower part small and dark brown, the two parts being
abruptly divided and contrasted. Antennae dull black, short for an Oxycera ;
basal joints sometimes brown ; arista longer than the annulated joint.

Thorax shining black ; humeri yellow, and also a narrow line running
from them to under the wing-base where it moderately widens, and then after
an interruption reappearing as two or three spots on the back part of the pleurae,
and there is sometimes a small spot on the upper part of the sternopleurae ;
postalar calli yellow. Pubescence fairly abundant and conspicuous though
not dense enough to obscure the ground colour, whitish and bent forwards,
rather long on the front part of the disc and on the front part of the pleurae and
on the hind part of the mesopleurae, leaving the middle of the latter bare and
shining but perpendicularly wrinkled. Scutellum shining black with the tip
and the long spines yellow; pubescence very short and slight; metanotum
shining black.

Abdomen shining black, with five isolated whitish yellow transverse spots
which are placed at the hind corners of the third and fourth segments and
at the tip ; the side spots rather oblong, about three times as long as broad,
and sloping upwards from the hind corners ; tip spot a flattened triangle.
Pubescence practically absent on the disc, being very short, sparse, and in¬
conspicuous, but there are a few longer pale hairs as usual about the basal
corners. Belly shining black, with all the middle of the disc of the second
segment whitish yellow, as well as the hindmargins of the third and fourth
segments and all the tip ; pubescence ubiquitous, but very short and
inconspicuous.

102

STRATIOMYID7E

Legs black and orange ; tlie black parts being the base of the coxae, a ring
on the middle third of the front femoi’a, the apical half of the posterior femora
except the tip, a small incomplete ring about the middle of the front tibiae
which is extended outside down to the tip, most of the posterior tibiae except
the base and tip and under side, all the front tarsi and all the posterior tarsi
except the two basal joints, though many of these parts are only darkened
instead of being black. Pubescence very slight and inconspicuous, but there
are a few pale hairs behind the anterior femora.

Wings hyaline, stigma pale yellowish brown, and the anterior veins darker
brownish yellow ; the two submarginal cells together are about as long as the
stigma, and if the veins themselves be included those two cells are almost
equally long on the costa, but the open part of the second cell is shorter than
that of the first. Squamae small ; margin blackish brown or blackish with a
pale fringe. Halteres bright canary yellow or orange.

$ . Frons fully one- third the width of the head, shining black with the lower two-
thirds of the sides yellowish white and very gradually widening downwards

but not touching the eyemargins on their
upper part, and on the face these sides
become more whitish and are continued all
the way down, leaving the middle of the face
sharply black, while the whitish sides are
connected under the eyes by a narrow streak
with the whitish yellow postocular band, and
this band is narrower than usual and allows
the black back of the head to be seen when
viewed sideways ; this postocular band ter¬
minates just after the upper corner of the
eye, widening a little and sometimes becom¬
ing more orange on the, upper part. Pubes-
Fig. ii6.— Oxyeera Morrisii 9 . x 27. cence on the frons and face very slight,

short, and inconspicuous, but on the lower
part of the back of the head longer and more obvious.

Thorax with very much shorter pubescence and consequently more shining ;
the yellow side lines larger and more conspicuous.

Abdomen with scarcely any pubescence. Belly yellow with large black
spots on the sides of each segment, or even more black than that.

Legs with the darkened part of the anterior femora more brownish, and on
the hind femora more restricted.

Length about 4 mm.

This species seems to vary but little unless in the amount of darkening
on the femora and tibise. I believe the male has never been previously
described. It has no known close allies, as its forked cubital vein, its
extensively black scutellum and legs, and its isolated whitish yellow
abdominal spots easily distinguish it.

0. Morrisii is a rather rare species, but occurs in marshy places in so
many widely separated localities that I expect it only requires favorable
conditions. I have records from Cornwall (Padstow, C. G. Lamb), Dorset
(Lyme Eegis, Curtis, Glanville’s Wootton and Charmouth, J. C. Dale),
Essex (Abbey Wood), Cambs (Wicken Fen, not uncommon in July 1875),
Hereford (Pembridge, Colonel Yerbury), and Durham (Castle Eden
Dene, J. C. Dale), while it was probably near Belfast that Haliday
repeatedly took it when he found and described (Nat. Hist. Keview, 1857,
p. 193) what he believed to be the larva. My dates only extend from
July 4 to July 25. It is at present recorded from only England and
(probably) Ireland.

7. O. terminata Meigen. Cubital vein forked. Abdomen black with
only the tip yellow. Wings without any dark cloud about the middle.

3. OXYCERA

103

6 •

A well-marked very distinct species; easdy distinguished
from 0. analis by the absence of any dark cloud on the wings.

iHiniiiglii

wmmmmm

Joint ; all the joints short, and the style twice as long as the annulated tlind

^Thorax moderately shining black with narrow orange side lines from the
hum^dTcf the wmg-h^s^ and with^ ^i^h Jfy anlTrathe^densely punctata

SSSliiii

fong^iwlL^arf corners. Belly all black, with inconspicuous grey
of the tarsi may be slightly obscured , c awb niiddle, and the

SSsmSSsffi5swftt«*

SSSSe k = S'SSHI

line. Halteres bright orange.

orange) spot^^^i ^oT^e^^a^^ helcw ^he*1 rSidl^a^dnst6 each^ye
narrowly whitish ; back of the lies , • i • however often glossed
with a rather small long obscure orange spo , • , top Gf the vertex

with white, and there is a tmy elongate mange P c the head vary
on each side near the upper eye-angles, but all these spots on me n J

104

STRATIOMYIDdE

in size and colour ; the back of the head is all almost equally and considerably
inflated, shining black and almost impunctate. Eyes bare ; facets all equal
and small. Antennae as in the male, but with the third joint rather larger
and less blackish or even as orange as the others.

Thorax with the narrow whitish yellow line from the humeri to the wing-
base very gradually widening ; postalar calli hardly brownish ; pubescence
greyish white all over, fairly abundant and conspicuous but not so short as in
0. analis.

Abdomen black, with only a triangular yellow spot at the extreme tip ;
pubescence all short and greyish white. Belly shining black, and bearing
very short whitish pubescence.

Legs similar to those of the male, but the blackish ring near the tip of the
hind femora sometimes extended on the under side ; tarsi hardly obscured
towards the tip.

Wings with the basal and anterior veins more yellowish, and the outer and
posterior veins very faint. Alar squamae smoky with a blackish margin and
with the small tuft pale greyish. Halteres yellowish white.

Length about 4-25 mm.

This species cannot well be confounded with any other known
European one, as 0. analis has the whole of the veins round the discal
cell conspicuously blackened so as to form a distinct dark blotch about
the middle of the wing, and is also a larger species with a simple cubital
vein ; 0. leonina is more allied but has a conspicuous yellow spot at the
base of the abdomen, and 0. tcrminata is distinguished from all others by
the absence of any side spots on the abdomen. A very large female
taken by Dr J. H. Wood at Stoke Wood on July 24, 1897, has a pair of
isolated dark orange spots on the frons a little above the antennae and
well separated from the silvery side spots ; it also has the legs duller
orange. Other females when closely examined show traces of a similar
pair of spots, but all the head spots vary in size and range in colour from
obscure dark orange to glistening white, while the legs are subject to
obscure darkenings on the femora and tibiae.

0. terminata is very rare in Britain, though 1 do not doubt the Dorset¬
shire records of Dale and Curtis about seventy years ago. Dr J. H. Wood
has taken several specimens since 1897 at Stoke Wood, near Tarrington,
and he found it not uncommon in the Monnow Valley on July 3, 1906;
Mr C. J. Wainwright took one female at West Malvern on June 8, 1901,
in company with 0. analis; all these localities being in Herefordshire.
Dr Wood’s captures ranged from June 20 to July 24. Its distribution is
only known to extend from Denmark to Austria.

Synonymy. — Walker’s 0. terminata which lias “ Abdomen with a narrow yellow
“ border from the middle to the tip ” cannot possibly refer to this species, but (as
Loew surmised) must refer to the female of 0. tenuicornis. In Bigot’s collection
there were two males and two females labelled 0. terminata , but both the males
were 0. flavipes and one female was 0. analis, though the other female was
0. terminata with the third joint of the antennae and the ring on the hind femora
only brownish.

8. O. pardalina Meigen. Cubital vein forked. Scutellum all yellow.
Abdomen with united yellow markings round the margin. Legs mainly
yellow.

A medium-sized handsome species.

3. OXYCERA

105

3 . Face and frons forming a small shining black triangle, but there are very
indistinct narrow yellowish eyemargins about the middle of the face ; face
with inconspicuous though not scarce short pale greyish pubescence, which is
continued on over the very shallow space under the eyes to the longer whiter
pubescence on the jowls and lower part of the back of the head ; lower part
of the back of the head shining black and but little puffed out, while the
upper part is flush with the eyes and bears only very short dark pubescence ;
vertex shining black, long and pointed, and with some very short black
pubescence behind the ocelli ; frons bare and with a middle channel. Eyes
touching for nearly half the distance between the occiput and the antenna?,
clothed with short dense dark pubescence on the large facets but with still
shorter and sparser pubescence on the small facets • facets on the large upper
part large and pale brown, abruptly contrasted with the small blackish brown
facets on the smaller lower part. Antennae short, brown ; arista long, being
as long as the whole antenna.

Thorax shining black, with a yellow line running from the humeri to
beneath the wing-base and thence on vaguely to the end of the pleurae ;
postalar calli yellow ; pubescence rather short. and mainly black, but longer
and greyer about the sides above the suture, fairly dense ; pleurae with longer,
whiter, and much more conspicuous pubescence, but bare and polished on the
usual depressed middle part of the mesopleurae. Scutellum yellow with just
the basal corners black, and with the long spines yellow but sometimes black
at the tip ; pubescence very short and inconspicuous, pale unless on the
extreme basal margin ; metanotum shining black.

Abdomen shining black with yellow side-markings and tip, densely
punctate on the two basal segments and on the disc, of the third and fourth ;
at each hind corner of the third segment there is a comparatively small
triangular yellow spot, which only touches the hindmargin at the extreme side,
and which extends on to the upper corner of the fourth segment and is
narrowly connected along the sidemargin with a similar spot at each hind
corner of the fourth segment ; this latter pair of spots may extend vaguely
considerably upwards on to the disc, and they are very narrowly connected on
the actual sidemargin with the large apical spot, and this latter spot occupies
all the middle part and end of the last segment; pubescence moderately
long and greyish about the sides of the two basal segments but not very con¬
spicuous, and very short, stubby, depressed, and black on the rest until it
becomes greyish after the middle of the fourth segment and on to the tip.
Belly shining black, with short rather sparse pale pubescence. Genitalia
blackish, but the small terminal lamellae brownish yellow.

Legs nearly all rather dull yellowish, but the hind femora considerably
obscured even to an indication of a dark ring after the middle, while the hind
tibiae may be similarly darkened ; coxae and trochanters.mainly blackish ; front
tarsi blackened except on the under side of the basal joint, and the posterior
tarsi with the last three joints blackened. Pubescence practically reduced to
a slight pale fringe behind the anterior femora.

Wings slightly brownish, but more notably so from the base to the end of
the cubital cell but not including the veins which margin the outer end of the
discal cell ; cubital fork short but distinct, leaving the cubital cell about half
as long as the submarginal. Squamae (alar) small, smoky with blackened
margins and pale fringes ; thoracal squamae absent, but the end of the.trenum
near the angle with a pale fringe. Halteres dull clear orange with just the
base of the stem darkened.

9 . Frons distinctly more than one-third the width of the head, and the space
between the eyes very faintly widening from the vertex to the mouth, brightly
shining black with variable whitish or orange markings ; there is always a
conspicuous large white or yellow spot (varying somewhat in size and colour) on
the postocular collar against the top angle of each eye, and lower down on. the
frons are two spots beginning just below the ocelli and well away from the sides
which may extend downwards irregularly until they spread outwards at their
lower end and quite (or almost) connect with the pale sides of the face, or they
may be less extended and broken into two pairs of rounded spots which may be
even small and widely separated, but still the lower spots are almost connected

106

STRAT10MYID.E

with the pale sides of the face. Face with conspicuous broad glistening whitish
sidemargins, and these margins are continued narrowly round under the eyes and
extend broadly and conspicuously up the lower third of the back of the head,
but the upper part of the back of the head is shining black, and the eye-
collar is as wide as a third of the eye ; pubescence inconspicuous but universal,
mostly very short and pale but longer about the jowls and brownish on the
frons. Eyes almost bare ; facets all equal in size. Antennae brownish orange,
with the tip annulation and the arista dark brown.

Thorax shining black, with the yellow side-lines on the top margin of the
mesopleurse widening towards the wing-base and (as well as the postalar calli)
more extensively yellow, and in addition there is a pair of widely separated
whitish yellow straight lines on the disc extending from the extreme front
margin (where they are slightly widened) to more than half-way between the
suture and the hindmargin ; sternopleurae with a pale yellow spot on the top
corner. Pubescence all very short and depressed though rather abundant,
greyish white, but longer and whiter on the pubescent parts of the pleurae.
Scutellum more whitish yellow, with the spines yellow to their very tip.

Abdomen marked as in the male but with the yellow markings slightly
larger, and these markings vary very considerably on the fourth segment ;
usually the extreme hind corners of the second segment are yellow and united

e-

le

with the triangular yellow spots on the third segment, and these latter occu
all the sidemargins of the third segment and are connected along the sic

margins with the yellow spots on the fourth segment, and these spots on t
fourth segment may extend considerably more across the disc and are in their
turn rather narrowly connected with the large yellow triangle on the fifth
segment, which may extend right up to the foremargin of that segment ; the
spots on the fourth segment are sometimes narrowly united near the hind-
margin. Pubescence short, light grey, and depressed, but longer about the
basal corners. Ovipositor dull yellow, long and rather narrow when extruded.

Legs very much as in the male, but the hind tibiae less darkened.

Wings almost as in the male. Squamae rather less blackish. Halteres
whitish, with the base of the stem blackish.

Length about 5 mm.

This species varies a good deal in the female in the extent and intensity
of the yellow markings on the frons and abdomen and to a small extent
in the dorsal lines on the thorax, but it may be distinguished from all
other European species by its moderate size, its forked cubital vein, its
connected abdominal side-spots, and its almost wholly yellow legs.

0. pardalina is a rare British species of which I had seen only one
female specimen until 1901 ; that specimen was given to me by Dr T. A.
Chapman and was presumably taken near Abergavenny, but Dr J. H.
Wood has taken a considerable number of specimens in the neighborhood of
Barrington in Herefordshire during the last few years, and Colonel Yerbury
has also taken it at Woolhope, Pembridge, and Cusop; I know of no other
records except those given by Curtis and Dale from Dorset about seventy
years ago. Dr Wood has informed me that the species appears to like
the margins of small overgrown streams in hilly districts. The records
extend from July 9 to August 20. It is recorded from all across Central
Europe, but not from North or South Europe unless Zetterstedt’s 0.
macidata is a synonym.

Synonymy. — There has been considerable confusion over the use of the name
pardalina, but I accept Loew’s interpretation of it when he described both it and the
allied species 0. amoena in 1857 ; nevertheless the solitary representative of 0.
amoena in Bigot’s collection was a normal female of 0. pardalina ! Zetterstedt’s
0. macidata may be a variety with the scutellum mainly black, and as his species
was described from one female only taken before 1837 in Lapland it may well be a
small dark form of 0. pardalina. I cannot make anything of Walker’s 0. pardalina
except a bad description of the true species.

3. OXYCERA

107

9. O. pulchella Meigen. Cubital vein forked. Abdomen with only-
two pairs of isolated side-spots and the tip yellow. Tibise yellow. Eyes
of the male conspicuously hairy.

A large handsome species, distinguished by its five spotted
abdomen and its yellow tibiae.

. Face and frons forming a triangle (though with rather bowed sides) of which
the base is slightly shorter than the sides ; face black and clothed all over
with dense greyish black pubescence; frons black, but with a pair of con¬
spicuous shimmering whitish (in some lights almost silvery) spots on the
upper part which leave the extreme top and a narrow dividing line black ;
lower black part of the frons bearing black pubescence but the upper part
(including the spots) bare ; jowls very small, but a long whitish pubescence
extends under the eyes round on to the moderately puffed-out lower part of
the back of the head ; upper part' of the back of the head sunken down behind
the eyes, but a long greyish yellow pubescence can be traced on the actual
back of the head ; vertex shining black, rather small, and bearing rather long
but not dense brownish yellow pubescence ; proboscis yellow. Eyes touching
for quite half the distance between the occiput and the antennae, densely
clothed with conspicuous long blackish or greyish black pubescence; larger
facets on the larger upper part abruptly separated from the smaller facets on
the smaller lower part but not much contrasted in colour in dry specimens
(vide female). Antennae rather long, brownish black ; two basal joints with
minute black bristles ; third joint long and bare and bearing on its fourth
annulation a dorsal arista which is almost as long as the annulated joint, and
which is orange after its blackish base.

Thorax moderately shining black, densely and coarsely punctate, with a
conspicuous large yellow spot on each side extending against the dorso-pleural
suture from the humeri to the transverse suture ; postalar cal 1 i conspicuously
yellow and the yellow colour extending a little anteriorly on to the disc ;
beyond these markings the humeri are yellow, and also a line along the upper
margin of the mesopleu rae to the wing-base which widens there considerably
down the upper hind corner of the mesopleurae, but there are no subsequent
yellow markings. Pubescence ubiquitous, long, erect, and abundant (except
on the middle of the mesopleurae), but not obscuring the ground colour,
yellowish brown, but more pale yellow on the front and back parts of the
pleurae. Scutellum orange, with the tip of the long straight spines blackened ;
pubescence yellow ; metanotum shining black, moderately punctate and
pubescent. „

Abdomen moderately shining black, but dulled by the dense coarse
punctuation, and with five conspicuous yellow spots ; a large yellow spot
slopes upwards from each hind corner of the third and fourth segments to
almost the front margin, and the pair of spots on the third segment are still
widely separated at their tips, but those on the fourth segment rather closely
approximate ; the spots on the third segment are larger than those on the
fourth ; tip of the abdomen also yellow, and none of these five yellow spots
are connected on the sidemargins ; pubescence on the disc minute, stubby,
and black, but longer and greyish about the basal corners. Belly shining
black with the middle of the disc of the second and third (and sometimes
the fourth) segments yellowish, but most so on the second segment, and
the yellow dorsal spots show over the sidemargins ; all thickly but not so
crowdedly punctate as on the dorsal surface ; pubescence on the basal halt
rather long and whitish.

Legs black and orange ; the black portion comprising the coxae, trochanters,
and basal five-sixths (except the extreme base) of the femora, and also the
last four joints of the front tarsi and the last three joints of the posterior
tarsi, while the hind tibiae are sometimes a little darkened about the middle ;
pubescence behind the anterior femora more distinct than usual m an
Oxycera , and all whitish. Pulvilli yellowish brown ; claws small and black.

Wings (fig. 109) slightly smoky with all the veins distinctly marked ; stigma

108

STRATIOMYIDE

and subcostal cell yellowish brown, and the stronger anterior veins more pro¬
nouncedly yellowish brown than the weaker posterior veins, though these
latter are by no means faint ; all the veins enclosing the discal cell are almost
blackish brown, and cause some trace of a dark cloud about the middle of
the wing ; upper branch of the cubital fork ending about half way between
the ends of the radial vein and the lower branch of the cubital fork. Squamae
(alar) not large, blackish with moderate pale grey fringes ; thoracal squamae
blacker still and forming a small lobe on which is dense long black
pubescence.

? . Frons orange, with the middle of the back of the vertex black and widening
out and occupying all the space between the eyes until after the ocelli, and
then the black colour slopes off outwardly from the eyes and is continued down
the middle in a bi’oad black stripe (more than a third the width of the frons)
as far as the antennae, and this black stripe is also continued down the middle
of the face (though rather more narrowly) ; the yellow sides of the face (which
have a whitish eyemargin commencing from about a third of the way up the
frons) are not connected with the yellow postocular band because the narrow
stripe below the eyes is darkened ; yellow postocular band broad above but
rather diminishing downwards until on about the lower half of the head it
becomes rather silvery and the puffed-out black back of the head can be seen ;
pubescence general and whitish, but very short and inconspicuous except on
the lower part of the head. Eyes with very short though not scarce dark
pubescence ; facets all equal in size ; in life there is a purple band across a
little above the middle, and the eyes above and below that are dark green but
have the margins of the purple band lighter green. Antennae (fig. 107) dull
black, but often dark reddish orange from the beginning of the second joint to
the end of the third annulation of the third joint.

Thorax rather similar to that of the male but the yellow markings are more
extended, so that on the postalar calli the yellow marking spreads more
upwards on to the disc, and there are two narrow widely separated yellow
lines on the front part (though not quite to the front) which disappear at the
suture, or only extend a short distance further after an interruption at the
suture ; pubescence on the disc very much shorter than in the male and all
whitish, but on the pleurae it is still rather long and conspicuously whitish.

Abdomen almost bare, with similar but brighter yellow markings, and in
addition the middle of the basal segment is yellow. Belly more yellow.

Legs with the base of the posterior femora orange and sometimes broadly
so ; pubescence on the femora short and inconspicuous.

Wings more hyaline. Squamae (alar) with very short fringes unless near
the angle, but the thoracal squamae with long whitish grey fringes.

Length about 7 mm.

This species has no close ally in Britain, as its yellow tibiae distinguish
it at once from 0. dives, and the reputedly British 0. Fallenii has three
pairs of isolated abdominal spots.

0. pidchella is not very rare in England as I have records from Devon
(Salcombe), Dorset (Glanville’s Wootton), Kent (Belvedere), Surrey
(Denmark Hill in garden), Suffolk (Felixstowe), Norfolk (West Bunton),
Hereford (Tarrington and Woolhope), Monmouth (Abergavenny), and
Glamorgan (Porthcawl). I believe it more often occurs in odd specimens
than in local abundance, and I think it is less attached to marshy ground
than most of the other species. My dates only range from July 10 to 31.
Kertesz’s Katalog records it from all Europe, but it is strange that
Lundbeck does not seem to have met with it in Denmark.

Synonymy. — Walker revived Scopoli’s name of vara for this species and possibly
correctly, but too much uncertainty is attached to Scopoli’s name. Moses Harris’s
name of Musca tardigradus undoubtedly refers to this species as his description is a
good one ; if however Meigen’s name of pulchella be supplanted Scopoli’s name has
priority.

3. OXYCERA

109

10. O. dives Loew. Cubital vein forked. Abdomen with five isolated
yellow spots of which the second pair resembles the first pair in shape.
Tibise black. Eyes clothed with dense black hairs.

A rather large very dark species.

c£. Face and frons forming a small black almost equilateral triangle but so
densely punctate as to be rather dull, clothed with dense long black
pubescence of which that on the frons is directed rather upwards ; jowls and
lower part of the back of the head mainly indicated by their abundant long
black pubescence ; upper part of the back of the head clothed with thinner,
shorter, and scarcer pubescence ; vertical triangle bearing long and rather
abundant forwards-directed pubescence ; proboscis orange. Eyes apparently
touching for about one-third the distance between the occiput and the antennae,
but a row of black hairs exists between them which is longer than the con¬
tiguous pubescence on the eyes, and this latter pubescence is remarkably
long, dense, and black, except that the hairs about the lower hind corners of
the eyes may be rather greyish ; facets on the larger brown upper part much
larger than those on the smaller black lower part and the line of contrast well
marked. Antennae black or brownish black ; two basal joints with short
black bristles; third joint slightly longer than the two basal joints together;
arista slightly longer than the annulated third joint.

Thorax black, considerably dulled by the dense coarse punctuation ;
humeral knob yellow, and also a line along the upper margin of the meso-
pleurae, and this line begins rather narrow but widens a little downwards as
it approaches the wing-base ; there is also a smal rounded yellow spot on
each side at the point where the thoracal suture bends backwards ; postalar
calli sharply yellow as sloping oblong spots. Pubescence mainly long, dense,
and black, but the hairs on the lower part of the pleurae are thinner in
texture and may be rather greyish. Scutellum bright yellow ; spines orange
but Avith the apical tAvo-tifths black ; pubescence 1 >lack and rather long but
sparse ; metanotum shining black, transversely rugose.

Abdomen shining black, but obscured by the dense coarse punctuation on
the second and third segments; the punctuation on the fourth and fifth
segments is more scattered and hence the disc there is more shining ; there
are five large isolated yellow spots, being a pair on each of the third and fourth
segments and one at the tip ; the pairs of spots are large, but do not quite
reach either front- or [hindmargin of their segment, and they are rounded on
their inner margin ; the pair on the fourth segment are similar to those on
the third but are slightly more transverse, and consequently the middle half
of the dorsum is left black on the third segment, but as the fourth segment is
narrower and the spots more transverse less than the middle third of that
segment remains black • all these spots extend over only the hinder half of
the sidemargins of each segment ; tip Avith a large shallow transverse spot
which is arched anteriorly but emarginate at the middle, and which leaves the
Avhole foremargin of the segment black though more narrowly so on the
middle. Pubescence all very short and black, though as usual rather longer
about the sides of the tAvo basal segments, dense where the punctuation is
dense, but sparse where the punctuation is sparse. Belly all dull black ;
pubescence greyish black, fairly long and dense on the basal segments but
short and blacker on the rest. Genitalia small and almost concealed but
forming a flattened black arch and at the end there is a pair of short broAvnisli-
black pale-haired lamellae.

Legs mainly black, but all the knees narrowly and the extreme tip of the
tibiae orange ; tibiae and tarsi Avith a brownish appearance which is mainly
caused by the dense closely recumbent very short pubescence, though the base
of the hind tarsi may be rather orange ; soles of all the tarsi gilded ; front
femora shining anteriorly and bearing a slight black posterior ciliation.
Pulvilli brownish orange ; claws black.

Wings conspicuously blackened but slightly bleached near the tip and
hindmargin ; costal cell and base rather yellowish ; veins mainly brownish
black, but the basal half of the costal vein (excluding the base itself) and the

110

STRATrOMYIM

base of tlie lower branch of the postical fork yellowish ; stigma small and
inconspicuously pale brownish black ; cubital fork distinct and the first sub¬
marginal cell longer than the stigma. Squamae (alar) black with a tinge of
grey in the black fringes. Halteres bright orange.

$ . Frons black with a pair of large orange spots almost on the lower half ; these
spots begin just where the frons bends over from the vertex, and each is of
elongate oval shape but extends outwards at the lower outer corner and reaches
the eyemargins and then extends down against the eyes to almost the level
of the antennae, after which very narrow whitish eyemargins extend down the
sides of the black face until they widen out in a small yellow spot against
each lower eye-angle ; the black middle stripe of the frons is barely one-third
the width of the frons, but the yellow spots do not touch the eyes until they
extend outwards as mentioned above ; frons quite one-thircl the width of the
head and with almost parallel sides, and the face slightly wider, and both
bearing inconspicuous drooping greyish pubescence ; jowls inflated and shining
black, but with a narrow whitish margin against the eyes which extends up
the inflated lower part of the back of the head and forms there an elongate
rather inconspicuous yellow spot ; rest of the back of the head inflated and
shining black, but with a large elongate shining orange spot on the upper half
of the head which does not touch the eyes, and which is narrowest below but
extends upwards to a level with the upper eye-angle and then slopes towards
the occiput, so that the black connection between the vertex and the occiput
is only half as wide as the space between the upper eye-angles ; pubescence
on the back of the head very slight and depressed ; ocellar space elevated and
the three ocelli obscurely yellowish. Eyes bearing fairly dense rather short
black pubescence. Antennae with the annulated third joint greyish ; arista
blackish to its tip.

Thorax shining black with orange side-spots and two dorsal stripes ; dorsal
stripes extended straight to the front part but interrupted at the suture, and
only extended for about one-third the space after the suture (though Loew
says that a small spot may sometimes occur after each of them) ; the stripes
are rather wider apart than each is from the side-spots ; humeral knob and a
narrow line to the wing-base along the upper margin of the mesopleurae
orange, and above these side-lines there is on each side a triangular isolated
orange spot above (but resting on) the suture ; postalar calli broadly orange
and extending triangularly to a point in the direction of the isolated spots ;
the narrow side-lines widen considerably near the wing -base but otherwise the
pleurae are black (unless the pteropleurae are brownish). Pubescence minute,
stubby, and greyish black on the disc, but longer, softer, and greyish white
on the pleurae.

Abdomen less dulled by punctuation ; the two pairs of orange side-spots
large and broadly ovate and only narrowly separated from each other, and
occupying the sidemargins except at ithe basal corners of the fourth segment
and on an extremely narrow actual margin ; the first pair of spots leave the
middle half of the clisc black, but the second pair only rather more than the
middle third • apical spot more separated from the second pair of spots than
they are from the first pair. Belly shining black with a small basal orange
spot, and the orange dorsal spots shining through on the margin.

Legs blacker ; knees narrowly orange, and the hind trochanters obscurely
orange as well as the extreme tip of the tibiae and the soles of the tarsi.

Wings with a brownish orange tinge.

Length about 7 mm.

This species is easily distinguished by its brilliant black and yellow
markings, rather large size, and almost wholly black legs. My descrip¬
tion has been made from a male taken by Mr A. E. J. Carter (and given to
me by him) and from a female without history (but apparently British) in
the Entomological Club collection ; it seems to be but little known, but has
a very close ally on the continent in 0. locuplcs Loew; this latter species
seems to be rather common in places as Becker records (Berl. Ent. Zeit.,
xxxi., 97) the capture of fifty males and forty females at St Moritz, and

3. OXYCERA

111

it differs from 0. dives by having a large oblong yellow spot on each side
of the thorax (where the small isolated spot occurs in 0. dives) which
extends more or less towards the humeral spot and usually connects with
it, and by the last pair of abdominal spots in both sexes being more
narrowly transverse, so that they are far more separated from the previous
pair than is the case with 0. dives ; in my male specimen of 0. locuples the
last pair of spots are quite as widely separated from each other as in my
specimen of 0. dives, but in the female of 0. locuples they are much closer
to each other as they leave only the middle sixth of the dorsum black ; the
female of 0. locuples has, I believe, always and the male sometimes (Becker
says eleven out of forty) a third (basal) pair of abdominal spots, while the
female has the frontal side spots larger and extending upwards almost to
the upper ocelli, and the spots on the back of the head narrowed downwards
but extending to the jowls; the legs of 0. locuples are rather more yellow.
Becker states that 0. locuples varies considerably in its yellow markings,
but he does not hesitate in considering it quite distinct from 0. dives.

0. dives is very rare in Britain and I only know of four or five
specimens. Walker first recorded it in 1851 as “Bare. In the collec-
“ tion of the Entomological Club. (E.),” and Brunetti (Entom., xxii., 86)
stated that there was a large Oxycera in the Entomological Club collection
allied to 0. pulcliella, but that it was not 0. dives ; I have however closely
examined the specimen, and have made my description of the female from
it, and have no doubt as to its determination ; it has no history attached
to it, but from its pin and general appearance I should think it was
British. The next record is that of C. W. Dale (Entom. Month. Mag.,
April, 1898) who took a male at Bannoch on June 9, 1896; his record
says June 18, but the specimen in his collection bears the date of June
9. Lastly Mr A. E. J. Carter (Entom. Month. Mag., January, 1904) took
three males on the hills at Aberfoyle, near the waterfall known as Bob
Boy’s Leap, one on July 6th, one on July 8, and one on July 9, 1903, at
rest on bracken ( Pteris ) in sheltered spots. Both the localities are in
Perthshire, and I know no reason for Walker attaching (E.) to the
Entomological Club specimen. It is recorded from only Central Europe.

11. O. trilineata Fabricius. Cubital vein forked. Thorax and abdomen
green (or yellow) with black markings. Face practically all green (or
yellow).

A very distinct species, because of the predominant green
(or yellow) markings.

J . Face and frons forming a small green (or yellow) triangle, but the sides of
the face glossed with white ; face and frons practically bare, but a very short
pubescence exists on the face and is continued under the eyes to the small
jowls and on to the back of the head, where it becomes longer and rather con¬
spicuously whitish ; the absolute back of the head is black, with the lower third
very little inflated (for an Oxycera) and with a silvery postocular margin, and
there is a faint pubescence extending upwards from this for a short distance ;
the ocellar space and the long pointed frons shining black, but behind the
ocelli and extending somewhat on to the occiput is a conspicuous bright
yellow spot which bears very short yellow pubescence. Eyes bare, touching for
nearly half the distance between the occiput and the antennae ; in life greenish
with a brownish red band on the dividing line of the facets ; facets on more
than the upper half large and in dried specimens reddish purple, but on the

112

STRATIOMYIIXE

sharply contrasted lower part small and blackish purple. Antennae all reddish
orange, rather short, being less than half as long as the length of the eye ;
arista longer than the annulated joint.

Thorax black with green (or yellow) stripes and markings, or practically
green with three broad black stripes down the disc which become united
on the hindmargin ; middle black stripe considerably widened on its front
half and extended right over the front, while the two side stripes are a little
abbreviated forwards because the green lines connect in front ; pubescence
most evident on the front part of the middle black stripe, but existing every¬
where, sloping inwards, and yellow. Pleurae black, but green (or yellow) on
the upper half of the mesopleurae, the whole ptero pleurae, and on the adjoin¬
ing part of the sternopleurae ; pubescence fairly long and conspicuous on the
front and back parts of the pleurae, but leaving the upper and middle parts of
the mesopleurae bare for the reception of the front femora. Scutellum and
its spines pale green (or yellow), but the extreme tip of the spines black ;
pubescence practically none ; metanotum black, with pale pubescence, but
the sides between the metanotum and the metapleurae are more or less green
or yellow.

Abdomen mainly green (or yellow) ; but if black be taken as the ground
colour the green (or yellow) markings occupy all the base of the basal
segment and extend considerably on to the middle of its disc, all the sides of
the second segment broadly and- also an arc or shallow triangle on the middle
of its foremargin, similar markings on the third segment only the side spots
are larger, all the fourth segment except long narrow black spots on the fore
and hind margins, and practically all the fifth segment ; pubescence very
slight and inconspicuous, though there are some dullish white hairs about the
basal corners and on the disc of the fourth and fifth segments. Belly all
greenish yellow (or yellow) with obscure darkenings on the third and
extensively on the fourth segment. Genitalia orange at the tip.

Legs all dull orange, even to the coxse and to the extreme tip of the tarsi,
though the hind coxae may be blackish about the base anteriorly. Pubescence
limited to some slight and pale hairs behind the anterior femora and beneath
the base of the hind femora.

Wings very hyaline, but the anterior veins (excluding the discal) dis¬
tinct and yellowish ; cubital vein forked, and the open part of the second
submarginal cell a little shorter than the first; discal vein so faint about its
base as to be sometimes almost imperceptible. Squamae (alar) yellow and
fairly large, but with no fringe until the lower corner ; thoracal pair nearly
semicircular and with long pale yellow fringes. Halteres with light green or
clear yellow knobs, but with the base of the stem more or less brownish.

$ . Head greenish yellow (or yellow) with a narrow middle black line down the
frons, which line is slightly widened on its upper part, and with the eyemargins
on the upper three-fourths of the frons narrowly but inconspicuously black,
and these three black lines are connected at the top by a conspicuous black
line which extends from the upper corners of the eyes across the ocelli ; frons
barely one-third the width of the head ; back of the head very considerably
puffed out and continuously shining yellow and bare on the upper part, but
whitish near the eyes, and with whitish pubescence on the lower part.

Thorax usually almost as in the male, but the greater part of the meta-
pleurse and hypopleune greenish (or yellowish), and sometimes there is a
narrow elongate black spot just above the base of each wing (of which I have
seldom seen a trace in the male).

Abdomen usually as in the male, but sometimes (and strangely in those
females only which have the narrow sharply marked black spot above the
wing-base) with the green side spots on the second and third segments
connected on the foremargins with the middle green arc, and sometimes the
entire hindmargins of the second, third, and fourth segments narrowly black.

Legs, wings, etc., almost as in the. male.

Length about 5 mm.

This species varies exceedingly in the colour of the pale markings from
clear green to clear yellow (though I think they are always green in the

4. NEMOTELUS

113

living insect), but it does not vary much in the extent or distribution of
the markings except as mentioned above under the female. I cannot
believe that the specimens which have a black spot above each wing-base
are distinct, even though the distinct abdominal markings occur in those
same specimens, and consequently I cannot believe in Loew’s 0. proximo
being anything more than a variety in which there are the same black
spots on the thorax and a somewhat different variation on the second
abdominal segment (on which Loew says the two black bands are united).
Sometimes the last annulation of the antennse and the arista are brownish ;
Brunetti (Entom., xxii., 84) stated that “a not uncommon variety known
“ as collaris is yellow instead of green,” but I have never met with that
name used elsewhere. Its metamorphoses have been described by Heeger
(Sitzber. Akad. Wien, xx., 1856). Some closely allied species occur in
European and Asiatic Bussia, but they have the belly much more black.

0. trilineata is probably the commonest British species of the genus,
but yet is by no means common. I have records from Devon, Dorset,
Somerset, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Essex, Cambs, Suffolk, Here¬
ford, Glamorgan, Benfrewshire, and Haddington, while Duncan says it is
common in Ireland. My dates extend from July 4 to September 2.
It is one of the commonest species in Europe, and is recorded from middle
Scandinavia to Sicily.

Synonymy. — A variety, with clear yellow for the ground colour, represents Musca
hypoleon of the Linnean Collection according to the specimen nearest the middle of
the label, the other specimen attached to the same label being 0. pidchella
( t . Haliday Stett. ent. Zeit., xii., 137). Brunetti ’s var. collaris was apparently a
name imposed by himself as I cannot trace it elsewhere. Lundbeck calls attention
to the fact that Briinniche described this species in 1761 but without a name, and
that Pontoppidan gave it the name of grceca in 1763 but gave no description.

4. NEMOTELUS.

Nemotclus Geoffroy, Hist, des Ins., ii., 542 (1764).

Rather small flies of obviously black ground colour, but
usually with conspicuous white spots or markings in the male
which may almost cover the dorsal surface of the abdomen.

Face very short in depth but conspicuously produced forward into a snout
(figs. 118, 119), and the part of the frons just before the antennae often with a pair
of white spots which usually coalesce in the male ; mouth opening large and long,
with a long geniculate rather thin proboscis which bears small sucker-flaps; palpi
very small and thin, with a few little bristles at the tip. Eyes usually apparently
bare but sometimes distinctly hairy, large and very closely approximated on the
frons of the male, but small and widely separated on the frons of the female, and
while only the lower part of the back of the head protrudes in the male (in profile)
the head protrudes all round the eyes in the female ; facets on about the upper two-
thirds conspicuously dilated in the male in obvious contrast to the smaller facets on
the lower third. Antennae rather long ; two basal joints about equally long and
almost bare; third joint elongate, pegtop-sliaped, with four distinct annulations
and a two-jomted terminal style which ends in a very thin hair and which bears
about two minute hairlike plumes on its thickened part.

Thorax almost quadrate but rather longer than broad, black with usually at least
a white spot on the humeri which may be connected by a thin line with a white spot
at the hind top corner of the mesopleurse, and these white markings give good
specific characters in both sexes ; mesopleurse with the usual bare space for the
reception of the front femora unusually large and depressed. Scutellum without any
marginal spines ; metanotum usually pubescent on its disc.

H

114

STRATIOMYIM

Abdomen broader than the thorax but hardly longer, short and elliptic, rather
arched, and with five or six visible segments • always with a black ground colour,
but usually with peculiarly characteristic white markings which may predominate
all over the middle part in the male, but which are commonly reduced in the female
to a whitish margin and a row of small dorsal spots, and usually in both sexes there
are whitish markings on the belly. Genitalia inconspicuous but probably affording
good specific distinctions.

Legs simple ; tibiae and tarsi usually extensively whitish ; front legs very widely
separated from the posterior pairs, these latter being close together.

Wings (fig. 117) of the Stratiomyid type in having the veins to the end of the

cubital crowded together on the foremargin and with the veinlets from the fiscal
cell faint ; subcostal and radial veins almost anastomosing, so that the radial is lost
unless it is indicated by a slight fold just below the subcostal ; cubital vein starting
a little before the base of the discal cell and connected by the discal cross-vein with
the discal cell on the basal third of the latter, and usually (but not always) forked
before its tip, and ending at about three-quarters the length of the costa ; upper
branch of the postical vein forming the lower margin of the discal cell for nearly half
the length of the latter ; wing-membrane practically bare and without any ribs or
ripples. Squamae small, but the alar pair distinct and the thoracal pair forming a
small roundish lobe which bears a long delicate fringe. ^Halteres in no way
concealed.

This genus may be easily recognised among the Clitellarince by its un¬
armed scutellum and its produced snout-like face.

Nemotelibs is a very well-marked genus and is composed of a large
number of closely allied but yet usually easily distinguished species, and
it is unpardonable for anybody when describing a new species not to
mention its nearest allies and its distinguishing characters from them, as
it is not fair to subsequent students to have to wade through a detailed
description in order to find the position of the supposed new species in
the genus. The genus is recorded from all Europe, Asia Minor, North
Africa and down the Eastern side to the Cape, America from Canada to
Patagonia, Cuba, Jamaica, etc., but nearly all the species are Palsearctic or
North American. About seventy species have been described, of which
about fifty are Palsearctic, but I have been able to recognise only four as
inhabitants of Britain; and I hardly expect to find any more. The
metamorphoses of N. uliginosus were given in detail by Haliday in Nat.
Hist. Rev., 1857, 194, and he found the larvae “common under dried-
“ up Confervae and other vegetable matter strewed on the ground, especially
“ in marshy spots on the shore.”

The species frequent marshy ground, especially on the sea-coasts, and
usually occur in abundance, while it is by no means unusual to find two
species in company; they however also occur inland, and possibly N.
nigrinus is entirely a fresh-water species. I once saw the males of N.
uliginosus performing an aerial dance about two feet from the ground
in the marshy land near Landguard Fort in Suffolk, and in this dance
the white markings on the abdomen became very conspicuous.

4. NEMOTELUS

115

Talk of Species.

1 (12) Cubital vein forked (fig. 117). Abdomen with whitish markings.

2 (7) Males. Eyes touching on the frons. Abdomen with extensive

conspicuous white markings.

3 (6) Snout moderately long (fig. 118).

4 (5) Belly mainly whitish ; third dorsal segment wholly white, but the

fourth wholly black. 1 pantherinus.

5 (4) Belly nearly all black ; third dorsal segment wholly white, and

the fourth with the hind margin white. 2 uliginosus.

6 (3) Snout short (fig. 119). Belly with a large whitish spot; third

dorsal segment white with a round black spot (or more) on it.

3 notatus.

Fig. 118. — Nemotelus uliginosus <$. x 22.

Fig. 119. — Nemotelus notatus <$. x 22.

7 (2) Females. Eyes widely separated on the frons. Abdomen with

small white spots or markings.

8 (11) Snout moderately long.

9 (10) Frons without any whitish streaks just above the antennae.

Whitish margin of abdomen almost equal. 1 pantherinus.

10 (9) Frons with whitish streaks just above the antennae. Whitish

margin of abdomen dilated at junction of segments.

2 uliginosus-

11 (8) Snout short. Whitish margin of abdomen extended considerably

along the hindmargins of segments. 3 notatus.

12 (1) Cubital vein simple (fig. 120). Abdomen all black. 4 nigrinus.

The three species with the
forked cubital vein may appear
to be difficult to distinguish
considering their manifold
variations in markings, but
they are really quite distinct ;
and as species of Nemotelus
always OCCUr gregariously there Fig. 120.— Nemotelus nigrinus 9 . x 15.

should be no difficulty in

naming them, even if two species should occur in company.

116

STRATIOMYIIAE

1. N. pantherinus Linne. Face moderately produced ; frons white in
the male but unspotted black in the female. Abdomen of the male mainly
white both dorsally and ventrally, but black dorsally at the base and on the
last two segments except on the sidemargins and on the hindmargin of the
fifth segment ; abdomen of the female black with an almost equal whitish
margin and the usual white dorsal spots.

cj. Face shining black, but with an obscurely brownish stripe down the top of
the snout ; frons all white (except immediately above the antennae) with a
narrow middle channel, and the front margin of the white part scarcely
notched at the middle ; face in combination with the frons produced out to
an almost pointed cone or snout more than one-third the length of the eye in
profile and not at all curved over at the tip ; frons bare, but the face bears a
short sparse adpressed pale pubescence which is continued along under the
eyes and which gradually becomes longer and more erect on to the lower hind
corner of fhe eye, after which it becomes rather shorter again up the back of
the head ; near the eyes on the lower half of the back of the head there is
a very short closely adherent pale grey postocular pubescence ; vertex shining-
black, long and pointed, with some very short whitish pubescence between
and behind the ocelli • ocelli yellow ; proboscis geniculate, long, and black.
Eyes apparently touching for about one-third the distance between the
occiput and the antennae, but a minute fine pubescence extending from the
vertex almost down to the white frons shows that they are not absolutely
touching ; facets on the upper two-thirds dilated and much larger than those
on the lower third, so that on the upper part the eyes are made to bulge over
the occiput ; in life the eyes are all dark green or blue green. Antennae dull
brownish black, placed in a depression just before the middle of the snout ;
the annulated third joint longer than the basal two together, and bearing at
its tip the style, which is about as long as the last three annulations of the
third joint together, and which is reduced on its apical quarter to a fine hair,
whilst there are about two tiny plumes situated at about half its length.

Thorax and scutellum shining black and finely punctate, with a small
whitish yellow spot on the humeri and usually (but not always) with a narrow
line from it to the wing-base and thence down between the mesopleurm
and pteropleurae • postalar calli slightly brownish. Pubescence rather
abundant but rather short, whitish yellow, erect or sloping forwards, and
universal except on the depressed middle part of the mesopleurse ; rather
shorter on the scutellum.

Abdomen shining whitish (in life) or pale yellowish, but black on the
middle part of the basal segment, and thence on to the middle of the second
segment (for from one- to two-thirds of its length) as a semicircular or almost
triangular black spot, and the fourth and fifth segments mainly shining black,
but the actual margin of the abdomen all round is white (in life) or pale
yellow, and usually on the fourth segment there are two long shallow white
(in life) or yellow spots on the extreme foremargin (sometimes continued to
the sidemargins or even continuous right across the foremargin) and one
middle spot on its hindmargin, but sometimes the latter spot is missing and
so are not unfrequently the spots on the foremargin ; pubescence universal
and pale yellow, but very short and inconspicuous. Belly all shining yellowish
except for the darkened extreme base and a blackish line on the middle of
the extreme foremargin of the fifth segment, but sometimes the belly is con¬
siderably blackish on the fourth segment and on nearly all the fifth segment,
with a slight darkening near the sides of the hindmargin of the third segment
extending almost all across and occupying nearly half the segment, and with
the fourth and fifth segments mainly black, or even brown at the base with
the third segment bearing a brown fascia. Genitalia when extruded with
black side lamellae which have pale pointed tips, between which are rather
shorter dull yellowish or darker lamellae.

Legs black but considerably orange or almost whitish yellow ; femora
shining black, but with the tip broadly yellow and sometimes the base
obscurely brownish ; anterior tibiae orange, with occasionally a slight dark

4. NEMOTELUS

117

ring just below the middle or even a blackish postero-dorsal streak there, or
with even a broad band on the middle tibiae from near the middle to almost
the tip ; hind tibiae black with the basal quarter and just the tip orange ; all
tarsi pale orange to the very tip so that the black claws became conspicuous.
Pubescence on the coxae, and a moderately long fringe behind the anterior
femora, pale yellow.

Wings glassy hyaline, with very faint veins except for the yellow veins on
the front part of the wing from the base to the basal part of the cliscal cell
and thence on to the end of the cubital vein. Squamae clear pale yellow,
alar pair with a whitish fringe, and the thoracal pair forming a somewhat
longish lobe which bears a long pretty whitish fringe. Halteres clear yellowish
white, with the base of the stem a little darkened.

9. Very different from the male. Head very elongate triangular ; snout almost
as long as the eye in profile, and brown dorsally after the antennae ; frons
without any white spots, though the sloping smooth spaces can generally be
traced on which the spots should exist because the adpressed short white
pubescence shows up more obviously above and below these spaces ; pu¬
bescence short and adpressed but rather obvious (because of its white colour)
on the sides of the frons and on the back of the head and to a less extent on
the snout, though it is conspicuous on the upper part of the snout between
the antennae and the eyes. Eyes so small that the rather rumpled frons
between them occupies more than one-third the width of the head, while the
space behind them is widely inflated but not the space below them. Antennae
placed at about two-thirds the length of the snout ; third joint larger and
more distinctly annulated than in the male.

Thorax more coarsely punctate, and with the white side-markings almost
reduced to a small humeral spot. Pubescence greyish white, rather depressed
and sloping inwards and forwards, shorter than in the male but still obvious.

Abdomen shining black, with a short triangular white spot on the middle
of the liindmargin of the second, third, and fourth segments, but these spots
vary somewhat in size and intensity and the one on the hindmargin of the
fourth segment is always small and may sometimes be absent ; there is also
a continuous almost equal white margin all down the sides and round the
hindmargin of the fifth segment ; segments after the fifth one small and
mainly whitish ; pubescence whitish and universal, but very short and
depressed. Belly all shining black, very sparsely punctate, and occasionally
the foremargin of the second segment and the hindmargin of the third and
fourth segments narrowly yellowish, while indications of this may occur on
the subsequent segments ; margin all equally white ; pubescence whitish,
sparse, and inconspicuous.

Legs as in the male.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 5 mm.

This species varies a little, but not so much as N. uliginosus and N.
notatus. The white markings of the abdomen of the male are liable to
discoloration, especially about the hind corners of the third segment, and
a male taken at Tuddenham on June 27, 1880, has a small roundish
sharply defined black spot on the third segment close to the middle of the
foremargin ; the belly of the male varies from being all whitish yellow
except for a pair of long transverse reddish spots on the second segment
and a small narrow black spot on the middle of the base of the fifth
segment to being extensively blackened even to the hind half of the third
segment and on all the fourth segment except two spots on the foremargin,
and on all the fifth segment except the hindmargin (which widens at the
middle almost up to the foremargin), and even partially blackened on the
second segment.

More remarkable than any other variety is a male taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Kenmare in Co. Kerry on June 30, 1901, which I once thought might belong to a

118

STRATIOMYIM

distinct species, as it is smaller, and has the snout short ; eyes rounder ; thorax
with the humeral spot very small, and the pubescence whiter and slightly shorter ;
abdomen more milky white with the basal black spot more quadrate, and the fore¬
marginal white spots on the fourth segment meeting narrowly on the middle and
connecting widely with the whitish sidemargins, while the spot on the liindmargin
is absent, and the liindmargin of the fifth segment bears two fairly large long white
spots which are narrowly connected at the middle and with the sides; belly all
whitish yellow except the small black base and the rather blackened hind corners
and obscured middle of base of the fourth segment, and the black sides of the fifth
segment before the white sidemargins ; genitalia possibly different, pale yellow ;
anterior tibiae with a broad ill-defined blackish band ; tarsi and knees more
whitish yellow.

A continental specimen from Kowarz’s collection also has the spots on
the foremargin of the fourth abdominal segment widely connected with
the white sides and narrowly connected on the middle, but the anterior
tibiae without any trace of darkening. The species may he known from
its British allies by the small whitish humeral spot and the whitish line
from it being not widened near the wing-base, by the more whitish yellow
parts of the legs, by its less coarse pubescence, by the (usually) sharply
defined whitish second and third and abruptly black fourth and fifth
abdominal segments of the male, and by the extensively white belly
markings ; while the female is known by the absence of any white spots
on the frons, and by its whiter pubescence and squamae.

N. pantherinus is probably abundant in suitable marshy localities in
Britain, but my authentic records are limited to Cornwall (Padstow),
Devon (Porlock), Sussex (Lewes), Kent (Folkestone), Suffolk (Tuddenham
and Barton Mills), Cambs (Burwell and Chippenham), Hunts (Monk’s
Wood), Hereford (Woolhope), Glamorgan (Porthcawl), and Haddington
(Aberlady), besides the peculiar specimen taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Kenmare in Co. Kerry ; it is of course impossible to be certain as to the
species in old records. My dates extend from May 15 to July 5. It is
common over Northern and Middle Europe, but perhaps does not occur in
the extreme North nor in South Europe.

Synonymy. — Linne’s orginal description of Musca pantherina in Systema Naturae,
ed. x., 590 (1758) was as follows :

“ 6. M. antennis filatis, corpore atro, abdomine dorso maculis tribus, marginibus
“ totidem connatis albis.”

“ Habitat in Svecia.”

“ Similis M. Hydroleoni , sed scutellum integrum. Antennae clavatce breves.
“ Corpus nudum. Abdomen depressum , marginatum ; incisuris margine medio
“ albis et margine lateraliA

The words “ scutellum integrum ” and “ abdomine dorso maculis tribus, marginibus
“ totidem connatis albis ” can only refer to some female Nemotelus. If the word
“ totidem” mean that there were “as many” white spots connected on the margin
as existed on the dorsum the description would apply best to A. uliginosus, but if it
mean “in like manner” it would apply best to N .panther inus ; the absence of any
note of white spots on the snout would apply to A. pantherinus only of our species.

In Systema Naturae, ed. xii., 980 (1767) Linne repeated this description word
for word down to the word “ incisuris ” after which he added “3 margine medio albis
“ et margine laterali ; incisures 2 ultimas margine albo. Punctum album utrinque
“ ad basin thoracis .” This description would still more clearly refer to A.
pantherinus if the “ Punctum album ad basin thoracis ” refer lo the whitish
humeri.

But in the meantime in Fauna Suecica, ed. ii., 440 (1761) Linne described the
species as : •

“ Musca panther iana antennis filatis, corpore atro, abdominis dorso maculis
“ tribus, marginibusque totidem connatis albis.”

4. NEMOTELUS

119

“ DESCR Minor. Caput nigrum occipite. puncto flavo. Antennae ft. avescentes.

« Thorax flavis lineis tribus latis apice connexis. . Scutellum flavum. Halteres ; flavi.

“ Abdomen flavum segmentis margine nigns : tnbus pnonbus macula nigra trans-

“ Af^lfobviously a repetition of the one given in 1758 but .the

obviously refers to Oxycera tmhneata , and it seems probable that Linne bad .recoe>
nised his mistake in 1 767 when he gave his revised description of M. panther ma, as
on thesame page lie described M. trilineata and M hypoleon, which are believed to
be the green and the yellow forms respectively of Oxycera trilineata , and. in his
description of M. trilineata some words occur almost identical with those given in
flip Faim a Suecica “description” of M. panther tana. . .

I think it may therefore be accepted that Linne’s name of pantherina may be
applied to thisspecies^but that his •* description ” of M. panthenana in the Fauna

Suecica applies^e' pas been considered applicable to this species is that of

Stratiomys marginatus of Fab ricius, whose original description was .

“ 10. S. scutello inermi, nigra, abdominis margme tibnsque albidis.

“Capu^ni^umfantonts filatis, basi connatis. Thorax nigrmameus, mimacu-
“ latus. 1 Abdomen depressum, atrum, margine maculisque aliquot dorsalibus
“ obsoletis albidis. Femora nigra, tibiie pallidse, alee aibse.

This is’ almost certainly the description of a female A emotelus which occurs in
England, and, as Ar. notatus was not recognised as a distinct species until sixty yeais
l iter and its female has the whitish abdominal margin extended along the hmd-
s tb„t mav be excluded. The words “abdominis margme... albidis and
“ caput nigrum 'J< apply more accurately to X. ncmtherimis than to X. vhgimms
and^consequently Fabricius’ name may be allowed to sink as a synonym of
Ar mntherinus though I do not for a moment believe that Fabiicius recognised
the ’distinction of the" regular margin of the abdomen in A . panthemnus from the
irregular margin of A . uliginosus.

2 N uliginosus Liime. Face moderately produced ; frons with white
markings in both sexes. Abdomen of the male mainly whitish, and the
belly of both sexes black with a rather large white spot near the base.

r? Face shinin'* black, and in combination with the frons produced out to a
’ rather prominent cone or snout (fig. 121) which is more or less brown an
slightly curved down at its tip; frons pale yellow or whitish lght down to
the antennae with a very narrow dividing middle line; fions bare, but the
snout with a little short pale pubescence on its sides and beneath ; jow s
very shallow but not small, shining black with
fairly long sparse brownish yellow pubescence ;
back of the head slightly puffed out and bear¬
ing short brownish pubescence ; vertex shining
blue black with short pale pubescence behind
the ocelli, and there is a rather dense shoit
brownish yellow pubescence extending clown
between the eyes almost to the antennae. Fyes
bare, almost touching for about one-third the
distance between the occiput and the antennae ;
facets on the upper two-thirds larger than
those on the darker colored lower third, but
not very conspicuously so and not bulging ovei
the occiput. Antennae dull blackish brown,
rather long but rather thick, and placed m a

depression about half-way down the ,s£°.ut w as the annulated

annulated and bearing an apical style, which is nearly a. g - j quarter,
joint and which becomes abruptly thm and ha rlike on its apical quart ,

while the style itself bears two or three minute Prunes

Thorax and scutellum shining black ; humeri with a lather lar^e ovai pa

Fig 121. — N emotelus uliginosus £ .
x 22.

third joint conspicuously

120

STRATlOMYIDiE

yellow spot which is connected by a narrow line to a widening yellow streak
which extends along the upper margin of the mesopleurae to the wing-base,
and which is then turned a little downwards. Pubescence rather abundant,
nearly erect and not short, brownish yellow, but longer on the pleurae, and
universal (even to the disc of the metanotum) except on the large middle
part of the mesopleurae.

Abdomen shining whitish yellow, but black on most of the basal segment
(except the hindmargin towards the sides) and for nearly half-way down
the middle of the second segment, and with rather more than the basal half
of the fourth segment black {vide variations later on), and most of the fifth
segment except a wide flatly arched spot on the hindmargin, but all the actual
margin of the abdomen is whitish except perhaps on the last half of the fifth
segment ; not uncommonly the fourth segment is more whitish until there
may remain only three black spots against the foremargin, which may vary
considerably in size and shape and may even be reduced to three very small
upright narrow black spots, while the whitish part of the fifth segment may
occupy all the hindmargin ; pubescence universal but very short and in¬
conspicuous, pale yellow. Belly black with the middle third or more of the
second segment whitish yellow, and the extreme hfndmargins of the third and
two following segments obscurely yellowish ; the extreme margin is also
yellowish ; third segment sometimes with just the middle part yellowish, while
sometimes the fourth segment has barely the basal half black and even on
that a pair of widely separated yellow spots near the foremargin, and the
fifth segment may have a broad yellow hindmargin ; pubescence sparse,
depressed, short, and pale. Genitalia black, with broad brownish lamellae
and outside them a pair of thin black spines.

Legs almost as in the allied species, but there is a slight postero-
dorsal darkening on the anterior tibiae just after the middle even sometimes
forming a pale brown ring, and the base and tip of the hind tibiae are
orange on nearly the basal third and the apical quarter so that the black
ring occupies hardly half the tibiae ; claws more conspicuously orange at
the base.

Wings (fig. 122) very similar to those of the allied species. Alar squamae

light brownish glassy with a yellow margin and a short pale fringe ; thoracal
forming brown roundish lobes and bearing a rather long light grey fringe.
Halteres yellowish white with the base of the stem a little darkened.

$ . Y ery different from the male. Snout as long as the eyes (in profile); frons
rather coarsely roughened which causes it to be less shining, more than one-
third the width of the head, and bearing a pair of large conspicuous yellowish
white or orange spots a little above the antennae which slope forwards and
almost meet ; pubescence scattered, but in perfect specimens forming a large
patch on the middle of each side and obvious because it is whitish, and this
scattered pubescence extends down the snout and jowls, but is much more
dense on the swollen out back of the head, and is more adpressed and con¬
spicuous there. Eyes small ; facets all small and equal. Antennae placed
about half-way down the snout and hardly so far forward as in AT.
pantherinus.

Thorax rather thickly punctate ; the whitish humeral spot large and
connected along the top of the mesopleurae by a narrow line with the dilating
praealar spot on the mesopleurae. Pubescence short and adpressed, whitish
yellow, universal but not abundant.

4. NEMOTELUS

121

Abdomen shining black with a whitish yellow or orange spot on the middle
of the hindmargin of the second, third, and fourth segments, and these spots
though varying in width are almost equal in size ; sidemargins continuously
yellow or orange and connected along the hindmargin of the fifth segment, but
the sidemargins dilate near the hind corners of the second, third, and fourth
segments ; sixth segment very small but with an obvious yellowish hind¬
margin ; pubescence almost absent as it is so very short, sparse, and whitish
yellow ; ovipositor forming two small broad brown lamellae. Belly shining
black, with the foremargin of the second segment and the hindmargin of the
third and fourth segments obscurely yellowish ; sidemargins narrowly but
equally yellowish ; pubescence rather sparse, but universal and pale
yellow.

Legs almost as in the male.

Wings and lialteres as in the male. Squamae yellow, with pale yellow
fringes.

Length about 5*25 mm.

This species varies within the usual limits of variation in the species
of Nemotelus, but may be distinguished from our other British species
without much difficulty. N. notatus has a shorter snout and whiter belly
in both sexes, and usually an isolated round black spot on the abdomen of
the male, while the female has the yellow sidemargins extended (even if
interruptedly) along the hindmargins ; N. pantherinus has the side markings
of the thorax much smaller and the belly much more white in the male,
and the female has no white spots on the. frons ; individual specimens of
all these three species may sometimes be found with one or other of the
specific characters rather obscure, but in every case other specific characters
enable each specimen to be named with confidence. A male taken at
Aberlady on June 23, 1884, had evidently met with some injury to its head
in one of its earlier stages, as the head was reduced to practically only one
eye, which had a normal occipital inflation on each side on which was
the normal rather long pale brownish pubescence, and there was the usual
short adpressed forwards-pointing pale postocular pubescence; the proboscis
was rather thick, not geniculate, and with an apical outspread pair of large
(apparently) sucker-flaps.

N. uliginosus is probably the commonest British species of the genus,
as it may occur anywhere in suitable marshy localities, especially salt
marshes. I have records from Sussex (Seaford), Kent (Gravesend and
Abbey Wood), Suffolk (numerous localities), Cambridgeshire (Burwell),
Lincolnshire (Sutton Wash), Merioneth (Barmouth), Kirkcudbrightshire
(Southerness), and Haddington (Aberlady), and though many of these
localities are on the coast yet some are far inland ; Duncan on the authority
of Haliday quoted it as common on Umbellifcrce in Ireland. My dates
range from June 23 to September 16. Haliday gave its metamorphoses
(fig. 56) in detail in Nat. Hist. Rev., 1857, 194. It is recorded from
Northern and Middle Europe, though perhaps not from the extreme North
nor from South Europe.

Synonymy. — The original description of N. uliginosus was given by Linne in
Systema Naturae, ed. xii., 983, as follows :

“ 22. M. antennis clavatis mucronatis, abdominis dorso albo : segmentis duobus
“ penultimis striga alba.”

“ Habitat in Europa, freq uens ubi Triglochin crescit

“ Corpus M. domesticce 4 minus. Caput nigrum f route flava. Antennae nigra?.
“ Thorax niger , nitidus : later ibus utrinque punctis 2 oblongis albis. Abdomen
“ subrotundum, depressiusculum : dorso album s. luteum , basi media fuscum ; segmenta

122

STRATIOMYIDJE

“ duo fere ultima , linea transversa nigra lata. Abdomen subtus nigrum marginibus
“ segmentorum albis. Genua alba. T ibise pallidoe.” This description applies almost
without doubt to the male of the species now described, and although it is almost
certain that Linne did not recognise the close connection of his male M. uliginosa
of 1767 with his female M. panther ina of 1758, there is nothing to be gained by-
refusing to accept the generally recognised nomenclature of N. pantherinus and
N. uliginosus.

3. N. notatus Zetterstedt. Face comparatively shortly produced;
frons with whitish markings in both sexes. Abdomen partly white
dorsally and ventrally.

d • Face (fig. 119) moderately shining black, and produced into a short blunt cone
or snout of which the small frons forms a part ; the snout is brownish dorsally
after the antenna; and at the tip, and bears a rather conspicuous short yellow
depressed pubescence which extends slightly upwards on to the pale yellow
sides of the frons and downwards (becoming longer, sparser, and erect) round
under the eyes and on to the moderately inflated lower part of the back of
the head ; this lower part of the back of the head also bears short adpressed
orange pubescence, but on the upper part the dilated facets of the eyes bulge
over so that the postocular pubescence practically dies out ; frons small,
mainly whitish or yellowish or almost orange with a very narrow middle
channel which almost (or rarely quite) divides the pale part into two spots,
so that at any rate the front margin of the pale part is notched in the middle
(and sometimes considerably so), but all the middle front part of the frons
and the top hind angle are shining black, and the whole of the frons is bare
except for the previously mentioned adpressed yellow pubescence on the
lower part ; vertex moderately shining black and so very gradually narrowed
forwards that it is difficult to say when the eyes appear to touch, and in fact
they do not absolutely touch but only appear to do so for nearly one-third
the distance between the occiput and the antenna ; there is some very short
white pubescence behind the ocelli and on the narrow forward prolongation
of the vertex. Eyes microscopically hairy, and as just mentioned almost
touching for a considerable space ; facets on the upper two-thirds strongly
dilated and sharply contrasted with the small darker colored facets on the
lower third. Antennae dull brownish black, fairly long, and placed (in profile)
in a depression about half-way between the eyes and the tip of the snout;
style short, as it is hardly so long as the last two annulations together of the
third joint, and its tip is hairlike, while the style bears near its middle about
two tiny side plumes.

Thorax and scutellum shining black and rather thickly punctate ; humeri
with a fair-sized roundish yellow (or pale yellow) spot which is connected by
a narrow yellow (or pale yellow) line with the wing-base, and this line widens
very obviously on its hinder half, but there is not much pale coloring down
the seam between the mesopleurse and pteropleurse. Pubescence fairly
abundant and by no means short, obscurely yellowish or even brownish
yellow, and almost universal except on the rather large bare middle part of
the mesopleurae.

Abdomen shining yellowish white with (normally) the middle two-thirds
of the basal segment black and that colour extending about half or two-thirds
of the way down the middle quarter of the second segment and ending in a
shallow arc, while the third segment has a round black spot on its middle
near the foremargin, and the fourth and fifth segments are shining black
except rather narrowly on the hind and side margins but unequally on the
hindmargin of the fourth segment ; these arrangements of colour are however
very variable, as there may be on the third segment besides the round black
spot a similar spot close to each side (Brodie, July 14, 1904, in company with
normal specimens), while on the fourth segment the yellow hindmargin may
resolve itself into three long shallow spots which are scarcely connected, and
sometimes the black portion of the fourth segment encroaches a little on to
the hindmargin of the third segment as two small spots, and not at all
uncommonly these two spots develop and join the middle round spot which

4. NEMOTELUS

123

then becomes a more or less triangular black space with a small white spot
left on the middle of the third hindmargin ; also the yellow sidemargin on
the fourth segment may be extremely narrow, and may be missing on the
fifth segment • pubescence universal, but rather sparse and inconspicuous,
depressed, pale yellow. Belly black with all the disc of the three basal
segments broadly yellowish white, but least so on the basal segment and some¬
times only narrowly on the foremargin of the third segment ; the absolute
sidemargins are all yellow though the sides of the belly are black and
sometimes the hindmargins of the fourth and fifth segments are yellow ; the
black sides of the belly generally extend out on to the disc near the hind-
margin of the third segment but leave all the actual hindmargin of that
segment yellow, and sometimes the black sides extend out a little on the
middle of the second segment. Genitalia with yellowish lamellae in the
middle, but with two narrow black spines outside them and two others
ventrally.

Legs black and yellow ; femora shining black except for the broad yellow
tip ; anterior tibiae orange, with sometimes a slight darkening just below the
middle, and sometimes with a distinct blackish postero-dorsal streak there on
the front tibiae; hind tibiae black, with the basal quarter and just the tip
orange. Pubescence fairly obvious, especially on the coxae and on a moderately
long fringe behind the anterior femora, all pale yellow.

Wings glassy hyaline, with very faint veins except for the distinct yellow
veins on the forepart of the wing which extend from the base to the basal part
of the discal cell and thence on to the end of the cubital vein. Squamae clear
pale yellow with whitish fringes, the thoracal pair forming a short broad
rather circular lobe with a long pretty fringe. Halteres clear yellowish white,
with the base of the stem a little darkened.

$ . Very different from the male. Face produced rather less than the length of
the eye (in profile) ; frons shining black, with a pair of small narrow elongate
yellowish (white to orange) spots (sometimes very small and obscure) which
extend from the eyemargins just above the antennae across the outer quarters
of the frons but which slope rather forwards. Pubescence on the frons
moderate and pale (golden to greyish white) except on the bare transverse
suture near the antennae, while below the pale spots it is more abundant on the
sides but becomes sparse towards the upper part and tip of the snout ; back
of the head inflated (though less than in N. pantherinus ), and bearing dense
yellow or whitish adpressed short pubescence which slopes forwards and
upwards. Eyes so small that the frons between them occupies more than
one-tliird the width of the head. Antennae placed slightly beyond the middle
of the snout.

Thorax and scutellum shining black, finely but not very densely punctate.
Pubescence shorter than in the male but (in good specimens) fairly dense and
brownish yellow ; metanotum also bearing a little golden to greyish white
pubescence on its disc.

Abdomen shining black, with small orange or pale yellow markings which
consist of very narrow sidemargins (normally) connecting across tlie hind-
margins of the fourth and fifth segments and extending inwards along the
hindmargins of the other segments, but leaving a small triangular isolated
orange or yellow spot at the middle of each of these segments ; usually this
spot on the second segment is widely isolated, while the one on the third
segment is approached by the lateral spots ; but these pale markings vary to
a certain extent, so that the spot on the second segment may be barely isolated
or the line on the hindmargin of the fourth segment may break up into three
long flattish spots, or the side stripes on the hindmargins may be cut off from
the sidemargins and in their turn cause each hindmargin to bear three isolated
spots ; pubescence scattered, yellow, longer and more obvious on the end
segments. Belly shining black, with nearly the middle half of the second
segment occupied by a large yellow spot which sometimes extends up the
middle of the basal segment, and sometimes there is a yellow triangle or a
long narrow yellow stripe on the middle of the hindmargin of the third and
fourth segments, while the sixth segment may have an arched spot on the
middle of its hindmargin ; sidemargins all yellow ; pubescence very short,

124

STRATIOMYIDA

depressed, and inconspicuous, all pale. Ovipositor with the terminal lamellae
short and brown.

Legs as in the male.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 5-5 mm.

This species may vary even more than I have mentioned above, and at
one time I suspected three males taken at Dyffryn in Merioneth on July
21, 1888. as being possibly a distinct species, because in them the snout
appeared to be even shorter and the white spots on the frons more distinctly
separated ; the black basal patch on the abdomen larger, and the third
segment without any isolated rounded black spot, but (in two of the
specimens) with a quadrate black spot which was narrowly connected with
a pair of flattened black spots on the hindmargin, and thereby left a flat
white spot on the middle of the hindmargin ; I have however since seen
a specimen from Aberlady almost identical with them, and have realised
that the white markings of the male vary to a considerable extent
(especially in individual localities), so that I now consider them as
nothing but a variety. Other varieties worth mentioning are (1) a
female from Brodie in which the white frontal spots are reduced to dots,
the yellow abdominal sidemargins are very narrow, and there is scarcely a
trace of yellow along the hindmargins between them and the isolated white
middle spots, the belly is shining black with a large whitish spot on the
middle of the second segment and a narrow white streak along the middle
third of the hindmargin of the third segment, and (2) a female from
Llanbedr in which the abdominal sidemargins extend only to the end of
the fourth segment, and there are only three small obscure pale dorsal
spots, while the belly has only a moderate- sized orange spot on the two
basal segments. Several European species are closely allied, but in Britain
A. notatus may be known by its rather larger size, its short snout
(except in a specimen from Kenmare which I have noted under A
p anther inus), and in addition to that the male may be distinguished from
N. pantherinus by its distinct dorsal and ventral abdominal white mark¬
ings, by its small frontal spots, and by its much larger humeral and wing-
base spots, while the female is distinguished by those same spots, by the
presence of a whitish spot on each side of the frons, and by the peculiar
way in which the yellow sidemargins extend (even if interruptedly) along
the hindmargins of the segments; from A. uliginosns the male is dis¬
tinguished by the distinct dorsal and ventral white markings and the
shorter pale frontal spots, while the female has the yellow sidemargins of
the abdomen much more extended along the hindmargins of the second,
third, and fourth segments.

A. notatus is not at all uncommon on our coasts, as I have records from
Devonshire (Westward Ho and Plymouth), Hampshire (Bournemouth and
Fawley), Kent (Gravesend), Essex (Leigh), Suffolk (Aldeburgh), Lincoln¬
shire (Saltfleet), Lancashire (Coniston), Merioneth (Dyffryn and Llanbedr),
Glamorgan (Porthcawl) ; and Arran, Aberlady, and Brodie in Scotland ;
and from Wexford in Ireland; Coniston is not strictly speaking a coast
locality, but I have found many coast species about that lake. The dates
extend from June 10 to September 16. It is common over Northern
and Central Europe down to Southern Germany and Austria.

Synonymy. — There can be no doubt about Walker’s (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 26)

4. NEMOTELUS

125

TV brevirostris being referred to the female of this species, as his character of
“ Abdomen with three rows of tawny spots which are connected along each side
is applicable to no other species and certainly does not apply to the species now
recognised as JV. brevirostris Meig.

4 N. nigrinus Fallen. Black. Frons without any white spots. Cubital
vein not forked.

A small species, well distinguished by its entirely black
abdomen in both sexes and by the absence of any folk to the
cubital vein.

rt Face frons, and vertex all shining bluish black and quite bare ; face moder-
' ately produced for a Nemotelus (fig. 123), conical but not sharply pointed ;
i owls and back of the head also black and with a slight pale pubescence on
the slightly inflated lower part of the latter ; ocelli conspicuously yellow.
Eyes apparently touching for about one-third the distance between the
occiput and the antenna; ; facets on nearly the upper two-thirds larger,
lighter brown, and sharply contrasted against the smaller darker facets on the

Pig. 123.— Nemotelus nigrinus $ . X 30.

Fig. 124. — Nemotelus nigrinus ? . x 30.

lower part • in life the eyes are probably banded as in the female. _ Antenna;
brownish black, with the tip of the second joint often more yellowish brown,
moderately short, and placed high up, as the frons itself is not in the slightest
degree produced and consequently the antennae appear (in profile) to be
placed at the extreme upper base of the snout-like face ; basal joints short
and almost bare ; third joint annulated, longer than the two basal joints
together and with a terminal arista which is only about as long as the last
annulation of the third joint, while the tip third of the arista consists of only

a very fine hair. . . , _ , .

Thorax and scutellum shining black and punctate, but there are two
rather dull impunctate stripes between the middle and the sides ; there is a
yellow spot on the humeri which is continued as a narrow line to the wing-
base and then descends (more or less indistinctly brownish yellow) between
the mesopleurse and the pteropleurse. Pubescence entirely absent on the
disc but there are some very short and inconspicuous pale hairs about the
sides and on parts of the pleurae. Scutellum and metanotum roughened or
even almost shagreened.

Abdomen shining black, sparsely punctate, and apparently bare as the
brownish yellow pubescence about the basal corners is very minute. Belly
shining black, but just the hindmargins of the third and fourth segments
obscurely brownish yellow. Genitalia with two pairs of tiny brownish yellow
lamellae, and between them a pair of darker brown style-like processes.

Leo-s black but orange on the tip of all the femora, on almost all the
anterior tibiae’ (as only the lower half or so of the upper side is a little
darkened), on the base and the extreme tip of the hind tibiae, and on the basal
two or three joints of all the tarsi. Pubescence practically absent, but a
little can be traced behind the middle femora. _

Wings (fig. 120) glassy hyaline with the veins very faint, but tiie anterior

126

STRATIOMYIDJE

veins up to the end of the cubital vein are yellow j cubital vein without any
trace of the fork which exists in all other European species of the genus.
Thoracal squamae blackish, rather larger than the alar pair and forming a
longer lobe, with short grey fringes. Halteres whitish yellow to dull orange,
with the stem and sometimes the front part of the knob darkish.

$ . Similar to the male, but with the eyes much smaller and consequently the
snout apparently much more produced. Frons very wide between the eyes,
being considerably more than one-third the width of the head, while the snout
appears to include the lower part of the frons because the part just above
the antennae and below the transverse depression is slightly elevated • frons
shining black, with a longitudinal depression below the middle which runs
into the transverse depression which crosses a little above the antennae ;
back of the head widely inflated and shining black (fig. 124). Eyes small • in
life dark bronze colored with a conspicuous purple band across the middle ;
facets all small and equal. Antennae with the third joint rather longer and
more conspicuously annulated.

Thorax with even less pubescence on the sides and on the pleurae than in
the male.

Abdomen with only very slight pubescence about the basal corners ;
segments after the fifth very small and black, ending in a pair of closely
adpressed short brownish lamellae. Belly with a tendency to paleness on the
middle part of the basal segments.

Legs with the yellow markings on the hind legs and on all the tarsi
rather more sharply defined.

Wings as in the male. Squamae rather paler. Halteres clear yellow, but
with the stem darkened.

Length about 4 mm.

This species requires no comparison with any other European species
as its entirely black colour in both sexes, its smaller size, and its simple
cubital vein at once distinguish it, but JY. niger Bigot from Chili is very
closely allied.

N. nigrinus is not uncommon in fenny or marshy districts, and I have
taken it in numerous localities in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, but an
examination of my other records only gives Cornwall (fairly common
according to Mr C. G-. Lamb at Padstow), Lincolnshire (Freshney Bogs),
Herefordshire (numerous localities), Glamorgan (Porthcawl, Colonel
Yerbury), and Haddington (according to Mr P. H. Grimshaw at Aberlady),
while Haliday took it in Ireland. My records extend from June 1 to July
15. It is fairly common over Northern and Middle Europe, from the
extreme north down to Southern Germany, and Van der Wulp has stated
that he has seen it from North America, but the American entomologists
consider his reference to apply to JY. unicolor ; I am however of opinion
that JY. unicolor is only a synomyn of JY. nigrinus.

Synonymy. — I think it more probable that JYemotelus frontalis Olivier (1811) is
this species than Pachygaster orbitalis as was suggested by Loew, but the description
is not good enough to identify it with certainty.

STRATIOMYIN^E

127

STRATIOMYINiE.

Abdomen with only five or six obvious segments. Lower cross-vein
present ; discal cell emitting (normally) three faint, more or less incom¬
plete, veinlets, and not emitting the upper branch of the postical vein ;
cubital fork short or absent. Antennae with no long thin arista. Scutellum
with two spines in the European species. Thoracal squamae large and
clothed with woolly pubescence.

Antennae without any long apical or subapical bristle, but in British species with
the third joint linear and annulated or club-shaped.

Thorax squarely built • metapleurae beset with dense shelter hairs. Scutellum
with two marginal spines in all the European species.

Abdomen usually short and broad, often flattened, and with only five or six
apparent segments.

Legs stout, moderate in length ; tibiae without any spurs.

Wings with three veinlets issuing from the discal cell towards the wingmargin
and with five posterior cells, but the veinlets are often so faint or imperfect that
they can hardly be traced ; lower cross-vein distinct, so that 1 he postical vein is
quite clear of the discal cell and is only connected with it by the small cross¬
vein ; cubital fork ending long before the tip of the wing and with the upper branch
short or even absent ; anal cell closed near the wingmargin ; alula rather well
developed. Wing-membrane conspicuously ribbed or rippled racliatingly to the
wingmargin ; wings in repose incumbent and parallel on the broad flattened disc
of the abdomen but not covering the side-margins. Squamae distinct ; alar pair
comparatively small, and with a thick margin on which there is usually only a short
inconspicuous fringe ; thoracal pair large and conspicuous, semilunate or sub-
triangular ( 0 . viridula), and clothed all over (on both the upper and under surfaces
and on a marginal fringe) with dense almost woolly, sometimes fuzzy, pubescence.

The metamorphoses of many species are well known, and the larva; are some of
the “ rat-tailed maggots ” which occur in stagnant water.

128

STRATIOMYIM

The essential characters of the Stratiomyince lie in the small number
of segments of the rounded abdomen, in the presence of the small (or lower)
cross-vein whereby they are distinguished from the Clitellarince and
Pacliygastrince, and in the absence of any long thin terminal arista
whereby they are separated from the Sargince. The peculiar crowding
of the stronger wing- veins towards the costa affords a distinct character
pertaining to this and the preceding subfamilies, and it is possible that
their separation is undesirable.

The Stratiomyince comprise about a dozen genera and occur in almost
all parts of the world. Six genera and about seventy species are included
in Kertesz’s “Katalog der Palaarctischen Dipteren,” but probably
only the two genera Stratiomys and Odontomyia need be retained, as the
others may be considered subgenera; about thirty of these species are
Asiatic. I have included only nine species in this work as undoubtedly
British, but other species of Odontomyia have been recorded and possibly
two or three of these may occur with us.

Table of the European Genera of Stratiomyin^e.

1 (2) Basal joint of the antennee short, usually about as long as the

second joint but sometimes twice as long. 5. Odontomyia.

Subgenera : —

1 (4) Subcostal and radial veins distinct ; discal cell

with two or three issuing veinlets (fig. 126).

2 (3) Eyes hairy. Psellidotus.

3 (2) Eyes bare. Odontomyia.

4 (1) Subcostal vein apparently anastomosed with the

radial ; discal cell with scarcely more than one issuing
veinlet (fig. 127). Hoplodonta.

N.l). — Exochostoma Macq. was probably founded upon
some injured specimens of Odontomyia argentata.

5. ODONTOMYIA

129

2 (1) Basal joint of the antennae three or four times as long as the

second.

Subgenera : —

1 (2) Flagellum ending in a broad heart-shaped

knob (fig. 128). Alliocera.

2 (1) Flagellum peg-shaped, pointed at the tip

(fig. 125).

3 (4) Eyes bare in both sexes. Stratiomys.

4 (3) Eyes hairy in at least the male.

5 (6) Eyes banded. Hirtea.

6 (5) Eyes not banded. Thyreodonta.

Fig. 12S. — Alliocera grceca & •

x 10.

5. ODONTOMYIA.

Odontomyia Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 265 (1803).

Rather large to rather small slightly pubescent Hies of
blackish colour, though usually adorned with orange, yellow,
or greenish markings, or with the abdomen sometimes yellowish
green, or even pale green, with black spots and markings..

Face arched, slightly retreating or perpendicular, usually strongly bulged out
and conspicuously pubescent ; back of the head hollowed out on the upper part ;
proboscis rather long, with moderately long sucker-flaps; palpi jointed, small, and
cylindrical. Eyes bare or hairy, practically touching in the male and with the lower
facets distinctly smaller than the upper ones, but in the female separated by the
broad frons. Antennae rather long, placed at or just below the middle of the head ;
the two basal joints almost equally long (fig. 130) or the basal joint at the utmost
twice as long as the second (fig. 129); third joint elongate and with from four to
six annulations of which the last two may form a terminal style, and this style
may have a microscopical apical arista ; antenme closely approximated at the base
and extended forward in almost one continuous divergence, at any rate after the
basal joint.

Thorax broad. Seutellum with two subapical spines.

Abdomen with five obvious segments in the male and six or even seven in the
female, usually scarcely broader than the thorax but sometimes much broader,
fiattish but with a slight arch down the middle which leaves depressed flat spaces
before the actual sidemargins. Genitalia inconspicuous.

Legs simple.

Wings with the anterior veins very much crowded, so that sometimes ( Hoplo -
donta) the subcostal and radial veins seem to anastomose (fig. 127); cubital vein
usually forked, but sometimes quite simple ; discal cell emitting three very vague
veinlets towards the wingmargin, of which the third and also sometimes the first
may be very incomplete or absolutely missing, and none of which reach the wing-
margin ; the upper branch of the postical vein does not reach the wingmargin, and
the lower branch joins the anal vein a little before the wingmargin ; wing-membrane
bare but conspicuously ribbed. Squamae well developed ; thoracal pair bearing
conspicuous woolly pubescence all over. Halteres with a rather large knob.

This genus is most allied to Stratiomys, but can always be distinguished
by the shorter inconspicuous basal antennal joint, the less diverging
antennae, and usually by the smaller size.

Odontomyia is a large genus of a rather heterogeneous character, but
no satisfactory division has been established ; the hairiness or bareness of
the eyes is sometimes only a sexual character, the longer basal antennal

I

6. Stratiomys.

130

STRATIOMYIM

joint of some species is of very trivial importance, and the anastomosing
of the anterior wing-veins does not seem to provide any clear character.
More than 150 species are known from all parts of the world and about
twenty are recorded from Europe, of which five undoubtedly occur in
Britain, while three or four more have been reputed of which 0. microleon
and 0. hydroleon are likely to occur. They frequent the neighborhood of
water, and may be found on Umbelliferce and other flowers, and when the
sky is darkened they hide on the under side of broad-leaved water plants,
and are said to be often found in astonishing numbers, but I have never
observed this; some continental species are said to occur in woods and
hilly places far away from water. The larvae, like those of Stratiomys,
live in mud or damp earth or among decaying leaves or in puddles under
Lemna.

Synonymy. — I am of opinion that Opseogymnus Costa, Psellidotus Rond., and
Hoplodonta Rond, have no generic value, even though Brauer has adopted IIoplo-
donta for an individual species. I have also under my synonymical note of 0.
argentata expressed my belief that Macquart’s genus Exochostoma was founded only
upon some imperfect specimens of that species.

Table of Species.

1 (14) Subcostal and radial veins separate (fig. 126) ( Odontomyia Brauer).

Discal cell with at least two issuing veinlets.

2 (5) Basal joint of the antennae twice as long as the second (fig. 129).

Cubital vein not forked. Eyes bare.

3 (4) Abdomen dorsally with narrow yellow transverse side-stripes and

tip, and without shimmering pubescence. microleon.

Fig. 129.— Odontomyia argentata 9 . x 20.

Fig. 130 .—Odontomyia ornata 9 • x S.

4 (3) Abdomen dorsally with inconspicuous yellow side-spots, and with

conspicuous silvery ( £ ) or golden ( 9 ) shimmering pubescence.

1 argentata.

5 (2) Basal joint of the antennae barely longer than the second (fig. 130).

Cubital vein forked.

6 (7) Abdomen all black. Eyes of the male hairy. 2 tigrina.

7 (6) Abdomen black with green or orange side-markings. Eyes bare.

8 (13) Abdomen black with a greenish margin. Medium-sized species.

9 (10) Abdomen black with only a narrow unequal greenish margin.

felina.

5. ODONTOMYIA

131

10 (9) Abdomen with an unequal black dorsal stripe which leaves a broad

greenish margin.

11 (12) Abdomen with the black dorsal stripe widened band-like on the

foremargin of the segments. Antennae blackish. hydroleon.

12 (11) Abdomen with the black dorsal stripe unequal but not widened

band-like (fig. 131). Antennae considerably tawny. 3 angulata.

13 (8) Abdomen black with three pairs of large orange side-spots.

Large species. 4 ornata.

14 (1) Subcostal and radial veins anastomosed (fig. 127) ( Hoplodonta

Brauer). Discal cell ordinarily with only one issuing veinlet;
cubital vein not forked. Small species with a dentate greenish
abdominal margin. Eyes bare. 5 viridula.

I have included 0. microleon , 0. felina, and 0. hydroleon in this table, because
they have been recorded as British under circumstances given in the list of Reputed
Species at the end of this volume, and they might well occur in Britain.

Schiner says that the eyes of the male of 0. hydroleon are hairy, but they are bare
in the specimens in Kowarz's collection, and Lundbeck specially describes them as
bare.

1. O. argentata Fabricius. Basal joint of the antennae quite twice as
long as the second (fig. 129). Abdomen with remarkable silvery or golden
shimmer, and with obscure orange side-spots. Cubital vein not forked.

A medium-sized black species, with a silver (d) or golden
( ? ) sheen on the abdomen caused by very short depressed pale
pubescence.

3. Frons and face very much puffed out and bearing dense long porrected
brownish grey pubescence which is very conspicuous from all points of view ;
the face is also very much widened and arched so that opposite the lower
corners of the eyes it occupies about three-quarters the width of the head ; it
is shining black and sometimes has a ferruginous middle line, and close
against each eye there is a line of much shorter glistening white hairs ; the
lower part of the jowls bears little pubescence but all about the large broad
sides and back of the mouth there is similar pubescence to that on the face but
hanging straight down and more brownish yellow ; close against the lower
front angle of the eyes is a narrow whitish shimmering band and on it is a
number of short glistening whitish yellow hairs, but this band does not extend
to the hind lower corner of the eye, because just before this corner a
moderately broad brownish orange eye-collar commences which extends up
about one-third the back of the eyes and then narrows down to nothing; the
lower part of the back of the head is a little inflated beyond this collar, but
the pubescence on and near the collar is reduced to minute brownish yellow
scaly hairs pointed forwards and with a silvery sheen close against the eyes ;
the flat back of the head bears rather long straggly greyish pubescence ; vertex
shining black and bearing long brownish yellow pubescence, steadily narrowing
almost to the frons and the eyes never quite touching, though the inconspicuous
upturned brownish yellow pubescence which occurs on the narrowing part of the
vertex ceases on the short space where only the two rims separate the eyes ; frons
black, rapidly widening out to the face, and bearing glistening whitish yellow
forwards flattened pubescence, and with a middle furrow ; proboscis long, with
large shining black sucker-flaps. Eyes bare ; facets on the upper two-thirds (or
three-quarters when measured round the eyes) much larger than those on the
lower part, and with a sharply marked dividing line almost all across the disc of
the eye, but on the back part the small facets extend considerably upwards

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'T;.u- ■ amr t omccisk. and piac-et ramer near tageme:

Andaman evafe. ahnosT air radar. du_ ; mth t~1 indistintT orange spate.
KT.r~ t — V t — mse- abort rue a>- ana an rue rw: m-t -egmeute tut all

dsnserv ameren tutu ua* a: fit urm au-es -en -e ru ah gives
a -livery -keen s-ODBruaiiou'- k c-eraon .. tgr:t* cm pan c rue basal -egmen.
u rue imidle rr-~r-',- cc uae secant segment and an very nearly all me
tuu a rourm and irru segments though cc me mu x me : -urm segment me
pube- -a -e mum burner and mum mere erect. me an -rue fifth segment
:: longer and less dense out is depressed . me ■'■rdlrtary pubescence is

moderate mm- basal sepneuT - ; * ramer uu-reum-uism more erect, ana
e”.- : - : • asal c'jmers *' : . - m- ..-.nau'.i-

►ear siirrHa- uube- .ence tut -__mm j -mer ana more erect and becomumr
msuincrly j-jmer m me furrtx and urru segment- me kind cumers of me
— , :Tn'- ana murd mgingnTe bear Taarly iarue me m it exnerdcnans ramer
mm t--- dub ba-cure aranue -om-. xiu m erte-ua ajmr me kind margins
about me-£tm ar rarely cme-turra x me emu* ••tt are net naif me depth
-r tu- -eunneut ana xxi i are nau . UTauec Tmetaer amurme sa aernarsins :
Tcrurtu -runner; xim - maker mare ooserre •.•rowrdsk 'orange spots at tue
km: earner* ~iueu are eam-nuera' -y exteuaea up narrcrwlr along tue
saaemargiK mm mgrueir: tutu al tue -,m- aua me tip tutu a rather
r-.rra-r ■ ■avium orange margin Bed; ar : v msu yekanr o: darker, ramer
-t~;t -Tii- ukura aud iaurru segments each tutu a pair cc small • sametim.es
obscure alack spots close togemer cc tue mu u die cc the disc, and the
saaemarmn- narrerwdy aineki-u a— rounu puoeseence ah paie. xerj' snort,
ez -uu at m- ?eeand segment vnere at a- ereu an: muck longer. G-enxtaiia
pratrucie: a-ai me end cc me aoaamen. aoa-ut nan a- aroaa a- the end cc tne
irti abaoTr uul -egment. aul ouack. ramer tcoac ana Sat.

Leg-, -yack and null orange ccoat, traenanter* and femora except at

lip rf ifcr ti —■ i nil <11 Ih <gii i il ill
orange except for an obscure aneomtuete nark ring cc tue tibiae about the
uuddie. vkucL us -widest and bmckee: on tne kuna pan but cc all pairs is
more con* ancuous on me kinder side and occupies there about cne-ffm of the
kind :iair tars, vam me basal leant excejc :ts ta; and m'^st of tue second
t a: on tne posterior pair* nark orange ana me ccnery.mt* braw-idsi alack,
bam ana bong, grejlsu v nute ana ramer abuudaixt aekind tne femora but

.ea-T an tne nunc remora.

S'bng' vntn a ratuer con-a-cnou- nark brerwr alotck about the middle
can 'St a; a.me's.n* oeing one: nark a-rov: al round me ci*»caJ ceil
on tne stigma above, cc me tit cc tne disc&J tein just before the «iiseal cell on
me jov er cross-vein, an: on tne portion cc tne upper branch of the postdcal
-‘ein be: ac e the small cra^’ ein : tue tern of the posticaJ vein is brownish
orange vxiie ane nsna. strong - ■ • - -

• -at a*e o-c.:ge me stem cc tue c. >,.. ve..i .*. mm anc rather faint until its
:g just befow -tike £ks! tike k «dh a tw ^ in the

margma. cel me cmca cel eauits vary the two upper -einlets toward* the

,e fekg qmte (twicic, aw tret the two ftnieti

me upper tae| arf wt MiH/ teatk ike wh^paargin :

- a- • • • . • •• • - - • • - - - v - . • • • - • - •

gmartgix : ii'ffMf Ifcf twit fif fkr ngtfil -mil fihihi

' ODONTOMYIA

lao

before their j-mrrifm ire :c r mim.

-c-ern mr' — - -> - > mm

veins

tie radial vein, and sonxenmes mr.s
and back thro

"'laziness my sncw itsei :y merely a ret in tie jane
cubital veins : cue ml vein. without any trace or 1

lackness extends round the fiscal eeH
are: v: irss-rin t: tie tase :r the ; sm ^ :r m

icq :i the costal nc
: : ri wimr-memi: rare

Alar - litre . . _

ore wot

entrant:- r • - rather m . . . --

tbtdki z.ct very rrr yb I tin i_ mr on :m_
escer.ce. rhdreres ringing ±r:ci

Vf_CWtSQ vr_.t

rensei-
or mctierarely
thr mil roll ~ At

Katler ittt •-* — r it —r'.. si :t -- ' : tcbescen.ee rn

tie tiem and
abdanen. r rone

: react tale

Tv.

: an.es :f relt-like nu. : escen.ce icr:ss

tie

Ttrr

ts namwesr tart mere tin r

tnims tie width of tie ream arc tie space between, me eyes nearty eqmm
for about half-way town, tie fetus bit tierce ranacr- wt . mm tt to tr - -
rrtis : rear a: ti of ti • i: ttrca_y

:tsi with, tit eyes, let ti free r e-d .m " ' tlg.-.t r: ttr_ * " ' rr. ~

ami cescencs nstnery

halt tie hear in nr: me. and tits

below tie eye-level and leaves tie jowls to r~wide ticori rattened tncam.-

. which are tide brownish
tyi a;

■ -

-

mr.t.’V . ' r - -r»a i ' rr'i’On

r s

t wm i become 1 icmsl

their lowest lece .

middle ot tQe race nisi too - i and

tie siae

o .tree re i c sconce

T* t T
r - '

am : v r r me race Jtnn
rtmo it'v'i

: vmer or :: tel. prey, arc smt.y re y. - : mm
dl r'cnd tie no nth arc. :n me ;owts :t :s m tease root- pnrer
ram tt tore o: moot t t escer.ee all ft: iowq to the level tf tie
r-'-.y r:r : me r.r.t trrrmt. tstecia — y tt tr .0 vet tart. ir<t wtti 1
••rcdtratclv brtad t tll tram sye-rt liir ill rrtrr frtm -tree: tit eyes tt tiO-
w-ay op the head, or even all tie way r~ ro tie tor corner of tie eye. arm
:s .ins - Idea trim - .

upper part) pubescence which is it rewards tr.r

ttnwar.ts " t '

• ;

' stria. . m nroccmoii

of the head. Aitenae Ml kbei: r SM^ki' e

mirrt -

mm: mi:: or. arc. tren to- ttrttr annrlamoa .caper 'oar : mar am
dm - rmrmt tt: .■ r.-rr ind mam than

the fifth.

.it ns sc with shor - rmr tr

tr vale rtev nrbemer.ee trt tt 'vr.ca s s re nev.era:. r * r thin
tr s' s yellow ba s smts tt me oo.se rimer trtar ; w.m .err
_yy . re or - s ' -

from the hon the scatelitua . pleurae thinner

pubescence. _ . ...

Abdomen verv densely covered d. r .r m e ettsc ' tr r tt 0 n.t-tv

pubescence. which s casnicitcas aertss me hart sort

' -

It rates s ' r

ts alb tr antes: a. . narr -

' ' c

s s s r ' Be : as

...

Leys mor. . -

.

r let:: me : . - -or r: rron: area:

e - tnsem . S

the male.

s u. the male. Xhocacal siyrama? rather ss s ' :-

1 . r.rtl c.. '

134

STRATIOMYID7E

This species is easily distinguished from any other European one by
the glancing silvery, or golden, felt-like clothing of the abdomen ; the
elongate basal joint of the antennae also distinguishes it from most species.
It may vary a little in the size of the abdominal spots, as a Bavarian male
in Kowarz’s collection has them larger and more triangular so that they
become fairly conspicuous ; the orange red postocular collar may apparently
be limited to the lower half of the head or may extend right up to the
upper corner of the eye.

0. argentata is either very uncommon in England now or it has been
remarkably overlooked, possibly because it is only a May species; Walker
says “South of England; not 00111111011,” and Brunetti says “Not
“ uncommon. O11 willows. Generally distributed.” I have never met
with it myself, and only know of one or two recent specimens, one of
which was taken by Colonel Yerbury at Fordingbridge in Hampshire on
May 6, 1897, and the other was I think taken by Dr D. Sharp at probably
Mildenhall in Suffolk about 1901. I have seen a specimen which was
taken by Mr Unwin at Seaford in Sussex prior to 1860, and the British
Museum possesses the species from Dorset through Mr Dale ; Duncan
(1837) quotes “Cambridge, 1832. — Charles C. Babington, Esq.” It does
not appear to be uncommon in old British collections, and one old specimen
in my collection bears a label “Kirby.” It is recorded from North and
Middle Europe, and Lundbeck states that it was once found (May 6, 1843)
in Denmark in great numbers, the females sitting upon flowers of Salix
while the males sat on dead rushes looking like silver spots, and the males
were extremely quick and were seen hovering in the air in small swarms.

Synonymy. — Of four males in the Hope Museum at Oxford two were labelled
“ atrata It may appear remarkable that I suggest Macquart’s Exocliostoma nitida
as a probable synonym of this species, but I am led to that opinion by the fact of
Bigot’s Exochostoma caloceps (Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1879, p. 217) from Colorado
being in my opinion a true Odontomyia in spite of its unarmed scutellum, and then
a re-examination of Macquart’s description and figure brings his E. nitida , if
an Odontomyia , to the neighborhood of 0. argentata because of its elongated basal
antennal joint and its bare eyes ; if once reduced to this, the remarkable coloration
of the legs agrees very closely with 0. argentata , and the fact remains that in more
than sixty years no further record of the capture of so accessible a species exists ; I
am therefore of opinion that Macquart had before him only some specimens of the
female of 0. argentata in very bad condition, and that he drew very much upon
his imagination in describing details and in drawing his figures. I only make the
suggestion that this may account for the non-reappearance of Exochostoma nitida .
as I have had no opportunity of examining the original specimens.

2. O. tigrina Fabricius. All black, except the tibise and tarsi. Eyes
of the male hairy. Cubital vein forked.

V

The blackest of all the medium-sized Stratiomyidce.

6 ■ Head broad and depressed when viewed from in front ; face and frons con¬
siderably bulged out, shining black, and forming an equilateral triangle with
slightly arched sides ■, face at its widest part little more than one-third the
width of the head ; jowls broad but fiat and consequently hardly visible
except from below ; mouth side-lips not so large as in 0. argentata; all the
frons and face clothed with long porrected dense black pubescence, but the
pubescence on the jowls and round the mouth is rather longer, more straggly
and hanging down, and includes numerous grey hairs and also black hairs
with grey tips ; lower half of the back of the head puffed out and black, with

5. ODONTOMYIA

135

dense black pubescence, tlie upper half dull deep black, only slightly inflated,
and with shorter black pubescence, of which a slight postocular fringe can be
seen • vertex elongate, black, moderately shining, with rather long grey
pubescence on the back part but with shorter and black pubescence between
the ocelli, and all the vertical pubescence slopes slightly forward ; down the
narrow interval which just separates tue eyes there is a line of shoitei slightly
upturned black pubescence which does not quite extend to the frons ; frons
with a slight middle furrow which widens out to an ovate depression on the
middle • proboscis blackish with large light brown sucker-flaps on which are
numerous brownish yellow hairs. Eyes clothed with comparatively sparse
greyish pubescence ; facets on the upper half of the disc larger than those on
the lower half, but with no conspicuous distinctive boundary between them ;
in life they are said to be greenish with a bluish band on the dividing line.
A-iitenme dull black, but sliahtly shining on the basal joint, not quite so long
as the head, diverging after the basal joint ; basal joint slightly longer than
the elongate cup-shaped second joint, and both these joints with fairly obvious
black bristly pubescence which is rather the longer on the basal joint ; third
joint nearly twice as long as the two basal joints together but ratliei thinnei,
'especially after the first "three annulations, bare and with indistinct annula-
tions, of which the first is the longest and the next two a little shorter, and
after ’these there appear to be three more annulations of which the fourth and
sixth are about equal in length, but the fifth short (being only about as long
as wide) ; last joint not pointed. . . .

Thorax and scutellum all black, moderately shining, and with dense but
not absolutely crowded fine punctuation ; pubescence all over the disc and on
the scutellum dark brownish orange, fairly long and dense, almost erect, and
composed of thin hairs ; on the sides of the disc from the humeri to the
wing-bases there is a fairly broad stripe of black pubescence, and all the uppci
parts of the pleurae and prothorax bear black pubescence, but the lower parts
of both bear more straggly greyish white hairs. Scutellum with a pair of
short obscure tawny spines which are rather close together.

Abdomen all black, quite as shining as the thorax and more so in the
hollows before the sidemargins ; the middle three-fifths of the second, thiid,
and fourth segments are raised but flat, and outside this is a hollowed space
between this raised portion of the disc and the conspicuously elevated side-
margins (which is probably the space in which the wings lie when at rest) ;
the abdomen is very densely but finely punctuated on the raised part, but not
so densely punctate on the depressed part; pubescence inconspicuous con-
sisting of scattered, erect, black mixed with brownish yellow hairs on all the
middle part of the disc but more extensively black towards the sides :
pubescence on the middle of the hind part of the fourth segment and on all
the fifth segment rather more dense and all brownish orange : margin with
outstanding distinct though rather short rather sloping black pubescence,
and even the longer tufts at the shoulders black ; fifth segment with an
obscure but fairly broad yellowish hind margin, and a black sixth segment
just visible. Belly orange, with a more or less distinct bioad blackish margin
except about the base and where the hindmargins run out as orange lines a
little way into these blackish sidemargins ; on the middle of the disc of the
third and fourth segments there are traces of pairs of small black spots, and
the fifth segment is nearly all black except on the orange hindmargin ;
pubescence erect, rather dense though the hairs are thin, all gieyish yellow
on the four basal segments, rather depressed on the disc ot the fouitli
segment. Genitalia distinct, brown. .

Legs black and orange : coxae, trochanters, and femora (except at tneir
extreme tip) black, but the basal half of the femora usually biownish ;
tibise orange with a badly defined brownish ring on the anterior pairs and a
blackish ring on the hind pair occupying nearly the middle third (at any rate
behind) ; tarsi orange with the last two or three joints or some of them
blackened above ; tips of the claws black. Pubescence on the femora
moderate, obscure greyish, or more obviously pale on the hind pair, but
blackish behind the anterior femora about their tips. .

Wings hyaline with the base and the anterior and the strong veins blackish
brown, but with no sign of any cloud about the discal cell ; cubital voin with

136

STRATIOMYID.E

a short fork at about two-tliirds the submarginal cell ; discal cell pentagonal,
and its two issuing veinlets (especially the second) with an undulation, and
neither of them nor the upper branch of the postical vein reaching the wing-
margin ■ anal cell closed well before the wingmargin ; discal vein rather and
almost equally thin up to its fork. Alar squamae fairly large, dark brown with
a short pale fringe ; thoracal squamae rather large, conspicuously white and
bearing white woolly pubescence all over including a long neat marginal
fringe. Halteres canary yellow with the stem brown.

?. Very similar to the male. Frons at the vertex occupying fully one-tliird the
width of the head and the space between the eyes very gradually widening
until at its lowest part it is half the width of the head ; face in profile pro¬
duced more than half the width of the eye ; frons and face all black ; frons
only moderately shining as it is roughly punctate on the two large shallowly
depressed spaces about the middle, but more shining on the upper and lower
thirds, the upper third being sparsely punctate and with a roughened surface,
but the lower third more shining (especially over the antennae) and not punc¬
tate ; frons with a distinct middle furrow all the way down from the ocelli
to the antennae, and with short greyish black and inconspicuous pubescence
except for a shimmering greyish white patch on each side against the eyes
a little above the antennae, and for a few greyish hairs about the depressed
spaces ; about the antennae and out to the end of the facial hump there are
longer stiffer black hairs, though the pubescence on the shining black face is
mainly long, greyish, and rather drooping, and again on the eyeinargins there
are shimmering whitish patches ; on the jowls and round the mouth the greyish
pubescence is longer and hangs down ; back of the head all puffed out and only
slightly more so on the lower than on the upper part, dull black with a fairly
broad and conspicuous shimmering whitish eyemargin composed of adpressed
pubescence which mainly points forwards, and which extends all round from
the lowest part of the eye to the upper eye-angle against the vertex. Eyes
quite bare, rather large for a female. Antenme with the basal joint distinctly
longer than the second, and with the short fifth annulation of the flagellum
fairly distinct.

Thorax and scutellum shining black, with conspicuous short adpressed
greyish or greyish orange scaly pubescence all over the disc, and also with
rather inconspicuous but moderately long erect greyish pubescence which
becomes longer denser and darker about the sides of the disc, and still longer
paler and more straggly on the pleurae. Scutellum with the spines varying
from almost black to yellowish.

Abdomen shining black with just the tip sharply yellowish, this tip being
the arched hindmargin of the fifth segment and that portion of the sixth
segment which is not concealed under the fifth ; pubescence on the disc very
slight, dark, and very inconspicuous, but more evident and all greyish on the
depressed sides, and longer and whitish grey on the actual margins with a
small tuft at the shoulders, and more conspicuous and more erect on the
fifth and on the adjoining middle part of the fourth segment. Belly
varying on the greater part of the disc from dull pale orange to dark
reddish orange or even obscure brownish, with usually a broad black margin
and sometimes a broad black band (narrowed at the middle) across the fourth
segment, but sometimes on at any rate the second segment the yellowish
colour may extend quite out to the sidemargins ; the fifth segment is black
with a triangular yellowish spot on its hindmargin, and a small sixth segment
can be seen which is yellow with its base black ; pubescence rather abundant,
depressed and rather shimmering greyish.

Legs as in the male, but the hind trochanters may be dull orange ; tibiae
with blacker and better defined rings. Pubescence on the femora slighter
and very nearly all greyish white.

Wings sometimes with the anterior strong veins more darkish orange, but
often quite as blackish as in the male. Halteres varying from dark orange
to greenish white.

Length about 9 mm.

This species varies but little, though occasionally the female has
small orange spots near the hind corners of the second and third abdominal

5. ODONTOMYIA

137

segments. It has no close ally in Europe, though 0. argentata is about
the same size and shape but is easily distinguished by its glistening
abdomen, longer basal antennal joint, unforked cubital vein, and bare eyes
of the male.

0. tigrina is not very uncommon in Britain though I have very seldom
seen it alive. It occurs about ponds and in marshes, and I have records
from Hampshire (Fawley and Fordingbridge), Sussex (Lewes and Bognor),
Kent (Lewisham, Gravesend), Suffolk (Tostock and Drinkstone), and
Hereford (Ledbury), while Colonel Yerbury has taken it at Aviemore in
Inverness. The dates extend from May 14 to July 12. It is recorded
from all Europe north of the Alps except in the extreme North.

Synonymy. — In tlie Hope Museum at Oxford a pair of this species and a male of
0. argentata bore a printed label “O.atrata,” but I cannot trace where the name
came from.

3. O. angulata Panzer. Abdomen with a broad dentate greenish
margin which leaves trapezoid black markings on the disc ; the two basal
trapezoid markings equal in size, and widest against the foremargins of the
segments but not band-like there. Antennre tawny except at the tip.
Legs all orange.

A medium-sized species, distinguished by the shape of the
abdominal markings.

S . Head large, distinctly broader than the thorax. Face black, rather shining
but obscured by abundant yellow pubescence, and with an orange brown
middle line which extends from the small facial knob down to the mouth,
and with all the mouthmargin rather widely orange brown ; jowls orange ; the
mouth-opening extends in front fully half-way up the face leaving the black
sides of the face on the upper part a little puffed out, and when viewed side¬
ways the face just below the antennae projects a little into a slight knob
which in conjunction with the puffed-out black sides of the face slopes down¬
wards from the sides of the upper mouthmargin ; the mouthmargin is bare,
but the pubescence of the face is continued as a conspicuous rather long fringe
all round the inner and lower margin of the eyes, extending outwards again
on to the jowls ; back of the head shallow below but deeply hollowed out
above, and apparently bare ; vertex slightly raised, shining black, extending
forwards to a very long narrow point on all of which there is short brownish
orange pubescence ; frons very small, moderately shining black, with two
small tufts of short yellow pubescence on the upper part. Eyes bare, touch¬
ing for only a short space near the frons ; small facets on the lower part
sharply distinguished from the larger facets on more than the upper half.
Antennae obliquely porrect, practically touching at the base, little more than
half the length of the head, and deep orange from the base up to the blackish
last annulation of the flagellum ; two basal joints thin and about equal in
length; third joint thin, nearly three times as long as the second and
composed of four nearly equal annulations, besides the brownish red style,
which is scarcely more than a third the length of the flagellum and which has
a short orbicular basal joint.

Thorax black with a slight ameous tinge and with universal greyish
yellow pubescence, which is shortish on the disc but longer and conspicuous
about the sides and on the pleurae ; pubescence all composed of soft fairly
erect hairs. Scutellum black with a broad orange margin and with two
brownish orange marginal spines of which the tips are blackish ; pubescence
short and inconspicuous, greyish yellow, and not specially marginal.

Abdomen shining black, slightly dulled by minute but coarse punctuation

138

STRATIOMYIDdE

on the disc of the second and third segments, and with a broad dentate
greenish yellow margin ; this greenish yellow margin leaves the basal segment
black except at the extreme hind corners, the second segment with a broad
black trapezoid occupying nearly all the front margin but sloping down on
the sides to the middle third of the hindmargin ; the third segment with a
very similar but more regular black trapezoid occupying only the middle
three-fifths of the front margin the fourth segment with a very similar but
larger black trapezoid which is less contracted on the hindmargin and
occupies there only half the segment, and this trapezoid on the fourth segment
is less sharply defined than the one on the third segment ; the fifth segment
has a broad shallow black diamond, leaving all the margin equally greenish
yellow ; abdomen with a narrow raised margin. Pubescence on the disc very
inconspicuous as it is composed of very short depressed black bristles, but
there are a few longer yellow hairs about the basal corners. Belly greenish
black, but not easily visit >le in the specimen described.

Legs entirely orange from the base of the coxae to the tip of the tarsi and
pulvilli, but the claws black at the tip. Pubescence pale yellow, inconspicu¬
ous, but forming a moderate fringe on the anterior femora.

Wings with a slight yellowish tinge ; all the veins near the costa, the stem
of the postical vein and its upper branch as far as the small cross-vein, the
veins round the discal cell, and just the base of the anal vein strong and
orange ; discal vein up to the discal cell and the other veins faint ; the
veinlets issuing from the discal cell do not quite reach the wingmargin and
the upper one vanishes on its basal half, while a faint indication of a veinlet
existing between the second and third veinlets causes a slight bend in that
side of the discal cell ; radial vein short but distinct ; cubital vein forked at
about half the length of the submarginal cell ; anal cell closed well before the
wingmargin through the lower fork of the postical vein being bent down
rather sharply. Thoracal squamae large, whitish yellow with no obvious
margin but bearing all over the disc rather long whitish yellow pubescence
and a similar rather long marginal fringe. Halteres with rather large
greenish yellow knobs, stem brownish at the base.

$ . Not much like the male though similar in size and general appearance.
Frons and face almost equally wide from occiput to mouth, though the face
is slightly the broader, both mainly luteous but the upper part more orange
with a large blackish space on the ocellar triangle and its neighborhood ;
frons shining luteous, practically bare though some tiny black hairs occur
about the middle and also some short tiny yellow hairs at the middle of the
sides, while a small but conspicuous tuft of short yellow hairs occurs on each
side just above the antennae ; the lower margin of the blackened ocellar
space may be very much blurred and may emit two vague darkened lines out
towards the tufts of yellow pubescence ; there is also a narrow blackish middle
furrow running from the lowest ocellus to the antennae, and the furrow extends
below them but is no longer blackish ; the lower margin of the frons is marked
oft’ by a shallowly arched furrow rather above the antennas, and the sides of
this furrow (on which stand the tufts of pale pubescence) are blackened ;
another furrow extends on each side from the middle of the previous arched
furrow down in an arch to each eyemargin, and the space enclosed near the
eyes by these furrows is slightly puffed and is quite bare, while the face (which
here has no bandlike eyemargin) may be a little obscured in colour except on
the bare yellow middle line, and bears silky yellow pubescence which is con¬
spicuous but not dense and which forms a slight patch at the eyemargins ;
the absolute upper mouthmargin is blackish ; jowls rather small, and bearing
short yellow pubescence ; all round the eyes there is a yellow bandlike margin
narrowly interrupted at the middle of the vertex, which is bare except for a
microscopical shining golden recumbent pubescence ; proboscis large and
dilated, black ; palpi small, yellow, knobbed, and bearing scattered short
yellow pubescence. Eyes comparatively small. Antennae as in the
male.

Thorax aeneous black, rather dull from dense punctuation, and closely
covered on the disc (though not quite closely enough to obscure the ground
colour) with short almost adherent golden pubescence ; about the sides and

5. ODONTOMYIA

139

on the pleurae the pubescence is longer and more erect : humeri, postalar
calli, back part of mesopleurae, broad spaces round the front coxae, and an

Scutellum more

shining

and

oblique stripe on the hypopleurae, luteous
with more sparse less adherent pubescence,
and the pubescence on the under side longer ;
the luteous margin is so wide as to leave only
a shallow arched black base.

Abdomen (tig. 131) more shining black be¬
cause the punctuation is less coarse though
just as dense ; the broad green margin is so
broad from the base to the end of the fourth
segment that the black dorsal spots on the
second, third, and fourth segments are almost
exactly equal, each occupying just half the
foremargin and more than a third of the hind-
margin with the sides not absolutely straight ;
the fifth segment is more extensively black
but has the hind part irregularly and rather
obscurely green, and has the middle of its
liindmargin orange, which unites with the
orange of almost all the sixth segment. Belly
all yellowish green with universal very short
pale pubescence. Ovipositor with the basal
plate blackish, followed by four orange lamellae.

Wings with the cubital fork just beyond the
middle of the submarginal cell Squamae yellow, with the margin faint but
just obvious. Hal teres with an apple green knob.

Length about 9 mm.

Fin. 131.-

-Odontomyia angulata <?.
x S.

This species probably varies considerably, but the description is given
in detail from one male (probably British) in the Hope Museum at Oxford
and from one female taken by myself at Tuddenham near Barton Mills
in Suffolk. I have not ventured to give any details from continental
specimens, as it is very desirable to know first the limits of our British
form. Of the recognised allied species, 0. hydroicon has the antennoe
usually all blackish, and the face of the male all black and of the female
marked with black, while Schiner especially notes the band-like widening
of the front part of the abdominal black dorsal spots, but as he says the
eyes of the male are hairy I am compelled to doubt his identification of
the species ; 0. hydrop>ota has the second abdominal black dorsal spot
smaller than the first and widest at the middle of the segment instead of
at the foremargin ; 0. hydrogohila only occurs in extreme South-east Europe
and Sicily, so is not likely to occur with us; 0. felina has the green
abdominal margin very narrow.

0. angulata became known to me as British from a female which I
caught at Tuddenham near here on July 20, 1880, and I think I have
since seen (but missed) a specimen at Chippenham Fen. Mr H. W.
Andrews took three females at Sutton Broad in Norfolk on July 14, 1905,
which are very similar to the specimen I have described, but all the green
markings have become very orange and the specimens are slightly smaller.
I expect that under favorable circumstances it is not uncommon in the
Fens or Broads in July or August; there are a few specimens in the
I >alean collection at Oxford under the names of 0. liydroleon and 0.
hydropota, and in the old British collection of the British Museum under
the name of 0. felina, and in the Entomological Club collection. A male
in the Dalean collection (with an undecipherable label beginning
apparently “ Cosm ”) has rather small green spots on the sides of the

140

STRAT10MYIM

second and third abdominal segments, which occupy all the sidemargins
of those segments and which are widest along the hindmargins but not
produced angularly, and the fourth segment has a narrow orange margin ;
the antennae have only the two basal joints left and they seem to be
blackish. It is recorded from North and Middle Europe, but not from
the extreme North.

Synonymy . — I have no doubt about this being the species for which Loew
adopted Panzer’s name of angulata, and Panzer’s description and figure fairly well
represent it. It is also obviously Zetterstedt’s 0. rnficornis. If Walker had it
before him in his Ins. Brit. Dipt, it must be his S. hydroleon , but it is not the
0. hydroleon of Zetterstedt or Loew ; and I am inclined to think that it is the 0.
hydropota of Duncan because of his description of the an ten me. Loew suggested
that Macquart’s 0. latifaseiata must be allied, but if a specimen so named in Bigot’s
collection represents Macquart’s species it must be a synonym of 0. hydropota ,
which was a species unknown to Loew when he made the suggestion.

4. O. ornata Meigen. Basal joint of the antennae only a little longer
than the second. Abdomen flattened, black with three pairs of large side-
spots of almost equal size and the tip orange. Wings almost unicolorous.

A large handsome Stratiomys- like fly.

c£. Face and frons black, bulging out when seen in profile, and forming when
seen from in front a sharply retreating equilateral triangle of which the sides
are very slightly arched ; face all covered with long yellowish or greyish white
rather drooping pubescence which is often rubbed off the middle and then
leaves a shining black middle line extending from the antennae to the mouth,
and the pubescence elsewhere is not quite dense enough to hide the black
ground colour ; jowls broad and flat but drooping at the mouth -edge, bearing
similar pubescence to that on the face, but the actual margin against the eyes
on the lower half of the face and round under the eyes is shimmering white ;
back of head hardly perceptibly inflated, dull black and bearing obscure
brownish or- greyish orange pubescence, but the postocular marginal rim has
only a minute adherent brownish orange pubescence which is directed forwards,
and even this rim disappears on the upper part of the back of the head and
the moderately long pubescence extends up to the hindmargin of the eyes, but
as the eyes at this part are somewhat dilated there is no sign of any postocular
fringe when viewed from in front ; vertex shining black, at its widest part less
than one-twelfth the width of the head and narrowing forwards almost to the
frons, but for about six facets the eyes may be considered touching, as the
coarse black line of upturned pubescence extending down between the eyes
from the lower ocellus ceases for about that distance just before the frons ;
ocellar space with very little black pubescence ; frons with depressed greyish
white pubescence and with a distinct middle channel. Proboscis rather long
and with moderate sucker-flaps ; palpi very much withdrawn, cylindrical,
brownish orange at their tips and bearing long pale pubescence there. Eyes
bare ; facets on the larger upper part distinctly larger than those on the
smaller lower part, and the line of distinction fairly well marked but
not strongly so on either the front or back part ; the eyes are more
shining on the area of the small facets. Antenme black, ferruginous at the
junction of the joints and to a greater or less extent from dhe base of
the third joint onwards ; basal joint rather longer than the cup-shaped second
joint, and both these joints rather shining and bearing tiny bristly pubescence ;
third joint porrectecl and widely diverging, dull brownish black where not
ferruginous, quite bare, about three times as long as the basal two together,
and with indistinct annulations of which the first four are about equal in
length while the short fifth and the sixth together are about as long as each
preceding one, the three basal annulations are about equal in thickness and
are distinctly pnnctulate, the fourth is contracted and not at all punctulate,
while the fifth and sixth jointly form an awl-shaped end which has a rather
blunt point from which a microscopical thin whitish arista proceeds.

5. ODONTOM YIA

141

Thorax shining brownish black, densely clothed all over Avith erect brownish
orange or almost brownish red pubescence, which but little obscures the
ground colour ; this pubescence is rather longer, shaggier, and paler on the
pleurae, and is even fuzzy on the metapleurse. Scutellum shining black, Avith
all the margin broadly brownish orange ; spines stout, sharply black at
the tip.

Abdomen shining black, with large conspicuous orange spots and tip, broad
and flat, even the disc being hardly arched ; basal segment Avith a small orange
spot at each extreme hindmarginal corner ; second segment with a pair of
large triangular reddish orange spots, occupying the basal corners and each
extending along more than a quarter of the hindmargin and then sloping back
across the disc so as to include the point of the shoulder ; third segment Avith
a pair of larger trapezoidal reddish orange spots Avhich occupy the hind
third (to half) of the sidemargins but extend inwards as far as the previous
spots and have an irregularly perpendicular inner margin which reaches fully
three-quarters up the segment and then slope back on their own upper margins
to the sides, the irregularity of their inner margin being often caused by the
portion against the hindmargin of the segment being produced rather more
inward than the middle and upper portions of the spot ; fourth segment with
a pair of similar large orange spots having their inner margins more distinctly
extended inwards near the hindmargin of the segment ; fifth segment with a
broad reddish orange (paler orange about the middle) margin except at the
basal corners ; small sixth segment all orange. Pubescence almost erect and
rather abundant on the discal portion of the second, third, and fourth segments,
but inconspicuous dark greyish yelloAv and longer in front of the shoulders ;
round the sidemargins there is a rather shorter stiff sloping pubescence
which is black Avhere the margin is black but yellow Avkere the margin is
yelloAv ; on the flattened margins betAveen the disc and the sidemargins on
the second, third, and fourth segments there is only short depressed black
pubescence, on all the fifth segment the pubescence is pale and similar to
that on the disc of the preceding segments. Belly obscurely shining reddish
orange with a small black transverse spot (often resolved into two spots) on
the middle of the third and fourth segments ; pubescence consisting of long erect
Avhitish hairs, except on the flattened sides of the third and fourth and part
of the fifth segments Avhere it is short black and depressed. Genitalia when
seen from above with a pair of broad soft orange side lamellae Avliich overlap
the broad but pointed middle piece.

Legs shining black and orange ; coxae and trochanters black Avith con¬
spicuous orange joints; femora, after the joint, shining black for more than
the basal half, but the rest and almost all the tibiae and tarsi orange ; all the
tibiae liOAvever have a darkened incomplete ring about their middle, which
is usually blackish behind the anterior and in front of the hind pairs, and
the tarsi are obscurely blackish above the last two joints, and sometimes
so on the third, or even on the second, joint. Pubescence all pale yelloAv,
abundant and conspicuous on the middle femora especially behind the tip,
and fairly abundant behind and beneath the front femora, and beneath and
about the base of the hind femora ; the tibiae and tarsi bear only very tiny
adpressed yellow pubescence all over ; claws black at the tips.

Wings (fig. 126) hyaline, with the base and foremargin brownish orange,
the usual strong veins being dark orange but the rest faint and almost colour¬
less ; cubital vein distinctly forked rat her beyond the middle of the submarginal
cell ; discal cell apparently pentagonal, because the loAver side which slopes
from the loAver cross-vein to the base of the second veinlet issuing from the
discal cell is almost straight ; discal vein not at all faint, and its fork branch¬
ing at almost right angles to the stem ; third veiidet from the discal cell
sometimes absent, and sometimes not extended half-way to the wingmargin
and consequently not looped upwards like the others, while none of the veinlets
quite reach the Avingmargin. Alar squamae rather large, brownish orange,
Avith rather short orange marginal fringes on the basal part, but the fringe
becoming longer and more abundant towards the angle ; thoracal squamae
much larger, and with no distinct margin, but all whitish yellow with whitish
yelloAv almost woolly pubescence all over and forming a long elegant marginal
fringe. Halteres yelloAv.

142

STRATIOMYIM

$ . Rather similar to the male. Frons at the vertex nearly one-third the width of
the head (fig. 130) and the space between the eyes gradually widening down to
the mouth, where it is about two-fiftlis the width of the head ; frons shining-
black with orange markings which in their simplest form are composed of
three pairs of orange spots, but frequently the second and third pairs of spots
more or less coalesce ; the upper pair of orange spots placed at the top corners
of the eyes are always present, and then a pair of long spots at the sides of the
furrow which runs down the middle of the frons, and lastly a pair of larger
transverse spots a little before the antennae which are only narrowly separated,
the middle pair of spots almost reach the upturned inner ends of the third
pair, and the third pair extend only about half-way to the eyes ; but fre¬
quently the second and third pairs of spots are much larger and connect by a
broad neck, thereby leaving an equal narrow black bordered furrow extending
from the front ocellus all down the frons ; face shining black but an obscure
yellow spot on each side runs across it from the eye to the mouth, and about
half-way down the face the margins against the eyes begin narrowly dull pale
yellow, and expand into a conspicuous fairly broad dull pale yellow collar
right round the eyes up to the shining orange spots on the vertex ; this
collar is slightly widest near the lower hind corner of the eye until about one-
third up the back of the head ; all the mouth borders are broadly yellow
except at the front point and are almost connected with the broad yellow-
collar under the eyes ; pubescence on the frons erect and blackish from the
upper ocelli to the third pair of orange spots, but there is a pale yellow patch
on each side about the middle of the frons ; the third pair of orange spots are
bare, and outside each of them against the eyemargin is a bare shining black
space, and just below them is another pale yellow patch in a line with the
antennae, followed by another smaller shining black bare space against each eye,
but otherwise all the face and jowls bear long drooping pale yellow pubescence,
unless (as frequently happens) it is rubbed off down the middle of the
shining black face ; the yellow eye-collar bears no distinct pubescence but
has minute glistening yellow adherent scaly hairs pointing forwards ; the
hollowed back of the head bears some long straggling greyish pubescence ;
the vertical pair of orange spots extend a little down the back of the head,
but there is no raised rim between the vertex and the occiput. Eyes with
their facets all equal. Antennae (fig. 130) inclined to be more extensively
ferruginous than in the male.

Thorax with shorter erect pubescence, and in addition with some very
short depressed golden pubescence ; postalar calli brownish orange and almost
connected with the basal corners of the scutellum ; pleurae with the upper
and front margins of the mesopleurae broadly orange as well as usually the
lower part of the metapleurae and the upper part of the sternopleurae.
Scutellum more ferruginous, so that there is only a large semicircular black
basal spot.

Abdomen with smaller orange spots, the pair on the second segment
forming small triangles (missing the extreme outer hind corners because the
liindmargin of the segment turns up there) which do not quite include the
shoulder points : third segment with long transverse orange red spots at the
hind corners (though upturned at their own actual hind corners) usually
occupying less than one-thircl the depth of the segment ; fourth segment with
similar but slightly larger spots ; all the spots extend barely a quarter of the
way across each segment unless occasionally the basal pair extend to a point
along the liindmargin for a third of the segment on each side ; fifth segment
with the orange colour more confined to the tip, though a narrow line exists
up the sidemargins. Pubescence shorter, depressed, and dark (almost blackish)
grey, rather long and more erect about the base, more obvious on all the fifth
segment and the hinder half of the fourth, and long and yellowish above the
shoulders. Belly with shorter pubescence and without any black spots.

Legs after the coxae and trochanters entirely orange except at the
end of the tarsi, though sometimes the front femora are more or less
darkened behind on the basal half or more ; pubescence on the femora
shorter.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 13 mm.

5. ODONTOMYIA

143

This species varies a little in the shape and colour of the abdominal
spots, especially in the form of their inner margins, and also in their size,
as they are sometimes rather more extensive than in the descriptions given
above ; on the other hand they are occasionally smaller and narrower,
while the colour varies from orange up to obscure reddish, though
probably the darker and obscurer colours are caused by discoloration in
drying, especially in immature specimens, and in such specimens the
orange markings on the frons and face of the female may become very
obscure; the antennae also vary a little in the amount of ferruginous

coloring. I possess a male from Bigot’s collection, which as usual bears

no locality label, in which the abdominal spots are exceedingly extended
so that they all widely connect and form a broad orange band which
extends all round the margin, leaving only small black spots at the extreme
front angles of the segments. The large size and large conspicuous orange
spots on the abdomen readily distinguish it from any other species likely
to occur in Britain.

0. ornata appears to be uncommon. I met with a few specimens in
Abbotts Wood in Sussex on June 25, 1876, but that is the only occasion upon
which I have seen it alive; Mr J. H. A. Jenner has bred it from larvae

found in the Lewes marshes, and Rev. E. N. Bloomfield has taken it at

Guestling, but these two localities are not very far from Abbotts Wood.
I know of it from Kent (Wickham and Gravesend), Essex (Colchester), and
Middlesex (Acton). Duncan (1837) recorded it from Roxburghshire and
near Edinburgh, “ near London,” Stephens’s Catal., “ Dalmeny,” Rev.
William Little. I have records from May 10 to June 25. It is recorded
from all Europe except the extreme north, and is known to extend
to Italy and Sicily, but I do not know of any record from Spain or
Greece.

Synonymy. — A male in the Hope Museum at Oxford is labelled “ felina

5. O. viridula Fabricius. Black. Abdomen transparent pale green, with
a broad unequal black dorsal line which is widest on the fourth segment.
Wings (fig. 127) with the subcostal and radial veins apparently anasto¬
mosed ; discal cell small and with only one well-defined issuing veinlet.

J . Head large, being both broad and long, slightly broader than the thorax and
nearly as long from back to front as from top to bottom. Face and frons
shining black and forming a rather small almost equilateral triangle ; the
frons is flat and flush with the eyes, but the face is distinctly produced and
rises. to a knob on the upper part just below the antenna? ; pubescence
whitish yellow, rather coarse and rather short, most conspicuous on the frons
and down the sides of the face near the eyes, but occurring more sparsely on
the rest of the face except on the bare middle line and knob ; in specimens in
perfect condition the frons and a pair of side face patches are (as in the
female) conspicuously glistening white ; after a short polished gap the lateral
pubescence is continued on the lower part of the eyemargins in a line to the
jowls ; jowls black, not small but flat and flush with the lower eyemargin ; head
behind the eyes somewhat hollowed and bearing some scarce pale pubescence
which is not visible against the eyes because the eyes arch over ; vertex very
slightly elevated, shining black, and rather long as it extends to a long point
between the eyes, and bearing short whitish pubescence behind and at the sides
right down to the lowest point ; proboscis black, concealed in the mouth¬
opening. Eyes large, touching from the point of the vertex (which is nearly
half-way between the occiput and the antennae) for about two-thirds of the

144

STRATIOMYIM

remaining distance, quite bare; facets on more than the upper half brown
and conspicuously larger than the black facets on the lower part, the two
sizes being contrastedly separated by a line which allows the small
facets to extend higher up against the back of the head; bottom of the
eye when seen from in front but little arched as compared with the
sides; eyes in life probably as in the female. Antennae scarcely as longas
the head ; two basal joints brown, almost equal in length, but the basal joint
maybe slightly the longer; third joint forming a darker elongate flagellum
nearly three times as long as the two basal joints together, and indistinctly
annulated into five rings besides being obviously pitted ; the last of these
rings is narrower than the others and ends in a rounded blunt tip ; none of
the antennal joints bear any bristles or pubescence.

Thorax and scutellum all black, moderately shining, but the brightness
obscured by the dense coarse punctuation ; thorax, including the pleurae,
clothed all over with moderate dull yellow fairly dense pubescence, which is
however not dense enough to obscure the ground colour ; this pubescence is
about equally dense on all parts, but is rather longer and more erect on the
pleurae. Scutellum semicircular, with all the pubescence short, and with a
pair of short yellow subapical spines.

Abdomen broad and squat, being less than one and a half times as long as
broad, sliort-oblong with rounded corners, all shining, and the sides broadly
pellucid pale green, while all down the middle is an irregular broad black
dorsal stripe ; this black dorsal stripe occupies the middle two-thirds of the
basal segment, though it is rather narrower against the hindmargin, while on
each of the second and third segments it begins about one-third the width of
the segment and contracts by oblique lines to about one-fifth the segment
just before the hindmargin, on the fourth segment the black marking is much
wider as it occupies fully two- thirds of the base and when contracted to the
hindmargin still occupies more than half the width ; against this large black
spot and apparently forming part of it is the shallow triangular spot on the
foremargin of the fifth segment which extends down the segment for about one-
third of the segment’s length, and then protrudes from its point a narrow black
dorsal line which extends down another third of the segment ; the three
middle segments are about equal in length, the basal and fifth segments being-
shorter ; pubescence very inconspicuous and sparse, all pale except the tiny
black bristles on the dorsal stripe. Belly greenish white, but a little orange
about the tip ; pubescence almost absent. Genitalia showing a pair of short
blunt yellow lamellae.

Legs pale orange ; coxae black, trochanters brown, and the femora on the
basal three-quarters slightly obscured ; the orange colour extends even to the
tips of the tarsi and to the pulvilli, though the claws are black except at the
base. Pubescence all pale and very slight, but there is a moderate fringe
behind the anterior femora.

Wings (fig. 127) whitish hyaline, blackish about the root and distinctly
yellowish on the foremargin down to the end of the subcostal and cubital veins ;
other veins very faint and difficult to trace except on the stem and upper fork
of the postical vein up to the cross-vein connecting it with the disc-al cell and all
round the vei’y small discal cell ; subcostal and radial veins anastomosed ;
cubital vein not forked ; only one veinlet from the discal cell is at all lengthy
and even that does not reach the wingmargin, and this veinlet would
be the second one out of , the discal cell, the upper one being indi¬
cated by a very short stump, while the third is entirely absent unless
as a fold ; one veinlet from the second basal cell (the continuation of the
upper branch of the postical vein) is traceable though faint, and the whole
discal vein is very faint from its origin to its end except when enclosing the
discal cell. Squamae (alar) fairly large, chalky white or slightly yellowish,
triangular, with a delicate fairly long white fringe all round the margin
and on the surface. Halteres pale greenish yellow, stem brownish.

9 . Not much like the male, because of the glistening scaly yellow or bronze
pubescence on the thorax and scutellum and the more extended black
abdominal markings. Frons flat, fully one-third the width of the head,
slightly widening when nearing the antennae, black and shining but for the

5. ODONTOMYIA

145

dullness caused by dense coarse punctuation ; there is a narrow middle
channel from the point of the vertical triangle to just before the base of the
antennae, and the frons bears a conspicuous short scaly orange pubescence,
which though scattered all over tends to form two patches on each side
against the eyes, one about the middle and the other at the lower outer
corner ; just below this last spot a channel crosses from the eyes towards the
antennae which is smooth, bare, and shining on its upper side and sometimes
leaves the sides of the face below it polished and bare, and before reaching
the antennae this channel spreads out above and below them and is less
defined ; the frons is about three times as long as the face ; face produced as
in the male, with a pubescence similar in texture to (though much scarcer
than that on the frons), and forming a patch on each eyemargin just below
the smooth part, and below this patch is a smaller smooth part ; there is
usually a dark ferruginous space at each side of the front of the mouth¬
opening; jowls with the pubescence less scaly close against the eyes, but
continued densely all over the black flat collar behind the eyes, and con¬
spicuously glistening pale yellow ; all the back of the head well puffed out from
the' eyes, and more so on the upper half than on the lower, but there are no
black hairs and no fringe ; the actual back of the head is black and hollowed
out. Eyes with the facets all equal, but there is an inconspicuous slight
dark band across the eyes about their middle ; in life they are (according to
Dr Sharp) greenish bronze with a narrow transverse dark line and with
numerous irregular small dark dots, but Colonel Yerbury informs me that
these latter characters are often absent. Antennae reddish brown, but the last
two annulations of the flagellum blackish brown.

Thorax, scutellum, and pleurae all densely covered with glistening scaly
short yellow or bronze pubescence which is, however, not quite dense enough
to obscure the black ground colour ; usually a pair of rather broad black
stripes can be traced on the front part succeeded by a middle stripe down the
hinder part, but sometimes only a narrow middle line runs down the disc
with a cross-line along the suture, but the cross-line does not extend inwards
enough to touch the middle line, and none of the lines extend to any margin.
Scutellum with a pair of inconspicuous dull yellow spines.

Abdomen somewhat like that of the male, but the black marking on the
basal segment is narrower than that on the second segment, while that on the
second segment is wider than in the male and is very slightly narrowed
downwards, the marking on the third segment is as wide as that on the
fourth segment, and the combined markings of these two segments make the
end half of the abdomen black with a broad reddish orange (in death) margin
of almost equal width, as the black colour only just extends on to the fifth
segment at the middle.

Legs darker orange.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 7 mm.

This species varies very considerably, and many of the varieties have
been given specific names. I have not met with any of the extreme
forms in Britain, but yet our specimens vary quite enough to cause
uncertainty among those who do not know the species well. The black
dorsal abdominal markings vary in width, being sometimes broader on
the second and third segments to almost half the width of the abdomen
and bearing outward prongs at the sides near the foremargins ; the five¬
sided spot on the fourth and fifth segments may be larger and less
regular in outline or may extend almost to the hindmargin of the fifth
segment; the pale abdominal sides may be orange or dark green; the
middle femora may be considerably blackish on about the basal two-
thirds; and the halteres may be dark green. Two females taken by
Colonel Yerbury at Waterville, Co. Kerry, on July 27 and 30, 1901,
appear very distinct (but a normal female also occurred there on J uly 30) ;
they are slightly larger, and the abdomen has only a narrow green margin

K

146

STRATIOMYIM

which becomes yellowish towards the end and widens out only at the
shoulders, and this distinction is mainly caused by the black coloring on the
second segment being wider and widening still more towards the hind
corners, thereby entirely doing away with the rectangular inner hind
angles, while on the third and fourth segments the pale side-band is
narrower and does not extend inwards near the hind corners of each
segment, and the pale margin round the end of the abdomen is narrower ;
in these two specimens the antennae are entirely dark brown, and the
femora are obscured on about the basal half, the pubescence is bronzy
golden and is especially dense and conspicuous on the whole of the collar
behind the eyes ; the upper veinlet from the discal cell is distinctly visible
and, in certain lights, as much developed as the next one, and I think the
bare polished spaces on the face are larger and more conspicuous. On
the Continent a very similar variety has been described as 0. Heydenii by
Jaennicke, and other remarkable varieties are recorded ; in one well-known
variety {jejuna) the abdomen is entirely green or yellowish green, or with
only a black basal spot, in another ( interrupta ) there is the black basal
spot and also a large subanal spot, in others ( subvittata and bimaculata)
there may be another black spot between the two previously mentioned
spots. Colonel Yerbury has informed me that the extreme variations
between green and yellow markings have no correlation with the presence
or absence of black dots on the eyes in life.

0. viridula is by far the commonest species of the small Stratiomys-
like flies in Britain, and occurs in most marshy places. I have numerous
records from Devon, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, Cambridge¬
shire, Herts, Hereford, Warwick, and Northampton in England ; Glamorgan
and Merioneth in Wales; and various localities in Cork and Kerry in Ireland,
but the only northern records are from Scotston Moor near Aberdeen and
from Barr in Ayrshire. . The dates range from June 2 to August 17. It
seems to like the flowers of Cnicus palustris. It is recorded from Middle
and North Europe and from Asia Minor, but not from the extreme North.

Synonymy. — The only addition I can make to the accepted synonymy is the
inclusion of 0. Heydenii Jaennicke ; I possess a male and a female from Bigot’s
collection which probably came from Jaennicke, and though they represent a large
form I cannot consider them distinct, as they are almost identical with the variety
I have mentioned from Waterville. I have no doubt that several reputed British
species of Odontomyia have been introduced from varieties of II. viridula , as I found
a female in the British Museum from Berkshire and a male in the Hope Museum
at Oxford labelled u hydroleon” and a female in the Hope Museum labelled
“ angvlata P.,” while another female in that collection is labelled “ felina ,” and yet
another female “ atrata ” which makes the third species in that collection labelled
“ atrata .”

6. STRATIOMYS.

Stratiomys Geoffroy, Hist. des. Ins., ii., 475 (1764).

Large, though not very large, flies of blackish colour usually
broken up on the abdomen by yellow spots or bands, or by
patches of pale pubescence.

6. STRATIOMYS

147

X 8.

Head semicircular when seen from above, wider than high • face slightly or
distinctly arched, retreating, not much produced just below the antennae ; jowls
fairly broad ; back of the head in the male slightly inflated on the lower part, but
almost flush with the eyes on the upper part • in the female considerably more
inflated, and forming a rim or broad collar against
the eyes which is often conspicuously yellow ; frons
moderately produced. Proboscis not prominent, com¬
paratively small, but with large sucker-flaps ; palpi
small, jointed, with the end joint thickened ; mouth¬
opening small, ovate but produced in front. Eyes bare
or hairy, and sometimes differing in this respect in the
sexes ; always widely separated in the female, but
always closely approximated on the frons in the male,
though with a line of dividing pubescence, and usually
with the lower facets smaller than the upper ones
and sometimes sharply and conspicuously contrasted.

Antennae conspicuously elongate, twice as long as the
head, and placed at about the middle of the head in
profile ; basal joint cylindrical, four or more times as
long as the short second, and the basal joint of both
antennae very contiguous from the base to the tip, but
the other joints widely diverging (fig. 132) ; the third joint very long and thin, and
with five or six annulations,* much longer than the basal joint, and without any
terminal style or bristle unless the last annulation represents one ; the two basal
joints of the antennae bear some tiny ad pressed bristles, but the annulated third
joint is bare.

Thorax rather longer than broad, and with moderately or conspicuously dense
equal pubescence in which there is no trace of any bristles or long bristly hairs,
suture distinct. Scutellum semicircular, with one pair of marginal spines set well
apart.

Abdomen distinctly broader than the thorax, almost quadrate and with the
fore angles so little rounded as to leave pronounced shoulders, slightly arched over
the middle of the disc but leaving broad flattened margins within which the wings
lie when at rest ; sides parallel from the middle of the second segment to near the
end of the fourth segment, and bearing a more or less dense suberect pubescence
on the arched part, while that on the flattened sides is more sparse and depressed.
Genitalia of the male small, but obvious.

Legs rather thick, simple in structure, and bearing only moderate inconspicuous
pubescence.

Wings (fig. 125) with the venation of the Stratiomyince, in which the anterior
veins are strong and crowded together, the radial vein being extremely close to the
subcostal, but the exterior and posterior veins are faint. Cubital vein obviously
forked ; veinlets from the discal cell strongly bent and not quite extended to the
wingmargin • anal cell closed well before the wingmargin ; discal vein very thin
though not faint until near the discal cell, when it becomes blackish and continues
so until the fork which forms the two diverging basal sides of the pentagonal discal
cell, and this blackish portion is densely though minutely downy before the fork
and still downy though in a still more minute form on the branches of the fork ;
wing-membrane bare. Squamm (alar) comparatively small but with a thick margin
and a short slight fringe ; thoracal pair large and rather upraised, with no obvious
margin but bearing dense woolly pubescence all over.

Metamorphoses well known ; the rat-tailed larvae live in water, mud, and moist sand.
Walker has given a rather full account of the larva of S. chamceleon (S. potamida ?)
in Insecta Britannica Diptera, vol. i., p. 14. Dr D. Sharp confirms the opinion that
their larvae live on minute life, and considers that they congregate in the neighborhood
of drowned creatures in search of the minute organisms which abound there.

This genus is well circumscribed and easily distinguished in this sub¬
family by the basal joint of the antennae being four or more times as long

* Lundbeck calls special attention to the annulations of the flagellum, and I find (as he states) that
•S', potamida and S. chamceleon have the ordinary fourth annulation subdivided so that a short fifth annulation
precedes the last one ; I cannot trace this annulation at all in S. longicornis, but it occasionally occurs in
t>. furcata as in tig. 132.

148

STRATIOMYID.E

as the short second joint and by the still longer outspread third joint,
which is usually simply strap-shaped, but which has a broad heart-
shaped terminal knob in the subgenus Alliocera (fig. 128). The
species frequent Umbelliferse and other flowers in the neighborhood of
large marshes or fens, and are not at all shy, and are so quiet that they
can even be taken by the fingers off flowers.

Stratiomys is composed of a considerable number of species which are
said to occur over most parts of the world. When Schiner published his
Fauna Austriaca Diptera (1862) only about nine species were satisfactorily
known as European, but since then several new species have been detected
and others have been distinguished, while one may safely say that a large
number of species have been manufactured upon the most slender dis¬
tinctions, until forty-six or (including Hirtea ) forty-nine so-called species
are enumerated in Bezzi’s Katalog der palgearctischen Dipteren (1903);
most of these new species were described from various parts of Asia even
to China and Japan and many of them may be good species, but I
believe that a large number of them are founded on very trivial variations.

Synonymy. — The genus Stratiomys (mouche armee) was founded by Geoffroy
in 1 7 H4, and for seventy -four years was accepted without any demur except for the
dismemberment of Odontomyia. In 1838 Macquart emended the spelling to
Stratiomyia because of its obvious derivation, and in 1842 Zeller suggested the
new name of Hoplomyia. I have not accepted any change of the original spelling, as
I consider such classic words as Stratiomys , Nemotelus, Bibio , Scatopse, Nemocera,
etc., exempt from emendation because of their antiquity and long-continued use :
further than that, if emendation is to commence with such a word as Stratiomys 1
fail to see any finality until Stratiotomyia (as proposed by Rye in 1879 and by
Lynch Arribalzaga in 1883) is adopted, and finally the quibblers can contend that
none of Geofi‘roy;s generic names were properly founded because he did not use them
in accordance with the binomial system. (Strict priority-mongers have found another
bugbear in Hirtea , which Scopoli (1763) founded upon S. longicornis, and they would
have contended that that name should supplant Stratiomys but have salved their
consciences by forcibly and quite unnecessarily making a separate genus for S.
longicornis. For my part I decline to accept any suppression of the time-honored
name of Stratiomys in favour of Stratiomyia, Stratiotomyia , Hoplomyia , or Hirtea.

Again, as to Hirtea, if anybody can recognise a genus founded upon the following-
characters it is more than I can do :

“ Hirtea. Os armatum rostro uniseto : seta canaliculata obtusa : vagina
“ retractili, apice labiata, basi palpigera.” These words are meaningless to me, and
it is only by a very great exercise of faith that I can accept Scopoli’s specific
description as applying to our well-known S. longicornis, and I have almost felt it
my duty to continue the name of S. strigata which was used uninterruptedly for
seventy years before Walker’s unfortunate resurrection ; the patriotic zeal _ of
Schiner accepted Walker’s identification just at the time when he was dealing
systematically with the Diptera of Europe, and consequently his successors have
been influenced, though I observe that Brauer in 1882 still retained the name
strigata, and therefore refused to accept the identification of the genus Hirtea.

Rondani’s attempt to form two genera, distinguished by hairy eyes ( Thyreodonta )
or bare eyes ( Stratiomys ), must fail when such species as S.furcata occur in which the
eyes of the male are hairy but those of the female quite bare. I also consider
Alliocera only a subgenus, as I believe the terminal joints of the antennm will not
give good generic characters, and in some cases not even specific as is instanced in
S. unguicornis Becker and in the varying subdivision of the fourth joint of the
flagellum in S.furcata.

For the characters of suggested subgenera see page 129.

6. STRATIOMYS

149

Table, of Species.

1 (4) Eyes of both sexes bare, and those of the female with a con¬

spicuous yellow postocular collar.

Tibia} and belly mainly yellow, the latter with small black bands

or transverse spots.

2 (3) Abdominal yellow markings composed of a pair of large basal

spots followed by pairs of almost similar but less triangular

spots. 1 chamceleon.

3 (2) Abdominal yellow markings composed of a pair of large basal

spots followed by entire narrow bands or pairs of linear spots.

2 potamida.

4 (1) Eyes (of at least the male) hairy, and those of the female without

any yellow postocular collar.

Tibiae and belly mainly black, the latter with pale bands.

5 (6) Abdominal pale spots rather small but distinct. Eyes of the

female bare. 3 furcata.

6 (5) Abdomen practically without pale spots. Eyes of the female

hairy. 4 longicornis.

Unusually pubescent species.

1. S. chamseleon Linne. Eyes bare, in the female with an encircling
yellow band. Abdomen with three pairs of spots and the tip yellow ; belly
yellow, with small black spots and lines.

A large well-marked handsome fly.

3 . Head moderately large. Face and frons forming an equilateral triangle, all
black except for two obscurely whitish yellow stripes low down on the sides
of the face close against the eyes ; face rather densely clothed with moderately
long greyish pubescence which is equal all over, and which extends on the
under part and on to all the back part of the head against the mouth, but
not on to the distinctly inflated lower half of the back of the head ; this
lower part of the back of the head is dull blackish and bears on its lower part
a short pale brown very decumbent pubescence which slopes forwards, and
just higher up there is a rather longer glistening white pubescence which
mainly slopes downwards, while quite at the back of the head right away
from the eyes there is some long greyish white pubescence ; the upper half
of the postocular margin has only a very narrow blackish rim on which there
is a very minute black pubescence ; vertex black, shining, bare and corrugated
about the ocelli, but bearing a number of moderately short black hairs behind
the ocelli; the vertex at its widest part is less than one-twelfth the width
of the head but narrows forwards soon after the ocelli, and thence forward
the eyes are only slightly separated for nearly a third the distance between
the occiput and the antenna}, and all along this space there is a line of
moderately long rather dense greyish black pubescence which ceases at the
commencement of the frontal triangle ; the frontal triangle has a middle
furrow which diverges a little before the antennae, and the furrow and this
enclosed space are bare and shining black, but the corrugated sides are rather
dull and bear a similar blackish grey (or at the top angle and the sides grey)
pubescence which extends slightly round the base of the antennae. Proboscis
blackish brown, with scattered brownish yellow hairs ; palpi inconspicuous,
blackish. Eyes occupying almost all the head, shining black and bare ;
facets all about equal. Antennae black, but the tip of the second joint
rather chestnut ; the shining basal joint of each antenna stands out straight

150

STRATI OMYIDiE

forwards from the frontal prominence, ancl is slightly longer than half
the third joint • second joint short, being hardly longer than deep, and
commencing a sharp divergence, which is carried on by the long and thin
third joint, so that at their tips the antennae are separated by rather
more than their own length ; the third joint is long and thin, being
about eight times as long as deep, with its tip slightly attenuated but blunt
and with no sign of any style ; the two basal joints bear inconspicuous very
short decumbent black bristly pubescence, but the third joint is quite
bare.

Thorax black, rather shining but with dense though not coarse punctuation ;
pubescence dense and downy, nearly erect, but not so dense as to obscure the
ground colour, not long, mainly light brownish grey, but when viewed from
in front there appears to be a fair-sized patch of blackish sheen in the
pubescence on each side between the postalar calli and the suture, but this is
only caused by darker grey and less dense pubescence ; pleurae with lighter
grey, longer, and quite as dense pubescence, which is rather tangled and
shaggy on the metapleurae. Scutellum bright yellow with a small middle
basal transverse black spot and just the basal corners black, and the two
spines (which are wide apart) becoming rather obscure orange towards the
tip ; pubescence yellow, long, thin, and sparse, but inconspicuous.

Abdomen black, with three pairs of large conspicuous spots and the tip
orange ; rather dull because of the exceedingly dense though exceedingly minute
punctuation ; basal segment black ; second segment with a large pale orange
spot on each side which occupies all the sidemargin and which leaves the
middle half of the hindmargin black, and this black part widens out upwards
in a sloping line to the middle three-quarters of the foremargin and thus
leaves all the shoulders of the segment broadly orange, and the inner angle
of each orange spot is rather rounded ; third segment with less than the hind
fifth of the sidemargins yellow, and the yellow colour extending along the hind-
margin of the segment for quite as far as on the second segment but gradually
widening until at the irregularly rounded inner ends the yellow spots occupy
about half the depth of the segment ; fourth segment contracting in width on
its hinder half and therefore the similar yellow spots more approximated at
the middle, but beginning narrower at the sidemargins than in the third
segment and curving up on the front margin of the spots to more than half
the depth of the segment at their inner ends and with a straighter inner
margin ; fifth segment rapidly contracting in width, with all its hindmargin
orange and forming the base of an equilateral orange triangle with a rounded
top which extends fully two-thirds up the segment ; after the fifth segment
there is a trace of a yellow sixth segment. Pubescence on the dorsum rather
dense, almost erect, brownish orange but inconspicuous on all the dorsal dark
part, but the broad flat outer part of the abdomen appears to be bare but
actually bears very short, but coarse depressed, pubescence, which is black
on the black parts and yellow on the yellow parts, and this short coarse
black pubescence exists on all the raised dorsal part but is not noticeable
under the long brownish orange hairs, and even round the front of the shoulders
of the abdomen the pale pubescence is only moderately long. Belly dull
yellow, rather orange down the middle, and with black transverse spots ;
basal segment black ; second segment with a pair of narrow transverse black
lines near the foremargin, but not near each other nor even nearly reaching the
sides ; third segment with a pair of broader but still very transverse black
spots near the middle of the foremargin, with very narrow black lines running
out from them along the foremargin though not nearly to the sides ; fourth
segment with similar but larger black spots which practically unite at the
middle but leave the actual foremargin there yellowish orange, and these
spots are continued out narrowly along the foremargin but not nearly to the
sides ; fifth segment with a long very narrow black foremarginal line which
is almost extended to the sides ; the actual marginal line of the abdomen is
yellow and black, being yellow on all the second segment but only at just the
hind corners of the next three segments ; pubescence of the belly abundant
and rather long, whitish yellow, and slightly sloping backwards. Genitalia
slightly protruding, the middle plate shining blackish brown, with a pair of
almost equally long rather orange brown side lamellae, and slightly beyond and

6. STRATIOMYS

151

beneath these are a pair of shm't broad orange brown blunt lamellae and a
short transverse blunt middle piece.

Legs orange-yellow with the femora black ; coxae and trochanters black ;
femora with just the tip orange ; tibiae and tarsi orange, but all the tibiae have
a faint blackish ring (most conspicuous beneath) about their middle ; claws
black, but orange at the base. Pubescence very slight, but there are some
weak short pale hairs behind the anterior femora, and antero-ventrally on
the hind femora and quite beneath about the base ; on the tibiae and tarsi
the pubescence is all yellow, short, and adpressed.

Wings brownish hyaline, but strongly brownish on the forepart because
of the strong tawny veins there, and blackish about the base because of the
strong blackish bases of the veins there ; costal, subcostal, radial, and cubital
veins strong and tawny, and also the stem of the postical vein, and its upper
branch up to the discal cell, and the veins continued round the outer part of
the discal cell ; discal vein thin and black as well as its fork which forms the
two basal sides of the discal cell ; the lower branch of the postical vein is
coarse and a little darkened, but all the other veins on the outer and hinder
part of the wing are very thin and faint ; fork of the cubital vein well
away from the tip of the submarginal cell. Alar squamae smoky glassy,
with a thick dark lower margin and a short pale fringe ; thoracal squamae
large and pale brownish yellow with the margin concolorous, and bearing
over all both upper and lower discs, as well as on the margin, dense shaggy
long and whitish pubescence. Halteres brownish orange, with the stem
blackish.

9 . Similar in general appearance to the male, but easily distinguished by the
face, frons, and conspicuous yellow eye-collar.

Frons at the vertex more than a third the width of the head, and the
space between the eyes very gradually widening right down to the lower
angle of the eyes ; all the upper two-tliirds of the frons shining black, but on
the lower third the black is reduced to the middle fifth though slightly
widening out again on the antennal prominence and continued as an equal
black line down the middle third (or more) of the face to the mouth ;
outside this black line the frons and face are widely yellow ; black
part of the frons with very sparse very inconspicuous greyish black
pubescence \ upper part of the shining yellow part of the frons bare and
polished, but when level with the upper part of the base of the antennal
prominence shallowly punctate and beginning to bear whitish pubescence,
which becomes more abundant and conspicuous all down the sides of the face
and in fact all over the face except on a narrow black middle line • these sides
of the face are less shining yellow because they bear _ minute whitish dust ;
antennal prominence above and below bare and polished • a rather broad
black stripe runs across from the lower angle of the eye to the hind corner of
the mouth ; back of the head with an unusually broad conspicuous yellow
marginal band against the eyes, which is equal in widtli from top to bottom
except that it is distinctly though slightly widened about the middle ; this
band has a sharp edge and is quite as conspicuous on the upper part of the
flat of the back of the head, so that it is only the middle of the back of the
head that is black, and this is connected with the black vertex by rather more
than half the width of the vertex ; at the lowest part of the yellow band (and
not on the black part of the back of the head) are some long greyish white
hairs, which become on the upper part obscurer darker grey, but on the rest
of the band there is only some inconspicuous minute glistening yellow
adpressed pubescence. Eyes rather small. Antennae exactly as in the male.

Thorax almost dull black ; scutellum just as in the male, but both with
shorter pubescence.

Abdomen above almost exactly as in the male, but with shorter pubescence.
Belly with similar but much larger black markings ; second segment with a
pair of large transverse black spots which are not near each other nor near the
sides, but which just touch the foremargin at their middles ; third segment with
a pair of very much larger transverse black spots which extend along the
foremargin almost to the sides, but which are still well separated ; fomth
segment with a pair of similar spots but more pointed towards the sides and

152

STRATIOMY ID^E

practically united at the middle ; fifth segment with a narrow black line,
which is still more narrowed at the sides and at the middle, and which does
not quite reach the sides ; pubescence similar to that of the male but a little
shorter and rather more sloping. Ovipositor composed of a small transverse
brown plate which is hidden under the hindmargin of the fifth dorsal segment,
and with a middle pair of small brown lamellae which project just beyond the
hindmargin of that segment.

Legs rather similar to those of the male, but the base of the front femora
and nearly all the posterior femora tawny ; the middle femora have a rather
long and broad irregular dull black ring just after the middle, which is
considerably extended beneath and towards the front, even sometimes to nearly
the whole length, leaving at the same time a comparatively narrow dorsal
band between the middle and the tip, but even that may be rather obscurely
extended to the middle ; on the hind femora the shining black band is better
defined but still is considerably extended beneath.

Wings as in the male. Squamae with rather shorter pubescence.

Length about 14-5 mm.

This species has only one close ally in England, S. potamida, and I have
specially contrasted that with it.

S. chamceleon is rather rare in Britain, as the records of so large and
conspicuous a fly are sure to be noted in most cases. I know it has
occurred in Devonshire (Bovey Tracey), Dorset (Blox worth Heath),
Hampshire (Lyndhurst), Cambridgeshire (Chippenham Een), Norfolk
(West Runton), Oxfordshire (Ogley Bog near Shotover), and Leicestershire
(Owston Wood) from the end of June to September 9; most of the old
records may refer to S. potamida, except those of Duncan in 1837, as he
fully recognised the distinctions between the two species, and he wrote of
it as occurring in most parts of England and Scotland, giving specially some
localities near Edinburgh. My own experience of it is mainly limited to
Chippenham Fen, where I have taken it as early as July 6 and as late as
August 23; it occurred on large Umbelliferce, upon which it could be seen
a long way off, and though sluggish and easy to catch from the flowers it
created a great disturbance when in the net. The metamorphoses are well
known, and the larva, which is one of the “ rat-tailed maggots,” lives in
muddy water, in which it can float or sink at will ; it is believed to feed on
minute Infusoria ; the eggs are said to be laid on the under side of the
leaves of Alisma plantago, and to be arranged like tiles on a roof, one being
laid partly over another. It is recorded from Sweden to the Alps.

Synonymy. — Li line's and De Geer’s descriptions seem to point more to S. potamida
than to this species, but as it is impossible to be certain upon this point it is
sufficient to accept Meigen’s apportionment of the names. Walker clearly described
* S'. potamida under the name of S. chaviceleon and openly gave S. potamida Meigen
as a synonym, but he did not seem to have recognised the true S. chamceleon at all.

2. S. potamida Meigen. Very much like S. chamceleon; but the
yellow markings on the third abdominal segment are linear and pointed
at their inner ends ( J ) or form an entire band ( ? ), and on the fourth
segment form an entire hand in both sexes.

A large conspicuous fly (fig. 125), which is almost as hand¬
some as S. chamceleon.

$ . Compared with S chamceleon the head is large (being comparatively the
largest of our four species), the sides of the face and frons are more rounded

6. STRATIOMYS

153

and do not form so true a triangle ; the yellowish spot at each side of the
face is more extended triangularly towards the mouth ; the pubescence of the

iiCeLi ° i Sjj anc >ac c is yellower, and on the frons sometimes

all black down to the antennae; back of the head below only slightly
inflated and with a narrow pale brownish yellow postocular rim, on which
towards the middle is a minute shimmering brownish yellow or even almost
silvery tomentum. Eye-facets sharply divided by a straight line into large
ones above and smaller ones below, and this division extends across the eye
a little below its middle almost but not quite to the back of the eye where
the smaller facets trend upwards.

Thorax, pleurae, and scutellum with rather denser, longer, and darker
pubescence, which sometimes has a tendency to form a tawny patch iust
above the middle of the disc of the thorax. Scutellum yellow or reddish
orange with a black line all across its base which becomes rather narrow at
the sides.

Abdomen not so much flattened towards the margins, and duller deeper
black; the basal pair of yellow spots form sharply defined triangles which
have one side on the sidemargin (so that the shoulders are hardly at all
orange) and one on the hindmargin ; on the third segment the long narrow
yellow side-spots run along the hindmargin and end pointed and separated
Irom each other by more than the length of each spot, but rather nearer each
other than the basal pair of spots; the fourth segment has an entire dull
orange band all along the hindmargin which, at its widest part, occupies about
one-filth the length of the segment, but is narrowed slightly on each side of
the middle and near the sides ; fifth segment with a semicircular or sub-
triangular yellow spot on the whole of the hindmargin and arching up to
about the middle of the segment, and then abruptly and rather narrowly
extended upwards at its middle towards and sometimes quite up to the
toremargin ; pubescence of the second and third segments on the disc shorter
and less abundant and more blackish. Belly yellow ; basal segment black ;
second segment with a pair of long narrow black spots against the foremargin
which are well separated at the middle but nearly reach the sides • third
segment with a pair of much larger black spots (about one-third the
length ot the segment) on the foremargin which are near together at the
middle and which almost reach the sides ; fourth segment with a slightly
narrower entire black band against the foremargin which is rather widened
at the middle and at just the ends but which is hardly connected with the side-
margins ; fifth segment with a rather similar entire black band on the fore¬
margin, which is however more pointed at the sides and is hardly extended
to the sides • sometimes all these belly-bands extend to the sidemargins for
their lull width ; actual sidemargins less yellow than in S. chameleon at the
nnd coi ners of the third, fourth, and fifth segments ; pubescence glistening
and depressed but very short and inconspicuous, very distinct from the long-
pubescence of S. chained eon.

Legs very similar to those of S. chained eon, but the whole of the pu¬
bescence is more orange. 1

i veiT similar, but perhaps slightly paler on the foremargin and the

base, thoracal squamae dark brown with still more dense long tangled pale
brown conspicuous pubescence all over.

? . Mainly agreeing with the male, but differing from the female of S. chamedeon
by having the frons all shining black down to the level of the top of the
antennal prominence ; frons punctate and bearing inconspicuous tiny black
bristles and also some inconspicuous grey pubescence, or even blackish grey
pubescence about the middle ; black middle line of the face rather narrower
and the sides reddish orange ; the reddish orange or yellow postocular collar
is ratner narrower and is not obviously widened about the middle, and only
extends upwards far enough to allow the black back of the head to connect
at lull width with the black frons ; the collar is wider at the back than on its
upper side (fig. 133).

Phoiax shining black, with very short coarse mainly blackish grey
pubescence on all the disc mixed with longer (though still short) fine pale
} e o\\ hairs, especially about the suture and the sides, and forming a pair of

154

STRATI OMY I DJb

pale brownish yellow stripes on the forepart of the thorax which are set well
apart and which do not extend half-way to the suture. Scutellum with the
long narrow black base as in the male and not with the small middle basal
spot of S. chamceleon.

Abdomen duller rustier black than
in S. chamceleon, because of the minute
rusty black pubescence ; yellow or
reddish orange markings more like
the male than like S. chamceleon, but
the third segment with an entire
band on the hindmargin, and this
band is narrow all about the middle
because the true hindmargin of the
segment arches slightly upward, though
an impressed line runs straight across
near the foremargin of the fourth
segment in such a way as to give a
false impression of what is the real
hindmargin ■ fourth segment with an
entire band on the hindmargin, which
is widened by an arch upwards at the
middle and at the sides ; fifth seg¬
ment with a semicircular spot on the
whole hindmargin, which is some¬
times a little produced forward at its
middle ; pubescence very short and
Fig. 133. — stratiomys potamida 9. x ii. brownish orange on the disc of the

third, fourth, and fifth segments.
Belly very similar to that of the male, but the basal pair of black spots may
extend less towards the sides, and the black bands are sometimes a little
narrower, more equal in depth, not pointed at the ends, and not reaching
the sides, but in all these points they vary ; pubescence practically none,
wdiich is quite different from S. chamceleon.

Legs almost as in the male, and as black in the female as in the male
instead of being extensively tawny as in S. chamceleon ; pubescence shorter,
finer, and all whitish.

Wings and squamae very much as in the male, but slightly paler.

Length about 14-5 mm.

This species is very distinct from all the other British species except
S. chamceleon, with which I have compared it; the narrow second and
third pairs of spots or bands and the short ventral pubescence at once
distinguish it.

S. potamida is uncommon in England, hut is rather commoner than
S. chamceleon. It occurs in extensive marshy or fenny districts, and I
have records from Hampshire (New Forest), Sussex (Guestling), Surrey
(Guildford), Huntingdonshire (Monk’s Wood), Cambridgeshire (Chippen¬
ham Fen), Suffolk (various localities), Herefordshire (Tarrington, etc.),
Hertfordshire (Felden), Gloucestershire (Painswick), Warwickshire (Sutton
Park, Rugby). Colonel Yerbury informs me that he has found it common
in the New Forest and at Tarrington in Herefordshire, about the end of
June and in July. My dates extend from June 13 to August 22. It is
recorded from South Sweden and Denmark tlrrough Central Europe.

Synonymy. — It is most probable that all references to S. potamida are correct,
but it is very probable that many references to S. chamceleon also refer to this
species ; Walker’s description of S. chamceleon undoubtedly refers to this species.
Two female specimens in the Hope Museum at Oxford were labelled “ splendens,”
and it is very probable that there is some connection between these and Westwood’s
fig. 127-1 in his Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, vol. ii., 531.

6. STRATIOMYS

155

3. S. furcata Fabricius. Eyes of the male hairy, of the female bare
and with no encircling yellow band. Abdomen of both sexes with three
pairs of small spots and the tip whitish yellow or orange. Legs and belly
mainly black.

A much duller looking species than S. chamceleon or
S. potamida, and with more extensive black coloring.

$ • Head comparatively _ small. Face and frons forming a moderately shining
black equilateral triangle ; face considerably retreating, rather roughened,
slightly dusted with white at the sides, and clothed with conspicuous greyish
white pubescence which often gets rubbed off on the middle part; jowls
black, shallow, and with some minute glistening whitish yellow adpressed
pubescence ; lower part of the back of the head only slightly inflated, black
and bearing similar glistening adpressed pubescence which lies pointing-
forward ; upper part of the back of the head practically flush with the eyes
but with a rim of glistening white minute adpressed pubescence, black behind
and bearing some rather long obscure grey hairs which become whitish grey
on the upper part ; vertex black, roughened but rather shining, continued
forwards to the frons by two narrow rims between the eyes, and the middle
portion of this narrow part bears a line of rather coarse black pubescence,
which is not extended back to the rather shorter more scattered black
pubescence on the vertex _ and scarcely to the frontal pubescence ; frons
moderately shining black with either blackish pubescence on its middle and
some brown hairs at the sides or with greyish black pubescence which extends
right up the antennal prominence to the base of the antennm ; proboscis
brown. Eyes rather densely clothed with long brownish pubescence ; facets
very sharply divided just below the middle by a slightly curved line, into
decidedly large ones above and much smaller ones below ; the large facets are
rather dull dark brown in dry specimens and the smaller ones conspicuously
shining black ; but in life they are dark greenish, with the lower part and a
band below the middle and the upper hindpart dark bluish ; the sharp
division of the facets extends from the front part of the eye only about three-
quarters of the way across so that on the back part the facets are not
contrasted in size. Antennae blackish brown ; basal joint about four times as
long as the second and about two-thirds as long as the third joint ; extreme
base of the third joint slightly chestnut.

Thorax black, only moderately shining because the punctuation is very
dense and rather coarse ; pubescence dense and rather long, almost erect,
light brownish grey on all the disc or light grey when viewed from in front,
light grey on the pleurae and scutellum, but sparse and pale yellow on the
sternopleurae, and usually with a few inconspicuous black hairs on the
upper part of the mesopleurm. Scutellum black with its spines and the rather
straight broad hindmargin between them dark orange, but the tips of the
spines blackish.

Abdomen black, almost dull except on the hind part of the fourth, and all
the fifth, segments, with transverse dull pale yellow or almost orange spots at
the hind . corners of the second, third, and fourth segments, and with the
hmdmargm of the fifth segment and its middle extension upwards almost to
the foremargin also orange ; the spots on the second segment are in the
absolute hind corners, and are more than twice as wide as high, and are
occasionally rather ovate, and they extend along the sidemargins a little on to
the third segment and sometimes widen out a little there ; the spots at the
lnnd corners of the third segment are very similar, but are rather more
directed upwards about their discal ends, and are considerably extended
downwards on to the fourth segment along the actual sidemargins, occasionally
spreading a little on to the disc near there • the fourth segment has similar
spots at the hind corners but the discal ends are slightly widened and
distinctly directed upwards so that their inmost part leaves the hindmargin
and slopes out rather towards the middle of the disc of the segment, and these
spots are narrow at the sidemargins and do not extend at all on to the side-

156

STRATIOMYIDvE

margins of the next segment ; the middle line on the fifth segment does not
extend upwards to the true foremargin, though it does extend to an impressed
line across the segment which appears like a margin ; there is a small sixth
segment usually visible which has a narrow orange hindmargin and middle
line. Pubescence on all the second, third, and fourth segments (except on the
flattened margin) when viewed from behind abundant, erect, long greyish
brown but not very conspicuous, on the fifth segment more depressed and
more yellowish • on the flattened sidemargins it is much scarcer than on the
disc and rather more yellowish, but everywhere on the whole upper surface
there is very inconspicuous but dense short black coarse pubescence beneath
all the longer greyish hairs. Belly black, more shining ; hindmargins of the
second to fifth segments bone white, and there is a trace of a band at the
middle of the base of the second segment ; these bands sometimes become
pointed towards their ends and do not reach the sidemargins except on the
fifth segment ; but more usually the band on the second segment is hardly
pointed at its ends and does not nearly reach the sidemargins, while the bands
on the third and fourth segments have long points which do reach the side-
margins ; pubescence fairly abundant, long, erect, brownish yellow on all the
segments except the fifth but more blackish on that. Genitalia with five
short brown lamellae just projecting from the fifth abdominal segment, the
middle one and the two outer ones rather narrow, the three middle ones with
some moderate pale hairs.

Legs shining black and orange, the black parts sometimes with a brownish
tinge ; coxae and trochanters black, but a little brownish at their bases ;
femora black and roughened, with just the tip orange, as well as the basal
third of the tibiae (or rather more on the hind pair) and the three or four basal
joints of the tarsi, though the fifth joint, and usually the fourth, are obscurely
blackish • all the tibiae a little flattened just below the middle; pulvilli and
base of the claws orange. Pubescence forming a moderate pale yellow fringe
behind the front femora, though quite beneath these there are some sparse
black hairs ; behind and beneath the middle femora it is more abundant and
conspicuous and is all pale yellow, while beneath the hind femora and more
sparsely on their front it is pale and fairly conspicuous ; the minute
pubescence of the tibiae is longer and more conspicuous than usual, and is all
pale yellow, as it is also on the tarsi.

Wings with a strong brownish tinge, which becomes diluted towards the
tip and hindmargin ; costal, subcostal, radial, and cubital veins coarse and
rufous orange, stem of the postical vein coarse and orange, upper branch of
the postical up to the discal cell and the veins enclosing the outer end of the
discal cell strong and brownish orange ; discal vein not thin but pale until
near the discal cell when it becomes rather blackish, and this colour extends
to its two forks which enclose the basal end of the discal cell, and to the
discal cross-vein ; anal vein at just its base strong for a short distance, and
even the extreme basal portion of the axillary vein strong and orange ; lower
branch of the postical vein moderately strong but pale, and all the other
outward veins thin and faint. Squamae brownish black ; alar pair with thick
margins, but with only very short brownish fringes ; thoracal pair with long-
dense shaggy yellowish brown or pale grey pubescence all over, but especially
about the margin. Halteres yellow, but the base of the stem brownish.

$ . Larger than the male. Head (fig. 132) flattened down so that it appears broad ;
face and frons so broad as to occupy nearly half the width of the head, almost
parallel-sided, shining black except for the orange spots ; frons when viewed
from in front appearing to have but little pubescence, because its pubescence
is darker grey and pointing rather upwards though it is rather long and rather
abundant, but the face has conspicuous almost dense rather drooping long
pale grey or almost white pubescence all over, beginning above with rather
conspicuous large whitish tufts near the eyes and almost parallel with the
antennae ; frons with numerous convolutions and ridges, and with a small
middle channel between two raised edges extending from the front ocellus to
the orange spots, and with coarse but not dense punctuation ; just before the
antennal prominence there is a pair of transverse orange spots placed close
together at the middle but reaching more or less than half-way towards the eyes,

6. STRATIOMYS

157

and when these spots are long they slope outside the antennal prominence •
jowls decidedly broad and bearing similar pubescence to that on the face, and
similar pubescence extends on to the lower part of the back of the head away
from the broad eye-marginal collar ; back of the head considerably inflated
behind the eyes on the lower half but not so much on the upper half, but still
on this upper part forming a black collar ; this front part of the back of the
head close against the eyes bears a minute adherent glistening pubescence
which is yellowish white on the lower part and white on the upper part, and
this glistening pubescence points forwards about the middle and upwards on
the upper part ; right at the back of the head behind the vertex there are
numerous long thin pale grey hairs ; vertex with a pair of large orange spots
on a thin rim between the vertex and the occiput but usually rising from the
flat part of the vertex just before the raised rim, and these spots are rather
near together at the middle and almost extend to the hind corners of the
eyes, and they are bare in front, while behind they extend _ a long way down
the back of the head and form two large triangles almost united but separated
by a darker orange (or very rarely blackish) stripe, and bear some of the long
thin pale grey hairs of the back of the head. Eyes quite bare, shining-
blackish, in life colored as in the male but with the band a little above the
middle and the dark bluish lower part larger ; facets all equal. Antennae as
in the male.

Thorax, scutellum, and pleurae with more conspicuous denser shorter
woolly whitish grey or pale brownish grey pubescence. Scutellum with more
than the tip half reddish orange, leaving a broad arched black basal band.

Abdomen rather more shining black than in the male, because the
pubescence is much shorter and less conspicuous on the disc ; this short
pubescence is almost blackish on the disc, but is more conspicuous because
more pale grey on the fifth segment, and the pubescence is longer and
yellowish all round the margin and especially about the shoulder corners.
The orange spots are rather larger, and sometimes the basal pair are so large
as to extend right up to the shoulder points, and not at all uncommonly each
extreme basal corner of the second segment bears a small isolated inconspicu¬
ous orange spot • at other times the basal pair of spots are more triangular,
while the second and third pairs are always more conspicuous than in the
male and are more lunate, i.e. their inner ends are more widened upwards ;
the extension of the first and second pairs of spots on to the sidemargins of
the next segment is larger and extends more on to the disc at the extreme
fore corners of the segments. Belly with much shorter and less conspicuous
pale grey pubescence, and consequently the yellowish white cross-bands more
sharply defined, and the one on the hindmargin of the fifth segment usually
broader.

Legs as in the male, but the tarsi less obscured about the tip.

Wings as in the male. Thoracal squamae and their pubescence more dull
pale yellowish. Halteres sometimes rather darker.

Length about 13-5 mm.

This species varies considerably in the colour of the pale markings and
spots, which range from bright yellow to reddish orange, probably from
the varying maturity of living specimens and from the effects of time in
museum specimens; it also varies a little in the size and shape of the
dorsal abdominal spots and the ventral bands, but not enough to cause any
doubt as to the specific identity of specimens. Continental specimens in
Kowarz’s collection are clearly the same species, but the pubescence is
rather browner and the abdominal spots darker orange, while the pu-
bescence on the frons is rather conspicuously whitish grey; the line of
pubescence between the eyes is greyer, and the pubescence on the vertex
and occiput has a tendency towards tawniness.

S. furcata is the commonest species of the genus in Britain, but yet is
rather local ; I met with it in considerable numbers near Felixstowe on
July 7, 1894, when it occurred on large Umbelliferous blossoms which

158

STRATIOMYI DJE

extended all round the edge of a field near the Bawdsey Ferry, and
Colonel Yerbury has found it rather common in the Thames Valley. I
have other records from Hampshire (St Helens in Isle of Wight), Sussex
(Eastbourne, Seaford, Littlehampton), Suffolk (several localities) and
Norfolk (Horning) ; all these localities appear to be in the neighborhood
of large salt, or at any rate brackish, marshes, and Duncan (1837) quoted
Haliday for its occurrence in Ireland at Holywood, Co. Down, and at
Killarney, while he gave Duddingston, near Edinburgh, as a locality for
S. riparia. Colonel Yerbury records a specimen from Caragh Lake, Co.
Kerry, on August 20, 1901. My dates extend from July 5 to August 28.
It is recorded from Finland through all Central Europe.

Synonymy. — A considerable amount of confusion has occurred through Walker’s
attempt to record S. riparia as a British species distinct from S. furcata ; his S.
riparia is evidently founded on a specimen or specimens which had “narrow
whitish ” abdominal spots instead of what he calls “ more or less triangular tawny
spots ” ; the two are evidently varieties of one species, and it is most probable that
Meigen’s S. riparia was founded upon the same variety ; it is hardly worth while
calling attention to Walker’s using the word “ apice ” when he meant bad ! Duncan
had previously (1837) attempted to distinguish S. furcata and S. riparia, but
Walker does not appear to have seen Duncan’s paper. It may be taken as quite
certain that our species is the same as the S. furcata which Zetterstedt and van der
Wulp (who suppressed S. riparia as a synonym) found commonly in Scandinavia
and The Netherlands.

4. S. longicornis Scopoli. Eyes bearing obvious black hairs in both
sexes, and with no encircling yellow band in the female. Abdomen with¬
out pale spots, though bands of pale pubescence are visible. Legs and
belly mainly black.

A conspicuously pubescent species, which has no pale
markings on the ground colour of the abdomen.

f. Head comparatively small. Face and frons forming an equilateral space,
which can hardly be called a triangle because each of the three sides is rather
curved, about two-fifths the width of the head at the mouth level, and all covered
with dense long tawny or yellow or almost whitish pubescence, which is not
quite dense enough to conceal the black ground colour ; this pubescence is
slightly drooping on the face, but is erect on the frons and about the antennae ;
face bulging ; jowls broad, with similar but much less dense pubescence which
consequently leaves the shining black ground colour quite obvious ; back of
the head slightly inflated up to the middle, but above that almost flush with
the eyes ; at the point where the inflation ceases there is a slight angle in the
outline of the back of the head, and on the widest part there is close against
the eye a brownish red margin, below which the eyemargin is shimmering
white down to the jowls, and above which it is shimmering brownish orange
on the narrow line against the eye ; behind all this on the flat back of the
head is a long straggly brownish yellow pubescence which forms a ciliation of
rather shorter straight yellow hairs behind the narrow rim against the upper
part of the eye ; vertex shining black, with indistinct brownish tawny or
almost black pubescence ; the very narrow space between the eyes has two
very narrow rims, and between them is a line of coarse brownish tawny to
blackish brown rather upturned hairs, which continue to the more blackish
tawny to pale greyish yellow pubescence on the small rather dull black frons.
Eyes clothed with rather dense long black pubescence, which is brownish in
some lights ; facets not abruptly contrasted in size though they are smaller
on the lower part than on the upper ; eyes generally dark brown, but sometimes
even in dry specimens a broad purplish band can be traced across the eyes

6. STRATIOMYS

159

just below the middle with a greenish shimmering on each side of it, and at
such times the eyes appear to be dark blue with a greenish shimmer visible
from any point of view. Antennae dull black ; second joint slightly rufous
because of a little obscurely rufous pubescence ; basal joint about six times
as long as the second, but hardly more than half as long as the third.

Thorax, pleurae, and scutellum with universal very dense moderately long
pubescence, which is usually foxy red, but varies to brownish or pale tawny
or brownish greyish yellow or even simply light grey, but when at all dark
colored there is a paler tuft behind the postalar calli which harmonises with
the thoracal squamae ; the pleurae also bear paler pubescence than the disc of
the thorax when that of the latter is foxy red ; rather conspicuous in this dense
pubescence are the practically bare spaces on the pleurae for the reception
of the front femora, and on the hollows near the base of the wings. Scutellum
black with two orange to whitish yellow spines, and the under side of the
straight margin between the spines obscurely fulvous.

Abdomen black with a brownish tinge caused by the apparently depressed
pubescence, rather more arched transversely than usual, and with the flattened
margins hardly so conspicuous as in the other species ; there is often no trace
of any pale spots, but usually close examination shows very small ones at the
extreme hindmarginal corners of the second, third, and fourth segments ;
abdomen rather shining because the punctuation though abundant is not
confluent. Pubescence abundant on the disc, usually tawny but ranging to
greyish, nearly erect when viewed sideways, not quite dense enough to obscure
the ground colour, and almost absent on the basal segment and about the
sides of the disc on the third segment, and rather scarce on about the same
part of the fourth segment ; shorter, more sloping, and paler on the fifth
segment ; the discal pubescence when viewed from above appears much more
sloping ; on the whole of the sidemargins the pubescence is hardly longer, but
is more outstanding and is paler, while on the straight foremargin before the
shoulders it is longer and stands up tuft-like. Belly rather shining black
with three orange or bone- white arched bands on the hindmargins of the
second, third, and fourth segments ; the band on the second segment is very
broad, and usually even reaches the foremargin at the middle but slopes out¬
wards until it dies out on the hindmargin rather before or at the sides ; the
band on the third segment is much less broad as it hardly reaches half-way
up the segment, while the band on the fourth segment forms only a shallow
arch extending about a quarter up the segment, these two bands also die out
before or at the sidemargins; hindmargins of the fourth and subsequent
segments (when visible) brownish orange to bone-white ; pubescence rather
abundant and long, slightly sloping towards the anus, and slightly interrupted
at the hindmargins of the three basal segments.

Legs shining black on the femora except at the exact orange tip ; basal
fifth or less of the anterior tibiae sharply yellow, but the rest of them shining-
black ; hind tibiae yellow with obscure dark markings especially beneath just
before the middle and all about the apical sixth, but’ sometimes these obscure
markings become black bands ; tarsi varying from being dorsally blackish with
the basal joint of: the posterior tarsi yellow, and the second and third joints
on the hind tarsi obscured, to being darkened above all the front tarsi until
the last two or three joints are almost blackish, and darkened at the tips of
the joints of the middle tarsi with the last two joints almost blackened, and
the hind tarsi not much darkened until the blackish last joint, and on to the
tarsi being orange, with the basal joint of the posterior tarsi yellow, and the last
joint of the anterior tarsi obscured; claws black at the tip. Pubescence
orange, long and dense behind the anterior femora, and long but less dense
beneath on their basal half; on the hind femora less abundant but quite
as long on the front part and beneath; on the tibiae the pubescence is
yellow and is unusually long, especially on the anterior pairs, and is but little
depressed.

Wings with a strong brownish tinge which is very noticeable all about the
middle part, and which in fact leaves only the tip and the hind angle region
hyaline ; costal vein at the base and the subcostal up to the origin of the
radial vein, blackish and after these the usual strong veins are dull orange or
dull reddish orange ; discal vein thin and brown but becoming blackish a

160

STRATIOMYIM

little before the discal cell and on its fork which forms the base of that cell ;
costal vein at its basal black dilatation bearing golden adherent pubescence.
Alar squamae glassy whitish with thick blackish brown margins and short
inconspicuous brownish yellow or pale yellow fringes ; thoracal squamae
large, yellow or whitish yellow, with dense long almost woolly yellow
pubescence all over. Halteres yellow or whitish yellow.

9 . Resembling the male. Face and frons fully half the width of the head when
vieAved from in front, and the inner margin of the eyes slightly convex ; frons
shining black until near the antennae, coarsely but sparingly punctate and
convoluted, i.e. there are three ridges running out from the rimmed ocellar
space, one to each eye and one forward to the antennae ; at the front part of
the frons a pair of large orange spots begin which dip a little just above the
antennae and end there in points rather near each other, but outside drop
round the slight antennal prominence widely until about half-way down the
sides of the face, and these spots touch the eyes for their whole length, but the
shining black middle part of the face steadily grows wider from the antennae
to the end of these spots, while after them the face is all black ; pubescence all
long and dense, pale brownish grey and slightly upturned on all the black
part of the frons, yellowish white and erect all about the antennae, and
yellowish white and rather drooping on the face ; middle part of the face
bulging and very liable to have the pubescence rubbed olf ; between the
lower part of the eyes and the mouth-edge there is very little pubescence but
a narrow line of whitish dust encircles that part of the eyes and extends to
a long narrow orange spot which runs along the border of the eye past the
abruptly widened middle part of the postocular collar ; this collar is black
and is almost equally broad except at this abruptly widened middle part, while
it bears some of the long straggly greyish yellow pubescence on its lower
part, which extends all over the flat part of the back of the head, but the
orange spot bears minute adherent shimmering yellow pubescence pointing-
forwards, and the projected widened part of the collar is shining blacky the
postocular collar all above the orange spot bears rather conspicuous minute
adherent shimmering whitish pubescence pointing upwards ; right out on
the back of the head behind the vertex there is a pair of large orange spots.
Eyes with still long but more sparse black hairs ; the purple band and the
greenish sheen can just be traced in certain lights ; facets blackish brown and
all small. Antennae as in the male.

Thorax, pleurae, and scutellum almost as in the male, but the scutellum has
usually a rather narrow orange margin between its spines.

Abdomen very different from that of the male, being more shining black
because of the absence of long tawny or grey pubescence ; all the disc on the
third and fourth and the middle of the second segments is covered with very
short dense black pubescence, but a longer almost white pubescence exists all
round the margin and is long and conspicuous above the shoulders, from which
it descends in a large triangular patch on the sides of the second segment until
at the liindmargin it occupies a third or more of the segment on each side ;
on the third and fourth segments a small spot of similar whitish pubescence
occurs at each front basal corner, and more such pubescence occurs along
each outer liindmarginal third of the third segment, but rather less on the
fourth segment, and these last two patches of whitish pubescence sometimes
extend considerably on to the disc • fifth segment with some short tawny
depressed hairs scattered about all over the disc ; the small transverse whitish
yellow spot at each hind corner of the second and third segments may be
sometimes reduced to a dot, but more commonly is! quite as large or larger
than in the male, and occasionally the pair on the third segment extend all
down the extreme sidemargins of the fourth segment so as to join a small spot
at each hind corner of the fourth segment. Belly similar to that of the male
but the bone-white liindmarginal bands are rather smaller, the one on the
third segment being at its widest part only about one-sixth the depth of
the segment, while the one on the fourth segment is only a very narrow
line ; pubescence rather shorter and rather more depressed, more whitish
grey. . ...

Legs as in the male, but the pubescence is whitish grey and consequently

6. STRATIOMYS

161

more conspicuous on tlie tibiae ; tarsi rather more extensively orange, as the
posterior tarsi are all orange except on the last joint of the hind tarsi.

Wings and halteres as in the male. Thoracal squamae and their pubescence
more whitish.

Length about 12-5 mm.

This species varies a little in the extent of the white belly-bands and
considerably in the colour of the pubescence, but both sexes are dis¬
tinguished from the other British species of the genus by the practical
absence of abdominal spots or markings except those caused by bands of
whitish pubescence, and by the dense pubescence on the thorax. The female
is the only British species which has hairy eyes, and is also distinguished
from S. furcata by the larger facial and smaller occipital orange spots; it
is known at once from S. chamceleon and S. 'potamida by the absence of the
conspicuous yellow eye-collar.

S. longicornis is hardly common, but may occur in company with the
other species. I believe it is not uncommon in the Thames Valley as
Colonel Yerbury has taken it at Shoeburyness, Belvedere, Gravesend, etc.,
but my only other localities are in Sussex (Lewes and Littlehampton),
Hampshire (Lymington), Cambridgeshire (Wicken Fen), and Suffolk
(Felixstowe) ; Duncan recorded it as occurring in Scotland. It is apparently
an earlier species than the others, as my records extend from May 24 to
July 11 and are mainly in June. It is recorded from almost all Europe,
extending from Southern Sweden to Italy.

Synonymy. — A female in the Hope Museum at Oxford was labelled 11 strigata.”
The identity of S. strigata Fabr. with S. longicornis Scop, is now generally accepted,
but I have made some remarks upon that and upon the genus Iiirtea in my
synonymical notes on the genus Stratiomys.

L

162

STRATIOMYIDiE

SARGIN JE.

Colour brilliant metallic green in all the European species.

Abdomen with only five or six obvious segments (fig. 134.) Discal
cross-vein connecting the discal cell with the praef urea ; discal cell emitting
three veinlets and not emitting the upper branch of the postical vein,
because the lower cross-vein is present; thoracal squamae developed.
Scutellum unarmed in all European genera. Antennae with a long arista
in all European genera.

Fig. 134.— Sargus cuprarius <S . X 5J.

Head semicircular ; neck elongated and very fragile in dry specimens (especially
in Sargus). Eyes large, sometimes not touching in the male. Antennae in European
genera with a long thin arista, which is inserted at the extreme base of the apical
annulation of the flagellum and which consequently appears to be subapical.

Thorax unarmed, but with moderately dense though inconspicuous pubescence ;
metapleurae with rather long shelter hairs. Scutellum without any marginal spines
in the European genera.

Abdomen with only five or six obvious segments, long and parallel-sided in
Sargus, but short and rounded in Microchrysa.

Legs simple in European genera ; tibiae without any spurs.

Wings (fig. 134) with the costal vein extended obviously beyond the end of
the lower branch of the cubital fork, but not reaching to the wing-tip ; radial vein
rather short, slightly curved upwards, and ending near the subcostal, and its
divergence from the cubital vein occurring some distance after the discal cross-vein,
so that the discal cross-vein connects the discal cell with the praefurca and the
radial vein seems to emit two short forks to the costal vein ; cubital vein forked,
the upper branch being short and only about a quarter as long as the lower branch,
and both branches ending in the wingmargin before the tip of the wing ; discal cell
commencing opposite to or only just after the origin of the praefurca and connected

SARGIN.E

163

with that before the middle of the cell by the discal cross-vein and it is hexagonal
and emits three veinlets towards the wingmargin, all of which belong entirely to
the discal vein, as the small cross-vein is present and connects the discal cell with
the upper branch of the postical vein; postical vein with its fork simple except
that the lower 'branch runs into the anal vein just before the wingmargin, and
consequently the anal cell is long and pointed and closed just before the wing¬
margin ; posterior cells five, but the middle ones rather imperfect ; alula small
but obvious, pointed, triangular ; wing-membrane strongly ribbed. Alar squamse
evidently present and with short fringes ; thoracal squamse sometimes tongue¬
shaped, resting close to thesquamal angle of the frenum, pubescent on the upper and
under surfaces and with long straight fringes, in Sargus the tongue-shaped mem¬
brane is longer and smaller than in Chrysomyia , while Microchrysa has the thoracal
squamae almost circular.

The essential characters of the Sargince lie in the small number of
abdominal segments, whereby they are distinguished from the Berince and
Xylomyince, the presence of the small cross-vein which connects the discal
cell with the upper branch of the postical vein whereby they are dis¬
tinguished from the Pachygastrince and Glitcllarince, and the long thin
arista whereby they are distinguished from the Stratiomyince and in fact
all the other European forms except the Pachygastrince, but the peculiar
feature of the Sargince which distinguishes them from in fact almost all the
Brachycera, lies in the discal cross- vein connecting the discal cell with the
prsefurca and not with the cubital vein, whereby the radial vein appears
to emit two short forks to the costa. The brilliant metallic blue or green
coloration of all the European species at once distinguishes them from
any others in the Stratiomyidce, though many Perince have a metallic
seneous-black coloration ; the elongate parallel-sided abdomen of Sargus
and its allies is also only equalled in the Perince ; the apparently doubly
forked cubital vein caused by the radial vein diverging from the cubital so
far after the discal cross-vein, and the remarkable thoracal squamse of
Sargus are peculiar to the subfamily.

The Sargince, when restricted to the species with a long thin apical or
subapical arista and an unarmed scutellum, comprise about nine genera
from all Europe, Asia, Africa, and North, Central, and South America, but
I cannot trace any record from Australasia; five genera are recorded
from the Palsearctic region, of which one ( Ptecticus ) has not been observed
in Europe, and in the remaining four genera (one of which I fail to
distinguish) about twenty species are recorded, but of these only ten or
eleven are well recognised of which at least eight are British, while I
have also included five of the less satisfactorily distinguished species.

The metamorphoses of a few species have been recorded, and as three
or four species occur commonly in gardens they should be well known, but
their habits do not seem to be known with full accuracy, for it seems
strange that Sargus cujprarius should breed in cow dung or heaps of rotting
weeds and also in ulcers in Elm ( Ulmus ).

164

STRATIOMYID.E

Table of the Palcearctic Genera of Sakgbge.

1 (2) Second antennal joint lengthened on the inner side like a thumb

inserted into the third joint (fig. 135). Ptecticus.

Eyes of the male not touching.

(1) Second antennal joint normal.

(6) Eyes bare or almost so.

(5) Elongate narrow species.

Eyes of the male not touching. Veinlets
issuing from the discal cell distinct.

7. Sargus.

(4) Short and stout species.

Eyes of the male touching. Veinlets
issuing from the discal cell very faint.

9. Microchrysa.

(3) Eyes densely and conspicuously hairy.
Eyes of the male touching. Oblong species. Veinlets issuing from the
discal cell rather indistinct. 8. Chloromyia.

An attempt was made by Loew in 1855 to divide Sargus into two
genera, one with equidistant ocelli ( Chrysonotus ) and one with the front
ocellus remote from the other two ( Sargus sensu stricto), and many authors
appear to have recognised the distinction but I have found myself unable
to do so.

* Fig. 135. — Ptecticus tenebrifer ? .
X 22.

6

7. SARGUS.

Sargus Fabricius, Entom. Syst. Suppl, 549, 566 (1798).

Figure long and narrow. Middle-sized species of brilliant
metallic green colour.

Head semiglobular, wider than the front part of the thorax and (when viewed
from in front) wider than deep, considerably excavated behind and attached to the
prothorax by a slender neck ; frons (in profile) occupying four-fifths of the distance
from the occiput to the upper mouth edge ; face rounded and slightly projecting
from the eyes though short and retreating, densely pubescent ; ocellar space always
and the part of the frons above it usually distinctly elevated, ocelli placed well
forward from the vertex, so that the foremost one is placed at nearly a quarter of the
length of the frons ( Chrysonotus ) or as much as two-fiftlis of the length {Sargus,
s. str.), and the front ocellus is slightly more remote from the other two than they are
from each other ( Chrysonotus ) or considerably so (Sargus). Eyes quite bare, dis¬
tinctly separated by the frons in the male (fig. 136), and still more widely separated
in the female ; facets inconspicuously enlarged on the front part in the male.
Antennae short, placed (in profile) well below the middle of the head, and consequently
not so prominent at their base as the most prominent part of the frons ; second joint
cup-shaped, and the two basal joints bristly ; third joint transverse and but little
longer than the others, composed of four annulations of which the fourth is less bulky
than the others, and from the extreme dorsal base of which the long thin arista
arises • this arista is therefore distinctly not apical and is two or more times longer
than the antennae, and bears a few slight plumes about its base.

Thorax rather long and narrow being rather contracted anteriorly, brilliantly
shining green, and bearing considerable though rather inconspicuous pubescence ; in
the male this pubescence is often of two very different lengths, there being a short

* The faint annulations of the third joint are not shown in the drawing.

7. SARGUS

165

rather dense pubescence all over the disc with much scarcer long thin hairs inter¬
mixed, and these long hairs are from two to four times as long as the short dense
pubescence ; pleurae with longer pubescence, but the middle part of the mesopleuree
bare, polished, and depressed so as to admit the front femora. Scutellum unarmed,
and similar to the thorax in colour and pubescence ; metanotum large, conspicuous,
and polished, pubescent on its lower part.

Abdomen rather club-shaped, quite twice as long as the thorax, brilliantly-
shining, and bearing obvious though not very conspicuous pubescence. Genitalia
small.

Legs practically simple, rather long and thin ; basal joint of all tarsi, and especi¬
ally the hindmost, long. Osten Sacken (Biol. Centr. Amer. Dipt., i., 24), speaks of
the tibiae of the male 13 showing the usual sexual characters,''3 but I do not know
what they are.

Wings long, with the normal venation of the subfamily ; costal vein extended
beyond the end of the cubital vein but not so far as the wing-tip ; prsefurca with the
cliscal cross-vein close to its base, and the radial vein subsequently diverging from the
cubital vein like a fork to the costa, so that the normal short fork of the cubital vein
looks like a second fork from the same vein, and this normal upper branch of the cubital
fork ends in the costa about half-way between the lower branch and the radial vein ;
discal cell emitting three long almost straight veinlets towards the wingmargin, of
which the third does not extend to the margin, while the upper branch of the
postical vein only reaches the wingmargin faintly ; wing-membrane strongly ribbed.
Alar squamae moderately developed ; thoracal squamae of a very remarkable shape
being long narrow tongue-shaped, very pubescent, and placed close to the angle.

This genus is easily distinguished from Chloromyia by its bare eyes,
and from Microchrysa by its much more elongate shape and the separated
eyes of the male. Loew formed a genus Chrysonotus, for S. bipunctatus
and some exotic allies, which was supposed to be distinguished by the
equidistant ocelli, but I am unable to realise its generic distinction,
especially as I do not consider the ocelli of S. bipunctatus to be absolutely
equidistant ; it is possible that a distinction might be found in the ocelli
being placed nearer the vertex in Chrysonotus than in S argus, but I have
not been able to estimate that distinction as sufficient (figs. 136, 137).
I have made some remarks about the use of the word Chrysonotus under
the synonymy of the genus.

Sargus is composed of a very uncertain number of European species,
as so many supposed species have been described from single specimens or
from insufficient material. Only four species can be considered well
recognised, although seventeen names appear in Kertesz’s “Katalog,” and
these four are not at all uncommon in Britain, while four or five other
unsatisfactory species occur with us. The metamorphoses of several
species are known, and Westwood (Introd. Mod. Classif. Ins., ii., p. 533)
says that he found many of the larvae of S. cuprarius in garden mould,
though Leon Dufour records them from Elm ( Ulmus ) sores. Reaumur
says that he found the larvae of a species which has been considered to be
S. bipunctatus ( = R6aumuri ) in cow dung, and in confirmation of this
habit Colonel Yerbury has seen the females of S. Jtavipes sitting on cow
dung while the males were on the leaves of shrubs near, which makes it
probable that Reaumur may have had S. flavipes before him. The genus
is recorded from all Europe; North, Central, and South America; Asia,
even to its southern parts ; and South Africa. The flies often occur in
gardens, and are very quick in their movements during hot sunshine ; they
fly quickly about shrubs and settle upon the leaves but are very easily
alarmed.

166

STRATIOMYIDiE

Synonymy. — The genus Sargus, as established by Fabricius in 1798, was formed
for five species of which S. cuprarius was the first (and the only one left in the noiv
restricted genus), though the next three belong to closely allied genera of the
Sargince. The first dismemberment was made by Macquart, who formed a genus
Chrysomyia in 1834 for our present Chloromyia and Microchrysa, though Macquart
had full knowledge of a prior Dipterous genus Chrysomyia of his fellow-countryman
Desvoidy (1830), and in 1837 Duncan, in probable ignorance of what Macquart had
done, proposed for identically the same group the name Chloromyia ; the remaining
species allied to S. cuprarius and S. bipunctatus were again divided by Loew in 1854
(Verb. zool. bot. Wien., v., 146) into genera, of which one was proposed for S.
bipunctatus under the name of Chrysonotus , which was supposed to be distinguished
by the equidistant ocelli, as contrasted with true Sargus in which the front ocellus
was remote from the other two ; I have found myself unable to recognise this
distinction, and to me Sargus flavipes and its allies seem to be much closer to S.
bipunctatus than to S. cuprarius and its allies ; other writers seem however to have
recognised a distinction, and finding a supposed prior generic name of Chrysonotus
(Swainson, Aves, 1837) have proposed a substituted name of Chrysochroma
(Williston, 1896) or Chrysonotomyia (Hunter, 1900); perhaps it would have been
better if they had first tested the validity of Loew:s genus, and then, if convinced
that it was worth retaining, an examination might have been made into the validity
of Swainson’s genus, as the mere record of a name in a “ Nomen cla tor ” is not
evidence of its having been properly founded ; for my part I fail to recognise the
validity of Loew’s genus and therefore have not troubled about its name. In 1907
Bezzi (Wien. Ent. Zeit., xxvi., 53), upon the mere statement of an Index Animalium
that a genus Sargus had been described in 1792, imposed the name Geosargus in
substitution of Fabricius’ genus ; in the absence of any proof that a valid genus
Sargus was established in 1 792 I positively decline to accept this change.

Table of Species.

Males.

(6) Legs nearly all orange. No outstanding postocular fringe present
136).

(fig-

2 (5) Large species.

*3

(4) Abdomen with some golden orange
pubescence on the disc.

1 bipunctatus.
(3) Abdomen with only greyish brown
pubescence on the disc.

2 albibarbus.

(2) Small species. 5 minimus.

(1) Legs nearly all black.

(12) No outstanding postocular fringe
present (fig. 136).

*8 (11) Thorax mainly orange haired down
the disc. Legs orange from the
knees for some distance down the
tibiae, and at the base of the tarsi.
*9 (10) Abdomen with the short red-orange pubesence (as distinguished
from the long yellow pubescence) almost confined to the
sidemargins. Thorax usually black haired on the hind part

*4

5

6
7

Fig. 136. — Sargus bipunctatus <$. x 22.

of the disc.

3 flavipes.

* Unsatisfactory distinctions.

7. SARGUS

167

*10 (9)
*11 (8)

Abdomen with the short red-orange pubescence extending widely
on to the disc so that only a middle line is left clear. Thorax

4 rufvpes.

12 (7)
*13 (14)

entirely orange haired on the disc.

Thorax all black haired down the
broad middle part of the disc.

Abdomen without any short red-
orange pubescence. Legs orange
at the knees only. 6 nitidus.

A conspicuous outstanding postocular
fringe present (fig. 137).

Postocular fringe mainly black.

Wings with a conspicuous cloud
about the middle. Small species.

7 nubeculosus.

N4 (13) Postocular fringe all white. Largish
species.

15 (16) Wings with a conspicuous cloud about the middle. 8 cuprarius.

16 (15) Wings infuscated but without a conspicuous cloud about the

middle. 9 iridatus.

Fig. 137. — Sargus cuprarius £ . x 22.

Females.

1 (8) Legs nearly all orange. No outstanding postocular fringe present.

2 (3) Coxfe orange. Base of the abdomen beautifully red-orange.

Thorax with the humeri and a narrow side line yellowish ;
front femora immaculate. 1 bipunctatus.

3 (2) Coxae black. Abdomen at the base, humeri, and sides of the

thorax concolorous with the rest.

*4 (5) Front femora immaculate. 4 rufipes.

*5 (4) Front femora with at least a dark splash or ring about the

middle.

*6 (7) Medium - sized species. Front femora with moderate dark

marking. 3 jlavipes.

*7 (6) Small species. Front femora with extensive dark marking.

5 minimus.

8 (1) Legs nearly all black (S. nitidus is doubtful).

*9 (10) No outstanding postocular fringe present. Wings without a
conspicuous cloud about the middle. 6 nitidus.

10 (9) A conspicuous outstanding white postocular fringe present.

*11 (12) Small species. Wings with a conspicuous cloud about the
middle. 7 nubeculosus.

*12 (11) Largish species.

13 (14) Wings with a conspicuous cloud about the middle.

8 cuprarius.

14 (13) Wings without a conspicuous cloud about the middle.

9 iridatus ,

* Unsatisfactory distinctions.

168

STRATIOM YIDiE

Four well-distinguished fairly common species occur in Britain, viz., S. bipunctatus
Jlavipes, cuprarius, and iridatus, but other forms occur which will not satisfactorily
agree with any of these. S. albibarbus ? is certainly distinct from any other British
species (unless it should prove to be the true male of S. rufipes) but is only known
from one or two certain European specimens. S. rufipes is very close to S. flavipes,
and may not be the species distinguished by Wahlberg, or I may have incorrectly
recognised the male. S. nitidus must belong to the same group because of the
absence of the characteristic outstanding postocular fringe, but it may be a very
black form of S. flavipes unless the female prove to be black legged. S. minimus is
an eminently unsatisfactory species of which very few specimens are known, but at
present it cannot possibly be allocated to any of the others. S. nubecidosus has been
generally considered a small dark variety of S. cuprarius. but if the character of the
black postocular fringe of the male prove constant it is probably a good species.
The five doubtful species have never been adequately described by previous writers,
and have apparently never been taken in numbers in both sexes.

1. S. bipunctatus Scopoli. Legs all orange in both sexes. Abdomen
of the male with some short golden orange pubescence on the disc, and of
the female with extensive orange markings about the base.

A handsome green species of which the female is one
of our most beautiful British flies.

<$ . Frons (figs. 136, 138) shining blue-black or green, but blackish all about the
ocelli, narrow at the top and gradually narrowing to below the ocelli, after which
it gradually widens down to the antennae where it is about twice as wide as at
the top ; front ocellus not quite so near the upper two as they are to each other;
the raised vertex and ocellar space are practically at the top of the head, ancl
when seen in profile they occupy about the top quarter of the frons ; lower

half of the frons only very slightly raised above
the level of the eyes, sparsely punctate at the sides
and bearing there upturned blackish pubescence,
but impunctate and bare on a middle line which
begins narrowly some distance after the ocelli and
thence widens as the frons widens ; the actual
occiput between the eyes bears long rather dense
brownish yellow pubescence, but as soon as the
space between the eyes begins to contract the
pubescence is less long and is darker brownish
and all pointing forwards, becoming black towards
the end of the ocellar space and separated by
a short interval from the upturned frontal
pubescence ; there is a pair of conspicuous white
spots on the forepart of the frons a little above the antennae and close
against the eyes. Face rounded and a little produced, greenish blue,
and bearing a rather long and moderately dense pubescence which is
black near the antennae and brownish below, and this pubescence is
upturned on the disc of the face but is drooping downwards on the upper
part of the sides against the eyes and is continued (but brownish yellow)
down the sides of the mouth ; jowls narrow, with greyish yellow pendent
pubescence continued in a narrow line under the eyes to the shorter pale
pubescence on the lower quarter of the back of the head ; the rest of the
back of the head is hollowed and shows only microscopical pubescence ;
proboscis orange, with rather large sucker-flaps. Eyes bare, distinctly
separated all down the frons ; facets large on the prominent front part even
up to the inner sides, but gradually diminishing in size behind and especially
on all the lower part. Antennae dull black ; basal joint rather cylindrical
though short ; second joint rather shorter and cup-shaped, and both the
basal joints bearing rather dense short black bristly hairs ; third joint bare,
rather longer than the basal joint, and with four annulations of which the
last one is the smallest in bulk and bears at its extreme dorsal base the long

Fig. 138. — S. bipunctatus
X 12.

7. SARGUS

169

thin arista, which is consequently by no means apical ; this arista is about
twice as long as the antennae and bears one or two very small plumes near
its base.

Thorax shining green or purplish green, finely punctate, and bearing a
moderately dense sloping rather inconspicuous short yellowish pubescence all
over the disc intermingled with which are comparatively scarce suberect
thin yellow hairs which are four or five times as long as the dense short
pixbescence ; humeri and a line from them along the top margin of the meso-
pleurse to the wing-base orange or obscurely yellowish, and the postalar calli
inconspicuously brownish orange ; pleurae with a dull yellow pubescence which
is mostly rather long, but is rather short and depressed on the sternopleurae,
and which leaves most of the disc of the mesopleurae (against which the front
femora usually lie) bare and depressed. Scutellum resembling the thorax in
colour and pubescence, but with an inclination towards a narrow inconspicuous
orange margin beneath ; metanotiun brilliant green, bare on the disc but with
thin (but not short) orange hairs round the margin.

Abdomen shining coppery green, considerably more than twice as long as
the thorax, rather club-shaped as the straight sides gradually diverge from
the base to almost the end of the fifth segment ; sixth segment less than half
as wide as the fifth, and brilliant purple ; the abdomen is not quite so brilliant
as the thorax because it is more densely and coarsely punctate, and is tinged
in colour by depressed golden orange pubescence • the ordinary pubescence is
orange, long, outstanding, and fairly conspicuous on about the side quarters of
the three basal segments, but on this part of the fourth and fifth segments it
is shorter and denser, and where the fifth segment slopes round to its hind-
margin it is sometimes more reddish orange, and it may be reddish orange on
the sides of the sixth segment ; the middle space all down the disc appears
to be bare and blackish in some lights, but has very short dense depressed
blackish bristly pubescence, and between this and the longer pubescence on the
sides there is on the second to fifth segments a broad stripe of short depressed
reddish orange pubescence, which widens out on to the disc at each side of
the incisures, and which on the fourth and fifth segments tends to amalgamate
with the side pubescence. Belly brilliant green, with universal short adpressed
yellow pubescence. Genitalia not small, blackish, with two short projecting
lamellae ; the genitalia and often the sixth abdominal segment are bent
downwards.

Legs orange ; front and hind coxae blackish, and the middle pair obscurely
orange, with the base black ; trochanters with a broad blackish ring ; tarsi
with the last three or four (or even end of basal) joints obscurely blackish ;
anterior tibiae a little thickened on the apical half, and the hind tibiae with a
slight kink just after the middle • basal joint of all the tarsi long, being almost
as long as the tibiae, and much longer than in the other species. Pubescence
behind the anterior femora slight and all yellow.

Wings rather smoky, with the stigma and its neighborhood slightly
brownish. Alar squamae small, glassy whitish yellow with a minute incon¬
spicuous pale yellow fringe ; thoracal squamae long and rather narrow tongue¬
shaped, placed close against the squamal angle, orange and bearing rather
long conspicuous yellow pubescence all over.

9 . Usually very distinct from the male because of the beautiful extensive orange
markings about the base of the abdomen. Frons rather wide, being about
one-quarter the width of the head, and the eyes almost equally separated from
the vertex to the mouth ; ocelli equidistant and placed at almost the top of
the head, with a channel round them which diverges below them into two
channels running towards the large sharply defined conspicuous white spots
against the eyes ; the part of the frons between these two channels is brilliant
green and is all pubescent and punctate except on the middle, and this middle
part (which does not extend to top, bottom, or sides) is bare and polished ;
the space between the two channels and the eyes is duller purple and is also
pubescent and punctate ; frons slightly prominent at its lower part so that
the white spots show up xvlien viewed in profile ; pubescence of the frons
fairly abundant, long and greyish against the occiput but black and all
pointed forwards down to the lower ocellus, when after a slight gap the lower

170

STRATIOMYIDyE

frontal pubescence extending down to the antenna is black and sloped rather
upwards, becoming shorter and denser near the antenna. Face dark green,
very slightly rounded, and clothed with rather long greyish or blackish
pubescence ; jowls very small but bearing a pale yellow ciliation which is
extended round under the eyes to the lower part of the back of the head ;
back of the head practically flush with the eyes for the lower three-fourths,
but shining black and slightly inflated as it approaches the vertex ; behind
the eyes on the lower half of the head there is a very short whitish ciliation,
but on the upper half when viewed from the side there is only a microscopical
black pubescence or when viewed from behind a short greyish pubescence
which slopes forwards ; on the occiput the pubescence is greyish white, and
behind the vertex it is rather long ; proboscis large and conspicuously orange.
Antenme rather larger than in the male, all dull blackish or sometimes dark
brown.

Thorax and scutellum more brilliant than in the male, because the
pubescence is short and depressed, and there are practically none of the long
hairs which occur in the male ; pubescence brownish orange on the disc but
greyish white at the sides • humeri and the upper margin of the mesopleune
for their whole length yellowish. Scutellum obscurely yellowish at the basal
corners and beneath the margin.

Abdomen quite as brilliant as the thorax but usually purplish with more or
less extensive conspicuous orange markings on most of the first and second
segments and on the sidemargins of the third and fourth segments ; it is
club-shaped, as it steadily widens from the base to the middle of the fourth
segment and then slightly narrows to the still brilliant sixth segment, and
when the ovipositor is protruded there is a black remarkably bristly transverse
oblong seventh segment which is produced on the ventral hindmargin ; a
black bristly eighth segment may follow, and the abdomen terminates in a
pair of long three-jointed hairy lamellae which bear a long hair at the tip.
Pubescence less conspicuous than in the male.

Legs orange, even to the coxae, but the last three joints of the anterior,
and more than the last four joints of the hind tarsi darkened ; pubescence
very slight.

Wings as in the male. Thoracal squamae perhaps narrower.

Length about 12-5 mm. £ , or 11 mm. $ .

This species is closely allied to those of the S. Jlavipes group, and like
them has no outstanding hairs on the back of the head standing at a right
angle to the eye, and has not even the very short postocular ciliation which
occurs in S. Jlavipes and its allies ; it is, moreover, distinguished from them
by the ocelli being placed higher up on the frons ; the male may be known
by its large size and its entirely orange legs from all except S. albibarbus ?,
and the golden orange pubescence which almost obscures the disc of the
abdomen will distinguish it from that species, while the female also has
even the coxae orange (which distinguishes it from the S. Jlavipes group),
and has beautiful orange-red markings about the base of the abdomen and
along the sidemargins of the third and fourth segments, and also has
the humeri and the upper margin of the mesopleurse yellowish ; the extent
of the bare polished middle part of the frons is less than in S. Jlavipes and
its allies (including S. albibarbus ? ).

S. bipundatus is a species which I have never seen alive, though
Colonel Yerbury has taken it in numerous localities in Britain, from Tor
Cross in Devonshire to Nethy Bridge in Inverness, and has also taken it
in Phoenix Park, Dublin. Altogether I have records from Devonshire
(several localities), Somerset (Shepton Montague), Hampshire (Hew
Forest), Sussex (Iford), Suffolk (several localities), Herts (Felden),
Hereford (Tarrington), Shropshire (Neach Hall), and Durham (Hesleden),
while in Scotland I have records from Jedburgh, Aberlady, and Nethy

7. SARGUS

171

Bridge, and in Ireland from Phoenix Park, Dublin, where Colonel
Yerbury caught a male sitting on wet mud in a stream. It is obviously
an autumn species, as my dates extend only from August 8 to September
27. The larvae are said to live in cow-dung, but Reaumur’s reference may
belong to S. Jiavipes. It is recorded from Central and Southern Europe,
though its occurrence at ISTethy Bridge seems to show that it may occur
in Northern Europe.

Synonymy. — This species was for a long period known as Sargus Reaumuri
Meig. (1804), and was named in commemoration of Reaumur, who described the
metamorphoses of what was supposed to be this species in 1741, but Waiker in 1851
resurrected Scopoli’s (1763) name of “ bipunctata.” This revival is not entirely to be
regretted, because Reaumur’s association of his species with cow-dung makes it most
probable that he had S. Jiavipes before him.

2. S. albibarlbus Loew ? Legs all orange in both sexes. Abdomen
brilliant green with the short pubescence on the disc all greyish brown.

A handsome species very much like S. bipunctatus.

$. Very much like S. bipunctatus but rather smaller, and on the other hand
rather larger than S. Jiavipes, and with the wings more darkened than in
either. Frons less arched in profile and more produced near the white spots,
broadly bare and brilliant green on the middle part (as in S. Jiavipes) from the
ocelli almost to the white spots, and with the side pubescence shorter, black,
almost erect, and more sparse than in S. bipunctatus; pubescence on the
vertex and the top of the occiput shorter, and all the pubescence on the
ocellar knob black, but the tuft behind the vertex tawny ; ocellar knob
slightly more forward than in S. bipunctatus but the ocelli in about the same
relation to each other ; the white spots on the frons are rather large and are
very conspicuous ; frons below these white spots brownish black ; face
blackish with only short black or greyish black pubescence, but in the single
British specimen the face is not in good condition for describing ; pubescence
on the sides of the mouth, jowls, and back of head very short, inconspicuous,
and yellowish. Eyes with the front facets not distinctly enlarged. Antenme
with the basal joint shining black, the second joint with some long black
dorsal hairs, and the third joint brown.

Thorax brilliant green, much more finely punctate than in S. bipunctatus,
and with the longer pale hairs much less numerous and not extended to the
front part. Humeri and top margin of the mesopleurse hardly orange.
Scutelfum not at all orange beneath.

Abdomen brilliant green, not so long as in S. bipunctatus nor so constricted
at the base, and consequently hardly at all club-shaped even though the fifth
segment is the widest ; sixth segment rather purple, and the end part of the
fifth segment rather coppery ; the abdomen is more thickly punctate than
the thorax but not enough to dull it, nor is there any trace of depressed
golden orange pubescence, but the whole of the upper side (except for the
long pubescence at the sides and on the basal segment) bears short (not very
short) depressed inconspicuous brownish pubescence, instead of the coarse
stnbby black pubescence which occurs in S. Jiavipes, or the shorter incon¬
spicuous pubescence of S. bipunctatus; the longer dull yellow pubescence
about the sides and on the basal segment is rather inconspicuous, and
becomes shorter and more orange about the sides of the fourth segment, but
the pubescence on the sides of the fifth and sixth segments is black and
more bristly.

Legs with the anterior tarsi all orange, but the last three joints (and the
second joint indistinctly dorsally) darkened.

Wings with a much more conspicuous blackish tinge about the discal cell,
which diffuses itself all round over nearly all the wing except the base ;
basal third of the costal and subcostal veins orange. Thoracal squama}
more orange.

172

STRATIOMYIDiE

?. In the present state of knowledge of the yellow-leggecl species of Sargus it is
impossible to allocate a female with certainty to the male just described.
There is, however, a female in the old collection of the British Museum which
is without history but obviously British, and which possesses some slight
characters which may distinguish it from S. Jiavipes and S. rufipes. It has
the front femora without any dark marking, which would distinguish it from
S. Jiavipes , while it has the frons slightly wider than in S. rufipes and the
wings more infuscated especially about the discal cell and stigma ; it is also
rather larger than any specimen I have seen of those two species.

Length about 10-5 mm.

This species is a most unsatisfactory one, but the male specimen
described is widely different from any British species except S. bipunctatus,
and it is with that 1 have mainly compared it. As to any European allies
I have given copious notes under the synonymy of S. jiavipes.

S. albibarbus ? was taken by Colonel Yerbury in the Avon Valley in
extreme South Devon on July 7, 1896, when a single male was captured,
which is now in the British Museum.

Synonymy. — S. albibarbus was described in 1855 from a single specimen of
uncertain sex taken in Dalmatia ; S. angustifrons (a possible synonym) was described
at the same time from a single female taken near Vienna, and in the same paper a
single doubtful female was noted which was subsequently (1866) called S. ceriferus
by Jaennicke. Since that time not one of these species has been recorded, but I have
dealt with them in some detail in the synonymical notes under S. Jiavipes. Further¬
more, it is of course possible that the male now described may be the true male of
S. rufipes Wahlberg, which has not been recorded since its capture in 1843 until in
the present work.

3. S. flavipes Meigen. Male with the legs black but broadly orange
at the knees and at the base of the hind tibise and tarsi; abdomen with
the short pubescence on the disc mainly black. Female with the legs
orange except for a blackish marking about the middle of the front
femora.

J . Face shining blackish green, rounded and a little bulging, with almost parallel
sides, and bearing abundant upturned black pubescence ; mouth extending
half-way up the face, and the consequently narrow space between this part of
the mouth and the eyes dullish black and bearing short black pubescence ;
jowls shining black, very narrow, but with some moderately long brownish
grey pubescence which extends a short distance up the very slightly inflated
lower quarter of the back of the head, but then dies out and leaves the rest
of the back of the head hollowed out and with only a very short close blackish
or (on the lower part) greyish ciliation immediately against the eyes, which
becomes shorter still and black and stubby on the upper part j vertex blackish
green until after the ocelli, but below them the frons is shining green or blue
and widens rapidly down to the antenme, where it is more than four times as
wide as its narrowest part and about twice as wide as at its widest part on
the vertex ; a little before the antennae there is a small but conspicuous white
spot on each side against the eye, and above these spots the frons is blue and
punctate on all the sides, but the frons is polished and bare down a broad
middle space from the ocelli to near the white spots ; the lower third of
the frons distinctly bulges out beyond the eyes when seen in profile ; front
ocellus considerably separated from the other two and placed at rather more
than one-third down the frons ; pubescence on the vertical portion of the
frons rather long and abundant about the ocelli and pointed forwards,
brownish yellow on the upper part, but blackish on all the frons below the
front ocellus and pointed upwards; proboscis bright orange. Eyes bare;
facets very gradually decreasing in size towards the lower part ; in life
(according to Lundbeck) the eyes are greenish and unicolorous. Antennm

7. SARGUS

173

dull blackisli ; basal joint with rather dense black pubescence ; second joint
about as long as the first but broader, and with the pubescence on the upper
side less dense but longer; third joint slightly longer than either of the
others and with four indistinct annulations, of which the last one is the
smallest in bulk and bears at its extreme dorsal base the long arista, which is
therefore by no means apical ; arista about as long as the antennae, and with
two or three short plumes near its base.

Thorax and scutellum brilliant green, sometimes with purplish reflections
on the back part and on the scutellum, and all finely punctate ; pubescence
composed of two sets of hairs, as there is a rather dense short brownish
orange pubescence which becomes black or almost black on at least the
hinder half of the disc, and intermingled with it there is (except on the
front part) a sparse long blackish or brownish pubescence which is about
three times as long as the short dense pubescence; the short pubescence
forms a slight crest at quite the front part, except that the absolute front
part of the disc is polished and bare so as to allow free action for the head ;
when viewed from in front all the pubescence on the sides of the disc is
long and broadly and conspicuously brownish orange ; pleurae bluish black,
with obvious long dull yellow pubescence near the humeri (twelve to twenty
hairs), on the back part of the mesopleurae, on the sternopleurae, and on the
metapleurae, but polished and bare on most of the mesopleurae right up to the
dorso-pleural suture, and with a depressed space there for the reception of the
front femora. Scutellum with shorter and mainly black pubescence ; meta-
notum large and bright green, with upturned rather long pale pubescence on
the lower part.

Abdomen brilliant green, but slightly more blackish than the thorax
because of its denser coarser punctuation ; it is club-shaped as it gradually
increases in width from the base to near the end of the fifth segment, but the
sixth segment is very much narrower and is bright coppery aeneous. Pubescence
on about the lateral quarters of the three basal segments long, thin, erect,
and orange-yellow, but not appearing dense unless viewed from behind,
while on the sides of the fourth and fifth segments it is shorter, more sloping,
and mostly black unless almost over the sides, and it is black all round the
hindmargin of the fifth segment and all over the sixth segment • all over the
disc there is a very short, but dense and coarse, suberect black almost bristly
pubescence which is sometimes slightly encroached upon by the brownish
orange pubescence at the hind corners of the segments. Belly brightly
shining aeneous, very finely punctate, and bearing universal recumbent yellow
pubescence. Genitalia small, dull blackish, curved under the sixth abdominal
segment, and ending in a pair of hairy lamellae which are shorter than those
of S. iridatus.

Legs mainly black ; coxae shining black with light grey pubescence ; tro¬
chanters shining black but orange at the base and tip ; femora conspicuously
orange at the tip ; anterior tibiae broadly but indefinitely orange at the base
(about one-third) and narrowly at the tip, while the hind tibiae have about the
basal half more or less reddish orange and even all the rest tinged with reddish
orange ; hind femora with the orange tip extended beneath ; anterior tarsi
brownish on the basal joints, and the middle pair often yellowish brown for
more than the basal joint; hind tarsi bright reddish orange for at least the
basal half of the basal joint on its; upper side and on all its under side ;
anterior tibiae a little dilated on the apical half, and the hind tibiae with a
slight kink just after the middle, before which they are slightly dilated ;
basal joint of the tarsi much shorter than in >S'. bipunctatus but longer than in
S. cuprarius. Pubescence very slight and inconspicuous, moderately long,
but thin behind the anterior femora, and pale everywhere except on the
upper side of the darkened tarsal joints, where it is much more extensively
black than in S. rufipes.

Wings suffused with a slight blackish brown tinge, which becomes more
intense about the stigma and the space below so that sometimes there is a
rather blackened cloud on all the middle part of the wing ; veins blackish.
Alar squamae rather small, obscurely blackish brown with brownish yellow
fringes ; thoracal squamae forming a short thick blackish brown club, which
bears long yellowish brown pubescence all over. Halteres bright orange.

174

STRATIOMYIM

9 . Varying much in size, and very distinct from the male in the colour of the
legs. Frons shining purplish black, coarsely punctate, but with a brilliant
green impunctate polished middle space right away from the lowest ocellus
to the white spots against the eyes ; these white spots are larger and more
conspicuous than in the male ; frons and face with almost parallel sides, and
at their narrowest part more than one-fifth the width of the head ; front
ocellus slightly remote from the others, and placed at about two-fifths down
the frons, so that the raised vertical space behind the ocelli is long ;
pubescence of the frons whitish about the vertex and more or less so down
to the lower ocellus and all long and bent forward, though sometimes mixed
with blackish soon after the vertex; after the lowest ocellus it is rather
shorter, dark brownish, and curved upwards ; the lower part of the frons and
the middle of the face bulge out a little ; face with longer more dense
brownish grey upturned pubescence, but the minute pubescence along the
lower margin of the eyes and the longer pubescence on the jowls is greyish
white, and the very short pubescence on the lower part of the back of the
head is also greyish white but dies away about the middle of the head, though
becoming again more obvious on the upper part, and there is no stubby black
postocular fringe and no outstanding white hairs on the back part as in
S. cuprarius and its allies. Eyes in life (according to Lundbeck) greenish,
with an iridescent band lying above the middle. Antennae with the third
joint larger than in the male.

Thorax and scutellum clothed with short whitish pubescence, amongst
which are no longer erect hairs ; pleurae with rather long whitish pubescence.

Abdomen brilliant burnished copper or green often tending to purplish
after the middle, widest near the end of the fourth segment. Pubescence
about the sides of the basal segments rather long and whitish, but short,
obscure, and dark greyish on the disc ; on the fifth segment it is all greyish
black, and on the small sixth segment all black. Ovipositor with long narrow
jointed terminal lamellae.

Legs nearly all orange : coxae shining black with a tinge of brown ; front
femora on about the middle half with a badly defined brownish black ring,
which is sometimes incomplete, and which is sometimes absent postero-
dorsally ; front tibiae slightly darkened ; tarsi with the last three or four
joints., and just the upper side of the tip of the basal joint of the hind pair,
blackish. Pubescence on the femora shorter and very slight.

Wings with an indistinct middle cloud, which leaves the basal third of
the wing rather conspicuously pale ; veins blackish, and the indistinct cloud
formed by the stigma (which includes the whole end part of the subcostal cell
and the sub marginal cell) brown, while the space below is darkened down to
the postical vein. Squamae paler than in the male.

Length about 8 to 10 mm.

This species is easily distinguished in the female from most of the others
by the orange legs which always have a darkened space about the middle
of the front femora, while the black coxae distinguish it at once from S.
bipundatus ; 3. minimus (if distinct), besides being smaller (though £.
fiavipes varies very much in size) has the legs of the female more
extensively black. Both sexes are distinguished very easily from S.
iridatus, cuprarius, and nubcculosus, by the absence of any outstanding
postocular fringe, as well as by the paler legs ; the male has much blacker
legs than 3. minimus, but the distinctions from the male of the species
which I describe as 3. rufipes and 3. nitidus require very close examination.
3. nitidus has the whole middle part of the thorax from front to back
clothed with black pubescence, while 3.- rufipes has rufous orange pu¬
bescence more extended on to the disc of at least the fourth and fifth
abdominal segments ; for more minute distinctions the descriptions of
these (so-called) species must be examined. The relative position of the
ocelli seems to me to agree with 3. bipundatus, though it was upon this

7. SARGUS

175

character that Loew separated off his genus Chrysonotus, but the ocelli
altogether are placed further down the frons than in 8. bipunctatus, so
that there is in S. Jlavipes and its allies a longer elevated vertical space
than in S. bipunctatus, and it appears to me that it is upon this very faint
character that the existence of the genus Chrysonotus exists, unless S.
Jlavipes and its allies are united generically with 8. bipunctatus and
separated from S. cuprarius and its allies by the absence of any outstand¬
ing postocular fringe. The male is easily distinguished from S. bipunctatus
and 8. albibarbus ? by its considerably black legs.

S. Jlavipes is not so common as S. iridatus and S. cuprarius, but I have
records from numerous localities extending from Cornwall (Boscastle) up
to Sutherland and across England from Barmouth to Beccles, while
Colonel Yerbury has found it very common in Ireland at Caragh Lake,
and at Kenmare and Yalentia Island. My dates show it to be a rather
late species as they extend from July 6 to September 22. I have generally
taken it in or near large woods, but Colonel Yerbury noticed the females
congregating on cow-dung (in which the larvae probably feed), while
the males sat near on the leaves of lime, sycamore, aspen, etc. It is re¬
corded from Northern and Middle Europe.

Synonymy. — There can be no doubt about this being the species described by
Zetterstedt as S. Jlavipes of Meigen (although Meigen ’s description is insufficient to
distinguish it) and consequently I follow Loew (1855) in continuing to use that
name. Meigen (1822) wrote “pedibus flavis” and “Beine gelb, die Schenkel
“bisweilen etwas braunlich,” and in 1830, when adding to his description from
apparently plenty of material, he said nothing about the legs ; it is, however, almost
certain that he must have known so common a species, and the one female left in
his collection in Paris belongs to it.

Fallen’s description is of no distinctive value so far as the male is concerned, but
Zetterstedt in 1842 wrote “femoribus tibiarumque apice in g nigricantibus ” and
“pedibus nigris, geniculis omnibus late, tarsisque posterioribus basi, tibiisque
“ posticis, flavis,” and he hinted at S. cceruleicollis Meig. being a synonym, but he
said nothing about any dark smudge behind the front femora of the female until
1849. Walker probably had the true species before him, though he said of the
female, “ pedibus fidvis, tibiis anticis Jusco-cinctis ” and “ Legs tawny : a black bawl
“ on each femur J which are characters that apply to no known species. As there is
so much uncertainty about the yellow-legged European species I add a few notes on
them.

S. albibarbus Loew was described from one (probable) female, which has quite
yellow legs except for a dark “ wisch ” or band about the middle of the hind femora,
and which _ has the frons brown between the antennae and the white spots, and the
two basal joints of the antennae yellowish brown ; I possess a specimen which was
in Kowarz’s collection (with no locality but with a tiny pink label attached), and
it agrees so exactly with Loew’s description even to the uncertainty of the sex
that I cannot help suspecting it to be the original specimen from which Loew
described his species ; it has the frons at the vertex, about one-tenth the width
of the head and narrowed to less than one-third as much at the front ocellus and
onwards for a long way, and hardly wider at the antenme than at the vertex ; the
pubescence on the frons is all orange and comparatively short from the occiput
to the front ocellus, but thence on the very narrow part of the frons there is only
a single line of black hairs on each side for about half-way to the antenme, after
which the pubescence is in more than a single line and is brown and hardly
upturned • the pubescence on the face is pale brown and not upturned except for
some black hairs close under the antenme, and the pubescence on the back of the
head is pale brown ; the specimen has any genitalia withdrawn, but I think I can
trace some lamelhe which look like those of a female ; the frons is narrower about
the middle than I have seen in any other Sargus, and there is a slight dark patch
about the middle of the front of the front femora.

The other specimen in Kowarz’s collection under the name of S. Jlavipes may be

176

STRATIOMYIDJE

the true male of S. albibarhus ; it is labelled “ St Moritz, Becker," and is therefore
probably the species mentioned by Becker in Berl. ent. Zeitschr., xxxi., p. 97 (1897) ;
it has the frons at the vertex about one-fifteenth the width of the head and running
down almost equal to the front ocellus, after which it widens to the antennse where
it is about one-quarter the width of the head ; the bare middle part below the front
ocellus extends widely up to the front ocellus (very differently from S. bipunctatus ) ;
the white spots are small ; the front ocellus is placed at two-fifths down the frons ;
vertex black haired but with a few tawny hairs behind it on the occiput ; no out¬
standing postocular fringe (as in S. cuprarius , etc.), but there is the usual fringe
close against the back of the eyes, which is all black, fairly long on the lower part
and obvious though short and stubby on the upper part ; pubescence on the face
black but rather rusty and short, rusty black on the narrow sides of the mouth, and
brownish grey on the jowls near the front lower corner of the eyes ; antennae dull
black. Thorax brilliant green with pubescence entirely black on the disc, but rusty
black on the upper margin of the mesopleurae, while the long erect pubescence on the
prothorax and the shorter pubescence on the metapleurae are darkish tawny ; humeri
with a small yellowish spot. Abdomen duller green because of the coarse dense
punctuation, and with a coppery tinge partly caused by the abundant long tawny
pubescence which broadly clothes the sides of the three basal segments, while a
shorter tawny pubescence extends down the sidemargins of the fourth and fifth
segments and round on to the hindmargin of the fifth segment ; sixth segment
small and shining green, curved downwards along with the large black genitalia ;
belly blue, with rather abundant depressed pale grey pubescence. Legs red
orange, coxa? blackish, but the posterior pairs with brownish tints ; front coxae
with mainly black pubescence, but with a patch of pale pubescence on the lower
part in front ; last four joints of the hind tarsi blackened above, and the same
joints of the front tarsi obscured above, while those joints of the middle tarsi are
only very slightly obscured. Wings conspicuously infuscated all over, but most
strongly about the middle and more orange about the basal third ; stigma and the
space above inconspicuously brown. Squamae pale orange, with orange fringes.
I have also described in this work an English male under the name of S. albibarhus 'i
which does not accurately agree with this specimen, but which must remain doubtful
until more material can be obtained.

S. angustifrons Loew is known from one female only which was taken neai
Vienna before 1855, and which only differs from S.flavipes by the narrower frons :
Schiner declined to acknowledge it as distinct from S. flavipes , and the fact of nc
more specimens having been found in such a well-worked locality in the subsequent
fifty years seems to make its distinctness very doubtful, and I expect it is the same
as aS'. albibarhus. S. ceriferus Jaennicke was described from a single female taken at
Genoa, to which individual specimen Loew eleven years previously had refused tc
give a name on the ground that it required more confirmation and that it was verj
near a S', albibarhus , of which I now think it must be a synonym or variety : it is sak
to have the front fifth of the frons waxy white and (according to Loew) the sides ol
the thorax with a fine dirty whitish line, and altogether short whitish pubescence
legs pale yellow, but with a peculiar brown streak (Loew) or ring (Jaennicke) or
the upper side of the hind femora ; antennae yellow on the two basal joints. S
tuberculatus Loew is known from a single female from Nubia which has a coniplett
white cross-band on the frons instead of the usual pair of spots, and which has
conspicuous white side-spots at the abdominal incisures. S. chrysis Loew was
described from two females and perhaps one male, from Nubia, and they alsc
have an entire white frontal band, the side lines of the thorax brownish yellow, al
the pubescence of the abdomen yellowish, and the abdomen carmine red on the foui
middle segments, and Bezzi has since recorded this species as occurring in Eritrea.

If a S. angustifrons , S. albibarhus , and S. ceriferus are synonyms, strict priority
would require the use of the name S. angustifrons , but as S. angustifrons in thi;
case would be incorrectly as well as insufficiently described and S. albibarbu
is well described on the same page I adopt the latter name.

It may be noted that Loew on page 136 of his paper on Sargus in Verh. zool.-bot
Wien, v. (1855) persistently referred to S.flavipes under the appellation of S. pallipes

From the association of this species with cow-dung it is more likely to be tin
species noticed by Reaumur in Ins., iv., p. 59, Table 22, figs. 5-8, than S. bipunctatu
( Re'aumuri Meig.) and Reaumur’s figure of the natural size also agrees bette
with it.

7. SARGUS

177

4. S. rufipes Wahlberg. Abdomen of the male mainly clothed with
brownish orange pubescence. Legs of the male black, with the knees
broadly and the base of the tarsi extensively orange; of the female
almost entirely orange, even the front femora being immaculate.

A rather doubtful and unsatisfactory species.

d . The following is the description of what I believe to be the male belonging to
the female subsequently described, but if S. rufipes lias the legs, as described
by Wahlberg, “ m utroque sexu totis rufo-testaceis,” it may be only the
description of a variation of the male of S. flavines.

Rather larger than ordinary S. flavipes , though some specimens of S.
flavipes may equal it. Frons bearing pale brownish yellow pubescence from
the vertex to near the upper ocelli.

Thorax almost wholly pale haired, the short dense pubescence being all
pale brownish tawny except that in some lights some obscurely blackish
hairs may with difficulty be detected on the middle hind part of the disc,
while all the longer hairs are of the same colour as the short pubescence even
though in some lights a few of them may appear to be black ; the short dense
pubescence seems to be rather more sloping than in S. flavipes. Scutellum
with most of its pubescence brownish tawny and with very few distinct
longer hairs, but certainly a few black hairs exist on the basal part of the disc.

Abdomen rather paler green, and when viewed from in front with the
short rich brownish-orange pubescence much more extensively spread over
the sides of the disc than in S. flavipes , so that only the middle quarter of the
second and third segments remains indefinitely green, while on the fourth
segment the brownish-orange pubescence occupies quite each side third and
vaguely extends along the incisures so that only about the middle third
remains somewhat circularly green ; the fifth and sixth segments have all the
sidemarginal pubescence pale brownish yellow..

Legs with the tiny pubescence on the tarsi black on only the blackened
part of the hind tarsi ; coxae blackish.

Wings with a rather more definite cloud about the stigma than in
S. flavipes.

$. Extremely like S. flavipes, but the front femora have no dark marking about
the middle. Pubescence shorter on the vertex (notably), frons, thorax, and
abdomen.

Abdomen more deep purple, and the short whitish pubescence less con¬
spicuous. Belly usually with a pale spot on the middle of the base of the
second segment.

Legs less rufous, being almost pale orange ; front femora without any
trace of darkening about the middle ; tip of the anterior tarsi very slightly,
if at all, darkened.

Wings more clouded than usual about the middle.

Length about 8-5 to 10-5 mm.

This species (if distinct) is very closely allied to S. flavipes, and it was
only the capture of four females in one day (July 27, 1897) which all
differed from S. flavipes by the immaculate front femora that attracted my
attention to it ; these four females were taken in the Forest of Dean on
July 27, 1897, and three days previously one very small female was
also caught there which confirmed their distinctness from S. flavipes. If I
have properly associated the male it has no doubt been always overlooked
as S. flavipes, but I was led to distinguish it first by noting it as a
remarkable variety of S. flavipes, and subsequently by suspecting that the
male of the Forest of Dean females would be very similar to the male of
S. flavipes ; I then found that the peculiar male had been taken by Dr J. H.
Wood at Cusop Dingle, which is in Herefordshire, on September 7, 1898,

M

178

STRATI0MYID7E

and that he had also taken a female there with the immaculate femora on
the previous July 27. I have made further notes on Wahl berg’s S. rufipes
in the synonymy below.

S. rufipes has occurred (as mentioned above) in the Forest of Dean in
Gloucestershire and at Cusop Dingle in Herefordshire, while I consider a
male as belonging to this species which was taken by Dr J. H. Wood at
Swillgrove in Herefordshire on September 17, 1897, and also a male
taken by Colonel Yerbury at The Mound in Sutherland on August 4, 1900,
and probably a male taken by myself at Coniston in Lancashire on July
19, 1876, a female taken by Mr C. J. Wainwright at Boscastle in Cornwall,
a female taken by Colonel Yerbury at Yalentia Island, Co. Kerry, on
August 10, 1901, a small male taken at Boat o’ Garten in Inverness
(possibly S. nitidus as it has the anterior tibiae obscurely tinged with
orange on the basal third), and a female in C. AY. Dale’s collection (now at
Oxford) labelled “Glanville’s AYootton, 8/8/91,” besides stray specimens
without history in the British Museum and in the old Babington collec¬
tion of the Cambridge Museum.

Synonymy. — The only record of S. rufipes is that of Wahlberg, who caught it on
the leaves of shrubs at Quickjock in Lapland on July 13, 1843 (lie described it in
1854); he professed to know both sexes, but if my recognition of it is correct he
could only have taken the female as he says “ pedibus in utroque sexu totis rufo-
“ testaceis — nec pedibus maris femoribus tibiarumque apice nigris ” ; the sexes in
Sargus are not conspicuously distinct, and I think Wahlberg may have made a
mistake in thinking that he had both sexes, especially as in the species which he
described at the same time ( Pachygaster orbitalis) he probably had both sexes while
he thought he had only the female. I am led to this conclusion by the fact that
Wahlberg’s species has remained unrecognised ever since, and it is curious that
Meigen in his original description made a similar mistake over Sargus flavipes ,
which however was quickly recognised whfen the species was found in numbers.
Zetterstedt’s diagnosis in Dipt. Scand., xii., 4558 (1855) is not an exact equivalent
of Wahlberg’s either in words or meaning, and it is almost certain that his Var. b. of
S. flavipes in Dipt. Scand., viii., 2964 (1849) refers to this species. It is however
possible that the species I have described as S. albibarbus ? may be the true male of
S. rufipes.

5. S. minimus Zetterstedt. Small species. Legs mainly orange in
both sexes. Wings without any definite cloud.

An unsatisfactory but possibly distinct small species.

J. Frons purplish, similar in shape and pubescence to that of S. flavipes , but the
whitish spots are large and obscure (immature?); vertex more brownish-
yellow haired ; back of the head as in S. flavipes.

Thorax purplish, with greenish reflections on the back part and on the
scutellum ; pubescence all pale brownish yellow unless there are some
indistinct blackish hairs on the middle hind part and on the middle basal
part of the scutellum ; the short pubescence on the front part of the thorax
appears to be more sloping than usual.

Abdomen (immature) brownish purple ; pubescence resembling that of
S. flavipes.

Legs all yellow with a slight brownish tinge ; last four joints of the front
and the last three of the middle tarsi obscured, and the last four joints of
the hind tarsi almost blackish above ; coxae, and front and hind trochanters,
brownish black, middle trochanters yellowish ; front femora slightly obscured
postero-ventrally ; middle tibiae slightly obscured about the tip.

Wings (immature) a little smoky ; membrane waved rather than ribbed,
Halteres with yellowish-white knobs.

7. SARGUS

179

9. Very much resembling the male. Frons broad, being fully a quarter the
width of the head ; ocelli equidistant, with the front one more than a third
down the frons ; white spots small but sharply defined, and when viewed in
profile this part of the frons is not much inflated but sufficiently for the white
spots to be conspicuous ; pubescence of frons whitish at the occiput, but thence
to the front ocellus rather long, black, and bent forwards, after which, as
far as the antennae, it is much shorter brown and upturned. ; face with dark
brown upturned pubescence, but the narrow sides of the mouth with short
whitish-grey pubescence, which becomes longer on the jowls ; pubescence on
the lower part of the back of the head pale but soon dying out and succeeded
by a shorter blackish ciliation, and the pubescence on the slightly inflated
shining black upper part by no means in a single line but rather dense
and fairly conspicuous, and at first glance appearing to be blackish, but when
seen from in front with a downward sloping view in a good light appearing
to be pale grey on at least the back part.

Thorax and scutellum brilliant green, with depressed whitish incon¬
spicuous pubescence.

Abdomen burnished coppery ; pubescence when seen from behind long
and broadly whitish at the sides of the three basal segments, but short and
brownish black on the last three segments except for a few whitish hairs at
the corners of the fourth segment. Lamellae of the ovipositor thin, three-
jointed, and black, with pale hairs.

Legs orange ; anterior femora with more than the middle half brownish
black to a rather undefined extent, and with the upper side of the middle
femora remaining indefinitely orange for nearly the basal half ; anterior tibiae
indefinitely blackish brown on the slightly dilated apical half except at the
extreme tip; front tarsi obscurely blackish except at just the base, middle
tarsi similar but with all the basal joint orange ; hind femora with a less
defined brown middle darkening which leaves the basal third obscurely,
and the apical third more distinctly, orange ; hind tibiae all brownish though the
basal half is more orange than the apical half ; hind tarsi brownish, but orange
just about the base. Pubescence behind the front femora very slight and pale.

Wings with a slight brownish tinge all about the middle which is diffused
outwards but which leaves the basal third of the wing more hyaline ; stigma
and all the end of the subcostal cell faintly blackish brown. Squama;
obscurely blackish. Halteres yellow.

Length about 6-5 mm.

This species is described from a male taken at Dolgelley on July 26,
and a female on July 24, 1888. I have seen a very similar female which
was taken by Miss M. A. Sharp at Milford-on-Sea in June 1904, which
however has the front femora black with only just the base and tip
orange, while the posterior femora and all the tibiae are only very slightly
obscured, though all the orange coloring of the legs is more obscure than
usual ; it also has the wings less generally infuscated, though the stigma
and the tip of the subcostal cell are rather conspicuously blackish. If
these specimens belong to the true S. minimus of Zetterstedt (of which he
knew only one male and two females) the species may have the legs
brown with all the knees and the basal joint of the posterior tarsi
(especially in the female), obscurely yellowish.

The absence of the postocular ciliation, which occurs in S. iridatus,
cuprarius, and nubeculosus, at once disposes of its being a small pale
variety of any one of them ; the size, besides other details, at once disposes
of S. bipunctatus and S. albiharbus, and therefore it must belong to the
S.flavipes group; from all the males of that group (as I understand them)
the much paler legs of S. minimus at once distinguish it, while the female
of S. minimus has more darkened legs than any of the other females. The
doubtful points about S. minimus are the small size and the possible

ISO

STRATIOMYIDJE

immaturity of the specimens, or else there would be no doubt about its
absolute specific distinctness.

5. minimtts must remain at present a very unsatisfactory species, but
it is a coincidence which may have a meaning, that I caught one of each
sex on almost the same day at Dolgelly, and many years afterwards saw
one female from a different locality, while Zetterstedt apparently caught
one of each sex in the same locality in his early days, and saw one female
afterwards from a different locality ; the fact of our each catching a pair
to begin with tends to indicate that it is a good species which may be very
rare or very local.

Synonymy. — .S'. minimus was described very insufficiently by Zetterstedt from
(probably) only three specimens (1<J 2?), but I am obliged to refer my specimens
to it as they agree in so many peculiarities, of which the small size is a striking one.
It appears to be doubtful whether any two of the described specimens have the legs
.piite similarly colored, but they all agree in having the legs of the male much paler
than in any allied species except S.Jlavipes and .S', rujipes, and on the other hand the
legs of the female are much darker than in either of those species. On the whole I
am disposed to consider it a good species.

6. S. nitidus Meigen. Small species. Legs black, with only the
knees orange. "Wings not at all clouded about the middle. Pubescence
on the middle of the disc of the thorax all black in the male. rSTo out¬
standing postocular ciliation.

A very unsatisfactory species, resembling, but quite distinct
from, a small S. iridatus.

Frons three to four times as wide at the antennae as at its narrowest part,
with a broad middle part bare and polished almost down to the unusually
small white spots ;. vertex not much wider than the narrowest part of the
frons, and all black haired except for a suspicion of pale hairs just against
the occiput ; ocelli rather high up, and the front one not much remote from
the other two ; lower part of the frons bulging ; pubescence on the frons
sloped as in S. iridatus, and on the face all black ; pubescence behind the eyes
long and greyish white on only the lower eighth, and on the rest with only a
short (very short on upper part) stubby black postocular ciliation almost as in
S.Jlavipes, but entirely without the outstanding whitish ciliation of S. iridatus.
Eye-facets inappreciably differing in size. Arista but little longer that the
antennae.

Thorax and scutellum brilliant green, rather densely punctate, clothed all
down the middle of the disc (except on the bare front part) with entirely
black (in some lights brownish-black) pubescence of two different lengths,
the long hairs being rather sparse and three or four times as long as the dense
short pubescence, but the sides for about a quarter of the disc on each side
bear brownish-yellow rather long pubescence for the whole length which is
best seen when viewed from in front ; pleurae with the usual large bare
polished space but otherwise with rather drooping brownish-yellow pubescence,
and with the usual more erect pale hairs near the humeri. Scutellum with
all black pubescence ; metanotum with brownish -yellow pubescence on its
lower part.

Abdomen brilliant green, but roughened and rather dulled down the
broad middle of the disc from the coarse dense punctuation ; pubescence on
the sides long and pale to the end of the third segment, but black, short,
stubby, and dense on all the disc, though longer and more conspicuous than
usual and more erect on especially the sides of the disc well away from the
middle, while a few pale hairs show on the basal comers of the fourth
segment ; sixth segment purplish and not much shining, curved under along

7. SARGUS

181

with the genitalia. Belly with short inconspicuous rather scarce pale
brownish-yellow pubescence on the three basal segments, _ but black and
denser elsewhere though very inconspicuous because so minute. Genitalia
black and large, the lateral plates being very large and nearly quadrate and
covering all the sides, but with small lamellae projecting from the end upper
corners.

Legs black ; knees rather conspicuously brownish orange and that colour
extending down about an eighth of the anterior, and a third (though
obscurely) of the hind, tibiae ; the usual dilatation of the apical half of the
anterior^ tibiae and the kink on the hind tibiae very _ slight. Pubescence
behind the anterior femora pale but slight, and very slight in front of the
hind femora.

Wings smoky, but without any sign of a cloud, though the stigma and the
costal space near are inconspicuously brownish. Squamae blackish with pale
brownish fringes, the thoracal pair being narrow club-shaped. Halteres pale
orange.

$ . Unknown or unrecognised.

Length about 7 mm.

This species is easily distinguished from S. iridatus and S. cuprarius
by the absence of any outstanding long whitish postocular ciliation, as well
from S. nubeculosus which also has that ciliation but has it black in the
male ; the black legs distinguish it from S. bipunctatus, S. alMbarbus, and
S. minimus, while the absence of any trace of golden pubescence on the
disc of the abdomen distinguishes it from S. rufipes and to a certain extent
from S. flavipes. S. albibarbus, flavipes, rufipes, minimus, and nitidus have
a common type of frons, which is broader than in the other species, and
has a broad bare shining middle part extending from the front ocellus to
near the white frontal spots, and as all these species also do not have the
outstanding postocular pubescence of 8. cuprarius, etc., they form a natural
group. If S. nitidus (as interpreted by me) is not a good species it must
fall under S. flavipes, and a specimen taken by Mr C. G. Lamb at Whittles-
ford in Cambridgeshire in July 1903 exhibits a tendency that way, as it has
the sides of the abdomen with pale pubescence to the end of the fourth
segment extending rather obscurely on to the disc about the hind
corners of the segments and even a little on to the disc of the basal
segments but not showing any reddish-orange colour, while the stubby
black pubescence on the disc is not so apparent but is very dense on the
disc of the fourth and fifth segments ; this specimen also has the basal
third of the anterior tibiae orange and the tip faintly so, nearly the basal
half of the hind tibiae and the base of the hind and middle tarsi brownish
orange, and the brownish stigma and space near more blackish.

8. nitidus is a very little known species, or may represent only
small dark specimens of other species. My main description has been
made from a very distinct-looking specimen which was taken by Dr J. H.
Wood at Tram Inn in Herefordshire on July 15, 1903, while I have referred
to a rather similar male which was taken about the same time by Mr C.
G. Lamb at Whittlesford in Cambridgeshire. I have also seen a very well-
marked male which was taken by Rev. W. J. Wingate at Hesleden in
Durham on August 13, 1900, but a small male taken at Boat o’ Garten in
Inverness is in my opinion a specimen of 8. rufipes.

Synonymy. — It is just possible tliat S. nitidus is only a small dark variation of S.
flavipes , but it seems to have occurred in localities where S. flavipes unknown. It
is also possible that the original S. nitidus of Meigen is quite distinct and founded

182

SPRATIOMYIDJE

on small female specimens of S. iridatus , and tlie types in Meigen’s collection at
Paris confirm that view, which is also the view taken by Lundbeck. Time and
more specimens may clear up the doubts.

7. S. nulbeculosus Zetterstedt. Small. Legs mainly black, but with
the knees orange. Wings distinctly clouded about the middle. Postocular
outstanding ciliation of the male black on all the lower part.

A very unsatisfactory species, which may possibly be only a
small dark variety of S. cuprarius.

J . Small, but otherwise very similar to S. cuprarius. Frons with the two white
spots small but rather sharply defined ; pubescence greyish Avhite from the
vertex to the upper ocelli ; back of the head ivith an outstanding ciliation as in
S. cuprarius, but all black except just behind the vertex ; this ciliation is quite
distinct from the short stubby black postocular ciliation which occurs in most
of the species of Sargus, and proves its relationship to S. cuprarius and S.
iridatus which have a similar but all-white outstanding ciliation ; the short
stubby black postocular ciliation is not so dense as in S. cuprarius.

Thorax with entirely pale greyish- white pubescence as in S. cuprarius.

Abdomen with the pubescence on the sides of the fourth and fifth segments
all black except on the extreme basal corners of the fourth segment.

Legs black, with the knees narrowly but obviously orange ; in one
specimen (Cambridge) the hind knees are not more extensively orange than
the anterior, but in another (Musselburgh) the base of the hind tibiae is
obscurely orange for a short distance ; hind tarsi not at all orange at their
base.

Wings slightly smoky, with a distinct blackish cloud about the middle as
in S. cuprarius. Squamae very much blackened ; thoracal pair very narrow,
club-shaped.

$ . Very similar to the male, and scarcely differing from the female of S. cuj)rarius
except in size. It is supposed to differ from S. cuprarius by the hind tarsi
being black to the very base, but I possess several very small individuals in
which the hind tarsi are as orange about the base as any S. cuprarius, and on
the other hand some undoubted specimens of S. cuprarius in which the hind
tarsi are entirely black.

Length about 7 mm.

This species needs comparison with only S. cuprarius, of which it may
be a small dark variety.

S. nubeculosus is apparently very little known in the male sex ; a pair
were sent to me by Mr W. Evans which were taken by him at Levenhall
quarry, Musselburgh, on July 29, 1901, and Mr F. Jenkinson took a male
in his garden at Cambridge on July 7, 1904; I have seen probable females
from Sussex, Surrey, Suffolk (a few specimens in my own garden, including
two on one day), and Monmouth. My dates extend from July 2 to
August 14. It is recorded from Scandinavia to Austria.

Since writing the foregoing I found some Sargi in numbers at Newnham,
Cambridge, on August 3, 1906, and seeing them with infuscated wings and
apparently of various sizes I thought I should clear up all doubts, but to
my surprise a subsequent examination showed that I had taken a male
and female of true S. cuprarius, and four smaller males, which all had
the outstanding ciliation behind the eyes black except on tbe upper part
and which also had the hind tarsi hardly pale at the base ; these specimens
therefore tend towards proving the distinctness of the species.

7. SARGUS

183

Synonymy. — All authors who have mentioned this species agree in its close
relationship (except in size) to S. cuprarius, and it is therefore most probable that
all references to it are correct. The representatives of S. nubecvlosus in Bigot’s
collection were ordinary S. cuprarius , and it was evident that he had failed to
distinguish even S. cuprarius and S. iridatus.

8. S. cuprarius Linne. Legs black, with the knees distinctly orange.
Wings with a conspicuous dark cloud about the middle extending across
the discal cell. Postocular outstanding ciliation all whitish.

Very closely allied to S. iridatus, but distinguished at once
by the dark cloud on the wings, and by the more conspicuously
pale knees and base of hind tarsi.

3 . Resembling S. iridatus , but slightly smaller ; frons (fig. 137) more extensively
greyish, white haired down to the front ocellus, and the white side-spots just
above the antennae usually but not invariably less sharply defined and even
indistinctly united across the frons when they are not sharply defined ;
middle part of the frons more bare and polished. Eyes in life bright
bronze on the upper two-fifths and bright green on the lower three-fifths with
a dark blue intermediate band which shades off through violet and purple to
the bronze part and through light blue to the green part ; the dark blue band
starts in front just above the white frontal spot and continues right through
to the back (Lundbeck says this band is placed lower down than in S.
iridatus) ; facets all almost equal in size.

Thorax with inconspicuous lighter (almost whitish), grey pubescence which
is less distinctly divided into two lengths.

Abdomen less dulled by dense punctuation ; pubescence down the hinder
half of the sides of the fourth and fifth segments more black, or even all
the sides of the fifth segment black haired. Genitalia smaller and less
protruded, and the upper elongate lamellae less hairy.

Legs with the knees more broadly orange, extending sometimes indis¬
tinctly to the basal third of the anterior and the basal half (or even more) of
the hind tibiae, but sometimes only to the basal sixth of the anterior tibiae
and even less of the hind tibia: except for the extension on the upper side ;
and with usually the basal half of the basal joint of the hind tarsi orange,
though sometimes this is imperceptible, while occasionally just the base of
the middle tarsi is orange.

Wings with a conspicuous dark cloud about the middle, which extends
from the blackened stigma and its costal neighborhood across both ends of
the discal cell to the fork of the postical vein, and down the stem and along
the lower branch of the postical vein, while both basal cells are faintly clouded
on their apical quarter. Thoracal squamae perhaps longer, thinner, and
darker. Halteres much more whitish.

$ . F rons slightly broader than in S. iridatus , and the two white spots less
sharply defined and more extended (though sometimes vaguely) across the
frons so that in some lights they almost meet ; front ocellus placed at more
than half-way from the vertex to the white spots ; pubescence on the upper
part of the frons distinctly white down to the front ocellus ; pubescence on
the upper mouth-edge whiter ; postocular black fringe absent.

Thorax with the point of the humeri yellowish, and sometimes the upper
margin of the mesopleurae indistinctly and narrowly pale.

Legs as in the male.

Wings with the cloud about the middle browner than in the male but
more accentuated, because the rest of the wing is more hyaline and the cloud
extends vaguely right across the wing ; subcostal vein rather more yellowish.
Halteres whitish yellow.

Length about 8-5 to 10-5 mm.

184

STRATIOMYID.E

This species is closely allied to S. iridatus, but is at once distinguished
by the obvious cloud about the middle of the wing which envelops the
discal cell ; it is curious that some females taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Porthcawl in June 1906 have the dark blotch on the wings enlarged and
intensified in a similar manner to the blackening noticed on the wings of
three species of Beris taken at the same time. If S. nubeculosus is a good
species it is still more closely allied, and S. cuprarius is apparently only
distinguished by its larger size and in the male by the white postocular
fringe ; it is however possible that S. nubeculosus is only a small dark form
of S. cuprarius.

S. cuprarius is said to be the most widely spread European species and
is recorded from Scandinavia to Italy and from North America; but I
have not found it so common as S. iridatus, and my records only include
Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire,
Warwickshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, Durham, and Glamorgan, though
old records included Somerset, Dumfries, and Edinburgh, and Duncan
quoted from Haliday “ common in Ireland.” It is a garden species like
its two close allies, but also occurs in shrubby lanes and small woods,
where it is fond of sitting on large leaves in the hot sunshine. My dates
extend from June 6 to September 29. Westwood bred this species from
garden mould, and Beling from decomposing heaps of rotting weeds, but
Bremi said he bred it from cow-dung and Dufour from ulcers in elms.

Synonym y. — No real doubt lias ever been attached to Linne’s Musca cupraria ,
though many old writers failed to thoroughly recognise the distinctness of S.
iridatus. Loew’s two varieties, robustus and gracilis , noted in his Bemerkungen —
Posener (1840) are probably both S. iridatus , or at any rate his robustus is perfectly
normal S. iridatus , while his gracilis with “ Augen mit Binde ” and “ 2f" ” and
“ Fliigel glasartig mit dunkelem Randmale, darunter nur wenig gebraunt ” may apply
to a small form of S. iridatus or to the male of S. flavipes ; it is quite certain that
they are unimportant varieties or else Loew would have mentioned them in his
paper on Sargus in 1855. I possess a copy of Loew’s Bemerkungen with numerous
MS. notes which I believe were made by Loew himself, especially as “ adde pallipes ”
occurs in black ink against the list of species of Sargus , and no Sargus was called
'pallipes except by Loew himself in mistake for S. flavipes in his paper on Sargus
in 1855, while alongside of the notes on S. cuprarius is added in red ink (which
proves that it was written at a different time) a further note that S. flavipes had
been mixed up by him with S. cuprarius in probably his smaller variety.

9. S. iridatus Scopoli. Legs black, with only just the knees ferrugin¬
ous. Wings without any special dark cloud about the middle.

A brilliantly shining blue-green fly of elongate shape.

$ . Head considerably wider than the thorax, and when viewed from in front
rather wider than deep, and when viewed in profile very little deeper than
long. Face small, blackish, and its abundant pubescence mainly blackish but
pale on the lower part, and this pubescence is slightly upturned except close
against the eyes ; the mouth-opening reaches more than half-way up the face
and the facial pubescence is very slight and sliort along the narrow margins
until almost round the lower margin of the eye, but all the way up
the back of the head (which is hollowed out) there is a long outstanding
yellowish-wliite rather conspicuous ciliation (and by outstanding it is
meant that this ciliation points directly backward at a right angle to the
head) and in front of this whitish ciliation is an inconspicuous short black
ciliation close against the hindmargin of the eye. Frons shining green,
gradually diminishing in width from the vertex to the middle, where it is
about half as wide as at the vertex, and then gradually increasing in width

7. SARGUS

185

down to tlie antennae, where it is rather wider than at the vertex ; there is a
small but conspicuous white spot against each eye a little above the antennae,
and the space between these spots is obscurely brownish ; the frons has no
bare polished space down its middle, but bears all over rather abundant
moderately long pubescence, which is brownish
about the vertex but blackish below, or is all
brown, and which slopes forward on the upper
part until after the ocelli, but is almost erect
but slightly sloping upwards on the lower half ;
ocelli placed at some distance from the vertex
and the front one, which is remote from the
other two, placed at nearly half-way between
the vertex and the white spots ; frons a little
elevated above the level of the eyes on the lower
quarter ; proboscis orange. Eyes bare ; facets
only gradually and inconspicuously diminishing
in size towards the back and lower parts ; in life
the iridescent band lies (according to Lundbeck)
above the middle of the eye with its end thus reaching the frons somewhat
above the white spot. Antennas short, dull blackish ; basal joint with
short black bristly hail's ; second joint similar, but with longer hairs on its
upper side ; third joint as deep as long, bare and only indistinctly annulated,
with the last annulation longer than the others and bearing at its dorsal
base a long thin arista, which is twice as long as the antennae and which
bears two or three plumose hairs close to its base.

Thorax and scutellum brilliant green or blue green, rather sparsely though
not very finely punctate, clothed on the disc with inconspicuous though fairly
abundant almost erect pale brownish-yellow pubescence, which forms a
slight crest near the front of the thorax, and which is formed of hairs of
inconspicuously different lengths, the short rather denser pubescence being
about half the length of the longer pubescence ; pleurae more bluish black,
polished and bare on all the middle and upper parts of the mesopleurae, but
bearing rather long sloping whitish-yellow pubescence on the rest, and with a
few rather long pale hairs near the humeri.

Abdomen shining purplish or purplish green, but ranging (in immature
specimens) to greenish brown, rather dulled by dense punctuation, some¬
what club-shaped, as it gradually increases in width from the base to beyond
the middle of the fourth segment, after which it gradually decreases to near
the end of the fifth segment and then curves round sharply to the end of^ the
fifth segment ; sixth segment scarcely half so wide as the end of the fifth,

Fig. 139. — Sargus iridatus

6- x 14.

bluish black. Pubescence pale, erect, and not scarce about the sides, longer
about the basal corners, but very short, very dense, rather depressed, and
black on all the disc. Belly shining black, with universal not short but
rather sloping whitish pubescence. Genitalia black, rather conspicuously
protruded from the small sixth segment, and showing a pair of elongate fringed
black dorso-lateral lamellae and several lateral plates.

Legs dull black, with the extreme knees inconspicuously ferruginous ;
dilatation of the apical half of the front tibiae and the kink just below the
middle of the hind tibiae slight. Pubescence slight, but there is little pale
fringe behind the anterior, and in front of the hind, femora.

Wings (fig. 140) suffused all over with a brownish tinge, and with the
stigma and the subcostal space above and near it distinctly pale brown ; second

186

STRATIOMYIDiE

veinlet from tlie cliscal cell ratlier strong, the first one being faint and the third
one obsolete or incomplete. Alar squamae small, brown, with moderately long
pale fringes ; thoracal squamae almost concealed, club-shaped, rather yellowish
brown, and with long pale broAvnish-yellow pubescence all over. Halteres
dull yellowish brown.

9. Very much like the male. Frons shining blue green, at the vertex about
one-fifth the width of the head but narrowing from there to the ocelli, and
then it is almost parallel-sided down to the pair of conspicuous white spots,
after which it gradually widens until it is about as wide at the antennae as
at the vertex ; pubescence greyish from the vertex to the upper ocelli, but
black and nearly erect after them, and absent on and below the wdiite spots ;
below the ocelli the rather narrow middle part is bare and polished down to
the white spots but the sides are widely pubescent ; in profile the frons begins
to be elevated much before the white spots and thence to the antennae, and
the face bulges out a little ; face slightly wider than the frons and with
parallel sides, and bearing longer and denser pubescence which is outstanding
and not upturned ; back of the head very shallow and scarcely visible in
profile, but with a rim behind the eyes on the lower part of which is a short
black ciliation pointed forwards, and behind this a long conspicuous out¬
standing whitish fringe all the way down. Antennae slightly longer than in
the male.

Thorax and scutellum brilliant green, bearing short whitish pubescence
composed of moderately sparse nearly erect hairs and dense shorter sloping
pubescence ; pleurae with longer and more conspicuous whitish pubescence
except on the bare polished part of the mesopleurse ; metanotum with
upturned hairs on its lower part.

Abdomen purplish ; ovipositor with a pair of protruded jointed terminal
lamellae which very much resemble those of the male except that they are
longer and thinner ; pubescence on the disc very inconspicuous, being com¬
posed of very short dense adherent rusty black bristles, but all about on the
sides sloping, whitish, and short except at the sides of the two or three
basal segments.

Legs as in the male.

Wings very similar to those of the male, but paler about the basal third.

Length about 8 to 10 mm. • Becker gives f as 7 to 11 mm., 9 6 to 11 mm.

This species is distinguished from all the European species except S.
cuprarius and S. nubeculosus by the remarkable outstanding white postocular
fringe, while it is distinguished from those two by the absence of the
conspicuous cloud on the middle of the wings and by the more narrowly
ferruginous knees. It is very easily distinguished with the naked eye,
but not so easily by the lens, though the more darkened pubescence on
the upper part of the frons is a good character. These species may
probably be distinguished from the S. jlavipes group by the banding of the
eyes in life, but I have not been able to test this character.

S. iridatus is rather common though seldom abundant, and appears to
be very widely spread over Britain as I have numerous records from
Penzance to Golspie, and also from several Irish localities. My dates
extend from May 15 to August 15. It is recorded from all Europe.

Synonymy. — This species lias been commonly known as S. infuscatus Meig., but
Walker in 1851 resurrected Scopoli’s name of S. iridatus , which is probably correct
and of course has priority, though why Schiner after adopting iridatus in 1855
reverted to inf uscatus in 1862 is unintelligible. It is perhaps as well that Scopoli’s
name was revived, as otherwise the obvious synonym of Musca indicus of Moses
Harris (1782) might have claimed priority. In the synonymical notes under
S. cuprarius I have called attention to Loew’s var. robustus being obviously, and his
var. gracilis probably, varieties of S. iridatus , which was evidently a species which
he had not recognised in 1840.

8. CHLOROMYIA

187

8. CHLOROMYIA.

Chloromyia Duncan, Mag. Zool. Bot., i., 146, 164 (1837).

Moderate-sized brilliantly shining green flies, stouter than
Sargus but more elongate than Microchrysa , and differing from
both by the densely hairy eyes.

Head wide, being slightly wider than the thorax and also much wider than deep ;
face small but inflated and conspicuously hairy ; jowls small ; back of the head
hardly hollowed out ; vertex raised and rather conspicuously pubescent. Eyes
densely hairy, touching for a considerable distance in the
male and with enlarged facets in that sex on the upper
part, but widely separated and with equal facets in the
female. Antennae (fig. 141) rather long; third joint with J? /
four distinct annulations, of which the three basal ones
form nearly equal rings, but the fourth one is very much
smaller and emits from its extreme dorsal base the long
thin arista, which is therefore not quite apical and which is Fig. in.—

slightly plumose about its thickened base. Chloromyia formosa 9. x 20.

Thorax subquadrate, rather longer than broad, and very
slightly widening from the front to the back, rather densely pubescent, but not
enough to obscure the brilliant ground colour.

Abdomen rather broad, being about twice as long as broad in the male, but
broader and shorter in the female.

Legs simple, just as in Sargus.

Wings with a Sargus-Wke venation, but the apparent two upper branches of the
cubital vein much fainter, the cubital cell shorter because the cubital vein is less
arched, the third veinlet from the discal cell fainter and less complete, the discal
cell less produced at the emission of the upper veinlet, and the lower cross -vein
shorter. Thoracal squamae forming an almost circular disc.

This genus is easily distinguished from any other of the Sargince in
Europe by its densely pubescent eyes; it is also distinguished from Sargus
by the eyes of the male touching on the frons, by the broader shape, and
by the more elongate antennse (fig. 142) which have the third joint by no
means globular and with three distinct almost equal annulations which
are followed by the small terminal one; from Microchrysa it is distin¬
guished by the larger size, densely hairy eyes, more elongate shape, and
differently formed third antennal joint on which the arista is more
apical.

Chloromyia is limited to the two closely allied European species and
one from the Cape of G-ood Hope, as I believe the North American S.
viridis to be a true Sargus of which S. frontalis Lw. (which was described
subsequently from Europe), is a probable synonym, while Walker’s S.
sapphirinus from “East Indies” requires confirmation. The larva of
C. formosa lives in garden mould and has been bred from Brassica rctpa,
while the perfect insect is common in gardens and is fond of sunning itself
on leaves.

Synonymy. — The first attempt at dividing the genus Sargus as restricted by
Meigen was made by Macquart, who in 1834 formed a genus Chrysomyia for the com¬
bined genera Chloromyia and Microchrysa; in 1837 Duncan, in ignorance of
Macquart’s genus, formed a precisely equivalent genus Chloromyia , but Macquart’s
name was inadmissible because Desvoidy had in 1830 already proposed a genus
Chrysomyia in the Muscidae and consequently Duncan’s name must stand. It is
fortunate that Osten Sacken rescued Duncan's name from oblivion, as his lit.tle-

188

STRATIOMYIDiE

known paper on British Diptera contained really excellent work, and it was most
unfortunate that it came to such a premature end ; Duncan founded his genus upon
the character of the ovate third antennal joint, but as his figure and the first species
of his genus refer to C. formosa that species may well be considered to be his type.
In 1854 Loew separated off Microchrysa for the small almost bare-eyed species, but
still retained Macquart’s name of Chrysomyia for C .formosa, and very soon after (1856)
Rondani suggested the name of Clorisoma for the same as Loew’s Microchrysa and
distinguished the hairy-eyed ones again as Chrysomyia , but in 1861 he proposed the
name of Myochrysa in substitution of the preoccupied Chrysomyia. We have there¬
fore Chrysomyia Macquart and Myiochrysa Rend, as exact synonyms of Chloromyia,
and Clorisoma (subsequently altered in 1861 to Chlorosia ) as an exact synonym
of Microchrysa. Rondani’s name Myiochrysa is retained in Aldrich’s Catalogue of
North American Diptera (1905) for M. ccerulea Bigot, but the original type of Bigot’s
species seems to me to be only a small Sargus viridis.

1. C. formosa Scopoli. Brilliant green. Face with yellowish pubescence
on at any rate the lower part. Tarsi altogether blackish.

A moderate-sized handsome pubescent green fly.

f . Head kidney-shaped when seen from above, because the large eyes curve back
from the vertex and the neck is long ; when seen from in front the head is
about one and a half times broader than deep, and when seen in profile it is
very little deeper than long. Frons and face shining blue-black ; frons small
and bearing long and rather dense black, or grey -black, or sometimes on the
front part pale, pubescence ; face considerably bulging, gradually widening
to fully one-third of the head at the lower level of the eyes and curving round
to the small jowls, bearing long and rather dense pubescence which is usually
all pale dull yellowish or is sometimes black on the upper part (when the frons
is wholly black haired), and this pale pubescence extends along under the
eyes but hardly to the back of the head ; back of the head distinctly puffed
out on the lower part but practically flush with the eyes on the upper part,
bearing a short dense blackish pubescence which on the upper part forms only
a very short but very close ciliation ; vertex raised, black, and bearing a rather
long dense yellowish pubescence. Eyes large, touching for more than a third
of the space between the occiput and the antennae ; facets large on the upper
part, and though the distinction from the smaller facets on the lower part is
rather sudden it is not very sharply defined ; the eyes bear a long dense
blackish -brown pubescence all over except quite close to the upper and
hind margins, and in life are colored almost as in the female but with the cross¬
band nearer the middle. Antennae (fig. 141) long; two basal joints black and
bearing rather conspicuous black bristly hairs ; basal joint almost cylindrical,
thinner but longer than the second ; third joint bare, dull dark orange to
blackish brown, and with three distinct fairly equal annulations and one small
terminal one, and from the dorsal base of this small terminal one arises the
apparently almost apical arista ; arista about as long as the antennae, slightly
and shortly plumose on its thickened basal quarter, and then tapering to a
fine point.

Thorax and scutellum shining blue-green, thickly and finely punctate, and
bearing a rather dense nearly erect dull pale brownish-yellow pubescence, or to
speak more correctly there is a very dense short pubescence and a sparser long
pubescence which is about four times as long (especially noticeable on the
scutellum), and the result is that the shining ground colour is but little
obscured ; pubescence on the pleurae rather long and pale yellow, or sometimes
blackish on the upper part of the mesopleurae, while veiy little of the middle
part of the mesopleurae is bare and polished though there is a space for the
reception of the front femora.

Abdomen brightly shining green, nearly twice as long as the thorax but
broader and flatter, almost equally wide from the hind part of the second to the
end of the fourth segment, but the fifth segment is short and forms a flatfish
semicircle, and the sixth segment is very small being only about a third as wide
as the base of the fifth segment. Pubescence dense, short, equal, and orange

8. CHLOROMYIA

189

all over, and appearing conspicuous wlien viewed sideways ; sloping but
hardly adpressed unless on the middle of the disc. Belly black, and bearing
obvious though not at all dense decumbent orange pubescence. Genitalia
blackish, conspicuous though small, exserted from about the middle third of
the sixth abdominal segment and ending in a pair of small lamellae.

Legs dull brownish black, with nearly the apical fourth of the femora and
the basal third of the tibiae reddish orange. Pubescence slight and all pale
yellow except for the longer black hairs at the end of the tarsi near the claws.
Pulvilli dull orange ; claws black, but orange at the base.

Wings greyish hyaline but strongly tinged with brownish orange ; stigma
indistinct, but the discal cross-vein and the cross-veins ending the discal
cell slightly darkened ; extreme base of the wing blackened. Alar squamae
inconspicuous, obscure glassy brown with very short whitish marginal fringes ;
thoracal squamae brownish, forming an almost circular disc, and with long
brownish-yellow pubescence all over. Halteres reddish orange, but the stem
sometimes pale yellow.

$ . Bather broader, barer, and greener than the male. Frons shining black and
occupying fully one-third the width of the head, very finely and rather sparsely
punctate : the triangular depression which contains the equidistant ocelli is
continued, as a narrow channel down the frons to another triangular depression
just above the antennse ; sides of the frons almost parallel down to the an ten me,
and all the frons with inconspicuous but not scarce rather short pale greyish
pubescence. Face rather short, but continued by moderately broad eye-
margins under the eyes round to the jowls and back of the head, and on these
lower sidemargins of the face there is a longer pale pubescence which con¬
trasts with the rather shorter and mainly black pubescence on the somewhat
bulging disc of the face ; jowls small and bearing similar pale pubescence to
that on the sides of the mouth ; back of the head shining black and almost
impunctate, broad all the way up and decidedly broad above the middle until
it is (at the top corners of the eyes) nearly a quarter the length of the head,
and with short pale pubescence behind the polished part. Eyes with slightly
shorter pubescence than in the male ; in life brownish purple on the upper
third and dull coppery green on the lower part with a peacock-hued (dark
blue, light blue, and green) intermediate band, which becomes widened and
less defined towards the back of the eye. Antennas as in the male, or with
the third joint more dull blackish.

Thorax with the pubescence all pale and all short, but less dense and
consequently leaving the thorax rather more brilliant ; the bare part of the
mesopleurae is more distinct.

Abdomen broader and shorter than in the male, being only about one and
a quarter times longer than broad, brilliant purplish on the disc but green at
the sides, densely punctate, and bearing a minute inconspicuous pubescence.
Ovipositor ending in a pair of small black lamellae almost as in the male.

Legs very similar to those of the male.

Wings perhaps slightly paler than in the male. Squamae and halteres as
in the male.

Length about 9 mm.

This species has no close ally in Britain as the densely hairy eyes
distinguish it at once from all our Sargince, but there is a widely dis¬
tributed continental species, C. speciosa Macq. ( = melampogon Zell.) which
is very closely allied, but which has the pubescence black on the whole of
the face, and which also has the wings more blackish tinged and the
posterior tarsi yellowish.

C.formosa is very common in Britain, and I have innumerable records
from Penzance to Golspie and the Orkneys, while I have records from
several Irish localities. My dates extend only from May 13 to July 31,
and it is mainly a June species. It is common in gardens where it
suns itself on the leaves of plants, and it has been bred from the common

190

ST R AXIOM Y I D .E

cabbage ( Brassica rapa). It is recorded from almost all Europe, while
G. speciosa seems to be confined to Central Europe.

Synonymy. — Scopoli’s description (1763) is quite distinct enough, the only point
which could raise a doubt being “ Alse hyalinse,” and ever since 1817 his name has
been universally accepted, except that Loew described a Sargus azureus, which he him¬
self suspected of being a mere variation in 1840 and which he suppressed altogether
in 1855. There can be no doubt but that Musca cicur of Moses Harris is a synonym.

9. MICROCHRYSA.

Microchrysa Loew, Verh. zool.-bot., Wien, v., 146 (1855).

Small broad brilliantly shining green flies.

Head broader than the thorax; face small and not bulging, inconspicuously
pubescent ; jowls very small ; back of the head hollowed out in the male but with
an eye-collar in the female ; vertex rather elevated ; ocelli equidistant. Eyes
practically bare, touching for a long distance in the male, and in that sex with the
facets on the upper part conspicuously enlarged, but widely separated and the facets
all equal in the female. Antennae (fig. 143) moderate in length ■ basal joint small ;
second joint cup-shaped, much broader than the basal joint ; third joint large, and
with four distinct annotations, and bearing the long thin arista just above its tip.

Thorax longer than broad, but very slightly increasing in width towards the land
part : pubescence dense but short and inconspicuous ; mesopleune with a bare
polished space on the front part.

Abdomen short broad ovate, very little longer than broach

Legs simple, or with the tibiae slightly dilated on the apical half.

Wings (fig. 142) with the true Sargus venation, in which the radial vein appears

to be the first of two forks from the cubital vein ; stigma distinct though pale and
sharply margined by the radial and subcostal veins ; cubital vein not in the least
arched and consequently the cubital cell short ; cliscal vein very faint before the
cliscal cell ; veinlets from the discal cell more widely rayed out than in Sargus, fainter
and less complete, the middle one being the strongest ; the wings being altogether
broader than in Sargus cause all the three basal cells (especially the anal cell) to be
much broader in comparison. Squamse (alar) with a short marginal fringe;
thoracal pair forming an ovate disc which has a long conspicuous fringe and is
pubescent all over.

This genus may easily be known by its small size, short broad abdomen,
and bare eyes which touch in the male for a considerable space.

Microchrysa is composed of a few closely allied species which occur in
Europe, South Asia, Africa (Caffraria), and both North and South America,
while our common M. polita has a very wide distribution in Europe and
North America. The larvae are related to those of Sargus and live in cow-
dung or decaying vegetable matter, and the perfect insects frequent
gardens.

Synonymy. — I have dealt with the generic names of Ghrysomyia Macq. and
Chloromyia Dune, in the synonymical notes under Chloromyia, and have there
proved that Rondani's genus Clorisoma (which he subsequently changed to

9. MICROCHRYSA

191

Chlorosia) is exactly synonymous with Microchrysa Loew, though I might have
added that M. polita is the type of Microchrysa and M. paUipes ( =Jlavicornis) is the
type of Chlorosia , but I do not think that these two species will ever be genencally
separated.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Antennae and legs mainly blackish. 1 polita.

2 (1) Antennae and legs mainly yellowish ; smaller species.

3 (4) Abdomen in both sexes and frons of female brilliant greenish.

2 flavicornis.

4 (3) Abdomen in both sexes and frons of female shining blackish.

3 cyaneiventris.

1. M. polita Linin'*. Antennae not at all yellowish at the base. Legs
mainly blackish.

A common small bright green fly.

d . Frons triangular, rather small, shining black, and bearing short rather dense
decumbent pale pubescence except on the depressed middle channel. Face
small, almost flat, shining green, and bearing fairly abundant but incon¬
spicuous slightly upturned pale pubescence ; the narrow sides of the mouth
and the very small jowls with a very short pale ciliation ; back of the head
so much hollowed out that it is not visible at all in profile ; vertex rather
raised, shining blackish green, and bearing very short blackish pubescence ;

Sroboscis brownish orange to blackish ; palpi small but just visible, blackish.

yes large, appearing to touch for a long distance but actually the vertical
triangle extends down a long way in a narrow point as is usually evidenced
by its short blackish pubescence ; the eyes are bare, but the facets on the
larger upper part are considerably larger than those on the smaller lower part,
and the contrast is so abrupt and conspicuous across the eye as to leave the
upper part slightly bulging. Antennae small, dull dark brownish ; two basal
joints with short brown bristly hairs ; third joint with four indistinct annula-
tions ; arista not quite apical, thin, and longer than the antennae.

Thorax and scutellum all brilliant green, with usually a shade of blue,
thickly but finely punctate, and clothed all over the disc with extremely
dense but very short erect black pubescence, but towards the sides the
pubescence becomes rather longer, softer, and greyish ; the pubescence in
spite of its density does not affect the brilliancy of the ground colour ;
pubescence on the pleurae slightly longer and pale brownish yellow, but there
is a large bare depressed polished space on the front part of the mesopleurae
for the reception of the front femora.

Abdomen brilliant green but not quite so bright as the thorax and usually
with a less bluish tint, slightly wider than the thorax and about as long, being
rather longer than broad; disc of the second, third, and fourth segments
densely and coarsely punctate and bearing an extremely dense very short
black (in side-lights greyish) pubescence, and consequently the brightness on
this part is diminished, but on the basal segments there is a longer pale
brownish inconspicuous pubescence ; the bright sides and the fifth segment
are less punctate and bear a rather sparse tiny pubescence which is more or
less obviously pale. Belly bright blackish green, all punctate, and bearing
very short inconspicuous pale pubescence. Genitalia dull orange, protruding
from about the middle sixth of the end of the fifth abdominal segment, and
bearing a pair of short orange upper lamellae.

Legs mainly blackish ; coxae and trochanters tipped with brownish orange ;
all femora orange at the tip (front pair broadly), and the anterior tibiae all
orange except usually for a large obscurely darkened splash on most of the
apical three-fifths (least distinct on the front tibiae) ; hind tibiae orange about
the basal quarter and at the extreme tip ; all tarsi orange, with the last four

192

STRATIOMYIDAE

joints obscurely darkened above ; all tibiae slightly dilated on the apical half.
Pubescence all very inconspicuous and nearly all pale yellow. Pulvilli dirty
pale yellow ; claws blackish.

Wings very slightly smoky, with the stigma sharply defined though only
yellowish ; veins about the base brownish orange, and the outer veins not so
faint as in the other species of the genus ; discal vein exceedingly faint up
to the discal cell. Squamae (alar) rather small, obscure glassy, with darkened
margins which bear a short dark fringe ; thoracal squamae forming an ovate
disc which is blackish with a slight tinge of orange, and which bears blackish
or greyish-black pubescence all over though most conspicuously so on the
marginal fringe. Halteres large, orange.

?•

Similar to the male in general appearance. Frons fully two-fifths the width
of the head, brilliant green and practically bare but moderately punctate ;
frons and face very slightly narrowing from the vertex to the mouth, and
while the pubescence on the frons is very sparse that on the face is distinct
and pale though short and inconspicuous ; near the vertex there is a depressed
elongate triangular space extending from the ocelli about
half-way down the frons and continued as a narrow
middle furrow as far as the antennae ; back of the head
all puffed out, rather narrowly on the lower part but
becoming wide on the upper part, and forming a brilliant
green eye-collar which rounds off on to the frons. Eyes
smaller and the facets all equal. Antennae (fig. 143) with
the third joint larger and more distinctly annulated.

Thorax and scutellum sometimes more purplish, and
bearing all over a very short pale inconspicuous though

Fig. 143. — Microchrysa
polita ? . x 30.

dense pubescence.

Abdomen sometimes brilliant purple, shorter than the thorax and as
broad as long, not so distinctly punctate as in the male, and bearing only
very short inconspicuous grey pubescence and consequently more brilliantly
shining. Ovipositor with a pair of rather long thin jointed blackish-orange
lamellae.

Legs usually darker than in the male, even to the basal joints of the tarsi
and the more restricted orange tips of the front femora, but the front tibiae
are often almost entirely orange.

Wings slightly more hyaline than in the male, and the stigma only pale
greyish yellow. Thoracal squamae almost as black as in the male, but with
rather greyer fringes.

Length about 5 mm.

This species varies but very little ; the antennae may be more or less
dark brown, but are never so yellow on the basal joints as in the other
European species ; the legs may vary a little in the amount and more so
in the intensity of the dark markings ; and the whole coloring may vary
between brilliant green, bluish green, and even purplish. It is always
distinctly larger and has blacker markings than the other two species.

M. polita is very common on the leaves of shrubs in gardens, and
occurs in any shrubby district. I have innumerable records from
Penzance to Golspie between March 26 and August 16. Colonel Yerbury
took (along with normal specimens) a very large (5 A mm.) female at
Glengariff in Co. Cork on June 15, 1901, and Haliday has stated that it is
common in hedges in Ireland. It is recorded from almost all Europe and
from North America, though Bezzi states that it is rare in Italy. It has
been bred in abundance from cow-dung and from decaying vegetable
matter.

Synonymy. — No doubi need be raised against Linne’s description which (accord¬
ing to Haliday) is confirmed by the type in his collection. Musca vitreus of Moses
Harris is an obvious synonym.

9. MICROCHRYSA

193

2. M. flavicornis Meigen. Antennae yellowish on at least the two
basal joints. Legs mainly yellow. Abdomen brilliant green. Irons of the
female brilliant green. Thorax with a pale stripe between the humeri and
the wing-base.

An exceedingly brilliant little fly.

ft Very much like J\f. polita but smaller and paler. Irons dull gieenish. black,

’ with less obvious pale pubescence ; face with shorter pubescence Eyes
touching for a longer space, and the distinction of the large and small facets
even more conspicuous. Antennae with the two basal joints yellowish orange ;
third joint smaller than in M. polita and usually brownish orange, though

it varies a little in colour. . , . , ,

Thorax with still shorter pubescence than m M. polita, and with the pale
pubescence more extended j humeri and a narrow line along the dorso-pleural
suture to the wing-base obviously yellowish ; postalar calli brownish.

Abdomen apparently even more brilliant than in M. polita and often with
a more coppery tint. Genitalia brownish orange, not small.

Legs mainly yellow, but the middle femora have a broad blackish
indefinite ring which occupies nearly the middle half, and the hind femora
have a still blacker ring which occupies fully the middle two-thirds ; posterior
tibiae slightly obscured after the middle, and all the tibiae less distinctly
dilated on the apical half ; tarsi with only just the tip darkened.

Wings slightly more hyaline and the veins much paler than in Al. polita.
Squamae pale brownish yellow with yellow fringes ; fringe on the alar pair
apparently not quite so short, and the fringe on the thoracal pair not quite
so long, as in M. polita. Halteres bright orange.

P Frons vivid bluish green, with (in certain lights) a slight narrow pale line
running out from each eye part-way across the frons just above the antennae,
slightly less punctate than in M. polita , and the depression below the
ocelli less obvious ; eye-collar still more brilliant green. Antennae brownish
yellow on the two basal joints • third joint broader and yellowish brown or
brown: arista more dorsal than in the male.

Thorax with the humeri and the narrow line to the wing-base more

conspicuously pale. . .

Abdomen intense bright purplish green. Ovipositor with long thin

jointed yellow lamellae. . .

Legs mainly yellow, but with rather more black on the femora than m the
male, as even the front femora often bear a small splash, while the middle
femora bear a very wide black ring, and the hind femora are all black except
on the obscurely orange base and at the narrow orange tip.

Wings almost hyaline, except for the pale yellow stigma and the yellow
veins. Squamae yellowish white, with similarly colored margins and tringes.

Length about 4 mm.

This species varies a little in the amount and in the intensity of the
yellow on the antennae and legs, but never enough to confound it with
M. polita ; it also varies in the hue of its brilliant coloring from absolute
o-reen to beautiful purplish with green reflections, but never towards the
blackish hue of M. cyaneiventris. My description has mainly contrasted it
with M. polita , but M. cyaneiventris is distinguished at once by the blackish
colour of its abdomen in both sexes and by the blackish frons of its female.
An extremely small female from Chippenham Fen, taken on July 10, 1905,
has the legs most unusually black and the antennae only obscurely
brownish yellow about the base, but the pale line from the humeri to the
wing-base is distinct and that combined with its size seem to prove that it

belongs to this species. _ .

M. flavicornis is not uncommon and has similar habits to M. polita,
with which it sometimes occurs but is by no means so common. 1 have

N

194

STRATIOMYIM

records from Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey,
Middlesex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Worcestershire, Hereford¬
shire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, and Glamorgan, while from Scotland
I have notes of having seen it from Arran, Whauphill, Ivinghorn, Bannoch,
Forres, and Golspie, and Duncan quotes from Haliday “ common in
Ireland along with C. polita ,” but l think my records from at least
Bannoch and Forres may belong to the next species. My dates extend
from June 9 to September 1. If correctly identified it is recorded from
Scandinavia to Italy, though Bezzi excludes South Europe.

Synonymy. — Meigen originally described this species from a female sent to him
by Dr Leach from England, and his words “ antennis flavis ” and “ Stirne breit,
“ glanzend goldgrim ; — Hinterleib goldfarbig, mit blaulichem Schiller ” conclusively
identify it. In 1830, however, Meigen described a Sargus pallipes with very similar
characters, which Zetterstedt and Walker professed to recognise as distinct from
M.Jlavicornis ; I am bound to agree with Loew (1855) that I cannot trace any trust¬
worthy distinctive character, and in fact I think Meigen’s words “Brustseiten
“ glanzend schwarz, vor der Flugelwurzel mit gelbweisser wagerechter Strieme ” are
conclusive as to its identity. At the same time Loew came to the opinion that
Zetterstedt’s Chrysomyia cyaneiventris was only another synonym, and that
opinion has been generally accepted ever since ; I have, however, proved it in ray
next description to be a perfectly distinct species. Walker’s C .pallipes, C .Jlavicornis,
and C. cyaneiventris form a complete tangle, but I think his C. 'pallipes may well
be M. Jlavicornis , and his C. cyaneiventris the female of M. cyaneiventris , and his C.
Jlavicornis a mixture of C. cyaneiventris and C .Jlavicornis, and a number of specimens
in the Entomological Club collection tend to prove this, as both species exist there
though mixed up, and there are several specimens of M. cyaneiventris under the
label of Jlavicornis. It is most probable that Musca par v ulus of Moses Harris
(1782) is the oldest name, but his description and figure of the female only are not
sufficient for positive identification.

3. M. cyaneiventris Zetterstedt. Antennae yellowish. Legs mainly
yellow. Abdomen in both sexes and the frons of the female shining
blackish.

Very much like M. Jlavicornis, but easily distinguished by
its blacker colour.

S . Agreeing with M. Jlavicornis, but the frons dull black with more distinct
depressed greyish pubescence and narrow middle furrow.

Thorax and scutellum with slightly longer pubescence ; the pale humeri
and the narrow line along the clorso-pleural suture absent or very narrow and
indistinct.

Abdomen shining black with a slight tinge of blue, and bearing longer and
much darker pubescence.

Legs with the blackish markings on the posterior femora more restricted,
especially on the middle pair, and sometimes limited to an obscure middle
sixth of the hind pair.

Wing-veins darker. Squamae dark brown with brownish fringes. Halteres
rather paler.

$ . Occiput, vertex, and frons dark bluish black ; frons more sparsely punctate,
and often with a pair of narrow curved yellow lunules which almost meet
just above the antennae, but these lunules are usually obscure or even absent,
though when distinctly present the dorso-pleural suture is also yellowish.
Eyes in life brownish green with a faint trace of a broad dark band just
above the middle. Antennae larger than in the male.

Abdomen shining bluish black, and consequently the pale pubescence more
obvious.

9. MICROCHRYSA

195

Legs with comparatively small brown rings on the posterior, or only hincl,
femora ; tibiae as in the male.

Wings and squamae as in the male. Halteres pale yellow.

Length about 4 mm.

This species is very closely allied to M. Jlavicornis, but is as Zetterstedt
said “ certe distincta,” and it may easily be known by the blackish abdomen
in both sexes and the blackish frons of the female. The slight pale
lunules on the frons of the female obviously represent the white spots
which occur there in Sargus and Nemotelus.

M. cyaneiventris is probably not uncommon in at any rate the northern
part of England and in Scotland, while probably Haliday caught it in
Ireland, but although Colonel Yerbury and I have often taken it we have
always mistaken it for M. Jlavicornis at the time of capture; it must
however be borne in mind that it was not until 1901 that we knew there
was such a species, because it had been sunk by Loew as a mere synonym
of the rather common M. jlavicornis. I have records from Devonshire (Tor
Cross and Lynton), Norfolk (Mundesley), Oxfordshire (Shotover), Hereford¬
shire (Cusop, Stoke Wood), Worcestershire (Bewdley), Lancashire (Coni-
ston), Yorkshire (Burley-in-Wharfedale), Glamorgan (Porthcawl), Merioneth
(Dolgelly), Fife (Aberdour), Perthshire (Bannoch), Inverness (He thy
Bridge), Nairn (Nairn), Elgin (Forres), Sutherland (Golspie), and the
Orkneys, from June 6 to September 1. I first took it at Coniston on
July 19, 1876, but did not distinguish it until describing for this work
early in 1901. It is at present recorded from only Scandinavia and Britain.

Synonymy. — When Zetterstedt first described this species in 1842 he said “Similis
“ pallipedi, sed — certe distincta,” and therefore Loew in 1855 was not justified in
hastily suppressing it as a mere variation, and in fact Loew did harm in his suggestion,
because from that day to this there has been a fixed idea that there were only two
species of Microchrysa in Europe ; it is possible that Loew was led into error through
Walker’s hopeless jumble in 1851 of C . Jlavicornis, C. pcdlipes , and C. cyaneiventris
in which he must have partly mixed up M. cyaneiventris with his G . Jlavicornis when
he said “ Abdomen — cupreous-black,” though it is probable that his C. cyaneiventris
was the female of the true species as identified by Haliday.

196

STRATIOMYID/E

BERING.

Fig. 144. — Beris Morrisii £ • x 7J.

Abdomen with seven obvious segments. Antennae with 8-annulated
flagellum. Wings with the lower cross- vein absent ; discal cell emitting
only two veinlets irrespective of the upper branch of the postical vein,
or occasionally emitting a third incomplete veinlet (fig. 150). Scutellum
usually armed with four or more marginal spines.

Antennae with the third joint (= flagellum) long and normally 8-annulated, but
without any trace of a terminal style or arista.

Thorax but little arched. Metapleurae with short shelter hairs over the stigma.

Scutellum with normally four or six marginal spines (except
in Allognosta) which are part of the integument of the
scutellum, as is proved by the pubescence extending on them
up to the tip (fig. 145), but these spines vary in individuals
of the same species from four up to eight or nine and are not
necessarily symmetrical.

Abdomen with at least seven obviously distinct segments,
plump and flat but with almost parallel sides (broad ovate
Fig. 145.— in Acanthomyia).

Bens chaiybeata £ . Legs simple, rather stout in all the European genera ;

basal joint of the hind tarsi usually dilated in the male ;
tibise without spurs in the European species, except on the middle tibiae in
Acanthomyia.

Wings with the radial vein very short and ending near the ti}! of the subcostal
and curved upwards so as to include the conspicuous dark stigma which lies between
the ends of the subcostal and radial veins and includes the whole of the marginal cell,
and this stigma is placed soon after the middle of the costa ; cubital vein forked, with
its upper branch about half as long as the lower one, and both branches ending in
the wingmargin well before the tip of the wing ; discal cell hexagonal (unless the
two veinlets issuing from it touch each other at their bases), with its base opposite

9. MICROCHRYSA

197

to or just before the origin of the prsefurca, and emitting from its end two veinlets
to the wingmargin (and sometimes an abortive third veinlet) besides the upper
branch of the postical vein which appears to issue from the discal cell because the
small cross-vein is absent, so that the upper branch of the postical vein forms the
lower margin of the discal cell for a short distance or even to nearly one-third of the
length of the cell ; discal cross-vein placed only a little before or at the middle of
the discal cell ; postical vein with part of its upper branch forming the lower margin
of the discal cell and otherwise running simple to the wingmargin, but with its
lower branch rapidly curved downwards so that it joins the anal vein a considerable
distance before the wingmargin, and consequently the portion of the anal vein after
the anal cell is about half as long as the anal cell ; hindmarginal cells including the
subapical and postical cells four more or less complete, or if the discal cell emits an
imperfect veinlet live, of which two are incomplete ; alula evidently developed
though small. Wing-membrane minutely pubescent, but not ribbed or rippled.
Alar squamae present though rather small, distinctly fringed on their margins ;
thoracal squamae undeveloped, though traceable as a raised line near the squamal
angle.

The Berince are most allied in their venation to the Paihyyastnnce,
from which the elongate seven -segmented abdomen and the very distinct
antennae in European species at once distinguish them ; the Xylomyince,
which are the only species with a similar abdomen and an 8-annulated
flagellum are really the most allied, but are easily distinguished by having
the prsefurca ( = common base of the radial and cubital veins) originating
far before the base of the discal cell, by the elongate hexagonal discal
cell, longer anal cell, unarmed scutellum, and spurred posterior tibiae.
Important characters for the Berince may lie in the peculiar sharply
defined darkened stigma which fills the whole of the marginal cell, and
in the shortened anal cell caused through the peculiarly downturned
lower branch of the postical fork.

The Berince are composed of about ten genera, which are known to
occur all over Europe, North, Central, and South America, Australia, and
New Zealand. Five genera and about ten species are palsearctic, and two
genera and seven species are now described as British.

The metamorphoses of very few species are known, but the larva of
Chorisops tibialis was described and figured by Handlirsch in 1883 (Verb.
zool.-bot., Wien, xxxiii., 243).

Considering the uncertain etymology of Beris , I prefer to use the term
Berince for the subfamily, just as Canis makes Canince, etc. Agassiz
derived Beris from “ fiijpos, vestis,” but I cannot trace any such Greek
word, and I am inclined to derive it from /3>/poAA 09, the beryl, because of
the brilliant green coloring of the thorax.

Table of the Paloearctic Genera of Bering.

1 (2) Scutellum unarmed, smooth margined. Allognosta.

2 (1) Scutellum armed with four or more marginal spines.

3 (8) All tibiae without spurs. Abdomen rather narrow, with almost

parallel sides.

4 (5) Palpi obsolete or minute. Eyes hairy, touching in the male.

10. Beris,

198

STRATIOMYIDAL

5 (4) Palpi distinct and rather long. Eyes not touching in either sex.

6 (7) Eyes hairy. Actina.

7 (6) Eyes bare. 11. Chorisops.

8 (3) Middle tibiae with two small unequal spurs. Abdomen broad and

stout. Eyes hairy. Acanthomyia.*

Actina and Acanthomyia with only one species each might occur in
Britain.

10. BERIS.

Beris Latreille, Hist. Hat. Crust, et Ins., iii., 447 (1802).

Rather small flies which are easily recognised by their
shape and their peculiarly spined scutellum, as well as by
their numerous abdominal segments.

Head rather semicircular; face short, pubescent, arched, but little produced.
Proboscis prominent and with large sucker-flaps ; palpi rudimentary in the
.European species (but visible in B. Morrisii). Eyes large and touching (though
hardly so in B. Morrisii ) for a long space in the male so that in that sex only a
small triangular frons and a small elevated vertical space exist, but in the female
they are smaller and well separated by an almost parallel-sided frons ; densely hairy
in the male (but only sparsely in B. Morrisii ), and in that sex the upper and front
facets are usually enlarged, but in the female they are less hairy and have no
enlarged facets. Antennae porrect, at least almost as long as the head ; two basal
joints short, almost equal in length and bearing short bristles ; third joint
( = flagellum) elongate and annulated into eight rings (fig. 148) of which the first and
last are longer than the others.

Pio. 146. — Beris vallata ?. X 12.

Thorax rather arched, clothed in the male with rather dense erect pubescence
but in the female with shorter more depressed and less conspicuous pubescence,
without any trace of bristles or spines. Scutellum (fig. 145) with strong marginal
spines which are actual projections of the scutellum itself, as they bear to their tips
similar pubescence to that on the disc of the scutellum • these spines are normally
six in number, but vary very much in strength and development, so that there may
be any number from four to eight or even nine, as the less developed outer spines
may not be symmetrical on both sides.

Abdomen hardly broader than the thorax, flattened, rather narrow and almost
parallel-sided, and consisting of at least seven segments. Genitalia of the male with
a pair of elongate dorsal lamellae near together, and a pair of upcurved pickaxe¬
shaped under lamellae set wide apart with a rather large middle piece between them ;
of the female composed of a pair of projecting two-jointed lamellae.

Legs simple, except that the basal joint of the hind tarsi is dilated in the male
and elongate in both sexes.

Wings (fig. 146) rather long, being longer than the abdomen • radial vein short
and curved upwards so that it ends rather near the subcostal and encloses the

* The name Hexodonta Rond, cannot claim priority over Acanthomyia Scliin. because (1) it was never
founded with a known or described species attached to it ; (2) one of its express characters lay in the absence of
spurs on any of the tibiae ; and (3) the atrocious malformation of the word Exodontha.

10. BERIS

199

conspicuous dark stigma which lies between these two veins ; cubital vein practically
straight and emitting its fork at about half its length, and ending distinctly before
the tip of the wing ; discal cross-vein close to the origin of the cubital vein and
placed near the middle of the discal cell; discal cell emitting two veinlets from
its end which are rather approximated at their origin and which extend to the wing-
margin, and sometimes an abortive third veinlet (fig. 150) or a trace of one may occur
(not necessarily alike in the two wings), and as there is no small cross-vein the last
part of the upper branch of the postical fork appears to issue from the lower part of
the discal cell ; the upper branch of the fork of the postical vein forms the lowest
side of the discal cell for a short distance, and the lower branch bends down rather
abruptly and joins the anal vein considerably before the wingmargin ; wing-
membrane minutely pubescent all over but not at all ribbed or rippled. Alar
squamae moderate in size and with a delicate moderate fringe ; thoracal squamae
only represented by the frenum. Halteres normal.

The metamorphoses of the restricted genus Beris are very little known,
and I can only record that B. clialybeata, has been bred from moss,
but those of Chorisojos tibialis have been described in detail. The perfect
insects usually occur on shrubs in the vicinity of water, and Colonel
Yerbury has seen the males dancing with a rather wild flight.

This genus is allied to Actina and Chorisojos, but is distinguished from
both of them by its obsolete palpi and by the touching eyes of the male,
while Chorisojos is further distinguished by its bare eyes. B. Morrisii is
however very near to Chorisojos.

Beris (including Actina and Chorisojos ) is a genus which has a very
wide range, as species are known from South-west Asia, North, Central,
and South America, Australia, and probably New Zealand. The European
species are few in number, there being only five or six species of Beris,
one of Actina, and one of Chorisojos, all of which occur in Britain with the
possible exception of the Actina ; Bonsdorff was unable to record any of
them from Finland.

Synonymy. — Beris was intelligibly founded by Latreille in 1803, with Stratiomys
sexdentata F. given as the type, and with a remark that the genus was probably the
same as “ Les potamides ” of Meigen. There was a genus Potamida suggested by
Meigen in 1800 in his “ Nouvelle classification des mouches a deux ailes,”but that
work was always treated by Meigen himself as a mere undeveloped suggestive paper
and not as a scientific work. Beris sexdentata F. is a synonym of B. chalybeata
Forster, and therefore that species must be accepted as the type of any restricted
genus Beris. In 1804 Meigen well founded a genus Actina which was equivalent to
Beris ( sensulato ), and as his first species, A. chalybea, was a synonym of A. nitens
that fact may constitute A. nitens as the type of Actina , more especially as all the
other species then known had been previously included under Latreille’s name Beris.
In 1820 Meigen sank his genus Actina under Beris. and Loew supported this
action in 1846 even though Curtis in 1830 had expressly applied Meigen ’s name
of Actina to B. tibialis on the grounds of the generic value of its long palpi,
eyes not contiguous in the male, wings with an additional nervure, and posterior
tibiae incrassated ; Curtis was wrong in applying the name Actina to B. tibialis
because the genus Actina was founded in 1804, while the species tibialis was not
even described until 1820, but his distinctive characters were good ; next Haliday in
Westwood’s Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, vol. ii., Syn. 130
(1840) separated the two genera as follows :

“ Beris Latr. Scutellum 6- or 8-spined ; antennae 10-jointed ; eyes contiguous ;
“ palpi obsolete.

“Actina Meig. Scutellum 4-spined ; palpi long ; eyes apart in $ .” _

It is now known that the number of spines on the scutellum is not even of
specific, much less generic, value. Schiner in 1862 reaffirmed the genus Actina for A.
tibialis and A. nitens , but previous to this Bondani had in 1856 suggested a genus
Chorisops for Beris tibialis Mgn. on very insufficient characters, though the name
Chorisojos showed that he had appreciated the character of the separated eyes of the

200

STRATIOMYIM

male, and also shows that Brauer was guilty of carelessness in calling the genus
Chlorisops. In 1863 Rondani (Arch. pv Zool. Modena, iii., 86) returned to the
defence of his genus Chorisops , and distinguished Actina Meig., Beris Latr.,
Oplachantha (sic) Rond., and Chorisops Rond., and then laid stress upon the hairy
eyes of Actina and Beris as against the bare or almost bare eyes of the otiiers. In
1882 Brauer placed too much stress upon the frequently incomplete veinlet from the
discal cell, but clearly distinguished Actina with its hairy eyes from the bare-eyed
genus Chorisops , and ever since then the two dismemberments ( Actina and Chorisops)
of the old genus Beris may be considered definite ; I have however more to say
about Exaireta Schin. in my synonymical notes under the genus Chorisops.

Table of Species.

1 (4) Abdomen reddish orange.

2 (3) Abdominal pubescence of the male black. Wings of the female

light brownish with a conspicuous stigma. 1 vallata.

3 (2) Abdominal pubescence of both sexes yellow. Wings of both

sexes dark brownish black. 2 clavipes.

4 (1) Abdomen all blackish.

5 (10) Thoracic pubescence of the male black. Antennm placed just

below the middle of the head. Legs mainly black or dark
brown, or brownish yellow, but never pale yellow.

6 (7) Antennae with the third joint less than twice as long as the other

two joints together. Tarsi with the basal joint of the hind
pair in the male as in B. geniculata , but the legs in both sexes
rather paler than in B. geniculata. 4 fuscipes.

7 (6) Antennae with the third joint more than twice as long as the

other two joints together.

8 (9) Legs black with the knees orange; basal joint of the hind tarsi

in the male moderately and equally dilated, longer than the
other four joints together. 3 geniculata.

9 (8) Legs brownish orange, or lighter in the female, but unicolorous

from the coxae to the tarsi; basal joint of the hind tarsi
considerably and unequally dilated in the male, not longer than
the other four joints together. 5 chalybeata.

10 (5) Thoracic pubescence of the male yellow. Antennae placed on the
lower quarter of the head. Legs pale yellow. Frons of the
female narrow. 6 Morrisii.

1. B. vallata Forster. Abdomen reddish orange without any narrow
black cross-bands ; abdominal pubescence of the male black. Hind tibiae
black on the apical half or more. Wings of the male dark brownish, but of
the female light brownish with a yellowish base and a conspicuous dark
brown stigma.

A rather small fly which appears to mimic certain Tenthre-
dinidce in its bright orange abdomen.

$ . Head black ; face subquadrate and a little arched, about one-third the width
of the head, bearing rather dense moderately short black pubescence, while

10. BERIS

201

similar pubescence becomes greyish on the jowls and on the moderately
inflated lower part of the back of the head ; frons rather small, and bearing-
similar black pubescence ; upper part of the back of the head very shallow
but hardly hollowed out, and bearing only a very short black ciliation ;
vertex very much elevated, and bearing black pubescence similar to that on
the frons and face. Proboscis short, but the sucker-flaps large and dull
orange ; palpi imperceptible. Eyes touching for a long _ distance, rather
densely clothed with brownisli-black pubescence which is slightly longest on
the front part of the large facets ; facets on rather more than the upper half
of the eyes distinctly larger than those on the lower part, and the line of
distinction fairly well defined. Antennae longer than the head, dull black
with occasionally the tip of the second joint yellowish orange, first joint
hardly longer than the second, and both bearing short black bristles ;
third joint almost strap-shaped, slightly attenuated, almost three times as
long as the two basal joints together, annulated, and minutely pubescent at
the tip.

Thorax and scutellum shining black, coarsely punctate, and clothed with
dense blackish pubescence ; outer points of the humeri orange ; pleura; clothed
with considerable greyish-yellow pubescence, especially on the lower part, but
the middle of the mesopleurae bare and polished. Scutellum usually with six
black thick spines, but there may be four, five, seven, or eight such spines of
which one .or two may be imperfect, and these spines bear blackish
pubescence.

Abdomen conspicuously brownish orange ; basal segment black except on
the hindmarginal two-fifths, and usually the hindmargin of the sixth and the
upper part of the small seventh segment are blackish, but as a rule there is
no trace of any narrow black cross-bands near the hindmargins of the segments ;
pubescence black and not scarce, fairly long down the sides. Belly all
orange, and bearing minute pale pubescence. Genitalia orange with the upper
pair of lamellae and usually the extreme base blackish.

Legs dull orange or sometimes rather bright orange, with about the apical
two-thirds of all the tibiae (except the extreme tip) and the tarsi blackish
brown ; coxae blackish, but rather orange at the tip and on the trochanters,
and bearing pale pubescence ; basal joint of the hind tarsi obviously dilated,
as long as or slightly longer than the other four joints together. Pubescence
on the femora pale and inconspicuous ; hind tibiae with a moderately long-
fine dark ciliation inside (= behind) on the apical two-thirds.

Wings blackish brown to brown, but more yellowish brown about the
base ; stigma moderately conspicuous. Alar squamae moderate in size,
obscurely blackish or brownish, with moderate pale brown fringes ; thoracal
pair almost absent. Halteres dull orange.

?. Piather similar to the male, but with much lighter wings. Frons broad,
more than one-third the width of the head (in one specimen less), shining-
black and sparingly punctate, and with rather sparse minute greyish
pubescence ; face slightly wider than the frons, and bearing sparse pale
pubescence ; jowls and back of the head with similar pubescence, and the
back of the head slightly puffed out with all the upper part on the inflated part
against the eyes greyish and bearing more obvious grey pubescence. Eyes
with much shorter and sparser pubescence.

Thorax, pleurae, and scutellum with less coarse yellowish -grey pubescence.

Abdomen not blackened at the base and usually with only the apical prongs
blackened, but sometimes the fifth and sixth segments are slightly blackened
on the disc, or a dark dorsal line may occur on the basal segments, or the
belly may be slightly blackened on about the middle of its disc. Pubescence
all pale yellow, inconspicuous but not scarce.

Legs with the ciliation inside the hind tibiae present but pale ; basal
joint of the hind tarsi hardly dilated, perceptibly longer than the other four
joints together.

Wings only pale brownish, and consequently the dark brown stigma
very conspicuous ; wings more yellowish about the base. Squamae more
yellowish, with pale yellow fringes.

Length about 6 mm.

202

STRATIOMYIDdE

This species varies a little in the coloring of the legs, but never in such
a manner as to be confounded with B. clavipes ; a male caught in company
with normal specimens at Aberlady has the tibiae all black except the
basal third of the anterior pairs and just the base of the hind pair, while
the hindmargins are slightly darkened until on the fifth and sixth segments
narrow blackish bands occur almost as in B. clavipes; males taken at
Porthcawl in Glamorgan in 1906 have (like males of B. geniculata taken
there at the same time) a much more blackish hue to the wings without
any trace of brownish. The only allied European species is B. clavipes,
which in the female has dark wings and the male has a pale-haired
abdomen, while both sexes have much paler hind tibise and also have black
cross-bands on the abdomen just before the hindmargins of the segments.

B. vallata is fairly common in Britain as I have numerous localities
from Penzance to Golspie, including Porthcawl and Llangollen in Wales,
and Colonel Yerbury took it in Co. Kerry. Colonel Yerbury has noted
that he caught a male “hovering” at Porthcawl on July 7, 1906. My
dates range from June 6 to August 26. It is recorded from North and
Middle Europe.

Synonymy. — Forster apparently described liis Musca vallata from the female
only, and probably what he called M. clavipes from the male only, but ever since
Meigen accepted Forster’s distinctions in 1820 there has been no doubt about the
two species, and no proof can now be brought forward to disturb the nomenclature.
Jaennicke’s contention (Berl. Ent. Zeitschr., x., 234, 1866) that B. clavipes is a variety
of B. vallata is proved to be a fallacy, and he also seems to have had an idea that
Forster (1771) had a priority over Linne (1767).

2. B. clavipes Linne. Abdomen reddish orange with narrow black
cross-bands near the hindmargins of the segments ; abdominal pubescence
of the male all yellow. Hind tibiae hardly darkened at the tip in either
sex. Wings dark brownish black in both sexes.

Very much like the preceding species.

$ . Distinguished from B. vallata by being slightly larger, and having narrow
black cross-bands on the depressed lines near the hindmargins of the abdominal
segments in both sexes ; basal segment in the male more narrowly orange on
the liindmargin ; the black cross-bands do not touch the hindmargins and do
not extend out to the sidemargins ; hindmargin of sixth segment and all the
seventh segment not blackened ; pubescence on the abdomen all yellowish.

Legs in both sexes with the hind tibiae hardly darkened at all about the
tip, or only slightly so, and with the (filiation on their inner side pale ; basal
joint of the hind tarsi considerably dilated, and distinctly longer than the
next four together.

Wings more blackish, especially about the base, and consequently the
stigma less distinct.

9 . Distinguished from B. vallata by many of the characters mentioned under
the male as applying to both sexes, and by the strongly blackish tinged wings
which consequently have the stigma inconspicuous. Frons rather broader.
Antennae rather longer. Basal joint of the hind tarsi not much dilated, but
still longer than the next four joints together.

Length about 5-5 to 7 mm.

This species varies a little in the amount of darkening about the tip of
the hind tibise, as it often has no darkening whatever or at other times
the tip is decidedly darkened but never to the extent that it is in B. vallata.
There is no other allied species known in Europe.

10. BERIS

203

B. clavipes is far less common than B. vallata, and I have records from
only Dorset (Sherborne), Sussex (Three Bridges), Kent (Daren th), Suffolk
(common according to Mr C. Morley), Oxford (Hope Museum), Leicester
(Blaby), Hereford (several localities), G-lamorgan (Porthcawl), Merioneth
(Dolgelly), and Brecknock (Hay), and then after a very long interval at
Tongue, on the North Sea; Haliday recorded it from Holy wood in Co.
Down. My dates extend from May 12 to June 18, which indicate that it
is a rather earlier species than B. vallata. It is recorded from middle
Sweden down to Italy.

Synonymy. — The nomenclature of these two species {B. vallata and B. clavipes)
may be considered as settled, because no proof is possible that it is wrong ; it is
obvious that Forster described his Musca vallata from the female of B. vallata , but
it must remain uncertain what species Linne had before him when he described his
M. clavipes. Haliday (Stett. Ent. Zeit., xii., 138) stated that a specimen named M.
clavipes in the Linnean collection in the British Museum was “ Beris clavipes,
“Mg. J,” and another specimen with a printed label “3 clavipes ” was a fragment of
the same species.

3. B. geniculata Curtis. Abdomen all blackish. Legs black with the
knees yellowish. Antennae moderately long.

The blackest and largest species in the genus Beris, though
Actina nitens is still more black.

J . Head black ; frons rather large, shining black with a depressed middle
channel down the upper part, and bearing a long and rather dense black (or
in some lights brownish) pubescence similar to that on the face ; face more
than half the height of the head, slightly produced and arched, barely more
than one-third the width of the head at its lowest and widest part, and
bearing long rather dense black or brownish-black pubescence ; jowls (includ¬
ing the lower part of the back of the head) rather large and bearing long-
black and greyish pubescence ; upper part of the back of the head slightly
hollowed behind the eyes and showing a row of short dense black bristles
against the eyes on the top part, while the pubescence on the actual back of
the head (as seen from above) is dense, black, and long, being longer than in
B. chcdybeata ; vertex elevated and bearing long black pubescence. Proboscis
black at the base, but the large sucker-flaps orange ; palpi minute, black.
Eyes touching for a rather long space (about fifteen facets) and densely
clothed on all the front part with long brownish -black pubescence, but on the
upper, lower, and hind margins with only very short sparse hairs ; facets on
the upper half conspicuously larger than those on the lower part but the
change is only gradual. Antennae dull black, nearly as long as the head and
placed a little more than half-way down tbe head; two basal joints nearly
equal in length and bearing short black bristles ; third joint nearly twice as
long as the two basal joints together, grey on the inside about the middle,
and tapering after about the third annulation rather sharply to a point or
almost so, and the point itself bearing two or three tiny bristles.

Thorax and scutellum bright shining green, not in the least blackish,
rather abundantly punctate on the front part, and the punctuation does not
diminish much until quite on the hindmargin of the thorax, though the
scutellum is practically impunctate ; disc of the thorax clothed with rather
dense black or rusty black pubescence, which is composed of numerous short
hairs and almost as many long hairs, but the long hairs do not extend quite
to the front part ; pleurae with dull brownish -yellow pubescence, which is
long and conspicuous on the hind part of the mesopleurae, but the middle
part of the mesopleurae is bare and polished as usual. Scutellum mainly with
only a few long black or rusty hairs (similar to the long hairs on the thorax),
but these hairs extend rather more numerously right up the spines to their
tips ; spines usually six (though Loew says sometimes eight), perhaps rather

204

STRATIOMYIM

blacker green than the scutellum, and the two middle pairs longer than the
outer pair.

Abdomen deep dull black, slightly shining on the sides and about the tip ;
pubescence on the disc very minute and inconspicuous but long and obviously
pale yellowish grey or brownish yellow all down the sidemargins, including
the sixth and even seventh segments (and thereby distinguished from B.
chalybeata). Belly glittering brownish black, with short depressed greyish-
yellow pubescence all over. Genitalia small, beginning above with a shining
black basal plate from which a pair of blackish-brown elongate ovate lamellae
(which bear pale pubescence) project, while a pair of longer brownish-orange
lamellae curve up from the base beneath, and between these on the under
side is a simple shining blackish-brown triangular middle piece.

Legs shining black, with the knees usually obviously but sometimes
narrowly, and the anterior ankles narrowly, yellowish ; the knees include just
the tip of the femora and the base of the tibiae for a rather indeterminate
amount, but ordinarily for about half the front tibiae, two-fifths or less of the
middle tibiae, and sometimes only just the base or at most a quarter of the
hind tibiae ; trochanters rather brownish ; hind tarsi with the basal joint
extra long and quite equally dilated (except at just the base and tip), very
distinctly longer than the other four joints together, but hardly twice as deep.
Pubescence on all the femora all yellowish and not scarce, but the ciliation on
the inner side of the hind tibiae may be a little darker.

Wings with a very strong smoky blackish-brown tinge but with the costal
cell lighter, light brownish but not at all yellowish at the base, and sometimes
the wings blackish with no brownish tinge and the pale base more contrasted.
Alar squamae smoky yellowish brown with greyish -yellow fringes ; thoracal
squamae existing only as a brown line. Halteres with the stem brown, but the
knob distinctly orange or dark orange.

9 . Rather similar to the male. Frons (fig. 147) not one-quarter the width of the
head at the vertex, and thence very gradually but distinctly widening down

to the antennae, after which the face gradually widens
down to the mouth where it is less than half but more
than one-third the width of the head ; frons shining
black with a purplish tinge, and bearing fairly dense
though inconspicuous short pale pubescence ; face also
shining black and bearing all over a similar though
slightly longer pubescence ; back of the head behind the
eyes very little inflated on the upper part, and bearing
rather abundant depressed short grey pubescence which
colours the upper part close to the eyes. Eyes with
very short but not very scarce pubescence. Antennae
(fig. 147) longer than the head, and sometimes rather
ferruginous up to the end of the basal segment of the
flagellum ; flagellum quite two and a half times as
long as the two basal joints together and tapering to almost a point.

Thorax and scutellum bright dark green, with the front points of the
humeri orange and the ridge of the postalar calli often brownish orange.
Pubescence short, pale, and rather decumbent on the thorax, but sparse and
erect on the scutellum.

Abdomen shining dark brownish black, with very short inconspicuous pale
grey depressed pubescence on the disc, but longer more conspicuous erect
almost whitish pubescence on the sidemargins and basal corners ; tip usually
brownish orange with an extending pair of two-jointed lamellae, of Avhich the
stouter basal joint is usually orange and the elongate second joint dark brown
and pubescent.

Legs more orange at the knees and base of the tibiae, there being usually
about two-fifths of the anterior tibiae and one-fifth of the hind tibiae orange,
while the trochanters, ankles, and basal half of the posterior femora may be
inconspicuously brownish; basal joint of the hind tarsi not dilated but still
longer than the other four joints together. Pubescence very short and
inconspicuous except for the yellowish ciliation down the inside of the hind
tibiae

Fig. 147. — Beris
geniculata 9 • x 20.

10. BERIS

205

Wings much paler than in the male, and rather yellow about the base but
not so much so as in B. chalybeata ; stigma much more conspicuous. Squamae
paler, being more brownish yellow. Halteres yellow.

Length about 6 mm.

This species varies but little (unless the specimens I have described as
B. fuscipes are only varieties) though a considerable number of specimens
taken by Colonel Yerbury at Porthcawl in June and July 1906 have more
intensely black wings and legs, the pale base of the wings becoming thereby
more conspicuous, while the pale knees and ankles almost disappear ; it is
remarkable that other species of Beris taken at that time at Porthcawl also
possess more intensely blackened wings. It may be easily distinguished from
B. chalybeata by the more brilliant green thorax, the less produced longer
and narrower face, the more pointed antennae, the yellower knob of the
halteres, the pale pubescence down the sides of the abdomen of the male,
the much blacker legs in both sexes, the more equally dilated basal joint of
the hind tarsi in the male, the blacker basal joint of the hind tarsi, the
longer abdomen, the larger size, and the narrower frons of the female.
From B. fuscipes (as I interpret that species) it is distinguished by the
longer third joint of the antennae, blacker legs, and less parallel -sided frons
of the female, but more details of distinction are given under B. fuscipes.

B. geniculata is not at all common in Britain and I possess recent
records from only Warwickshire, (Sutton), Herefordshire (Tarrington),
Glamorgan (Porthcawl), Denbigh (Llangollen), Durham (Bishop Auckland
and Hesleden), Edinburgh (Inveresk), Perth (Bannoch), and Sutherland
(Golspie), though old records include Yorkshire (Hebden Bridge) and
Ireland. My dates extend from June 20 to August 1. Mr A. E. J.
Carter has taken both this and B. chalybeata at Inveresk and found B.
chalybeata fairly common in May and June, while A. geniculata occurred
more rarely in August and September, so that it appears to be a later species
than B. chalybeata ; Colonel Yerbury has noted that the males (at Porth¬
cawl) dance in the shade, and have a wild flight like a Rhamphomyia.

Synonymy. — I accept the name given by Haliday for this species in Curtis’
British Entomology, PI. 337 (1830) because I consider it the earliest certain name,
but the utmost confusion has arisen between this species and B. fuscipes Meig.
(if they are distinct). Haliday appears to have known his species well in both sexes
and to have taken numerous specimens, as Curtis recorded it as being in his own and
other cabinets, while the description and figure given are unmistakable. At that
time B. f uscipes was comparatively ignored because its eiglit-spined scutellum was
considered a good specific distinction. Meigen (1820) described B. f uscipes from an
English male sent him by Dr Leach, and used the words “ pedibus fuscis : tibiis
“ basi flavis ” which clearly distinguish it from B . chalybeata, and “Fuhler...nicht
“ ganz so lang als der Kopf ” which along with “ pedibus fuscis ” applies better to B.
fuscipes (as I interpret it) than to B. geniculata. Macquart’s descriptions of B.
fuscipes are evidently compiled from Meigen ’s and are valueless. Next Loew in
1846 when describing B. fuscipes said of the male “Fiihler erlieblich kiirzer als der
“ Kopf... die Behaarung des Hinterleibes ist schwarz” (which does not apply to
the longer and more conspicuous pubescence on the sides of B. geniculata)... “ Die
“ Beine sind schwarzbraun, die ausserste Spitze aller Schenkel und Schienen, so wie
“ die Wurzel der letzteren in etwas grosserer Ausdelmung gelblich gefarbt ; an den
“ Vorder — und Mittelbeinen zeigt die Wurzelhalfte der Metatarsen dieselbe, oder
“ doch eine nur wenig dunklere Farbung ; die Metatarsen der Hinterbeine sind
“ merklich langer als die 4 folgenden Glieder zusammen, ziemlich stark verdickt, von
“ braunlicher Farbe, die aber auf der Oberseite, wegen der dort befindlichen ganz
“ kurzen scliwarzen Behaarung ein schwarzb raunes Anselien bekdmmt ; ... Die
“ Schwinger sind schwarzlich,” (this colour of the halteres is wrong) ; and of the

206

STRATIOMYIM

female (of which he had apparently only one specimen) he says “die hintersten
“ Schenkel haben vor der Spitze ein braunes Bandchen, welches nach letzterer hin
“ ziemlich scharf begrenzt, nach der Wurzelhin aber sanft verwaschen ist ; Yorder —

“ und Mittelschenkel zeigen die verwaschenere Anlage einer iihnlichen Zeichnnng ;

“ auch sincl alle Schienen gegen das Ende hin gebraunt, doch so dass dieser Braunung
“ nur an den Hinterschienen mehr bemerkbar ist, auch uberall die allerausserste
“ 8pitze freilasst und sich auf der Aussenseite weiter nach der Wurzel hin erstreckt,

“ als dies auf der Innenseite der Fall ist; die 4 letzten Glieder aller Fiisse sind
“ dunkelbraun ; dass erste ist kaum an der alleraussersten Spitze etwas gebraunt ” :
again later on when comparing B. fuscipes with B. chalybeata he says “die Fiihler
“ kiirzer, der Metatarsus der hintersten Beine langer, ausserdem bei dem Mannchen
“ weniger verdickt,” thus not recognising any distinction in the colour of the basal
joint of the hind tarsi in the two species : also at the close Loew stated that “ Hr.

“ v. Heyden theilte mir diese Art unter dem ebenfalls sehr passenden Namen Ber.

“ brevicornis mit ; in der That hat sie unter alien bekannten Arten die kiirzesten
“ Fiihler.” This description of Loew’s therefore almost exactly agrees with my
] (resent description of B. fuscipes , and it may be concluded that Loew at that time
did not know any specimens like true B. geniculata ; on the same page he also
wrote “ Triigt mich das Gediichtniss niclit, so gehort auch Beris geniculata Curtis
“ Brit. Ent. liierher”; that is “Unless my memory deceives me !” thereby showing
that he had no specimen before him at that time which professed to be B. geniculata
Curtis, and very likely no description as he gave no reference to it in his synonymy.
It is probable that the difficulty has arisen between B. fuscipes and B. geniculata
through this trivial remark of Loew’s. Zetterstedt’s B. fuscipes (1849) is probably the
true species, because he said of the male (the only sex he knew) “pedibus brunneis” and
“ Femora brunnea... Tibiae brunnescentes ” when I think he would have said “nigri”
or “ nigrescentes ” for B. geniculata ; as however he said nothing about the an ten me
except that they were as in B. Q-dentata (= chalybeata) his description is rather
uncertain, though he detected Loew’s error about the colour of the haltei'es. Walker
in 1851 and in 1854 deliberately kept both the species separate and in his Ins. Brit.
Dipt, described them so well that English collectors have recognised his B.
geniculata ever since ; I can feel but little doubt that Haliday encouraged Walker
to this action, and that he sent a genuine B. geniculata to Loew which has since been
found in his collection. Wahlberg in 1854 also claimed to have caught a female B.
geniculata (as distinct from B. fuscipes in spite of Loew’s doubt) in Lapland, and
gave such distinctive characters as to make it probable that he was right ; though
I cannot quite agree with all the details of his description. Zetterstedt (1855) quoted
from Wahlberg but added “Vix ad Ber. fuscipedem referenda, ut opinavit Low
“(Ent. Zeit, 1846, p. 284); nam ab liac pluribus notis differt B. geniculata , utpote
“ luculenter monstravit Prof. Wahlberg , 1. c.” Schiner also kept the two species
separate in 1855 though he had only one specimen of each, and he said that his B.
geniculata agreed entirely with the specimen in Loew’s collection which had been
received from Haliday himself ; and it may be noted that Schiner was at this period
in close communication with Loew and that therefore Loew had apparently by this
time separated the two species in his collection, but unfortunately in 1862 Schiner
sank B. genicidata without a word of comment as a synonym of B. fuscipes, and as
his Faun. Austr. Dipt, has been the dipterological guide for all European writers
ever since it appeared no further attempt has been made to distinguish the two
species. The next writer was Becker in 1887, who took it for granted that a number
of specimens he had caught at St Moritz in Switzerland were B. fuscipes because
they agreed with some of Loew’s distinctions of that species from B. chalybeata , and
so after stating that Loew and Schiner had pointed out that B. genicidata Curt,
was a synonym of B. f uscipes (which was a considerable exaggeration of Loew’s and
Schiner’s statements), he, as his specimens did not well answer to Loew’s description
of 1846, gave a full and amended description, but unfortunately his description is a
very good one of B. genicidata and not of B. fuscipes !

Subsequent descriptions appear to refer to the true B. f uscipes. Meigen in 1820
described B. nigra from a female sent him from England by Dr Leach, and his
description might apply to the female of B. fuscipes _ as described above ; it is
probable that Leach sent him what he thought was a pair of his species, though the
probable type of B. nigra in the Paris Museum appears to me to be a female of B.
chalybeata while the true B. genicidata seems to have been entirely unknown to
Meigen. Musca similis Forster (1771) remains an unintelligible species ; it appears

10. BER1S

207

to have been a true Bericl female, but with entirely black legs, and no known species
will answer to that ; the male of Actina nitens has entirely black legs, but is not
known to occur in England, while after A. nitens the most black-legged species is
B. genicvlata which usually, though not always, has conspicuously yellow knees ;
Forster’s description being unrecognisable must sink as a doubtful synonym of
A. nitens or B. genicvlata, but with no certainty that it refers to either of those
species, as the genus Mnsca of those days was a very comprehensive one.

I should give the synonymy and references of the two species as follows :

B. fuscipes Meig., S.B., ii., 8, 11 (1820) ; Macq ., Soc. Sci. Lille, 1826, 139, 7 (1826),
et Suit, a Buff., i., 237, 8 (1834); Lw., Stettin, ent. Zeitg., vii., 282, 4 (1846); Zett.,
Dipt. Scand., viii., 2949, 2-3 (1849) ; Walk., Ins. Brit., i., 12, 4 (1851), et List. Dipt.
Brit. Mus., v., 9, 4 (1855); Schin ., Verli. zool.-bot. Ver. Wien, v., 655, 4 et 674 (1855),
et F.A., i., 24 (1862); Brun., Entom., xxii., 134, 4 (1889) ; Schoch., Dipt, helv., 26
(1890); E. L. Covcke , Annal. soc. ent. Belg., xxxvii., 435 (1893); Kertesz ,
Termeszettud, Kozl. Potfiiz., lv., 131 (1900); Verr., Brit. FI. Strat., 207 (1908).

brevicornis v. Heycl. in litt. ad Lw.

B. GENICULATA Curt., Brit. Ent., 337 (1830); Walk., Ins. Brit., i., 12, 6 (1851), et
List Dipt. Brit. Mus., v., 10, 7 (1854); Wahlbg., Of. Vet. Akad. Forkandl., xi., 212
(1854); Zett., Dipt. Scand., xii., 4552, 2-3 (1855); Schin., Verb, zool.-bot. Ver. Wien,
v., 656, 6 et 674 (1855) ;_ Verr., Brit. FI. Strat., 203 (1908).

fusciqjes Beck., Berlin, ent. Zeitschr., xxxi., 100, 9 (1887).

4. B. fuscipes Meigen. Very similar to B. geniculata, but with the
antennae shorter and the legs paler. Thorax partly pale haired.

A still insufficiently known species, but if distinct more
closely allied to B. geniculata than to any other.

$. Ptatker like both B. genicvlata and B. chalybeata but structurally nearest to
B. genicvlata. Face_ very small being scarcely one-third the height of the
head nor a quarter its width at its widest part, scarcely at all produced.
Eyes with shorter pubescence than in B. genicidata. Antennae short and
inserted on the lower third of the head, the third joint being only about one
and a quarter times the length of the two basal joints together ; third joint
rather wide on its large basal annulation but thence rapidly tapering and
the remaining annulations not one and a half times so long as the basal one ;
antennae greyish on the inside but not very conspicuously so.

Thorax narrower than in B. genicidata and with more short yellowish but
inconspicuous pubescence intermixed all over (including the scutellum) under
the longer black pubescence, though the black pubescence is less abundant
than in B. geniculata.

Abdomen much more shining than in B. genicidata and with the long
pubescence about the sides more brownish white but yet more like that of
B. genicvlata than that of B. chalybeata, and on the fifth and sixth segments
the pubescence becomes blackish. Genitalia large, with the orange lamellae
shorter than in B. genicidata.

Legs black with the knees broadly but sharply orange, the basal two-
fifths of the anterior and the basal quarter of the hind tibiae being
orange, and all the ankle joints narrowly so ; the hind femora are luteous
at the base and posteriorly to nearly one-third of the femora, while the
anterior femora show traces of being luteous at the base ; basal joint of the
hind tarsi shaped as in B. genicvlata but rather shorter, though still longer
than the other four joints.

Wings very much less darkened, so that the stigma stands out long, black,
and conspicuous. Squamae yellow, with yellow fringes. Halteres orange.

9. Frons (fig. 149) narrow, being barely more than one-fifth the width of the
head, and with its sides quite parallel until the cross-furrow a little above the
antennae ; face at the mouth only one-third the width of the head ; upper
part of the back of the head (I think) a little more inflated behind the eyes.

208

STRATIOMYID7E

Antennae (fig. 148) slightly shorter than the head ; third joint barely one and
a half times as long as the two basal joints together, rather incrassate about
its base but after that conical and almost pointed.

Thorax brighter green ; humeri with only very small
orange points ; postalar calli not at all pale. Scutellum
rather more pubescent.

Legs with the base of all the femora yellow, and
this colour extends indeterminately along the upper
and hinder sides almost to the tip but more obscurely
after about the middle, so that when seen from above
the pale base of all the femora and the conspicuously
blackened large prseapical part become notable. Tro¬
chanters and tip of the coxse yellow- anterior tibite
yellow on the basal two-fifths, and the hind pair on the
basal fifth, while the rest of the tibiae is only brown
(not black) ; ankles and the basal joint of the anterior tarsi until near the
tip yellowish ; basal joint of hind tarsi brownish yellow with the tip rather
darkened.

Wings clearer, more yellow about the base. Halteres yellow.

Length about 6 mm.

Fig. 148.-

fuscipes $ .

■lieris
x 20.*

This species is extremely closely allied to B. geniculata, and with the
unsatisfactory material before me I should have hesitated to separate it,
lout Haliday seems to have never acquiesced in the union of the two
species though he has said hut little about it, and Wahlberg (who was a
most careful worker) deliberately distinguished the two even after Loew
had united them. I therefore keep the two species separate and call
attention in my synonymical notes to the confusion which has arisen
between them ; I only hope that further studies will distinguish them as
thoroughly as B. clialybeata is now distinguished, though quite recently
that perfectly distinct species had been confounded with them.

B. fuscipes is known to me from very few specimens. I have made my
description of the male from a specimen in perfect condition which was
taken by Colonel Yerbury at Porthcawl in Glamorgan on July 12, 1906,
and he also took a female at Kenmare, Co. Kerry, on June 30, 1901 ; Mr
C. G. Lamb took a female at Padstow in Cornwall in July 1904, and Mr
W. Holland took one at Kingswear near Oxford on June 27, 1902; besides
these specimens I possess an old female without history, and a doubtful
male taken by me at Aberlady on June 27, 1873. According to descrip¬
tions B.fuscipes occurs in North and Middle Europe.

Synonymy. — B.fuscipes was originally described by Meigen from a male sent to
him from England by Dr Leach, and his very imperfect description seems to apply
to the species now described better than to any other as “ Fuhler...nicht ganz so
“ lang als cler Ivopf ” and “ pedibus fuscis : tibiis basi flavis hardly apply to B.
geniculata ; I have seen the probable original type in Meigen’s collection at Paris,
and can state that in general appearance it resembles B. geniculata but has the legs
more brownish, the hind tibite and tarsi being dark brown, the basal joint of the
hind tarsi long and equally rather thin, the thorax rather bright green with the
postalar calli slightly brown, the genitalia large, but unfortunately the antennae
have both lost the last joint so that that character cannot be utilised ; on the whole
I should consider it a male of the species now described. A female in Kowarz’s
collection (labelled B. fuscipes) from “ Bartfa ” in Hungary has also unfortunately
lost the third joint of both antennae, but is a larger specimen with the hind tibiae
darker (but far from black) and the middle femora paler. I have dealt with the
synonymy in further detail under B. geniculata, but until the species has been taken
in larger numbers its distinctness must remain an open question, but its acceptance
by such entomologists as Haliday and Wahlberg after its attempted suppression by

* In this figure the position of the head apparently reduces the comparative length of the basal joints.

10. BERIS

209

Loew tells strongly in its favour. It is possible that B. nigra Meig., also described
from a female sent from England by Dr Leach, may represent the female of
B.fuscipes, but I think the probable original type in the Paris Museum is only B.
chalybeata, though it is hardly in perfect enough condition to decide.

5. B. chalybeata Forster. Abdomen all blackish. Legs dull orange to
pale brown, unicolorous except for the tarsi. Frons of the female fully
one-third the width of the head. Thorax of the male black haired.

d . Head black ; frons shining black, rather large and broad, with a broad
depressed channel down the middle of its upper part, and bearing fairly long
rather upturned black pubescence ; face broad (half the width of the head)
and arched, clothed with a rather long slightly upturned brownish black
pubescence, which becomes rather dark greyish on the jowls ; lower part
of the back of the head inflated and bearing dense blackish pubescence, but
the upper part shallow ; the back of the head when seen from above bears
dense black rather long pubescence (very different from B. Morrisii), which
does not reach beyond the level of the eyes when seen from in front ; vertex
considerably elevated and bearing moderate black pubescence ; proboscis
black at the base but with obscure orange moderately large sucker-flaps :
palpi not evident. Eyes touching for a fairly long space, densely clothed
with rather long brownish black pubescence ; facets on the upper half larger
than those on the lower half but with no abrupt division. Antennae dull
black, hardly as long as the head and placed only a little more than half-way
down the head ; two basal joints almost equal in length and bearing minute
bristles ; flagellum hardly twice as long as the two basal joints together, grey
inside about the middle, and bearing minute hairs on the blunt tip ; the
flagellum is but little attenuated and ends bluntly.

Thorax and scutellum shining blackish aeneous, in fact almost black,
moderately but rather coarsely punctate on the front part but with the
punctuation growing finer and scarcer until the back part and scutellum are
almost impunctate, and bearing a double blackish pubescence of which the
short hairs are rather dense while the longer hairs are less abundant and not
extended to quite the front part ; pleurae with brownish or rusty black
pubescence except on the bare polished middle part of the meso pleurae.
Scutellum (fig. 145) usually with six shining dark green or almost black spines
of which the outer pair are small, but sometimes there are eight spines or
(according to Loew) sometimes only four ; the pubescence is similar to that
on the back part of the thorax and extends up the spines to their tips.

Abdomen dull black with a slight purplish tinge ; pubescence blackish,
rather long down the sides and not scarce. Belly with minute depressed pale
grey pubescence, but with one or two black bristly hairs at the hind corners of
the last two segments. Genitalia large, protruded from the seventh segment,
with a large rounded end plate, above which are small brownish black
lamellae, while underneath they are usually conspicuously keeled.

Legs ranging in colour from dull brownish yellow to brownish orange or
almost or quite darkish brown, but never anywhere at all approaching to
black except on the coxae and tarsi ; basal joint of the hind tarsi
obviously longer than the other four joints together, brownish yellow
and sometimes that joint of the middle tarsi slightly brownish ; basal
joint of the hind tarsi considerably incrassated and arched above so that
the crown of the arch (as seen in profile) is beyond the middle of the joint,
and the joint there is quite as high as the other tarsal joints. Pubescence
fairly long, blackish and obvious behind the front and hind femora ; on
the hind tibiae there is a pale ciliation inside (=behind) except at the base.

Wings with a very strong blackish tinge, but with the costal and sub¬
costal cells a little clearer and with the large stigma distinctly blackened.
Alar squamae small, blackish brown with brownish fringes • thoracal squamae
absent. Halteres dark brown, knob elongate.

? . Rather similar to the male, but the wings are much lighter, though still
decidedly brownish, and the stigma is consequently much more conspicuous.

0

210

STRATIOMYIM

Frons shining black with a slight bluish tinge, broad as it is fully one-
third the width of the head, minutely and sparsely punctate and hardly
widened at all until the obliquely striate eyemargins which are level with a
slight undulating furrow crossing the frons a little above the antennae are
reached, but thence the space between the eyes very gradually widens down
to the mouth where it is less than half the width of the head ; both frons and
face bear soft pale inconspicuous rather upturned pubescence ; upper part of
the back of the head puffed out behind the eyes so as to form a distinct
eye collar, but the lower part considerably more inflated. Eyes with much
shorter and i-atlier sparser pubescence. Antennae hardly so long as the head ;
third joint slightly tapering.

Thorax and scutellum bright greenish or bluish aeneous and bearing short
brownish yellow pubescence, which is depressed and rather abundant anteriorly
but which becomes rather longer and more erect on the back part and on the
scutellum and the scutellar spines ; front part of the disc rather densely
punctate but the punctuation gradually growing sparser until the hind part
is almost impunctate, while the disc of the scutellum is only sparsely
punctate • the hind points of the humeri are yellowish, as is also a very
indistinct narrow line along the suture to the wing-base.

Abdomen shining dark brownish black with a slight purplish hue, and
bearing pale grey pubescence which is moderately long at the sides and which
extends widely on to the disc about the basal corners.

Legs orange, being one colour from the trochanters to the base of the tarsi,
rather paler than in the male but not yellow as in B. Morrisii ; femora with
only short pubescence ; basal joint of the hind tarsi hardly dilated, as long
as the other four joints together, and rather brownish orange but darkening
towards its tip.

Wings pale brownish or with almost a blackish tinge, but yellowish at
the base ; stigma conspicuously dark brown. Alar squamae dull brownish
yellow. Halteres orange to yellow.

Length about 5-5 mm.

This species varies considerably in the tint of the colour of the legs,
which are however almost one colour from the trochanters to the tarsi (both
excluded) and that colour is not so blackish as in B. geniculata or B.
fuscipes nor so yellow as in B. Morrisii. B. geniculata has very much
blacker legs in both sexes, the basal joint of the hind tarsi longer and in
the male more equally dilated, the sidemarginal pubescence on the abdomen
of the male almost whitish instead of blackish, the halteres yellower, and
the frons of the female much narrower. B. fuscipes differs in most respects
as in B. geniculata, but has the antennse shorter and the legs (especially in
the male) more similar to those of B. clialybeata. B. Morrisii cannot be con¬
founded as the pale yellow legs in both sexes, the pale haired thorax of
the male, and the the narrow frons of the female at once distinguish it.
The shape of the flagellum of the antennse in B. clialybeata is distinct from
that in any of the allied species.

B. clialybeata is one of the commonest and most widely distributed of
the British species of this genus, as I have very numerous localities from
Cornwall (Penzance) to Sutherland (Golspie, etc.), while Haliday recorded
it from near Belfast. The dates range from May 14 to June 26, so that it
appears to be an earlier species than its allies. It is recorded from North
and Middle Europe. Curtis stated that it had been bred from moss.

Synonymy. — Forster described this species as British in 1771 (not 1781 as Loew
said) as Musca chalybata, obviously from a male, and consequently his name has
priority over Stratiomys sexdentata of Fabricius, which was also described from
England and obviously from a female. Meigen amended Forster’s name in 1820 to
clialybeata , and a whole host of synonyms were sunk by Loew in 1846, with which
I agree except that 1>. flavipes Macq. and possibly B. obscura Meig. may be

10. BERIS

211

synonyms of B. Morrisii , which was a species at that time little known to Loew ;
as, however, that cannot be proved, they can remain where Loew put them!
Jaennicke in 1866 (Berl. Ent. Zeitschr., x., 234) considered B. fuscipes Meig. as only a
synonym of B. chalybeata and stated that Loew himself had named some of his
B. chalybeata as B. fuscipes Meig. ; if Loew did so, either he made a mistake or
Jaennicke unaccountably failed to distinguish the two species, just as he had done
with the males of B. clavipes and B. vallata. A male in the Hope collection at
Oxford was labelled “ obscura .” In Bigot’s collection the only exponent of B.
sexclent.ata was a female Actina nitens, and the two males representing B. nigripes
were also A. nitens. Beris nigra of Meigen was described from a British female
specimen sent by Dr Leach, and according to the probable type specimen at
Paris is almost certainly only B. chalybeata , but its head is too much injured to make
certain ; its legs are too much obscured (especially the femora and hind tibiae) for it
to be B. Morrisii , even though the thorax is pale haired.

6. B. Morrisii Dale. Abdomen shining blackish. Thorax and head of
the male with wholly yellow pubescence. Legs in both sexes almost wholly
pale yellow. Eyes sparsely hairy in the male, almost bare in the female.
Frons of the female one-fifth the width of the head. Antennre in both
sexes on the lower quarter of the head (fig. 144).

A very distinct species through its brilliant colour and
pale legs.

$ . Head black ; face and frons small, the face being only one-quarter the width
of the head, not produced (fig. 149), and bearing long whitish yellow
pubescence which ceases on the very small jowls but reappears on the
moderately inflated lower part of the back of the head ; upper part of the
back of the head rather flattened but not hollowed
and bearing only a short inconspicuous brownish
pubescence ; pubescence on the absolute back of the
head (best seen from above) short and inconspicuous ;
vertex small and long, distinctly elevated at the
ocellar space, and bearing moderately long yellowish
pubescence ; frons small and narrow, but elongate,
shining black and comparatively bare ; proboscis
black at the base, but with large orange sucker-
flaps ; palpi small, but I think distinct and black (as
shown in fig. 149 lying on the sucker-flaps). Eyes
large, almost but not actually touching for a long-
space from the vertex because a minute pale pub¬
escence exists between them for a long distance,
bearing a short rather sparse dark pubescence ;
facets large on all except the upper and back parts.

Antennae dull black, with a slight luteous tip to the second joint and with
an obscurely greyish luteous patch about the middle of the underside of the
third joint, not so long as the head because the third joint ( = flagellum) is
only a little longer than the two basal joints together ; third joint incon¬
spicuously annulated and bearing some minute projecting hairs at its tip ;
the eyes are so large that the antennae are placed on the lower fifth of the
head (in perpendicular height), or a little after the middle in the rounded
measurement.

Thoi'ax brilliantly shining bluish green or blue, moderately but by no
means densely punctate, and bearing moderately long pale brownish yellow or
sometimes light greyish fine pubescence, which is not at all dense but bears
underneath it a short inconspicuous more dense pale pubescence ; pleurae
with longer more conspicuous pale pubescence on the back part of the meso-
pleurae, and with shorter darker pubescence on the metapleurae, but the
middle part of the mesopleurae bare and polished. Scute] 1 uni of the same
colour as the thorax, but impunctate and with tangled yellowish pubescence

Fits. 149. — Beris Morrisii

X IS.

212

STRATIOMYIM

on the spines ; spines shining green, thick and long, usually six in number,
but the outer pair may be short or even practically absent, leaving some¬
times five spines, or when the spines are extra strong there may be a
seventh spine.

Abdomen purplish or brownish black, moderately shining, and bearing
inconspicuous not scarce short yellowish pubescence on the disc but longer
and more conspicuous yellow pubescence on the sides ; belly shining brownish
black, with abundant minute depressed pale pubescence. Genitalia small,
with two apical and two lateral brownish orange lamella}, and beneath with
all the middle part brownish yellow.

Legs pale yellow ; front and hind coxae partly blackish • hind tibia}
occasionally slightly darkened at the tip ; anterior tarsi with the tip of the
basal joint obscured and the other four joints blackish or brownish with the
extreme tips of the second to fourth joints yellowish ; hind tarsi all brownish or
brownish black, with the basal joint dilated and elongated so that it is slightly
longer than the other four joints together. Pubescence moderate, pale yellow,
and inconspicuous behind the femora and in a ciliation inside the hind tibiae.
Pulvilli soft brown ; claws orange at the base, but black at the tip.

Wings moderately tinged with brown and with a conspicuous blackish
brown stigma ; veins yellowish for some distance about the base ; discal cell
not unfrequently emitting an abortive third veinlet (fig. 150) as in Chorisops.

Alar squamae yellow with pale yellow fringes ; thoracal squamae only indicated
by a raised yellow line. Halteres pale orange.

$ . Very similar to the male, but altogether rather paler. Frons very narrow for
this genus, being barely one-fifth the width of the head, moderately shining-
bluish black, indistinctly striate and punctate, very gradually widening down
to the face, and the face very gradually widening down to the mouth ; the
frons bears very short pale pubescence, and the face rather longer but still
inconspicuous pale pubescence ; upper part of the back of the head not at all
puffed out, dull black but bearing at the top part a patch of minute depressed
greyish brown pubescence. Eyes with only very short inconspicuous sparse
pubescence. Antennae quite as long as the head, the third joint being nearly
twice as long as the two basal joints together, but still placed on the lower
quarter of the head even though the eyes are smaller.

Thorax ranging in colour from brilliant green to purplish ; pubescence all
short and yellow, comparatively scarce.

Abdomen more shining purplish black or brownish, but blacker at the
base, and tip j pubescence inconspicuous, all pale yellows Genitalia showing
a pair of projecting twro-jointed pubescent lamella}, of which the basal joint is
usually orange and the elongate thin second joint brownish.

Legs even paler than in the male ; hind coxae yellow ; basal joint of the
hind tarsi hardly dilated but obviously yellowish ; four last joints of the
anterior tarsi more brownish, and the pale tips of the joints more distinct.
Pubescence short and inconspicuous.

Wings nearly clear, except for the conspicuous dark blackish brown (or in
immature specimens light brown) stigma.

Length about 6 to 7 mm.

This species does nofc vary much, but the abortive third veinlet from
the discal cell is not uncommon and may occur on one wing of a specimen

11. CHORISOPS

213

but not on the other. I cannot consider it at all closely allied to any
European species, but it is very near the North American B. anmilifera
Bigot according to the original specimens which I possess (four females) ;
B. annulifera however has a slightly but distinctly wider frons in the
female, and has the base of the third antennal joint ferruginous, while the
eyes are more pubescent and the legs and wings appear to be slightly
darker. In many respects it indicates a tendency towards a relationship
with Chorisops tibialis.

B. Morrisii cannot be considered at all a common British species
though I know of numerous and widely spread localities ; these localities
are mostly on the south and west as they are in Cornwall (Boscastle),
Devon (Lynton), Dorset (Charmouth, the original locality), Somerset
(Porlock), Sussex (Guestling), Surrey (Clandon), Hereford (Cusop,
Ledbury), Merioneth (Dolgelly, Barmouth), North Wales, but they extend
to Aberdeenshire (Ballater), and Elgin (Logie). The dates range from
June 17 to August 6. It is known to occur from England and South
Sweden to Austria and Italy, and has been recorded by van der Wulp
from Quebec.

Synonymy. — I have come to the conclusion that it is not advisable to suggest
any alteration to the accepted synonymy, which simply admits B. Morrisii Dale
(1842) as the only prior name for B. pallipes Loew (1846). It is unfortunate that
neither Dale nor Loew referred to Maequart's B.flavipes (1826), as that name alone is
almost a description, but Loew sank Maequart’s species as a _ synonym of B.
ehalybeata and only referred to B. obscura Meigen (1820) as possibly representing
his B. pallipes. I am afraid to revive Maequart’s name of B. flavipes, even though 1
believe the present species was intended, because the description is not sufficiently
clear, and if a change were begun it would open the door to a possible revival of
Meigen ’s B. obscura. Under all the circumstances 1 prefer to accept the certain
name of B. Morrisii rather than any uncertain name, even though I do not consider
that the Rev. F. O. Morris was a naturalist worthy of such acknowledgment. The
solitary exponent of B. flavipes in Bigot’s collection was a small female B. Morrisii,
which apparently had been named for him by Rondani ; Bigot however had five
males of B. Morrisii under the label of B. ehalybeata and one male (apparently from
Rondani) under the label of B. sexdentata.

11. CHORISOPS.

Chorisops Rondani, Dipt. Ital. Prodr., i., 173 (1856).

Closely allied to Beris, but distinguished by the long palpi
and the separated eyes of the male. It agrees with Actina in
these two characters, but is distinguished by its bare eyes.

Head with the eyes bare in both sexes and well separated down the frons
(fig. 1 52) ; space above the antennae glistening white. Palpi about as long as the
proboscis.

Scutellum with four yellowish marginal spines.

Abdomen usually with yellowish markings on the disc. Genitalia of the male
distinct from the abdominal segments, and apparently connected wTith them by a sort
of neck.

Legs with the hind tibiae incrassated after the base, especially in the male.

Wings (fig. 151) differing in many minor points from Beris, though the character
of the incomplete third veinlet from the discal cell is not a strong one, as it often
occurs in Bens Morrisii. Cubital vein rather undulating, with its short upper fork
beginning at two-thirds of its length 3 upper branch of the postical vein forming the
lower margin of the discal cell for nearly half the length of the cell.

214

STRATIOMYID.E

This genus may be easily recognised amongst British species, even if
Actina nitens with its hairy eyes should occur, but its relationship to
Boris Morrisii is very obvious, as that species often has a small incomplete
third veinlet from the discal cell, almost bare eyes (scarcely touching
in the male), small but evident palpi, and a pale-haired thorax in both
sexes. The characters given here for the genus may be too limited, as they
are mainly drawn from the European C. tibialis.

The metamorphoses are well known, as Handlirsch in 1883 gave a
detailed description with figures ; he found the larvae in mouldering wood-
earth which contained decaying vegetable matter.

Chorisops (including Exaireta ) is recorded from Europe (one species
only), North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Fig. 151. — Chorisops tibialis 3. x 12.

Synonymy. — I have dealt with the synonymy of the European genera Berts,
Actina , and Chorisops in my synonymical note under Beris, but I made no reference
there to the genus Exaireta of Schiner (1867), amended by Osten Sacken in 1878 to
Neoexaireta on the ground of preoccupation ; a close examination of various species
of Exaireta confirms me in the belief that it cannot be separated from Chorisops,
and in fact Exaireta {Beris) luteipennis Philippi from Chili is extremely closely
allied to our European C. tibialis. Nowicki’s argument upon the synonymy of
Exaireta Schin. and Diphysa Macq. is well grounded, but he is wrong in stating
that the veinlet (= upper branch of postical vein) which separates (what ought to
be) the fourth posterior cell from the fifth springs from the discal cell in Beris, but
from the second basal cell in Exaireta , as I cannot find any more distinction between
Exaireta (including the type species E. spinigera Wied.) and Beris than I can
between Chorisops and Beris. As both the names Exaireta and Diphysa are pre¬
occupied, the only change required in the present synonymy is to sink Neoexaireta.
under Chorisops. I am aware that Brauer in his paper on the Notacantha in 1882
separated these two genera, but I do not think his distinctive characters of generic
value, and his cursory work was proved by his erroneous spelling Chlorisops. All
these writers seem to have overlooked Rondani’s paper in 1863 (Archiv. p. Zool.
Modena, iii. 87) in defence of his genus Chorisops, in which he gives the European
C. tibialis as the type species but states that the genus includes “ exotic® nonnull®,
“ Servillei — Javana — Macq. etc.,” though all knew that Beris Servillei Macq. was a
synonym of E. spinigera Wied. which was the type species of Exaireta. Curtis and
Haliday were wrong in considering C . tibialis to be the type of the genus Actina
because that species was not described until seventeen years after the genus Actina
had been founded, but that question is also dealt with in my synonymical note upon
the genus Beris.

1. C. tibialis Meigen. Abdomen more or less yellow on the disc.
Scutellum with yellow spines. Eyes bare and well separated in both sexes.

Easily distinguished from the other Berince by the yellowish
scutellar spines, and usually by the pale abdominal markings.

Frons (fig. 152) shining bluish black or dark green, about one-eighth the
width of the head at the vertex but gradually narrowing until below the
ocelli, and thence almost parallel-sided to the glistening white space just

11. CHORISOPS

215

above the antennae, where it is about half as wide as at the vertex . the
vertex bears some moderately long black hairs, but the frons has only a short
pale pubescence \ face not at all produced, glistening white, slightly widening
down to the mouth, and bearing pale hairs on the sides but with a few blackish
or even whitish hairs dowm the middle line and especially on the lower part ;
jowls very small, but their back part and the lower part of the back of the
head with some slight pale pubescence ; back of the
head deep black but very shallow and with a very
short black postocular ciliation on the upper part ;
ocellar space elevated, and the three ocelli dull
reddish and equidistant. Proboscis dull orange ;
palpi small, dull yellowish, distinctly porrected wel l
above the proboscis. Eyes bare, and in life dark
green ; facets all equal. Antennae long and rather
thin, being slightly longer than the head and thickest
on the second and base of the third joints, usually
dull brownish black but brownish orange beneath
the second and the base of the third joints, and
sometimes dull brownish orange with only the tip
half of the third joint blackish, or sometimes all
dull blackish ; basal joint thin and distinctly longer than the second, and
both bearing minute black bristles ; third joint nearly twice as long as the
two basal joints together, and rather indistinctly 8-annulated with the first
and last annulations not conspicuously longer than the others

Thorax and scutellum brilliant shining green, finely and rather sparsely
punctate, and bearing a not scarce though not conspicuous fine pale yellow
pubescence all over : pleurae with the middle part of the mesopleurae bare, but
the hind part witli rather longer and more conspicuous pale pubescence.
Scutellum with four yellowish marginal spines which bear (besides other hairs)
a rather long apical hair which is easily broken off.

Abdomen black, moderately shining, with more or less yellow coloring on
the disc ; sometimes the yellow colour is limited to the middle of the base of
the third and fourth segments, but more commonly nearly all the disc of the
third and fourth segments and the base of the fifth are yellowish, and some¬
times the yellow colour extends over almost all the second to fifth segments
and on to part of the sixth. Belly as a rule more extensively yellowish than
the dorsum. Pubescence mainly very short and dark colored, but long pale
yellow ancl fairly abundant down the sides from the base to part way down
the fourth segment. Genitalia distinct, being, much narrower than the last
abdominal segment and only connected with it by a sort of neck ; genital

lamellae orange. . , ,

Legs mainly yellow or dull orange, or sometimes more obscure in clarlt
specimens ; tarsi blackish from the tip of the basal joint onwards, and some¬
times the front tarsi blackish even to the base ; hind femora brownish yellow
or even brown about the middle and just before the tip, slightly incrassated ,
hind tibiae blackish brown after the basal quarter, and considerably incrassated
after the base ; hind tarsi rather short, basal joint moderately incrassated and
quite as long as the other four joints together. Pubescence very slight and
pale yellow on the femora, and even the minute, pubescence on the legs pale
except on the dark parts of the tarsi and on the incrassated part of the hind

tibiae. , . , , ,

Wings faintly suffused with brown, and with a conspicuous large clarX
brown stigma. Alar squamae moderate in size, dull glassy with pale fringes ;
thoracal squamae almost absent. Halteres yellow, knob large.

9 . Very similar to the male, but the disc of the abdomen usually more yellowish
and the dark parts of the legs lighter colored. Frons nearly one-fifth the
width of the head and more equal in width from the vertex to the antennae,
shining greenish black down to the white space above the antennae, and
bearing such very short pubescence that it appears to be bare ; back ot the
head slightly but equally puffed out ; pubescence on the face very slight, but
that on the lower part of the back of the head obvious. Antennae longer than
in the male.

Fig. 152.— Chorisops
tibialis £ . x 18.

216

STRATIOMYIM

Thorax and scutellum with short depressed pale yellow pubescence ;
humeri distinctly yellowish.

Abdomen sometimes nearly all yellowish except for dark triangular spots
near the hind corners of the segments, and with much shorter pubescence
at the sides. Genitalia with a pair of terminal orange lamellae.

Legs paler than in the male and the hind femora not darkened about the
middle, while in pale specimens the hind tibiae are hardly at all darkened ;
hind tibiae less dilated, and basal joint of the hind tarsi only a little dilated •
front tarsi occasionally dark to their base.

Wings slightly more hyaline, and sometimes the stigma only pale brown.
Alar squamae yellow with whitish yellow fringes.

Length about 6 mm.

This species varies so much in the yellow coloring on the disc of the
abdomen as to raise the impression that there might be two species under
it, but I am unable to find any definite character for distinction ; it also
varies in the intensity of the dark markings on the legs (especially in the
female), and in the colour of the frons and the facial pubescence, and I
think also that there are slight variations in the narrowing or expansion
of the frons and face. There is no close ally known in Europe, as Actina
nitens is much blacker and has hairy eyes.

G. tibialis is not uncommon over the south and middle parts of England,
as I have numerous localities from Devonshire, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent,
Surrey, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincolnshire, Wiltshire, Gloucester¬
shire, Herefordshire, Yorkshire, and Glamorgan, from July 4 to September
14. The males often congregate in aerial dances. It is recorded from
almost all Europe. The metamorphoses are noticed under the generic
description.

Synonymy. — Meigen originally described liis Beris tibialis from a male in
Baumkauer’s collection and a female sent from England by Dr Leach, and no doubt
has ever arisen as to their identity. A. Costa in 1857 described an Actina hyalini-
ventris of which I have not seen the description, but Bezzi (Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital.,
xxxii. 77, 1900) wrote of it as a species which has a certain affinity of appearance
with C. tibialis and as occurring throughout Italy. I know nothing about the
species, but the name suggests the paler form of C. tibialis , and in Bezzi’s Band ii.
of Kertesz’s Katalog it is sunk as a synonym, so that it is to be supposed that Bezzi
had become convinced that it had more than a certain affinity of appearance.

XYLOMYINA:

217

XYLOMYIN^.

Fig. 153. — Xylomyia marginata (5 . x S.

Abdomen with at least seven obvious segments. Antennae with
8-annulated flagellum. Wings with the discal cell emitting three almost
complete veinlets irrespective of the upper branch of the postical vein,
with the fourth posterior cell closed, and with the ambient vein extended
beyond the tip of the wing. Scutellum without any marginal spines.
Posterior tibiae spurred.

Head with very slight pubescence. Face depressed on all the middle part as in
LeptidcB but without a socketed tubercle. Palpi elongate and upturned so as to lie on
the depressed part of the face. Eyes well separated in both sexes and almost equally
separated from the vertex to the moutlq always bare, and. the facets all equal.
Antennae (fig. 157) elongate ; two basal joints almost equal in length; third joint
( = flagellum) bare, long, and whip-shaped, with eight annotations and usually with
a small apical bristle.

Thorax almost without pubescence, because any that exists is so tiny ; prothorax
rather large and rather oblong (fig. 154). Scutellum unarmed.

Abdomen elongate, with almost parallel sides, and with no angled shoulders on
the second segment, composed of from seven to nine visible segments, and practically
without pubescence. Genitalia of the male usually large, protruding, and very
complicated • of the female with a pair of protruding lamellae.

Legs fairly stout ; front femora at their origin only moderately distant from the
middle pair ; front coxae rather long ; femora simple or with the hind pair incrassate
and spinose beneath ; front tibiae unarmed, but the posterior pairs with two almost
equal fairly long terminal spurs.

Wings (fig. 153) with an almost Leptid venation. Costal vein extended as an
ambient vein to the end of the second veinlet from the discal cell though rather
faint after the lower branch of the cubital vein ; mediastinal vein rather abruptly
upcurved into the costa opposite the discal cross-vein ; subcostal vein ending about
half-way between the mediastinal and radial •, prcefurca {= common base of radial
and cubital veins) starting well before the base of the diseal cell and opposite about

218

STRATIOMYIDCE

two-tliircls of the length of the upper basal cell ; radial vein extended just beyond the
fork of the cubital ; cubital vein with a long fork, of which the lower branch ends in or
just after the tip of the wing, and the upper branch is fully two-thirds as long as
the lower one and ends about half-way between the radial vein and the wing-tip ;
basal cells all very long as they extend almost or quite to the middle of the wing, and
both (or, if including the anal cell, all three) nearly equally long ; discal cell distinctly
hexagonal with two short basal and two short end sides, remarkably long and dis¬
tinct from the usual Stratiomyid type, being about four times longer than broad, with
the upper and lower cross-veins placed at its basal sixth, and emitting three veinlets
of which the upper two, or only the upper one, extend completely to the wingmargin,
while the lower one bends sharply down and joins the upper branch of the postical
vein just before the wingmargin, and thereby forming a closed fourth posterior cell
which is peculiar to this subfamily in the Stratiomyidce ; postical vein with a long stem,
the stem being nearly twice as long as the whole upper branch, and with its fork simple,
but the upper branch is joined by the lowest veinlet from the discal cell just before
the wingmargin, while the lower branch is short and bends down rather abruptly
into the anal vein distinctly though not far before the wingmargin, and consequently
the fourth posterior cell and the anal cell are closed ; stem of the postical vein and
its lower branch strong ; anal vein quite reaching the wingmargin ; alula moderately
developed. Membrane of the wings minutely pubescent, but not at all ribbed,
though there may be slight inequalities or folds. Squamae very little developed, but
the alar pair present and slightly fringed especially at the lower angle ; thoracal
pair entirely absent.

The Xylomyince are most allied in their venation to the Berince in the
Stratiomyidce or to the Xylopliagince in the Leptidce. They are dis-

Fig. 154. — Xylomyia maculata <$ . x 10.

Fig. 155. — Xylophagus a ter & . x 20.

tinguished from the Xylophagince as was pointed out by Osten Sacken by
the large prosternal plate which intervenes between the front coxae and the
anterior thoracic orifice (v. fig. 154), the comparatively short front coxae, and
the but little extensile abdominal segments, as well as by the closed fourth
posterior cell. They differ from all the other Stratiomyidce in the praefurca
( = common base of the radial and cubital veins) starting far before the
base of the discal cell, in the spurred posterior tibiae (which otherwise only
occur on the middle tibiae of Acanthomyia), in the closed fourth posterior
cell, and in the more extended ambient vein.

The Xylomyince comprise but very few species ; in fact it is at present
uncertain whether they are not limited to the genus Xylomyia, although
probably one or two other genera which had been placed in the old family
Xylophagidce will ultimately be included and most likely Rhachicerus

12. XYLOMYIA

219

because of its closed fourth posterior cell. The species are recorded from
Europe, North America, and South Asia. Their metamorphoses are well
known, and they are really far more common in the larval stage than in the
imaginal, as the habits of the perfect insects are very little known while
the larvm are easily found and easily reared ; I once however saw the
females of Xylomyia marginata running about the bark of some felled
trees in considerable numbers.

Synonym;/. — For a very long time this subfamily was included along with
Xylophagus in the family Xylophagidce, but is now considered to belong to the end
of the Stratiomyidce while the Xylophagince are relegated to the beginning of the
Leptidae.

For the purposes of this work the subfamily may be considered to consist of only
the genera Xylomyia and possibly Rhachicerus , the latter being easily distinguished
by its remarkable antennae. Before any attempt is made to divide the genus
Xylomyia into those with simple and those with serrate hind femora a careful
examination should be made to find out upon what Walker’s genus Solva was
founded.

Table of the Pal war die Genera of Xylomyinhl

1 (2) Antennae with an eight-annulated simple flagellum. Xylomyia.

2 (1) Antenme with a multi-articulate (22 to 32), often pectinated,

flagellum (fig. 166). Rhachicerus

(Xylophaginarum ?).

12. XYLOMYIA.

Xylomyia Eondani, Dipt. Ital. Prodr., iv., 11 (1861).

Middle-sized to rather small almost bare flies, which are
mainly of black coloration with more or less yellow markings.

Face and frons flush with the eyes or even slightly depi’essed ; face considerably
depressed on all the middle part except close to the antennae ; ocelli three. Proboscis
prominent, with small sucker-flaps ; palpi two-jointed, cylindrical, rather long,
directed upwards and mainly lying upon the face. Eyes bare, well separated in the
male and still more widely separated in the female. Antennae (fig. 157) elongate, as
long as or longer than the head ; two basal joints almost equal in length ; third
joint by far the longest, whip-shaped, composed of eight annnlations of which
the first is the largest, and usually with a tiny apical bristle or style.

Thorax short, oval, little arched ; pleurae with slight downy pubescence.
Scutellum without any marginal spines.

Abdomen elongate, flattened, with seven distinct segments, but with no pro¬
minent front angles. Genitalia of the male forming a large knob {1 X. varia)
beneath the sixth and seventh dorsal segments ; ovipositor not protruded tubularly
but with a pair of lamellae extending beyond the seventh dorsal segment.

Legs rather long, almost bare and without any bristles ; front coxae long, but
not so long and cylindrical as in Xylophagus ; posterior tibiae with two spurs each ;
coxae rather long.

Wings (fig. 156) rather large, lying parallel on the abdomen when at rest, not
spotted ; costal vein extending after the end of the lower branch of the cubital fork
as an ambient vein to the end of the first or second veinlet from the discal cell ;
praefurca commencing well before the base of the discal cell ; cubital fork rather like
that of the Berime, being the longest and most wide open of any of the Stratiomyidce ,
but differing from that of the Benner in being placed further out on the wing and
just including the wing-tip ; discal cell very different in shape from that of
any other palaearctic Stratiomyidce, being long and hexagonal as in the Leptidce,

220

STRATIOMYIDiE

and with the third issuing veinlet bent down sharply and joining the upper branch
of the postical fork just before the wingmargin so that the fourth posterior cell is
closed ; postical fork simple except that each branch of the fork unites with the
neighboring vein just before the wingmargin, so that the anal cell is also closed
near the wingmargin ; small cross-vein usually distinct but sometimes almost
absent ; wing-membrane minutely but distinctly pubescent, and with indistinct folds.

Pig. 156. — Xylomyia maculata ?. x 9.

Alar squamae small and triangular, with a long but not dense fringe ; thoracal
squamae absent. Hal teres normal.

The larvae resemble those of Sargus , and live in the pulp or rotten wood debris in
hollows in many kinds of trees, or (it is said) on the out-flowing sap, especially
of Elms ( Ulmus ), Oaks ( Quercus ), Poplars ( Populus ), and Walnut ( Juglans ).
Specimens of X. maculata are more easily obtained by breeding than by capture, so
much so that in places or even on trees where its larvae are abundant the perfect
insect is scarcely ever seen, and I believe its habits in the imaginal state are very
little known ; the female of X. marginata has occurred on the trunks of felled trees,
and though active is not very shy.

This genus is easily known among the Stratiomyidco by its Ichneumon-
like appearance, its venation, and its spurred posterior tibiae, but with the
Leptid subfamily Xylophaginaz (with one of which it was for a long time
thought congeneric) the superficial resemblance is very close; so far,
however, as we are concerned in Britain the closed fourth posterior cell is
peculiar to Xylomyia.

Xylomyia is at present composed of very few species, and only three or
four have been met with in Europe, though closely allied species occur in
Caffraria, Sierra Leone, the Canaries, North America, and South Asia.

Synonymy. — This genus was known from 1820 to 1861 as Subula Meig., but as
that name had been preoccupied by Schumacher in 1817 for a genus of Mollusca
Rondani substituted Xylomyia ; the change was received with very little favour by
dipterologists and even in 1886 Osten Sacken declined to adopt it on the ground
that “ a change in a name of such old standing involves much more inconvenience
“ than its retention ; ” I have however made close inquiry and I find that
Schumacher’s genus is well established and in general use in Mollusca at the present
time, and therefore I fear that the inconvenience of the change must be endured.
Williston’s substitution of the name Subidomyia in 1896 wras made hastily without
noticing that Rondani had proposed Xylomyia thirty-five years previously.

The type of the genus Subula would apparently be S. maculata Meig. because
that is the species that Meigen figured, and is the first species of this section of
Meigen’s genus X ylonhagus, and is the only one to which Meigen has actually united
Megerle’s generic and specific names (though Meigen received all three species from
Megerle with suggested names) ; Rondani however when proposing the name
Xylomyia in substitution for Subula gave S. varia as the type, possibly because it
may have been the only species known to him. So long as X. maculata and
X. varia remain in one genus it does not matter which is the type species, but in
case of any further subdivision of the genus (which is not unlikely) I leave the
matter to be adjudicated upon at that time ; before however any new name might be
proposed it would be well to ascertain further details about Solva of Walker which
was founded in 1862 and which has been sunk by Osten Sacken as a synonym.
The type specimen of Macroceromys Bigot (1879) has markings on the thora'x very

12. XYLOMYIA

221

similar to those of X. maculata but has very much longer antennae ; unfortunately
it has lost both wings, but it must be very closely allied to Xylomyia or even
congeneric as Osten Sacken suggested in 1886 ; the hind femora are not thickened
and have no serration beneath.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Thorax black with conspicuous yellow spots. 1 maculata.

2 (1) Thorax black without any conspicuous yellow markings.

3 (4) Coxae blackish. 2 marginata.

4 (3) Coxae all orange. 3 varia.

1. X. maculata Meigen. Thorax black with conspicuous yellow spots.
Abdomen with yellow cross-bands.

A very handsome exotic-looking black and yellow fly.

6- Ground colour rather shining black. Eyes separated at the vertex by about
one-seventh the width of the head and almost equally so down to the mouth,
as the widening which begins just above the antennae is very slight ; this space
is dull black except on the shining part just outside and in front of’ the ocellar
space, but the vertex, the ocellar space itself, and a considerable part of the
frons after the shining portion is rather densely
covered with glistening greyish yellow adpressed
pubescence which leaves only a dull black unequal
cross-band a little above the antennae on which
there is neither dust nor pubescence, and the portion
anterior to that just above and all round the antennae,
including the narrow strip of face below the antennae,
is densely covered with greyish dust ; the face is very
short and only forms a strip just below the antennae
because a wide quadrate clypeus extends far upwards
from the mouth and leaves only a very narrow grey
line down each eyemargin, the clypeus itself being
also densely covered with greyish dust ; jowls and
back of the head so shallow as to be almost absent, but behind the eyes
from their lowest part to nearly one-third up there are some fairly long
pale greyish hairs, and on the rest of the back of the head there is a line
of short dense inconspicuous black bristles ; quite behind the vertex there is
a patch of minute pale pubescence on the back of the head. Proboscis large
and entirely exserted, being apparently composed of the large pale orange
sucker-flaps which look like a lower pair of palpi; palpi large and rather
club-shaped, bright orange. Eyes bare ; facets all equal. Antennae (fig. 157)
slightly longer than the head when seen from above, more or less extensively
dull orange on the inner side, but blackish on the outside and upper side
and on the base and tip ; basal joint short, being barely so long as broad,
second joint slightly shorter but more equally transverse, and these two
joints bear tiny black bristles except on their inner side ; third joint (flagellum)
with seven annulations before the conical end one, first annulation nearly as
long as broad, but the next six only about half as long and very gradually
diminishing in size, eighth annulation microscopically hairy, quite twice as
long as its base is broad, conical, and sending from its point a short sharp
apical bristle.

Thorax shining black, with several conspicuous orange spots ; each end of
the suture has an orange spot which usually extends rather narrowly along
the suture and is widened at its inner end into another (though smaller) spot of
irregular shape, but the middle third of the suture remains black ; humeral
knobs and adjoining front of thorax pale orange, or sometimes with an
adjacent orange spot out on the disc ; pos talar calli with a large irregular

222

STRATIOMYID.E

diamond-shaped orange spot, which extends to the margin near the corner
of the scuteUum ; a pale orange line runs along the top of the mesopleurse
from the lower margin of the humeral spot to the wing-base, and forms there
a large oblong spot down the upper part of the hinder side of the mesopleurae ;
the top part of the pteropleurse and the top of the sternopleurae pale orange •
lateral plate of the metanotum forming an oblong pale orange spot just in
front of the halteres, which is usually large but sometimes more restricted in
size. The black parts of the thorax and scutellum are finely and rather thickly
punctate and from each punctuation a minute grey adpressed bristle arises, but
the yellow parts are less punctate or even impunctate and the minute bristles
on them are yellow ; these minute bristles constitute the only pubescence on
the dorsal part, but the sternopleurse bear a short sparse downy pale yellow
inconspicuous pubescence, and the top of the hypopleurae is downy, and the
metapleurae have an indistinct pale pubescence ; prothorax with some fine
pale yellow pubescence. Scutellum pale orange, with a straight black base
which is widened at the corners.

Abdomen black and only moderately shining, with the whole side thirds
of the second segment orange ; hindmargins of the third to the sixth
segments orange for about the hind quarter of each segment, but the orange
bands slightly narrowed at the sides and slightly bowed in front at the middle ;
seventh segment orange with a transverse black spot on the middle of the
foremargin and smaller ones at the sides ; eighth and ninth segments just
visible and orange, but the eighth segment has blackish sides ; pubescence all
so short and depressed as to be almost imperceptible, except for a little pale
pubescence about the basal corners of the second segment and the tiny
adpressed golden hairs on the hinder part of the segments. Belly dull
black with narrow pale yellow hindmargins to the segments ; fifth segment
with a large quadrate excision for the genitalia which has a fringe of dark
hairs on its sides ; pubescence very minute, adpressed, and pale. Genitalia
all orange, with a large shining dorsal plate, and with two large subquadrate
side-plates, but before these a pair of long but broad clavate lamellae arise
from near the sides of the base of the dorsal plate, while beneath them and
the lateral plates are other pairs of smaller lamellae, of which the basal pair
are long, thin, and clavate ; the basal pair of dorsal lamellae and the sub-
quadrate lateral plates bear a delicate pretty fringe of orange hairs, and all
the lamellae when seen from above bear depressed glistening golden pubescence
all over.

Legs mainly orange, but the apical third of the hind femora and tibiae
conspicuously black ; front coxae shining black, large both in length and in
bulk, and bearing tiny adpressed light grey pubescence except on the polished
base in front, trochanters black, but tinged with luteous above, and with
adpressed tiny whitish pubescence on all the lower part • middle coxae
shorter, shining black, and with scarcer light grey tiny pubescence ; hind
coxae as large and long as the front pair but bulkier, trochanters more
obviously luteous about their joint with the coxae and at the tip, and also
bearing white almost downy pubescence ; last four joints of the front tarsi
darkened above and partly so beneath ; hind tarsi slightly darkened towards
the end. All the femora are apparently transparent beneath, which causes
light or dark reflections to show in different lights and also causes the minute
pale pubescence to appear downy in some lights, but otherwise all the femora
and tibiae bear very minute dense pale yellow or orange pubescence which
however darkens to tawny on the black part of the hind tibiae ; the hind
femora may even appear to be extensively whitish beneath, and they are
moderately strong and without any trace of serration beneath. Front tibiae
unarmed at the tip, but each of the posterior tibiae with a pair of dull tawny
moderately long spurs. Claws black, small, and almost concealed behind the
pulvilli.

Wings (fig. 156) slightly smoky ; anterior veins and base with a yellowish
tinge when contrasted with the brownish tinge of the posterior veins ; sub¬
costal vein with dense minute bristles above on its whole length ; cubital vein
with its stem nearly twice as long as its upper branch, and its upper branch
about two-thirds the length of the lower branch and ending about half-way
between the radial vein and the tip of the wing, and with its lower branch

12. XYLOMYIA

223

ending immediately after the tip of the wing ; discal cell with the discal and
lower cross-veins at about its basal sixth, the lower cross-vein being fairly
long ; the discal cell emits three veinlets of which the upper one. is strongly
arched so that the first posterior cell is contracted just after its middle and is
more widely open at the wingmargin than at any other part, while the second
posterior cell is rather contracted at the wingmargin ; the second veinlet from
the discal cell is entire right up to the wingmargin ; basal cells equally long ;
costal vein continued as an ambient vein to the end of the second veinlet from
the discal cell. Squamae (alar) obscurely whitish yellow with a very slight
pale fringe up to the lower angle, where there is a slight tuft. Halteres
orange, knob large.

?. Very much like the male. Head just as in the male, but the an ten me
rather less orange on the inside.

Thorax as in the male, but the yellow markings usually smaller, so that
the humeral knobs are only partly orange and the spots at the sides of the
suture may be smaller ; the top of the sternopleurse and all the metapleune
have slighter indications of orange, or the metapleune may have a round
orange spot on their middle. Scutellum with a broader black base.

Abdomen similar to that of the male, but the eighth and ninth segments
are quite obvious, while the orange liindmargins of the third to sixth segments
are narrower ; hindmargin of the seventh segment similar to that of the
sixth, but broader as it occupies half the segment at its widest part ;
eighth segment all orange except on the large transverse black middle basal
spot ; ninth segment all orange except on a large obscure middle basal
spot. Ovipositor with a pair of extended reddish orange lamella? which are
more than half as long as the ninth abdominal segment. Belly with the
yellow hindmargins very narrow up to the eighth segment.

Legs with the tarsi and spurs darker, the basal joint of the front tarsi
having the apical half darkened. like the rest of the joints, while sometimes the
middle tarsi are as much blackened as the front pair, and the hind tarsi may
have the tip of the two basal joints and the whole of the rest blackish; the
spurs (especially the hind pair) may be blackish.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 9 mm.

This species varies a little in the size and extent of the orange spots
and markings, and the dark tip of the hind tibiae may be brownish rather
than black. X. trinotata Bigot from the Caucasus Mountains (according
to the female type in Bigot’s collection) is rather allied and agrees in
the venation and the unarmed hind femora, but has the proboscis and
palpi blackish orange, the humeri and pleurae black, the thoracic suture
with very faint orange markings, the abdomen with scarcely perceptible
bands and even the end segments black, while the legs are reddish with
very slight darkening at the tip of the hind femora and tibiae, and the
hind tarsi are all darkened. X. tenthredinoides v. d. Wulp, which Osten
Sacken considered a dark variety of the North American X. americana
Wiedemann, is quite congeneric according to a specimen in Bigot’s
collection.

X. maculata occurs in the New Forest and was bred in considerable
numbers by Bev. H. S. Gorham in 1898, and since then on several occa¬
sions by Dr D. Sharp, but the perfect insect has been seen by them on only
one occasion, when about the end of May 1904 one settled on a tree trunk
near Bank where they were collecting the larvae. It had been bred from
the same neighborhood previous to 1840 by Rev. F. W. Hope as recorded
in Westwood’s Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, and
Stephens figured it in his Illustrations, vii., Suppl., 28, T. xlvi., fig. 3

224

STRAT10MYID.E

(1846). Walker said, “Very rare; inhabits the New Forest, Hampshire.
“ In Mr Stephens’s collection. (E.) ; ” and this may well refer to a female
specimen labelled “ scutellata?” which still remains (t. Austen, Ann. Nat.
Hist. (7), iii. 182) in the old Stephensian collection in the British
Museum with its puparium attached to it. There are four specimens
in the Hope Museum at Oxford, which are probably the original specimens
referred to by Westwood, especially as a label attached to a male says,
“ Mr Hope in New Forest. Pupse found in dry rotten trees.” Gorham
said (Entom. Month. Mag., 1899, 71), “While searching for Coleoptera near
“ Denny Lodge in the New Forest, on the 29th of June in the summer last
“ past, I came across a number of Dipterous pup®, in very rotten wood, in
“ a hollow stump. The tree was, I believe, oak, and the consistency of the
“ rotten portion in the crevices of which the pup® were lying almost
“ huddled together may be likened to that of rich wedding-cake. I
“ brought home about a dozen of these pup®, and from the m there
“ emerged on the 8th of July several flies which were unknown to me
“ then, but which I made out from Westwood, Introd. ii, pp. 533-534;
“ and figs. 127, 11 (pupa of Sargus), and 12, to be Subula (. Xylomyia )
“ maculata, Fab.” — “There were, however, a great number of the pup®, or
“ rather pupa cases, for the outside covering is that of the larval skin,
“ which bursts at the end, just as figured for Sargus , the true pupa being
“ extruded a little way. I bred eleven specimens, being all I believe that
“ I brought home, simply keeping them in a tin. The flies continued to
“ emerge for about a week.” Austen recorded that there were some forty
more pup®. On June 12, 1905, Dr D. Sharp showed me the pup® in
abundance on similar rotten wood in the New Forest near Bank, and 1
bred a number of specimens from them. It is apparently common in the
New Forest in the larval and pupal stages, though very rarely seen in the
imaginal stage, and yet the bred specimens seem to be very active.

Synonymy. — It is curious that Meigen in 1820 should have ascribed this species
to Fabricius (just as he did Xylophagus ater), when Meigen’s first description
appeared in 1804 and Fabricius’ not until 1805.

2. X. marginata Meigen. Thorax without any yellow markings on
the disc. Abdomen with narrow yellow cross-bands. Antenn® about as
long as the head. Cox® blackish ; hind femora incrassate and serrulate
beneath (fig. 153).

A rather inconspicuous fly which is very distinct from any
other in Britain except X. varia.

J. Frons separating the eyes by about one-tenth (or more) of the width of the
head at the vertex and widening rather abruptly to about one-seventh a little
above the antennae, but if the frons is at the vertex as much as one-seventh
the width of the head its sides are parallel until this emargination ; sides of
the face widening below because of the rounding off of the eyes • frons black
but rather densely covered with glistening whitish pubescence which is most
conspicuous between the ocelli and the antennae, and Avhich is not very short
but slopes forwards and is dense enough to almost obscure the ground colour ;
after the emargination and down the sides of the face there are narrow
glistening greyish white bare eyemargins, and the face itself is bare ; jowls
practically none, but the lower third of the back of the head black and

12. XYLOMYIA

225

Fig. 15S. — Xylomyia
marginata x 30.

moderately inflated with a narrow light grey eyemargin, and bearing rather long
pendulous whitish pubescence ; back of the head on its upper third very
shallow and with short depressed greyish white pubescence against the eyes
and behind the vertex. Proboscis orange, large, exserted,
with the sucker-flaps resembling pendulous palpi and
bearing a little pale yellow pubescence ; palpi pale orange,
very long, thin, lying between the sides of the face almost
up to the antennae, and bearing rather abundant short
pale yellow pubescence. Eyes large, bare ; facets all equal.

Antennae (fig. 158) dull black, but the second joint partly
ferruginous ; the two basal joints short and transverse,
about equal in length, and bearing tiny pale pubescence :
third joint practically bare, about three times as long as the two basal joints
together, so that the whole antennae are about as long as (or slightly longer
than) the head ; third joint a little thicker than the others about its base and
slightly tapering, though still thick and blunt at its tip, where a minute
sharp apical style can sometimes be traced ; the third joint has eight
indistinct annulations, of which the basal one is the longest, though the last
one is about twice as long as the penultimate one.

Thorax black, very crowdedly and coarsely punctate so that it is but little
shining, and the ground colour is somewhat obscured by the depressed
glistening pale pubescence ; humeri with the extreme lower corner reddish
(extensively pale yellow in a Bohemian specimen), and a fairly wide
orange stripe runs along the upper margin of the mesopleurae from beneath
the humeri to the wing-base, but sometimes this stripe becomes thin and dies
out in a point at the hind corner of the mesopleura though even then a
reddish spot remains just in front of the wing-base ; lower front corner of
hypopleurse obscurely reddish ; pubescence all over the disc of the thorax
almost addressed glistening greyish white, but giving an impression of being-
arranged m broad black and grey stripes because of the differing directions in
which the hairs slope, and especially showing (when viewed from above) a
broad black middle stripe ; pleurae shining black, but roughened and bearing-
very short depressed shimmering greyish white pubescence which becomes
conspicuous and almost silvery on the sternopleurae and hindmargin of the
mesopleura;, and rather longer and denser but inconspicuous on the meta¬
pleurae. Scutellum shining reddish orange with the extreme side corners
black ; pubescence very short and greyish white ; metanotum black, obscured
by greyish dust.

Abdomen black, moderately shining and all rather roughly punctate, with

an arched reddish

spot extending all across the base and with the

liindmargins of the second to fifth segments narrowdy orange all across the
disc but not extended over the sides ; the basal four segments have almost
parallel sides, but the fifth slightly contracts and the sixth distinctly does so,
while the seventh segment is shorter and droops over the genitalia ; all the
segments have an inconspicuous transverse depression across the disc just
after the middle of each segment ; pubescence on the disc black but incon¬
spicuous, being very short and dense, but away from the middle of the disc
there are some short adpressed greyish white hairs, which become longer and
more conspicuous towards the sides and on the sidemargins, and longer still
and more erect about the basal corners, while the third to sixth segments
have pale hindmarginal fringes. Belly moderately shining black with the
basal pale spot shining through from above, and the second to fifth segments
with narrow yellow hindmargins and with their sides luteous ; pubescence
yellowish, very slight. Genitalia forming a large knob beneath the sixth and
seventh dorsal segments, the end part forming a large arched plate which is
shining black down its middle but shining chestnut at the sides ; at the upper
basal corners there is a pair of long almost thread-like orange lamellae which
have long pale fringes, and similar fringes extend from these along the hind-
margin of the seventh segment ; beneath the large plate there is a pair of
short stout orange lamellae against the hind corners of the sixth segment,
-while the large curved middle part is rather blackish chestnut.

Legs mainly orange ; coxae and trochanters shining black, but the trochanters
with chestnut reflections ; front coxae long and stout, trochanters moderate in

226

STRATIOMYIDdE

size ; middle coxae shorter, but the trochanters long and thin, being longer
than the coxae ; hind coxae large and stout, trochanters moderately large ; apical
quarter of the front tibiae and all the front tarsi light brown ; apical three-
quarters of the middle tibiae and all the middle tarsi brownish ; apical tenth of
the hind femora brownish with the part about the knee-joint blackish ; apical
third of the hind tibiae brownish, and the hind tarsi blackish brown ; front
femora slightly incrassate, middle pair stout, but hind pair very much incras-
sate for their whole length and with about thirty little black spines beneath,
and these spines form an irregular row which does not extend to the base but
which breaks up into two or three rows near the tip ; middle tibiae with two
brownish yellow spurs beneath, of which the one towards the front is rather
long but the one towards the back is short ; hind tibiae with a pair of short
brownish orange spurs. Pubescence very short, adpressed, and all pale, but
there is a short postero-ventral fringe on the anterior femora, and the tiny
pubescence is rather conspicuous on the hind femora and tibiae ; coxae bearing
pale down but no sign of bristles. Pulvilli dull orange ; claws small.

Wings almost hyaline, but appearing rather yellowish about the base
because the veins thereabouts are rather orange but the other veins are
brownish black ; praefurca starting well before the base of the discal cell but
obscured soon after its base by a pale blotch and after that thickened up
to the fork ; subcostal vein with minute pubescence above on its whole
length • radial vein starting from the subcostal opposite about three-quarters
of the upper basal cell ; cubital vein with a long fork, and its stem only a little
longer than its upper branch ; upper branch of the cubital fork about three-
quarters the length of the lower branch and ending nearer to the lower branch
than to the radial vein because the lower branch ends before the tip of the
wing ; discal cell hexagonal, about three times as long as broad, the fork of
the discal vein which forms the base of the discal cell before the cross¬
veins has its upper branch usually longer than its lower branch, the discal
cross-vein being placed at nearly one-tliird from the base of the cell ; the upper
veinlet from the discal cell runs almost straight to the wingmargm, but the
second veinlet does not quite reach the margin, and the third one curves down
and joins the upper branch of the postical vein just before the wingmargin
(so that the fourth posterior cell is closed) ; the lower branch of the postical
vein curves down and joins the anal vein well before the wingmargin ; basal
cells long, being nearly half the length of the wing, and the upper one slightly
longer than the second ; small cross-vein either very short, or sometimes
even absent so that the upper branch of the postical vein may touch the discal
cell, and in all cases there is an abrupt (almost rectangular) angle in the
upper branch of the postical vein ; ambient vein extended only to the end
of the first veiidet from the discal . cell. Alar squamae not small but forming
a long triangle or lobe which is dull whitish and has a long but not dense
whitish fringe ; thoracal squamae absent, but a very narrow yellow frenum
exists. Halteres orange, knob large.

$. Very much like the male. Frons slightly wider and with the widening
emarginaticn more conspicuous ; face hardly widened below this because the
eyes are less rounded off below ; lower half of the back of the head rather
more inflated and consequently the whitish beard larger and more con¬
spicuous. Eyes in life dark green ; facets irregular across the middle line,
so that the arcs of facets are broken there. Antennae rather longer than in the
male.

Thorax with the humeri and the mesopleural stripe sometimes more widely
and conspicuously orange, so that the humeri may be orange and the meso¬
pleural stripe extended in equal width right up to the wing-base.

Abdomen with the orange basal spot varying from very large to small, and
with the hind margins of the second to sixth abdominal segments obviously
yellow, though the band on the sixth segment or sometimes all the bands
may be very narrow, but the bands on the fifth and sixth segments
nearly extend to the sidemargins and the band on the fourth segment
extends beyond the curve of the disc ; an all black seventh segment is
distinct but only about half as long or broad as the sixth, and even a
very short eighth segment may be traced, and at the tip there is a pair of

12. XYLOMYIA

227

long reddish orange pubescent lamellae which are longer than the seventh
segment • pubescence of the abdomen greyish white about the sides, short
inconspicuous and brownish on the disc, and with short pale fringes on the
hindmargins. Belly with the basal spot shining through and with the hind-
margins yellowish, almost bare.

Logs with the hind knees rather more conspicuously black.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 5 to 7£ mm.

This species varies a little in the amount of ferruginous coloring on the
inner side of the antennae which may extend along the base of the
flagellum, in the size of the yellowish spot at the base of the abdomen, and
in the pale yellow to rufous orange legs and halteres ; a male from
Herculesbad has the antennae ferruginous at the base and the apical
style distinct though tiny, while the genitalia appear to be smaller.
X. varia has the hind femora without any tiny black spines beneath
and has the coxae orange and the antennae much longer. X. nigritibialis
and X. varicolor from the Canaries represent only one species which has
the coxae orange, the hind tibiae blackish, and the hind femora slightly
serrulate beneath. X. caffra Bigot from Sierre Leone is very near X.
nigritibialis, but has the antennae nearly all reddish brown and perhaps
shorter, the hind femora stouter and more strongly spined, and the hind
tibiae less blackish ; it is however possibly only a variety of X. nigritibialis.
X. rufiventris Bigot from Natal has the hind femora serrulate beneath on
the apical two-fifths; while X. calopodata Bigot from Ternate and X
pallzpes Loew from North America also have serrulate hind femora ; but
X. pallipcs has entirely yellow humeral knobs besides other more extensive
pale markings on the abdomen.

X. marginata was introduced to our British lists upon two males taken
by me, one at Wicken on July 14, 1875, and the other at Exning (about
five miles distant) on August 11, 1882. I always believed (after the
experience of breeding X. maculata) that it would be found common on
Poplars ( Populus ) in at any rate the Fen district, and the capture of
another specimen at Cambridge by Mr F. Jenkinson in 1905 confirmed
my belief, so that its discovery in considerable abundance at Newnham
at the end of July 1906 was not surprising; LTr JJ. Sharp found the
puparia in quantities on some old and decaying Lombardy Poplars
(Populus pyramid ails), and close by on some felled Walnut ( Juylans )
trees he took about sixty specimens (all females) in about an hour, while a
visit on August 3 enabled me to take plenty of females in a very short
time; on October 22 Dr Sharp informed me that there were plenty of
young larvae on the felled walnut logs, and from them he bred in 1907
several of both sexes. We evidently still know no more about the habits
of the males than we do about those of the imagines of X. maculata.

3. X. varia Meigen. Thorax without any yellow markings on the
disc. Abdomen yellow at the base only. Antennae more than twice as
long as the head. Legs (including coxae) all orange ; hind femora scarcely
incrassate and not serrulate beneath.

Resembling X. marginata but easily distinguished by its
yellow coxae.

228

STRATIOMYIM

Described from continental specimens.

. Frons about one-seventh (or less of) the width of the head, and with almost
parallel sides down to the slight widening near the antennse, shining black, bare,
and polished on the broad middle part from the front ocellus until quite half¬
way to the antennai, but with the sides narrowly but distinctly and equally dull
grey ; the part of the frons below this polished portion roughened and when
seen from above pale greyish, while the eyes have a curious triangular depression
against the sides of the slight widening near the antenna} ; pubescence on the
grey side lines forming a delicate but inconspicuous grey ciliation, and this
pubescence extending to the grey part just above the antennae ; ocellar triangle
and the vertex behind it rather dulled and bearing short pale pubescence ; the
grey cross-band above the antennae extending down outside the antennae and
covering all the small face and the narrow sides of the mouth, the mouth-opening
being very large ; jowls very small ; lower half of the back of the head puffed
out and bearing abundant rather long greyish white pubescence on a blackish
grey ground with light grey eyemargins ; upper part of the back of the head
almost flush with the eyes. Proboscis large and protruded, orange ; palpi
orange with a whitish sheen, very long and upturned, basal joint thinner
than the second but almost as long, second joint long-oval or club-shaped and
quite three times as long as broad. Antennae nearly three times as long as the
head, dull blackish brown but glistening paler on the inside in some lights and
greyish orange on the inner side of the basal part of the flagellum ; two basal
joints small and short.

Thorax shining black but a little dulled by rather abundant punctuation
and by the abundant though not dense and not very short greyish yellow
depressed pubescence, which extends all over the disc, the pleura}, and the
scutellum, though when seen from behind the broad middle front part of
the thorax seems to show a broad stripe blacker than the rest ; pubescence
on most of the pleurae slightly longer and glistening, but short on the meta-
pleurae ; outer part of the humeri and a moderately narrow (but steadily
widening) stripe along the upper margin of the mesopleurae to the wing-base
reddish orange and this colour extending slightly down the liindmargin of the
pteropleurae ; hypopleurae with a rather indistinct orange spot near the base
of the middle legs. Scutellum conspicuously reddish orange with the sides
black.

Abdomen shining black, but with a large semicircular (or broadly arched)
orange spot on the basal segment which reaches the hindmargin of the
segment but does not quite extend to the sides ; pubescence conspicuously
greyish white all over, and equal but not dense. Belly shining brownish black,
but orange at the base and with the hindmargins of the segments yellowish ;
almost bare. Genitalia (doubtful whether male or female) in no way clubbed
or swollen, but with two long narrow orange lamellae, at the tip of each of
which is a short second joint, and all bearing pale pubescence ; when seen
from beneath there is also an elongate narrow middle orange basal part. A
specimen which may be a true male if the previous description relates to the
female, or which may be a specimen with the genitalia crumpled, appears to
have the genitalia short and orange, with the side lamellae forming small
rounded clubs without any second joint, and with a middle pair of parallel
touching lamellae beneath, and with another pair of short rounded lamella}
beneath well out at the sides but quite at the base.

Legs all orange (including the coxae and trochanters) until the darkened
last three or four joints of the tarsi ; pubescence all over (even to the tips of
the tarsi) short, abundant, and whitish, though not very conspicuous except
as a silvery sheen on the hind femora, but this pubescence becomes rather
longer and downier on the under side of all the femora ; spurs on the posterior
tibiae obvious, orange ; hind femora but little thickened and with no sign of
any bristles or serration beneath. Pulvilli small and broad, dull orange ;
claws very small, dull orange.

Wings yellowish at quite the base ; prsefurca blurred soon after its origin ;
second veinlet from the discal cell hardly complete ; fourth posterior cell
closed and stalked as much as the anal cell ; small cross-vein well present ;
ambient vein extended to the end of the first veinlet from the discal cell.

12. XYLOMYIA

229

Squamae (alar) whitish, yellow, extending out in a rather narrow lobe which
bears at its end rather long whitish yellow pubescence. Halteres brownish
orange.

9 . I cannot clearly distinguish the sexes, but I believe that one sex has the frons
slightly narrower than the other, the lower part of the back of the head less
puffed out, the palpi yellower, ancl the abdomen more pointed.

Length about 6 mm.

This species bears a general resemblance to X. marginata but is not
really closely allied ; the yellow coxae afford an easy distinction, but
beyond that the thinner unarmed hind femora show a strong structural
character, and I believe the male genitalia of the two species are very
distinct. X. nigritibialis and its allies (as mentioned by me under X.
marginata) all have serrulate hind femora. It has been bred in consider¬
able numbers abroad, and numerous specimens which were bred by Leon
Dufour exist in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and in Bigot’s
collection ; the pupa is very similar to that of X. marginata, but has one
or two long straggly hairs at the sides of each segment of which no trace
exists in X. marginata.

X. varia at present is only known as British from two specimens in
the Stephensian collection in the British Museum, which are probably
those upon which Walker founded his description ; one of the specimens
is immature and in this specimen the front coxae are discolored and the
hind femora are whitish yellow while the antennae seem to be compara¬
tively short, but in the other specimen (which is larger) the antennae are
almost as long as in the specimens I have described. Walker says, “The
larva feeds on the wood of the oak.” It is very possible that it will be
bred in abundance in England when its larva and pupa are searched for,
although it is only recorded from Central and Southern Europe.

Synonymy. — I have seen numerous specimens of X. citripes Dufour and have not
the slightest doubt about their being the same as X. varia.

230

ACANTHOMERIDyE

II. ACANTHOMERID^E.

Orfehorrliaphous brachycerous eremochaetous flies of very large to
gigantic size. Antennae with an annulated flagellum (almost as in
Xylophagus ) in the female, but with a comparatively short annulated
third joint ending a long arista in the male. Tibiae with only a slight
spur on the middle pair. Wings large and broad ; praefurca starting
only slightly before the base of the discal cell ; cubital fork wide open ;
fourth posterior cell bluntly closed.

Head crammed on to the thorax, large and holoptic in the male as in Tabanus, and
still rather large and with the eyes not at all widely separated in the female. Face
somewhat similar to that of Leptis, the middle part being distinct from its surround¬
ings * upper mouth-edge sometimes produced into a short snout • frons of the female
slightly depressed as in Leptis, not more than one-seventh the width of the head, and
the face not much wider at the mouth • frons and occipital collar bare ; ocelli con¬
spicuous, on an elevated space. Palpi jointed, long and thin, lying against the
lower part of the sides of the face and then projected forwards in the female almost
as in Xylophagus. Eyes of the male with enlarged facets on the front and upper
parts. Antennae closely approximated at the base ; two basal joints unusually
short ; third joint in the female flagelliform, 8-annulated, elongate, and ending
in a point ; but in the male (of at any rate some species) short and conical though
still annulated, and bearing a long setiform terminal arista which is much longer
than the third joint.

Thorax with dense or coarse pubescence at the sides of the disc. Scutellum
unarmed ; metanotum very small.

Abdomen with the basal five segments broad and flat, similar to that of
Stratiomys. Genitalia of the male small and inconspicuous, of the female consisting
of a many segmented apparently telescopic ovipositor.

Legs only moderately strong or even slender, the tibiae and tarsi being specially
thin ; usually with a subfemoral (at about three-quarters the length) and an
anterior terminal spine on the hind femora ; tibiae with a small indistinct spur on
the middle pair only ; touch hairs absent. Pulvilli three, pad-like ; claws com¬
paratively small.

ACANTHOMERIM

231

Wings large and broad, with curious hyaline spots on a dark ground colour, when
at rest lying flat on each other on the flattened abdomen ; prsefurca usually starting
almost opposite the beginning of the last quarter of the upper basal cell, but
sometimes almost opposite the base of the discal cell, and there is usually a strong
fold in the wing there which runs back a long way and ends in the subcostal vein
near the humeral cross-vein ; cubital fork wide open, as in the Tabanidce but with
its lower branch comparatively longer, beginning far after the end of the discal cell
and including the wing-tip, but its wing-marginal space hardly twice as much as
that of the adjoining cells ; discal cross-vein placed on the basal third or quarter of
the discal cell ; second veinlet from the discal cell starting very wide from the first
veinlet, and even sometimes forming a branch from the down-turned third veinlet ;
posterior cells five, the fourth one being dosed in a more decided manner than in
any other eremoch^ta ; small cross-vein present though small, placed at about
two-fifths from the base of the discal cell ; ambient vein entire though thin ; alula
forming a large lobe ; wing-membrane strongly rippled even back to the basal cells
and the alula but not ribbed, bare or at least apparently so. Squamae practically
absent, or the alar pair a little developed.

This family shows evident relationships to the Stratiomyidce, Leptidce
(especially Xylophagince), and Tabanidce, but is quite justifiably separated
from all of them. The very diverse structure of the antennae in the two
sexes (of at least some species) is very remarkable.

The Acanthomericlce- consist of about a dozen species of gigantic hies
which inhabit South America, Mexico, and Trinidad. According to Mr
Champion they inhabit the forests, alighting on trunks of trees ; a habit
which tends further to show their relationship to the Lcptidce. Fiebrig
has recently (Zeitschr. fur Wissenschaftliche Insectenbiologie, vol. xi.,
1906) described the larva of a species from Paraguay which lives in the
trunks of very hard-wooded trees.

Synonymy. — The genus Pantophthalmus Thunberg (1819) has two years priority
over AcantJiomera Wiedemann (1821), but possibly (as Osten Sacken suggests) the
two genera need not be absolutely synonymous.

232

LEPTIDflE

III. LEPTID^E.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous eremochoetous flies of rather small to
rather large size and of more or less elongate shape ; usually thinly pilose
or almost bare, and with the tibiae (or at least the posterior pairs) always
spurred; ambient vein entire, and the squamae small.

Fig. 160.— Leptis scolopacea <J. x 3.

Head semicircular, usually very short and flattened in front, and consequently
with an upturned appearance (though drooped in Coenomyia) ; sometimes as broad as,
but often narrower than, the thorax. Frons at the vertex almost flush with the eyes ;
face usually with a socketed middle part (epistoma) on which there is usually a
rounded raised tubercle, and with large side-cheeks or sidemargins which may bear
long dense pubescence or which may be quite bare, but sometimes the face has no dis¬
tinct side-cheeks and no central tubercle ; face usually very short, so that the antennie
are placed near the mouth or at least as low as the middle of the head.
Proboscis usually rather large and stout, with large sucker-flaps, but in Lampromyia
(fig. 167) remarkably long; palpi long and slender, jointed. Eyes bare (except in
Coenomyia), usually approximated or touching in the male but more or less widely
separated in the female, and not bulging above the level of the vertex as in Asilidce,
but sometimes ( Xylophagus ) the eyes are almost equally separated in both sexes ;
facets in the male sometimes considerably and conspicuously enlarged on the upper
part ; eyes in life whole colored, sometimes brilliant green. Antennae in typical
Leptidae with the third joint simple, short conical, round, or reniform, with a
terminal bristle or style, and when the joint is reniform the arista may appear to
be dorsal (fig. 170); while in the aberrant subfamilies the antennae may have the
third joint flagelliform and annulated (Coenomyince, Xylophagince).

Thorax normal in shape and almost always bearing moderate or even almost
bristly short pile without any trace of strong bristles ; metapleurae ordinarily with
a rather dense tuft of pubescence ; prothoracic plate forming an elongate triangle
or at any rate pointed below. Scutellum usually large and bearing slightly
lengthened bristly hairs, unarmed (except in Coenomyia ) and not elongate ;
metanotum usually rather concealed beneath the large scutellum, but unusually
large and conspicuous in Vermil eonince and Xylopltaginae.

Abdomen with seven obvious segments besides the genitalia, always more or
less elongate, and often conical ; pubescence moderate, never bristly and never
furry, but rarely absent.

Legs usually rather long, without any strong bristles or even distinct small

LEPTIDJE

233

bristles or spicules but usually with some very tiny bristles placed in rows down
the tibiai or beneath the femora, and with all or at least the posterior tibiae spurred
(hind tibiae only in Lampromyia sericea), there being sometimes one spur on the
front tibiae, always two (except as just mentioned) on the middle pair, and one or
two on the hind pair (in Hilarimorpha the spurs are stunted) ; front coxae elongate.
The legs never exhibit any dilatation (hind tibiae slightly clubbed in Vermileonince)
or structural ornamentation, but very frequently “ touch-hairs :: exist beneath the
front tarsi. Pulvilli three (two in Lampromyia pallida , and perhaps in Hilari¬
morpha), the empodium being pad-like.

Wings in typical Leptidoe (tig. 160) with a comparatively simple venation, because
the discal and small cross-veins are well developed and no veins anastomose or crowd
together anteriorly, while all the veins run out separately to the posterior margin
except that sometimes the long anal cell is closed just before the wingmargin ; cubital
vein with a long simple usually bell-mouthed fork of which the lower branch usually
ends well after the wing-tip, but hardly so in Ptiolina (fig. 161) and Spania (fig. 209) ;

discal cell long and almost hexagonal and emitting three almost parallel veinlets
to the hindmargin, and consequently the five posterior cells are open and
simple ; discal cross-vein before the middle of the discal cell (usually well
before, but in Spania at the middle) ; basal cells long and almost equal in
length ; ambient vein entire and obvious though sometimes thin all round the
hindmargin of the wing. The venation however in some of the subfamilies exhibits
considerable modification, as in Coenomyia (fig. 186) the small cross-vein is absent
and the upper branch of the postical vein forms for a long distance _ the under¬
margin of the discal cell; while in Xylophagus (fig. 182) the cubital fork is
comparatively short and its lower branch ends in the wing-tip, and the small cross-
vein hardly exists because the upper branch of the postical vein often just touches
the undermargin of the discal cell ; and in Rhachicerus (which may belong to the
Xylomyince) and in Lampromyia (fig. 183) the third veinlet from the discal cell
bends sharply downwards and almost or quite closes the fourth posterior cell ; in
Vermileo (fig. 184) the cubital fork is comparatively short but the lower branch
ends far below the wing-tip, and the lower branch of the discal vein runs parallel
and rather close to the upper branch of the postical vein, and it would only require the
anastomosis of these two latter veins and the absence of the cross-vein at the base
of the third posterior cell, which sometimes even occurs in Vermileo (fig. 185), to
produce the remarkable venation of Hilarimorpha (fig. 178) which is the only genus
of the Leptidoe with four posterior cells and no discal cell. Wing-membrane smooth
and often glittering, in no way ribbed or rippled but very minutely pubescent.
Alula usually but not always well developed. Alar squamae fairly even if not
strongly developed, and fringed on the margin with numerous hairs ( Leptis , etc.)
or with one row of hairs ( Chrysopilus , etc.) ; thoracal pair absent, but the frenum
distinct and developing a rather broadened membrane near the angle. Halteres
conspicuous, rather large and with a rather long stem.

The Lejotidce are usually easily distinguished from the Stratiomyidce by
their simple non-annulated third antennal joint, by their spurred tibiae,
and by the prsefurca starting long before the base of the discal cell, but
the boundary line between the two families is not easily defined and has
been discussed by me at some length in the notes under the Stratiomyidcv.
The only Leptidoe with an annulated flagelliform third antennal joint are

234

LEPTIDiE

the Xylophagince and the Cceuomyince, and the only Stratiomyidce with
spurred tibiae are the Xylomyince and a few exotic (but one European)
B evince ; the Berince may be also distinguished from the Lcptidce by the
short prsefurca, and consequently the only difficulty for the British student
lies between Xylomyia and Xylophagus ; the complete though faint
ambient vein distinguishes Xylophagus, while the closed fourth posterior
cell conveniently though empirically distinguishes Xylomyia. The
gigantic exotic Acanthomeridce are distinguished by the entire absence

Fig. 162.— Rhyphus punctatus J . x 10.

of tibial spurs, and by a quite distinct venation in which the fourth
posterior cell is bluntly closed in a different manner from any others of
the EremochtETA. The Tobanidce may be distinguished at once by their
large thoracal squamae, though an affinity exists in the presence of “touch-
hairs ” beneath the front tarsi. An entirely misleading resemblance exists
between the venation of depths (fig. 162) and Rhyphus (fig. 163), but the

Fig. 163 .—Leptis scolopacea S. x 8.

simple cubital vein and the widening anal cell of Rhyphus are quite
distinct from any venation among the Brachycera.

The Leptidce (including the old families of Xylophagidce and Ccenomyidce)
are composed of about three hundred species from all parts of the world,
though very few have been described from Africa. About ninety species are
Palsearctic, and we now admit nineteen as British (of which two are probably
only varieties), though seven or eight others have in time past been
reputed as British, and of these we may expect to find three or four.
They usually occur in woodland districts or amongst shrubs and herbage
in marshy places, while some species of Leptis rest head downwards on the
stems of trees and sometimes have a disconcerting habit of suddenly darting
at an observer ; some species are said to be predaceous upon other insects, and
some are said to be blood-suckers and to be capable of inflicting a severe
bite on man, but I have never personally known of such a case; there

LEPTIDtE

235

can however he no doubt about the females of some American species of
Symphoromyia inflicting severe wounds. I cannot accept the recoids of
the bites of Leptis scolopacea and L. strigosa as recorded by MM. Heim and
Leprevost in Bull. Soc. Ent. France, LXI. c. and civ. (1892) ; to begin with,
neither gentleman is well known in Dipterology, and in each case only one
specimen was observed; M. Heim’s specimen was first recorded as L.
scolopacea but subsequently altered to L. strigosa, while M. Leprevost did
not attempt to name his specimen but stated that it was named by M.
Gazagnaire, whose name again is not known in Dipterology ; I cannot
help thinking that the aggressive appearance of Leptis led these
gentlemen to believe that a species of that genus caused the bites which
had been really given by Hcemaiopota, as the bites of the latter cause in
me the exact symptoms detailed ; I would further remark that the status
of L. strigosa is eminently uncertain and that it would require a very first-
rate Dipterologist to identify that species or variety.

The metamorphoses of many species are well known ; the larvae of
Xylophagus occur under the bark of trees, where they live a scavenging or
predatory existence among the larvae of wood-feeding Coleoptera and other
insects ; the larvae of Coenomyia show close relationship to those of
Xylophagus and have been found in the earthy debris of fallen trees ;
many species of Leptince live as larvae in moss or earthy matter and
may feed on worms; but the larva of Vermileo Degrerii is a veritable
“ ant-lion,” and forms pitfalls in dry sand for the capture of small
insects. The females of Atherix Ibis collect together in dense masses,
and lay their eggs in these clusters, which are attached to dry branches
overhanging water so that the larvae when hatched fall into the water
while the dead females remain together.

Arrangement: — If the Leptidce be placed between the Stratiomyidcc.
and Tabanidce the sequence of subfamilies is obvious, as the close affinity
between the Xylomyince and Xylophagince compels the commencement with
the latter, and then it becomes natural that the other subfamily which has
an annulated flagelliform third antennal joint should precede those which
have a simple third antennal joint; the Ccenomyinoe must therefore come
next, though otherwise the natural location of that subfamily is not
obvious, as the venation of the genus Coenomyia is very distinct and the
bidentate scutellum seems to show some affinity to the Stratiomyidce ; the
other genera of the Ccenomyinoe, however, do not exhibit these characters,
and the early stages of Coenomyia prove its close relationship to
Xylophagus ; in the Ccenomyinoe the fork of the cubital vein indicates a
close relationship with the true Leptince, though the fact of all the tibke
being spurred connects them with the Xylophagince. The Vermilconince
have a level face without any socketed epistoma, and must therefore
come before the Leptince, and possibly before the Ccenomyinoe even
though the antennae are not flagelliform ; and this is confirmed by

236

LEPTID.E

Lampromyia sericea from South Africa, in which species the elongate
third joint of the antennae shows traces of annulations; in the Vermileo-
nince also the arrangement of the tibial spurs seems to be variable. After
clearing off these three subfamilies the Leptinaz and Chrysopilinaz are
distinguished by the two spurs on the hind tibiae of the former and the
one spur of the latter, and although this character may appear to be
trivial it is constant (although the spurs are stunted in Eil arimorpha).

Synonymy. — As the name Leptis is obviously derived from Xe7 ttos (thin) I cannot
understand the possibility of any family name except Leptidaz. Would those
persons who advocate Leptididce also use Canididce or Felididoe because Canis and
Felis end in “is”.? Empididaz is comprehensible because there is a word with
a genitive e/x7r i5os, but even that emendation is unnecessary and undesirable.

The following is a translation of a short paper by Mik in the Wiener
entomologische Zeitung, XVIII., 230, on the characteristic “ touch-hairs ”
which exist on the tarsi of some Diptera : —

“ Upon a hitherto unconsidered Organ of Touch in Diptera,

“ especially in certain Leptidaz and Tabanidm.

“ Everybody who has noticed the life habits of Diptera when collecting them
“ will have been struck by the peculiar behaviour of some of the small Empidae,
“ Dolichopodidae, etc. on the leaves of plants. More particularly the species of
“ Tachydromia ( Platypalpus ), and in the Dolichopodidce the species of Psilojnis, and
“ Hypophyllus, Agromyzidoe , Sciara, Psychoda, and others, while running about on
“ leaves at times lower their heads and press the mouth down on the surface of the
“ leaves, after which they lift up their heads as if they had been drinking. Many
“ Diptera are known to be carnivorous. Not impossibly they obtain through these
“ movements the debris of other insects or very small mites, but not improbably
“ they nibble drops of sugar from Aphides or suck up moisture, particularly such
“ species as specially drink nectar.

“ The behaviour of the species of the genus Leptis is remarkable, as they also
“ apparently drink from leaves while making similar movements of the head to
“ those mentioned before, though at the same time they make another movement
“ with the front tarsi. Whilst using the posterior legs to rest upon, or move with
“ slow steps on the surface of the leaves, they make curved movements with both
“ front tarsi as if brushing or mowing off the upper side of the leaves, they rest the
“ end of the tibiae on the leaf and move the whole tarsus backwards and forwards
“ in a curve on the upper side of the leaf, and at the same time the front tarsi
“ tremble in a peculiar way, and these movements continue both when the fly is
“ resting or moving. They are at rest only when the fly lowers its head on to the
“ leaf and presses its proboscis to it, as stated of the other Diptera. This apparent
“ drinking occurs with Leptis only when both front feet have come nearest to each
“ other in the mowing movement, so that they can nearly touch the head on both
“ sides. Involuntarily the idea is aroused that the fly holds what it has brushed up
“ between the front feet so that it can more easily take it up with the proboscis.
“ However I have not noticed with the naked eye any strange corpuscles on the
“ surface of the leaves.

“ But the movements of the whole insect show that it is seeking and feeling or
“ groping about, and raise the question as to whether this apparent clearing away
“ on the upper surface of the leaf with its front tarsi is not really a ‘ touch 1 move-
“ ment, and whether something cannot be gathered from the formation of the tarsi
“ which would indicate a ‘ touch 1 organ.

“In fact I believe I have found this organ, and consequently I interpret this
“sweeping trembling movement of the front tarsi as a sense of ''touch.’

“ I made my first observations on a male of Leptis scolopacea L. and subsequent
“ ones on a female of L. immacidata Meig.

“ The usual clothing of the tarsi of the species of Leptis is composed of shorter

LEPTIM

237

“ straight hairs standing obliquely, and somewhat longer, straight, regularly arranged
“ stiff bristles, which under the microscope appear like thorns ; the hairs are more
“ dense than the bristles and both are dark colored, being blackish brown or black,
“ but on the under side of the anterior tarsi there are numerous isolated per-
“ pendicular pale tine hairs which are usually rather hooked or bent towards their
“ tips. On the front tarsi all these hairs exceed the other clothing in length and
“ occur on all the joints, but are more numerous on the basal joint which also bears
“ the most numerous thorn-like bristles. I consider that these pale long fine hairs
“ are ‘ touch ’ hairs, for which I propose the name of ‘ track 1 or ‘ hunting ’ hairs
“ (pili vestigantes). I notice also that on the two last joints of the front tarsi there
“ are no bristles and only the straight oblique short hairs and the rather bent
“ ‘hunting’ or ‘tracking’ hairs remain.

“These hairs also exist on the middle tarsi but are more scarce and do not
“ exceed the usual oblique hairs and bristles in length, while the hind tarsi have
“ the ‘ touch ’ hairs entirely absent.

“ These ‘ hunting ’ hairs can readily be seen with moderate magnification and are
“ plainly visible in dried specimens.

“ The formation of these extraordinarily organised hairs shows that they do not
“ serve as mechanical means for accumulating foreign bodies near the fly’s head,
“ because assuredly hairs for such a purpose would form a kind of brush.

“ An anatomical examination of these hairs would certainly be of great interest,
“ blit that must remain for others.

“ The ‘hunting’ hairs will be readily noticed in other Diptera, and among other
“ things will have a systematic signification. In the last reference I mentioned that
“ I have observed these hairs in all the specimens of Leptis in my collection, in
“some in greater, in some in less numbers. They occur plentifully in Atherix
“ marginata Fabr. while they are absent in Atherix Ibis Fabr.,* and Rondani was
“ therefore right in putting these species in different genera (he founded the genus
“ Ibisia for the first in Prodrom, I., ] 54) even though the ‘ touch ’ hairs were
“ unknown to him.

“In examining the genera Chrysopila , Symphoromyia , and Ptiolina of the
“ Leptidce the ‘ touch -hairs ’ are entirely absent.

“ The movements of the front tarsi are remarkable in the species of Tabanus, as
“ they sit in abundance on the stems of trees, on wooden palings and so on, and can
“ be easily observed to carry on an extraordinary game with their front tarsi ■ they
“ lift these up from the base and move them as if they were feeling about in the
“ air, similar to Chrysomyza ( Chloria ) demandata Fabr. which occurs abundantly on
“ our windows, or like many of the Platystomas and Chironomidce.

“ An examination of the front tarsi of Tabanus showed that quite similar ‘ touch ’
“ hairs occur as in the Leptidce ; I saw these first in a male of Tabanus bromius L.
“ and this showed the same numerous fine ‘ touch ’ hairs on not only the front tarsi
“ but also on the tip of the tibiae.

“All the genus Tabanus in my collection show these ‘ touch ’ hairs, sometimes
“ more, sometimes less. I have not examined other Tabanidce.

“ I will not decide whether the gropings of these Hies aim at espying booty or
“ whether they are only trying to test the safety of their resting-place, but I believe
“ that one must incline to the latter opinion.

“ The constancy and the different appearance of the ‘ touch ’ hairs in the genus
“ Tabanus offer a probable new distinctive character for many species to the
“ systematic examiner who will make a minute inspection. The great similarity
“ and arrangement of the ‘ touch-hairs ’ in Leptis and Tabanus seem to me to afford
“ a new proof of the close relationship of the Leptidce and Tabanidce, .

“ I could not discover any similar ‘ touch ’ hairs in the above-mentioned
“ Chrysomyza , Platystoma , and Chironomus , although the movements of their
“ front legs agree entirely with those of Tabanus.

“In conclusion, as a proof that abundant material for examination may be found
“ in the occurrence of the ‘hunting’ hairs on the front tarsi of Diptera, I may
“ mention that on the front tarsi of Aricia erratica Fall. £ I have found long pale
“ ‘ touch ’ hairs, resembling those on Leptis , and that further, many Anthomyidse
“ possess one or more similar long ‘ touch ’ hairs at the base of the basal joint of the
“ front tarsi. The following will serve as a further example : Erigone consobrina

* This is not quite correct (G. H. V.).

238

LEPTIM

“ Meig. g (Brauer, Sitzber, Akad. cl. Wissensch. Wien, 1898, p. 534) which Schiner
“ in his Fauna Austr. i., 451 gives as Nemoroea rudis Fall, has a thin 'touch5 hair
“ just before the end of each of the five joints of the front tarsi on each side, which
“ is protected by the strong straight black lateral end-bristle which it almost touches.
“ This 1 touch 5 hair has the same direction (turned sideways) as the bristle and
“ scarcely overtops it. On the middle tarsi the ‘ touch 5 hairs occur on only the
“ three last joints, and there are none on the hind tarsi.55

“ It may be seen from these remarks that my examination of the ‘ touch-hairs 5
“ on the anterior legs of the Diptera has no claim to completeness. I only wished
“ to note the occurrence of these organs and at the same time to point out that they
“ possess a constant systematic value. Perhaps some student will find an induce-
“ ment to make further and more minute investigations of this subject, which seems
“ to me to possess sufficient interest.55

Type of venation of the Leftid^e.

Longitudinal (or long) veins.

Costa (or costal vein).

Mediastinal (or auxiliary ) vein.

Subcostal (or ]st longitudinal) vein.

Radial (or 2nd longitudinal) vein.
e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein.

e1 Upper branch) e . i , , c ,

e2 Lower branch I of the cubltal fork-
/’ Discal (or 4th longitudinal) vein.
f1 Upper veinlet )
f2 Second veinlet -
f3 Third veinlet !

Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein.

Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.

Axillary vein.

Pr3efurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.
Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal vein round the
wing.

g

from the discal cell.

hindmargin

of the

Cross (or transverse) veins.

iv Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.
y Lower (or small) cross-vein.

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

leptim:

239

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital fork-cell).

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

6b Third posterior cell.

6C Fourth posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 5th posterior) cell (or postical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or ls^) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal (or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Leptid^e.

The venation in the various subfamilies exhibits a transition from the Stratio¬
myidce to the Tabanidce. In the Xylophagince it is almost identical with that of
the Xylomyince, but two important distinctions exist ; in the Xylomyince (as in
all the Stratiomyidce) the ambient vein is incomplete even though it may extend to
the end of the second veinlet from the discal cell, but in the Xylophagince (as in all
the Leptidoe) the ambient vein though faint is complete ; the peculiar fork of the
cubital vein, common to the Xylomyince and Xylophagince , is seen no more in the
Brachycera, but the closed fourth posterior cell re-occurs in Lampromyia and
becomes common in the Dermatina and Eremoch.eta only to die out again after
the Asilidce.

The Pr^efurca always starts well before the base of the discal cell.

The Cubital Vein is connected soon after leaving the radial vein with the discal
cell on the basal third of the cell (whenever the cell exists) by the discal cross-vein.
It is always forked and in the typical Leptince the fork is long and more or less
bell-mouthed but hardly more open than the first posterior cell ; it begins almost
opposite to or before the end of the discal cell and has the upper branch ending
almost in the wing-tip, but in other subfamilies the fork is of a varied nature ; as
mentioned above, in the Xylophagince (fig. 182) it is almost identical with that
of the Xylomyince and its long lower branch ends almost in the wing-tip ; in the
V ermileonince (fig. 184) it is wide open and includes the wing- tip in an equilateral
triangle but yet is only moderately suggestive of the Tabanidce ; in the Coenomyince
(fig. 186) it includes the wing-tip at the end of a long bell-mouthed fork ; in Ptiolina
and Spania the whole fork is above the wing- tip because the lower branch ends almost
in the wing-tip ; and in Hilarimorpha (fig. 177) it is short and wide open but is mainly
above the wing-tip. The character of the Discal Cross-vein being placed on the
basal third of the discal cell helps to distinguish the Leptidce from the Asilidce and
Therevidce , though it is not an invariable character.

The Discal Cell (when present) is always elongate and hexagonal (on the
assumption that there are three angles at its base and three at its end). In the
typical subfamilies the Small Cross- vein is well defined, but in the Xylophagince it
is almost absent, and in Ccenomyia the upper branch of the postical vein forms for a
long distance the lower margin of the discal cell. The discal cell always emits three
veinlets (irrespective of the upper branch of the postical vein) and consequently there
are always five posterior cells (except in Hilarimorpha, which also has no discal
cell).

The Postical Vein is as simple as possible in the genus Leptis, but in other
genera tho lower branch very commonly joins the anal vein at or near the wing-
margin and thereby forms a closed anal cell, and the upper branch as mentioned
above sometimes touches the discal cell and in Coenomyia forms the under side of
that cell for a long distance.

The Ambient Vein is always complete even though sometimes faint, and this
character gives an unfailing distinction from the allied subfamilies of Stratiomyidce..

There are other peculiarities in the venation of the Vermileonince (vide p. 257).

240

LEPTID7E

1

2

Table of the Pal rear die Subfamilies and Genera of Leptid^e.

(8) Face flat or produced, with no socketed epistoma margined by
broad side-cheeks.

Cubital fork comparatively short, diverging and not bell-mouthed.
Ichneumon-like flies.

(5) Third joint of the antennae flagelliform, annulated, and without a
long terminal arista (fig. 165).

All the tibiae spurred. Lower branch of the cubital fork ending
in the wing-tip.

XYLOPHAGIN2E (p. 244).

Fig. 165. — Xylophagus cinctus <$. x 20.

Fig. 166. — Rhachicerus fulvicornis $ .

(After Snellen van VolF-nlioven.)

Fig. 167. — Lampromyia funebns Duf.
(From a specimen in tlie Paris Museum.)

3 (4) Antennae with a multi-articulate, often pectinate, flagellum (fig.

166).

Fourth posterior cell almost or quite closed ; small cross-vein long
and distinct.

Bhachicerus.

( Xyl omyinar u m ?).

4 (3) Antennae with an eight-annulated simple flagellum (fig. 165).

Fourth posterior cell wide open; small cross-vein very short or
even just absent (fig. 182).

1. Xylopiiagus.

5 (2) Third joint of the antennae short and simple, or conical and

indistinctly annulated, but in both cases with a long terminal
arista. Alula absent.

Almost bare species. Lower branch of the cubital fork ending
below the wing-tip.

VERMJLEONINiE (p. 256).

LEPTIDtE

241

6 (7) Proboscis short. Vermileo.

7 (6) Proboscis exceedingly long (fig. 167). Lampromyia.

8 (1) Pace with a rounded socketed epistoma margined by broad side-

cheeks (figs. 171, 172).

Cubital fork long and rather narrow, more or less bell-mouthed,
and with the lower branch ending below the wing-tip (except in Hilari-
raorpha).

9 (14) Third joint of the antennce flagelliform and annulated (fig. 168).
All the tibiae spurred.

CCENOMYIN^E (p. 259).

10 (11) Scutellum armed. Eyes hairy.

Small cross- vein absent and the upper branch of the postical fork
forming for a long distance the lower margin of the discal cell (fig. 186).
Head small compared with the thorax. Anal cell open.

CCENOMYIA.

11 (10) Scutellum unarmed. Eyes bare.

Fig. 16$.—Ccenomyia ferruginea
6 . x 22.

Fio. 169. — Leptis scolopacea
$. x 33.

Fig. 170. — Atlicrix marginata
6- X 43.

12 (13) Flagellum ( = articulated third joint of antennae) ending thin
and pointed. Anal cell closed.

Small cross-vein hardly present.

Arthropeas.

13 (12) Flagellum ending in an annulated style. Anal cell open.

Anacanthaspis.

14 (9) Third joint of the antennae conical, round, or reniform, but never

distinctly annulated.

Front tibiae not spurred. Alula well developed (except in
II ilarimorpha).

15 (20) Hind tibiae with two spurs.

Eye-facets of the male approximately equal in size and without
any horizontal separation.

Leptin^e (p. 260).

16 (17) Third antennal joint bulbose or rather triangular (fig. 169); arista

obviously apical.

Anal cell (in British species) always open.

2. LEPTIS.

17 (16) Third antennal joint reniform (fig. 170); arista apparently dorsal.

Anal cell always closed.

Q

242

LEPTIM

18 (19) Frons and sidemargins of the face in both sexes hairy (fig. 171).

3. Atherix.

Fig. 171. — Atherix Ibis S. X 18.

Fia. 172. — Atrichops crassipes J. x 20.

19 (18) Frons of the male (almost) and sidemargins of the face in both

sexes bare (fig. 172). 4. Atrichops.

20 (15) Hind tibiae with only one spur (and even that sometimes

indistinct).

Eye-facets of the male usually horizontally divided into large
facets above and small facets below (but not in Symphoromyia
immaculata).

ChRYSOPILINHS (p. 295).

21 (30) Wings with five posterior cells (fig. 173); discal cell present.

22 (23) Third antennal joint reniform; arista apparently dorsal (fig. 174).

5. Symphoromyia.

Fio. 173. — Symphoromyia immaculata <$. x 17.

Fig. 174. — Symphoromyia
immaculata <j. x 43.

23 (22) Third antennal joint small, ovate, bulbose, or conical, but never

reniform.

24 (25) Third antennal joint bulbose and bearing a long thin terminal

arista.

Body bearing golden scales.

6. Chrysopilus.

25 (24) Third antennal joint (even if bulbose) bearing a short and thick

arista or style.

Body not bearing golden scales.

LEPTID.E

243

26 (27) Third antennal joint small and bulbose, bearing a short thick

terminal arista which is longer than the antennae (fig. 175).

Omphalophoka.

27 (26) Third antennal joint rather large and ovate, bearing a style

or prolongation (which in Ptiolina is not longer than the
. antennae).

Fio. 175. — Omphalophora oculata J.
(After Becker.)

Fig. 176. — Ptiolina obscura
<J. X 48.

Fig. 177. — Spania nigra
$. x 66.

28 (29) Third antennal joint with an almost central terminal style (fig.

7. Ptiolina.

29 (28) Third antennal joint with the lower edge of the joint prolonged

into an (apparent) style (fig. 177).

Second veinlet from the discal cell almost always incomplete.

8. SPANIA.

Fig 178. — Hilarimorpha singularis x 18.

244

LEPTIM

XYLOPHAGINiE.

Face flat, with no socketed epistoma margined by broad side-cheeks.
Palpi long and remarkably upturned. Antenme with eight annulations on
the flagellifonn third joint (figs. 180, 181), or (if Hhachicerus belongs to this
subfamily) with very numerous (twenty-two to thirty-two, or possibly
even more) separated and sometimes pectinate joints (fig. 166). Eyes of
the male not touching nor even approximated, though closer than in the
female. Tibise all spurred.

Pig. 179. — Xylopliagws ater <J. x 6.

Thorax almost bare, there being at most only slight soft very inconspicuous
pubescence with no long hairs present. Scutellum smaller than in most Leptidas ;
metanotum remarkably large and conspicuous.

Abdomen elongate, narrow, almost bare, with seven obvious segments. Genitalia
of the male rather complicated ; ovipositor long and telescopic.

Legs long and thin, without any bristles or even obvious pubescence, but all the
tibiae spurred : front tibiae with one moderately long spur, middle and hind tibiae
with two rather long almost equal spurs.

Wings (fig. 179) diverging from the true Leptid type; cubital fork moderately
long but with the lower branch ending in or just before the wing-tip and the upper
branch not much more than half as long and ending in the wingmargin about half¬
way between the ends of the lower branch and of the radial vein ; radial vein short,
being curved up rather quickly; discal cell shorter than in the Leptince ; small
cross-vein almost absent ; alula absent ; ambient vein present though faint.

1. XYLOPHAGUS

245

Larvse amphipneustic, allied to those of Cocnomyince and Lcptince,
carnivorous, living under the bark of dead trees and preying upon other
(probably dead) larvae occurring there, especially those of wood-boring
Coleoptera, or upon the debris and detritus left by those larvae.

This subfamily is divergent from the typical Leptidce in many ways,
and more especially in the long flagelliform annulated third joint of the
antennae ; it has this last character in common with the equally divergent
Cocnomyincc, from which it differs widely in the imaginal state though
allied in the larval stage. It seems to show more relationship to the
concluding subfamilies of the Stratiomyidce, and for a long time was
associated with Xylomyia in forming an intermediate family which was
called the Xylojohagidcc ; this old family differed from the le/ptidcc in
having the third antennal joint annulated, and from the Stratiomyidce in
having the tibise spurred, but subsequent investigations have proved that
those characters are misleading and a closer knowledge of the larvae has
proved that Xylomyia is a Stratiomyid somewhat allied to the Berinm
(some of which have spurred tibiae), while Xylojphagus is allied to the
Lcjptidce, towards which the perfect insect also shows connecting links in
its venation, its complete (though faint) ambient vein, its front coxae, its
prothorax, and its anatomy.

The subfamily may possibly be limited to the genus Xylojphagus, but
if Bhachicerus be included it is distinguished by its remarkable antennae.
Pachystomus was founded upon a female specimen of Xylojphagus cinctus
with crumpled antennae.

Only three Palaearctic species of Xylojphagus and one of Bhachicerus
are recognised.

1. XYLOPHAGUS.

Xylojphagus Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 266 (1803).

Moderately large, almost bare, elongate, Ichneumon- like
flies ; blackish colored but sometimes in the female with the
middle part of the abdomen considerably reddish.

Head broader than high, as broad as the thorax. Face retreating. Vertex
rather drawn in so that the eyes appear rather swelled forward, and at no part does
the frons or face protrude beyond the level of the eyes, but there is sometimes an
antennal prominence. Proboscis prominent, with the moderately broad sucker-
flaps and the conspicuous keel-shaped two-jointed palpi directed upwards. Eyes
in both sexes separated almost equally from the vertex to the mouth ; facets all
almost equal. Antennas (figs. 180, 181) as long as or longer than the head; basal
joint slightly or considerably longer than the second • second joint short and
transverse; third joint (=flagellum) longest, whip-shaped, or cylindrical, with eight
annulations but with no terminal arista or style.

Thorax rather elongate oval, little arched, almost bare, and without any sign of
bristles ; prothorax pubescent. Scutellum quite unarmed ; metanotum very large
and exposed.

Abdomen of the male long and parallel-sided, quite twice as long as the thorax
and scutellum together, blunt at the tip, and with seven obvious segments ; _ of
the female less parallel-sided and much lengthened by the extended tube-like
telescopic ovipositor.

246

LEPTID.E

Legs long and tliin, almost without pubescence ; front cox£e notably long, thin,
and pubescent ; front tibiae with one rather long spur ; posterior tibiae each with
two rather long spurs ; empodium forming a middle pulvillus which is larger and
broader than the other two : claws small.

Wings (fig. 179) long and narrow, rather clouded or apparently spotted ; praefurca
beginning very considerably before the discal cell ; radial vein ending in the costa
near the subcostal vein ; cubital vein originating from the praefurca almost opposite
the base of the discal cell, and ending in a long conspicuous fork of which the lower
branch ends almost in the wing-tip while the shorter upper branch ends about half¬
way between the wing-tip and the radial vein ; discal cell emitting three simple
veinlets to the wingmargin, and the fourth posterior cell wide open though slightly
narrowed towards the wingmargin ; small cross-vein sometimes distinct but often
reduced to a point at the place where the upper branch of the postical vein touches
the discal cell ; anal cell closed or almost closed at the wingmargin ; fork of the
tostical vein rather short because all the basal cells are unusually long and the
ower branch of the postical vein is short and steep ; ambient vein present, though
aint after the lower branch of the cubital fork. Alula absent. Wing-membrane
minutely pubescent all over, but not rippled or ribbed. Alar squamae moderately
developed and with a short pale marginal fringe which is composed of several rows
of hairs. Halteres rather large and with long stems.

The larvae live under the bark of rotten trees such as Birch ( Betula ), Alder
{Aimes), and Fir {Pinus), where they are said to be predaceous upon other larvae
such as Pyrochroa coccinea, etc. Dr Sharp states however that they only act as
scavengers and refuse to eat anything except freshly dead larvae, and he further
says that they will not touch rotten larvae but are always on the lookout to suck
the juices of (not to eat) any larva which has just died. They are amphipneustic
and show relationship to the Leptince, and the pupa throws off the larva-skin.

The flies are uncommon, but may be found on the stems of those rotten trees
which show signs of wood-feeding coleopterous larvae ; they run about actively and
apparently imitate some genera of Hymenoptera.

This genus used to include Xylomyia ( Subula ), which it resembles in
the annulated third joint of the antennae and somewhat in the venation,
but Osten Sacken remarked (Berlin. Ent. Zeitschr., xxvi., 364, 1882) that
in Xylomyia “ the prosternal plate, intervening between the front coxae
“ and the anterior thoracic orifice is large ; the front coxae short ; the
“ abdominal segments but little extensile; in these characters Subula is
“ like the Beridina. In Xylophagus, on the contrary, the prosternal plate
“ is small, and hence, the interval between the front coxae and the anterior
“ thoracic orifice is' short ; the front coxae are inserted very near the head ;
“ they are long, cylindrical and very movable ; the abdominal segments
“ are loosely joined, with extensile connecting membranes; all these
“ characters are those of the group Tabanidae-Leptidae ” (figs. 155, 156).
The result of these distinctions is that Xylomyia is now relegated to the
Stratiomyidcc, while Xylophagus is considered to belong to an outlying
subfamily of the Lcptidoe.

Xylophagus is composed of very few species, and only two have been
well recognised from Europe, and even of these two the male of X. cinctus
has hitherto been scarcely distinguished. I am however of opinion that
closer examination will produce more European species, as I shall
have to describe one from Central Europe as new to science. Several
species occur in North America, of which some are very closely allied to,
even if not identical with, European species, and one species has been
recorded from South America.

Synonymy— Xylophagus was established by Meigen in 1803 with “ X (-mot el us
“ cinctus Deg.” given as a representative species, but even in 1804 and 1820 Meigen
had not yet seen a specimen of X. cinctus and therefore could not have established

1. XYLOPHAGUS

247

bis genus upon a knowledge of that species, and as be described tbe basal joint
of tbe antennae cylindrical (walzenformig) as compared with tbe cup-sbaped second
joint, and in 1804 placed X. ater as bis leading species, it may be concluded that
tbe latter species is tbe type of tbe genus. Meigen sometimes too hastily gave
a species of DeGeer as typical of a genus when be believed that be compre¬
hended tbe species from specimens before him which were however not identical
with DeGeer s species, and in such cases tbe type of tbe genus cannot be
DeGeer’s species, e.g. Corethra was a genus well designed by Meigen but Tipula
culiciformis DeGeer being unknown to him could not have been the type of it,
and therefore in that and other genera it becomes necessary to find out what
species Meigen bad before him before fixing tbe type species. Meigen did know
Xylophagus ater and did not know Xyl. cinetus, and consequently if Xyl.
cinctus could by any chance be placed in a distinct genus a new generic name would
have to be formed for it, and not one for X. ater. In 1820 Meigen placed tbe
species of our present genus Xylomyia in a separate section of bis genus Xylophagus ,
and stated that Megerle bad suggested the name Suhvla for them, and consequently
they lose all claim to tbe name Xylophagus. As a matter of fact DeGeer’s figure
of “ Nemotelus cinctus ” is unmistakably that of a female Xylophagus cinctus. There
is another point to be reckoned with in dealing with Meigen’s genera which were
indicated in Uliger’s Magazine in 1803 ; Meigen only gave short characteristics of
a hundred and fourteen genera, of which about ninety were new to science, yet in
many cases he indicated no species as representative of the genus, and in these cases
in all probability he only knew undescribed species, but in other cases he mentioned
some already described species (even if unknown to him) as probably belonging to his
new genus but not necessarily was typical ; the paper was also only issued as a trial or
experiment (Versuch)and was only the precursor (Vorlaufer) of his subsequent work ;
I therefore attach no value to the indicated probable representatives ( not the types)
of Meigen’s new genera in that paper, but I accept as types those species which were
indicated as such in Meigen’s next work. Rachystomus of Latreille (1809) was obvi¬
ously founded upon a female Xylophagus cinctus with deformed antennae, which
had previously been described and figured by Panzer under the name of Rhagio
syrphoides.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Basal joint of antennae cylindrical, four times as long as the

second (fig. 180). Thorax considerably shining. Abdomen
of the female not at all reddish. 1 ater.

2 (1) Basal joint of antennae rather globular, not twice as long as the

second (fig. 181). Thorax dull except about the humeri.

Fig. ISO. — Xylophagus ater £ . x 20. Fig. 181.— Xylophagus cinctus $ . x 20.

Abdomen of the female conspicuously reddish about the
middle. 2 cinctus.

A third European species occurred in Kowarz’s collection under the label of
X. cinctus , which however I take to be undescribed ; the male of it may be
distinguished by its entirely shining frons and by the broad dull disc of the thorax
of which only the sides are shining black.

1. X. ater Fabricius. Antennae with the basal joint cylindrical, nearly
four times as long as the second. Thorax of the male mainly shining, but

248

LEPTIM

of the female with two broad shining stripes. Abdomen of the female not
at all reddish.

A long thin blackish Ichneumon- like fly.

$. Head when viewed from above slightly broader than the thorax and pro¬
portionately long, about three-fifths as long as broad and rather fiat behind
and almost so in front ; when viewed from in front the head is fully four-
fifths as deep as it is broad at its broadest part, which is rather above the
middle of the eyes ; back of the head (when seen from above) but little exca¬
vated though sunken between the eyes, dull black with a greyish postocular
margin on the lower part ; upper part of the frons (not including the ocellar
space) below the level of the eyes, but the lower part and the face only slightly
below ; frons widest at the vertex (about a quarter the width of the head) but
gradually narrowing down to the antenme, and being there nearly a fifth the
width of the head ; face glistening greyish white because of the dense pollen
which covers it, but otherwise quite bare, nearly as wide as the lower part of
the frons and with parallel sides • jowls absent; lower part of the back of the
head rather puffed out, moderately shining aeneous black but obscured by grey
dust and bearing a rather long light grey pubescence on the lower part, but
with darker pubescence on the upper part ; about the middle of the back of the
head the inflation dies away and all the upper part is flush with the eyes or
even rather hollowed out and without any obvious pubescence ; vertex and
frons bare of pubescence but densely covered with minute greyish white down
except on and about the considerably elevated ocellar triangle and on the
shining black lower third (or thereabouts) of the frons. Proboscis rather long
and exserted, pale luteous to deep orange, and bearing slight pale pubescence ;
palpi obvious, dull black, with a long cylindrical slightly pubescent reddish-
orange base which lies close along the sides of the mouth, but they develop
into a long stoutish prominent dull black bare projecting end. Eyes quite
bare, in profile almost semicircular with the back part nearly straight ;
facets all rather large but those on the front part largest. Antenme (fig. 180)
less than one and a half times as long as the head, dull blackish brown ; basal
joint long and cylindrical, nearly four times as long as the slightly transverse
second joint, and both basal joints bearing minute bristles ; third joint
nearly twice as long as the basal one (or rather less) and rather stouter,
almost equal in bulk for its whole length, and with eight rather indistinct
annulations of which the first is the longest and slightly the stoutest ; at the
tip of the last annulation towards the outer side there is a small pit ; the
third joint ( = flagellum) is distinctly arched.

Thorax moderately shining black, but the humeri and a broad stripe along
the sides of the disc to the wing-base polished, impunctate, and bare, except
for a few minute bristles just before and after the suture, and alongside of these
polished stripes are other broad dullish minutely roughened stripes which have
straight sides but which begin only about half-way between the front of the
thorax and the suture, and which extend almost to the hindmargin ; these dull
stripes are also bare of pubescence and vary a little in extent, but next to them
on their inner sides are rather narrow stripes of pale greyish yellow pubescence
(widened out on the shining part in front) which extend as less definite
stripes almost to the hindmargin. while on the moderately shining middle part
of the thorax there are some more slight short scattered pale hairs which tend
to form a broad middle stripe on the hind part because they widen out and
unite with the outer stripes of pubescence ; down the middle of the front part
is an indistinct short stripe of pale dust which widens out in front but does
not extend so far back as the suture ; the middle hind part of the thorax (after
the suture and between the dull stripes) is depressed and is roughened by
the punctures of the minute pubescence ; humeral knobs prominent and some¬
times brownish. Pleurae mainly polished black and bare, but with a very
slight minute pale pubescence about the upper hind corners of the meso-
pleurae, sternopleurae, and metapleune ; prothorax with slight pale pubescence
just above the front coxae. Scutellum shining black but slightly dulled by
faint roughening, almost bare and impunctate, but with a very sparse short

1. XYLOPHAGUS

249

greyish pubescence whose roots cause a very sparse punctuation ; metanotum
very large, shining black but a little dulled about the sides except on most of
their front part, and with a faint yellowish line across just before this duller
part, and on and about this yellowish line there is a sparse pale grey
pubescence.

Abdomen tubular, more than twice as long as but distinctly narrower than
the thorax and scutellum together, almost parallel-sided and ending rather
bluntly ; it is composed of seven segments of which the basal one is not quite so
long as any of the next five and scarcely as long as the seventh, and it is shining-
black though occasionally the hindmargins of the second to fifth segments
are indistinctly yellowish, and the abdomen bears all over equal fairly con¬
spicuous decumbent greyish white pubescence which is abundant but by no
means dense and which is longer and more erect about the basal corners.
Belly usually continuing to form the abdomen into a tubular shape for at least
the four basal segments while the fifth and sixth segments may flatten up
against the dorsal plates, though sometimes all the ventral plates flatten up
against the dorsal plates or all may appear to form the tube, but in all cases the
dorsal plates overlap at the sides and form an overhanging margin ; hind-
margins of the segments inconspicuously brownish yellow, or in case the
dorsal hindmargins are obscurely yellowish then the ventral ones are more
conspicuously yellow. Genitalia formed by an apparent dull blackish brown
eighth segment which is shorter than the seventh, and the upper part of
which forms a large cap covering the lower lamellae, and against the outer
corners of this a pair of bright reddish orange rather short thick lamellae can
be seen, and when seen from below a pair of large broad ovate dull blackish
brown side lamellae are visible and bear rather dense decumbent minute
grey pubescence, while before them right against the seventh ventral segment
lies a small transverse ovate basal middle piece ; these side lamellae and the
basal piece often bear chestnut reflections.

Legs, including coxae and trochanters, usually clear pale orange but
sometimes rather darker orange : marginal tip of the trochanters black
beneath ; hind femora blackish at the tip on the upper side, and the hind
tibiae brownish or brownish black on the apical half or less ; two last joints of
anterior tarsi blackish (at least above) and usually the tips of the other joints
darkened, while on the hind tarsi the apical quarter of the basal joint and apical
half of the second joint are usually darkened and the three end joints
may be blackish or at least darkened ; front coxae long and narrow, gradually
diminishing in size, and bearing rather abundant short depressed pale yellow
pubescence ; posterior coxae rather darker orange, shorter and stouter ; hind
coxa} shining black at the base ; front femora stouter and shorter than the
others, but the middle pair thin and long, and the hind pair thin and very
long but very slightly thickened on the apical half ; tibiae all long and thin,
especially the hind pair: pulvilli greyish yellow, claws black. Front tibiae
with one fairly long yellow spur, middle pair with two rather long yellow
spurs, and hind pair with two spurs as long as those on the middle pair but
usually rather obscured in coloration. Pubescence of the legs almost imper¬
ceptible, very minute, adpressed, and pale yellow.

^ ings (fig. 182) slightly greyish hyaline, with the base and the veins there

Fig. 1S2. — Xylophagus ater & . x 10.

pale yellow, but with a dark stigma and clouded cross-veins, and the other
veins blackened and conspicuous ; stigma long and blackish or blackish brown,
extending from the tip of the mediastinal vein to the tip of the radial,
and making all the end of the subcostal cell black or blackish brown, and

250

LEPTID/E

even the long narrow marginal cell usually brownish ; veins after the base
conspicuously thick and black, except that the mediastinal vein is pale brown
and the discal vein and all its branches are thinner than the other veins ;
there is a tendency to clouding about the base of the cubital fork and on the
end veins of the discal cell, and there is a slight cloud crossing the triangular
end of the upper basal cell, the base of the discal cell (sometimes rather
conspicuously), and down both branches of the postical fork, while all
the stem of the postical vein is margined dark brown, making it appear
unusually thick ■ the prtefurca has a pale piece just before the origin of the
cubital as though a pellucid band crossed the wing thereabouts ; stem of the
cubital vein slightly longer than the lower branch of its fork, the upper
branch more or less S-shaped and a little more than half as long as the lower
branch and ending in the wingmargin about half-way between the ends of the
lower branch and the radial vein ; lower branch of the cubital fork ending
immediately before the wing-tip ; ambient vein continued all round the wing,
though very thin on the hindmargin and not extending across the alula ; the
lower of the two veinlets forming the base of the discal cell slightly the
longer; small cross-vein sometimes just existing, but often the upper branch
of the postical vein just touches the discal cell at a sharp angle ; the fourth
posterior cell may be very slightly narrowed towards the wingmargin ; anal
cell usually closed at the wingmargin, but occasionally just open ; alula
absent, so that there is a long almost straight clear hyaline basal hindmargin
of the wing up to the angle of the fold which extends up to the faint axillary
vein. Wing-membrane all minutely pubescent but not in the least rippled.
Alar squamae small but distinct, pale yellow with a slight pale yellow fringe ;
thoracal squamae absent, being only indicated by an unfringed pale yellow
frenum. Halteres conspicuously long and large, whitish yellow to dull
orange.

$ . Larger than the male, with the wing-markings much more conspicuous,
and with a conspicuous long-pointed telescopic ovipositor. Frons at the
vertex fully a quarter the width of the head, and the frons and face of almost
equal width right down to the mouth or if anything slightly narrower at
the mouth than at the vertex ; frons shining black with a broad transverse
band of greyish yellow pollen just below the ocelli or even including them
and the absolute margins of the sockets of the antenme light grey ; upper
part of the face also covered with light grey dust all across, but the lower part
shining black ; the narrow sides of the mouth are shining black ; back of the
head inflated on nearly the lower half (about one-third the width of the
eye when seen in profile), but on the upper part almost flush with the eyes ;
palpi blackish almost to the base but obscurely orange there. Eye-facets
rather large, but all equal in size. Antennae, proboscis, etc., almost as in
the male.

Thorax mainly dullish grey with two shining broad black stripes which
are well separated but which widen out laterally in front so as to connect
there with the broader shining black lateral stripes, but in some lights they only
extend backwards on the disc just over the suture unless indistinctly and not
shining, but in other lights they are still shining and even coalescing just after
the suture ; most of the thorax behind the suture is dull blackish grey, but
the shining lateral stripes are continued right through and bend round the
hindmargin so that only a comparatively narrow middle dull grey line
extends towards the scutellum ; humeri sometimes, and the postalar call i
and their neighborhood, rather brownish. Scutellum shining black but
brownish at the sides and on the ridge running from the postalar calli.
Pubescence on the thorax and scutellum practically none, but some minute
sparse light grey pubescence exists on the two shining dorsal stripes, especially
after the suture.

Abdomen long, ending in a long-pointed telescopic ovipositor, glittering
black or brownish black ; first six segments almost equal in length, and
the second to fourth as broad as the thorax, while the first and fifth are
slightly narrower, and the sixth distinctly narrower ; the seventh segment
forms a narrow cone and emits the very long narrow yellowish brown
ovipositor, which is distinctly longer than the seventh segment and which

1. XYLOPHAGUS

251

ends in a pair of small ovate divergent yellowish brown lamellae, but these
elongate tubular segments are telescopic and may vary in length to almost
any extent. Pubescence inconspicuous, depressed, and dark, except on the
basal segment and on the sides of the second segment where it is a slight,
pale, and more erect; in certain lights this pale pubescence continues on to
the third and fourth segments but is there depressed and rather darker ; all
other pubescence as in the male. Belly less shining ; fifth and sixth segments
(and the fourth somewhat) flattened against the dorsal plate.

Legs distinguished from those of the male by the absence of any darkening
at the tip of the hind femora ; hind tibiae varying from dark orange to all
blackish.

Wings with the stigma blackish and followed below by a brown cloud which
is about equally long in the marginal and submarginal cells, but below these
cells the cloud is reduced to the end triangle of the upper basal cell, the basal
third of the discal cell, just the base of the fourth posterior cell, the borders
of the upturned part of the upper branch of the postical vein and down its
lower branch, and there is clouding at the wingmargin on the lower third of the
postical cell and at the margin of the fourth posterior cell, and again on both
sides of the veinlets closing the discal cell so that that cell has a large pellucid
kernel ; the underside of the stem of the cubital vein is clouded as far as. the
pellucid piece, and so is the fork of the cubital vein ; but all these cloudings
may be less extended and at the same time more pronounced ; the two vein-
lets forming the base of the discal cell almost equal in length ; small cross¬
vein almost (or even distinctly) existing, but sometimes the discal cross-vein
barely present, owing to the upper part of the discal cell almost touching
the cubital vein ; stem of the cubital vein just about as long as its lower
branch or slightly longer. Squamae and halteres as in the male.

Length about 9-5 mm. (d) or 13 mm. ( 9 X

This species varies a little in the distinctness of any dull stripes on the
thorax of the male which however are always faint, and occasionally in the
hindmargins of the abdominal segments exhibiting traces of pale coloring
especially beneath ; both cross-veins vary in distinctness, the discal one
being sometimes very short, while the lower one is usually hardly existing ;
the extent of the cloudings on the wings also varies considerably. I find
very little value in Schiller’s character of the relative lengths of the stem
of the cubital vein and the lower branch of its fork, as usually the stem is
slightly the longer but not unusually the two are almost equal in length.
The only other recorded Palsearctic species, X. cinctus, may easily be
distinguished by the shorter basal joint of its antennse and by the red-
banded abdomen of the female, but there was an apparently undescribed
species in Kowarz’s collection which has the antennae more like those of
X. ater but has the frons more shining and the thorax more dull. I think
that two North American specimens in Bigot’s collection from Washington
under the name of X. reflectens Walker are distinct from, though closely
allied to, X. ater ; the male has much more clouded wings and a duller
frons in front, while the female (which may well belong to a different
species) has a narrow shining black middle line on the thorax instead of
the two separated shining lines.

X. ater is an uncommon British insect, though it can almost always be
found in small numbers in some localities. There is a decaying tree near
the village of Bank in the New Forest upon (or near) which Dr I). Sharp
can depend upon taking a few specimens every summer, and Colonel
Yerbury and Mr G. C. Bignell have found it not uncommon about Ivy-
bridge and Plymbridge and the Avon Valley in South Devonshire.
Colonel Yerbury has also taken it at the Black Mountain in Hereford-

252

LEPTIDT,

shire and at The Mound in Sutherland, while he and others have taken
several specimens at Netliy Bridge in Inverness. I)r F. Buchanan White
found the larvae at Braemar in 1873, and he said (Entom. Month. Mag.,
xiii., 162, 1876) “The larva lives between the bark and the wood of dead
“ birch stumps, almost invariably in company with the larva of Pyrochroa
“ pectinicornis, on which it probably feeds, though I never saw it attacking
“ that or any other insect ” ; and “ till I reared the imago I considered the
“ larvae that I found to belong to the same species as those of X. cinctus,
“ to which they have a very great resemblance. The habits and times of
“ appearance of X. ater are the same as those of X. cinctus ” ; through the
kindness of Mr Alex. Rodger, Curator of the Perth Museum, I have seen
some of Dr White’s original specimens and can confirm their name.
Previous to this Damianitsch in 1868 (Verb, zool.-bot. Wien., xviii., 118)
described the metamorphoses and figured the larva which he found under
the bark of an Alder ( Alnus ), and he then stated that the larva lived for
ten months on earth and pieces of hark, and he suspected that it merely
lived in the company of Pyrochroa coccinea and not on it. Zetterstedt
(Dipt. Scand., viii., 2947) said “Larvte hujus speciei in larvis Pyrochroce
“ coccinecc proedantes vivunt, teste D. Drcwsen,” and in saying this he
probably relied upon Drewsen’s note in Kroyer’s Naturhist. Tidsskr., iv.,
103, in which he stated that they feed upon the larvae of Pyrochroa
coccinea and Tipula. Dr Sharp has informed me that he has found the
larvae in various trees in the New Forest, such as Oak ( Qu.ercus ), and
Fir ( Pinus ), but most commonly on Beech ( Fagus ) and on Aspen ( Populus
tremula ) at Nethy Bridge, while X. cinctus appears to be confined to
Scotch Fir ( Pinus sylvestris ) ; he also states that the Oak specimens prey
on the larva of the rare beetle Plilceotrya. X. ater is recorded from
Lapland to Middle Europe. My records of the perfect insect range from
May 16th to July.

Synonymy. — Meigen described this species in 1804, though it is curious that he
subsequently ascribed it to Fabricius whose description appeared in 1805 ; there
cannot be much doubt but that Meigen had a female before him, as he says “ Sie ist
“ glanzend schwarz. . . . Das Bruststiik ist grauschillernd, mit zwei schwarzen
“ Riikkenlinien.” In 1820 he altered this to “ Riikkenschild des Mannchens
“ durchaus glanzend schwarz ; des Weibchens mit drei breiten greisen Striemen,”
which fully answers to the description I have given. X. eompeditus, of which the
description was communicated to Meigen by Wiedemann, is probably a synonym
of the female because of “ Ueberall glanzend schwarz ” and “ Auf deni Rukkenschilde
“ drei graue Langslinien ” though various details do not quite agree ; it is probably
not a synonym of X. cinctus as Wiedemann would hardly fail to have noticed the
short basal joint of the antennse. Empis subulata of Panzer (1798) is commonly given
as a synonym of X. cinctus of which it is possibly the male, but the figure is very
suggestive of X. ater ; as however it is impossible to prove which species it referred
to it is not worth reconsideration.

2. X. cinctus DeGeer. Antennae with the basal joint rather globular,
not much longer than the second. Thorax dull except about the humeri.
Abdomen of the female reddish all about the middle.

The male is rather like X. ater , but both sexes are easily
distinguished by the diagnostic characters.

8 . Head broader and flatter than in X. ater ; frons broad, being more than a
quarter the width of 'the head, dull grey all across the middle, but shining

1. XYLOPHAGUS

253

black on the large callus above the antennae which extends from eye to eye,
and dullish black on the upper part but shining about the ocellar space ;
frons much broader than in X. ater and with almost parallel sides ; face
very distinct from X. ater , deep black and brilliantly shining, very short,
being about one-third the length of the frons, nearly as wide as the front part
of the frons ( i.e . nearly a quarter the width of the head), and with a con¬
spicuous large silvery white broad triangle at the top of each side, and these
white triangles extend narrowly past the outside of the antennae to the lower
corners of the frons ; back of the head more puffed out and rounded out
considerably from the eyes, dull black, and bearing on the lower part a long
(longer than in X. ater) dense whisker-like whitish grey pubescence, while
higher up (on the middle part of the back of the head) there is a very sparse
row of postocular bristly hairs which die out on the upper part, and on the back
of the head right away from the eyes there are numerous black or grey hairs.
Proboscis yellowish ; palpi dull deep black even to the base where there is
a little tuft of pale hairs, much larger than in X. ater , and much more
produced. Eyes in profile more circular ; front facets inconspicuously larger
than the others. Antennae (fig. 181) dull black, placed on a small prominence
and about as long as the head ; basal joint stout, little longer than broad ;
second joint transverse, hardly half so long as the first; two basal joints
bearing numerous minute black bristles ; third joint hardly twice as long
as the two basal joints together, and with eight crowded annulations.

Thorax all dull greyish black except on the shining black humeri and on
the paler grey stripes ; when viewed from in front there are three narrow grey
lines rather close together running down the middle of the disc and also
traces of grey side-lines, and the two resulting greyish black middle lines
coalesce after the suture and run on to the hindmargin as one rather broad
dark black middle stripe, and the black stripe after the suture is margined
outside by two rather broad ashy grey stripes ; when viewed from behind,
the middle quarter of the pnesutural part of the disc appears as an equal
light ashy grey stripe with a narrow dividing black line, and (when viewed
from above) there are light grey lines outside the postsutural broad black
middle stripe, and the space between them and the sides is greyish black, but
when tilted still more (so as to view the thorax in almost a horizontal line
from behind) there is (behind the suture) a broad light grey middle stripe
margined by two rather narrow black stripes outside Avhich the thorax is
greyish and only indistinctly striped ; pubescence on the dorsum of the
thorax composed of equal short very sparse greyish white sloping hairs
which become rather more obvious on the back part ; pleurae rather greyish
black, but brightly shining black on the mesopleurae, and with rather con¬
spicuous pale pubescence on the prothorax. Scutellum dull greyish black,
but brownish at the sides and on the ridges running outwards from them and
on the part of the thorax adjoining them ; metanotum greyish black and both
it and the scutellum bearing rather conspicuous thin whitish grey pubescence.

Abdomen very similar to that of X. ater. Genitalia much larger, with the
upper side-plates more shining, and possibly without any orange processes.

Legs dull reddish orange ; hind coxae blackish grey at the base ; hind
femora scarcely darkened at the tip, but the hind tibiae rather dark and
with a faint broad darkened ring just after the base ; all the tarsi blackish on
about the last two joints ; pubescence on the long front coxae conspicuously
whitish, almost dense ; spurs dull orange.

Wings very similar to those of X. ater ; rather smoky, but slightly orange
about the base and with an obvious cloud across the middle, and usually with
the end veins of the discal cell clouded, or the wings may be still more
clouded ; stem of the cubital fork shorter than in X. ater , being usually as
long as the lower branch of the fork. Squamae (alar) dull glassy yellowish,
with a delicate long pale fringe near the angle. Halteres orange or reddish
orange.

9. Much larger than the male and not very similar to it. Frons at the vertex
fully one-third the width of the head, and the eyes almost equally separated
from the vertex to the mouth ; frons entirely grey on more than the upper
half (except on the shining black ocellar triangle) but brilliantly shining

254

LEPTIM

black on the lower part down to the antennae ; a slight (often indistinct)
stripe of grey dust runs across from just above each antenna to the eye ; face
bare and polished shining black and extending not narrowly down the
sides of the mouth, with a conspicuous brilliant glistening white spot of
tomentum on each side extending from under the base of each antenna to
the eye ; back of the head inflated on nearly the lower two-thirds to the
extent of about half the width of the eye as seen there in profile, and bearing
on that part rather long pale greyish pubescence, but on the upper part (well
away from the eyes) the pubescence is shorter and blacker and extends
inconspicuously across the occiput just behind the vertex; back of the head
gently arched from the eyes, and greyish black on the upper part. Palpi very
large and porrect ; end-joint deep dull black, long ovate, and almost bare ;
basal joint thin and only about a third the length of the second joint,
obscurely brownish orange, and bearing some rather long pale pubescence.
Antennae similar to those ox the male but possibly a little stouter.

Thorax colored similarly to that of the male, but the middle pair of
blackish stripes are a little broader and the grey stripes outside of them are
about as wide as the middle black stripes but are rather vague and have on
their outer side some curious sloping blackish cross-lines. Pubescence almost
absent on all the thoi'ax, but obvious though rather sparse on the scutellum
and metanotum.

Abdomen shining black, but rather dull’ about the base and with the
second and third segments conspicuously orange red as well as part of the
disc of the fourth segment though the liindinargins of the second and third
segments are narrowly blackish and sometimes the foremargins of these
segments are obscured ; the fourth segment has its margins and broad hind
corners black, or sometimes the fourth segment is as red as the third and then
the fifth segment may have a roundish red spot on the middle of the disc ;
pubescence short, black, rigid, and not dense. Belly rather rugose trans¬
versely, with the third segment lurid orange-red except on the front and
hind margins, and with the second and fourth segments considerably lurid
orange-red.

Legs rather darker reddish than in the male, and the hind tibiae with the
basal half (or thereabouts) almost blackish ; front coxae with shorter and less
whitish pubescence ; hind femora longer and slightly more clavate ; spurs
longer.

Wings rather resembling those of X. ater , but less clouded and less
yellowish at the base and with the veins rather paler brown ; middle cloud
only occupying the extreme base of the submargmal cell, the extreme tip of
the first basal cell, and the basal third of the discal cell, and hardly extended
at all to the postical vein ; the veinlets ending the discal cell a little
clouded, but there is no clouding about the wingmargin though the basal part
of the radial vein may be a little clouded ; discal cross-vein well developed ;
lower ci’oss-vein sometimes well developed and then sometimes unusually
sloping ; stem of the cubital vein varying from a little longer to a little
shorter than the lower branch of its fork ; the two upper veinlets from
the discal cell well separated at their origin. Squamae with the long fringe
near the angle blackish. Halteres more yellowish.

Length about 11 mm. 3 , or 13 mm. ? .

This species is usually rather larger than X. ater and is obviously
darker orange on the legs and about the base of the wings ; it may be
known in both sexes from any other European species by the much
shorter basal joint of the antennae and by the thorax being entirely dull
except at the humeri ; the deep black face with the brilliantly white spots
at the upper corners is very distinct from the greyish white face of X. ater,
and as far as my experience goes the extensively reddish abdomen of the
female will distinguish that sex from X ater (though perhaps not from an
unrecorded European species), though Loew has stated (Stettin, ent. Zeit.,
viii., 70) that this character does not always remain constant. An

1. XYLOPHAGUS

255

unrecorded European species is allied but has the antennae as in X. ater,
and the thorax all brightly shining in the female or its sides broadly so
in the male.

X. cinctus is only known as British from North Scotland ; it was
first recorded by Dr Buchanan White, who bred several specimens in
1873 from larvae found beneath the bark of dead Fir-trees ( Pinus
sylvestris ) at Braemar. The British Museum possesses a female which was
taken at Rannoch by Mr Foxcroft, and in June 1905 Mr C. G. Lamb took
a male at Nethy Bridge, and in June 1906 Messrs Sharp and Lamb made
special search for it there and took a considerable number of specimens.
Dr Buchanan White (Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, xiii., 160,
1876) gave a detailed description of the larva and pupa, and stated that
“ the larva lives beneath the bark of dead fir trees ( Pinus sylvestris), where
“ it feeds on other larvae. I once saw one with a small yellowish dipterous
“ larva impaled on the beak-like head, and I believe it sucks the juices of
“ its prey. The larva hibernates, becoming a pupa about the end of May
“ or June, and the imago emerges in June and July. The pupa is found
“ in the decaying matter between the bark and wood of fir trees. The
imago may often be found resting on the bark of the same trees.”
Messrs Sharp and Lamb found the larvae limited to Scotch Fir ( Pinus
sylvestris), under the bark of which they lived on recently dead larvae of
wood-feeding Coleoptera. Dr Sharp states that the larvae will not attack
a living coleopterous larva nor a rotten one, but that they will hasten to
suck the juices of a dead but undecayed one; he has found them sucking the
larva of Phloeotrya Stephensii. Perris, in 1870 (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. (4) x.,
202), described the metamorphoses at great length, and came to the
conclusion that the larvae “ se nourrissent des detritus et des dejections
“ d’autres larves, et je ne refuserais pas de croire que, dans l’occasion, elles
“ sont carnassieres.” It is recorded from quite Northern Europe to Austria,
but it is by no means certain that all its records relate to this species.

Synonymy. — The continental descriptions of the European species of Xylophagus
are so incomplete that it is impossible to identify the species with certainty ; for
about sixty years only two species have been acknowledged as European and the
males of even those two have not been distinguished properly ; the exponents of
X. cinctus in Kowarz’s collection belong to a quite distinct species which has the
antennae quite as long as in X. ater, and the frons and the sides of the thorax
brightly shining, besides numerous other small distinctions. Loew in 1847
(Stettiner Entom. Zeit., viii., 70) distinguished our two species but upon very
insufficient material, and he made the remarkable statement that the female of
X. cinctus sometimes resembles the female of X. ater in coloring ; a statement
which I have never seen confirmed. Rhagio syrphoides of Panzer (upon which
Latreille established the genus Pachystomus) was founded upon a monstrosity of the
female, as was pointed out long ago. The North American X. abdominalis Loew,
if correctly represented by a female under that name in Bigot’s collection, only
differs in having more reddish coloring on the abdomen.

256

LEPTID.E

VERMILEONINiE.

Antennae with the third joint not flagelliform but bearing a long apical
arista. Face not at all socketed. Eyes separated in both sexes. Wings
with the cubital fork wide open. Alula absent.

Head transverse and quite bare except for a slight pubescence on the back and
to a moderate extent in Lampromyia on the lower part of the back. Face quite
bare, or (in Lampromyia sericea ) microscopically pubescent, without any trace of
eyemargins or sicle-cheeks or a socketed epistoma, almost flat (but slightly arched on
the lower part in Vermileo ), while in Lampromyia it is steadily and considerably
produced with an even surface to the front mouth part where it spreads out like
a shield over the small sides of the mouth ; in Vermileo the frons is about one-
sixth the width of the head and has parallel sides, the face being if anything
narrower than the frons and also continued downwards with parallel sides ;
in Lampromyia sericea (from South Africa) the frons is narrower but still with
parallel sides, and the face is twice as wide ; in L. pallida the frons is wide
at the vertex, being a quarter the width of the head, but contracts down to the
transverse suture just above the antennae, where it is still more than half its
width at the vertex, while below the antennae the produced face gradually
widens again but not quite to the width of the vertex ; frons with a slight
channel down each side, and in Vermileo with a well-defined narrow transverse
channel a little above the antennae, but in Lampromyia this transverse channel is
less distinct ; the frons is I believe equally broad in both sexes of Vermileo and
Lampromyia pallida, but judging from the comparative narrowness of the frons in
the male of Z. sericea it is probable that it is broader in the female of that species ;
jowls almost absent ; back of the head very little inflated even on the lower part ;
ocelli three on a slightly raised space ; vertex in Lampromyia distinctly sunken
between the eyes. Proboscis rather large and fleshy in Vermileo , but in Lampromyia
extraordinary elongate, thin, horny, and without obvious sucker-flaps (rig. 168), being
extended downwards almost perpendicularly (or rather drawn back) for quite twice
the length of the head and thorax together ; palpi rather small but slightly porrect
in Vermileo , or rather long thin porrect and slightly clavate but not conspicuous
and reaching as far forward as the produced mouth-edge with some sparse
long pubescence beneath about the base in Lampromyia. Eyes bare, usually
(always1?) equal in both sexes and the facets all equal. An ten me in Vermileo
with the third joint small, shorter than the first joint, simple, and subtriangular,
and bearing a moderately thick jointed apical arista ; but in Lampromyia
sericea with the third joint elongate conical and indistinctly 4-5-annulated, and
bearing a thin pointed apical arista which is longer than the third joint; first joint
of the antennae rather cylindrical ; in the only specimen of L. pallida that I possess
the antennae are missing.

Thorax in Vermileo all brightly shining and absolutely bare even on the meta-
pleurae, bright ochreous with black stripes ; but in Lampromyia dull light reddish
brown with darker stripes, and the disc of tne thorax and the metapleurae apparently
not absolutely bare. Scutellum small, with a flat disc ; metanotum large, and in
all the specimens (three) of Lampromyia that I possess with curious depressions on
the back part as though it had shrunken when dried.

Abdomen long and thin (like Leptoyaster)^ with the end more or less curved down,
and with seven obvious segments besides the genitalia, three or four times as long
as the thorax, shining ochreous with black bands in Vermileo , but less shining and
with glistening silvery bands in Lampromyia pallida , or all glistening silvery when
seen from in front in L. sericea. Genitalia of the male large, with long produced
upper lamellae in L. pallida but with shorter transverse lamellae in L. sericea.

Legs long and thin, but the hind legs longest and rather thicker than the others
and with the tibiae slightly clavate (again suggestive of Leptoyaster) ; coxa? long, and in
Lampromyia the front pair with minute pubescence in front, but otherwise the legs
are quite bare ; in Vermileo and in L. pallida the front tibiae have one apical spur,
and the posterior tibiae each two, but in L. sericea the anterior tibiae are not spurred

VERMILEONIN7E

257

and only the hind pair bear two fairly long apical spurs. Pulvilli in Vermileo and in
Lampromyia serieea three, rather small but equal, and the claws outspread as
usual • but in L. pallida there are only two minute pulvilli, which are under the
long straight approximated claws (as in Leptogaster).

Wings long and narrow; prsefurca moderate in Vermileo (fig. 184), but rather
long in Lampromyia (fig.

183) ; radial vein springing
upwards from the prsefurca,
and in Vermileo endingafter
two very slight curves in
the costa about half-way
between the subcostal vein
and the wing-tip, but in

Lampromyia it has a strong
S-curve (one curve near the
base and the other at the

Fig. 183. — Lampromyia funebris Duf.

(From a specimen in the Paris Museum.)

tip) and ends rectangularly in the costa (as in many Lomatince) ; in L. pallida the
radial vein starts level with the discal cross-vein (as in Anthracince) ; cubital fork
wide open, being in Vermileo as widely open at the wingmargin as the upper

branch is distant from the end of the radial

Fig. 184. — Vermileo DeGeeri <$ . x 12.

as

vein, and the upper branch ending
slightly nearer to the wing-tip
than the lower branch does ;
but in Lampromyia pallida he
branches of the cubital fork end
equidistant from the wing-tip ;
discal cross-vein placed at about
a third from the base of the
discal cell ; discal cell emitting
three veinlets towards the wing-
margin ; posterior cells five, of
which the fourth may be slightly
narrowed in Vermileo , or strongly contracted or even closed in Lampromyia serieea ,
or closed and even pedunculate in L. pallida (in one wing of the specimen I
possess, but in the other wing malformed through the third veinlet from the
discal cell splitting and one branch forming a cross-vein to the upper branch
of the postical fork almost im¬
mediately after leaving the dis¬
cal, while the other branch
slopes quickly to the same upper
branch and thereby encloses a
small cell) ; small cross-vein very
short, especially in L. serieea,
anal cell open, or almost closed
in L. pallida. Apparently the
venation of many species in this FlG- 185,— vermxUo DeGeen s, var. x 10.

subfamily is liable to irregular

variation, as I have noticed such in Vermileo (fig. 185) and in Lampromyia pallida,
while Loew remarks upon the same peculiarity in the North American genus
Triptotricha. Wing-membrane not ribbed or rippled, but with abundant micro¬
scopical pubescence. Alula absent. Squamae (alar) small, and without any fringe ;
thoracal pair absent. Halteres unusually long.

The Vcrmileonince being very few in number and very little known
have caused me to give their characters in considerable detail in this
work. They are exceedingly interesting flies, and their larvae are veritable
“ Ant-Lions ” and as such only inhabit hot sandy districts like the shores
of the Mediterranean ; it is practically certain that none of them will ever
occur in Britain. They differ from the Leptince and Chrysopilince in the
totally different structure of the face, the dichoptic eyes, the wide open
cubital fork, the totally different shape, and (except in Hilarimorpha ) the

R

258

LEPTIDiE

absence of any alula, while the same characters and the presence of an
apical arista distinguish them from the Gcenomyincc, and consequently they
appear to be most allied to the Xylophaginaz, but from them they may be
distinguished by the very different structure of the antennae. I have
drawn up my description from six specimens of Vermileo DeGeeri
(probably 3 c£ 3 ?), one of Lampromyia pallida (3), and two of L.
sericea (3), all in my own collection. I know nothing about the North
American genus Triptotricha.

There are many peculiar characters in the venation of the Vermileonince
which are suggestive of other families ; the cubital fork is rather Tabani-
form, and the final upward curve of the radial vein in Lampromyia resembles
that of many Bombylidce ; irrespective of the venation, the dichoptic head
is only repeated among the Leptidce in the Xylophagince, while the shape of
the abdomen and the genitalia are suggestive of Leptogaster in the Asilidce ;
the presence of only two pulvilli in Lampromyia pallida is proved to be
unimportant by the presence of three in L. sericea ; the long proboscis of
Lampromyia reminds one of some Cyrtidce.

Synonymy. — In considering the proper name for this subfamily it is essential to
investigate its origin. In 1758 Linne described a Musca Vermileo , and referred to
uDe Geer act. Stockli. 1752, p. 180, 260, t. 5.” I am unable to collate this reference,
but DeGeer himself, in 1776, gave it as “Act. Acad. Suec. 1752, p. 180, 261, Tab. 5,
Mask-Leyonet, Sand-Masken.,” and consequently I do not think that DeGeer
used the binomial Musca Vermileo. In 1776, however, DeGeer gave the life-
history in great detail and described the perfect insect under the name of A emotelus
Vermileo , but in 1775 Fabricius had placed it in his genus Rhaqio. In founding
the genus Rhagio Fabricius included four species, of which the first two were the
well-known scolopacea and tringaria , but of the third species, Vermileo, he said
“Nimis praecedentibus affinis,” and consequently R. Vermileo cannot be considered
in any way the type of the genus Rhagio, even if Fabricius was not justified (as I
think he was) in subsequently altering Rhagio (on the ground of preoccupation by
Rhagium) to Leptis. In 1 834 Macquart founded on this species the genus Vermileo,
and renamed the species Degeerii ; faulty though that action was, the name Vermileo
holds generic priority, and consequently I call the subfamily Vermileonince. In 1840
Blanchard is said to have proposed the name Psammorycter for the same genus (in
spite of an existing Psammoryctes Poepp. Mamm. 1836, and subfamily Psammoryc-
tince), and that name was adopted by Loew, who founded on it in 1874 (Berl. Ent.
Zeitsclir., xviii., 381) the subfamily Psammorycterina ; it is certain that Loew only
adopted the name Psammorycter because he refused to accept Macquart’s generic
name of Latin derivation. The same genus was again described by Perris in 1852
under the name of Apogon, but there was already a prior genus of that name.

I am unable to collate all the references in Kertesz’s Katalog (1903), but I notice
several mistakes. Rhagio Fabr. is Syst. Entom., 761 instead of 760 ; Apogon (Pisces)
was, according to Agassiz, founded by “ Lacep.” and not “ Lacord.” ; I do not think
DeGeer gave the binomial Musca Vermileo in 1752, but Linne did in Syst. Nat.,
ed. x., 590 (1758), and DeGeer’s second reference would be more correct as Mem. a
PHist. Ins., vi., 168, Nemotelus (1776) ; the first reference to Fabricius should be Syst.
Entom., 762 ( Rhagio ) (1775); Bigot’s reference to Lampromyia should be (1885) and
not (185 ).

Lampromyia argentata Bigot, Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr. (6) v. lxviii. ( 1 885) = Leptynoma
sericea, Westw., Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1876, 518, but Leptynoma West\v. = Lam¬
promyia Macq.

CCENOMYIN.E

259

CCENOMYINLE.

Antennae with the third joint flagelliform and annulated. Face
socketed. Legs with all the tibiae spurred. Wings with a lon<>- bell-
mouthed cubital fork which includes the wing-tip.

Face socketed almost as in tlie /> cj> txn (v . Palpi long, t li 1 11 5 porrect, and pointed
indistinctly composed of two almost equal joints. Eyes liairy {Coenomyia) or bare’
touching in the male. Antenna; (fig. 168) with the third joint flagelliform and
8-annulated ; the last annulation forming a stout terminal style without any arista
Thorax bearing only short pubescence or almost bare ; metapleurae and the back
part of the mesopleurse with dense tufts of pubescence, which is longer in the
male than in the female, but otherwise the pleurae bear very slight pubescence.
Scutellum armed with two short subapical spines ( Coenomyia ) or unarmed.

Abdomen rather large, and bearing only minute pubescence. Genitaiia of the
male small ; ovipositor short and not telescopic, ending in two small oval lamellae.

Legs moderately strong, almost bare; coxae only moderately long; all the
tibiae spurred, one spur on the front the pair, two on each of posterior pairs.

Wings with a rather
peculiar venation, in at any
rate the genus Coeiusmyia
(fig. 1 86). Cubital fork long
and bell-mouthed, with the
upper branch before, and
the lower one after, the
wing-tip ; basal cells long,
reaching to fully half the

length of the wing ; ambi¬
ent vein complete ; alula
well developed ; wing-

membrane glittering in Coenomyia , not smooth but hardly ribbed or rippled, and
with only a microscopical pubescence.

Not at all Ichneumon-Wke flies.

The Ccenomyince and Xylophagince are the only Leptidce with an
obviously annulated antennal flagellum ; the Xylophagince are dis¬
tinguished by their marked Ichneumon- like appearance, the separated
eyes of the male, and by the cubital fork being triangularly wide open
with the lower branch ending in the wing-tip. Only one genus of
Ccenomyince. ( Ccenomyia ) containing a single species is known in Europe,
though two other genera with a single species each are recorded from
Siberia; the European species, Ccenomyia ferruginea, is widely spread
over nearly all Europe, even to the Netherlands and the North of France,
and also occurs commonly in North America, but has never been even
reputed to have been caught in England. There is a remarkably strong
scent arising from this fly, which is most persistent and may be noticed
after many years whenever a box containing specimens is opened.

Synonymy. — There can be no doubt that Latreille’s original name for tlie genus
was Coenomyia with a diphthong, but it is quite true that he afterwards sometimes
used Caenomyia. In the Precis (1796) the diphthong se was often used, as in
Phalcena, etc., and as there is no obvious error in the original name, while the only
derivation which I can find given about that time is “mouche a boue in the
Encyclopedic Methodique, I prefer to retain the original spelling. The genus
Coenura appears to me to belong to the Pangonince, as the cubital fork is of the
true Tabanus shape, and the squanne bear long dense pubescence, but the small
antennte have a terminal arista and the ovipositor is long and apparently telescopic ;
it also has the small cross-vein distinctly present, but this character almost occurs
in the Coenomyidous genus Arthropeas.

260

LEPTIDiE

LEPTINiE.

Antennae with the third joint simple and bearing a long apical (or
apparently subapical) arista. Face socketed. Posterior tibiae each with
two spurs. Wings with a long slightly bell-mouthed fork.

Fig. 187. — Leptis scolopacea ?. x 5.

Face socketed and separated by a channel from the wide side-cheeks (figs. 171,1 72).
Palpi long and conspicuous, sometimes drooping. Eyes bare, usually but not always
touching in the male, and with the facets (even in the male) all approximately
equal. Antennae with the third joint short, not annulated, and bearing a long apical
(or subapical) arista.

Thorax with inconspicuous rather stiff pubescence, or with depressed more pilose
pubescence. Scutellum unarmed, decidedly large ; metanotum mainly concealed
under the large scutellum.

Abdomen more or less conical. Genitalia moderate in size.

Legs rather long; tibiae with rows of minute bristles, and the posterior pairs
each with two apical spurs ; front tarsi often with “ touch-liairs /J on the underside.

Wings often glittering ; cubital fork long and rather bell-mouthed, with the
upper branch ending before or almost at, and the lower branch well after, the wing-
tip ; fourth posterior cell never closed ; alula well developed.

Alar squamae moderate in size ; thoracal pair absent.

The Leptince are distinguished from the Xylopliagince and Cosnomyince
by the simple third antennal joint and its long arista, and from the
Vcrmileonincv by the socketed epistoma, but they are very closely allied
to the Chrysopilince, and the only character to be relied upon is the
presence of two spurs on the hind tibise whereas the Chrysopilince possess
only one such spur. The Chrysopilince almost always have the facets on
the upper part of the eyes of the male conspicuously larger than, and

2. LEPTIS

261

horizontally separated from, those on the lower part, but there are
exceptions; and many Chrysopilince bear a conspicuous depressed golden
pile on the thorax and abdomen of which no trace occurs in the Leptince ;
they also often have an apical style to the antennae of a very different
nature to the long arista of the Leptince.

The Palaearctic Genera are tabulated on pages 241, 242.

2. LEPTIS.

Leptis Fabricius, Syst. Anti., 69 (1805).

Rather large or moderate-sized flies of conical shape, usually
yelloAvish red with brown or black markings. Pubescence
consisting of rather short hairs of a bristly nature (but never
approximating to macroehtetm), and of shorter soft down.
They are readily known by their short broad thorax and
their elongate narrow tapering abdomen which is often
translucent about the base.

Head short but almost as broad as the thorax, lying close to the thorax but
drawn forwards rather flatly. Face very short, socketed between the large
eyemargins, quadrangular, quite bare ; the large eyemargins (or side-cheeks)
separated from the face itself by a deep channel, and bearing
long rather conspicuous pubescence ; frons of the male quite
bare and of the female almost so. Proboscis prominent, thick,
cylindrical, with two ribbed sucker-flaps ; palpi two-jointed,
conspicuous, rather drooping, lying alongside the proboscis, and
bearing considerable bristly pubescence. Eyes always bare,
approximated or even touching for a long distance on the frons
in the male, and with the facets all equal or only very incon¬
spicuously differing in size ; but well separated in the female fig. iss Leptis scoiopaecn
by the rather broad frons, which has a shallow transverse x 33’

suture a little above the antennae. Antennae (fig. 188) approximated at the base,
porrect, and composed of three very short joints ; two basal joints almost equal in
length; third joint short, conical, or almost reniform, with a long rather fine
upturned terminal arista.

Thorax flatly arched, short, almost quadrangular, with blunted angles ; pubescence
on the disc short but usually well distributed and of a bristly nature, but with
depressed pile intermixed ; pleurae mainly bare, but the prothorax and the meta¬
pleurae bear rather long distinct pubescence.

Abdomen almost twice as long as the thorax, rather elongate or conical, with at
least seven obvious segments ; pubescence fairly abundant, often of a bristly nature
but never like adpressed pile, short except about the basal cornel’s. Genitalia of the
male rather prominent, knobbed and blunt ; ovipositor jointed and appearing like an
eighth segment terminated by two pairs of ovate lamellae.

_ Legs elongate, especially the hindmost, and the hind femora usually rather
thickened ; coxae rather long ; front tibiae without spurs, but the posterior pairs
each with two conspicuous nearly equal spurs ; front tarsi with “ touch-hairs ”
beneath ( vide page 236).

Wings (fig. 187) large and broad, smooth and glittering, exceedingly minutely
pubescent ; costa and subcostal vein bearing minute spines ; cubital vein with a
long conspicuous fork, of which the upper branch ends in or near the wing-tip and
the lower branch about half-way between that and the upper veinlet from the
discal cell ; discal cross-vein placed at about one-fifth from the base of the discal
cell, and the origin of the cubital vein almost opposite the base of the discal cell ;
discal cell elongate hexagonal, emitting three complete simple almost parallel
veinlets to the wingmargin ; postical vein with a simple wide open fork, of which

262

LEPTlM

the upper branch is united by the small cross-vein with the discal cell rather near its
base ; the first four posterior cells are all almost equally wide open, while the
fifth ( = postical fork-cell) is more widely open ; anal cell usually open though
contracted, but closed in L. nigra Meig. Squamae (alar) moderate in size, and
with a rather abundant pale many-haired fringe (not in a single row, as in Chryso-
pilus) ■ thoracal squamae undeveloped.

The metamorphoses of several species have been observed ; the larvae
usually live in earth and are predaceous, and that of L. tringaria is said to
feed upon earthworms: the perfect insects occur on tree-trunks and on
the leaves of shrubs. For its reputation of being able to inflict a severe
bite, see page 235.

This genus is closely allied to Chrysopilus, but is ordinarily distinguished
by its open anal cell (which is not an infallible character) ; it is however
better distinguished by the presence of two spurs on the hind tibiae and
the absence of any peculiar adpressed golden pile on the thorax and
abdomen of a distinct nature from the pale pubescence of L. lineola and
its allies ; the palpi in Chrysopilus are porrect, or even upturned, and
not drooped. The short rather triangular third antennal joint distinguishes
this genus from Atherix and Atrichops.

Leptis contains about sixty known species, of which about thirty. are
Palsearctic and nearly as many American (North, Central, and South), the
rest being odd species from South Asia and Australia. Some of the
European species appear to be very variable and have consequently a
confused nomenclature, and some seem to have light and dark forms
which have sometimes been considered distinct species or sometimes only
local or mountain races.

Synonymy. — As Leptis is the parent genus of the family, it ought to be fixed with
the greatest possible certainty. In 1 775 Fabricius, in his Systema Entomologies,
p. 761, founded a genus Rhagio for four species, which occur in the following order,
scolopaceus , tringarius, vermileo, and cliadema ; these all belong to the Leptida? , and
the first two to the present acceptation of the genus Leptis; on page f82 of the
same volume he had founded a coleopterous genus, Rhagium. which still exists, and
in 1805 (Syst. Anti. Ind., p. 19) he wrote concerning Rhagio, “Nomen genericum, lie
“ cum Rhagium Eleutheratorum confundetur, in Leptis mutatum est,” and in the
body of the same work he expressly stated “ Character generis naturalis e L.
scolopacea desumtus," although the only species he described in detail (which is
often considered his type species in each genus) was L. bicolor. There can therefore
be no possible doubt that Rhagio and Leptis are absolute synonyms, and that the type
species of each is L. scolopacea ; I cannot therefore agree with the acceptation of
L. vermileo as the type of Rhagio , and I thoroughly agree with Fabricius’ view that
the genera Rhagium and Rhagio should not co-exist ; what Bergroth means by
stating (Wien. ent. Zeit., viii., p. 296) that Latreille in 1809 fixed Musca vermileo
Schrnk. as the type of the genus Rhagio I fail to comprehend, as I find that
Latreille in 1809 (Gen. Crust, et Ins., iv., p. 287) said u Rhagio (nunc Leptis),” and
he expressly distinguished the larva of R. vermileo from the numerous other species
of the genus, so that he emphasised its distinctness from the genus Rhagio instead
of indicating it as the type of that genus.

Moses Harris in 1782 well distinguished this genus both by description and
by figures, but his name “ Sylvicoke ” can hardly be accepted even if amended
to Sylvicola.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Wings maculated. 1 scolopacea.

2 (1) Wings without markings except for a blackish stigma.

3 (8) Stigma blackish. Legs with at least the hind femora broadly and

conspicuously black at the tip.

2. LEPTIS

263

4 (7) Pubescence of the thorax pale. Prather small species.

5 (6) Abdomen mainly orange (6), or considerably so (?). Front and

hind femora with a dark ring leaving nearly the basal half of

the femora pale. 6 lineola.

6 (5) Abdomen mainly darkened. Front and hind femora considerably

more blackened. 7 monticola.

( var . 'prcec.')

7 (4) Pubescence of the thorax mainly black. Rather large species.

2 notata.

8 (3) Stigma absent or inconspicuously yellowish. Legs normally all

orange (except the tarsi), but if sometimes darkened then

indeterminately so.

9 (12) Pubescence of the thorax (mainly) and of the abdomen black.

10 (11) Belly yellow on the three or four basal segments. Abdomen

always mainly orange. Paler species. 3 tringaria.

11 (10) Belly all blackish except on the hindmargins and side membranes.

Abdomen often almost all blackish. Darker species.

4 nigrivcntris.
(var. prcec.)

12 (9) Pubescence of the thorax and abdomen pale. 5 annulata.

1. L. scolopacea Linne. Wings conspicuously maculated. Pleurse
ashy grey. Palpi mainly with pale pubescence. Eyes of the male
touching. (Fig. 187.)

A rather large By of narrow shape, with obviously spotted
wings and an orange abdomen on which is a dorsal row of
black spots.

g . Head when viewed sideways nearly twice as high as long, but when viewed
from in front wider than high. Face and frons small and (including the
side-cheeks) triangular and whitish grey, but the actual epistoma nearly
quadrate and the side-cheeks each nearly half as wide as the epistoma ; a
deep furrow runs between the side-cheeks and the epistoma, and while the
epistoma is quite bare the side-cheeks have on the lower half a fairly
conspicuous rather long but rather sparse pale yellow pubescence, . and
this pubescence extends and becomes much longer on the small jowls
and on the moderately inflated whitish grey back of the head ;
upper part of the back of the head shallow, and bearing on the upper
quarter an irregular row of short black postocular bristles in . f r ont of
any yellow pubescence ; vertex small, dull blackish, and bearing some
minute black bristles on the ocellar part, but grey and quite bare on the
elongated front part. Proboscis dull greyish black, about as long as the
palpi, and bearing numerous hairs beneath ; palpi long, dull orange but
often blackish about the base, rather drooping, and bearing rather
abundant and fairly long pale pubescence, and sometimes with a few black
rather bristly hairs intermixed on the basal half of the upper side. Eyes
large, occupying almost all the head, and touching for about half the distance
between the occiput and the antennae; facets all equal. Antennae (tig’. 188)
dull orange ; basal joint short and bearing a few short black or yellow dorsal
bristles ; second joint shorter but also bearing a few black dorsal bristles ;

264

LEPTIM

third joint as long as the two basal joints together, sub triangular, and bearing
a few short black dorsal bristles about the base, and otherwise bearing minute
soft pale pubescence ; arista springing from the point of the third joint, long
and thin, being about twice as long as the antennae, practically bare and
slightly tapering, obscurely blackish, and in no way geniculate though
obviously upturned.

Thorax dull ashy grey, with three broad blackish stripes of which the
middle stripe is often narrowly split ; humeri dull orange or with only a
slight orange tinge, and the triangular space between the humeri and the
mesopleurae also orange, while a more or less distinct orange line runs along
the dorso-pleural suture to the wing-base, and a thin line runs down the
suture behind the mesopleurte, and another line between the liypopleurm and
the hind coxae. Pubescence inconspicuous and by no means dense, consisting
of rather short black bristly hairs, though the hairs become slightly longer on
and near the scutellum. Pleurae light ashy grey, mainly bare but the
prothorax has obvious pale pubescence and the inflated metapleurae bear
moderately dense rather long pale pubescence, and a few very tiny almost
imperceptible pale hairs occur near the upper margin of the mesopleurae ;
metapleurae sometimes dull reddish black. Scutellum of the same ashy grey
colour as the thorax but with the extreme tip dull ferruginous.

Abdomen elongate and conical, with seven obvious segments of which the
basal five are nearly equal in length but the next two are shorter, while if an
eighth segment is visible dorsally it seems to form part of the genitalia, dull
orange with a row of black dorsal spots, of which the one on each of the five
basal segments is usually isolated and touching the foremargin of the segment
but not extended to the hindmargin ; in very pale specimens the isolated
spots continue on the sixth and seventh segments and may even be small, but
usually the spot on the fifth segment is larger than the others and may leave
little more than the hindmargin orange, while on the sixth segment blackish
markings usually spread right across the base or may even occupy all the
segment except the hindmargin, and the seventh segment is usually all black
except for an occasional very narrow orange hindmargin ; the sidemargins of
the basal four or five segments are narrowly black, slightly widening about
the base of each segment. Belly yellow on the four basal segments except
sometimes at the extreme base (and as mentioned in varieties later on), but
beginning to become black after the foremargin of the fifth segment to the
tip, though in pale specimens these last three segments may be only orange,
and in dark specimens even the fifth and sixth segments may have very
narrow orange hindmargins. Pubescence dorsally short, inconspicuous, and
all black, but longer about the sides of the four basal segments ; ventrally
the pubescence is pale and less rigid on the yelloAv part, not scarce but not
abundant. Genitalia with a short dull black dorsal plate (which is probably the
remains of an eighth abdominal segment), and after that with a pair of lateral
blackish or orange-black lamellae or plates (in pale specimens orange at the
base) which are produced at their ends to a rather long narrow pi’ocess which
is often incurved and partly concealed, and these lateral lamellae bear short
black or yellow pubescence, while between them lies a pair of short clearer
orange lamelhe, and there is a blackish basal ventral plate which is usually
margined with luteous.

Legs dull brownish orange ; front coxae long, normally dull orange but
more or less greyish black at the base and sometimes even almost to the tip,
and clothed in front with fairly long and abundant pale pubescence
which leaves a small shining darker bare space at the base ; front trochanters
obscurely blackish ; posterior coxae shorter, dull greyish black, but more or
less obscurely orange about the tip or even apical half and behind, and
bearing fairly long but less abundant pale pubescence in front of the
middle pair and outside the hind pair, but quite bare on all about the basal
half of the hind pair; posterior trochanters longer and more distinctly dull
greyish black, with faint orange reflections ; all the tarsi rather blackish
though the anterior pairs are dull dark orange at the base; there is a
broad indeterminate darkened ring near the tip of the hind femora, and
sometimes the tip of the hind tibiae is darkened. Pubescence practically
none, but the legs are wholly beset with tiny black bristles among which

2. LEPTIS

265

some slightly less tiny bristles form rows down all the tibiae ; front tarsi with
a few “ touch -hairs ” beneath, and the middle tarsi with a few very small
stouter plantar bristles ; middle and hind tibiae each with two nearly equal
dull orange spurs, and front tibiae with almost a circlet of tiny black bristles
around the tip. lb il villi and claws brownish.

Wings (fig. 187) large and long, slightly smoky and conspicuously
maculated, the stigma being elongate and blackish brown and occupying
most of the end part of the marginal cell but not the lower or apical margins
of it, while the other cloudings extend across the cross-veins (including the fork
of the cubital vein) and occupy the whole apical sixth of the wing, though the
margin of this last cloud is not very determinate but extends less broadly
all along the hindmargin ; sometimes also the fork at the origin of the
cubital vein and the base of the prsefurca are clouded ; costal and sub¬
costal veins brownish yellow, but the other veins almost black ; the
costa bears at its base minute crowded black bristles which gradually
diminish and disappear before the tip of the wing, after which they modify
into a short fine ciliation round the hindmargin ; the subcostal vein also bears
similar minute bristles on its upper side, but not from the base until a little
before the humeral cross-vein, and these bristles grow gradually shorter
until they coalesce with the minute costal bristles ; anal cell rather widely
open, because the anal vein is a little curved down at its tip. Squamae (alar)
rather large, somewhat glassy yellowish, with an almost blackish margin and
with a long pale fringe ; thoracal squamae only represented by the bare
yellow frenum. Halteres dull orange.

9 . Similar to the male. Frons greyish orange, about one-fifth the width of the
head at the vertex but gradually widening downwards, and the space between
the eyes near the mouth nearly one-third the width of tlie head ; back of
the head (especially on the upper part) appearing more inflated because
the eyes are smaller, more obviously pale grey, and with more numerous and
more extended short black bristles near the upper part ; frons apparently
bare, though a very few irregular minute black bristles may occur ; ocellar
space blackish. Palpi with mainly black bristles but with some pale hairs
at the sides and about the tip.

Thorax paler or more yellowish grey, with three broad dark stripes which
may range from blackish to light brown with a blackish stripe splitting the
middle one ; side stripes narrower than the middle one and more abbreviated
in front, but all three stripes ending in points just before the hindmargin.

Abdomen less sharply marked and considerably more blackish, especially
towards the tip and about the sidemargins, and the pubescence about the
sides shorter. Belly blackish, but usually orange at the base, on the sides of
the second and third segments, and on the narrow hindmargins of segments,
though not uncommonly the orange colour is reduced to the narrow hind-
margins. Ovipositor ending in a pair of conspicuous though small oval
brownish black lamellae.

Legs as in the male.

Wings usually with the maculation more emphasised and the cloud on the
wing-tip more defined.

Length about 10 mm., but varying from 7 mm. to 14 mm.

The foregoing is a description of what I consider normal British L.
scolopacea, but the species seems to have a tendency to produce local races,
and some of these races have a very distinct appearance. Dr J. H. Wood
has taken regularly a small dark race at Shobdon Marsh in Herefordshire,
and I have studied specimens taken there on July 23, 1903; the
male seems to have the palpi rather shorter, less drooping, and less
conspicuously yellowish, but bearing more black bristles; the antenme
more tinged with blackish on the basal joints, and the third joint
comparatively short; thorax with the humeri darker and the connected
pale lines hardly visible ; scutellum not at all ferruginous at the tip ;

266

LEPTIM

abdomen with the black markings extended, the spots on the second and
third segments large, the one on the fourth segment connected near its
foremargin with the black side-markings, and the rest of the abdomen
black except for a narrow rather dark ferruginous hindmargin on the fifth
segment and the dull dark ferruginous middle lamellae; the sidemargins
blacker than usual, and more extended out triangularly near the fore-
margins of the segments ; belly with the fourth segment dull black across
its middle; legs often more obscured, and the knob of the halteres some¬
times brownish, but the wings sometimes only faintly maculated; the
female has the palpi sometimes all black haired, the wings well maculated
but sometimes with an oval pellucid spot on the clouded wing-tip on the
middle of the submarginal and cubital cells. I have seen other small
dark forms in which the antennae and front coxae are darker, the front
femora obscurely blackish on the basal three-quarters, the hind femora
more extensively blackish and even the middle femora with traces of
darkening, the stigma larger and blacker, the maculation on the wings
more extended, the frons in the female brownish on its middle, the
abdomen (?) black with little more than the hindmargins orange, and
the palpi blackish orange; while on the other hand pale specimens
occur in which the hind femora show scarcely any trace of darkening,
or in the case of a rather pale female taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Parknasilla in Co. Kerry the wings have a slight blackish tinge.
A continental female taken at Eger in Bohemia has large black
markings and also indistinct side-spots on the abdomen, so that there
are almost three rows of black spots connected along the foremargins of
the segments, and in this specimen the belly is nearly all black except
that the second segment is dull ferruginous, and the wing-markings are
dark and diffuse. L. scolopacea is the only British species of the genus
with maculated wings that I have seen, though Z. strigosa Meig. was in
all our lists ; it is almost certain that Walker’s Z. strigosa is only one of
the small dark forms, but the true L. strigosa (if distinct) may be known
by its extreme yellowness on the pleurae and scutellum. L. maculipennis
Lw. and Z. Cavannce Bezzi have entirely black-haired palpi, while Z.
Cavannce and Z. latipennis Lw. have the eyes of the male obviously
separated. Z. scolopacea is recorded from extreme North Europe to Italy.

Z. scolopacea is a common British species, and I have numerous
records from Devonshire to Tongue and the Outer Hebrides, while
Colonel Yerbury has taken it in several Irish localities. The dates
range from May 21 to July 23. It is fond of sitting on tree-trunks in
moderately wooded districts, and often dashes off in a disconcerting and
apparently threatening manner, from which habit I expect it obtained
its reputation (Bull. Soc. Ent. Er., lxi., civ., 1892) of being able to
inflict a very unpleasant bite; I have never been able to obtain any
corroboration of this habit from any experienced Dipterologist, and I
am convinced that its ferocious appearance and its maculated wings have
caused it to be confounded with Hcematopota.

2. L. notata Meigen. Wings not maculated, but with a conspicuous
blackish stigma. Legs mainly black.

A rather large fly of narrow shape, with almost unicolorous

2. LEPTIS

267

rather smoky wings on which is a conspicuous blackish stigma.
Legs mainly black, even to the base of the femora.

S . Epistoma socketed, rather quadrate, quite bare and light slaty grey, but the side-
cheeks whitish grey and bearing conspicuous long whitish pubescence, while
the pubescence becomes rather longer on the moderate-sized jowls and for
about half-way up the back of the head, after which (as the back of the head
becomes shallower) the pubescence becomes shorter and thinner and leaves
some short black bristles near the eyes which become numerous on the upper
quarter of the head ; vertex rather deeply excised across the occiput, elongate
triangular, bearing in the ocellar triangle several short black bristles which
are sloped forwards greyish black, but with the small triangular space below
the ocelli slaty grey and quite bare. Proboscis brownish black, and bearing
some slight brownish hairs beneath ; palpi greyish black, slightly drooping,
and bearing conspicuous greyish white pubescence, intermixed with which
near the base are usually a few black bristly dorsal hairs. Eyes touching
for a third the distance between the occiput and the antennae ; facets
almost imperceptibly decreasing in size upwards and backwards. Antennae
dark greyish brown ; two basal joints short, but about equal in length and
both bearing a few short black dorsal bristles ; third joint minutely pubescent,
not longer than each basal joint but differently shaped, being slightly pointed,
and with the arista emerging from the point ; arista upturned, bare, blackish
and hardly tapering, twice as long as the antenna.

Thorax dull slaty grey, with three conspicuous blackish stripes of which the
middle one may be very narrowly split, and this one extends back only two-
thirds the length of the thorax but the side ones are shortened anteriorly and
extend further back ; a space between the humeri and the mesopleui'se, another
space at the root of the wing, and the suture connecting these spaces slightly
ferruginous. Pubescence fairly long and conspicuous though rather sparse,
composed of rather long erect black bristly hairs, but varying considerably
in length and leaving bare spaces on about the beginning of the middle
(sometimes double) blackish stripe and also on large spaces on the outer
stripes above the suture and again where these stripes widen out below the
suture ; the dull ferruginous space against the humeri bears some very short
pale pubescence with a few ferruginous hairs intermixed ; prothorax with
conspicuous pale pubescence ; metapleurae with fairly abundant brownish
yellow pubescence ; mesopleurse with a few tiny black bristles on the upper
hind corner. Scutellum slaty grey, and bearing equal rather long and
abundant black bristly pubescence.

Abdomen moderately shining orange ochre with black markings ; basal
segment blackish grey right up to the hindmargin ; second and third
segments each with an isolated black dorsal spot ; fourth segment with a
large black dorsal spot which occupies all the middle part from the front to
the hindmargin ; fifth, sixth, and seventh segments all black ; seventh
segment short ; sidemargins on the second, third, and fourth segments with
an equal narrow blackish line. Pubescence fairly abundant, all black, erect,
and not short on the five basal segments, though adpressed on the disc, and
much shorter on the sixth and seventh segments. Belly clear orange on the
four basal segments with slight inconspicuous erect pale pubescence, but the
fifth to seventh segments are blackish grey and bear slight short blackish
pubescence. Genitalia with a pair of rather large blackish grey side lamellae
which end dorsally in a pair of dark orange long narrow hooks ; there is
some slight pale pubescence on these side lamellae, and some pale pubescence
on the ventral plate near them.

Legs mainly dull black, but the tibiae (except about the last third of the
hind pair) ferruginous as well as the apical quarter of the front femora and
the apical half (or more) of the middle femora, while the front tarsi are
very slightly and the middle tarsi obviously ferruginous at the base ; apical
third of the hind tibiae somewhat indeterminately dull blackish. Front
coxae all slaty grey, with fairly abundant pale yellow pubescence on all the
front side rising from small black punctures, but there is the usual polished
black bare space in front near the base ; front trochanters very short and

268

LEPTIDJE

rather ferruginous ; posterior coxae grey, with pale pubescence in front of
the middle pair and outside the apical half of the hind pair ; tiny black bristles
clothe all the legs, but the femora bear some stronger (though still very small)
black bristles, while a few minute black bristles are scattered all over the
tibiae, and also some on the upper side of the basal joint of the front tarsi ;
spurs on the posterior tibiae dark ferruginous ; “ touch-hairs ” beneath the
front tarsi rather numerous. Pulvilli pale brown ; claws brown but black at
the tip.

Wings smoky yellowish but brownish orange about the base ; veins
blackish but also brownish orange about the base ; stigma long, black or
brownish black, and conspicuous, but not touching the costal or radial vein ;
ambient vein black all round, even on the alulae ; costal and subcostal veins
bristly as in L. scolopcicea. Squamae (alar) glassy yellowish, with an orange
margin and a fairly abundant pale fringe ; frenum scarcely widened, glassy
whitish yellow. Halteres orange.

9. Frons about one-sixth the width of the head and parallel -sided from the
ocelli to the suture just above the antennae, light ashy grey with a brownish
tinge on a large part of the disc, practically bai-e but with a very few tiny black
bristles scattered about ; space between the eyes widening from the frons to
the mouth, where it is about one-third the width of the head ; epistoma light
ashy grey, bare • side-cheeks greyish white, with very much less pubescence
than in the male ; jowls and back of the head a little inflated, and their
pubescence almost as in the male, but there are a few black hairs on the
jowls ; palpi with the bristles all black except beneath, where they are pale.

Thorax and scutellum with less abundant and much shorter pubescence
on the disc than in the male, though the bristly pubescence is quite as long on
the sides ; the ridge between the Aving-base and the postalar calli rather
ferruginous.

Abdomen more or less ferruginous, ranging from the three basal segments
being orange ferruginous with only the extreme base of the first segment
and a large dorsal spot on each of the segments black, to nearly all
greyish black except a ferruginous spot at the basal corners of the second
segment and also some narrow hindmargins ; fourth and remaining seg¬
ments obscure black Avith narrow ferruginous hindmargins, which are most
conspicuous on the third, and sometimes sixth and seventh, segments ;
pubescence much shorter than in the male. Belly nearly all greyish black,
• except on the orange hindmargins where the dorsal coloring shines through ;
first and third segments, and the basal segments to a certain extent, with
slight pale pubescence. Ovipositor Avith apparently four short obscure black
segments which have narrow orange hindmargins, while after these conies
the genital plate below with a pair of small oval brownish lamellae above.

Legs almost as in the male, but the middle femora only obscurely blackish
about the base beneath or even hardly at all blackish, and the hind tibiae not
so much darkened at the tip.

Wings more pellucid, and more orange about the base.

Length about 10 mm., but varying from 8 to 1 1 mm.

This species is distinguished by its wings being immaculate except for
the conspicuous blackish stigma and by its extensively black legs ; in fact,
it is distinguished from any known European species by these characters
and by its entirely slaty grey scutellum having no trace of ferruginous
colour at its tip or on its sides. It varies very little unless from
immaturity, as an immature female taken in Arran 011 June 6, 1882, has
the femora all yellowish except a someAvhat yellowish brown tinge beneath,
the belly orange at the base, and the stigma practically absent because
the whole marginal cell is unicolorously pale orange.

L. notata is rather common as a mountain species in the Midlands and
the North, but I have no record south of Herefordshire (near the Black
Mountain) and Worcestershire (The Malvern Hills); it seems to occur very

2. LEPTIS

269

freely in the Scotch Highlands. My dates extend from May 23 to July 10.
It is recorded from Central Europe and Denmark to Italy, but not from
North Europe, which does not seem to accord with its British distri¬
bution.

Synonym)/. — Curtis described and figured this species as Rhagio Heyshami from
Ambieside, and later on mentioned R. notatus as having occurred near Cambridge
but that record in all probability referred to L. tringaria.

3. L. tringaria Linne. Wings immaculate glassy yellowish, even the
stigma being inconspicuous. Thorax with black pubescence. Abdomen
mainly orange.

A rather large fly, with immaculate wings and the abdomen
orange with black dorsal spots.

d. Face and frons small and (including the side-cheeks) triangular and covered
with yellowish grey dust, but the socketed epistoma is almost quadrate and
is quite bare ; side-cheeks nearly half as wide as the epistoma, and bearing
(except on the upper third) rather long and conspicuous hardly sparse pale
yellow pubescence, and this pubescence extending and becoming longer on the
rather narrow jowls and on the rather shallow lower half of the back of the
head, after which it becomes shorter and sparser and dies out but is replaced
on the top third or quarter by a number of short black dense postocular
bristles ; absolute back of the _ head yellowish grey ; vertex greyish black and
bearing some minute black bristles behind the ocelli, but light grey and bare
on the elongated front part ; frons rather darkened at its upper point, quite
bare. Proboscis orange, slightly browned and bearing some short thin pale
hairs beneath ; palpi orange (rarely darkened at the extreme base), slightly
drooping, and bearing all over rather long yellow or greyish yellow pubescence,
though a black hair or two may occur out on the middle part of the upper
side, or there may be (as mentioned below) a few black hairs at the tip. Eyes
touching for less than half the distance between the occiput and the antennae;
facets apparently all equal. Antennae brownish black on the two basal joints,
though the second joint may be ferruginous; the two basal joints are both
short, and bear some very short black dorsal bristles ; third joint orange,
shorter than either of the two basal joints on the upper side (where some
minute black bristles occur about the base) but dropped slightly kidney-
shaped below its tip, and bearing at its outermost part the upturned dull
blackish arista, which is nearly three times as long as the antennae.

Thorax dull light greyish or yellowish brown with usually some faint
indications of darker or lighter brown stripes of which the middle one may be
split, but variations of colour are mentioned later on; humeri usually dull
orange, and the underside of the postalar calli and the ridge extending to the
scutellum less distinctly so ; the triangular space below the humeri is also
dull orange, while a dull orange line runs along the dorso- pleural suture to the
wing-base, and another triangular space occurs just under the wing from
which a narrow orange line runs down the suture behind the mesopleurse ;
prothorax sometimes greyish orange ; the metapleurae and adjacent parts are
also more or less obscure dull orange ; prothorax and metapleurce bearing
fairly long and dense yellow or brownish yellow pubescence ; mesopleurae with
a few exceedingly tiny black or yellow bristles near the upper margin or upper
hind angle. Pubescence on the disc of the thorax composed of numerous
equally distributed (except on quite the front part) short black bristles, _ but
these bristles become longer about the sides and the hind part, and sometimes
some pale hairs occur on the hind part. Scutellum dull orange with a slightly
blackened base ; pubescence distinctly longer than on the thorax but still
rigid, usually all black but occasionally with a few pale hairs.

Abdomen slightly shining orange, with a row of isolated ( vide varieties
later on) black rounded or diamond-shaped dorsal spots ; one spot occurs on

270

LEPTIDiE

each of the four or five basal segments and is not extended to the front or
hindmargin of any segment, but the fourth and fifth segments usually become
rather darker orange, and the spot on the fifth segment is the largest and is
sometimes united with the black sidemargins ; sixth segment black, with
usually an obvious dark orange spot on the middle of the hindmargin,
seventh segment all black or with a very narrow obscure orange hindmargin ;
eighth dorsal segment forming a short basal plate to the genitalia ; side-
margins with an almost isolated blackish spot on the basal segment, and then
with a more or less irregular narrow black line extending from near
the base of the second segment to the end of the fourth segment,
on the fifth segment more widely blackened especially near the base,
and entirely black on the sixth and seventh segments in connection with
the black dorsal part of those segments. Belly yellowish orange on the
three or four basal segments, but usually becoming a little darker on
the fourth segment ; fifth segment black with narrow orange margins,
sixth and seventh all black. Pubescence on all the dorsal part of the
abdomen composed of short depressed black bristles which are rather
dense and equally distributed, but there are longer and less depressed
black hairs at the sides and especially on that part of the two basal
segments ; on the belly it is short and less dense, with a few pale hairs inter¬
mixed on the disc of the second segment. Genitalia small and short,
beginning with a short dull black or greyish black basal plate (which is
probably the remains of an eighth abdominal segment) which has an obscure
ferruginous margin, and after that a pair of short dull black lateral lamella;
which bear an elongate dull orange second joint, and these second joints
usually curve inwards and meet and bear minute pale pubescence ; the basal
part of these lateral lamellae bears short black and yellowish bristly
pubescence ; between the lateral lamellae are two short rounded dark brown
lamellae, and there is a dull black basal ventral plate extending all across.
Other variations of the abdominal markings are given later on.

Legs dull orange • front coxae obscure pale orange or pale brownish,
covered with pale yellow dust and bearing fairly long and abundant pale
yellow pubescence on all the front part (except on a shining black or orange
space at the base anteriorly towards the inner side), trochanters darkened ;
middle coxae mainly blackish but orange about the tip, with the usual pale
pubescence in front but usually (though not always) with some black bristly
hairs near the tip, tibial spurs dull orange ; hind coxae orange but sometimes
greyish black or with blackish reflections outside, and usually with a few
black hairs intermingled with the yellow hairs outside about the tip ; posterior
trochanters partly or completely blackened ; hind femora usually slightly
blackish at the tip, and the hind tibiae more so but indefinitely ; spurs
brownish orange ; tarsi blackish but rather obscurely orange at the base of
at least the anterior pairs. Pubescence practically none, but the legs wholly
beset with tiny black bristles except on some inconspicuous bare lines on the
anterior femora, and there are rows of tiny black bristles down the tibiae
which are slightly longer than the ubiquitous bristles ; front tarsi with a
few “ touch-hairs beneath. Pulvilli dull brown ; claws darker brown. Other
variations of colour are noted later on.

Wings with a distinct orange tinge which is most conspicuous along the
fore part as far as the tip of the marginal cell, but without any distinct stigma ;
veins obscure orange, growing brown towards the tip of the wing and towards
the margin after about the tip of the subcostal vein ; costal and subcostal
veins with minute black bristles as in L. scolopacea ; alulae with a rather
conspicuous orange or brownish yellow marginal line. Squamae (alar) dull
glassy yellowish with usually a darker orange margin on which is a moderate
pale yellow fringe, and at the base on the upper part with a rather elongate
triangular blackish space ; thoracal squamae only represented by the bare dull
yellow frenum. Halteres orange or slightly darker.

9 . Similar to the male but altogether paler and with more testaceous coloring.
Frons greyish yellow, fully one-third the width of the head at the vertex and
with the sides almost parallel down to the transverse suture a little above the
antennae, but from that point downwards the eyes gradually diverge until

2. LEPTIS

271

the face at its lower part is more than one-third the width of the head ; frons
practically bare though a few minute black bristles occur, but the ocellar
space between and behind the two upper ocelli darker (but by no means
black) and bearing rather numerous very short black bristles ; face (including
the broad eyemargins) pale greyish yellow, and the eyemargins bearing rather
long pale pubescence on the inner part of their lower half, and this pubescence
merging into the longer pubescence on the jowls and lower part of the back
of the head ; back of the head greyish yellow, but darker near the upper eye-
angles, and apparently more puffed out because the eyes are smaller ; the
postocular short black bristles on the upper part of the back of the head
become numerous and in fact dense. Palpi with some black bristly hairs
included in the pubescence on the upper side.

Thorax dull yellowish grey, with a divided broad middle stripe and two
broad side-stripes indistinctly brownish ; the double middle stripe does not
extend back much beyond the suture, and the side stripes are abbreviated in
front but extend back and end in points not far from the hindmargin ; humeri,
a spot at the front end of the side stripes connected with the narrow yellowish
thoracic stripes, and all the sides of the dorsum of the thorax (including the
hindmargin) rather broadly though rather indefinitely orange, the orange colour
being most conspicuous on the humeri and on the postalar calli (including
the ridge towards the scutellum). Pleurae practically all testaceous, but
sometimes with the disc of the meso-, sterno-, and liypopleurae obscurely greyish
black. Pubescence on the dorsum of the thorax very short and depressed and
inconspicuous except on the margins, all black and not at all abundant ; on the
prothorax it is yellow and rather abundant but occasionally with a few black
hairs on the top or hind part, while on the metapleurae the pubescence is
rather longer but more scarce and sometimes several of the hairs on the upper
part are black. Scutellum clear testaceous, rather shining, with short black
pubescence which is however longer than that on the thorax but is very
sparse on the disc.

Abdomen moderately shining, sharply diminishing in width from the
second segment to the tip ; three basal segments usually each with a
conspicuous isolated black dorsal spot, the spot on the basal segment being
the smallest or least defined, and the spot on the fourth segment (and some¬
times the third) touching the foremargin and extending triangularly down
about half or two-thirds of the segment; fifth segment small, compressed,
dull orange with the base blackish ; sixth and seventh segments tubular,
blackish grey or light grey, with expanded telescopic orange hindmargins ;
eighth segment forming part of the elongate ovipositor ; sidemargins blackish
on the second segment, beginning fairly wide at the base but narrowing to a
very thin marginal line at the end of the segment, and on the third and
fourth segments the black margin is absent or is narrow, but in dark
specimens mentioned later on the sidemargins are widely black ; pubescence
black, very short and inconspicuous except on the sides near the base.
Belly normally dull orange on the three basal segments though the third
segment has blackish reflections on its base and sidemargins, and the
other segments blackish grey with narrow determinate orange hindmargins ;
pubescence very slight and nearly all black, sloping on the four basal
segments but erect and very short on the remaining segments ; far more
extreme forms of coloration on the belly are given later on. Ovipositor
elongate, blackish grey or light grey, ending in a pair of divergent ovate
upper lamellae which are blackish grey to orange, and in short ovate lower
lamellae which are obscurely blackish with obscurely orange bases.

Legs rather paler than in the male ; front coxae normally all orange, and
the middle coxae with a slight dull greyish tinge, or all the coxae and
trochanters may be entirely orange, or darker forms may _ occur as
are mentioned later on ; posterior coxae with some black bristly hairs
about the tip in front ; hind femora and tibiae normally without darkened
tips.

Wings as in the male, or sometimes with a more or less pronounced
yellowish tinge. Alar squamae with a smaller blackish marking on the upper
part.

Length about 10 mm., but varying from 8 mm. to 12 mm.

272

LEPTIM

The preceding description is made from ordinary British specimens,
but there are innumerable variations from it and I believe also local races.
The variations which I have observed lie in the following characters : —

£ . Thorax with considerable variation in the extent of the testaceous coloring
and in the distinctness of the dark stripes, so that sometimes the disc of the
thorax is rather tinged with yellowish and at other times is rather dark grey ;
or the thorax may have three narrow light grey lines alternating with four
broad dark grey stripes.

Abdomen varying very much in the extent of the orange and black
markings, the dorsal spots being sometimes diamond-shaped or larger, with
the spot on the fifth segment triangular and broadly touching the fore¬
margin and with broad blackish sidemargins, or the spot on the fifth segment
triangular so as to form a solid V-shaped black spot from the fore¬
margin to a point on the middle of the hindmargin, and the sixth segment
often black with a very narrow orange hindmargin. Belly sometimes
beginning to become darkened after the middle of the third segment, or
with the first, third, and fourth (especially the fourth) segments with
blackish reflections of which a trace may exist on the second segment.

Legs varying slightly in colour ; front coxae not infrequently with a strong
blackish tinge in front on all the basal half, and at the same time the posterior
cox® nearly all greyish black with abundant grey dust, or in some small
specimens the cox® may be still darker.

9 . Frons ranging from light yellowish grey to brownish orange and even with an
almost blackish middle space ; palpi varying in every gradation from entirely
yellow pubescence in pale specimens to being very extensively black haired
dorsally to almost the tip.

Thorax sometimes yellowish brown-grey with the sidemargins so little
testaceous that scarcely more than the humeri and the lower side of the
postalar calli are testaceous, while the pleur® are nearly all obscured with
blackish grey tints or on the other hand have the ground colour nearly all
testaceous so that the sides, hindmargin, and pleur® are practically all
that colour.

Abdomen varying infinitely from orange to black, as a dark specimen
may have large irregular black bands across the basal half of the second,
third, and fourth segments, while the sidemargins are much more widely
black and connected with the dorsal blackenings ; or on the other hand a
pale specimen may have the abdomen all orange (var. vanelhis ) except for an
indistinct small dark spot on the disc of the second and third segments, and
may have even the fifth to seventh segments almost all greyish orange. Belly
sometimes all black except for the dark orange second segment (which may
have a darkened middle line) ; pubescence on the belly sometimes with a few
pale hairs on the two basal segments and also near the hindmargins of the
sixth and seventh segments.

Legs sometimes with a blackish grey anterior patch on the front cox®
near the base and towards the inner side, in which case the front cox® may
bear a very few black bristles about the tip, and when the front cox® are
like this the posterior cox® may be greyish yellow with even an obscure
blackish tint.

A male taken near Barton Mills in Suffolk (upon which I originally
recorded L. nigriventris Loew as British) has the abdomen very much
blackened and with large dorsal spots, and the belly all darkened (but not
blackened) except on the basal segment ; the pale hairs on the back of the
head extend more towards the vertex ; palpi slightly darkened at the base ;
humeri pale greyish yellow and the space behind them light grey ; postalar
calli hardly at all orange ; pleur® all clear light ashy grey with a very faint
yellow tinge ; pubescence all over the disc of the thorax and scutellum
showing a fair number of short pale hairs intermixed with the black hairs,
and the yellow hairs becoming longer and more numerous and almost con¬
spicuous about the hindmargin of the thorax. Abdomen scarcely contracted
until the seventh segment and then only so much that the fifth segment is

2. LEPTIS

273

nearly, and the sixth and seventh are quite, twice as wide as long ; blackish
coloring (though obscurely) occupying all the middle transverse of the basal
segment and leaving only narrow front and hindmargins and even those hardly
to the sides ; second segment with a large oblong blackish dorsal spot which
almost reaches the front and hind margins and the whole of the sidemargins
broadly blackish extending inwards about two-thirds of the way towards the
dorsal spot; third segment similar to the second but the orange coloring-
much more extended, leaving a diamond-shaped dorsal spot connected about
the middle with the broad side-spots ; fourth segment similar to the third but
brownish black with the orange colour again more restricted ; fifth segment
black with a narrow orange hindmargin, and the remaining segments black,
and consequently the whole sidemargins broadly but irregularly black. Belly
with the membrane at the sides of the two basal segments clear yellow, and
broadly so on the basal segment • disc of the basal segment rather darkened
about the middle, and the next three segments light brown with narrow clear
yellow hindmargins, each segment becoming darker; fifth segment darker
brown with a narrow orange hindmargin ; the revolute sidemargins broader
and orange brown. Legs rather darker, with the darkening at the tip of the
hind femora and tibiae extensive though rather vague ; coxae all dark greyish
brown with the tip and the hind part obscurely orange. Stigma faintly
discernible. Length about 10-5 mm. Subsequent collecting on the same spot
produced nearly every intermediate form to the normal one, except that the
specimens showed a tendency to smaller size (which as usual tends to
darkening), to greyish black coxae, and to a flatter and more oblong abdomen.

A much darker form has been taken by Dr J. H. Wood at Stoke Wood in
Herefordshire, and he sent me for examination two males and one female
taken on August 17, 1903, from which I made the following notes : —

S- Thorax light brownish grey, with four dark stripes fairly obvious but
outwardly indefinite ; pubescence including a few inconspicuous pale hairs
on the hinder half of the disc, and also a few longer pale hairs on the
scutellum ; scutellum shining orange with a fair sized black base which is
dilated on the middle to almost half-way down the disc. Abdomen with
apparently a dark orange ground colour, but with the black markings occupying
most of it ; the four basal segments may lie said to have three rows of rather
indefinitely outlined black spots somewhat vaguely connected at about the
middle of each segment ; the dorsal spots gradually increase in size and
become more diamond-shaped, while the continuous sidemargins are at their
widest on the second segment though widened at the basal corner of each
segment. Belly obscurely blackish orange on the four basal segments but
with narrow sharply defined yellow hindmargins and a narrow sharply defined
side membrane until more than half-way down the third segment. Front
coxae greyish black on all the front part, but posteriorly lighter grey with an
orange tint ; posterior coxae ashy grey. anteriorly ; middle femora a little
discolored beneath from just after the middle to almost the tip ; hind femora
and tibia? with their tips broadly but not determinately blackened ; hind
femora antero-ventrally with a gradually widening blackish streak which
commences just before the middle and which near the tip occupies all the
under and front surfaces but leaves an obscure orange ring just before the
actual tip. Wings strongly tinged with orange; subcostal vein darkened
from near . its base to about opposite the end of the mediastinal vein.
Squamae with brownish yellow margins.

9. Frons brownish orange, but a little lighter around the ocelli and above
the antennae ; face orange. Thorax brownish yellow with four faint
broad brown stripes, the middle pair being the most distinct, but when
viewed from behind all the dark stripes disappear ; scutellum almost as in
the male. Abdomen shining brownish black, but obscurely brownish orange
about the basal segment and on the hindmargins of all the segments. Belly
all black, moderately shining, with all the hindmargins narrowly but clearly
yellow and connected with the yellowish dorsal hindmargins ; sidemargins
with a very narrow yellowish line along the edge of the dorsal plate. Legs

S

274

LEPTIDiE

obscure brownish orange, but the knees obscurely paler and the front legs
with a conspicuously darkened tint though by no means blackish ; posterior
femora with black points at the knees externally ; coxae all rather lighter
than in the male and with the black hairs reduced to one or two on the
posterior pairs ; tarsi all black except the base of the middle pair. Wings
less orange : subcostal vein all orange. Squamae with orange markings. This
female would answer to L. nigriventris.

Some specimens from Nethy Bridge appear to come closest to the
continental type form, as they have the coxae entirely of an equal pretty
orange colour (except that the hind pair have anterior blackish reflections),
the palpi without any black hairs, the sides of the thorax and the pleurae
more orange, the abdominal black spots small and sharply defined, and the
black sidemargins restricted and sharply defined, while the five basal
segments of the belly are clear orange.

A remarkable variety of the female occurred at Mildenhall in Suffolk on
September 8, 1885, which has quite a large patch of rather bristly hairs on
the jowls just under the eyes, and this same specimen has nearly all the hairs
on the metapleurse, as well as several on the upper part of the prothorax black,
but has the coxae almost all orange and the belly to a large extent blackish.

A male taken at Cusop Dingle in Herefordshire on September 7, 1900, has
curiously monstrous venation as the left wing has an adventitious cross-vein
above the discal cell soon after the discal cross-vein, while the right wing has
the discal cross-vein anastomosing with the cubital vein and soon after that
with two adventitious cross-veins of which one is before and one after the
middle of the discal cell.

It will be seen that there is no specific value to be attached to the colour
of the coxae or the presence or absence of black bristly hairs on their tips, to
the colour of the second joint of the antennae or of the humeri and not much
to that of the pleurae, to the isolation or connection or size of the abdominal
dorsal spots, to the absolute yellow coloring or almost entire blackish
coloring of the four basal ventral segments, to the darkened tips of the hind
femora and tibiae or base of the tarsi, to the presence or absence of short pale
hairs on the disc of the thorax and scutellum, or to the size of the
specimens.

This species after allowing for its manifold variations is easily dis¬
tinguished from any other British species except L. annidata by its
immaculate wings without any distinct stigma, and from that species it
may be known by its pale palpi and black-haired abdomen. L. nigriventris
though now treated as a distinct species is probably only a very dark
variety and intermediate specimens cannot be determined with certainty.
It does not seem to vary so much in Central Europe and consequently
writers there have laid too much stress upon such characters as its yellow
coxae, wherefrom English students are liable to be misled, but undoubtedly
two or three closely allied species do occur in Europe and I have dealt
with these in my synonymical notes.

L. tringaria is rather common in suitable localities, such as amongst
shrubs on damp ground, and I have taken it from Cornwall (Penzance) to
Sutherland while Haliday has recorded it from Holywood in Co. Down, but
it has a tendency to form distinct-looking races. Omitting the extreme
form, L. nigriventris, which I have treated as a distinct species, the Black
Mountain form (occurring at an elevation of about 2000 feet) is a very
dark one in which all the coxae are mainly blackish grey, the hind femora
and tibiae considerably darkened at their tips, and the minute pale hairs on
the thorax extended (though inconspicuously) to the front part, while the
black sidemargins of the abdomen are so irregular as to almost form a row
of black spots; an extremely large (12 mm.) male of a dark form was taken

2. LEPTIS

275

by Colonel Yerbury at Hever in Kent on July 8, 1907. In localities
where L. nigriventris occurs there seem to be always a number of
specimens which can only be considered dark forms of L. tringaria, and
it is only the remarkably distinct appearance of out and out L. nigriventris
that has caused me to describe it separately. My records extend from
May 28 to September 9. It is recorded from Lapland to Italy, but is rare
in the extreme north.

Marchal (Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr., lxxii., 233, 1903) has stated that the
larvae prey upon earthworms (Lumbricus).

Synonymy. — In trying to work out the synonymy of this species it is well to
commence by understanding the species which is known in Central Europe as L.
tringaria. I take it that Kowarz was likely to know this, and in dealing with
the specimens in his collection I find a male from Orsova which has the humeri
sharply pale yellow ; the postalar calli right away down through the meta-
pleurse, pteropleurse, and upper part of the hypopleurae rather orange ; the scutellum
all orange ; the abdomen with narrow equal 1 lack sidemargins ; the coxae all pale
orange and with yellow pubescence except inside at just the tip, the hind femora and
tibiae not at all darkened, and even the tarsi only brown to the tip ; the wings long and
yellowish ; and this appears to me to agree with the species as distinguished by
Schiner, Strobl, etc., from its allies. A male from F ranzensbad has the abdominal side-
margins with five almost disconnected black spots, the hind coxae with a blackened
splash outside, and the trochanters blackened ; and a male from Asch has the
thoracal pubescence nearly all pale, the palpi with no black hairs, the metasternum
shining black, the abdomen almost without any dorsal black spots, not even the
posterior coxae with any black bristly hairs, and the wings shorter. A female from
Orsova is nearly all orange, but has pale brown thoracic stripes, the palpi with
almost wholly black hairs, but no black bristles on the coxae, and the abdomen
without any black spots ; and a female from Eger though mainly agreeing with the
one from Orsova is smaller and has no dark stripes on the thorax, the palpi without
any black hairs, and the posterior coxae with a few black bristles.

Even these varying characters would appear to include L. pmnctata Loew, and
L. Goebelii Strobl, but Loew contended that L. punctata had shorter pubescence ; two
males in Kowarz’s collection under the name of L. punctata can hardly be the same
species, one being as large and long winged as L. florentina but without any stigma
(_= L . florentina Loew), the orange coxae with mainly black bristles, the palpi exten¬
sively black haired, the antennae almost wholly orange, the abdomen without any
black line on the sidemargins, and the legs orange with even the tarsi brownish
orange ; while the other specimen is remarkably small, but also has the antennae
almost wholly orange, and all the coxae with a few black bristles near the tip. Loew
in 1869 contended very strongly that L. punctata was distinct from L. tringaria ,
but knowing how variable L. tringaria is I can only follow Strobl and Bezzi in
suppressing it. While L. punctata was supposed to be a widely distributed short-
haired pale species closely allied to L. tringaria, L. tonsa Loew from Spain is
supposed to be a short-haired dark species with brownish wings and a still browner
stigma and considerably darkened femora and hind tibiae ; its status as a species or
variation is not yet well determined ; at the same time Loew described his L.
nigriventris which I have dealt with at some length and have treated as a species,
though I am convinced that it is only a dark black-bellied form of L. tringaria.
L. conspicua Meigen (of which I have seen the types) represents a perfectly distinct
species, which is very large, with long wings which have a black or conspicuous
brown stigma, blackish grey coxae and trochanters with no black bristles on the tip of
the coxae, long hind femora which are conspicuously blackened in the male or browned
in the female on the apical half, palpi darkened but with only pale pubescence in the
male and also in the type female but usually with a few black bristly hairs in
the female, and the thorax blackish grey with the interstices between the middle
and side stripes conspicuously lighter grey. Loew’s L. florentina is closely allied to
L. conspicua, but has no stigma, and has the palpi yellow with mainly black
pubescence, the hind femora hardly darkened at all, and I have no doubt is
represented by the large male L. punctata of Kowarz’s collection just previously
mentioned, but from this species all Gobert’s synonyms given in Kertesz's Katalog

276

LEPTIM

under L. florentina must be excluded. Amongst the closely allied species must come
L. cingulata Loew from Central Europe, but I believe that it may be satisfactorily
distinguished by its browner wings and legs. L . striola Meigen according to the
type is only L. tringaria with a dull dark orange stigma, rather blackened coxae on
which there are no black bristles, and palpi entirely pale haired. L. ephippium
Zetterstedt is in my opinion only a still paler form of the variety vanellus. 1
consequently consider the true synonymy to be,

L. TRINGARIA L.
solivaga Harris
derelicta Harris
monotropus Harris
vermileo Schrnk.
scolopacea var. DeG.
var. vanellus Fair.

? rufa Scop,
reconditus Harris
simplex Meig.
ephippium Zett.

striola Meig.
var. punctata Lw.
pilosa (laps, cal.) Stroll
Goebelii Stroll
var. nigriventris Liv.

conspicua Wing.
Pandellei Gob.

Perezii Gob.
Perrisii Gob.
Cartereaui Gob.

Linne’s description must be accepted traditionally, just as tradition gives vermileo
Sclirank as a synonym.

4. L. nigriventris Loew. Allied to 7. tringaria but much darker
on especially the abdomen both dorsally and ventrally.

A species or variety belonging to the group of L. tringaria ,
being rather large and with immaculate wings, but by far the
darkest form in that group.

$ . Thorax (compared with L. tringaria) sometimes darker greyish brown with
but little yellowish tinge ; humeri lighter grey or the same colour as the
thorax • postalar call i with a greyish sheen on their prominences but not
ferruginous beneath ; pleurae (including the metapleura;) slaty grey, darker
than in L. tringaria , and the prothorax either the same colour as the pleurae
or with a slight ferruginous tinge ; pubescence on the dorsum all black, with
seldom any pale hairs intermixed about the hindmargin. Scutellum shining-
blackish with more or less translucent brownish hue on the large apical part
and in some lights on the disc, but with a greyish tinge when seen from quite
in front, and with only black pubescence.

Abdomen in the darkest specimens black and but little shining, with
slight brownish reflections in some lights, and in the next darkest specimens
with the hindmargins of the first live segments distinctly but often very
narrowly brownish orange but of the sixth segment only slightly so, and
then these hindmargins are each nearly equal all across and are widest on
the third and fourth segments to about one-tenth or even one-sixth of the
segment, but do not extend to the side quarters or thereabouts ; pubescence
all black, fairly long on the sides of the five basal segments ; belly shining-
brownish black in the darkest specimens, but in the next shade with each
hindmargin rather sharply yellow up to at any rate the fifth segment but in¬
distinctly so on the last three hindmargins ; pubescence all black in the
darkest specimens but generally pale to a large extent on the disc of the
second segment and to a small extent on the third segment. In paler
specimens the abdomen has dark orange dorsal markings, so that the hind-
margin of the basal segment is orange, while the second and third segments
are orange with a large diamond-shaped black spot on each which extends
to the front margin but not to the hind margin and which is connected across
near the middle of the segment with the broad black sidemargins ; the
fourth segment has its last quarter dark orange but not extended to the
sides, and the fifth segment has a less distinct orange hindmargin ; belly
rather yellow on the disc of the basal segment. In a still paler specimen

2. LEPTIS

277

taken by Colonel Yerbury at Tarrington on August 18, 1902, the thorax has
one or two pale hairs near the scutellum, and the scutellum is more distinctly
translucent luteons except for a large almost semicircular basal middle
black spot ; abdomen still more luteous, the basal segment being dark
brownish orange, the second, third, and fourth segments with the dorsal
black diamonds reaching neither fore nor hind margin of each segment,
and the one on the fourth segment spreading out widely to the black side-
margins, fifth segment black with a rather narrow orange hindmargin which
does not extend to the sides ; belly with a dark brownish orange hue on the
three or four basal segments and with the hindmargins of segments and the
sidemarginal hems conspicuously whitish yellow.

Legs in the darkest specimens obscure yellowish brown with all the
femora and tarsi blackish, but the anterior femora with a slight brownish
tinge and the tip of the anterior and the base of the hind femora ochreous
for an indefinite distance ; hind tibiae darkened towards the tip ; coxae and
trochanters dusted grey, and all the coxae with greyish yellow pubescence in
which there are no black hairs on the front pair but several bristly black
ones on the posterior pairs at the tip in front. In the next stage the femora
are not quite so much blackened, as the anterior femora and the underside
and basal half of the hind pair are wholly brownish ochreous, while the
front coxae are slightly reddish on their outside. In the next stage the legs
are yellowish brown, but the tibiae rather more orange with the hind pair
slightly darkened towards the tip ; coxae and trochanters blackish brown
with a slight grey tinge caused by dust and with rusty brown pubescence,
and the junction of the joints more luteous. In another specimen the basal
two-thirds of the hind femora and tibiae are more clearly orange and the apical
third more distinctly blackish. In a Tarrington specimen the legs are more
luteous, but blackened on the underside of the basal three-fifths of the front
femora, and the broad blackish brown tip of the hind femora is extended back
towards the base on the underside, the front coxae have rather more lurid
orange hues and greyish yellow pubescence, and the posterior coxae have only
traces of black hairs at the tip in front. Spurs blackish orange to rather
clear dark orange; “ touch-hairs ” beneath the front tarsi neither numerous
nor conspicuous. Pulvilli and claws dark brown.

Wings rather pale brownish yellow with the fore part from the base to the
end of the marginal cell tinged darker or lighter, and the basal part of the
subcostal and postical veins almost orange ; alulae with a dark marginal line ;
sometimes the wings have a more yellowish hue, and sometimes the long
narrow stigma is rather deeper yellow and by no means touching the radial
vein. Squamae darkened yellowish grey or sometimes almost all orange.

Not unlike the male except for the frons and ovipositor. Frons orange
brown, with a grey tinge at the sides on the upper part, but lighter
grey just above the antennae ; ocellar space more or less darkened ; face
with a slightly browner tinge than in L. tringaria ; pubescence on the eye-
margins separated by a slight gap from the longer pubescence on the jowls.
Eyes in life dark green.

Thorax orange brown with rather vague light brown stripes ; the humeri
and connecting lines obscurely dark orange, but the sides of the disc, the
postalar calli, and the greater part of the pleurae hardly at all orange,
though the prothorax and metapleurae may be slightly tinged, but the rest of
the pleurae light ashy grey with a faint yellowish tinge ; pubescence all black.
Scutellum with an extensive blackened reflection about the base, and with
wholly black pubescence.

Abdomen in the darkest form brownish black with obscurely brown hind-
margins and with distinct orange herns to the segments of the ovipositor ;
but in the next form with sharply defined narrow orange hindmargins to
all the segments ; while in the next form the two basal segments are
more or less chestnut brown or brownish orange except on the blackish
middle part, and the third and fourth segments like the previous two but
less distinctly brownish, and the fifth and sixth segments usually with a greyish
tinge on a blackish or brownish ground colour ; in pale specimens the tip

278

LEPTID.E

of the ovipositor is rather pale brown ; sidemargins all blackish. Belly-
blackish or blackish brown with narrow yellow hindmargins, and in light
colored specimens with the basal segment (except on its middle) and the
broad sidemarginal hems yellow, or in still paler specimens the belly may
be more extensively yellow ; pubescence pale on the disc of the second
segment.

Legs brownish yellow, but in dark specimens the hind femora have a
blackish dorsal blotch near the tip which runs back as a blackish streak
along the front and hind surfaces, and all the tarsi are blackish ; but in more
usual forms the bases of all the tarsi are brownish yellow, and there is scarcely
any notable darkening on the hind femora or tibiae ; anterior coxae either dark
brownish grey, or in lighter specimens blackish grey with rather obscure luteous
markings, or greyish orange with a slight slaty tinge in front on the basal
half of the front pair and on all the front of the middle pair ; hind coxae
almost all slaty on the front and outer sides ; front coxae usually without
any traces of black hairs at the tip in front though sometimes with indications
of them, but the posterior coxae always with some black bristly hairs at the
tip in front ; trochanters blackish in dark, or obscurely orange in lighter,
specimens.

Wings in strongly colored specimens with an obvious orange tinge which
becomes more conspicuous on the base and fore part and stigma.

Length about 10 mm., varying from 8 mm. to 12 mm.

This species (or form of L. tringaria) was distinguished by Loew in
1869 from Bavaria, and in typical specimens it certainly has a peculiarly
distinct appearance, but as it has a strong tendency to vary towards
orange markings while L. tringaria has a tendency to vary towards
dark markings it is probably only a dark form of the latter. The darkest
forms of all are apparently much darker than those described by Loew as
L. nigriventris, and only a long series of specimens can indicate the gradual
change towards L. tringaria ; the darkest forms appear to be very local
in Britain, and I think that I have only seen them from Portlicawl in
Glamorganshire, but dark forms of L. tringaria are very common in
Britain though apparently very rare on the continent; these forms
seem to belong to local races, as almost all specimens occurring to¬
gether show a great similarity in coloration and size. The extreme forms
were first taken by Colonel Yerbury at Portlicawl in June 1903, but
in 1906 he made a special study of them at that locality and came to
the conclusion that no fixed boundary line could be drawn between the
darkest forms and L. tringaria ; an examination of his captures showed
about 20 per cent, which would pass as L. nigriventris, and nearly
40 per cent, more which might be light colored L. nigriventris, while
about 40 per cent, would range from dark to ordinary specimens of
L. tringaria, and about 2 per cent, would belong to the form vanellus.
L. nigriventris holds about the same position towards L. tringaria as L.
monticola does to L. lineola or as L. scolovacea does to L. strigosa.

L. nigriventris has occurred not uncommonly at Portlicawl in Glamorgan¬
shire from June 4 to August 18, and the Bev. W. J. Wingate has taken
very similar specimens rather commonly at Hesleden in Durham, while
Colonel Yerbury took a male at Tarrington in Herefordshire. The female
has I believe never been previously noticed.

Synonymy. — In my list of British Diptera (1888) I introduced this species as
British, but my exponents of it were only some specimens of a small dark form of
L. tringaria which occurred near Barton Mills in Suffolk. The Rev. W. J. Wingate
recorded his specimens as L. conspicua Meig., but that species though allied is
perfectly distinct and has longer wings and a distinct stigma.

2. LEPTIS

279

5. L. annulata DeGeer. Wings without any distinct stigma. Legs
almost wholly yellowish. Palpi and antennae blackish. Pubescence
mainly pale.

A rather large species belonging to the group of L. tringavia
but distinguished by its pale pubescence.

The only recognisable description * I can find of this species is that
given by Loew in his first work, Bemerkungen liber die in der Posener
Gegend Diptera, published in 1840, of which the following is a
translation : —

$ . “Leptis (annulata?) cinerea, coxis concoloribus ; abdomine flavo, trifariam
nigropunctato, postice utrinque nigro, antennis palpisque nigris, alis iinmacu-
latis.”

“ Male ; Head : Antennae black, and palpi also but like the face with long
“ silvery grey pubescence. Frons also bearing short silvery grey pubescence
“ and appearing blackish in many lights. Thorax : rather dark grey with the
“ usual stripes ; coxae also dark grey with silvery grey pubescence. Disc
“ clothed with fine yellowish grey hairs, which are longer than in the allied
“species. Abdomen: yellow; first segment black above, pale beneath ;
“ second and third yellow with black dorsal spots and pointed triangular side
“ spots, pale beneath ; fourth segment like the two preceding but brownish
“ beneath with a pale hindmargin ; on the fifth segment the black middle
“ spot unites with the side spots to form a doubly bowed band, it is black
“ beneath. The two last segments are wholly black. The pubescence of the
“abdomen is yellowish white. Legs: yellow; front tarsi browned from
“ about the middle of the basal joint, middle tarsi from the base of the basal
“ joint ; hind tarsi all brown ; also the middle and especially the hind tibiae
“are somewhat darker at the tip. Wings: rather hyaline, little colored,
“ but more yellowish on the foremargin.”

“ Female very much like the male, but distinguished as follows : coxae and
“ palpi with much shorter pubescence which tends more towards greyish ; frons
“ brown on the upper part. Abdomen : first segment blackish above, with the
“ exception of a yellow hindmarginal hem which widens towards the sides ;
“ second segment yellow above with a large black spot, which nearly reaches
“ to the hindmargin ; third segment also yellow with a black spot widened
“ forwards band-like ; fourth segment with a black posteriorly bowed band,
“ but yellow on the hindmargin, like the subsequent anteriorly black segments.
“ On the under side of the abdomen the colour goes from the base onwards
“ gradually over to black, but the incisures remain yellow. The hind tarsi are
“ somewhat less, and the anterior more browned than in the male. The
“ pubescence of the abdomen tends more towards yellow that in the male.”

Loew stated that the species was common near Posen, but I do not find
any satisfactory recognitions or descriptions of it from 1840 to 1907.

?. I have seen one English female specimen which I refer without hesitation
to this species, as I believe it to be the only one of the L. tringavia group
which bears mainly pale pubescence. I have made the following notes
from it : —

Probably a dark specimen. Frons light grey at the top and bottom but
with the middle part widely brown and becoming blackish about the centre ;
quite bare. Proboscis greyish black ; palpi greyish black, bearing numerous
black bristly hairs above but whitish hairs beneath and about the sides.
Antennae greyish black with faint traces of orange at the extreme tips of the
two basal joints ; arista hardly twice as long as the antennae.

Thorax light ashy grey with the usual stripes blackish and the middle one
split, causing the light grey intermediate stripes and the sides of the disc
to stand out rather conspicuously pale; pubescence (rubbed?) consisting of

* Lundbeck has since described it in Diptera Danica, p. 147 (1907).

280

LEPTID.E

sparse short black bristly hairs amongst which are a few short yellow ones ;
metapleural tuft with several black hairs on the upper part. Scutellum light
ashy grey and bearing numerous pale hairs and a few black ones.

Abdomen with the blackish coloring so predominant that only the hind-
margins are orange, but the orange colour spreads up on the second, third, and
fourth segments (and slightly on the fifth) between the middle and the sides
so as to cause the “ doubly bowed ” band and to leave the orange hindmargin
narrow at its narrowest parts. Pubescence conspicuously yellow and depressed
all over except about the basal corners where it is longer and less depressed,
rather outspread at the sides of the two basal segments, and there
are some very short inconspicuous black bristles on the disc of the first and
second segments and a very few on the third segment. Belly greyish black
with narrow yellow liindmargins on the three basal segments and with the
orange dorsal hind corners of the fifth and sixth segments showing up con¬
spicuously ; pubescence very short, depressed, pale and sparse on the four
basal segments.

Legs with the coxae dark ashy grey and more decidedly colored than in
the darkest forms of L. tringaria and with only greyish white pubescence in
which there are no black hairs even at the tip in front ; hind tibiae only
faintly darkened at the tip ; the small black bristles on the tibiae rather
conspicuous ; “ touch-liairs ” beneath the front tarsi rather numerous.

Wings only slightly yellowish, but the stigmatic space more deeply
yellowish and the mediastinal cell yellowish, and the base rather orange.
Squamae yellowish white with only slightly yellower margins and with
whitish not dense fringes.

Length about 10 mm.

This species may be distinguished from any of the L. tringaria group
by its pale pubescence alone, but it also differs in its much less orange
coloring whereby the thorax shows rather sharply defined pale ashy grey
stripes, and the coxte are decidedly dark ashy grey ; the palpi are also
more decidedly blackish, and the antennee show very little trace of orange.

L. anmdata is only known as British from one female specimen taken
by Dr J. H. Wood at The Dowards in Herefordshire on June 3, 1903. As
however it is said to be a fairly common North European species (and
even on mountains down to Austria), it is possible that it will not prove
to he very rare now that attention has been drawn to it. It was reputed
as British in Stephens’ Catalogue of British Insects and in Curtis’s Guide,
hut probably in mistake for some form of L. tringaria, though three
specimens (13 2?) in the old collection of the British Museum under
this name or that of “ annula ” are dark and strange looking.

Synonymy . — I cannot lielp doubting whether Schiner and other European
writers properly recognised this species, as they do not refer to the pale pubescence
which is its most striking character. In Bigot's collection seven specimens stood for
it, of which four were L. lineola, one L. monticola, and two an allied Leptis of which
one bore a label “ Caucas.”

6. L. lineola Fabricius. Rather small species, with only pale
pubescence on the thorax. Abdomen with conspicuous orange markings.
Legs orange, but with a broad blackish ring near the tip of the front and
hind femora. Wings immaculate except for the conspicuous blackish
stigma.

Very distinct from any other British species except L.
monticola.

3 . Head when viewed sideways appearing to be short but not really much so if
the puffed-out lower part of the back of the head be included. The bare

2. LEPTIS

281

socketed epistoma is whitish grey, but the very broad side-cheeks are whiter
still and bear rather conspicuous long erect whitish pubescence, which becomes
longer and more conspicuous on the jowls and on the puffed-out lower part of
the back of the head ; the backmargin against the eye is rather widened about
the middle and from that point to the jowls the back of the head becomes more
and more puffed out, but above this prominence the occiput becomes concave
and bears on its lower part a single row of pale bristly hairs and on its upper
part only a row of short black bristles ; vertex dull black, elevated and bear¬
ing rather short mixed black and tawny bristles which are all directed
forwards ; frons light grey, quite bare. Proboscis large and thick, brownish
black to light brown, hairy on the sucker-flaps ; palpi thin and rather
pointed, not much drooped, dull blackish to light brown with rather long
pale pubescence. Eyes quite bare, touching for fully half the space between
the occiput and the antennae ; facets gradually and almost imperceptibly
diminishing in size towards the back and top. Antennae brownish black ; all
three joints almost equal in length, but the second joint the stoutest ; all the
joints bear a few tiny dorsal bristles ; arista dull black, upturned, and slightly
tapering on the basal part.

Thorax greyish black with hardly any indication of stripes ; humeri rather
indistinctly luteous, and the whole quadrangular space between them and the
suture rather light grey ; pleurae all rather light grey. Pubescence all pale
yellow, neither scarce nor short ; on the pleurae there is short pale pubescence
on the prothorax and numerous long thin pale hairs on the metapleurae, while
all the mesopleurae except the front and middle parts bear very short
inconspicuous pubescence. Scutellum all dull luteous except on the black
base, and bearing longer more erect pale pubescence than that on the thorax.

Abdomen dull luteous, with a large dorsal triangular blackish spot on each
of the second, third, and fourth segments, of which the base lies broadly on the
foremargin of each segment but the tip does not quite reach the hindmargin,
nor do these spots reach the sidemargins ; on the fifth and sixth segments
these black dorsal spots are so much enlarged that only a large (sometimes
indefinite) triangular dull luteous spot occupies each hind corner for about
half-way up the sides, and these spots are only narrowly connected along the
hindmargins ; seventh segment dull black ; the sidemargins bear no dark line
on the four basal segments ; pubescence fairly long and abundant but very
inconspicuous because it is so pale, but a few stronger depressed black hairs
may occur about the hindmargins of the later segments. Belly clear orange
on the three basal segments and only slightly darkened down the middle of
the fourth segment, but black on the rest ; pubescence very pale yellow, not
very scarce nor short, obvious on the black ground colour but very incon¬
spicuous even though longer on the orange ground colour. Genitalia with a
pair of small blackish side lamellae which end in a pair of incurved orange
hooks.

Legs luteous, but the front and hind femora with a conspicuous though
rather badly defined broad blackish ring just after the middle, but on the
front pair this ring does not quite extend to the tip, and sometimes the rings
are only moderately distinct ; coxae slaty grey, with the usual abundant
greyish white pubescence on the front pair ; trochanters dull blackish ; hind
tibiae indistinctly darkened about the tip ; spurs orange with the extreme tip
black ; anterior tarsi brownish black with the base widely dull luteous, but
the hind tarsi less luteous at the base. Pubescence and tiny bristles pale
yellow on the basal half or more of all the femora, but black on the rest;
“touch-hairs ” present though sparse. Pulvilli brown ; claws blackish brown.

Wings slightly smoky, but pale orange about the base ; stigma long,
conspicuous, and blackish, but not quite touching the radial vein or the tip
of the marginal cell ; veins blackish, but orange about the base and on all the
subcostal vein and the stem of the postical vein ; costal vein with some pale
pubescence on the front part of the base, but with the usual tiny black
bristles on the costal ridge which merge as usual near the tip into a fine
ciliation ; subcostal vein with rather dense short black bristles on all its
length except at the base ; cubital fork narrower than in the preceding species,
and its branches ending more equidistant from the wing- tip ; squamae (alar)
glassy yellow with orange margins and with moderate pale yellow fringes ;

282

LEPTID.E

thoracal squamae absent, leaving only the linear bare yellow frenum.
Halteres dark orange.

$ . Rather like the male. F rons about one-fifth the width of the head, greyish
white, parallel-sided from the upper ocelli to the transverse suture just
above the antennae, and with a few extremely minute black and yellow
bristles about the sides ; back of the head all puffed out and the eyes (in
profile) more regularly oval ; pubescence on the jowls and lower part of the
back of the head conspicuously long and whitish ; occiput with rather
indistinct blackish spaces near the top corners of the eyes, and bearing
several irregular rows of black bristles ; ocellar space elevated, rather
blackish, and bearing black and yellow short bristles as in the male. Eyes
smaller and more oval ; facets all small and equal ; in life brown with a
faint gloss of green. Antennae with the second joint hardly stouter than
the others but more ferruginous about its tip.

Thorax with shorter and less abundant pubescence than in the male,
especially on the disc ; humeri and the space from them to the wing-base
rather luteous. Scutellum dull luteous even to (or almost to) the base.

Abdomen black and orange, moderately shining, the black colour consisting
of large badly defined dorsal triangles on the second and third segments and of
most of the subsequent segments except the rather broad hindmargins ;
pubescence all yellowish except for a few depressed black hairs on the disc
mainly about the hindmargins. Belly obscure blackish, but most of the
second segment orange. Ovipositor (not including the tubular abdominal
segments) yellow, with a pair of outspread oval brownish yellow lamellae.

Legs usually rather paler than in the male, the rings on the front and
hind femora being usually less dark and less defined ; coxae and trochanters
more ferruginous ; front tibiae slightly darkened at the tip, but the hind tibiae
less darkened there than in the male.

Wings and veins less dark ; stigma more brownish. Squamae paler.

Length about 6 mm.

This species may be distinguished by its small size, its immaculate
wings except for the conspicuous stigma, and its pale pubescence from all
other British species except L. monticola, and from that it may be dis¬
tinguished by its paler legs and abdomen ; it is however probable that
L. monticola is only a dark mountain form of it.

L. lineola is not at all uncommon in England, but is apparently much
more common in Scotland or perhaps Ireland. I have English records
from Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, Surrey, Middlesex. Suffolk,
Hereford, Gloucester, Lancashire, and Cheshire; Welsh ones from
Glamorgan and North Wales; Scotch ones from Argyll, including the
Isle of Jura, Haddington, Fife, Perth, Banff, Elgin, Nairn, Inverness, and
Sutherland ; and Irish ones from several localities in Co. Kerry. It
usually occurs on shrubs in leafy glades in woods where it may lie seen
playing about on leaves in the sunshine, or it may occur on tree-trunks
like L. scolopacea. My dates range from June 6 to September 14, but
a specimen occurred in a small conservatory at Denmark Hill as early
as March 15. It is recorded from extreme North Europe to at least
Austria, but may be replaced further south by L. monticola,

7. L. monticola Egger. Rather small species allied to L. lineola but
with the abdomen and femora mainly blackish brown.

Probably only a dark mountain form of L. lineola.

d . Face grey, side-cheeks lighter but not so light as in L. lineola and with
their pubescence yellower ; hairs on the vertex all black ; frons brownish

3. ATHERIX

283

grey • palpi blackish. Antennae blackish ; arista about twice as long as the
antennae.

Thorax blackish brown, slightly shining ; humeri, the quadrangular space
behind them, and the pleurae darker grey than in L. lineola. Pubescence
on the thorax fairly long and conspicuous, brownish yellow. Scutellum
entirely greyish black.

Abdomen brownish black, but lurid and somewhat pellucid on almost all
the three basal segments, and almost ochreous about the hind corners of the
second segment, more conspicuously shining than in L. lineola; pubescence
brownish yellow, neither short nor scarce. Belly shining blackish brown but
inclined to ochreous on the second segment ■ pubescence pale, rather long.
Genitalia with the side lamellae greyish, but the long incurved hooks and the
middle piece dark orange.

Legs dull dark brown, but all the tibiae dull obscure orange with the tip
blackish ; front femora obscurely and indeterminately orange on about the
basal quarter, and also nearly all the middle femora and the basal half of the
hind femora, though the posterior side of the hind femora is nearly all
obscurely orange ; middle tarsi obviously dull obscure orange on more than
the basal joint, but the base of the other tarsi only slightly obscure.

Wings distinctly darker than in L. lineola and more brownish orange
about the base. Halteres brown with yellow stems.

$ . Frons with a more brownish tinge than in L. lineola ; palpi blackish brown.

Scutellum greyish black with only the tip broadly but indistinctly
ferruginous.

Abdomen shining brownish black with the sides of the first segment and
the sides and hind corners of the second segment ferruginous, and also
obscurely though rather broadly ferruginous on all the hindmargins.

Legs dull orange, but dull blackish brown on more than the apical half of
the front and hind femora, though the front femora are (as in L. lineola)
obscurely orange at the tip itself ; tibiae as in the male but the front tibiae
more distinctly blackish at the tip and the hind tibiae indistinctly darkened
on the apical quarter ; tarsi much blacker than in L. lineola , the front pair
being scarcely at all ferruginous at the base.

Wings much browner than in L. lineola , with the base more brownish
orange ; stigma blackish brown. Halteres more brownish orange.

Length about 6 mm.

This species is closely allied to L. lineola, and is probably only a dark
form bearing the same relation to it as L. nigriventris does to L. tringaria ;
it is curious that several species of Leptis appear to have very distinct-
looking light and dark races.

L. monticola was taken by Colonel Yerbury at Waterville in Co.
Kerry on August 1 and 4, 1901, and my description is made from a male
and a female taken by him. It is recorded from Central Europe and Italy.

Synonymy. — Egger described this (so-called) species in 1860, and Schiner ac¬
cepted it in 1862 ; Loew in 1869 considered it to be probably only a dark form of
L. lineola , but Becker in 1887 considered it a good species and stated that the male
(only) had some black hairs on the thorax ; he did not seem to recognise any
connection between it and L. lineola either then or when in 1890 he compared it
with L. funebris. Bezzi in 1898 gave it specific rank, but in Kertesz’s Katalog
(1903) he placed it as a “var.” of L. lineola. I have described it separately from
L. lineola mainly because British collectors may otherwise imagine that they have
found some new British Leptis.

3. ATHERIX.

Atherix Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 271 (1803).

Medium-sized moderately pubescent flies which have

284

LEPTID.E

maculated wings and usually a particolored abdomen, re¬
minding one of Chrysops.

Head (fig. 189) semicircular, slightly narrower than the thorax and apparently
flattened because the lower part of the face seems to be tilted forwards and upwards.
Face with a quite bare rounded socketed epistoma lying between the large densely
hairy side-cheeks, but with all the space surrounding the antennae bare ; jowls and back
of the head bearing long and rather dense pubescence ; back of the head all puffed
out, most so on the lower part in the male but more equally in the female ; frons
hairy from the vertex to the antennae in both sexes, and rather conspicuously so in
the female. Proboscis protruding, thick, with long oval sucker-flaps which bear
transverse stripes ; palpi two-jointed, almost as much produced as the proboscis,
upcurved on the basal third or more and then porrected straight forward. Eyes of
the male almost touching on the frons and with the facets not conspicuously con¬
trasted in size, but those of the female widely separated ; quite bare in both sexes.
Antennae (fig. 191) short, well separated at the base ; basal joint cup-shaped and about
as long as the second, and both these joints bristly ; third joint kidney-shaped, being
deepened downwards, and bearing a long bare or slightly pubescent terminal arista
which from the shape of the third joint appears to be dorsal.

Thorax flatly arched, and bearing rather dense though short pubescence ; pleurae
with pubescence on at least the mesopleurae and the metapleurae, while the prothorax
bears similar hairs. Scutellum with pubescence similar to that on the thorax but
often longer and more erect ; metanotum concealed by the depressed scutellum, and
with its side humps bare.

Abdomen conical or oblong, hardly twice as long as the thorax, with seven
segments. Genitalia in the male with long prominent lamellae, but in the female
more flattened and shortly pointed at the tip.

Legs moderate ; hind pair rather elongate, but the front pair and especially the
front tarsi thin and unusually long ; front tibiae shorter, middle tibiae about equal,
and hind tibiae slightly longer than the tarsi; front coxae rather long. Front
tibiae without apical spurs ; middle tibiae with two spurs of which the front one is
considerably the longer; hind tibiae with two nearly equal spurs. Front tarsi with
“ touch-hairs beneath even though sometimes small and inconspicuous ; front
pulvilli and claws distorted in the male (fig. 190), but the posterior claws of normal
length.

Wings with a venation rather similar to that of Chrysopilus, the anal cell being
closed and petiolate, but the cubital fork is shorter and more widely open and more
bell-mouthed, the cliscal and small cross-veins placed at one-third from the base
of the discal cell, and the radial vein with an even curve upwards ; conspicuous dark
markings cover most of the wings but leave pellucid irregular incomplete bands.
Squamae (alar) moderate in size and with slight fringes. Halteres rather large.

This genus is easily recognised by the remarkable coloration of the
wings; it is distinguished from Leptis by the closed anal cell and
reniform third antennal joint, from Chrysopilus by the two spurs to the
hind tibire and the remarkably distinct appearance, from Atrichops by the
hairy side-cheeks and frons in both sexes as well as the more robust
build, and from S ymplioromyia by the two spurs to the hind tibice and the
closed anal cell.

Atherix is a very well-known genus, consisting of about sixteen species
which are recorded from all Europe, North and South Asia, South Africa,
and North America, hut only three species are well known from the
European region, two of which occur in Britain. The metamorphoses of
A. Ibis have often attracted attention from the peculiar habits of the
females, who lay their eggs in a dense mass formed of their own bodies.

Synonymy. — It is important that the type of this genus should be fixed, as some
confusion has arisen in the formation of subsequent dismembering genera.

3. ATHERIX

285

1. The name Atherix probably first appeared in Meigen’s paper in Illiger’s
Magazin fur Insectenkunde, ii., 271 (1803), under the following description : —

“64. Atheeix. Die Ffihlhorner vorgestrekkt, lierunter gedriikkt, dreigliederig :
“ die beiden letzten Glieder etwas fiacli, rundlicht ; das letzte auf der obern Seite
“ mit einer aufwarts gekriimmten Borste. — Die Fliigel halb often. Rhagio diadema
“ et cinctus Fabr

At first glance this would appear to make Rhagio diadema Fabr. the type of the
genus, especially as R. cinctus Fabr. belongs to the Nemocera ! A closer study
of Meigen’s paper shows an introduction written by Illiger himself, which states
“ Dieses ist der Vorliiufer eines Werks fiber die europaischen Zweiflfigler, das der
“ Verfasser schon ausgearbeitet und mit den vortreflicbsten Zeichnungen der
“ Gattungsmerkmale ausgestattet hat.” I take the word “Vorlaufer” to mean
“Precursor,” and consequently not to mean the “Work” itself, and it is notice¬
able that Meigen in all his subsequent writings scarcely ever made the slightest
reference to this “Vorlaufer”; in fact he ignored it almost as completely as he
always ignored his Nouvelle classification des Mouches a deux ailes (1800). The
two works may be taken as two of his progeny who died from premature
birth.

If however the rigid priority-monger would try to assert the supposed legitimate
rights of Rhagio diadema to stand as the type species of Atherix instead of the
commonly accepted A. Ibis, a close examination of dates will I think prevent his
establishing his case. Ordinarily the dates on the title-page of Illiger’s Magazin
(1803) and on the title-page of Meigen’s Klassifikazion (1804) have been accepted
without question, but an examination of Illiger’s “ Zweiter Band ” shows on page
285 that it contains reviews of works published in 1803, and consequently it could
not have been published itself until very late in 1803 or more likely in 1804, while
an examination of Meigen’s Klassifikazion, page iiiv. (misprint for viii.), shows that
the “ Erster Band,” as distinguished from “ Zweite Band ” (which never appeared),
left Meigen’s hands on “ 1 7. Mai 1803.” The actual date of its publication is unknown
to me, but I am obliged to admit, as telling against my contention, that in my
bound copy of Meigen’s Klassifikazion there is a leaflet between page 314 and the
Plates, on which a book publisher’s (Carl Reichard) list of works is given, and some
of these, including Illiger’s Magazin “ 3r Bd. 1 Thlr.,” were undoubtedly published
in or before 1804, but this only proves the date of the binding.

2. In (probably) 1804 Meigen fully described and figured his genus Atherix in
his Klassifikazion, p. 293, Tab. xiv., fig. 26-31. He described two species 1. Ath.
maculatus and 2. Ath. immaculatus, of which the first may well be considered the
type, especially as he gave it primary place in his Syst. Beschr., ii., 104 (1820), under
the older name of A. Ibis. We may therefore accept the original Rhagio Ibis
of Fabricius as the type of Meigen’s genus Atherix ; his second species A. immaculatus
has since been distinguished generically by the single spur on the hind tibiae and the
open anal cell and is now placed in the genus Symphoromyia. Meigen quite
ignored the genus Atherix of Illiger’s Magazin, and transferred one of its supposed
species to the Nemocera while he suppressed the other one into Rhagio ( = Leptis).

3. In 1805 Fabricius adopted the generic name Atherix and included ten species
under it. He however used the name in quite a different sense from Meigen, and his
species were mainly those which we now place in the genus Chrysopilus, though he
left Meigen’s A. immaculata as his last species. A. Ibis was left in his genus Leptis
(substituted for Rhagio) of which I. scolopacea is the type.

4. In 1820 Meigen enumerated twelve species in his genus Atherix, of which
however four were unknown to him. He stated that the genus was allied to Leptis ,
especially his section B. (now forming the genus Chrysopilus), but that the main
characters lay in the different shape of the third antennal joint and in the down¬
ward bent palpi. The eight species known to him fully agree with these characters
and represent two species of Atherix, one of Atrichops, and several of probably
Symphoromyia. It must be borne in mind that up to this date only two genera
of European Leptidce were recognised, so that what was not Leptis was Atherix.

5. The dismemberment of Atherix Meig. began in 1856 whenRondani proposed a
genus Ibisia for “ Bibio marginata Fabr.,” and Atherix for “ Atherix pilosa Meig.”
Bibio marginata F. is now known as Atherix marginata F. and is almost certainly
congeneric with Atherix Ibis , and consequently Rondani’s genus Ibisia may be con¬
sidered to be an absolute synonym of Atherix Meig. As to Rondani’s genus A therix,

286

LEPTIM

whatever A. pilosa Meig. may be it is a species which was not described until
seventeen years after the genus Atherix was founded, and consequently cannot be
its type. Meigen himself thought that his Ath. pilosa was the female of A. melcena ,
but anyhow Rondani’s genus Atherix is an obvious synonym of Symphoromyia as
now recognised. Schiner in 1862 sought to distinguish the two genera {Atherix and
Symphoromyia), but mistakenly applied the name Ptiolina to the second one, and
consequently his Ptiolina is again an absolute synonym of Symphoromyia. It was
not until 1867 that the two genera became well recognised by Frauenf eld’s elucidation
of the confusion and his establishment of the genus Symphoromyia. I certainly
cannot follow Griffini in using the word Ibisia for A. Ibis, etc.,’ and Atherix for
Symphoromyia.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Legs mainly dull orange.

2 (1) Legs wholly black.

1 Ibis.
2 marginata.

1. A. Ibis Fabricius. Wings with conspicuous dark markings. Legs
mainly dull orange.

A very distinct species, though the wings bear a superficial
resemblance to Chrysops or Anthrax.

S . Face and frons (fig. 189), as well as the narrow space on the latter between the
eyes blackish or brownish grey ; frons with rather dense fairly long black
pubescence which is not extended upwards between the eyes and is not con¬
nected with the pubescence on the side-cheeks, the space
all about and between the antennae being quite bare.
Epistoma small and quite bare, but the large side-
cheeks bearing a dense pubescence which is composed
of more or less numerous yellowish hairs on the upper
part, black hairs on all the middle part, and yellowish
hairs again on the back part of the very wide jowls ;
the pubescence on the very broad under part of the
fig. is9.— ptiolina obscura head and on the rather broad lower part of the back
& ■ x 4s. of the head yellowish, but the upper part of the back of

the head rather shallow though still protruding from the
eyes, and bearing a shorter more bristly black pubescence near but not quite
close to the eyes, and this pubescence rather dense but forming no filiation ;
vertex with longer rather dense black pubescence, but the space immediately
below the front ocellus quite bare. Proboscis large and protruding, blackish
grey with a tinge of orange, and with a large bilobed tip and a channelled under¬
side covered with short black bristles ; palpi long and thin, but not so long
as the proboscis, blackish grey with an orange tinge, strongly upcurved on
the basal third but after that projecting forward, and bearing numerous and
longer bristly hairs than those on the proboscis. Antennas dull greyish
black, short, the three joints nearly equal in length, but the third extended
downwards kidney-shaped • basal joint with numerous long black bristly hairs
above ; second joint with similar but shorter hairs above and beneath ; arista
nearly three times as long as the antennae, apparently bare and not very thin.
Eyes in life (according to Girschner) of a beautiful green in the male, but in
the female brown with greenish and reddish iridescence.

Thorax brownish black or nearly black, slightly shining, and with two
widely separated brownish yellow lines which are slightly dilated in front and
which extend from the front part almost to the scutellum but which slightly
diverge at that end ; there are also indications of brownish yellow colour
on the humeri and on the sidemargins ; pleurae more greyish. Pubescence
on disc of thorax rather short but rather dense, brownish yellow with more or
less black hairs intermixed ; mesopleurae, prothorax, and the comparatively
small roundish metapleurae with longer pubescence, sternopleurae with similar

3. ATHERIX

287

but sparser pubescence, and all tbe rest of the pleurae quite bare. Scutellum
brownish with the tip almost blackish ; pubescence longer, more erect, and
paler than on the thorax.

Abdomen black and orange, broad at the base and tapering almost to a
point, rather longer than the thorax and scutellum together ; the black colour
includes the basal segment, a triangular spot against the middle of the base
and a spot on each side of the second segment, and a largish middle spot and
distinct side-spots on the third and fourth segments ; the fifth segment is also
black except at the basal corners and hindmargin, while all the sixth and
-seventh segments are black. Genitalia long and stout, all orange except at
the tip. Pubescence universal, depressed, rather abundant and fairly con¬
spicuous on especially the hindmargins, pale orange with traces of a few
black hairs across the disc and about the middle of the base of some segments
and especially on the second and third segments. Belly with the very short
basal segment black, but otherwise mainly yellow with a transverse black
spot on the middle of the base of the second segment and on the disc of
each of the next three segments, and with spots outside these and with still
more conspicuous sidemarginal spots ; on the third segment these spots may
coalesce or the side-spots may be faint, and on the fourth and fifth segments
the black spots do coalesce; sixth segment all orange; pubescence thinner
and more erect than on the dorsal side.

Legs mainly orange, but the coxae and trochanters greyish black, and the
front femora mainly blackish or brownish black except on the apical
quarter, while the posterior femora are usually nearly
all brownish orange but partly blackened beneath on
the basal half of the middle pair ; the coloring of the
femora however varies extensively, even to the greater
part of the four posterior femora being almost
blackened ; tarsi obscured after the base ; front tarsi
about one and half times as long as, middle tarsi about
equal to, and the hind tarsi shorter than, their tibise ;
hind tibiae stout. Pubescence on the coxae and behind
the anterior femora rather long and mostly black, but
pale on the front femora near the base and sometimes
more pale beneath but black in front ; middle femora
with rather similar pubescence ; the rest of the clothing
of the legs mainly composed of tiny black bristles which
become rather longer on parts of the hind femora and
tibiae; front tarsi with the “ touch -hairs ” very few, _ .

short, and inconspicuous ; middle tibiae with two spurs Left front tarsus! x* 50. "
of which the _ front one is distinctly the longer, but the
hind tibiae with two almost equal spurs. Pulvilli on the front legs with the
outer pulvillus reduced in size and the outer claw enlarged and twisted over
it (fig. 190), but the middle pulvillus enlarged; posterior claws and pulvilli
normal and not short.

Wings mottled blackish and hyaline, but with the mediastinal cell
brownish ; the blackish markings form three or four irregular and incomplete
bands across the wings, of which the most conspicuous is the one which
extends across the middle of the wing and forms a large blotch under the
stigma extending fairly distinctly to the fork of the postical vein or even to
the end of the postical vein. Stigma brownish black, but leaving the tip
of the marginal cell conspicuously pale yellowish brown. Squamae (alar)
obscure whitish with a thick pale yelloAvish margin on which is a very short
but rather dense fringe ; thoracal pair consisting of only a narrow pale greyish
yellow bare frenum. Halteres with large elongate clark-brown knobs and
with brownish yellow stems.

$ . Considerably distinct from the male. Frons at the occiput more than one-
quarter the width of the head and gradually widening downwards, with
no middle channel but with a rather short rather dense black pubescence
except on the middle ; back of the head light greyish brown, puffed out from
the eyes, and bearing very numerous very short bristles on the upper part

288

LEPTIDJS

near to but not touching the eyes ; quite behind the head there is long pale
pubescence.

Thorax with much shorter pubescence, which causes the four pale lines
and the humeri to appear more conspicuously brownish yellow ; sternopleurse
with more abundant pubescence.

Abdomen very distinct from that of the male, as there are no orange
markings unless at the extreme tip, when viewed from above greyish black
with pale hindmargins to the four basal segments, but when viewed from
behind the ground colour is greyish yellow with a deep black band across the
foremargins of the five basal segments • on the two basal segments this black
band is wider but usually less defined than on the next three segments, but on
these three segments it dies away at the sides and is widened at the middle
down to the rather narrow yellowish grey hindmargin, and this hindmargin
is well defined about the middle but merges into the greyish yellow tinge of
the sides ; but sometimes these black bands are broader and extend more
towards the sides on especially the fourth and fifth segments, and a band is fairly
visible on the middle of the base of the sixth segment ; usually the sixth and
seventh segments are greyish yellow with indications against the foremargin
of very shallow black spots at the sides and at the middle of the sixth
segment. Pubescence brownish yellow, as long and as abundant as in the
male but more conspicuous because of the darker ground colour. Belly greyish
black, with the hindmargins rather obscurely yellowish grey ; terminal
segments considerably withdrawn and the ovipositor almost concealed.

Legs with the coxae all greyish black ; posterior femora always paler than
in the darkened males, being entirely dull orange except when slightly
darkened beneath the basal half of the middle pair ; hind tibiae very
slightly longer than the tarsi ; “ touch-hairs ” beneath the front tarsi only
just perceptible.

Length about 9 mm.

This species is easily distinguished from A. marginata by its paler
legs; A. picta Loew (from North Russia to Siberia) is a very closely allied
species of which only the male is known, but that has darker pubescence on
the hinder part of the thorax and on the scutelliun, an unspotted belly, and
much blacker legs, while the stigma is dark brown even to the tip of
the marginal cell. Loew also described a var. femorcilis from Carinthia
which has the femora cpiite as dark as in the darkest English specimens,
but as our specimens vary so very much in this character I consider that
we can supply the intermediate forms with which he seems to have
been unacquainted ; the North American A. variegata is closely allied to
A. Ibis.

A. Ibis has never occurred to me as a common species but I have
records from Devonshire (Avon Valley and Bickleigh), Sussex (Three
Bridges), Derbyshire (Matlock), Cheshire (Bowden), Monmouth (Wye
Valley), Brecknock (Hay), Northumberland ( t . Wingate), Perthshire
(Rannoch), Ayrshire (Barr), Kincardine (Banchory), Banff (Craigellachie),
Nairn, and Inverness (Spey Bridge), from May 27 to June 28. Its meta¬
morphoses have often been recorded because the females have a remarkable
habit of bunching themselves together in large masses overhanging streams,
and thereby attracting notice to themselves. I have never seen one of these
bunches, but Walker said (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 70), “The female of this
“ fly is gregarious, and attaches its eggs in large clusters to boughs hanging
“ over streams, and there remains, and shortly dies. The cluster is generally
“ pear-shaped, and sometimes contains many thousands of dead flies, and
“ continually receives accessions by new comers settling upon it. When
“ the larva is hatched it falls into the water, its future residence ; it has a

3. ATHERIX

289

“ forked tail about one-third of the length of the body, and has the power
“ of raising itself in the water by an incessant undulating motion in a vertical
“ plane.” It is recorded from all Europe and extends to Siberia and Japan.

Synonymy. — Sylvicola melancholia of Moses Harris is evidently this species, but
I do not feel inclined to resurrect that name.

2. A. marginata Fabricius. Wings blackish with conspicuous clear
markings. Legs wholly black.

A very distinct fly, obviously related to A. Ibis but smaller,
blacker, and narrower.

J . Face and frons blackish, but the epistoma and the side-cheeks bearing greyish
dust ; frons with numerous extra long but not dense thin black hairs which
are continued up between the eyes quite to the ocellar space and which leave
only a very slight gap before the similar pubescence on all the vertical part ;
epistoma quite bare, slightly channelled, fairly large, occupying distinctly
more than half the space between the eyes ; side-cheeks (narrower than
in A. Ibis) bearing long pubescence similar to that on the frons, and this
pubescence extending beneath the eyes to half¬
way up the back of the head, but on this latter
part becoming shorter, more irregular, and separ¬
ated from the eyes by a narrow bare space ;
jowls rather small, but the lower half of the back
of the head considerably puffed out, and all this
part of the head has a grey ground colour; the
actual back of the head and the under part to
the back of the mouth clothed with long thin dull
whitish hairs : upper part of the back of the head
reduced until it does not protrude behind the eyes,
black with abundant short black bristly hairs which form no ciliation and
which are abruptly contrasted with the long hairs on the vertex. Proboscis
long, protruded, black, with inconspicuous short black hairs which become
rather crowded about the tip ; palpi long, being as long as the proboscis, thin
and almost pointed, strongly upcurved on the basal two-fifths, black with
a tinge of grey and bearing numerous conspicuous long black hairs. Antennaj
(fig. 191) dull black, shaped as in A. Ibis but with the arista rather longer
and bearing some sparse microscopical pubescence.

Thorax and scutellum shining black with no trace of any markings unless
the humeri and the space behind them show a greyish tinge, and this colour
increases until the pleurae become entirely covered with close grey dust ; thorax
bearing all over the disc equally long but not dense black hairs, and the
scutellum bearing similar but longer hairs ; pleurae with whitish grey
pubescence on the upper hind part of the mesopleurae, on the prothorax
and space above, and on the metapleurae, while the sternopleufae (though
apparently bare) have a faint pale pubescence on their upper part and a
few very short scattered black bristles on their lower part.

Abdomen black with the sides of the basal segment grey, and (when viewed
from above sideways) with fairly well-defined entire grey hindmargins to the
segments, though when viewed quite from above showing large, vague tri¬
angular grey spots on the sides and narrow grey side-lines on the hindmargins
of the segments which nearly meet on the third segment and which do meet
on the fourth and fifth segments. Pubescence fairly long, rather erect and
conspicuous though not dense on the sides of the four basal segments, but
shorter (though not very short) denser and black on the disc and on the fifth
and sixth segments. Belly entirely covered with grey dust and bearing
rather sparse pale pubescence. Genitalia very long and large, bearing
pale pubescence beneath.

Legs wholly black, though the coxae may be rather greyish ; relative
lengths of tibiae and tarsi as in A. Ibis. Pubescence all black, except for
a few grey hairs on the hind coxae and numerous pale hairs above the basal

T

Fig. 191. — Atherix marginata
6- X 43.

290

LEPTIM

half of the hind femora : even the spurs (which in form are the same as in
A. Ibis ) quite black ; pubescence on all the femora fairly abundant ; “touch-
liairs” beneath the front tarsi unusually numerous even up to the last joint.
The outer pul villus and claw of the front tarsi distorted as in A. Ibis.

Wings blackish with conspicuous hyaline markings (fig. 192) and the
apical quarter rather faded out and the posterior portion still more so ; two
incomplete pellucid bands cross the wings, the first one just before the middle
beginning beneath the subcostal vein and extending irregularly downwards
but not to the hindmargin and having the end of the second basal cell

Fio. 192. — Atherix marginata S- x 10.

conspicuously hyaline, the second one forming an interrupted fascia about
half-way between the first one and the tip of the wing; stigmatic space
entirely blackened right up to the tip of the marginal cell. Squamte (alar)
blackish, with a faint pale fringe which is longer but much sparser than
in A. Ibis and which may perhaps be in a single row. Hal teres blackish,
base of stem rather brownish.

$. Very much like the male. Frons about one-quarter the width of the head
and bearing a deep middle channel, moderately shining black, with slight grey
dust about the sides and surrounding the base of the antennae ; pubescence
on frons all black, fairly abundant but not dense, absent on the grey sides
and down the middle channel ; when viewed sideways the vertex and frons
appear much more extensively grey ; side-cheeks with the pubescence pale
on their upper part but black below and then continued in a single line under
the eyes, and behind this line the wide jowls and the bottom of the head bear
long fairly dense dull yellowish white pubescence, which grows shorter up
the lower half of back of the head, leaving the actual margin against the
eyes bare ; above the middle of the back of the head the pubescence is rather
short and the bristly black hairs are not so sharply contrasted with the
longer pubescence on the vertex as in the male.

Thorax with shorter, sparser, and more recumbent pubescence which is
pale with a few inconspicuous black hairs intermixed.

Abdomen with the seventh segment and the ovipositor forming a short
black triangle.

Legs with pale pubescence on the coxae, and with the pubescence on all the
femora shorter ; “ touch-hairs ” beneath the front tarsi very numerous.

Wings more hyaline about the base, and the costal cell only pale yellowish
brown.

Length about 8 mm.

This species can hardly be confounded with any other if attention he
given to its wholly black legs.

A. marginata is rather local, but I know of numerous Devonshire
localities where Colonel Yerbury has often found it at the sides of streams.
It has also occurred in the New Forest commonly on Alders ( Alnus
glutinosa), and at Barmouth, Kydal, and according to J. F. Stephens near
London, while Curtis mentioned Darenth. Colonel Yerbury has also
taken it in Ireland at Waterville and Tvenmare. The dates range from
June 10 to August 26. From the abundance of the “touch-hairs”

4. ATRICHOPS

291

beneath the front tarsi I should not be surprised to learn that it is a
biting fly. It is recorded from nearly all Europe except the extreme
north. Mr G. C. Bignell bred a female on July 4, 1888, from a “water
moss.”

4. ATRICHOPS.

Atrichops nov. gen.

Frons of the male (practically) and the side-cheeks in both
sexes bare ; third joint of the antennae reniform. Abdomen
not conical. Anal cell closed.

This genus is formed for the species which has been usually known as Atherix
crassipes Meigen.

Head (fig. 193) more rounded and less tilted than in Atherix ; side-cheeks bare ;
frons of the male practically bare, of the female slightly narrowing from the vertex
to the antennae ; palpi slightly drooping, and hardly more than half the length of
the proboscis. Antennae reniform as in Atherix.

Thorax not densely pubescent, but bearing only depressed moderately sparse
pale pubescence ; metapleurae as in Leptis with not very conspicuous pubescence.
Metanotum small and rather concealed beneath the scutellum, and with the side-
humps bare.

Abdomen oblong, not at all conical, narrower than the thorax and with almost
parallel sides, banded dorsally but not spotted. Genitalia of the male large and
somewhat separated from the abdomen.

Legs long; the anterior pairs thin, but hind pair rather dilated on femora,
tibiae, and tarsi ; front pulvilli and claws of the male distorted as in Atherix , but
the posterior claws unusually short ; front coxae with less pubescence than in
Atherix ; “ touch -hairs ” beneath the front tarsi obvious.

Wings (fig. 194) with a venation almost as in Atherix , but the cubital fork
long and rather narrow beginning narrowly and ending with a very slightly bell¬
mouthed opening ; cross-veins placed rather nearer the base of the discal cell (at
about one-quarter from the base) ; anal cell closed. The wings have a faint clouding
about the middle and round the outer margin, but no conspicuous markings as in
Atherix. Squamae (alar) with a thin margin on which is a sparse but not short
single-rowed fringe.

Atrichops (« Qplg io\U) is easily distinguished from Atherix by its figure
and by the bare side-cheeks.

1. A. crassipes Meigen. A rather
small fly. Wings slightly clouded, and
the stigma conspicuously blackish.

Hind tibiae moderately, and hind tarsi
considerably, dilated.

Father like a Rhyphus.

J. Head (fig. 193) about as wide as the
thorax and about one and a half
times broader than long, rounded off
behind because the eyes curve round
and even bend in a little to the ver¬
tex. Frons and face entirely covered
with light grey dust, but otherwise
quite bare all over including the Fig. 193. — Atrichops crassipes <J. x 20.
rather broad eyemargins and the

front part of the jowls, _ except for two inconspicuous hairs on the upper
part of the frontal triangle ; frons and face forming a triangle ; the
sunken middle part of the face not small, and extending across under the

292

LEPTIDvE

antenna ; the raised epistomal knob rather prominent and slightly more
blackish grey; jowls small but obvious; pubescence on the back part of
the jowls and on the moderately and equally puffed-out lower two-thirds
of the back of the head rather long and abundant though not very con¬
spicuous, greyish white and outstanding ; upper third of the back of the
head almost flush with the eyes and still with greyish though shorter
pubescence and with a row of small bristles quite close to the eyes ; the whole
back of the head rather darker grey than the face; ocellar triangle very
much elevated, brownish grey, and bearing moderately long pale pubescence
which slopes forward ; vertical triangle long and pointed, so that its lowest
point and the highest point of the frontal triangle extend towards each
other and leave the eyes closely approximated (though hardly touching) for
about one-third the distance from the occiput to the antennae. Proboscis
dull blackish brown, long and produced, with large sucker-flaps ; palpi
greyish black, long, thin, and slightly drooping, more than half as long as
the proboscis, and bearing dark bristly hairs. Eyes bare ; facets on the front
part possibly a little enlarged but hardly perceptibly so. Antennae blackish
brown, but with a grey shimmer caused by minute dust ; two basal joints
transverse, almost equally long, and bearing on their upper side dark bristly
hairs which are directed forwards; third joint reniform, being small at the
upper part but extended downwards in a rather hammer-like shape far below
the lower line of the basal joints, and minutely pubescent on what may be
called the tip as it is the part farthest away from the head, but altogether the

third joint not so long as the second though much dee
from near the base of the third joint or (say) at the ang’
joint bends over, more than twice as long as the antennae, t'

per; arista arising
e where the third
lin though slightly

less thin on the basal fifth, and microscopically pubescent but with the
extreme tip very thin and bare.

Thorax and scutellum shining black, hardly obscured, rather sparse very
fine grey dust, and -with sloping greyish yellow pubescence which is not short
or scarce and which occurs all over the disc but not abundantly enough
to appreciably affect the ground colour; humeri and postalar calli with a
yellowish grey tinge ; pleurae ashy grey, but a large triangular patch which
occupies the upper front corner of the mesopleurse is greyish yellow, and the
pteropleurae are also rather yellowish ; pubescence of the pleurae limited to
a few pale inconspicuous hairs on the hind and lower parts of the mesopleurae
and on the metapleurae ; metanotum greyish black.

Abdomen narrower than the thorax and about twice as long as the thorax
and scutellum together, almost parallel-sided, shining black with luteous
cross-bands ; the first luteous band occupies the hinclmargin of the basal
segment rather narrowly and the foremargin of the second segment rather
broadly ; the second band occupies the hindmargin of the second segment and
the foremargin of the third segment and consequently the second segment has
a brownish black band across its middle of which the foremargin undulates
because it rises a little at the sides and has a long shallow arch on its middle ;
the third luteous band is not so sharply defined and occupies about the hind
third of the third segment and sometimes just the foremargin of the fourth
segment ; a still less defined fourth cross-band occupies the hind quarter
of the fourth segment, while sometimes there are traces of a band on the hind-
mai'l'in of the fifth segment ; the five basal segments nearly equal in length
but the sixth, seventh, and eighth so short dorsally as to be hardly visible,
though easily distinguished ventrally ; pubescence sparse and equally
scattered, not short but inconspicuous, suberect, long and yellow, though
there are a few shorter black bristly hairs on the middle of the disc of the
third segment. Belly luteous on the three basal segments and on the hind-
margin of the fourth segment, but on the other segments of the same shining-
blackish brown colour as on the dorsal side, and with minute sparse pale dust :
sixth, seventh, and eighth segments well defined and nearly equal, but jointly
hardly longer than the fifth segment ; pubescence long, sparse, straggly
and pale on the four basal segments, but short, grey, and inconspicuous on
the last four segments. Genitalia large and well separated from the abdomen,
with a lai'ge greyish-black brown dorsal plate which covers everything, not
so wide as the last dorsal abdominal segment, dulled and bearing sloping

4. ATRICHOPS

293

black bristly hairs all over ; the dorsal plate ends in a truncate luteous
margin which has two small luteous lamellae spreading out like short lateral
horns ; when seen sideways this dorsal plate curves up to the luteous hind-
margin, and a pair of rather large thick short lower lamellae extend almost
as far as the tip of the dorsal plate, and these lower lamellae also have each
a. short thick end-joint and bear black bristly pubescence, but the luteous
hindmargin of the dorsal plate is bare.

Legs long and mainly yellow - front coxae long, yellow, and with very
little pubescence which consists of a few rather long thin pale hairs ; front
trochanters with a blackish spot beneath at their junction with the femora ;
posterior coxae a little obscured in front at the base • posterior trochanters
all obscured ; hind femora with the apical two-tliirds blackish and rather
dilated; hind tibiae brown and further obscured by the abundant minute
black bristles, often appearing paler at the base but growing brown at the
tip, slightly dilated and bearing a neat rather short dorsal ciliation ; hind
tarsi nearly as long as the tibiae, with the basal joint considerably dilated
and longer than the other four joints together and bearing about six short
dorsal bristles sloped away from the base, and with the second joint also
about as much dilated ; front tibiae and tarsi with abundant suberect short
delicate pale pubescence, and the front tarsi with “ touch-hairs ” beneath
all the joints ; front tarsi one and a half times as long as the tibiae, with the
joints very thin and gradually decreasing in length ; anterior tarsi becoming
obscure soon after the base, and the hind tarsi apparently all darkened
but really the two basal joints brown like the tibiae but obscured by
abundant tiny black bristles ; any pubescence on the femora is very
slight and pale. Pulvilli dull yellowish, posterior claws very short, but on
the front legs the middle pulvillus is large and rounded while the outer
pulvillus and claw are distorted as in Afherix (fig. 190).

Wings (fig. 194) slightly smoky ; stigma conspicuously large and blackish,

occupying all the marginal cell from the origin of the cubital vein to its end
and widening as the cell widens but leaving the exact margin of the radial
vein not darkened ; a rather faint cloud extends from the stigma downwards
over the cross-veins, and the apical charter of the wing as well as a good
deal of the hindmargin are faintly clouded, and this clouding becomes more
obvious on the downward curve of the postical vein ; base of the wing very
pale yellow and the basal part of the subcostal vein also yellow ; subcostal
vein bearing abundant minute bristles. Venation as given in the generic
characters ; small cross-vein as long as the basal part of the upper branch of
the postical vein and consequently the lower basal cell widened. Squamae
(alar) whitish yellow with a blackish spot on the upper part ; margin thin
and yellow and with a very slight though not short pale fringe which is in a
single row. Hal teres yellow, but with nearly all the knob conspicuously blackish.

9 . Frons occupying nearly one-third the width of the head and contracting very
slightly from the vertex to the antennae, dusted light ashy grey on a blackish
ground colour and in some lights this ground colour shows up more blackish
on the depressed middle part (but not near the antennae) ; pubescence
obviously pale though sparse, long from the level of the front ocellus to
the suture before the antennae, and on each side not far from the eyes four
or five of these pale hairs form a fairly conspicuous row sloping forwards and
outwards ; there is a slight middle channel running down from the front
ocellus to between the antennae, crossing the slight transverse suture a little
before the antennae and becoming much narrower and more sharply defined
on this last piece between that suture and the antennae ; ocellar space raised

294

LEPTIDA,

and bearing a few pale hairs which are almost erect, and from which shorter
inconspicuous pubescence extends to the upper eye-angles ; face widening
downwards less than in the male ; back of the head more equally puffed out
because the upper part of the eyes is not so much ridged but slopes more
gradually to the occiput. Antennae with the two basal joints slightly brownish,
and with the bristles on the basal joint shorter and more or less pale.

Thorax with the humeri conspicuously greyish luteous, and with all the
margin of its dorsum and the basal corners of the scutellum brownish luteous.

Abdomen with alternate black and orange bands, the orange colour
rather predominating up to the end of the fourth segment, but after that with
only a trace of an orange band rather before the hindmargin of the fifth
segment ; sixth segment rather greyish black and hardly one-third as long as
the fifth, while the seventh and eighth segments are each only about half as
long as the sixth ; pubescence mainly pale but extensively black on the black
parts, neither abundant nor conspicuous. Belly orange on the five basal
segments except for a blackish band across the middle of the fifth segment,
and after that segment more blackish though the hinder parts of the sixth
and seventh segments are broadly but obscurely luteous ; eighth segment
indistinct ; pubescence inconspicuous and pale. Ovipositor showing a pair
of short broad rounded brownish yellow lamellae.

Legs rather similar to those of the male but the hind femora have the
apical blackening more restricted to the upper side ; hind tibiae all dull
brownish luteous and not at all dilated ; hind tarsi with the basal joint also
brownish luteous and also hardly dilated though long and strong. Pubescence
or ciliation very slight except for the abundant minute black bristles, but
there is a short ciliation on the hind tibiae which is not so regular or neat as
in the male; “ touch-hairs ” almost as in the male. Front pulvilli and claws
simple.

Wings, squamae and halteres as in the male.

Length about 6 mm.

This species somewhat resembles Leptis lineola, but may be at once
distinguished by the generic characters ; L. lineola also has seven
gradually decreasing abdominal segments, and its male has a very short
genital plate. Any superficial resemblance to a Rhyphus is removed upon
examining the venation in regard to the forked cubital vein and the closed
anal cell.

A. crassipes was first noticed in England by Mr Henry W. Andrews in
fair abundance in some water meadows near Ticehurst Eoad Station in
Sussex on July 10, 1900; the specimens generally occurred on the leaves
of Alder ( Alnus glutinosa ) and were found again in the same locality
on July 6, 1901 ; since then it has been found in two or three localities in
the New Forest by Dr D. Sharp and Mr C. Gf. Lamb, in abundance in a
little meadow at Milford on Sea about the end of June 1904, and in the
New Park Enclosure in July 1904, and by Mr H. W. Andrews as late as
July 23, 1904. It seems to be very little known on the continent, but
was recorded by Meigen in 1820 from Marseilles and in 1830 from near
Luttich, by Schiner from (probably) Austria, by Coucke from Amersfort
in Holland, while I possess a male from Attica and a male from Kowarz’s
collection taken by Loew at Meseritz in Prussia; it would appear to be
widely spread in Europe but occurring in only small colonies.

Synonymy. — No doubt can arise as to this being Atherix crassipes of Meigen, but
I cannot recognise Rhagio nebulosa of Fabrieius in it because according to Meigen
that species has the anal cell open ; it is however almost certainly Atherix nebulosa
of Macquart from North France (which he specially says has the anal cell closed) and
of Zetterstedt in his Note in Dipt. Scand., viii., 2990 (as received from “St Sever”
in France). All other descriptions appear to be merely copies.

CHRYSOPILIN.E

295

CHRYSOPILINLE.

Antennae with the third joint simple, and bearing a long apical or
subapical arista or a style of varying stoutness and length. Face socketed.
Middle tibiae with two apical spurs, but the hind tibiae with only one.
Wings with a long cubital fork.

This subfamily is very closely allied to the Leptincc, and the only
certain character lies in the presence of only one spur to the hind tibiae,
and even that is indistinct in Spania and Hilarimorpha. There are
however several characters which assist in separating the two subfamilies,
such as the almost universal rule that in the males of the Chrysopilince
the facets on the upper part of the eyes are conspicuously larger than,
and are separated in a horizontal line from, the smaller facets on the lower
part, the only exception I know being Symphoromyia immaculata ; the
Chrysopilince also derive their name through the species of Chrysopilus
bearing a conspicuous adpressed golden pile on the thorax and abdomen
(which is very easily rubbed off) ; and many genera have the end of the
antennae provided with a style instead of an arista, but this style varies
considerably in stoutness and length; the cubital fork also is different
from the type of the Lcptince and is sometimes almost wholly above the
wing-tip, while even in the closely allied Chrysopilus there is a delicate
distinction in the shape of this fork as it is rather narrower on the basal
part, though the smaller species of Leptis ( L . lineola, etc.) approximate in
this character.

The genus Hilarimorpha, which has no discal cell and only four
posterior cells, the cubital fork short and placed above the wing-tip, the
tibial spurs all stunted, and the pulvilli two only, may possibly not
belong to this subfamily, but being eremochsetous must belong to the
Lcpticlce.

5. SYMPHOROMYIA.

Symphoromyia Frauenfeld, Yerh. zool.-bot. Wien., xvii., 496 (1867).
Allied to Atherix and Atrichops in the form of the antennse,
but the hind tibiae with only one spur and the anal cell open.

Head broader than the thorax in both sexes, not so much flattened as in Atherix.
Face longer than in Atherix , and with broad side-cheeks which may be bare
(<S'. crassicornis ) or which may have a slight pubescence (S. immaculata) or even
long dense pubescence ( S . melcena). Frons in the male small, or large and inflated
(S. melcena), and either bare or with long dense pubescence, but in the female
always broad and bearing numerous short bristles. Palpi porrect and bristly,
rather drooping at the tip. Eyes in the male either just touching or only closely
approximated on the frons, but in the female very widely separated. Antennae
wide apart at the base, and with the third joint kidney -shaped (figs. 195, 196);
arista apparently subapical as it is inserted well above the most prominent part
of the third joint, long and thin, two or three times as long as the antennae.

Thorax normal in shape and bearing fairly equal but hardly dense pubescence
which is rather long in the male but short in the female, and this pubescence is
hardly of a bristly nature anywhere. Pleurae with a rather dense tuft of pubescence

296

LEPTIM

on the metapleurse. Scutellum with pubescence similar to but rather longer than
that on the thorax ; metanotum and its side-humps quite bare.

Abdomen even at its base narrower than the thorax, conical, usually somewhat
compressed in the male, and with seven obvious segments but the seventh segment
sometimes very short. Pubescence moderately long and outstanding and fairly
conspicuous all over. Genitalia distinct.

Legs of the usual Leptid type though proportionately shorter than in the allied
genera, but still with the front tarsi longer than the tibhe ; front tibite without a
spur, middle tibiae with two nearly equal fairly long spurs, hind tibiae with one
distinct spur. Pubescence moderate, but rather long and distinct on the femora of
the male. “ Touch-hairs ” apparently absent, though there may be traces of them
beneath the front tarsi of the male of S. crassicornis.

Wings of the ordinary Leptid type (fig. 198) ; cubital fork long and narrow ; two
upper veinlets from the discal cell well separated at their base and apparently not
varying as in Ptiolina ; anal cell open. Alar squamae rather wrell developed and
with a delicate marginal ciliation which runs in a single row until near the angle and
then becomes longer and in several rows.

This genus is a fairly natural one and cannot well be confounded with
its allies if attention be given to the shape of the antennae and arista, the
single spur on the hind tibiae, and the open anal cell.

Symphoromyia is represented by only a few species in Europe, but
several are known from North America. They frequent long grass and
usually occur in some numbers when found. The metamorphoses of
S. crassicornis are known. Osten Sacken has stated that the females of a
Californian species bit him quite painfully and drew blood like a Tabanus,
and though there is no other well authenticated case of a Leptid biting
the statement of such a Dipterologist as Osten Sacken is beyond doubt,
and as some confirmation Bezzi has recorded that the females of S. grisea
settled on his hands as if intending to attack him. The genus is recorded
from Europe and North America.

Synonymy. — When Frauenfeld formed this genus in 1867 he gave S. meloena
Meig. as the type and associated with it S. crassicornis and S. immaculata, and to
these three another previously little known European species (S. grisea) has been
added.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Larger species. Basal antennal joint very much dilated in the

male (fig. 195) and clothed with long pubescence, and even in

Fio. 195. — Symphoromyia crassicornis S . x 30.

the female dilated (fig. 197) and at least five times as long
as the second. 1 crassicornis.

2 (1) Smaller species. Basal antennal joint small and not longer than

the second in either sex (fig. 196), and with only short incon¬
spicuous bristles. 2 immaculata.

5. SYMPHOROMYIA

297

S. melcena has often been recorded from Britain and may occur here ; it is nearly
as large as S.crassicornis but is a blacker insect with the wings and squamae blackened
in both sexes, long and dense black pubescence on the frons and side-cheeks of the
male, basal antennal joint short, frons of the male large and inflated. I do not know
the distinctive characters of S. grisea, but I believe it has normal antennae and
yellowish wings.

1. S. crassicornis Panzer. Basal joint of antennae elongate, con¬
siderably dilated, and conspicuously pubescent.

A Lepticl with the appearance of a moderate - sized
Anthomyia.

3 . Head broader than the thorax. Face broad and rather large, with especially
wide side-cheeks ; face and side-cheeks light grey and quite bare : the small tri¬
angular frons blackish grey and also quite bare ; jowls and back of the head
darker grey, the jowls being very broad and bearing rather dense fairly long
black pubescence intermingled with which are some longer straggling pale
hairs ; lower part of the back of the head inflated but abruptly narrowing, and
bearing on the upper quarter only a single line of longer upright (i.e. not
overhanging) black bristly hairs ; vertex rather large and rather elevated,
triangular, greyish brown, and bearing black bristly hairs which point rather
forwards. Proboscis large, but not so long as the palpi, ancl bearing a
slight black pubescence on the underside ; palpi very long and equally thick,
slightly drooping about the tip, greyish black, and densely clothed with
conspicuous long black pubescence, but with some rather long pale pubescence
beneath the basal joint. Eyes almost touching for a very short space,
quite bare ; facets enlarged on the upper two-thirds and rather abruptly
contrasted with the smaller facets on the lower third. Antennae (fig. 195)
rather long, because the basal joint is enormously dilated and lengthened ;
basal joint greyish black and clothed with dense long black pubescence ;
second joint by contrast very small and short, and with a few very short
bristly hairs above and beneath ; third joint kidney-shaped, apparently nearly
twice as deep as long^ arista quite as long as the antennae and almost
geniculate just before its middle, rather thin up to the geniculation but
thinner and tapering afterwards, bare and inserted more towards the front
part than towards the base of the third joint.

Thorax greyish black, with three very indistinct darker stripes of which
the middle one is rather narrow while the side ones are broad in certain lights ;
pubescence not dense but black, erect, and fairly long all over the disc, and
with each hair originating from a punctate dot ; pleurae grey, bearing rather
long black pubescence on the mesopleurae and similar but greyish pubescence
on the metapleurae. Scutellum dark grey, with rather longer pubescence than
that on the thorax especially towards the tip.

Abdomen rather attenuated and rather compressed, about as long as the
thorax and head (without the antennae), dark ashy grey. Pubescence fairly
abundant but never dense, and each hair arising from a punctate dot. Belly
arched from side to side, dark ashy grey, and bearing similar pubescence to
that on the upper side. Genitalia obvious ; side lamellae rather large and
with two smaller elongate club-shaped intermediate lamellae.

Legs black with the knees narrowly orange ; coxae with rather abundant
blackish pubescence ; femora with black not scarce rather inconspicuous
pubescence ; hind tibiae with a slight postero-ventral fringe and also with a
still slighter antero-dorsal one ; the two spurs on the middle tibiae and the
one on the hind tibiae distinct ; “ touch-hairs ” absent or exceedingly faint.
Pulvilli obscurely yellowish ; claws black, rather small.

Wings smoky with an orange tinge about the base and with the marginal
cell darkened towards its tip so as to form a slight stigma ; veins blackish
after the basal part ; fourth posterior cell sometimes a little narrowed towards
the wingmargin ; anal cell narrowly open. Squamae (alar) moderate in size,
glassy yellowish with pale margins, and with a short pale fringe above the

298

LEPTIDJ3

angle but a rather long one below it ; frenum forming a narrow obscure
pubescent orange line. Halteres with large dull blackish brown knobs, but
with the stem rather blackish orange.

Fig. 197. — Symphoromyiu crassicornis
?. x 30.

Very distinct from the male, being much lighter grey in colour. Face
(including side-cheeks) very broad, light (almost whitish) grey, and either
bare or with a very few scattered black bristly hairs on the epistoma ; frons at
its upper part fully half the width of the head and (as well as the vertex) rather
densely beset with rather short black bristly hairs which leave the lower half of
the margin against the eyes bare as well as a suture which separates the orbits
from the occiput and ocellar triangle, and these bristly hairs all slope forwards ;
back of the head all the way from the jowls to the vertex fairly equal in
width, light grey, and bearing fairly conspicuous pale pubescence on the jowls
but with numerous short blackish bristly hairs all over the upper part ; palpi

shorter, drooping at the tip and not so long as
the proboscis, blackish grey or light brown, and
clothed with moderate yellowish pubescence and
sometimes with a few black hairs about the tip.
Eyes separated on the frons by about half the
width of the head at even the narrowest part
which is just above the antenme, though the
frons only gradually narrows from the vertex
to this part, and then the face more obviously
widens downwards. Antennae much shorter than
in the male (fig. 197), but still with the basal joint elongated and dilated and
bearing a short rather dense black bristly pubescence ; the antennae some¬
times have a slightly yellowish or reddish pale grey tinge ; second joint very
short but bearing short black bristly hairs above and beneath : third joint
strongly kidney-shaped being quite twice as deep as long with the lower part
extending below the second joint more than the upper part extends above it.

Thorax light grey, usually but not always with four blackish grey stripes
(because the middle dark stripe is almost always split into two) ; when present
the middle dark stripe (or double-stripe) does not extend so far back as the
side stripes. Pubescence much shorter than in the male, and rather yellowish
about the humeri.

Abdomen conical, light grey, and not at all compressed ; the four basal
segments nearly equal in length, the fifth about half as long, and the
sixth and seventh each about half as long as the fifth. Pubescence on the
hindmargins and sidemargins rather long and yellowish, but on the disc
shorter blacker and more bristly. Ovipositor with a pair of widely spread
out lamellae.

Legs with all the tibiae dull dark ferruginous. Pubescence rather con¬
spicuously pale yellow on the front coxae but less obviously so on the others,
slight and partly pale on the femora, and with no longer postero-ventral
ciliation on the hind tibiae.

Wings with a browner tinge ; veins orange about the basal half and only
brownish on the rest.

Length about 7 mm.

This species does not vary to any important extent, and should not be
confounded with any other (unless S. grisca be allied) though it is a rather
inconspicuous-looking fly.

S. crassicornis is apparently a mountain species as it occurs freely in
the Scotch Highlands (Strathblane, Rannoch, Aviemore, Nethy Bridge,
Nairn, Spey Bridge, Banff, and Tongue), and also at Aberlady, Kirkmuir-
liill in Lanarkshire, and in the Lake District. I have further records
from Dolgelly, Herefordshire (probably the Black Mountain), Lancashire
(Rivington), and Durham. Beling -found the larvre in earth beneath turf
on a cart-road near a wood. My dates extend from June 24 to July 29.
It is recorded from extreme North Europe to Italy.

5. SYMPHOROMYIA

299

2. S. immaculata Fabricius. Antenna with the basal joint short and
inconspicuously bristly. Frons of the male bare. Wings inconspicuously
smoky. Small species.

An inconspicuous small greyish black fly.

d. Epistoma small, light grey, and bare, but the comparatively narrow side-
cheeks bear a few rather long inconspicuous pale hairs, and similar but longer
and much more conspicuous hairs occur on the moderate-sized jowls ;
back of the head moderately and almost equally inflated and bearing
much shorter pale hairs and some rather bristly black hairs out on the actual
back of the head, while on the upper part there are some longer fairly con¬
spicuous postocular black bristly hairs which bend slightly forwards ; vertex
rather elongate, narrow and greyish, and (as the eyes do not quite touch) the
numerous black bristly hairs on the vertex contrast with the bare frons and
narrow connecting space. Proboscis rather large but shorter than the palpi,
dull brownish black: palpi long, porrected, dull black or blackish brown,
slightly drooping at the tip, and sparsely bristly, with the bristles mainly pale
but with a few black ones at the tip. Eyes large and almost circular, quite
bare, and not quite touching on the frons ; facets all equal in size. _ Antenme
(fig. 196) dark brown; two basal joints short and almost equal in length,
bearing very short dorsal bristles ; third joint kidney-shaped with the lower
part curving back almost to the base of the second joint, and bearing short
downy pubescence ; arista more than twice as long’ as the antennae, thin but
still tapering, bare, and inserted at about one-third from the base of the
third antennal joint.

Thorax light brownish grey with faint indications of two broad darker
stripes, or sometimes even with a faint broad middle stripe in addition which
may be split down the middle, plentifully besprinkled with moderately long
black bristly hairs of which each one arises from a punctate dot on the disc,
and these hairs become longer towards the sides ; pleurae blackish grey, bare
except for a few inconspicuous pale hairs on the upper margin of the meso-
pleurae and for the more obvious tuft of pale pubescence on the metapleurae ;
none of the bristly hairs on any part of the thorax ever approximate to true
bristles. Scutellum rather more blackish and bearing rather longer pu¬
bescence on at least the margin and tip.

Abdomen ashy grey with six nearly equally long distinct segments and
a very short seventh, compressed from the third to the sixth segment
(both inclusive). Pubescence greyish white, fairly conspicuous and long
(especially at the sides) but not dense, mixed with shorter more depressed
and more bristly black hairs, and each hair arising from a somewhat con¬
spicuous punctate dot. Belly similar in colour and with pale but slightly
shorter pubescence ; the ventral. part of the abdomen well separated from the
dorsal part and is arched fi’om side to side. Genitalia obvious ; lateral lamella?
moderately small with a pair of small triangular intermediate lamellae and
a short bristle-like middle organ.

Legs obscure brownish black with the tibiae rather luteous especially about
their base. Pubescence very slight ; coxae with moderately abundant long
pale pubescence ; femora with a slight pale fringe which is postero-ventral
on the anterior pairs but
antero-ventral on the hind
pair ; posterior tibiae with
two rows of minute bristles;
the two spurs on the middle
tibiae and the one on the
hind tibiae obvious ; no
“ touch-hairs ” visible be¬
neath the front tarsi. Pul-
villi and claws small.

Wings (fig. 1 98) slightly Fig. 198. -Symphoromyia immaculata <£. x 17.

smoky with the marginal .

cell darker ; venation very constant, so that the two upper veinlets irom tfie

300

LEPTIM

discal cell are always well separated and the anal cell is obviously though
rather narrowly open ■ fourth posterior cell sometimes slightly narrowed
towards the wingmargin. Squamae (alar) rather small, glassy smoky or dull
orange with short pale fringes. Halteres dull orange or dull yellow, but
with the stem sometimes darker ; knob rather large and ovate-globose.

9 . Rather similar to the male, but the light grey frons occupying about a third of
the width of the head, and the frons and occiput rather densely beset with
short black bristles (except on the channel between the orbits and the
occiput), and these bristles (especially on the frons) mostly directed forwards.

Thorax ashy grey with three dark stripes (not well defined) of which the
middle one is broad and extended to the front but abbreviated behind,
while the side ones are abbreviated in front and interrupted at the suture.
Pubescence much shorter, black and bristly. Scutellum ashy grey.

Abdomen with less conspicuous whitish pubescence except about the base,
and with much shorter and mainly black dorsal bristly pubescence ; sixth
segment short, but more conspicuously separated from the distinct seventh
segment. Ovipositor with a pair of distinct outspread lamellae.

Legs almost as in the male but with hardly any pubescence on the femora.

Wings paler, especially about the stigma. Squamae more whitish glassy.
Halteres yellow.

Length about 4 mm.

I believe that there is no closely allied species in Europe (unless possibly
S. grisea), nor do I think that it varies, and consequently no mistake should
be made if attention be given to the reniform third antennal joint and the
open anal cell.

S. immaculata is very little known as a British species, but I once
found it in fair abundance near Seaford in Sussex on June 15, 1890, when
I caught numerous males but only two females. There are several
specimens in the British Museum from Mr A. Piffard who took them
on June 18, 1893, at Felden in Hertfordshire. Walker recorded it in
1851 as “ Common in Darenth Wood, Kent,” and I have no doubt correctly
as it was properly named in the Entomological Club collection, but though
I often collected there about 1870 I never met with it. It is recorded
from Central Europe only.

Synonymy. — No doubt has ever arisen as to the identity of this species, but
Walker’s character of “Abdomen clothed with short black hairs” is misleading.
Atherix unicolor Curtis (1824) which was described as “ Male cinereous, sparingly
“ clothed with longish pale hairs : antennae blackish, 3rd joint reniform : eye reddish -
“ brown : thorax obscurely striped : tibiae lurid and subochreous towards the base :
“ wings slightly fuscous, 3rd costal cell a little darker : halteres ochreous : length 3
“lines,” taken at “Mickleliam the end of June” which is not far from Darenth,
must be a synonym, as the reniform third antennal joint makes it a Symphoromyia
and not (as I suggested in Entom., 1890, p. 153) a Ptiolina. It is probably my error
which caused Bezzi in his Katalog der Palaarktischen Dipteren, ii., 89, to assign it
as a synonym of Ptiolina paradoxa Jaen. I can only imagine that Ptiolina melcena
of Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 71, 1851) must refer to S. immaculata, but his Atherix
melcena of 1836 (Entom. Mag., iii., 180) to Ptiolina obscura Fall.

6. CHRYSOPILUS.

Chrysopilus Macquart, Mem. Soc. Sci. Lille, 1826, 403.
Moderate-sized to rather small flies of elongate shape, which
are always bedecked with recumbent golden scales or scaly
hairs, and which have the wings rather broad.

6. CHRYSOPILUS

301

Face socketed like a dimple. Palpi standing out straight or upturned, not at all
drooping. Eyes with the facets on the upper part enlarged and more or less
conspicuously contrasted with the smaller facets on the lower part ; in life often
bright golden green. Antenna; (fig. 199) with the third joint bulbose, not longer
than the second joint ; arista terminal, long and thin, and starting from about the
centre of the end of the third joint.

• Thorax with coarse golden or pale yellow depressed pile or scales, amongst which
there may be some longer thinner erect hairs ; pleurae with the usual clumps of
pubescence on the mesopleurse and metapleurae : metanotum with a large dense
clump on each side-hump.

Abdomen even if elongate yet proportionately short when compared with Leptis.
Pubescence mainly composed of short coarse depressed golden or pale yellow pile or
scales which may be easily rubbed off.

Legs long, thin, and graceful ; tibiae and the basal joint of the tarsi especially
long and thin ; front tibiae shorter, but the posterior tibiae longer, than their tarsi.
Femora bearing curious golden brown scales behind the anterior pair except at
the tip, and in front of the hind pair ; front tibiae without any spur, middle tibiae
with two strong equal spurs, hind tibiae with only one spur • front tarsi without
any “ touch hairs ” ; front claws and pulvilli of the male not distorted ; claws small.

Wings rather broad, of true Leptid venation but with the anal cell always closed ;
cubital fork long and rather narrow on the basal half; radial vein dipped down to
make room for the stigma ; discal cross-vein placed at the basal quarter of the discal
cell ; small cross-vein very near the base of the discal cell ; subcostal vein bearing-
tiny bristles. Alar squamae of moderate size and with a short marginal fringe com¬
posed of a single row of hairs.

The species occur in moist meadows and near water ; they very soon
lose their delicate coloring and their golden scales, and consequently fresh
specimens in very perfect condition are eminently desirable for collec¬
tions. The larvse live in rotting wood or vegetable mould.

This genus may be distinguished from Leptis by the single spur on
the hind tibiae, by the outstanding not drooping palpi, by the golden pile on
the thorax and abdomen, and practically always by the closed anal cell,
though there is one European species of Leptis ( L.funebris Meig.) with a*
closed anal cell ; the shape of the third joint of the antenme distinguishes
it from, any of the Chrysopilince except Omphalopliora , and from that the
long thin arista at once separates it. The dense clump of pubescence on
the hump on each side of the metanotum provides a character which dis¬
tinguishes it from the allied genera.

Chrysopilus is a well-recognised genus containing a large number of
species from most parts of the world, though their headquarters appear
to be in North and South America.

Synonymy. Macquart distinguished this genus in 1826 under the name of
Chrysopilus and although he altered the name to Chrysopila in 1834 there is no
need to accept his change, nor need Loew in 1840 have claimed to have corrected
Macquart s original name to Chrysopilus.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Femora black. Larger species.

2 (1) Femora yellow. Smaller species.

1 cristatus.
2 aureus.

C. cristatus appears to be very common in England, and is distinguished from
the very common European C. auratus by its wings being less brown and becoming
orange about the base.

1. C. cristatus Fabricius. Wings brownish and with no markings
except the stigma. Abdomen without bands. Femora black.

302

LEPTIM

A deep black fly, easily known by its golden pile when in
good condition.

ct . Head conspicuously large, wider than the thorax. Epistoma strongly socketed
and quite bare, but covered with brownish dust ; the very broad side-cheeks
light grey and appearing to be bare, but with some slight short hairs on the
side of the deep channels between them and the epistoma ; these channels curve
towards each other and enclose the epistoma on the upper part, but widen
out about the mouth and make the side-cheeks narrower there though still
rather broad ; the side-clieeks continue without any interruption on to the
jowls, but the jowls widen out again and are blackish grey with rather stiff
dense longish black or blackish grey pubescence ; there are numerous yellowish
hairs right behind the mouth opening ; the light grey lower part of the back
of the head moderately inflated but dying out just above the middle of the
head, and on this inflated part the absolute eyemargin is bare, but above the
middle the back of the head is almost flush with the eyes and bears no fringe
of overhanging hairs or row of small bristles close against the eyes ; vertex
dull black, considerably elevated, and bearing numerous short black hairs ;
frons quite bare, grey near the antennae, but velvety black on the upper
point which runs so far up between the eyes that the latter
only actually touch for about a third of the distance between
the occiput and the antennae ; the side-cheeks when viewed
from above sink steeply below the level of the eyes but the
rounded prominence of the epistoma projects out very con¬
siderably, and the palpi and proboscis project farther still.
Proboscis dull black, almost perpendicular, and with very
slight pubescence, almost as long and as prominent as the
palpi ; palpi long, thin, rather upturned but not curved,
black or greyish black, and clothed with numerous con¬
spicuous rather long black hairs. Eyes (in death) reddish
brown ; facets on the larger upper part much larger than
Fie mo —chn 10'iUits ^lose on the smaller lower part, and the dividing line so
'cristat'us s ■ ^ 32! strongly marked that there is a perceptible depression caused
by the less prominence of the lower facets, but the small
facets extend somewhat upwards on the back margin and the change in size
is only gradual there. Antennae (fig. 199) brownish or greyish black; all
three joints about equal in length, and the two basal joints bearing micro¬
scopical black bristles ; third joint minutely pubescent, almost onion-shaped
with a slight apical point from which the arista projects ; arista long and
thin, but tapering and microscopically pubescent, about two and a half times
as long as the antennae.

Thorax dull velvety black, slightly shining about the sides and especially
between the wing-base and the scutellum ; postalar calli usually a little
brownish ; two faint rather broad greyish black stripes (sometimes difficult
to detect) run down the disc from the front part to beyond the middle,
and between them is a narrow middle velvety black line ; pleurae and the space
behind the humeri dull greyish black. Pubescence on the disc composed
of fairly long suberect scattered thin black hairs, intermingled with which
are numerous more recumbent shorter scattered almost golden hairs which
are easily rubbed off, as in fact is the whole of the pubescence ; on the pleurae
there is almost bushy brownish yellow pubescence towards the top front part
and a line of similar pubescence extends down the back part of the mesopleurae,
but this pleural pubescence is composed of longish thin almost shaggy hairs ;
the rest of the mesopleurae is bare, but the sternopleurae have some very
slight pale pubescence on the upper part and some black hairs on quite the
lower part, while the prothorax bears dull yellowish pubescence ; meta¬
pleurae with dull yellowish pubescence on the front part, and with a
conspicuous dense radiating tuft of curved orange hairs on the hind part,
and these hairs curve up almost under the alar squamae to above the level
of the root of the wing, while besides these tufts there is another one on the
hump on each side of the metanotum which though large and dense is not
so long-haired. Scutellum black, rather shining ; pubescence composed of

6. CHRYSOPILUS

303

rather long erect not scarce black hairs with some short golden hairs inter¬
mixed on the disc and sides.

Abdomen dull black or brownish black, narrower than the thorax and
usually conical, being less than half as wide at the tip as at the base, with the
segments after the second gradually diminishing in length ; pubescence
forming a very conspicuous golden fringe or crest across the hindmargin
of the basal segment, but otherwise with only moderately conspicuous long-
golden hairs on the five or six basal segments, and these hairs are not
abundant anywhere but are seen best when viewed from behind, and there
are also abundant shorter but more erect inconspicuous blackish hairs
especially about the hindmargins, and these blackish grey hairs become
more abundant and exclude all the golden pile on the end segments except
on the middle of the disc. Belly black, rather shining ; pubescence similar
to that on the dorsal surface but shorter and the golden hairs less prominent,
and there is no sign of any golden fringe near the base. Genitalia with a
dull black semicircular emarginate or bilobed middle basal piece, close to
but clear of which lie the two-jointed side lamellae, the basal joint being-
large and oblong with the lower outer angle projecting and the underside
bearing a delicate pale fringe, but the second joint elongate ovate and
curved inwards and having a brown tip.

Legs dull black, but testaceous on the extreme tip of all the femora, on
all the tibiae, and on the basal joint (except indeterminately at its tip) of all
the tarsi ; front coxae greyish black, large, and bearing rather abundant long
black pubescence all over the front part, though a few hairs towards the
inner side may be rather tawny; middle coxae rather similar, but the hind
coxae with the long black hairs restricted to about the apical half on the outside
and sometimes considerably mixed with golden hairs ; front femora with
very slight scattered blackish pubescence beneath and postero-ventrally, but
postero-dorsally bearing a patch of adpressed brownish yellow scales on
about the basal two-thirds ; middle femora with the brownish yellow or
blackish postero-dorsal scales extended almost to the tip, while at the tip
both antero- and postero-ventrally there are some small inconspicuous black
bristly hairs ; hind femora with the scales almost as on the middle femora
except that they are antero-dorsal, and with a short black ciliation beneath ;
all tibiae and the basal joint of all tarsi long and thin, with the usual tiny
black bristles but with no “ touch-hairs ” beneath the front tarsi ; front tibia;
slightly shorter than the tarsi, but the middle and hind tibiae each increasing-
in length and longer than their tarsi ; middle tibiae each with two long
testaceous spurs, and the hind tibiae with one rather short antero-ventral
one; front tarsi with the last joint inconspicuously flattened. Pulvilli
brownish yellow ; claws small, black.

Wings smoky brownish to the very base, and with a conspicuous dark
brown stigma which is elongate ovate and which lies in but does not reach
the end of the marginal cell ; base of the cubital fork usually rather
rectangular ; anal cell closed well before the wingmargin ; veins dark brown
or black, rather thick on especially the fore part ; base of the costa with a
rather conspicuous tuft of rather long black bristly hairs ; subcostal vein
with minute scattered black spines on the basal half. Squamye (alar) obscure
pale brown, rather large, smoky blackish orange with blackish margins ;
fringe short and equal, with the hairs in a single row. Halteres long, dull
black with a brownish orange stem.

?. Very distinct from the male. Head scarcely wider than the thorax, and
mainly light grey or brownish grey ; frons and face of almost equal width
from the ocellar space to the mouth, being nearly half the width of the head ;
frons with a very narrow channel down the middle, on each side of which is
a large undefined brownish patch (on which are often but not always a
number of tiny black bristles), while higher up on each side of the ocellar
space is usually a smaller patch on the front part of which are always some
short black bristles ; a sloping channel (or ridge between two small channels)
bounds the upper part of the frons and extends from each eye towards the
back of the head above the ocellar space, and just above the antenme an
indefinite transverse channel crosses the frons, and this channel is projected

304

LEPTID.E

upwards at its middle as a small triangle on which is a small blackish spot ;
the socketed epistoma darker grey and the side-cheeks light grey, and both
bare except that the side-cheeks bear a few short black bristles almost
hidden in the lower part of the channel which runs between them and the
epistoma ; jowls small, light grey, and bearing on the back part fairly long and
dense brownish pubescence (sometimes bleached in old specimens or black
in deeply colored specimens) ; back of the head light grey, bearing abundant
short black bristles but with the margin against the eyes quite bare, and a
little above the middle of the head these bristles disappear for a short gap
and then reappear rather more scattered ; occiput hollowed out at the middle
in a deep curve so that when viewed from above the broad eyemargins seem
puffed out, and all this part of the head quite bare ; ocellar space very
much elevated, rather dark brown or blackish, and bearing rather numerous
short sloping black bristles. Palpi greyish black, with black bristly hairs
which are shorter and scarcer than in the male. Eye-facets all equal.
Antennae more grey and bare than in the male, and the third joint apparently
slightly larger and more pubescent.

Thorax light bluish grey with a pair of clear dark brown or blackish
stripes, and these stripes slightly widened anteriorly but not nearly
reaching the front of the thorax nor quite extended to the hindmargin,
and the grey space between the stripes is itself split by a very narrow
sharply defined dark brown middle line ; the outer less defined broad brown
stripes can be detected (when viewed from above) extending from the humeri
to above the wing-base ; humeri brown. Pubescence on the disc consisting of
scattered depressed golden (or whitish yellow) pile, but this golden pile
becomes more dense towards the sides between the humeri and the wing-base
and right across the hind part ; there are also a few longer more erect thinner
(usually) black hairs along the sides between the humeri and the wing-base
and on the postalar calli, but sometimes these hairs are tawny, and a few of
these hairs occur on even the disc itself. Scutellum blackish, with numerous
suberect black hairs and rather abundant shorter depressed golden pile.

Abdomen black, but in perfect specimens the ground colour entirely
concealed by dense closely adpressed coarse yellow pubescence amongst which
are no erect and no black hairs but this pubescence very easily rubbed off ;
the abdomen is rather pointed at the tip. Belly dull brownish black, with
sparse yellow pubescence which ends abruptly at the end of the fourth
segment. Ovipositor blackish brown and composed of several tubular
segments which end in a pair of small rounded lamellae.

Legs similar to those of the male ; front coxae with fewer hairs which are
often mainly brownish yellow, while the middle coxae may have their
pubescence all brownish yellow or at least with several pale hairs on the
basal part, and the hind coxae have nearly all their few hairs yellow ; the
brownish yellow scales on the femora less dense, especially on the hind pair.

Wings more pellucid ; spines on the subcostal vein slightly stronger and
extending almost to the tip.

Length about 6-5 mm.

This species varies considerably in general appearance according to
the condition of the specimen, as the golden or yellow pile rubs off very
readily while the erect thin black hairs disappear almost as quickly, and
sometimes the entirely denuded abdomen appears to be shining brownish
black. It is very closely allied to the common European C. anratus Fabr.
(as identified by Loew), but C. anratus has the wings much more brownish
with the base very obviously dark orange and with the subcostal vein
conspicuously orange, the stigma lighter brown and usually rather thicker
through, the squamse more orange on the surface and with only pale brown
margins, the metapleural tuft darker and less conspicuous, the hind femora
more brownish, and the pubescence on the anterior coxse more greyish
black ; while the female of C. anratus differs in a similar way in the wings
and squamse, and has the pubescence on the inner part of the side-cheeks

6. CHRYSOPILUS

305

and the bristles on the frons (even though very tiny) more distinct, the
thorax with the stripes more obscured by golden pile (a very doubtful
character) and with the pair of stripes narrower and shorter and the
middle line hardly perceptible or with the stripes sometimes hardly visible,
and the femora with the scales much more extended. I believe the two
species are quite distinct and (remarkable to state ! ) Bigot had them nearly
correctly separated, though most of his specimens were in atrocious
condition ; his G. aurata was mainly the species known by that name,
while his C. atrata was G. cristatus, which (though his specimens were
unlabelled) tends to prove that G. cristatus is by no means confined to
Britain. C. moerens Loew is a perfectly distinct species known at once by
its very long and faint stigma and by other characters given by Loew.
G. erythrophthalmus Loew can scarcely be considered a close ally, as it is
much larger and thinner, with lighter femora, and with no long thin black
hairs on the thorax or abdomen. G. mtratus Fabr. is probably identical
with Loew’s G. siculus (which Bezzi states is common in all Italy) and is
distinguished by its pale haired coxae and jowls. Bezzi wrote to me that
a pair of G. cristatus which I had sent to him were “ une espece alliee du
“ Ghr. uuratus (F.) Lw. ( = atratus Schin.) comme je l’entende; il a aussi
“ dans le J la barbe noire et les poils noirs aux handles anterieures ; la
“ Crete de poils fauves sur la base de l’abdomen se trouve aussi dans
“ Vauratus ! — Mais c’est une espece que je n’avais pas encore vue, distincte
“ par la taille mineure, et dans le J pour la coloration des ailes qui est
“ beaucoup plus foncee, surtout vers l’extremite, et dans la ? pour
“ l’absence des poils gris presses sur l’abdomen.” I do not think that any
other well-recognised species can be confounded with C. cristatus.

C. cristatus is moderately common in Britain and I have numerous
records from Penzance to Sutherland and to Orkney, so I think it is likely
to occur in any suitable marshy localities ; it likes the long grass and low
herbage in the vicinity of water. Colonel Yerbury took it at Glengariff
in Co. Kerry, and says “ Common everywhere.” My dates extend from
June 6 to August 28, but specimens very soon show a worn appearance,
and a peculiar male taken at Lul worth Cove on August 21, 1906, is
extremely small, deep black with scarcely a golden pile left, and with the
wings unusually pellucid though not in the least orange about the base.
The species is recorded from the British Isles only at present, though I think
there were continental specimens in Bigot’s collection, but when better dis¬
tinguished from C. auratus I have no doubt it will be found to occur through¬
out Western Europe. The common C. auratus is recorded from nearly all
Europe, and occurs in Italy in company with the South European C. siculus,
so it is probable that we shall find the true C. auratus in Britain, but I
have not been able to detect a specimen for certain at present ; unfor¬
tunately most specimens that I have seen have been in very bad condition.

Synonymy— Loew in 1869 (Beschr. eur. Dipt., i., 56) dealt exhaustively with
the synonymy of the two species which he identified as C. aurata Fabr. and
C. splendida Meig., and his synonymy has since been almost universally adopted.
Since that time however Loew’s reasons for the adoption of the name C. aurata
have been weakened ; firstly he had no idea that a very closely allied species existed
in England, and secondly he did not know that C. aurata occurred in Italy, and he
to. a large extent used the name C. aurata as applying to a Danish species and
rejected the older name of G. atrata because it was originally given for an Italian
species. In the latter action he has been justified, as it is most probable that

U

306

LEPTIM

R. atratus Fabr. is the same as the common Italian C. sicula Loew, even though
Fabricius persistently said “peclibus nigris,” but recently Bezzi has stated that
C. auratus also occurs in Italy. The older name is C. atratus (1781), and it is note¬
worthy that Meigen in 1804 adopted that name for the common European species,
and that Fabricius in 1805 appears to have accepted Meigen ’s identification but
forthwith described an Atherix aurata as a new species from Denmark. It is also
certain that when Loew wrote of Fabricius’s Atherix aurata “Es ist unzweifelhaft,
“ und es hat in der That bis jetzt noch Niemand daran gezweifelt, dass dies die
“ Beschreibung des Weibchens cles Chrysop. aurata ist,” he and others had no notion
that Fabricius’s words “ thorace cinereo nigro trilineato, . . . alis aibis : . . . Caput
“ cinereum . . . Thorax cinereus : lineis tribus dorsalibus, approximatis atris ; inter-
“ media tenuiore ” could possibly apply better to the common British species than to
the common European one. There is however a still older name, Musca cristata ,
(Fabr. Syst. Ent., 782, 1775) which was given to a species _ caught in England on
May 20, and which was discussed by Loew but unwillingly rejected because
Fabricius himself subsequently (Ent. Syst., iv., 276, 1794) suppressed it under his
Rhagio atratus ; I quite agree with Loew in refusing to identify an English species
“ Pedes nigri, tibiis pallidis ” with an Italian species “ pedibus nigris,” and further¬
more Fabricius merely suppressed the Musca cristata of his Mantissa, ii., 349 (1787)
which was not referred to as identical with his Musca cristata of 1775. Fabricius
may well have given the name “ cristata ” to our species in reference to the crest of
golden pile on the hindmargin of the basal abdominal segment, as that is a
prominent characteristic of the British species even though it may be shared with
others.

I would not have resuscitated Fabricius’s name if it suppressed any known name
for this species, but whether the species be known in future as C. cristatus Fabr. or
C. cristatus Verr. is to me a matter of complete indifference.

Walker endeavoured to recognise a common Ghrysopilus in Styrex holosericeus
Scopoli (1763); if he had succeeded he might as well have revived the generic name
Styrex. I cannot possibly recognise any species from Scopoli’s description.

2. C. aureus Meigen. Legs all yellow. Wings hyaline without any
dark clouds except the stigma.

A small very graceful species.

A . Dull brownish black, obscured about the humeri and pleurae by light grey
dust, and in good specimens almost covered with golden pile. Epistoma and
side- cheeks covered with light grey or yellowish grey dust ; socketed epistoma
bare, nearly circular and globular; side-clieeks apparently bare, but with a faint
ciliation on the lower third of the side of the channel between them and the
epistoma, and this ciliation continued on to the jowls ; at the lowest hind
corner of the jowls (almost behind the mouth-opening) there is considerable
long whitish pubescence, which gradually shortens as it ascends the
moderately inflated light ashy grey lower part of the back of the head, but
the actual margins against the eyes are bare ; all the upper part of the back
of the head is almost flush with the eyes and is almost bare, as there is only
a slight pale fringe near but not quite close to the eyes ; ocellar space
considerably elevated, greyish, and bearing a few short yellow hairs ; frons
ashy grey, running up to a long point between the eyes and with a deep
middle channel, but leaving the eyes touching for about one-third the distance
between the occiput and the antennae. Proboscis thick and yellow, with the
sucker-flaps large ; palpi elongate and thin, blackish brown, and bearing
numerous obscurely whitish long outstanding hairs. Eyes in life brilliant
golden green, or rather coppery green on the upper three-fifths and green
on the lower two-fifths ; facets distinctly large in front about the part
where the eyes touch, but also rather larger on more than the upper half
than on the lower part, but the change is little perceptible. Antennae
brownish black ; basal joint very small ; second joint transverse and the
largest ; third joint small and transverse ovate ; arista about four times as
long as the antennae, very slightly pubescent.

Thorax and scutellum dull brownish or greyish black without any distinct

6. CHRYSOPILUS

307

markings, though sometimes in completely denuded specimens with faint
traces of a pair of widely separated narrow pale grey stripes which may
extend transversely along the suture, but in good specimens the ground colour
mainly hidden by abundant decumbent coarse golden or yellow pile, amongst
which some longer thin erect obscurely yellow hairs occur on the sides
between the humeri and the wings, and also on the postalar calli, on the hind
part of the thorax (dorso-central rows ?), and on the margin of the scutellum ;
pleurae ashy grey, with moderate pale yellow or whitish pubescence on the pro¬
thorax, on the upper part of the mesopleurse, and on the extreme hindmargin of
the pteropleurae, and with the usual thin though extensive tuft on the lower
part of the metapleurae, which is followed after a bare space by the shorter
denser more conspicuous tuft on the outer humps of the metanotum.

Abdomen slender from the end of the second segment to the widened
knob-like seventh segment and genitalia, dull dark greyish brown or greyish,
with only the broad base of each segment darkened or even almost blackened,
but the ground colour obscured in good specimens by rather short depressed
golden pile which is fairly abundant all over except on the blackish basal
part of each segment, and even in worn specimens a slight crest is usually
left on the hindmargin of the basal segment ; pubescence on the sides of the
four or five basal segments long, erect, and pale, though rather inconspicuous.
Belly greyish black, with fairly abundant moderately short sloping pale
pubescence on the five basal segments but with shorter black pubescence on
the next two segments. Genitalia knobbed ; lateral lamellae two-jointed, the
basal joint being large and almost oblong and densely pubescent above, but
the thin and shorter second joints arched inwards and almost meeting each
other and enclosing the pair of short black basal lamellae and the pointed
middle piece, and usually leaving a clear open space between the end of these
and the approximated (or touching) tips of the lateral lamellae.

Legs dull yellow, but the tarsi becoming obscured soon after the middle
of the basal joint ; coxae and trochanters darkened, but the coxae covered with
light ashy grey dust with usually a translucent tinge of yellow, and bearing
not very conspicuous obscure pale yellow pubescence ; hind femora rarely
darkened on the upper side of the apical half. Pubescence practically none,
but the spurs yellowish with black tips, the two spurs on the middle tibiae
being longer than the one on the hind tibiae.

Wings hyaline with a very slight greyish tinge ; stigma blackish brown or
sometimes lighter, short but broad and nearly reaching the end of the
marginal cell ; radial vein rather suddenly curved up to the costa ; anal cell
closed only a little before the wingmargin ; base of the wing and the veins
thereabouts tinged (often strongly) with orange or light brown, but the veins
gradually becoming darker until they become black long before the end ;
subcostal vein with very minute scattered spines on nearly all its length • in
very perfect specimens there is a small tuft of yellow hairs at the extreme
base of the costa. Squamae (alar) glassy with a blackish spot on the upper
part against the wing, and with clear orange or pale brown margin and pale
yellow fringes. Halteres with the knob, or at least its top half, brown, but the
stem obscui-e yellow or even quite orange.

? . Not unlike the male. Frons light ashy grey with sometimes a tinge of brown,
more than one-third the width of the head at its narrowest part (= the middle),
but widening considerably towards the occiput ; face (including the side-cheeks)
beginning as wide as the adjacent part of the frons but widening downwards ;
frons with scattered tiny blackish or obscurely luteous bristles, and with rather
longer and yellower bristles behind the ocellar space (leaving the sides near the
ocellar space broadly bare), and there is a row of similar bristles extending down
the back of the head near but not quite close to the eyes and then extending to
the more numerous and longer whitish bristly hairs, which in turn merge into
the longer pubescence on the lower part of the back of the head. Palpi
sometimes more ferruginous and with only rather sparse hairs. Eyes in life
vivid green with a faint brownish line across just above the middle but only
visible in certain lights, or (as noted in another specimen) evenly green with
a slight coppery gloss in some lights. Antennse below the middle of the
head ; third joint slightly larger.

308

LEPTID/E

Thorax almost as in the male, but in an entirely abraded specimen
a broad brown middle stripe extends though rather vaguely well forward
and two broad side stripes occur which are widely interrupted at the suture
and a small brown patch exists on each side almost above the wing-base.

Abdomen without any distinct blackish bands across the base of the
segments. Ovipositor with long telescopic joints which have dull orange
hindmargins, and ending in a pair of very small ovate lamellae.

Legs with the coxae and trochanters less darkened.

Wings, etc., as in the male, but the veins near the base sometimes strongly
orange.

Length about 5-5 mm.

This species may be known by its almost entirely pale legs, its small
size, and its conspicuous stigma. It is very difficult to obtain in perfect
condition because its golden pile is very easily rubbed off or bleached.
Continental specimens seem to be slightly larger, and in perfect specimens
the ground colour of the abdomen seems to be deeper black, while some¬
times the antennae are rather ferruginous, the hind coxae entirely luteous,
and the golden scales on the front and hind femora fairly numerous
though indistinct on the yellow ground colour. A continental female
has all the ground colour of the thorax and abdomen concealed by dense
whitish yellow pile except on the last three segments of the abdomen
(which seem to form part of the ovipositor). The European C. splendida
has much blacker femora, and the eye-facets of the male more distinctly
unequal.

C. aureus is hardly so common as C. cristatus, but still may occur
anywhere in rather marshy localities, as I have records from Cornwall
(Penzance) to Sutherland (Inchnadamph). My dates range from June
20 to August 3. It is recorded from Denmark to Italy.

7. PTIOLINA.

Ptiolina (Sffieger) Zetterstedt, Dipt. Scand., i., 21 and 226 (1842).

Small dark colored flies, which differ very much in the
sexes.

Head rather large ; epistoma small and bare, socketed between the broad side-
cheeks ; side-cheeks occupying more than two-thirds the space between the eyes, and
either pubescent or bare. Eyes bare, touching for a considerable space and leaving
only a small triangular bare frons just above the antenme and a small vertical
triangle at the top in the male, but widely separated in the female ; facets consider¬
ably enlarged on the larger upper part and sometimes very sharply separated from
the small facets on the smaller lower part, or sometimes the distinction rather
gradual. Antennae (figs. 200, 201) with the two basal joints short; third joint com¬
paratively large and long, short ovate, and bearing an almost apical stout bristle-like
style which is hardly longer than the third joint.

Thorax and scutellum simple, equally pilose without any distinctive bristles.

Abdomen simple, with seven distinct segments which gradually decrease in length
and breadth from the second to the seventh, the seventh being rather short in
proportion to the others ; all equally and moderately pilose. Genitalia of the male
rather knobbed, being rather short and blunt.

Legs simple, evenly pilose or almost bare ; front tibiae without any spur, middle
tibiae with two obvious nearly equal spurs, hind tibiae with one small spur ; front
tarsi as long as the tibiae and with a few “ touch-liairs ” on the underside of the basal
joint, which is almost as long as the other four joints together ; middle tarsi rather
shorter than the tibiae ; hind tarsi about as long as the thin straight tibiae.

7. PTIOLINA

309

Wings (fig. 202) with a true Leptid venation, but the cubital fork long and
almost straight-sided (not bell-mouthed) starting with an acute angle and with its
upper branch ending well before the tip of the wing but much nearer to the lower
branch than to the radial vein, while the lower branch ends at the tip of the wiim •
the tv o upper veinlets fiom the discal cell start close together and sometimes even
from a common pedicel (figs. 204, 205), but this character is very variable in individual
specimens (and even m individual wings), and in one or two females (fig 206) the
divergence apparently begins in one wing before the end of the discal cell • radial
\ om culling upwaids to the costa so as to margin the long dark stigma* discal
cross-vein placed on the basal quarter or third of the discal cell ; anal cell’ closed.
Squamae (alar) large and bearing a fringe single-rowed on the lower part but manv-
rowed on the upper part. 17

TIig fiist author to realise that there were several closely allied species
of Ptiolina was Wahlberg, who (Vet. Akacl. Forhandlingar, 1854, p. 214)
described with care four Scandinavian species in both sexes, and if our
commonest British species is among them it must be the one described as
Pt. obscura Fallen. Since then no doubt has ever arisen as to the limits
of the genus unless over Spania, but considerable doubt has arisen about
the identification of the European species.

This genus contains only four or five well-recognised European species
but about as many more doubtful ones; some of them are said to have
occurred at times in large numbers among reeds ( Arando ), but P. obscura
has usually occurred in rather dry places. It appears to be probable that
the species sometimes occur in considerable numbers for a very short
period. J

Most of the species occur in Northern Europe, but records are rriven
of one from Italy and three from Canada.

Table of Species.

1 (-j) Antennse almost bare on the two basal joints (fig. 200). Side-cheeks
sparsely pubescent. ’ ' 1 obscura.

Fig. m.-Ptiolina obscura 6 . x 48. Fig. 201. -Ptiolina atra $. x 48.

2 (1) Antennae with long hairs on the basal joints of the male (fig. 201)

and with short hairs in the female. Side-cheeks bare. 2 atra

( nigra Zett.).

Synonymt/ .— Zetterstedt described the genus “ Ptiolina Stmg.” in 1842 for Leptis
obscura of b alien and a new species Pt. nigra St mg. in litt. ; the generic characters
given on page 21 of Diptera Scandinavian vol. i., suflBciently define the genus, but
the characters given on page 226 are useless. From the very beginning The genus
seems to have suftered from synonymical troubles, and although Fallen’s species may
lave been well recognised by North Europeans it has been much misunderstood
or incorrectly described by others; Pt. nigra started in 1842 with the following
synonymy : °

Ptiolina nigra Staeger in litt. 1838. 8-

Leptis nigrina n. sp. 9 • Wahlb. Observationes Dipterologicae in Manuscr.

Leptis obscura var. specimina Darlecarlica Zett. Ins. Lapp. 527, 7.

Spania atra Staeg. in litt. recentioribus Hafniae 6 Nov. 1841.

310

LEPTIM

but even this synonymy will not bear investigation ( v . Dipt. Scand., xii., 4595), because
in 1842 Zetterstedt stated that he only knew of two (or possibly three) males and one
female, and that even of these he had not seen the female, and these three specimens
did not include those specimens (“ quales ”) which he had seen from “ Dalecarlia ”
and which had been taken by Boheman ; Pt. nigrinci Wahlb. is a distinct species,
and the name Spania atra of Stseger is worthy of consideration because it is obvious
that when Stseger suggested the generic name Ptiolina in 1838 he had overlooked
the genus Spania of Meigen (1820), but that between 1838 and November 1841 he
had come to the conclusion that his suggested genus Ptiolina was only a synonym
of Spania, and that as there was already a Spania nigra of Meigen he proposed
the new name of Spania atra for his own species. The genus and species Spania
nigra Meig. have also been frequently misunderstood, and it is essential that the
type species of each genus should be thoroughly identified ; I believe I have
succeeded in doing this, and I hope that the three species described in this work
have now been rescued from all doubt.

There can be no doubt but that Spania and Ptiolina are very closely allied, and
Meigen caused the first confusion by placing Spania in his Hybotince between
Ocydromia and Trichina ; Meigen however suspected his error, as he wrote “ ihr
“ Adernverlauf kommt viel mit Atherix iiberein.” I do not think that anybody who
has once known the genuine Spania nigra of Meigen has ever confounded it with
any other species, but many writers who have not known the true Spania nigra
have mistaken species of Ptiolina for it. Probably the most ridiculous errors
concerning Spania were made by Bigot in 1856 and 1857, as after stating in 1856 that
Ptiolina was identical with Spanda (a misprint) he corrected himself in 1857 (Ann.
Soc. Ent. Fr. (3) v. 523), and stated that Spania was quite distinct from Ptiolina
and should be placed near “ Clinocera Meig., tribu des Leptidi, apres la soustraction
“ du genre Chauna ” whereas Clinocera belongs to the Empidce and Chauna to the
Stratiomyidce ! Ptiolina was a genus unknown to Schiner in 1862, but was adopted
by him for the genus now distinguished as Symphoromyia (perhaps misled by Walker
in Ins. Brit. Dipt., i.) ; however in 1868 Schiner learned to know the true genus
Ptiolina, and dealt with the then known species which he distinguished in a most
unsatisfactory manner. Frauenfeld in 1867 (Yerh. zool.-bot. Ges., p. 491) well
distinguished Ptiolina and Symphoromyia but unfortunately knew nothing about
Spania. In the meantime (1849) Zetterstedt (Dipt. Scanck, viii., 2991), probably
prompted by Staeger, but still without actually knowing Spania nigra, was almost
convinced that Spania and Ptiolina could form only one genus, and again suggested
that Ptiolina nigra should be called Pt. atra ; but in 1855 (Dipt. Scanck, xii., 4595)
when he knew the true Spania nigra he had no hesitation in retaining both genera.
Becker in 1900 (Ent. Nachr., xxvi., 103) separated the two genera, though strange to
say he complimented Zetterstedt for being accurate about the antennae at the time
when the latter had never seen Spania but inaccurate after he had seen it ! It is to
be hoped that no further confusion will arise between the two genera, but I consider
them too closely allied to allow the specific name of nigra to be retained in each
and I have therefore adopted Staeger ;s proposed change of his P. nigra to P. atra.

To return to the type of the genus Ptiolina, I believe I have correctly identified
Lep>tis obscura of Fallen, which must be the type, but there is an important
distinction between my description and that of Becker (Ent. Nachr., xxvi., 110),
even though Becker’s description was made from specimens in Boheman’s and
Zetterstedt’s collection ; I have however dealt Avith this in my synonymical notes
upon Pt. obscura.

1. P. obscura Fallen. Side-cheeks sparsely pubescent. Antennm with
very short bristly hairs on the basal joints in both sexes (fig. 200).

A small obscure blackish Leptid.

6 . Face, including the broad side-cheeks, brown ; epistoma small and quite bare ;
side-cheeks very broad, being broader than the epistoma. and bearing long
but rather sparse brownish hairs ; jowls large, brownish black, and bearing
rather long blackish brown pubescence ; lower part of the back of the head
broad and bearing similar pubescence, but the upper part shallow and bearing
a moderately long black postocular fringe ; vertex blackish, considerably
elevated, forming an equilateral triangle, and bearing rather short black

7. PTIOLINA

311

pubescence ; frons small, blackish, quite bare. Palpi produced, almost as long
as the proboscis, not at all dilated towards the tip, blackish brown, and bearing
rather long blackish bristly pubescence. Eyes touching for less than half the
distance between the occiput and the antennae ; facets on about the lower
third most conspicuously smaller than those on the upper two-tliircls and so
sharply differentiated that the lower part of the eye is sunken as against the
part with the enlarged facets. Antennae (fig. 200) blackish brown ; basal
joints short and bearing short inconspicuous bristles ; third joint evenly short

ovate with an almost terminal coarse style which is about as long as the third
joint itself ; this style is rather thick but tapers a little from its base to its tip.

Thorax black with a faint gloss, and absolutely without stripes ;
pubescence moderately long and abundant, blackish brown, and all almost
equal as there are no conspicuous setae or lines of bristles ; pleurae chocolate
brown, quite bare. Scutellum similar to the thorax, but with the marginal
ciliation slightly longer.

Abdomen of the same black colour and the same slight gloss as the
thorax ; pubescence moderate, equal, rather inconspicuous, more recumbent
on the disc, and all blackish. Belly brownish black, with very short
inconspicuous pubescence. Genitalia blunt, very slightly longer and broader
than the seventh abdominal segment, and with some obscure blunt lamelhe.

Legs dull blackish brown ; anterior pairs almost bare, especially on the
tibiae, but with a slight ciliation beneath the femora ; hind femora with a
ciliation beneath, and the hind tibiae with a short rather inconspicuous dorsal
(and still shorter ventral) ciliation ; front tarsi with obvious (about six)
“touch-hairs” beneath extending all along the basal joint and about the ends
of the next three joints. Pulvilli obscure orange.

Wings with a strong smoky blackish tinge ; stigma brownish black, large
and long ; the two upper veinlets issuing from the discal cell closely
approximated at their base (figs. 202, 203), or with a very short united
stem (fig. 204), or with a long stem (fig. 205), or even occasionally in one
wing only of a specimen the fork may appear to commence back in the discal
cell (fig. 206). Squamae (alar) smoky brownish with a darker margin on which

312

LEPTIDiE

is a short pale brownish ciliation. Halteres brown, with the large knobs
blackish brown.

$. Resembling the male in venation but otherwise very distinct. Frons and
face light to rather dark brownish grey, nearly half the width of the head at
the narrowest part which is at the slight suture crossing the frons a
little above the antennte ; frons with rather sparse short black setose
pubescence all over except on each side of the ocellar triangle, near the
occipital bristles, and close to the antennae ; face bare on the epistoma but
with rather sparse short black pubescence on the broad side-cheeks ; side-
cheeks slightly produced from the eyes in profile ; jowls and back of the head
rather broadly inflated and bearing rather short setose black pubescence, but
the actual postocular margin bare until above the middle of the head, after
which the bristles become longer on the top fifth and some of them come close
to the eyes ; actual back of the head bare. Proboscis and palpi blackish ;
proboscis slightly the longer and with short sparse pubescence beneath ;
palpi with black setose pubescence. Eyes rather small ; facets all equal in
size. Antennae similar to those of the male, but the two basal joints and the
base of the third joint faintly ochreous.

Thorax brownish or brownish black with a slight gloss and usually (but
not always) with indications of three or five darker brown rather broad
stripes ; humeri rather ochreous. Pubescence all evenly and moderately
subsetose, but without any special bristles though with longer pubescence
on the posthumeral district and on the margin of the scutellum.

Abdomen pointed, rather shining chocolate brown or almost black, with
moderate black pubescence. Ovipositor apparently composed of several
joints which end in a pair of elongate lamellae.

Legs brownish black or blackish, very similar to those of the male but the
hind legs show no special ciliation except antero-ventrally on the femora ;
spur on the hind tibiae short ; “ touch-hairs ” shorter than in the male.

Wings as in the male, though they may be more smoky blackish brown ;
veinlets from the upper corner of the discal cell varying almost as in the
male. Halteres rather paler.

Length about 4 mm.

This species may be distinguished from Pt. atra in the male by the
basal joints of the antennae bearing only very short bristles, and in both
sexes by the pubescent side-cheeks and less hairy thorax, abdomen, and
legs, and by the more rounded third joint of the antennae. To distinguish
it from allied European species attention must in addition be given to the
thorax and abdomen being by no means bare, while the thorax is dull in
both sexes and not striped in the male, but the European species are still
very little known and not satisfactorily differentiated. It varies consider¬
ably in size and to a certain extent in darkness of coloration, and a pair
from Glanville’s Wootton in the late Mr C. W. Dale’s collection have very
blackish wings, the thorax of the male deep velvety black, and the abdomen
and legs quite black, while in the female the thorax and abdomen are
blackish grey with scarcely any trace of stripes on the thorax. The
specimens I have figured prove the valuelessness in this genus of any
characters derived from the presence, length, or absence of a stem to
the two upper veinlets from the discal cell.

P. obscura is uncommon in Britain and is only now beginning to be
well understood. I caught it in the New Forest and in the Isle of Wight
(Bonchurcli) in June 1885, and Dr Sharp and Mr C. G. Lamb found it in
abundance near the village of Bank in the New Forest in June 1901 and
1902, and it occurred sparingly in that spot in 1905. I have also taken
single specimens at Bettws-y-Coed and Ulleswater; Dr J. H. Wood has
taken it near Tarrington in Herefordshire, and Colonel Yerbury at

7. PTIOLINA

313

Barmouth and Porthcawl ; I suspect also that B. Cooke’s record (Naturalist,
v., 134) of Ptiolina melcena at Whaley-Bridge in Cheshire refers to this
species. The dates range from June 12 to 29.

Synonymy. — It is very necessary to identify this species correctly, as upon its
determination many other names depend. The type of the genus D the species
which Zetterstedt (or Stteger) recognised as Leptis obscura of Fallen. Fallen’s
original description was as follows :

“11. L. obscura grisescens, abdomine pedibusque lividis ; nervo alarum postico
“ angularem formante arcuato, crasso;

“ In Scania non nisi rarissime obvia.

“ Fem. Obscura, prmcedentibus minor. Abdomen lividum, an in vivente flavo-
“ maculatum 1 Pedes obscuri. — Ab omnibus speciebus supra commemoratis satis
“ distincta : nervo alarum illo postico, qui nervum format angularem, ceteris
“ crassiore et arcuatim flexo.

“Mas.”

This description, though insufficient, is not contradictory to our British species,
and in itself fairly defines the genus Ptiolina , but one must recognise that many
additional European species of Ptiolina are now known. The next writer who
knew the species — Meigen merely copied Fallen — was Zetterstedt, who was
intimately acquainted with Fallen’s collection, and his description in Insecta
Lapponica under the genus Leptis is perhaps worthy of being given in detail :

“ 7. L. obscura : nigra aut fusca, alis hyalinis, basi concoloribus, antennarum
“ articulo primo brevi, ultimo ovato. J $ .

11 Mas. : Totus niger immaculatus, subpilosus, alis fumato-hyalinis ; Fem. : Fusca
“ aut griseo-fusca, parum pubescens, tliorace subvittato ; alis hyalinis.

“ Var. a. J ? . halteribus nigris.

“Yar. b. $ . halteribus albidis ; paullo major obscurior.

“ Mas. et Fem. In hoc genere minima, vix ultra 2 lin. longa, de cetero hujus
“ omnino subdivisionis. Mas. : niger, hirsutulus. Palpi erecti. Antennarum
“ articulus ultimus ovalis, subcompressus, seta longitudine fere antennae, apicali.
“ Oculi viventis brunnei, vix seneo-micantes. Alee totae obscure hyalinae ; linea
“ stigmaticali lata, obsoletissima. Area angularis conclusa, angulo acuto ad
“ marginem interiorem non usque retracto, omnino ut in prioribus, sed arete
“ nervo superiori crassiori. Pedes toti nigri. Fernina : obscura aut grisescens, parum
“ pubescens. Thorax subvittatus. Alse hyalinae. Pedes obscure lividi. I)e
“cetero omnia ut in mare. — Variat S • duplo minor; variat etiam alis albidis,
“ nervis fuscis, stigmate nigro, quales in Dalekarlia a D. Boheman lectos vidi. ’

There are numerous contradictory statements in this description which render
its identification with our species rather difficult when compared with subsequently
differentiated species. Under his diagnosis Zetterstedt says “alis hyalinis, basi
“ concoloribus,” but under his note of the male he says “ alis fumato-hyalinis ” and of
the female “ alis hyalinis ” • now in our British specimens the male has the wings
“fumato hyalinis” but the female has the wings by no means hyaline; this
character is however strongly modified by Zetterstedt later on in Dipt. Scand.,
i., 227, when he says of both sexes “ alis hyalinis, stigmate fusco ; halteribus albis,
clava obscura,” and with a “Yar. a. J $ . halterum clava nigricante” and “Yar.
“ b. 9 . halterum clava alba ; “ paullo major,” then later on “Al;e cinereo-hyalinae,
“ stigmate obscuriore. . . . Fernina tota, etiam fronte lata, obscure cinerea, tliorace
“ subvittato.” At that time no other species of the genus was recognised except
Zetterstedt’s new species P. nigra, which (from subsequent descriptions) was easily
distinguishable by its strongly pilose basal antennal joints but which included
under its description an allied species P. nigrina Whlbg. This was written in
1842, but in 1854 Wahlberg dealt with four species known to him, and while
P. nigra (= atra) and P. nigrina are well distinguished from all known European
species by the long and densely pilose basal antennal joints, and P. nitida by the
brilliantly shining vertex of at least the female, P. obscura is described in words
absolutely fitting our British species, such as “epistomate et basi antennarum
“ pilis raris brevibus munitis, . . . tborace obsolete fusco-3-lineato ($),_.. . alis
“ dilute fuscescentibus stigmate saturation, . . . Fernina an tennis basi interdum
“ subferrugineis.” I cannot doubt but that our British species was included in
Wahlberg’s description of P. obscura, and therefore I adopt that name for it.

314

LEPTIDiE

Zetterstedt in 1855 almost copied Wahlberg’s descriptions and thereby brought his
P. obscura into line with our species. In the meantime it would be interesting to
know what species Walker included in a genus Tyolina , List Dipt. Brit. Mus., i., 220
(1848) with a species T. tristis , which in 1849 in the Errata (p. 1153) he altered to
Ptiolina and at the same time sank his T. tristis under Pt. obscura Zett., and also
recorded Pt. nigra Zett. as a British species; the old collection at the British Museum
has a specimen labelled P. nigra , which is a female in very bad condition but
probably belonging to the species I am now describing as P. obscura. If Pt. Wodzizkii
(not Wodzickii ) of Frauenfeld (1867) is a good species it may be distinct from Pt.
obscura in having no trace of darkened lines down the thorax of the female, but
Strobl in 1892 considered Pt. Wodzickii as a synonym of the species which he con¬
sidered to be Pt. grisea Meig. Strobl’s article (Wien. ent. Zeit., xi., p. 121) is
however hopeless in all he says about Spania nigra Meig., as he had not seen the
true Spania nigra at all at that time, but had a Ptiolina before him, as he recognised
later on in Mitth. Naturw. Ver. Steiermark, 1897, p. 196.

Strobl also distinguished a second Ptiolina which he considered to be the true
Pt. obscura Fall. Becker in 1900 (Ent. Nachr., xxvi., 108) dealt with Strobl’s second
species and also with six other European species, amongst them being Pt. obscura Fall.,
but I cannot understand his statement that Pt. obscura has the side-cheeks bare in
the face of Wahlberg’s “ epistomate et basi antennarum pilis raris brevibus munitis,”
and I observe that Lundbeck has noticed this error; Becker inexactly quoted
from Zetterstedt, who in turn simply copied Wahlberg, and it is too much to
imagine that Wahlberg included the jowls in his “epistoma,” and what is more
the “ Backen ” never have “ pili rari ” in the genus Ptiolina. I am afraid that
Schiner, Strobl, and Becker have each in turn only added to the confusion of
nomenclature in this genus while attempting to elucidate it. It is natural that the
comparatively common British species should be the first one recognised in
the genus, and it is not improbable that our second species is the second one
recognised. My continental material is very slight, but a pair of specimens labelled
Pt. obscura in Kowarz’s collection are probably the same as my species even though the
abdomen of the male has distinctly longer and more conspicuous pubescence, while
there are longer ciliations on the hind tibiae and femora and to a certain extent on
the anterior femora, and the wings are somewhat dark ochreous about the base ; the
female has the thorax without stripes and the legs paler brown, but seems to be
otherwise indistinguishable. A female in Bigot’s collection under the name of
Eurytion paradoxus is distinct and is probably the species accepted by Strobl as
P. grisea Meig. (and now placed under P. paradoxa Jaenn.) ; it is larger, with the
side-cheeks quite bare, the beard light grey, the palpi with short hairs, the basal
joints of the antennae almost bare and the third joint elongate oval with a rather stout
style, the legs lighter brown, the hind femora with a long fringe beneath (much
longer than in P. atra) and a moderate dorsal fringe, the hind tibiae with a dorsal
fringe (longer than in P. atra), and the wings yellowish at the base. In Dale’s
collection there were four specimens under the name of Ptiolina unicolor which
were (1) Pt. obscura A , (2) Pt. atra A, (3) Symphoromyia immaculata $ with
the anal cell just closed, and (4) Ptiolina obscura $ . It is also probable that the
Atherix melazna of Walker in Entom. Mag., iii., 180 (1836) referred to Ptiolina
obscura , because he suggested that it belonged to the genus Spania and that its
venation varied very much. Curtis’s description limits Atherix unicolor to the genus
Symphoromyia. I long ago recorded P. obscura as British under the name of
Pt. Wodzickii.

2. P. atra Staeger in litt. Side-cheeks bare. Antennae with numerous
bristly hairs on the basal joints, which are long in the male (fig. 201).

Very much like the preceding species.

A . Epistoma small, greyish black, quite bare of hairs but clothed with very short
fine down ; the broad side-cheeks occupy more than two-thirds the space
between the eyes and are also quite bare, and they are greyish black
against the epistoma but are more decidedly black against the eyes ; jowls
broad, deep black, and bearing abundant long greyish black pubescence which

7. PTIOLINA

315

extends on to the moderately inflated lower part of the back of the head ;
upper part of the back of the head rather shallow and deep black, with a long
black postocular fringe ; vertex elevated, greyish black, and bearing moderate
black pubescence ; frons small, dull black, quite bare. Proboscis prominent,
dull black ; palpi produced and long, being, nearly twice as long as the
proboscis and bearing rather long black bristly hairs, stout but hardly
in any way dilated about the tip unless they may appear slightly so
from some points of view. Eyes touching for less than half the distance
between the occiput and the an ten me ; facets on about the lower third
obviously smaller than those on the upper part. An ten me (fig. 201) dull
black ; basal joint short and bearing numerous long black bristly hairs ;
second j oint about as long as the basal one and also with conspicuous though
shorter bristly hairs ; third joint long ovate, with an almost apical style which
is about as long as the third joint and sometimes appears to be jointed
because its basal half is stouter than its tapering apical half.

Thorax black, slightly greyish, with a faint gloss in some, lights; in front
there are two dull deeper black stripes with a narrow separating middle line,
and the intermediate spaces when viewed from behind give an impression of a
pair of blackish grey stripes ; humeri and postalar calli greyish black ;
pubescence long and abundant but not dense, of a rather bristly type and all
about equal; pleurae bare, black with brownish grey dust especially on the
lower parts. Scutellum greyish black with similar pubescence to that on the

thorax.

Abdomen black, rather shining ; pubescence long, black, equal, abundant
but not dense, and all of a rather bristly type. Belly rather more shining
black, and with similar but shorter pubescence. Genitalia blunt, rather
knobbed.

Legs black ; femora and tibiae with rather long and rather abundant
pubescence composed of black rather bristly hairs which form a rather
long and conspicuous but not abundant dorsal ciliation on the anterior tibiae
and an unusually long dorsal ciliation on the hind tibiae j “ touch-hairs ”
just visible beneath the basal joint of the front tarsi. Pulvilli obscure pale
yellow.

Wings with a decided blackish tinge ; stigma greyish black, large . and
long ; first and second veinlets from the discal cell sometimes emitted
separately or sometimes united for a short stem. Squamae greyish black,
with obscurely greyish marginal hairs. Halteres brownish at the base, but
with large dull black knobs.

$ . Frons (at its narrowest part) less than a half the width of the head, ashy grey
(less brownish than in P. obscura ), with scattered short black bristles ; face
and the broad side-cheeks ashy grey and quite bare ; jowls moderately broad
and bearing rather long but rather sparse pale pubescence which extends on
to the lower part of the back of the head, but on the upper half of the back
of the head the pubescence is black, longer and more bristly, .and comes closer
to the eyes. Antennae with the bristles on the two basal joints rather short
though more abundant and longer than in P. obscura ; third joint agreeing
with the male in being longer and less rounded than in P. obscura ..

Thorax rather dark ashy grey with three broad brownish black stripes
which occupy nearly all the front part of the disc except in front of. the
shortened side-stripes and down the narrow intervals between the stripes,
but these dark stripes die out well before the hindmargin ; the. ashy grey
coloring about the sides gets a yellowish tinge in some lights especially about
the humeri ; pleurae ashy grey, quite bare. Pubescence of the thorax and
scutellum similar to that of the male.

Abdomen blacker, with longer and much more conspicuous pubescence
than in P. obscura ; eight segments (without the ovipositor) easily visible, the
second segment being the longest.

Legs blackish ; hind tibiae distinctly ciliated dorsally and less so (but still
obviously) beneath ; “ touch-h^irs ” barely visible.

Wings less blackish than in the male, though with a more evenly blackish
tinge quite to the base.

Length about 3-75 mm.

316

LEPTID.E

This species is easily distinguished in the male from P. obscura by the
long bristly hairs on the two basal joints of the antennae, and in both
sexes by the absolutely bare side-cheeks; the only other known European
species with similar antennae is P. nigrina Whlbg., but that has the side-
cheeks conspicuously pubescent. P. atra appears to be slightly smaller
than P. obscura.

P. atra was first known to me as British from two males which were taken
in May 1904 at Aberlady in Haddingtonshire by tbe Rev. Jas. Waterston.
Colonel Yerbury took a male at Brodie in Elgin on June 5, 1905, and seven
males and a female at Porthcawl in Glamorgan on May 18, 1906, which
he recognised at the time, but though he made repeated searches for more
specimens (in which I joined him on June 10) it was without success.
The Porthcawl specimens occurred on short herbage near a shallow pool
right out in the sand-hills, and the Aberlady specimens apparently in
similar but more marshy ground. Mr J. R. Malloch took a male at
Bonhill in Dumbartonshire on June 9, 1906; there was also a male (under
ihe label of Ptiolina unicolor ) in the collection of the late Mr C. AY. Dale ;
and it is possible that Walker correctly identified it when he intro¬
duced Ptiolina nigra Zett. as British (List Brit. Mus. Dipt., i., 1153),
though a very bad representative now in the British Museum looks like a
female P. obscura ; Walker recorded P. obscura at the same time, but in
his Insecta Britannica Diptera (1851) he did not mention either species,
and furthermore gave an entire misconception of the genus Ptiolina.

Synonymy. — Zetterstedt described this species in 1842 as “ Ptiolina nigra Stagger
“ in litt. 1838” and “ Spania atra Stmg. in litt. recentioribus Hafniae, 6 Nov. 1841.
It is obvious that Staeger at this later date considered his genus Ptiolina a synonym
of Spania, and that consequently his suggested name of nigra had to be altered in
the face of Spania nigra Meig. (1839). The genera are so closely allied that I prefer
to adopt Staeger’s own recommendation of the name atra. Zetterstedt’s original
description is not very recognisable and was subsequently admitted to be a mixture
of P. atra and P. nigrina. In the revised description given by Wahlberg in 1854 I
was at first misled by the term “ palpis dilatatis, but I now believe that Wahlberg
referred to the whole palpus as distinguished from that of his P. nigrina with
“ palpis apice dilatatis/’ and consequently I feel no further doubt about the
identification of our British species.

8. SPANIA.

Spania Meigen, Syst. Beschr., vi., 335 (1830).

Small, almost bare, dull black flies.

Head semicircular ; face (including the wide side-cheeks) short, bare, and shining ;
frons bare, broad and shining in the female; ocellar knob very much elevated in
both sexes. Eyes touching for the middle third of the distance between the occiput
and the antennae in the male, but widely separated in the female ; facets considerably
and abruptly enlarged on the upper part in the male. Antennae (figs. 207, 209)
placed well above the middle of the head ; basal joint very small and in the male
easily overlooked ; second joint larger though still transverse in the male and almost
so in the female ; third joint pubescent, considerably longer and larger than the
second on its ovate or almost oblong basal part, and in the male produced on its
lower part (fig. 207) in a way which resembles a long stout but tapering pubescent
style, or in the female (fig. 209) more equally produced into a long style-like
projection which is stouter, less tapering, and even more pubescent.

Thorax and scutellum with very short pubescence ; pleura? bare.

8. SPANIA

317

Abdomen narrower and rather longer than the thorax, gradually tapering in both
sexes, and composed of seven segments.

Legs simple, and with only minute pubescence ; middle tibiae with two tiny but
distinct spurs ; hind tibiae with perhaps one very indistinct minute spur.

Wings (fig. 208) almost as in Ptiolina and also variable, but the third veinlet
from the discal cell is usually (though not always) abbreviated ; discal cross-vein
placed at or just before the middle of the discal cell, and consequently the upper
basal cell longer than the second one; anal cell closed, but sometimes barely so.
Squamae (alar) large, with short fringes ; thoracal pair small and indistinct. Halteres
very large and long.

This genus is very closely allied to Ptiolina, in fact so much so that
various authors have sunk Ptiolina as a synonym of it ; I however agree
with Wahlberg and Becker in keeping it distinct. It differs from Ptiolina
in the shape of the third antennal joint and its apparent style, and
usually the third veinlet from the discal cell is abbreviated, while the
discal cross-vein is placed nearer the middle of the discal cell.

Scania at present contains only one European species, but it has been
recorded from North America possibly in mistake for Ptiolina.

Synonymy. — The original type species, S. nigra , is now well known, but was
often placed by old. authors among the Emjndce ; probably Staeger when suggesting
the genus Ptiolina in 1838 overlooked Spania and then in 1841 having noticed it
was willing to sink his own genus as a synonym, as he suggested altering the name
of his Ptiolina nigra to Spania atra. There are two misleading inaccuracies in
Becker’s paper on Leptidce in Ent. Nackr., xxvi., 104 (1900), when he stated that
Zetterstedt did not overlook the basal joint of the antennae and where he quoted
Zetterstedt in proof of the same ; both these errors are due to Becker having-
overlooked the fact that Zetterstedt’s statements in 1849 were made on specimens
of Ptiolina , as Zetterstedt at that time did not know the true Spania nigra ; when
however Zetterstedt in 1855 described the latter genus he expressly emphasised the
“antennae articulis tantum 2 distinctis,” and “antennis articulis tantum duobus
“ evolutis ” ; it is however possible that Zetterstedt even then did not personally
know either the species or the genus, but was paraphrasing Boheman’s statements
(Ofv. Vet. Akad. Forh., xi., 216).

1. S. nigra Meigen. Dull black. Third veinlet from the discal cell
usually abbreviated.

A small black fly, in fact the smallest fly described in this
volume ; a true Leptid but looking like an Empid.

S • Face moderately shining black, broad and retreating, and with its broad side-
cheeks quite bare ; jowls moderate in size, and bearing black or greyish
pubescence which extends about half-way up the shining black back of the
head ; back of the head rather puffed out on the lower half, and bearing on
the upper half a short black postocular ciliation ; ocellar space dull black,
very much elevated, and bearing short black pubescence ; frons triangular,
dull black and quite bare, rather sunken between the eyes ; proboscis rather
long and blackish, but the palpi apparently still
longer, thin and upturned, and with distinct black
pubescence. Eyes touching for nearly half the
distance between the occiput and the antennae ;
facets abruptly enlarged on rather more than the
upper half, but the small facets extend a little way
up the back part of the eye. Antennae (fig. 207) dull
black, apparently two-jointed because the basal joint
is so very small and short; second joint much larger, transverse cup-shaped,
slightly brownish on its outer margin ; both the basal joints with minute
black bristles ; third joint (not including the apparent style) longer and

Fio. 207. — Spania nigra
<$. x 06.

318

LEPTIM

stouter, rather longer than deep but not at all tapering, minutely but coarsely
pubescent, and produced from the underside of its tip like a style which
is about two and a half times as long as the stout part of the third joint
and is also shortly but coarsely pubescent ; this apparent style is thick,
straightly porrected, and slightly tapering to a point and there may possibly
be an articulation as indicated in fig. 209.

Thorax and scutellum dull black, but with a faint gloss in some lights and
perhaps with faint darker stripes ; pubescence not scarce but composed of
inconspicuous short black (in some lights rather greyish) bristly hairs, which
become longer on the posthumeral calli and round the margin of the
scutellum ; pleurae bare, rather greyish brownish black.

Abdomen moderately shining brownish black, rather longer than the
thorax and scutellum together but much narrower and rather tapering, and
with a tendency towards compression on the apical half ; pubescence blackish,
very short and inconspicuous. Genitalia concealed in the last segment.

Legs brownish black or almost black (lighter colored when immature), thin
and quite simple, without any pubescence except a moderately distinct
ciliation ; middle tibiae with two tiny spurs, but I cannot distinguish any
spur on the hind tibiae unless there may be a very minute one.

Wings (fig. 208) with a slight smoky blackish tinge, all minutely pubescent,
and with a large darkened stigma which occupies all the end of the marginal

cell ; the two upper veinlets
from the discal cell usually
sessile, but frequently separ¬
ated (sometimes widely) and
not uncommonly petiolate as in
Ptiolina (figs. 204, 205), while
the third veinlet is usually
abbreviated but is sometimes
complete ; it is also not un¬
common to find a spurious cross-
Fig. 208. — Spania nigra <$. x 20. vein connecting the two upper

veinlets from the discal cell soon
after their origin, and thereby forming a small complete cell above the end
portion of the discal cell (almost as in fig. 206) ; discal cross-vein hardly
before the middle of the discal cell ; anal cell sometimes barely closed or
sometimes distinctly petiolate ; it is very usual to find the venation varying
differently in the two wings. Squamae (alar) fairly large, smoky blackish
with short fringes ; thoracal squamae practically absent. Halteres very large,
long, and conspicuous, dull black.

$ . Rather larger and more shining than the male. Frons very broad, being
nearly half the width of the head, and with the almost equally broad face
(including the broad side-cheeks) shining black or
brownish black (immature ? ) and quite bare ; ocellar
space still highly elevated. Eyes very much smaller,
and tliii facets all equally small, but the back of the
head (away from the large vertical space) still
scarcely inflated. Antenna? (fig. 209) with the basal
joint distinct though small ; second joint larger than
in the male and almost as long as broad ; third joint
with its basal portion enlarged, globular or sub¬
quadrate, thicker and longer than the second joint,
and with its underside shelving off gently into a
long thick style-like projection which is about two and a half times as long as
the stout basal portion ; this style-like projection starts on its upper side at
a more clearly defined angle from the stout basal portion, and is so con¬
spicuously pubescent that it appears to be more than half as thick as the
stout basal portion, and on its apical quarter it indistinctly tapers to almost a
point, and this portion may be articulated as indicated in fig. 209 but I am
uncertain about this as I have had only one good specimen before me for
examination.

Thorax shining black with very slight indications of grey dust, and bearing

Fig. 209. — Spania nigra ?.
x 66.

8. SPANIA

319

short depressed sparse greyish black pubescence. Scutellum with distinct
marginal hairs.

Abdomen shining black, less pilose and more tapering.

Wings less infuscated • third veinlet from the discal cell abbreviated or
entire.

Length about 2 mm.

This species varies a great deal in size and venation, and no specific
characters dependent thereon can be trusted in either this or the allied
genus Ptiolina ; the variations of the venation are very frequently quite
different in the two wings of a specimen, and even the abbreviated third
veinlet from the discal cell does not afford a trustworthy character in
either sex, as I know it is sometimes complete in the male while in the
three females I have seen it is abbreviated in two but complete in the
other ; nevertheless as I have not seen a Ptiolina with this veinlet
abbreviated it may be a useful distinctive character when present. It
also varies in the intensity of coloring on the face, frons, and legs,
according to the maturity of the specimens. As there is no other known
European species of this genus it only requires comparison with species of
Ptiolina , and they all differ from it in the shape of the third joint of the
antennae.

S. nigra has been insufficiently distinguished not only in Britain but
also in Europe, and the females seem to be very rare. The species is not
uncommon in Scotland as I have seen numerous male specimens from
Tongue, The Mound, Nethy Bridge, Gairloch (Ross), and Arran, and
females from The Mound, and St Fillans in Perthshire; in England it
may have been overlooked as my only record is from Tarrington in
Herefordshire where Colonel Yerbury found the males common on Cornus
sanguinea, and he has taken it at Porthcawl in South Wales. Haliday
recorded it as occurring “ In moist places of open groves, hovering about
“ and alighting on leaves of evergreens. North of Ireland and Wicklow.”
My dates only extend from May 20 to June 28. It is recorded from
Sweden to Silesia, and it was probably in France that Abbe Ivieffer (Wien,
ent. Zeit., xv., 247, 1896) found a larva in the thallus of Pellia Neesiana.

Synonymy. — No doubt can arise about this species being the true Spania nigra
of Meigen (1830), but Strobl contended (Wien. ent. Zeit., xi., 124, 1892) that it was
the same as Atherix grisea Meigen (1820) and that the older name must stand ; Mik
however (Wien. ent. Zeit., xv., 124, 1896) maintained that Meigen’s A. grisea must be
a Symphoromyia or Chrysopita, and just about the same time Griffini found what is
apparently the true Symphoromyia grisea. At the same time Strobl contended that
Pt. nitida Whlbg. was only a dark over-matured form of S. nigra , which is very
improbable because Wahlberg described both sexes of Pt. nitida at the same time as he
described the two sexes of Sp. nigra , and at the same time he distinguished the two
genera ; beyond that Wahlberg was a writer who could be trusted to be almost always
accurate in his conclusions. Strobl’s further conclusions that Pt. Wodzickii Frauenf.,
Pt. lapidaria Now. ( = Eurytion paradoxus Jaennicke), and Pt. nigripes Zett. were
also synonyms show that at that time Strobl did not know the true Spania nigra at
all but that he had (as he subsequently admitted) a true Ptiolina before him of
which Pt. Wodzickii , Pt. lapidaria , and Eurytion paradoxus were probable synonyms;
Pt. nigripes is also probably a true Ptiolina, but I have dealt with many of these
species under the genus Ptiolina. Atherix unicolor Curt, must be a Symphoromyia.

320

TABANIDiE

IV. TABANID^.

Fio 210. — Tabanus maculicornis 9 • x 3.

Ortliorrhaphous brachycerons eremochsetous flies of moderate to very
large (but never small) size, of bulky build, and more or less broad
flattened shape; usually thinly pilose but never densely or furry haired ;
thoracal squamae large and rather upraised.

Head large, transverse, somewhat flattened behind, and with the back of the
head flat or concave and fitting closely to the thorax. Frons at the vertex almost
flush with the eyes, and either with or without ocelli ; face with large side-cheeks
on which is a soft rather bushy pubescence. Proboscis projecting, sometimes very
much elongated (but not in any British species) ; palpi two-jointed, conspicuous
with the second joint elongated or thickened and dift'ering very much in the sexes,
being porrect in the male but pendulous and pointed in the female. Eyes large,
pubescent or bare, touching on the frons in the male but well separated in the
female by a more or less wide frontal stripe, and usually in life brilliantly trans¬
lucent green with purple bands or markings ; facets usually enlarged on the upper
or anterior part in the male. Antennae porrect, approximated at the base, nearly
always clearly three-jointed, but the third joint always annulated (three to eight
segments) though very rarely flagelliform, and the basal annulation of the third joint
large and frequently rising into a peculiar characteristic dorsal hump soon after the
base (fig. 214), while the other annulations usually form a sort of thick style.

Thorax not very convex dorsally but rather flatly quadrate, strongly built, and
usually bearing inconspicuous erect thin black pile intermixed with which is a fine
or scaly pale pubescence, but never with any trace of chaetotactic bristles ; meta-
pleurae with a dense tuft of pubescence. Scutellum rather large, flattened, and
never with any marginal spines or tubercles or even bristly hairs ; metanotum
almost or quite concealed under the scutellum.

Abdomen broad and rather flat, moderately elongate or short, never slender or
constricted or compressed, composed of seven obvious segments, and without any
sign of bristles. Genitalia never prominent in either sex.

Legs moderately stout, occasionally thin but never long, and without any trace
of bristles unless in the form of a minute serration on the underside of the front
femora ; middle tibiae always and the hind tibiae sometimes (Pangonince) bearing

TABANIDdE

321

apical spurs ; front coxee rather long ; the legs very rarely exhibiting any dilatation
or structural ornamentation, but very frequently the front tarsi, and even tibiae near
their tip, bearing several “ touch-hairs ” on the underside. Pulvilli three, almost
equally pad-like.

Wings with the normal fully developed venation of the Brachycera ; veins
usually all ending simple and entire in the wingmargin, except that the lower branch
of the postical fork meets or almost meets the anal vein before the wingmargin and
consequently the anal cell is always closed or almost so, and sometimes the first
and fourth posterior cells are also closed near the wingmargin ; radial vein long ;
cubital fork not long but very wide open, commencing well after the end of the
discal cell and with the upper branch ending well before but the lower branch
far after the wing-tip ; discal cell near the middle of the wing, long and
hexagonal, and emitting three usually simple veinlets to the wingmargin, though the
upper one may be sometimes united to the lower branch of the cubital fork a little
before the wingmargin, and the lower one sometimes united to the upper branch of the
postical vein also near the wingmargin so that the first and fourth posterior cells or
one of them may become closed ; the upper branch of the cubital fork often emits
a short recurrent veinlet ; the lower branch of the cubital fork always ends much
nearer to the end of the first veinlet from the discal cell than to the upper branch of
the cubital fork ; discal and small cross-veins quite distinct at about the basal
quarter of the discal cell, and consequently there are five well-distinguished posterior
cells ; basal cells long and equal in length ; ambient vein entire, encompassing the
whole hindmargin of the wing • alula strongly developed though not very large ;
wing-membrane conspicuously rippled, and very densely but very minutely
pubescent. Alar squamae moderate in size or rather large and having folds, very
short fringed on the usually dark margin but with a long and shaggy tuft at the
angle ; thoracal squamae strongly developed and rather upraised, lying close against
the angle of the frenum, and bearing a short fringe. Halteres not much concealed
by the squamae.

The Tabanidce form one of the most easily distinguished families of
the Eremochaita, as the annulated third joint of the antennae is only shared
in the Palaearctic region by the very distinct Stratiomyidce and by a few
aberrant Lcptuice. From any Lcptidce they are at once distinguished by the
strongly developed raised thoracal squamae, by their broad flat shape,
very distinct wide-mouthed cubital fork, and the blood-sucking habits of the
females. From the Stratiomyidce they are almost always distinguished by
the large thoracal squamae, and in any Stratiomyidce when these squamae
are well developed they are of a very different texture and have woolly
surfaces, while at the same time the ambient vein is entirely absent and
the anterior veins are all crowded together on the foremargin of the wing.
The only other family of the Eremochasta with large thoracal squamae is
the Cyrtidce, and their globular hump-backed figure, diminutive head, and
balloon-like abdomen at once differentiate them in a most striking
manner.

The Tabanidce are composed of the well-known biting “ Horse-Flies,”
and are distributed over the whole world. About 1600 species are known,
of which nearly 200 are Palaearctic and about 200 North American.
Many of the species are conspicuous from their large size and none are
small. The females are persistent blood-suckers and are always ready to
attack man as well as animals, but the males are much more rarely met
with and may be seen resting on tree-trunks, palings, etc., or on flower
blossoms, though Osten Sacken states that they hover in the air on
mountain-tops at sunrise, and Schiner says that the males of Hcematopota

X

322

TABANIDvE

hover in the air in the morning and towards evening ; Colonel Yerbury
has informed me that he has seen the males of Hcematopota dancing in
small groups in hot sunshine, and he has also observed the male of Thcrio-
plectes distinguendus hovering, but has not noticed that habit in any
other large species of Tabanidce.

The metamorphoses have recently been thoroughly worked out in
several North American species by Hine, and he states that all the species
of Tabanus which he has been able to observe lay their eggs on the stems
or leaves of marsh plants ( Sagittaria , etc.), and the larvae are carnivorous
and live on small crustaceans and minute invertebrates either alive or
dead ; very few of the species can live actually in the water, but they
require marshy ground ; one species lives under water in “ riffles ” under
stones, but they live best in damp sand. Brauer once bred a Hcematopota
from a larva which came out of a coleopterous larva into which it had
bored, but of course it is possible that the coleopterous larva was dead
before it was attacked by the Hceinatopota larva. Hine states that the
perfect insects pair about eight o’clock in the morning for less than a
quarter of an hour, and that they collect in numbers overnight but dis¬
perse each morning before noon.

Arrangement. — If the character of the tibial spurs indicates special
affinity to the Leptidce, or if anybody thinks there is any connection
between Chrysops and Athcrix (which I think as unlikely as with
Anthrax !) it would be necessary to place the Pangonince next to the
Leptidce, but if (as seems more likely) Pangonia with its elongated
proboscis shows affinity with the Nemestrinince the Pangonince should come
last and lead on to the Nemcstrinidce. I am in favour of this latter view,
even though the venation and antennae show no stepping-stones, and
consequently I commence with Hexatoma, which has the most flagelliform
antennae, and pass through Hcematopota to Tabanus, and thence to the
Pangonince, beginning them with their most Tabaniform genus Silvius,
followed by Chrysops. and close the family with Pangonia. The presence
of “ touch-hairs ” beneath the front tarsi undoubtedly shows some strong
affinity with the Leptidce.

TABANID/E

323

Type of venation of the Tabanid^e.

o

a

1

8

h

Fio. 211. — Tabanus bromius.

Longitudinal (or long) veins.

a Costa (or costal vein),
b Mediastinal (or auxiliary) vein,
c Subcostal (or ls£ longitudinal) vein.
d Radial (or 2nd longitudinal) vein.
e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein.

e1 Upper branch \
e2 Lower branch )

of the cubital fork.

/ Discal (or Ath longitudinal) vein.
f1 Upper veinlet |

f2 Second veinlet - from the discal cell.
f3 Third veinlet j

g Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein.

h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

k Praefurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

w Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.
y Lower (or small) cross-vein.

Anal cross-vein =g2= the lower branch of the postical vein.

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital fork-cell).

324

TABANID.E

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

6b Third posterior cell.

6C Fourth posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 5 th posterior) cell ( or postical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or ls<) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal {or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Tabanid^e.

The most characteristic features in the venation of this family lie in (1) the
prsefurca and its origin ; (2) the cubital fork ; and (3) the small cross-vein.

(1) The Pilefurca always starts from the subcostal vein far before the base
of the discal cell, and is always long.

(2) The Cubital Fork is very characteristic and in itself will almost always
allocate a species to this family, though a few aberrant Leptidce ( Vermileoninas) and
some Bombylidce have a somewhat similar fork. The Fork is very wide open
triangularly, with the upper branch rather longer than the lower one and ending
well before the wing-tip, while the lower branch ends considerably more than that
distance after the wing-tip ; normally the upper branch ends rather near the radial
vein and about as far from it as the lower branch does from the upper veinlet from
the discal cell, and the wingmargin included between the branches of the fork is
many times longer than that of the adjoining cells , but the upper and lower veinlets
from the discal cell often vary until the uppermost one may connect before the
wingmargin with the lower branch of the cubital fork, and the lowest veinlet
from the discal cell may connect in a similar fashion with the upper branch
of the postical fork. The Fork begins after the end of the discal cell, and the upper
branch often emits a short recurrent veinlet (as in many Bombylidce) from the
angle soon after its base, but this character is of only minor specific value as it is
not constant.

(3) The Small Cross-Vein is always present, and that character combined with
the five posterior cells gives an infallible distinction from the Bombylidce.

Other details worthy of note lie in the complete Ambient Vein, the long hexagonal
Discal Cell with the Discal Cross- Vein placed on its basal third almost opposite to the
(always present) Small Cross- Vein, and the well-developed Alula.

Table of the Palcearctic Genera of Tabanid/E.

1 (6) Hind tibiae without any spurs. Ocelli often absent.

TABANINiE (p. 327).

2 (3) Third antennal joint not dilated nor dorsally humped near its

base nor with any style-like termination, but apparently
divided into a long simple cylindrical basal and three shorter
apical joints (fig. 212). H exatom a.

3 (2) Third antennal joint dilated soon after its base and often dorsally

humped there (fig. 214), and with three or four subsequent
annulations which are hardly separable into joints.

4 (5) Wings grey with hyaline dots indicating numerous imperfect

ocelli (fig. 222). Third antennal joint dilated near its base
but not dorsally humped there (fig. 213), and with three
subsequent annulations. Frons of the female as broad as, or

TABANIM

325

broader than long, with a frontal tubercle (in European species)
about four times broader than long. 1. H^ematopota.

5 (4) Wings mainly hyaline without spots or dots (in British species).

Third antennal joint dilated and dorsally humped near its
base (fig. 214), and with four subsequent annulations. Frons
of the female much longer than broad, with the frontal tubercle
absent, quadrate, or longer than broad. 2. Tabanus.

Fig. 212. — Hexatoma pellucens x 13.

Fig. 213. — Hcematopota pluvialis & . x 161.

1 (4) Eyes pubescent.

2 (3) Ocelligerous tubercle more or less distinct. Upper branch of the

cubital fork simple. Therioplectes.

3 (2) Ocelligerous tubercle absolutely absent. Upper branch of the
cubital fork (in British species) with a recurrent veinlet (fig. 215). Atylotus.

4 (1) Eyes bare. Ocelligerous tubercle absent.

Tabanus (sensu stricto).

Fig. 214. — Tabanus autumnalis $.

6 (1) Hind tibiae with apical spurs (fig. 216). Ocelli usually

present. Pangonin^e (p. 422).

7 (8) Second antennal joint as long (or almost as long) as the first.

Wings with conspicuous black bands or markings. Frons of
the female with a tubercle or callus. 3. Chrysops.

8 (7) Second antennal joint distinctly shorter than the first. Wings

without black bands or markings, even though there may be
small spots or a brownish smudge across the middle.

9 (10) Third antennal joint with eight annulations of which the first is

broad and short, being not much longer than broad (fig. 217).
Proboscis exceedingly produced, horny, with very small pointed
sucker-flaps. Face (and frons of the female) without any
tubercle or callus. Pangonia.

326

TABANIDiE

10 (9) Third antennal joint with five annulations of which the first is

very long and hardly broad (figs. 218, 219). Proboscis but
little produced, horny, with moderately broad sucker-flaps.
Frons of the female with a tubercle or callus.

Fio. 217. — Pangonia maculata £ . x 19.

Fig. 218. — Nemorius vitripennis £ . x 19.

Fig. 219. — Silvius vituli £ . x 19.

11 (12) Third antennal joint not much longer than the two basal joints

together; second joint much longer than broad (fig. 218).

Nemorius.

12 (11) Third antennal joint much longer than the two basal joints

together; second joint as broad as long (fig. 219). Silvius.

TABANIN/E

327

TABANINCE.

Fig. 220. — Tabanus maculicornis 9 • X 4.

Ocelli often rudimentary or absent, and sometimes even the ocellar
tubercle absolutely absent. Proboscis never porrect and elongate. Eyes in
life usually brilliant green, but often banded ( Tabanus ) or with curious
zig-zag bands ( Hcematopota ) ; upper and anterior facets often enlarged in
the male. Hind tibiae without any apical spurs.

Abdomen usually brownish grey or blackish with from one to three rows of light
grey dorsal spots or flecks.

Legs without any apical spurs on the hind tibiae, though there are two spurs on
the middle pair. “ Touch-hairs ” always (?) present beneath the front tarsi, and often
also beneath the end portion of the front tibiae.

Wings hardly maculated in any British species of the (comprehensive) genus
Tabanus though often blackened or banded in foreign species ; in Hoematopota
however the wings are rather darkened and bear numerous hyaline spots which
tend to form incomplete ocelli. Venation simple, the only variation in British
species being that of the recurrent veinlet from the upper branch of the cubital fork.

The females of this subfamily are all blood-suckers, but the males may be found
sitting on tree-trunks or posts and rails, while some of them hover in bright sunshine
especially in the early morning.

The only fully recognised character for separating the Tabanince from
the Pangonince lies in the absence of apical spurs to the hind tibiae.

The Tabanince are however a very homogeneous subfamily, and possess
a “ facies ” which almost always differentiates them at a glance; it lies in
the square build and robust appearance as contrasted with the more
elegant or more varied shape of the Pangonince. The Tabanince never
have the elongate porrect proboscis which so often occurs in the
Pangonince, nor have they the bright coloration of Chrysojps.

328

TABANID/E

1. HjSjMATOPOTA.

Hcematopota Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 267 (1803).

Moderate-sized rather hairy flies of elongate shape and of
grey or greyish black colour broken up by lighter grey mark¬
ings. Wings peculiarly ornamented by curved hyaline mark¬
ings on a grey ground.

Head (when seen from above) quite three times broader than long, with the back
part almost straight except for a slight notch in the middle in the male, and very
slightly concave with a slightly concave arch between the eyes in the female ; when
seen from in front the head is twice as broad as high. Face very broad in both
sexes, and descending considerably beneath the eyes so as to form broad but rather
flat jowls ; immediately beneath the antennae there is a cross channel which (in the
female) rises up at the sides and separates the cbeeks from the frons, and from
which two linear furrows descend and separate the very broad shelving side-cheeks
from the epistoma, and these furrows end in darkened pits near the mouth margin ;
face broad, side-clieeks and jowls light grey, the upper part of the side-cheeks
usually dotted with small black spots, and the face, cheeks, and jowls all bearing
long almost erect pale pubescence ; frons of the male reduced to a triangle above the
antennae (as the. eyes touch or almost touch for a long space) and with a shining
usually black middle space, and only slightly protruding, but that of the female
occupying fully one-third the width of the head from the vertex to the antennae
and more or less grey with a shining usually black callus right across the lower
quarter close to the antennae, and above that callus with two widely separated
rounded dull black spots, and still further upwards with a smaller (often indis¬
tinct) dark spot right out on the middle of the grey part of the frons which may be
an indication of the otherwise absent ocelli or ocellar space. Proboscis prominent,
and with broad sucker-flaps ; palpi of the male porrect, with the second joint
elongate, ovo-conical, or somewhat pointed, and bearing long soft pubescence, of the
female elongate, pointed, and hanging down against the proboscis. Eyes of the male
(fig. 221) touching or almost touching for a long space, irregularly ovate, higher than
long but often narrowed towards their upper part (when seen sideways), densely hairy,
and with the facets enlarged except on about the lower quarter and the hindmargin ;
in life unicolorous brown or brownish green on the large facets, but on the
lower part brown or purple with brilliant green or bluish or black zig-zag bands.
Eyes of the female (fig. 223) more circular because the facets are all equal,
widely separated and almost bare ; in life, brown or vivid green with brownish
purple or black zig-zag bands. Antennae porrect, longer than the head ; basal
joint long, and in the male considerably dilated and bearing long thin pubescence ;
second joint short, cup-shaped, and bearing a circlet of short black bristles ; third
joint elongate, not humped near the base dorsally, and with its basal annulation
more or less stout near the base but tapering to its tip, and with the other three
annulations about as wide as the tip of the first annulation and appearing to form
a stout blunt style ; this first annulation of the third joint is as long as or longer
than the other three together, and often appears to be divided again into further
sections, while the next two annulations are almost transverse and the last one
longer than either of the two previous ones ; third joint bare (unless microscopically)
except for some tiny black bristles which often occur in an incomplete (mainly
dorsal) ring near its base.

Thorax, slightly longer than broad, black (£) or greyish black (9) (in British
species) with light gTey stripes (sometimes indistinct in the male) which sometimes
resolve themselves after the suture into light grey spots. Pubescence fairly long and
dense, suberect in the male, but sparse and more depressed and mainly light grey in
the female ; the pubescence is longer, shaggier, and pale over almost all the pleurae,
but the hypopleurae are almost bare; no bristles or bristly hairs occur anywhere.
Scutellum lying flat, on the entirely hidden metanotum, and bearing pubescence
similar to that on the disc of the thorax.

1. H7EMATOPOTA

329

Abdomen as narrow as the thorax but much longer, almost parallel -sided and
rather flat ; dark colored in the British species, and often with grey spots, flecks, or a
dorsal stripe, or even (in the male) with ferruginous lateral markings near the base.
Genitalia inconspicuous.

Legs simple but strong ; front coxae long ; front femora bare beneath but
inconspicuously so because the bare part is of the same grey hue as the rest and is
not margined with tiny bristles; front and hind tibiae without any apical spurs,
but the middle pair with two spurs ; front tibiae and tarsi with “ touch-hairs
beneath in both sexes. _ ...

Wings (fig. 222) mottled grey and hyaline, with somewhat band-like hyaline spots
or incomplete ocelli, in repose lying roof-like over the abdomen. Venation of the
normal type of the Tabanidce , but the upper branch of the cubital fork always with
a short recurrent veinlet near its base ; all the posterior cells wide open. Squama:
moderately large, the alar pair extending about half-way across the thoracal when
they are against each other ; thoracal pair outspread and in no way covering the
halteres ; and both pairs with distinct margins which bear short fringes which are
inconspicuous except for the usual Tabanidous tuft of long hairs at the angle.

This genus is easily distinguished by its peculiarly mottled wings, its
comparatively simple antennae, and its comparatively small size, but the
species are exceedingly difficult to separate ; in my Presidential Address
to the Entomological Society in 1900, 1 said, “ It is an exceedingly difficult
‘‘ thing to name a British or European species of Hccmatopota, because we
“ meet with them in hundreds, though only in three or four species, but it
“ is easy to name a Soutli-African Hccmatop)ota, because we have so few
“ specimens for examination that almost each specimen can be clearly
“ distinguished from the others. I prophesy that when we have hundreds
“ of specimens of North- African, Mid-African, and South-African Hcema-
“ topota, we shall be infinitely less certain about the nomenclature than
“ we are now. It is only by the accumulation and examination of long
“ series of specimens that difficult groups of species can be effectually
“ dealt with.”

The metamorphoses are I believe but very little known, which seems
to be strange for such very common flies. Brauer once bred up a larva
from the body of the larva of Hclops lanipes (Coleopt.) through whose skin
it had evidently bored, and Perris (Ann. Soc. Ent. Er. (4), x., 196, 1870)
described the metamorphoses in detail but still remained uncertain as to
its habits.

Hazmatopota is represented by about half a dozen recognised species in
Europe and by one or two in North America, while apparently numerous
species occur in South Asia and in Africa. The flies are common at a
distance from human habitations (especially in the neighborhood of
cattle) and the females are most persistent blood-suckers of both man
and beast, especially on hot days. The bite of the female may have very
different effects upon individuals; to me it is always a seven days’ matter,
as if I am bitten on a Sunday I feel merely a sharp needle-puncture
(which usually causes a squashed fly ! ), and then I do not feel the
slightest further effect until on Monday a very slight irritation can be
noticed at the spot of the bite, on Tuesday the spot becomes irritable,
and on Wednesday it swells up and becomes troublesome, while on
Thursday it reaches its maximum in size and irritability, then on Friday
it rapidly diminishes, and is only just sensitive on Saturday, after which
no further effects are felt. The males sometimes dance in hot sunshine
between eleven and twelve o’clock, in groups of from six to nine

330

TAB AN ID /E

individuals above pine stumps (as seen by Colonel Yerbury at Nairn on
July 9, 1904) ; they alternately rise and fall between five and twelve feet
from the ground, and when the sun is obscured rest on the pines ; I have
never seen this habit, but have commonly found them resting on posts or
rails, or towards evening on flowers.

Table of Species.

Males.

1

2

O

O

4

(2) Third joint of antennae entirely blackish, no trace of reddish
colour being visible.

secies of the genus. Basal joint of antennae very
practically all shining black. Wings darkly
base of front tibiae distinctly blackish and

The blackest s
much swollen anc
marmorate. Actua
followed by a rather narrow luteous band.

2 crassicornis.

(1) Third joint of antennae more or less reddish brown about the
base.

Brownish black species. Basal joint of antennae obviously dulled
by dust on the basal portion.

(4) Tuft of hairs behind the vertex long and black.

Actual hindmargin of wing to a large extent hyaline. Knob of
halteres not conspicuously pale on the top.

1 pluvialis.

(3) Tuft of hairs behind the vertex shorter, denser, and all tawny.

Actual hindmargin of wing not at all hyaline. Knob of halteres
whitish on the top. Scutellum and base of abdomen with longer much
more bushy pubescence than in the other species. Actual base of front
tibiae indistinctly darkened and followed by a broad luteous band.

3 italica.

N.B. — II. Bigoti J probably resembles II. italica, but may have
more sharply defined markings, especially on the abdomen, and less
washed-out wing-markings.

Females.

1

9

O

O

4

5

(6) Basal joint of antennae more or less ovate, and shining on at least
the tip.

(5) Antennae with the third joint more or less reddish about the base.

Basal joint of antennae moderately incrassate, and shining at the
tip only.

(4) Femora blackish on the ground colour.

Wings muddily marmorate. Abdominal markings hardly extended
to the two basal segments.

1 pluvialis.

(3) Femora luteous on the ground colour.

Abdominal markings extended to even the basal segment.

4 Bigoti ?

(2) Antennae with the third joint entirely blackish.

Wings darkly and clearly marmorate. Femora entirely blackish.
Basal joint of antenna? considerably incrassate, and almost wholly
shining.

2 crassicornis.

1. H/EMATOPOTA

331

6

(1) Basal joint of antennae elongate, not in the least ovate (fig. 225),
and wholly dulled even to the extreme tip.

Femora often more or less luteous.

3 italica.

I am convinced that there are several undistinguished European species, as I
possess two females from Greece which are undoubtedly distinct from any of our
species, and I think I also possess three other species from Spain and Portugal.

Our British species are rather difficult to distinguish until well known. _ It _ may
be almost taken for granted that the first species to be found will be the ubiquitous
H. pluvialis, though in Scotland I think II. crassicornis will be found to be the pre¬
dominant species, and along the coasts of Essex and Suffolk II. italica may
supersede both of them. I have taken H. 'pluvialis and II . crassicornis in company,
and also H. pluvialis and II. italica , but not II. crassicornis and II. italica , while
Colonel Yerbury is of opinion that at Walton-on-Naze in Essex only II. italica and
II. Bigoti occur.

1. H. pluvialis Linne. Third antennal joint partly reddish; basal
joint incrassate elongate ovate, shining at the tip. Pubescence behind the
vertex wholly black in the male. Wings muddily or yellowish marmorate.

A common biting fly, known in Scotland as “ The Kleg ” ;
easily recognised by the mottled wings, which character how¬
ever it shares with the other species of the genus.

$ . Head much broader than the broadest part of the thorax, but not so short as
in II. italica. Face in profile rounded anteriorly though sloping up rather
straight from the antennae to the vertex, moderately and equally produced
from the eyes, whitish grey but Avith the broad side-cheeks thickly speckled
all over Avith small black spots which crowd together so much on the upper
part that they coalesce and form a black patch near the antennae ; the middle
part of the face with no black spots ; frontal space quite bare, yellowish grey
but Avith all the middle part deep black leaving the elongate triangle which
extends up between the eyes covered with the yelloAvish grey dust, the
triangle formed by this gi'ey dust being tAvice as high as broad ; joAvls fairly
broad, Avliitish grey and without any black spots except the tiny dots caused
by the roots of the hairs ; immediately after the jowls the lower quarter of
the back of the head is only slightly inflated and is Avhitish grey, Avhile a very
narrow postocular rim runs up the rest of the back of the head, Avhich
however bulges out at the top into the ashy grey slightly inflated sides of the
vertical space, these sides being separated by a channel and so much so
posteriorly that there is a conspicuous fissure at the middle of the occiput.
Pubescence on the side-cheeks conspicuous, rather long but only moderately
dense, erect and black ; on the middle part of the face and above the mouth
the pubescence is less conspicuous and is all whitish yellow, while on the
jowls and all the rest of the neighborhood of the mouth it is longer, denser,
shaggier, and pale yelloAV, but it does not extend at all up the back of the
head, though a shorter yelloAvish grey pubescence does extend s little up the
lower quarter behind an inconspicuous black postocular ciliation ; above the
loAver third of the back of the head this postocular ciliation grows longer and
more conspicuous until on nearly the upper half of the head it becomes very
conspicuously long, black , and rather dense right up to and including the vertical
space , though the front part of the vertex may very rarely have a feAV pale
hairs ; the absolute back of the head is ashy grey, almost bare, and consider¬
ably hollowed out. Palpi porrect, second joint yelloAV or yelloAvish, covered
Avith a whitish grey dust, elongate equally ovate, and bearing abundant blit
not at all dense long pubescence (except on the bare inner side), and this
pubescence is mainly yellowish Avhite but to a greater or less extent mostly
black about the tip ; basal joint darker grey, and also bearing similar pale
pubescence. Eyes rather shalloAv in profile, being almost or quite as long

332

TABANIM

Fio, 221 .—Hcematopota
pluvialis £ .

Left eye in life.

as deep, clothed with rather dense though not very conspicuous moderately
long pale brown pubescence, which appears in some lights to be almost
whitish, and this pubescence becoming more sparse on the lower and
hinder parts. Eyes in life (fig. 221) brown with a slight greenish tinge
on the large facets which occupy the upper two-thirds, then with an
obscure narrow dark band all across, and below that with two zig-zag bands
which are brilliant green with a faint coppery tinge, and which leave three
almost isolated brownish purple spots against the dark middle line, and a
narrow brownish purple band between the two green ones which has two deep
dentations on the front half but becomes wider and not
indented on the hind half, while the lower third or more of
this colored part is brown and has two moderate dentations
on the front half ; all the dark bands narrowly unite on
the hindmargin ; facets large except on the lower (or appar¬
ently outer) third and for a short zone extending about half¬
way up the back part. Antennae (fig. 213) hardly one and
a half times as long as the head ; basal joint dilated,
elongate ovate, quite twice as long as deep, almost or
quite as long as the third joint, shining black but with
obvious grey dust about the base extending on the inner
side for slightly more than the basal half, and bearing all
over long not dense pubescence which may be all black
or may be pale on the underside ; second joint very short cup-shaped but pro¬
jected dorsally a considerable distance over the third joint,* black, and bearing
a shorter denser black bristly pubescence ; third joint annulated, with its basal
segment longer than the other three together and usually rather lurid reddish
orange, and this segment stoutest about its middle but nearly three times as
long as the width of its stoutest part and with a number of short black decum¬
bent dorsal bristles a little before its middle and some more beneath which
seem to indicate a circlet around what might be a further subdivision of
the segment ; the other three segments of the third joint form a dull blackish
brown cylinder.

Thorax dull brownish black with three narrow widely separated grey lines
commencing quite from the front, of which the middle one is very narrow but
extended right through to the scutellum, but the side ones not quite so
narrow and interrupted at the suture and often extended for only a short
distance after the suture but on the other hand often extended more or less
distinctly to the hindmargin, and sometimes forming inconspicuous wider grey
spots just after the suture ; outside these lines the sides of the disc of
the thorax are less distinctly greyish, and the prsealar calli are distinctly
greyish ; pos talar calli and their neighborhood greyish or brownish grey ;
pubescence long and moderately abundant, mainly composed of rather sloping
yellowish grey hairs, but with numerous inconspicuous more erect black hairs
intermixed. Pleurae dark ashy grey, with long and shaggy greyish yellow
pubescence which is sparse on the lower part and which includes a patch of
black hairs on the back part of the mesopleurae, while the pubescence on the
back part of the pleurae is more yellowish and less grey. Scutellum dark
grey, and bearing long almost erect black and greyish yellow hairs intermixed.

Abdomen dull black, wTitk the hindmargins of the segments (after the
basal one) ferruginous or grey and the sides of the three basal segments
(especially the second and third) brownish red ; the normal coloring has
greyish hindmargins which tend to widen into triangles at the middle, especi¬
ally from the fourth segment onwards, and on that fourth segment the traces
may begin of a grey dorsal line and a roundish grey spot on each side of the
dorsal line rather above the middle of the segment ; a similar dorsal line and
rounded grey spots become more distinct on the fifth and sixth segments,
until on the sixth segment only the sides and two rather large spots remain
blackish brown, and the short seventh segment shows mainly a greyish
hindmargin ; but in darker specimens there may be but little trace of the
grey dorsal line or side-spots ; the brownish red at the sides about the base
seems to be always distinct on the second segment but may be diminished in

amount on the first and

third segments.

Pubescence suberect, long but not

This is not perceptible from the point of view in Fig. 214.

1. ELEMATOPOTA

333

at all dense, mainly black on the disc but with shorter more sloping pale
(usually grey but sometimes ferruginous) hairs on the hindmargins which can
rarely be said to form fringes ; sidemarginal pubescence long and outstanding
and usually all grey or brownish yellow along the actual margin, though
sometimes these fringes are more or less black. Belly ashy grey with the
sides at the base ranging from being very faintly ferruginous on the second
and third segments only to the sides on the three basal segments being all
conspicuously and extensively ferruginous ; pubescence rather short and
sloping on most of the disc but longer about the sides, and longer and more
tangled on the two basal segments, by no means sparse, and all pale grey
except for the numerous erect but curved bristly black hairs on the disc of
the seventh segment. Genitalia dark ferruginous with a two-jointed lamella
on each side, of which the basal joint is subquadrate and the second joint
half ovate, and these lamellae extend beyond the lower processes..

Legs dull black and orange ; the orange colour forming broad rings just after
the base of the front tibiae, at the middle knees, at two-fifths and four-fifths of
the middle tibiae, on the basal two-thirds of the basal joint of the middle
tarsi, and on similar parts of the hind legs only more narrowly at the knees ;
the middle dark ring on the posterior tibiae more or less brown and not
very sharply defined ; all the femora dusted grey ; front coxae long and
strong, obscurely greyish ferruginous or greyish black, and bearing long
pubescence which is yellowish on the basal half (or more) but black afterwards
and shorter on the outside ; posterior coxae short and greyish and bearing rather
long mainly yellow pubescence. Pubescence behind the front femora long
and mainly dark colored, behind the middle femora nearly all yellow but
black about the tip, on the hind femora antero-ventrally long and almost all
yellow but denser and shorter all about the tip ; front tibiae with inconspicuous
black dorsal ciliation though there are pale hairs on the orange part ; front
tibiae with a few “ touch-hairs,” and the front tarsi with numerous distinct
“ touch-hairs ” beneath and at the sides as well as long dorsal black hairs
at the tip of the basal joint and on the other joints ; middle tibiae with
numerous scattered long black hairs, and some shorter pale hairs on the pale
bands, spurs equal and black ; hind tibiae with a long conspicuous rather
dense black antero-dorsal fringe, and with a longer finer but almost equally
dense postero- ventral fringe, but with some pale hairs on the pale bands ;
basal joint of the hind tarsi with inconspicuous black pubescence. Pulvilli
brownish grey ; claws black.

Wings (fig. 222) marmorated with hyaline spots or incomplete ocelli on a
muddy greyish or slightly yellowish ground colour, and these hyaline markings
(though varying) have a distinctive character whereby the species can almost

Fig. 222. — Hcematopota pluvialis ? . x 8.

always be identified. A usually easy distinctive character for separating this
species from II. crassicornis lies in the discal cell, as in II. pluvialis that cell
includes two incomplete hyaline ocelli which are well separated by . the dark
middle part of the cell, while in II. crassicornis those two ocelli are less
defined and meet in the middle of the cell so that they usually form a white
Y-shaped hyaline marking but this character must like all the wing-colour
characters be used with a wide allowance for variation ; the first posterior cell
has scarcely any regularly defined hyaline marking on its basal half ; the
lower veinlet ending the discal cell is usually margined hyaline ; there is
only one incomplete hyaline band just before the tip. of the wing, and this is
continued as a hyaline margin all along the posterior margin of the wing

334

TABANID.E

(this character is more complete in II. pluvialis than in the others, while it
is completely absent in II. italica and II. Bigoti ?), and there is usually a
vague indication of a moderately large ocellus beginning just after the middle
of the discal cell and continuing vaguely in the fourth posterior cell and then
turning up just outside the discal cell and interruptedly returning along the
lower part of the first posterior cell to its starting-point, or a larger incom¬
plete ocellus can be traced outside this one ; altogether the hyaline markings
are of a less large and bold character than in II. crassicornis. Squamae
rather large, greyish brown with a dark brown margin to the alar pair and
a brown margin to the thoracal pair, while both pairs have a short incon¬
spicuous grey fringe which develops into a not very conspicuous longer light
grey tuft on the alar pair near the angle ; alar pair extending about half¬
way across the thoracal pair when the wings are partially raised. Halteres
with a brown or dark brown knob on a dull pale yellow stem.

$. In general resembling the male. Frons occupying fully one-third the width
of the head and very slightly widening from the occiput to the antennae,
yellowish grey with a large shining black callus right across the lower quarter
down to the furrow which separates the frons from the cheeks, and in profile
this black callus is raised; there are also two large roundish dull velvety
black spots a little above the shining Hack callus which are separated from
each other by more than their own diameter but by less than half their
diameter from the eyes (sometimes touching them) and from the black callus ;
still higher up right on the middle of the grey part of the frons is a small
black spot or dot which may be the only trace of a vertical space or of ocelli ;
the shining black callus loops up a little about its middle and rounds off a
little at the upper angles near the eyes and extends downwards between the
antennae, but the upper rims of the antennal pits are greyish orange; the
black parts of the frons are bare, but the grey part bears moderate rather
inconspicuous sloping pubescence (shorter than in the other two species)
which (when viewed sideways) appears mostly pale and rather conspicuously
so just above and below the dull black spots, but is to a large extent black on
all the middle part. Face yellowish ashy grey or pale grey, widening out
rapidly under the eyes, and the cheeks and jowls of almost equal width almost
as far as the back of the eyes, though the jowl part retreats rather flatly and
is almost half as wide as the depth of the eyes ; the front (or upper) half of the
side-clieeks dotted with black spots which hardly crowd together or coalesce ;
epistoma pale greyish but with a small black spot on each side close to the
cheeks in addition to the black pit on each side lower down. Face, cheeks,
jowls, etc., all clothed with abundant rather long yellowish white pubescence,
and that on the jowls mixing with the longer but similar pubescence on the
prothorax ; back of the head yellowish grey on a distinct though narrow
postocular margin, and with a short dense rather brownish yellow cilia tion (just
behind the bare eye-rim) which does not become any longer on the upper part
and which becomes inconspicuous and sparse behind the vertex ; actual back
of the head dark ashy grey and hollowed out. Palpi apparently orange but
obscured by dense whitish dust and sometimes with a slight blackish hue out¬
side about the middle of the second joint, while the
blackish hue is more pronounced under the white dust of
the basal joint ; palpi porrect, second joint usually not at
all, but sometimes distinctly, drooping, bearing outside
some small black bristles on the apical two-tliirds, and
with longer pale hairs above and below and about the
base, but with all the inside bare ; basal joint bearing
rather long pale pubescence. Eyes (when seen side¬
ways) almost as long as deep, rather flattened below ;
pubescence short, sparse, and inconspicuous ; in life
(fig. 223) brilliant green on the two middle green bands,
more brownish tinged on the upper one and reddish on
the lower one, with five brownish purple bands, of which the uppermost and
lowermost occupy the top and the bottom margins, while the second and fourth
are zig-zagged all across with two deep dentations inwards about the middle (or
rather more towards the front) ; the middle dark band isolated, starting from

Fig. 223. — Hiematopota
pluvialis 9 .

|Left eye in life.

1. HiEMATOPOTA

335

behind the middle of the eye with a smallish rounded spot and then contract¬
ing to a line, and subsequently with two dentations (especially downwards),
but ending in a point almost at the eyemargin level with the lower part of the
large lower frontal callus ; hindmargin of the eye all brownish purple and
narrowly uniting all the bands except the middle one, and with a projection at
the middle towards this middle band ; the second and fourth brownish purple
bands converge narrowly on the front margin almost to each other ; this
description (made from a female taken at Barton Mills in Suffolk) does not
exactly agree with fig. 223, more especially in the shape of the isolated middle
band, and I find that the eyes vary somewhat in these markings, the lower
purple band sometimes enclosing the fourth almost simple light band (not
indented so much as in fig. 223), wdiile the middle purple band may be entire
from front to back. Antennae about one and a half times as long as the head ;
two basal joints black, but mainly covered with grey dust which leaves only
almost the end half of the basal joint shining black on the upper side and
rather more at the sides ; basal joint rather dilated for a considerable length
about the middle (but not obviously ovate) and quite two and a half times
as long as its broadest part, bearing small black bristles all over and with
some thin pale hairs beneath on the basal half ; second joint short cup-shaped,
extending on the upper side cap-like over the third joint, and bearing black
bristles similar to those on the basal joint; third joint much longer than the
basal joint, obscurely brownish red on the basal half of its first segment
( = all except the three terminal segments), but otherwise dull brownish black,
and this first segment (apparently composed of two segments, because of the
annulated constriction at about a quarter from the base is more than three
times as long as broad, thickest at about a third from its base but thinner
at its base and end than all about its middle, and with several short black
bristles above and a few beneath at the end of the constriction near its base ;
the three terminal annulations about as thick as the end of the basal segment
and hardly tapering, the first two being subquadrate and the terminal one the
longest.

Thorax greyish black (not dull black as in the male) with five yellowish
grey or grey lines which all begin quite in front, and of which the middle one
is narrow and entire while the next pair are rather interrupted at the suture
but are continued (more or less indistinctly about midway) to the hindmargin ;
the lateral stripes are broad and rather vague and divide indistinctly just
after the suture but reunite later on so as to enclose a greyish black island
spot ; along the hindmargin the grey stripes are more or less connected.
Pubescence pale greyish yellow, short, rather depressed and rather sparse all
over, though several longer erect black hairs occur on the prsealar calli and
also a few above the wing-base ; pleurae ashy grey, bearing all over long
rather silky greyish white pubescence. Scutellum all dark brownish grey,
bearing only moderate pale pubescence.

Abdomen in a well-marked specimen greyish brown-black but ashy grey on
a moderately broad dorsal line, on all the hind and side margins, and on a pair
of moderately large rounded spots on each segment (after the basal one) in
the middle of the brownish black space, and sometimes whitish ashy grey on
the sides, but on the fifth to seventh segments these ashy grey markings tend
to coalesce and towards the tip occupy nearly the whole of the segments.
When viewed from behind the dark markings appear to form blackish brown
circles on the second to fourth segments, of which the inner arc is broad and
the upper arc on the third and fourth segments is partly hidden under the hind¬
margin of the preceding segment, while on the fifth and sixth segments the
brown markings are fairly well defined, and when viewed from behind the grey
markings appear pale ashy grey with a slight yellowish tinge. In other
specimens the grey markings may be more extensive and less defined, though
at the same time the pair of spots on the second segment may be small ; the
fifth to seventh segments often have inconspicuous ferruginous sides.
Pubescence short depressed and more extensively greyish yellow than in the
other species, but more or less blackish on the dark brown ground colour, and
longer and less depressed down the sidemargins, while it is black on the
sidemargins of the fifth to seventh segments except at the hind corners.
Belly darker yellowish ashy grey or whitish grey with a broad slightly darker

336

TABANID.E

middle part ; pubescence sloping, not dense, and pale except for some erect
black hairs under the seventh segment and to a small extent (though less
erect) on the sixth segment.

Legs colored as in the male. Pubescence very much less ; front coxse with
long fine pale pubescence which becomes usually but sometimes only slightly
bristly and black at the tip ; front femora with moderate pale pubescence
beneath which grows black behind towards the tip ; posterior femora with
slight pale pubescence beneath which becomes crowded, bristly, and black
about the tip ; posterior tibhe with black pubescence which is rather long
dorsally on the middle dark ring ; “ touch-hairs ” on the front tarsi and tip of
tibiae as in the male.

Wings slightly less dark, but with similar hyaline markings. Squamae and
halteres as in the male, but the knob of the halteres usually more whitish on
the top.

Length about 9 mm., but varying from 7 mm. to 10-5 mm.

This species is very closely allied to the others, hut may be distinguished
from H. crassicornis by its more muddily colored wings, by its less in-
crassate basal joint of the antennae in both sexes (though this joint may be
as incrassate in the male of II. pluvialis as in the female of IT. crassicornis )
which is distinctly dusted with light grey about its base, by its longer
antennae, by the more separated pale ocelli in the discal cell, by the
ferruginous markings about the sides of the abdomen in the male, and by
its less blackish hue in general ; H. italica has the antennae of the
female still longer, the basal joint being unusually long and not at all
incrassate and all covered with light grey dust, while it is a more elongate
species with more washed-out marmoration of the wings, more fer¬
ruginous femora, and in the male with pale tawny pubescence behind the
vertex. H. Bigoti ? is not yet well distinguished, but has the femora of the
female luteous and the abdominal markings far more defined even on the
basal segment. There may be other insufficiently distinguished European
species, but much more critical study is necessary. H. pluvialis varies a
little in size, and in intensity of markings on the thorax, abdomen, and
legs.

H. pluvialis is far too common all over the British Isles, as the bite of
the female is very annoying and, to many people, very painful and per¬
sistent; I have mentioned under the generic notes that the effects of the
bite last with me just a week. There are numerous records from Ivy-
bridge in Devonshire to Inchnadamph in Sutherland and to Orkney, and
even to St Kilda, while Colonel Yerbury has taken it in many Irish
localities; my dates extend from May 28 to September 16. Unless it
has been confused with its allies it occurs over all Europe and North
Africa and has-been recorded from North America (possibly in mistake
for II crassicornis) and from South America, but without a more critical
knowledge of the species this latter and several of the European records
require confirmation as I am inclined to believe that there are numerous
closely allied undistinguished species ; even of the six representatives of
the male of H. pluvialis in Kowarz’s collection four are smaller and have
the head less wide than the other two. In Scotland the flies are
commonly called Clegs or Klegs, and Curtis says they are called Stouts
in Dorsetshire.

Synonymy. — I have little to note about this except to say that it is only in recent
years that some of the allied species have been satisfactorily distinguished ; there
can however be no doubt about M eigen’s interpretation of the species in 1805. Duncan

1. H^MATOPOTA

337

in 1837 considered that he could only distinguish one British species, but his description
shows that he (in company with Mr J. C. Dale) found II. crassicornis at Bannoch
in July 1825 ; he stated that his Rannoch specimens belonged to Curtis’ II. hirsuta,
but Curtis himself subsequently declared that his II. hirsuta was only the male of
II. pluvialis.

2. H. crassicornis Wahlberg. Third antennal joint wholly black ;
basal joint in both sexes ovate incrassate, mainly shining. Pubescence
behind the vertex mainly tawny in the male. Femora of the female
always blackish. Wings darkly marmorate.

Very similar to the other species, but a more blackish fly
with more darkly marbled wings and with the basal joint of
the antennse more dilated in the female and less dusted about
its base.

d. Head when seen from in front flatter than in the other species because the
eyes diverge at a wider angle, and when seen from above proportionately
narrower and not so short as in II. italica, and when seen in profile more
evenly rounded above the antennae. Face with the black spots on the side-
cheeks coalescing into a larger blotch near the antennae ; postocular ciliation
long and black on the upper part but forming between the eyes at the vertex
a small tuft of still longer hairs which may be entirely composed of tawny hairs
(though not so conspicuously pale tawny as in If. italica) or may have a few
or even many black hairs intermixed (but never forming so conspicuous or
so exclusively a black tuft as in H. pluvialis ) ; the slightly puffed-out
sides of the vertical triangle blackish grey ; upper part of the frontal
triangle almost equilateral, and the dust there and at the sides of the frons
more whitish grey than in the other species ; palpi with a more blackish tinge
than in II. pluvialis and with more black pubescence. Eyes with their lower
margin diverging more widely in front so as to make the head appear flatter,
and when viewed in profile more deepened and rounded below *or less pro¬
duced to the antennee so that they appear to be a little deeper than long ;
pubescence slightly darker, but much shorter than in II. italica ; facets on the
upper part less enlarged than in II. pluvialis and II. italica ; in life iridescent
brownish green on the upper half (rather less on the back part) but on the
lower half darker green with three brilliant bands, of which the largest
and most conspicuous is reddish on a vivid green ground colour and is
irregularly wavy all across near the middle of the eye, there being a deep
wave upwards near the antennal end of the band and a projection upwards
after its middle ; the lower band is straighter, all green, and just below the
large band, but extending only for about half as far and not extended at all
towards the back part of the eye ; the upper band is only represented by a
greenish spot on the hindmargin of the eye just above the middle. Antenna;
barely one and a quarter times as long as the head ; basal joint more dilated
than in II. pluvialis , being only one and a half times as long as deep, shorter
than the third joint, and bearing no grey dust about the base except a very
inconspicuous amount on the inside ; second joint slightly longer than in
II. pluvialis, but not produced dorsally over the third joint ; third joint with
its basal segment thinner, being more equal in stoutness all along, and
with very few tiny depressed black dorsal bristles before its middle, and
not at all reddish ; the other cylindrical segments of the third joint are
nearer the same, stoutness as the end of the basal segment and are more
continuous with it than in II. pluvialis and II. italica.

Thorax deep dull black, with two widely separated conspicuously whitish
grey stripes which are well interrupted at the suture and which form just after
the suture only rather conspicuous wider whitish grey spots, but there is
sometimes a faint narrow middle line ; a grey spot also occurs just above each
wing-base, and the postalar calli are occasionally dark chestnut ; pubescence
almost erect, brownish grey, and with very few black hairs intermixed except

Y

338

TABANIDvE

about the sides and abundantly on the dark grey prcealar calli. Pleurae with
abundant shaggy yellowish grey pubescence and a large dense tuft of black
hairs on the mesopleuree. Scutellum dull black, very slightly grey about the
sides ; pubescence almost as on the disc of the thorax but with a very few
black hairs intermixed.

Abdomen deep dull black with the liindmargins (after the basal one)
conspicuously pale grey, and the fourth to sixth segments each bearing a pair
of conspicuous round pale grey (almost whitish) spots above the middle (or even
close to the foremargin on the fifth and sixth segments) ; there is neither a
dorsal grey line, nor any ferruginous markings about the sides near the
base. Pubescence on the disc suberect long and mainly black, though pale
hairs are sometimes intermixed on the middle of the basal segment, near the
foremargin of the third segment, about the grey spots on the fourth and fifth
segments, and near the sides of the fore and hind margins of the fifth
segment, and also extensively on the sides of the hindmargin of the sixth
segment, but none of these pale hairs are conspicuous ; sidemarginal
pubescence long (when seen sideways) brownish yellow and rather con¬
spicuous and extending a little along the liindmargins of the fourth, fifth,
and sixth segments, though numerous black hairs occur very near the side-
margins of the third segment. Belly grey, with rather abundant rather
sloping greyish yellow pubescence, but with several black hairs on the disc of
the sixth segment, while all the disc of the seventh segment bears erect curved
bristly black hairs ; pubescence on the two basal segments and partly on the
third longer and more shaggy than on the rest.

Legs colored black and orange very similarly to II. pluvialis, but the
dark parts are blacker and the orange rings considerably narrower, while the
knees are hardly at all orange ; front coxae greyish black, with long pale
pubescence on the basal half but with black pubescence on the anterior apical
half ; front tibiae black with a comparatively narrow conspicuous orange ring-
near the base. Pubescence behind the front femora longer and blacker, and
there is a slight fringe behind the basal half of the front tibiae ; pulvilli pale
greyish brown.

Wings (fig. 224) more darkly and boldly marmorated than in II. pluvialis ,

Fig. 224. — Ilcematopola crassicornis $. x 8.

the ground colour having no trace of muddiness or yellowish tinge, while the
hyaline markings form a larger and bolder pattern ; the two incomplete
hyaline ocelli in the discal cell usually meet in the middle of the cell and
form there a Y- or V-shaped marking, though sometimes they do not meet
but still are not so widely separated as in II. pluvialis ; the first posterior
cell has more clearly defined hyaline markings above the discal cell, while the
fourth and fifth posterior cells have more or less V -shaped hyaline markings ;
the lower veinlet ending the discal cell is usually margined dark • there are
usually two incomplete hyaline bands before the tip of the wing of which the
outer one is very imperfectly continued round the posterior margin of the wing,
and there is usually a vague indication of a large ocellus beginning with the
hyaline middle of the discal cell and passing down along the middle of the
fourth posterior cell and then turning upwards through the third, second,
and first posterior cells and back along the top of the first posterior cell to
the starting point. Squamae darker greyish brown than in II. pluvialis and
with brown margins, or even blackish grey with almost black margins even on
the thoracal pair. Halteres as in II. pluvialis.

1. HiEMATOPOTA

339

$ . Distinguished from II. pluvialis by the darkly marmorated wings, wholly
black antennae, and the smaller amount of grey dust on the basal part of the
more ovate basal joint of the antennae. Frons slightly widening from the
vertex to the antennae, more blackish grey than in the other species, with the
shining black callus hardly looped up about the middle, and the dull black
spots very close to the eyes ; upper rim of antennal pits greyish yellow ; frons
bearing conspicuous rather long sloping pubescence, which is pale about the
sides and becomes conspicuously whitish above and below the dull black spots
but is extensively black on all the middle part and pale again against the
occiput. Face whitish grey with the black spots confined to the inner upper
quarter and crowded and rather (or extensively) confluent there ; back of the
head pale ashy grey, with a dense longer more yellowish or whitish grey
postocular ciliation which becomes slightly longer still towards the top angles
of the eyes and which extends rather more down the back of the head. Palpi
yellowish, covered with dense whitish dust, and with a slight blackish hue
which is more obvious on the basal joint ; on the apical half of the outside of
the second joint there are a few inconspicuous black bristles but the joint is
mainly clothed with abundant rather conspicuous longer whitish pubescence.
Eyes (when seen sideways) rather longer than deep, and bearing rather dense
short pale brownish pubescence. Antennae one and a quarter times as long
as the head, all black without any reddish brown coloring; basal joint
incrassate ovate, rather more or less than twice as long as broad, much
shorter than the third joint, mainly shining black but dulled on more than
the basal half, by blackish or dark grey dust above and inside, and bearing-
more numerous longer black bristles than in II. pluvialis but with more
whitish hairs beneath on the basal half ; second joint dullish black, almost
as in H. pluvialis but not extended cap-like over the third joint; third joint
more equal in shape from base to tip, longer than the basal joint, and with
its basal constriction less obvious (unless closer to the base) and with no
small black bristles there.

Thorax dull black with a very slight greyish tinge, and with three con¬
spicuous narrow whitish grey dorsal stripes of which the middle one is the
narrowest and is extended almost to the hindmargin ; the next pair of dorsal
stripes are conspicuous down to the suture and then after a distinct interrup¬
tion are continued on as rather conspicuous short whitish grey spots just
after the suture and as very faint spots near the hindmargin ; the lateral
stripes which are evident in II. pluvialis are only faintly indicated in
II. crassicornis but are continued over the postalar calli almost to the outer
dorsal stripes ; pubescence sloping and not very short, whitish grey and
moderately equal all over but not at all dense, in fact almost sparse, the
erect black hairs on the praealar calli conspicuously long and erect, while
similar but shorter black hairs occur above the wing-base and on the postalar
calli ; pleurae and their pubescence almost as in II. pluvialis but both of a
more whitish tint, and there is often a large patch of black hairs near the
back part of the mesopleurae. Scutellum almost of the blackish tint of the
thorax, but greyish about the middle of the disc, and with longer more erect
and more whitish grey pubescence.

Abdomen deep black with a slight greyish tinge which becomes more
evident on and after the fourth segment ; sides of the two basal segments
rather conspicuously pale ashy grey, and sometimes traces of ashy grey occur
on the sides of the third and fourth segments ; fourth and fifth segments
with a faint narrow ashy grey dorsal line and a pair of more or less conspicu¬
ous ashy grey spots against their foremargins, and the third and sixth seg¬
ments often with traces of similar spots ; sidemargins of the sixth segment
and hindmargin of the seventh segment rather ferruginous ; sometimes the
pale ashy grey markings of the abdomen are more extensive, so that the
sides of the third and fourth segments are widely grey as well as most
of the fifth to seventh segments, while the round spots may be larger
and a small pair may occur on the second segment, and those on the
third to sixth segments may be fairly large, while the seventh segment
may be entirely grey and the sixth almost so • there may also be traces
of a grey dorsal line on the third and sixth segments as well as on
the fourth and fifth ; the hindmargins of the second to sixth segments

340

TABANIDiE

are whitish grey but vary in narrowness and sharpness of definition,
being most sharply and conspicuously defined when the abdomen is mainly
dark brown black. Pubescence short depressed and. black on the disc, but
the fringes on the sides of the hindmargins pale (distinctly so on only the
three basal segments), and all the pubescence widely on the sides of the two
basal segments longer more erect and conspicuously whitish, while this whitish
pubescence extends (though shorter and more sloping) down the sidemargins
of the third and fourth segments except that sometimes parts of the side-
margins of the fourth to sixth segments have black hairs ; on the other hand
sometimes all the marginal pubescence is whitish, or the hindmargins of the
sixth and seventh segments may bear inconspicuous brownish orange
pubescence. Belly dusted pale ashy grey (when seen from the base) on a
blackish ground colour, but more blackish on the last three segments and
with no dark middle stripe ; pubescence moderately long and abundant,
sometimes all whitish except beneath the seventh segment, but more
commonly black on the disc of the last three segments, though sometimes
yellowish on the third and fourth segments, and sometimes brownish orange
about the sides and hindmargins of the last three segments.

Legs colored as in the male but less pubescent, shorter and thicker
(especially the hind tibiae) than in II. pluvialis. _ Pubescence more extensive
than in II. pluvialis; front coxae with long white pubescence quite to the
tip ; front femora with a fair amount of pale pubescence on the basal half,
which grows to black behind the apical half ; pubescence more abundant than
in II. pluvialis on the posterior femora and pale with only a few black bristly
hairs at just the tip ; “ touch-hairs ” on front legs shorter than in II. pluvialis.

Wings, squamae, and halteres very similar to those of the male, but the
wings slightly lighter colored ; knob of the halteres light brown (but by no
means whitish) on the top.

Length about 9 mm. Austen says 8-11 mm.

This species is very closely allied to the others, hut may be distinguished
by its more darkly marmorated wings, shorter antennae of which the basal
joint is more incrassate and more extensively shining black and the third
joint entirely dull black, by the absence of ferruginous markings at the
sides of the abdomen in the male, by the less separated light ocelli in the
discal cell, by paler pubescence immediately behind the vertex in the
male, and by its generally blacker hue. It varies in the distinctness of
the light grey markings on the thorax and abdomen, but not in such a
manner as to confuse it with its allies.

H. crassicornis was common at Rannoch in June 1870, and had obviously
been taken there in July 1825 by Messrs Duncan and J. C. Dale. I
have other records from Hampshire (New Forest), Sussex (Blackboys), Kent
(Abbey Wood), Surrey (Camberwell), Cambridgeshire (Wicken and Wisbech),
Suffolk ( t . C. Morley), Norfolk (Brandon and Hunstanton), Herefordshire
(Tarrington), Cumberland (Buttermere), Glamorgan (Porthcawl), Bute
(Arran), Perth (Aberfoyle), Inverness (Netliy Bridge), Sutherland (Inchna-
darnph), and Co. Cork (Glengariff). It therefore probably occurs almost
anywhere but no doubt has been mistaken for H. pluvialis, and I know that
both species may occur in the same districts as I have met with both in the
New Forest (near which also H. italica has occurred), in the Isle of Arran,
and at Inchnadamph. My records extend from June 5 to August 14, and
I believe the males appear before the females, as Colonel Yerbury caught
some males at Porthcawl as early as June 5 and Mr C. J. Wain wright
took three males at Brockenhurst on June 12, while my earliest dates for
females are usually in July, though I caught one in Arran on June 15.
Austen (“ British Blood-Sucking Flies ”) extends its distribution to South
Devon, Banffshire, and Co. Galway, and also records a specimen taken as

1. ELEMATOPOTA

341

early as May 24. It was first described by Walilberg from Scandinavia
and has since been found (though rarely) in Central Europe, but has not
been well recognised ; I saw some strange forms of French Hcematopota
in the Museum at the Jardin des Plantes, but none answering to our

H. crassicornis.

Synonymy. — Duncan obviously took this species at Rannoch in July 1825, and
said it was the same as Curtis II. hirsuta , though Curtis himself stated in 1834
that his H. hirsuta was only the male of II. pluvialis; under any circumstances
II. hirsuta is only a “ nomen nudum" The characters by which Osten Sacken
distinguished the North American II. americana seem to exactly agree with
II. crassicornis.

3. H. italica Meigen. Third antennal joint partly reddish; basal joint
elongate and entirely dull in the female. Wings rather washed out
marmorate. Pubescence behind the vertex wholly tawny in the male.
Femora of the female often obscurely ochreous.

Closely allied to the other species, but easily distinguished
in the female by the elongate entirely dull basal joint of the
antennae.

d . Head in profile more evenly rounded anteriorly than in the other species,
being less produced upwards towards the vertex ; cheeks, jowls, and
postocular rim whitish grey, except for the usual black spots on the side-
cheeks ; postocular ciliation long and black on the upper third of the eyes
and standing out conspicuously, but between the eyes on the slightly puffed-out
vertical space the pubescence is soft and thin and rather dense and forms a
rather conspicuous pale taibny tuft ; the puffed-out vertical space is slightly
larger than in the other species and is whitish ashy grey with a conspicuously
more yellow tinge when seen from above. Palpi dull pale orange in one
specimen but in another specimen with a blackish tinge, and bearing rather
long but not dense pale orange and black hairs. Eyes in profile nearly as long
as deep, rounded below, and bearing dense pale grey pubescence which has a
slight brownish tinge on the front part, and which is distinctly longer than in
H. pluvialis or II. crassicornis ; facets on the upper two-thirds considerably
enlarged, and the rather distinct dividing line sloping downward from the
front part of the eye but curving up again towards the hindmargin and leaving
a less defined zone of small facets which dies out soon after the middle of the
hindmargin. Antennee longer than the head ; basal joint not quite twice as
long as stout, shining black but with whitish grey clust on the dorsal basal
half (much more conspicuous than in II. crassicornis but less so than in II.
pluvialis) and on the inner underside almost up to the tip, and bearing conspicu¬
ous long pale brownish yellow hairs (much more dense than in the other species)
intermingled with which (especially near the tip) are a few inconspicuous
black hairs ; second joint very short and with the usual circlet of short black
bristles; third joint with its basal segment brownish orange but apparently
divided into a short and a long articulation, and with a few tiny black bristles
about the end of the basal annulation ; this entire basal segment of the third
antennal joint is only a little swollen about its middle and is longer than the
other segments together, and these other segments are narrower and form a
thick dull blackish brown style ; third antennal joint (including all its
segments or annulations) very little longer than the basal joint.

Thorax dull dark greyish brown or almost black with three light grey
stripes, of which the middle one is very narrow but extends from the front
almost back to the hindmargin, but the side ones are interrupted at the
suture and only reappear as wider somewhat triangular rather conspicuous

342

TABANIM

liglit grey spots just after the suture ; prsealar calli and vague lateral stripes
after the suture broadly but indefinitely dark ashy grey ; postalar calli ashy
grey towards the hindmargin, and this colour extending along the outer
thirds of the hindmargin and widening a little up on to the disc at the inner
ends • pubescence fairly long and abundant and composed of thin pale grey
or pale brownish grey hairs, except for a few black hairs on the praealar calli
and about the sides after the suture. Pleurae covered with pale ashy grey
dust and bearing abundant shaggy pale greyish yellow pubescence and a
tawny tuft on the metapleurae, with a fairly conspicuous tuft of long black
hairs on the middle of the mesopleurse. Scutellum greyish brown, with
soft silky pale grey pubescence and with scarcely any admixture of black
hairs.

Abdomen dull brownish black with the sides of the three basal segments
slightly or indistinctly ferruginous ; hindmargins of all the segments pale grey
and running up into shallow triangles at the middle ; when viewed from
behind there is a grey dorsal line which is conspicuous and fairly broad on
the sixth and fifth segments and is obvious (though not quite extended to
the foremargin) on the fourth segment, and faint traces of this dorsal line
exist on the third or even on the second segment ; grey side-spots also exist
which are large on the sixth segment and which are almost connected with the
grey dorsal line and the grey hindmargin of the fifth segment, but on the fifth
segment the similar side-spots though large and roundish are separated from
the dorsal line and do not quite reach the foremargin ; on the fourth segment
there are similar grey spots, but on the third segment they may be smaller ;
the sidemargins of the third to sixth (and vaguely second) segments are
greyish and when viewed quite from behind are so broadly grey as to widely
touch the grey spots on the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments. Pubescence
rather long and almost erect, mainly black, but brownish yellow on the sides
of the basal segment and at the hind corners of the other segments (when
seen from above), while on the disc the pale hairs may be almost limited to
the pale grey hindmargins (especially on the widened middle triangles) but
the pale hairs may be scattered about on the disc and become more numerous
towards the tip, and when viewed sideways the sidemargins are seen to bear a
long yellow or brownish yellow dependent pubescence which becomes extra
distinct on the yellowish hind corners of the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments ;
when viewed from behind the pubescence on the basal segments of the abdomen
and on the scutellum appears longer and more bushy than in II. pluvialis
and II. crassicornis. Belly uniformly ashy grey except on the narrow yellow
hindmargins and bearing sparse greyish white pubescence which though
mainly depressed is longer and more erect on the two basal segments, while
a few black hairs occur on the disc of the sixth segment and several on the
seventh segment. Genitalia greyish brown ; basal joint of the lateral lamellae
about as long as the subquadrate second joint.

Legs (especially the tibiae) rather more slender than in the other species,
greyish black with luteous annulations ; front coxae covered with very pale
ashy grey dust and bearing abundant long silky whitish yellow pubescence,
and the other coxae clothed similarly but less obviously ; front femora
obscured by grey dust and bearing long abundant pale fine-haired pubescence
behind but the pubescence behind the apical half black, and all the pubes¬
cence on the underside whitish except at the tip ; posterior femora similarly
clothed but the less conspicuous pubescence black at only just the tip ;
front tibiae with the base indistinctly darkened (less so than in II. pluvialis
and much less than in II. crassicornis), followed by a broader luteous ring so
that the next darkening does not begin until just before or even just after
the middle and even then not so much blackened as in II. crassicornis ; middle
tibiae also mainly luteous but with a blackish brown ring on the basal (not
at the absolute base), middle, and apical fifths, or they may have only a faint
narrow dark ring near the base, an indistinct dark band on the middle sixth,
and the apical eighth black ; hind tibiae with similar markings to those on
the middle tibiae but either with the middle dark band longer and more
distinct, or with a narrow basal band, an indistinctly brownish band on the
middle fifth, and the apical eighth blackish ; front tarsi black, but the
posterior tarsi brownish black after the luteous base; “ touch -hairs ” rather

1. HiEMATOPOTA

343

numerous beneath the front tarsi ; spurs blackish. Pubescence on the front
tibue forming rather long but not conspicuous black ciliations above and
behind on the basal two-thirds ; on the middle tibiae long not dense
mainly pale haired ciliations above and behind, and a shorter black ciliation
beneath on the middle quarter ; on the hind tibiae the usual dense black
antero-dorsal fringe and a long dense softer postero-ventral ciliation, and on
the pale bands some ,pale hairs in both these fringes.

Wings more like those of II. pluvialis than of II. crassicornis but with the
dark coloring more washed out, and without the muddy yellowish tinge of
//. pluvialis or the dark marbling of II crassicornis, and the hyaline markings
may be broader and perhaps less defined than in either of those two, and
there is no trace of any hyaline markings along the absolute hindmargin of
the wing. Squamae paler glassy yellowish brown and with yellower margins.
Halteres whitish, with the basal half of the knob blackish on the upper and
under sides.

upper margin; the dull black
sometimes more distinct than
stronger, more erect, and blacker
some short pale inconspicuous
there is some longer but com-

Yery much like the male. Frons yellowish grey or sometimes blackish grey,
quite one-third the width of the flattened head, and almost parallel-sided ; the
shining black callus hardly looped on the
spots rather rounded, and the middle spot
usual • pubescence on the frons longer, denser,
than m II. pluvialis , though there may be
pubescence in very perfect specimens and

paratively inconspicuous pale pubescence just below the dull black spots.
Face whitish grey, with the black dots on the upper part of the side- cheeks
small and not at all crowded ; epistoma whitish, but with the usual four
small black spots ; pubescence of the face, side-cheeks, jowls, etc., white or
yellowish white ; postocular rim greyish yellow _ or greyish white with a
short dense rather brownish yellow ciliation behind and sometimes on the
upper third an anterior sparse row of slightly longer black bristly hairs ; this
brownish yellow ciliation grows slightly longer near the upper eye-angles,
but is sparse behind the vertex, and there are a few longer curved thin black
hairs on the back part of the vertex between the eyes. Palpi dull greyish
yellow, bearing numerous but not at all crowded black bristles on the out¬
side of the second joint almost to the base, with a few short pale ones inter¬
mixed on the basal half and some long thin whitish pubescence beneath near
the base. Eyes longer than deep, flatter above than below, and bearing
short inconspicuous pubescence ; in life the eyes are plain brown with black
zig-zag bands, the two lower bands being similar to those of II. pluvialis and
the interrupted middle band rather similar but the round middle spot larger
and connected by a very narrow line to a much smaller spot, though the
third spot is almost as large, the second band from the top is thinner and
more sharply angled the angle which is dipped towards the connecting part
of the middle line being very deep, and on the hindmargin this band is more
connected with the top one, and the top band with one sharp angle extending
into the gap in the dip of the next band ; it must be noted that this comparison
with the eye of II . pluvialis is only that of one individual specimen against
another and therefore may not always hold good ; in another specimen the
eyes — reversing the bands — were noted as rich chocolate brown with four green
zig-zag bands, of which the top one had one
deep dentation near the frons and a smaller
one still nearer, while the second band had
loops to allow for the dentations of the upper
band and was connected with the third
band, and the third band had two upward
dentations towards the loops in the second
band, while the fourth band was only undulated. Antennae (fig. 225) . one
and a half times to more commonly twice as long as the head ; basal joint
usually only a little shorter than the third joint, about four (sometimes only
two and a half) times as long as broad, and not in the slightest degree ovate
though rather compressed about the base, and usually with a constricted ring
near the tip ; this basal joint is entirely dulled even to the absolute tip with
light grey dust, and bears the usual black dorsal and lateral bristly hairs but

Fig. 225. — Hcematopota italica ?.

344

TABANIM

has abundant longer whitish pubescence beneath for the whole length ; second
joint covered with similar dull light grey dust and with a fairly conspicuous
circlet of black bristles round the tip, which is very slightly produced dorsally
over the third joint ; third joint apparently beginning with a very short bare
brownish orange basal segment,* followed by a rather longer more greyish
black or blackish orange segment upon which some short black bristles form
an irregular or incomplete terminal circlet, and after this by a long segment
which begins wider than the previous segment and is obviously though some¬
times inconspicuously brownish orange on its basal quarter but dark greyish
brown on the rest and gradually tapering up to the blackish brown three
terminal segments, and these terminal segments form a style which is as
thick as the end of the previous segment and as long as that segment after
the circlet of tiny black bristles.

Thorax dull black (blacker than in II. pluvialis) with three narrow light
grey stripes from the front part to the suture, of which the middle one is con¬
tinued almost to the hindmargin but the side ones are interrupted at the
suture and continued after that by much wider though short conspicuous
whitish grey or almost whitish spots (more conspicuous than in II. pluvial is)
and then continued onwards more faintly to the hindmargin, though
widening out again and becoming rather more conspicuous close to the hind¬
margin ; humeri and sidemargins rather broadly (especially on the praealar
calli) obscurely grey, and this colour curves round to the lowest end of the
postalar calli, while another obscure broad grey stripe near each side
extends from the suture to the inner end of the postalar callus ; pubescence
almost like that of II. pluvialis but with some erect or suberect incon¬
spicuous black hairs almost all over the disc. Pleurae pale ashy grey, or even
whiter than in II. pluvialis. Scutellum dark ashy grey, considerably darker
than in II. pluvialis.

Abdomen dark brownish black, with a fairly broad not very sharply defined
yellowish grey or brownish yellow dorsal line which widens out triangularly
on the second segment into the brownish grey or pale ashy grey hindmargin,
the hindmargins of other segments being also brownish grey or ashy grey with
faint indications of shallow middle triangles ; sidemargins broadly but indis¬
tinctly ashy grey ; each of the segments from the third to the sixth bearing a
pair of fairly large rounded brownish ashy grey or brownish yellow spots which
touch the foremargin of each segment and which are placed about half-way
between the middle and the sidemargins, and the second and seventh
segments bearing faint traces of similar spots, while the spots on the sixth and
seventh segments often get nearer the middle line. Pubescence on the disc
mainly black, short, and depressed, but whitish grey on the hindmargins of
segments, on the sides (except at the front corners of the end segments), and
on the end, being longer on the sides and end. Belly light grey with a broad
greyish black middle stripe from the second segment to the tip (when viewed
from behind), or with a pale brown stripe (when viewed from in front) ;
seventh segment blackish and bearing all over the middle of the disc longer
erect curved black bristly hairs, of which there are indications on the sixth
segment, all the other pubescence being short, depressed, and greyish
white.

Legs paler and longer than in H. pluvialis ; femora covered all over with
whitish grey dust and usually rather obscurely luteous but not uncommonly
with an apparently blackish ground colour ; in the most luteous forms the
anterior femora are darkened on the basal quarter and more or less so along
the upper side to the tip, or slightly along the upper side and at the tip, while
the hind femora are slightly darkened at just the base and obviously so about
the apical sixth ; front tibiae with a broad (one-third the length of the tibiae)
luteous ring just after the base (the base itself being brown), after which they
are brown for about half of the remaining part and black on the apical quarter,
though there may be a trace of a darker ring on the upper part of the brown
portion ; middle tibiae with three less distinct dark rings than in II. pluvialis.
Pubescence more conspicuously whitish, and with only a few black hairs
behind the apical third of the front femora and a short antero-ventral ciliation,
while only just the tip of the posterior femora bears a few black bristly hairs.

* Hardly visible in tig. 225.

1. HiEMATOPOTA

345

Wings (fig. 226) as in the male. Squamae light grey, with rather broad
brown margins and an inconspicuous pale marginal tuft on the alai paix near

Fio. 226. — Hcematopota italica 9 • x 8.

the angle. Halteres whitish yellow, with the inner and outer part of the
knob blackish except at the tip.

Length about 10-5 mm. but varying from 9-5 mm. to 11-5 mm.

This species is similar to the others, but the male may be distinguished
from H. pluvialis by the pale pubescence at the back of the vertex, and
the female from the other species by the elongate (not in the least ovate)
entirely dull basal joint of the antennre; the male may be distinguished
from H. crassicornis by the very different tint of the wing-coloring. Other
distinguishing characters lie in the usually larger size, more elongate shape,
usually ferruginous femora and more conspicuously black-haired frons of
the female, and the more washed-out wing-markings.

It varies in the female in having the basal segment of the third joint
of the antennae almost entirely dull blackish brown, the spots and
pubescence on the abdomen ranging in colour from the normal brownish
yellow to occasionally pale ashy grey, and the spots also varying in dis¬
tinctness though never occurring on the basal segment and only very
faintly on the second segment, and the femora ranging from light greyish
black to obscure luteous, while the amount of luteous colour or the
intensity of the dark bands on the tibiae may vary ; the basal joint of the
antennse is ordinarily very regular in length, but is occasionally shorter
but even then not in the least ovate.

H. italica has hitherto been but little known as a British insect ;
Curtis figured it in 1834 from some females taken at “ Mersey-Isle, Essex/’
to which locality Duncan in 1837 added the word “Southend”; about
1870 the late Mr Howard Vaughan gave me a female from the same
neighborhood ; Mr Chawner recorded it from Matley Bog in the Hew
Forest, and Miss Ricardo took one at Netley, Hants, on July 22, 1893.
The Mersey-Isle record caused Colonel Yerbury to go in search of it at
Walton-on-Naze in Essex in August 1907, and he found it not at all un¬
common there though he only succeeded in obtaining two males (the first
of that sex known as British and from which my description has been
taken) ; towards the end of that month I joined him at Woodbridge in
Suffolk and up to August 3 1st the females were not uncommon there in
company with H. pluvialis , while one female occurred at Aldeburgh as
late as September 19. Newman (Entomologist, iv., 215, 1869) recorded
“ Ho&malopota longicornis, a new British Dipteron,” and stated that there
were “ two specimens in the Entomological Club cabinet — one from the
“ neighbourhood of Balcombe, in Sussex ; the other from the Kent coast.”
If correctly identified it occurs from North Europe to Italy.

346

TABANID/E

Synonymy. — Although the principal figure attached to II. italica in Curtis’
British Entomology, 525, belongs to that species, the dissections are obviously
made from II. pluvialis. Newman’s record of II. longicornis mentioned
above is probably a synonym, and in fact Macquart’s II. longicornis is
probably the same. The synonymy as given in Kertesz’s Ivatalog can only be
founded on tradition and guesswork, and it may be noted that there is no
such species as II. elongata of Curtis, he having called his species II. italica while
the date on his plate is 1834 ; I made a note however when I examined Meigen’s
collection in 1906 that his II. grandis was only II. italica with darkened femora
and indistinct abdominal spots. II. nigricornis Gobert appears to be a synonym
according to the description and also according to three out of five females so
named in Bigot’s collection, the other two being specimens of II. Prigoti ? I have
adopted the name II. italica , but until the European species are better distinguished
the identity of Meigen’s species must remain uncertain. II. variegata Fabr. was
described from “Tanger ” and from the words “Antennae testacese : articulo ultimo
nigro. . . . Pedes rufi ” should be very distinct from either II. italica or II. pluvialis.

4. H. Bigoti Gobert? Third antennal joint partly reddish; basal
joint slightly ovate, and shining at the tip in the female. Femora of the
female obscurely ochreous. Wings moderately but not yellowish
marmorate.

A recently distinguished species of which I do not know
the male.

3 . Unknown ; but probably distinguished from II. crassicornis by reddish
coloring on the third joint of the antennae and by less darkly marmoratecl
wings ; from II. pluvialis by the absence of any hyaline markings on the
hindmargin of the wings, and by more distinct abdominal markings ; and
from II. italica by its less washed out wing-markings and its more distinct
thoracic and abdominal markings. I should expect to find that the pubescence
behind the vertex was all tawny as in II. italica.

$ . Most allied to II. italica but distinguished at once by the antennae. Head
broader than in the other species ; side-cheeks dotted as in II. italica but with
the spots rather larger ; frons bearing strong black pubescence as in II. italica
but with distinctly more pale pubescence at the sides of, and just after,
the dull black spots, and the middle frontal spot by no means small. Palpi
with very few black bristles. Eyes colored as in II. italica (according to
notes made by Colonel Yerbury on a living specimen, though in a second
specimen the bands were different in colour). Antennae rather long ; basal
joint not so long as is usual in II. italica and distinctly though slightly ovate,
and shining at the tip (even to a third of the length on the inside), while in
one specimen the basal joint is obscurely reddish except at the tip and a
second specimen shows similar traces ; second joint not extended cap-like
over the third ; third joint (exclusive of the three-jointed style) wholly
brownish orange, slightly tapering after its circlet of bristles, and longer
than the style.

Thorax very similar to that of II. italica, but the side-lines developing
into rather more conspicuous spots near the hindmargin.

Abdomen with more conspicuous markings than in any of the other
species, every segment (even to the basal one) having a well defined pair of
pale brownish grey spots; the grey dorsal line and hindmargins of segments
also clearly defined, and (when seen from above) the naked eye can at
once distinguish the pale triangle on the second segment more distinctly than
in any of the other species.

Legs colored as in the palest forms of 11. italica : the front tibiae having
only the tip blackened ; hind tibiae with rather distinct pale pubescence on
the pale bands.

Wings marked rather like those of II. italica as there is no trace of any

2. TAB AN US

347

hyaline hindmargin, but rather less washed out and the individual hyaline
markings wider. Squamae with broader and blacker margins. Halteres in
some specimens without any conspicuous whitish tip to the knob.

Length about 10-5 mm.

This species is altogether broader than H. italica and larger than most
specimens of II. pluvialis, while the abdomen is more elongate than that
of H. crassicornis ; the wings have a less washed out appearance than in
H. italica but have none of the muddy yellowish tint of II. pluvialis.
Even if a hybrid could he found between H. pluvialis and H. italica it
would not be likely to differ from both parents so strikingly in the
abdominal markings.

H. Bigoti ? is at present only known as British from four females
taken by Colonel Yerbury in company with H. italica at Walton-on-
Naze in Essex from August 11th to 23rd, 1907.

Synonymy. — When in Paris in May 1906 I was much puzzled with Gobert’s
species of Hcematopota and I could not satisfactorily identify them with our British
species ; I made a note however that II. Bigoti seemed to resemble II. italica but
had the wings not much washed out, which would agree fairly well with the
Walton-on-Naze specimens. Gobert’s description is hopelessly inadequate but
not contradictory, and as he gave no indication of sex it is very probable that he
also did not recognise the male.

2. TABANUS (sensu lato)

(including THEBIOPLECTES and ATYLOTUS).

Tabanus Linne, Syst. Nat., Ed. x., T. i., 601 (1758).

Large moderately pubescent flies of usually brownish black
or grey colour, but sometimes with brownish ferruginous or
conspicuous reddish orange markings and usually with longi¬
tudinal rows of grey spots or flecks on the abdomen.

Face broad, with broad cheeks all down the sides which are much more pro¬
minent than the sunken middle part of the face ( = epistoma) and these cheeks bear
more or less bushy pubescence which continues on to the jowls and thence to
the lower part of the back of the head ; upper part of the back of the head not (or
but little) puffed out in either sex ; ocelligerous tubercle present or absent, but
never conspicuous, and the actual presence of ocelli doubtful even when the
ocelligerous triangle is present. Frons in the male limited to a triangle above the
antennse which extends up to a point between the eyes, but in the female this
“ frontal triangle ” is continued as the “ frontal stripe ” right up between the eyes to
the vertex, and the parts of the eyes near where the frontal stripe merges into the
frontal triangle are known as the lower angles of the eye ; the frontal triangle
separated from the cheeks by a furrow running sideways from the lower margin of the
antennae and sloping upwards to the eyes ; frontal stripe of the female bearing some
spaces (usually black) denuded of dust or pubescence which are known as the frontal
“ calli,” and of these the lower one occupying a position immediately above the frontal
triangle, and the middle one placed at about the middle of the frontal stripe and
varying specifically in shape (when present) from quadrate to linear, and very
frequently connected with the lower callus by a narrow black line ; the upper callus
is seldom distinct but often indicated by a blackish or darkened space about the

348

TABANID.E

ocelli. Proboscis (figs. 227, 228) powerful, produced, and bearing rather large
sucker-flaps. Palpi very conspicuous, two-jointed, with the end joint elongate and in
the male (fig. 227) globular and outstanding with a more or less blunt tip ; or in the
female (fig. 228) . cylindrical and drooping to a point, lying on the proboscis and
mainly clothed with small depressed bristles ; basal joint short ovate and bearing
long pubescence. Eyes large • very large in the male and touching for a long space,
but separated in the female by the frontal stripe which is from two to six times
longer than broad ; practically bare ( Tabanus sens, strict.), or distinctly pubescent
(■ Therioplectes ), or sometimes only indistinctly pubescent in one or both sexes ; in life
brilliantly colored in some iridescent or opalescent tint of green, and usually
with purplish transverse bands, but in death these markings and colorings fade,
but can to a certain extent be renewed by damping, and the absence or presence
and number of these bands form useful specific distinctions ; in the male the
eye-facets are often conspicuously or moderately enlarged on the front and upper

Fig. 227. — Therioplectes distinguendus x 22.
Palpi and proboscis seen almost from
beneath.

Fig. 22S. — Therioplectes distinguendus 9- X 22.
Palpi and proboscis seen sideways, and with
the proboscis depressed.

parts and the extent or amount of this enlarging may also afford good distinctive
characters. Antennae as long as, or slightly longer than the head ; basal joint short
but longer than the second, and often produced cap-like over the base of the second,
bearing numerous short (usually black) bristles and usually some rather longer thin
hairs ; second joint also bearing numerous short black bristles placed more or less in
a subterminal circlet, and often dorsally produced cap-like over the base of the third
joint ; third joint elongate and segmented, the segments after the basal one forming a
very stout style ; basal segment of the third joint large and long, enlarged about its
base and bearing on its upper side before or at the middle a peculiar hump (rig. 214)
which varies specifically from a moderately raised hump to an arched hook ; the style¬
like terminal part of the third joint composed of four joints, of which the last is the
longest, and consequently the whole antenna apparently composed of seven segments.

Thorax large, quadrate with rounded angles ; humeri distinct, with a large
rounded prsealar callus between them and the wing-base, and this callus often
rather differently colored from the disc of the thorax. Pubescence on the disc
rather inconspicuous and usually composed of two distinct kinds of hairs, of which
one kind stands erect almost bristle-like over most of the disc and scutellum
(and is usually black) but does not exist on the front part of the disc, while the
other kind is hair-like and pale and lies more depressed all over the disc and at
least round about the margin of the scutellum and is much thinner and more liable
to be rubbed or worn away than the erect black hairs ; in addition to these there are
patches of depressed hairs above the wing-bases and against the postalar calli (which
are analogous to similar patches in the Anthracince) ; pleura; with longer shaggier
pubescence ; there are no bristles of any description on any part of the thorax or
scutellum.

2. TABANUS

349

Abdomen as broad as or slightly broader but hardly longer than, the thorax,
rather flattened, rather more pointed at the end in the male than in the female.
Pubescence short and inconspicuous, but by its colour assisting to show up the grey
spots or flecks which almost always exist in a dorsal row and very frequently in two
outer rows ; seventh abdominal segment always with some distinct erect black
bristly hairs on its underside.

Legs simple, but with two apical spurs on the middle tibiae ; front coxae long,
being fully two-thirds as long as the femora ; hind tibiae rather ciliated ; femora
dull, clothed all over with soft pubescence except along the underside of the
front femora and on a streak behind the apical quarter of the hind femora, these
parts being bare and usually shining ; the bare part of the underside of the front
femora minutely transversely striate and margined anteriorly with minute black
bristles ; * front tibiae about the tip and the front tarsi beneath or about the sides
with peculiar “ touch-hairs,” which are analogous to those in the Leptidoe.

Wings (in European species) rarely spotted or marked in any way, and with
scarcely any deviation from the typical form of the Tabanidce (fig. 211), except
that the upper branch of the cubital fork has sometimes ( Atylotus ) a recurrent
veinlet near its base (fig. 215) as in many Bomhylidce and Asilidas ; posterior cells
normally all open, but the first one sometimes narrowed or even occasionally
closed ; anal cell closed ; wing-membrane rippled all over, practically glabrous.
Alulae strongly developed, and so large that when the wings are at rest they are
pushed upright against the sides of the scutellum. Squamae very well developed, and
with darkened margins which bear a short ciliation except on the alar pair near the
angle where there is a conspicuous tuft of long hairs ; thoracal pair largest but
outspread or elevated and not concealing the halteres. Hal teres moderate.

The larvae live in damp earth, in sand, or under rotting leaves and stalks on damp
earth; M. Lecaillon (Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr., lxxiv., 20, 1905) has described how T.
quatuornotatus lays its eggs in a cluster on stems, and how the larvae feed on dead
or decaying animal or vegetable matter, and that they can live in almost any degree
of moisture from dry earth to absolute water. Hine has also recently bred several
North American species as I have noted under the description of the family (p. 322).

The flies occur commonly ai'ound pasturing animals or sit on tree-trunks,
and the bloodthirsty females rarely attack though they continually threaten human
beings ; the males may be seen sitting on rails or on flowers, and hover in the
sunshine at early morn even before sunrise especially in high mountainous regions ;
Colonel Yerbury has seen T. distinguendus hovering during the day time. When
confined in a small box the living flies have a remarkable habit of breaking ofl' the
tips of the wings and sometimes even the whole wing ; this is probably done by the
fly striking its wings against something in its short jerky attempts at flight.

Tabanus in its wider sense is a very natural genus, but it contains
such an enormous number of species (885 in Kertesz’s “Catalogus
“ Tabanidarum,” published in 1900) of which many are exceedingly closely
allied that attempts have naturally been made to subdivide it, and, as far
as British species are concerned, the adoption of Thcrioplectcs and Atylotus
is a great convenience ; about sixty species are known to occur in Europe
(and more than double that number are recorded from the Palsearctic
Region) of which about twenty belong to Thcrioplectes and about eighteen
to Atylotus (in Brauer’s sense of that subgenus) ; fifteen or sixteen species
are recorded in this work as British ; more than one hundred and fifty
species have been recorded from North America and more than two
hundred from South America, about one hundred and fifty from South
Asia, over fifty from Africa (excluding Pakearctic), and about fifty from
Australia and New Zealand.

* This character has just recently been noticed by Lundbeclc (Diptera Danica, Part I., 86, 1907) and is
worthy of closer investigation, as it is probable that some specific distinctions will be afforded by it. 1 had
only partially observed it and it is now too late for me to follow it up as thoroughly as I could wish ; it appears
to me that the bare under side of the front femora, w hich is often sunken and margined anteriorly by a close
row of minute bristles, is provided as a receptacle for the front tibiae when the latter are folded against the
femora. Lundbeck also calls attention to the intensely black front tarsi of the species of Tabanus and the
peculiar way in which they move the front legs when held in captivity.

350

TAB AN HUE

According to the probable derivation of the name of this genus the
second “a” should be pronounced long = Tabanus.

Synonymy. — Linne founded this genus in the 10th edition of the Systema Naturae
in 1 758, but naturally his genus was of a rather comprehensive nature ; he included
twelve species of which six were European, one being a Hcematojjota and one a
Chrysops but the other four belonging to the present comprehensive genus. T.
bovinus has always been correctly accepted as the type species.

Table of Subgenera.

1 (4) Eyes pubescent.

2 (3) Ocelligerous tubercle more or less distinct. Upper branch of the

cubital fork simple. Therioplectes.

3 (2) Ocelligerous tubercle absolutely absent. Upper branch of the

cubital fork usually with a recurrent veinlet (fig. 215).

Atylotus.

4 (1) Eyes bare. Ocelligerous tubercle absent. Tabanus

(sensu stricto).

THERIOPLECTES.

(Subgenus of Tabanus).

Therioplectes Zeller, Isis, 1842, p. 819.

“ Eyes pubescent, with three or four purple cross-bands and interven-
“ ing green intervals ; ocelligerous tubercle more or less distinct ; head of
“ the male not differing much in size or shape from that of the female ;
“ the difference in size between the large and small facets on the eyes of
“ the male is but very moderate, and the dividing line between them
“ indistinct.”

The above quoted words are those used by Osten Sacken in his last
definition of this subgenus (Western Diptera, 215, 1877), and are only a
slight modification of characters previously given by him when founding
the subgenus Atylotus.

Zeller when founding Therioplectes gave no character beyond “mit
“ behaarten Augen in beyden Geschlechtern,” but he separated T. fulvus
Mg., T. rusticus Fabr., and T.plebejus Fall, into a “ Zweyte Unterabtheilung,”
and consequently when Osten Sacken found a character common to these
three species which was not shared with the majority of the hairy-eyed
Tabani he was justified in giving a new subgeneric name ( Atylotus ) to
them, even though it subsequently became considered that the first
species of Zeller’s “Erste Unterabtheilung,” T. tricolor Zell., was also
an Atylotus; furthermore it is by no means certain that Osten Sacken
intended his subgenus Atylotus to include such species as T. tricolor
Zell.

Osten Sacken’s character derived from the comparison between the
large and small facets on the eyes of the male does not hold good in
regard to all European species, as in some species the facets are very
different in size and rather abruptly contrasted by a dividing line.

Therioplectes is easily distinguished from Tabanus by its hairy eyes in
both sexes, even though microscopic examination may often detect hairs

2. TABANUS

351

on the eyes of some true Tabani, but from Aiylotus it is not so easily
distinguished. In our British species however Atylotus may be known by
the large head of the male, the entire absence of any ocelli or even ocelli-
gerous tubercle, the recurrent veinlet from near the base of the upper fork
of the cubital vein (fig. 215), and the shifting irregular spots on the eyes
in life.

Table of Species.

Males.

1 (2) Legs entirely black. Frontal triangle shining black. 1 micans.

2 (1) Tibiae mainly yellowish. Frontal triangle grey.

3 (8) Abdomen mainly blackish grey or black, with only moderate dull

reddish or brownish red lateral markings near the base. Eyes
in life with three purplish bands.

4 (5) Vertex with a tuft of black hairs behind the ocelli. Rather large

species. Middle tibiae conspicuously pubescent; eyes touching
for a long space. 2 tropicus.

5 (4) Vertex without any tuft of black hairs behind the ocelli. Smaller

species.

6 (7) Wings without clouds on any cross-veins. Eyes touching for

a long distance, and bearing short pale pubescence. Last joint
of palpi long and pointed. Antennae usually mainly reddish.
Middle tibiae only moderately pubescent. Abdomen indistinctly
shining. 3 montanus.

7 (6) Wings with clouded cross-veins. Eyes actually touching for a

comparatively short distance, and bearing long dark pubescence.
Last joint of palpi broad and stout. Antennae mainly blackish
brown. Middle tibiae with long and abundant pubescence.
Head flattened. Abdomen conspicuously shining. 4 luridus.

8 (3) Abdomen mainly bright brownish or reddish orange with a black-

dorsal stripe. Eyes in life with two purplish bands.

9 (10) Eye-facets only moderately enlarged on the front and upper parts,

and not sharply contrasted with the smaller lower ones. Eyes
with rather short brown pubescence. 5 disiinguendus.

10 (9) Eye-facets very much enlarged on the front and upper parts, and
sharply contrasted with the smaller lower ones. Eyes with
long pale pubescence. 6 solstitialis.

Females.

1 (2) Legs entirely black. Frontal triangle shining black. 1 micans.

2 (1) Tibiae mainly yellowish.

3 (8) Abdomen mainly blackish grey or black, with light flecks, and

with only moderate (if any) dull reddish or brownish red
lateral markings near the base.

4 (7) Frontal triangle grey.

352

TABAN1D7E

5 (6) Vertex with a tuft of black hairs behind the ocelli. Eather

large species. Middle tibise conspicuously pubescent. Palpi
blackish orange. 2 tropicus.

a (b) Abdomen considerably brownish red. tropicus.

b (a) Abdomen hardly at all brownish red. var. bisignatus.

6 (5) Vertex without any tuft of black hairs behind the ocelli. Eather

small species. Middle tibise only moderately pubescent. Eyes
with short pale pubescence. Palpi whitish. 3 montanus.

7 (4) Frontal triangle shining black. 4 luridus.

N (3) Abdomen mainly bright brownish or reddish orange with a black

dorsal stripe.

9 (10) Eeddish coloring always extended to the fourth segment, and that
segment bearing soft pale yellow short pubescence.

5 distincjuendus.

10 (9) Eeddish coloring almost always extended to the third segment

only, and the fourth segment with mainly black short
pubescence. 6 solstitialis.

Some of the species of Therioplectes are very difficult to name with certainty
either from descriptions or from single specimens. There can be no doubt about
T. micans or the female of T. luridus. and the two reddish species ( T. distinguendus
and T. solstitialis) are easily distinguished from the others though not from each
other, even though I am not sure but that there may be some close connection
between the females of T. solstitialis and T. tropicus. T. tropicus (as I understand
it) is a rather larger species than either T. montanus or T. luridus (though one
female from Herefordshire and several continental specimens which I possess hardly
bear this out) and may be known from either by the distinct little tuft of black
hairs behind the ocelli, as well as by its middle tibiae being far more pubescent than
those of T. montanus. T. montanus is (according to a large number of specimens I
have seen) very variable in the coloring of the abdomen of the female, but may be
known by the short pale pubescence of the eyes, and the shorter pubescence on the
middle tibise and basal joint of the antennae, a^ well as by the short frontal
pubescence and the absence of any postocellar tuft of black hairs. T. borealis has
been recorded from Scotland but (as I have said in the synonymical notes under
T. montanus ) I think incorrectly ; it might however occur there, and should be
distinguished by the distinctly pale hindmargins to the abdominal segments.

1. T. micans Meigen. Legs entirely black ; front tarsi of the male
with peculiar long hairs. Frontal triangle shining black.

A rather large species, distinguished from any British
species of the genus Tabanus (sens, lat.) by its hairy eyes and
black legs.

,3. Head not remarkably large in comparison with the thorax and abdomen.
Frontal triangle small, moderately shining black, quite bare, but with traces
of greyish brown dust about the upper angle and in the antennal sockets and
sometimes about the sides ; face with broad side-cheeks which are pale grey
in some lights but dark slaty grey in others, and these side-cheeks are all
covered with long dense pubescence which is blackish near the eyes but
whitish grey on just the inner sides, and which there partly overhangs the
recessed epistoma ; the actual margin against the eyes is whitish grey from
the level of the antennae down the face and round to two-thirds of the way up
the back of the head ; in profile the face protrudes from the eyes to the
lower angle of the mouth but is shallow beneath the eyes, and the head is

2. TABANUS

353

shallowly inflated for a short distance up the back of the eyes ; a band of black
pubescence extends from the face to beneath the eyes and then grows shorter
until it becomes a very short black ciliation about the middle of the back of
the eyes, but after that it again becomes a little longer up to the vertex ; jowls
and all round the mouth with a long whitish grey beard which extends nearly
half-way up the back of the head, and there are some longish pale grey
hairs on the upper part of the back of the head right behind the black
ciliation ; vertex very small, brown, hardly elevated, and bearing a sparse
tuft of moderately long black hairs which extend quite back to the occiput.
Palpi blackish grey ; last joint large and elongate oval but moderately
pointed at the tip and bearing long rather dense black hairs with a few grey
hairs intermixed ; basal joint with numerous unusually long whitish hairs on
its underside. Eyes clothed with rather long and dense light brownish grey
pubescence, and in life (according to Brauer) bright greenish with three
purple bands on the lower half, or else the lower part of the eyes purplish or
violet with three green red-margined bands ; facets large on all the middle
part and up to the junction of the eyes, but becoming gradually smaller
outside and beneath so that there is only a narrow outer zone of very small
facets on the upper part but a broader zone on the outer and lower parts
which extends to about a quarter the width of the eye ; the eyes touch for a
very long space. Antennse dull greyish black ; basal joint dilated and bearing
long conspicuous black bristly pubescence ; second joint with similar but
much shorter pubescence on the upper side though almost as long on the
under side ; third joint with only a small triangular dorsal hump near the
base, which bears a few very short black bristles.

Thorax moderately shining black, bearing erect black pubescence on
the main portion of the disc with no pale hairs intermixed except over the
wing-base and on the back part of the postalar calli, but the pubescence on
the front part of the disc shorter, rather depressed, and light grey ; pleurm
with mainly dense shaggy grey pubescence but the large dense tuft on the
middle and back part of the mesopleurm conspicuously black haired.
Scutellum also moderately shining black and bearing erect black pubescence.

Abdomen moderately shining black, but the hindmargins of the second
to sixth segments bear at the middle a small shallow triangle of white hairs and
'(at least on the second segment) these hairs stand on a greyish ground colour,
and in various lights (especially from behind) large grey side-flecks can be
traced nearer the sides of the segments ; the absolute hind corners of the
second to sixth segments also bear small whitish tufts and the upper margins
of the lateral genital plates bear a little whitish pubescence. Belly black,
with fringes of white hairs on the very narrowly white hindmargins of the
segments but with the other pubescence black.

Legs wholly black ; front coxae with long pubescence which is greyish
about the base but black afterwards ;
femora with rather dense blackish
pubescence ; front femora beneath
for their whole length with a broad
bare dull black slightly channelled
space for the reception of the folded-
back tibiae, and the anterior margin
of this bare space bearing a dense
row of short bristly hairs ; middle
tibiae with rather conspicuous longish
pubescence and with two conspicuous
black spurs ; hind tibiae with dense

but rather short pubescence ; front tarsi with from two to four remarkable
upstanding long bristly hairs (fig. 229) at the tip of each of the four basal
joints, last joint with moderate inconspicuous brownish grey hairs about the
end; there are a few “touch-hairs” beneath the basal joint of the front
tarsi and one at the tip of each of the next three joints. Pulvilli brown ;
claws black.

Wings strongly greyish, but brownish black about the base and towards
the costa ; there is a small dark spot at the fork of the cubital vein, and a
dark cloud down the cross-vein at the end of the cliscal cell, while the stem

Z

354

TABANIDdE

of the postical vein is also clouded as well as its upper branch as far as the small
cross-vein and along that cross-vein and the short basal piece of the cubital
vein. Squamae dark glassy grey with blackish brown margins ; fringes short
except for a rather conspicuous white tuft at the lowest part of the alar pair.
Halteres blackish brown.

?. Resembling the male. Frontal stripe comparatively broad and short as it is
scarcely more than three times as long as its breadth at the lower eye-angle,
and it only very slightly diminishes in width from the vertex down to that
eye-angle ; the frons is grey and bears three black calli of which the lowest
one is shining black and is rather transverse all across just above the frontal
triangle, and may be joined by a thin black stripe to the long narrow oval
middle callus, which in turn may be rather vaguely connected with the dark
ocellar callus ; the frontal stripe bears obvious black pubescence on the upper
two-thirds, that on the vertical portion being rather longer than that on the
middle part, but on the lower third pale hairs are conspicuously intermingled
with the black hairs ; f rontal triangle quite bare and shining black, but grey
just above the antennae, and divided by a furrow from the lowest frontal
callus ; ocellar space roundish and obvious, though but very slightly raised
above the level of the frons. Face with shorter and less bushy pubescence on
the side-cheeks, and with a few whitish grey hairs intermixed with the black
ones ; the whitish pubescence on the inner sides of the cheeks, about the
mouth, and at the back of the mouth, more conspicuous ; jowls under the
eyes at the back part and the back of the head right up to the vertex slightly
and equally puffed out, whitish grey, and bearing a rather short black ciliation
all along near the eyes, and behind this black ciliation (especially near the
upper part) is a long straggly light grey pubescence. Palpi dull dark greyish
black, broad at the base but quickly attenuating after the bend to a rather
blunt tip, about four times as long as the thick part is deep, densely clothed
with black bristles but with rather inconspicuous long white pubescence
about the base both above and below. Eyes with rather sparse and short
light grey pubescence, but almost or quite bare along the liindmargin ; facets
all small and equal ; in life (according to Brauer) they bear three or four
purple bands. Antennae black, slightly greyish ; the long hairs on the basal
joints not so conspicuous as in the male.

Thorax with the black pubescence less obvious than in the male, and with
two widely separated stripes of rather inconspicuous whitish grey pubescence
running down the disc ; pleurae with larger clumps of greyish white pubescence
under the wing-base and all about the prothorax. Scutellum with numerous
scattered thin light grey hairs interspersed all over the disc.

Abdomen with the pubescence much shorter than in the male, and with
more signs of grey side-flecks and whitish pubescence; there is a small
whitish grey triangle of pubescence at the middle of the liindmargin of each
of the second to sixth segments, and there are large grey side-flecks on the
second segment which are rather conspicuous (partly through the whitish
pubescence on and about them) even to the liindmargin and side corners ;
there is also a considerable amount of whitish pubescence on the sides of the
two basal segments, at the extreme hind corners of segments, on most of the
liindmargin of the fifth segment though not connected with the middle spot,
and as hindmarginal fringes on the sixth and seventh segments ; the third to
sixth segments have very narrow inconspicuous light grey hindmargins.
Belly with very extended rather conspicuous whitish pubescence, especially
as fringes along the hindmargins.

Legs black ; pubescence on the femora dense and black but not so long as
in the male, and the bare space beneath the front femora just as in the male ;
middle tibiae with obvious though sparse rather long dorsal ciliation on the
middle part ; hind tibiae with a coarse dense black dorsal ciliation except
about the base.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 13 mm. ( f ), or 14 mm. ( ? ).

This species may be known at once from any other British species of
the extended genus Tabanus by its wholly black legs ; the only other quite

2. TABANUS

355

black legged European species at all likely to occur in Britain is T.
citcrrimus Meig., which has the front tarsi of the male normal, and the
frontal triangle of the female all grey.

T. micans is not common in Britain, as my records seem to be limited
to Hampshire (Fordingbridge and Lyndhurst), Cumberland (Saddleback),
Merioneth (Dolgelly and Barmouth), and Inverness (He thy Bridge); B.
Cooke recorded T. austriacus from Warrington in Lancashire. My dates
extend only from June 11 to 23. It is recorded as uncommon from Sicily
to Central and Western Europe, but there is no record from Northern
Europe and Lundbeck does not include it in his Diptera Danica.

Synonymy. — Walker described this species as T. austriacus Fabr., which is a
probable synonym.

2. T. tropicus Meigen. Tibiae mainly tawny, but nearly the apical half
of the front (and often of the hind) pair blackish; middle tibiae con¬
spicuously pubescent. Abdomen not conspicuously orange-red. Vertex
with a tuft of black hairs.

A (normally) rather large species which is without the con¬
spicuous orange-red abdominal markings of T. solstitialis
and T. disting nenclus.

S . Head not large in comparison with the thorax. Face dark grey, bearing-
on the side-cheeks moderately dense rather long black pubescence which
becomes rather more sparse below and hardly extends round to the lower
part of the back of the head, and with long greyish white pubescence on the
inner part of these side-cheeks (partly overhanging the depressed middle part
of the face), on the jowls, and all about the mouth, and with similar pubescence
extending all up the hollowed out back of the head ; eyemargins all down the
face and round to the back of the head narrowly and inconspicuously lighter
grey ; jowls very little prominent, and all the lower part of the back of the
head hardly at all inflated, leaving only a narrow rim which bears on its hind-
margin extremely short black ciliation until above the middle of the head,
after which the pubescence becomes slightly longer and is pale, while well before
the top it becomes distinctly longer (though still not conspicuously long) and
forms a pale fringe up to the vertex, and there is an obvious tuft of forwards-
curved black hairs just behind the ocelli ; vertical space very small, dark chest¬
nut, slightly but distinctly elevated ; frons quite bare, conspicuously whitish
grey and almost glistening, though there is a slight darkening across from
the eyes to the antennae, and below this the sides of the face are grey but
darker than the frons. Palpi blackish grey, but with the tip brownish yellow
and the inner side yellowish orange • last joint forming a regular oval,
hardly twice so long as broad and with the tip hardly pointed, and clothed
above, outside, and beneath with rather abundant mainly black hairs,
intermixed with which are usually some pale hairs, but on the under side
(especially near the base) the hairs are greyish white, and the inner side is
almost bare ; basal joint with much longer more conspicuous abundant
greyish white hairs intermixed with which are usually only a very few black
hairs. Eyes touching for quite twice the length of the frontal triangle, and
clothed with dense not long brownish pubescence which becomes rather paler
brownish grey on the lower part ; facets on the prominent front part and
on the middle up to the part where the eyes touch rather larger than those
outside that space, but not at all conspicuously so and the change only very
gradual : in life (according to Brauer) the eyes have three purple bands, and
the undermargin green without any band. Antennae greyish black at the
base, but the third joint extensively reddish for more than its basal half and
reddish brown on the rest ; basal joint thickened and bearing conspicuous

356

TABANID.L

long dense black pubescence, though a few hairs beneath near the base are
pale, and this joint is prolonged cap-like on the upper side over the short
second joint ; second joint also with black pubescence which is however very
short on the upper side; this black pubescence on the two basal joints is
much longer and more conspicuous than in T. montanus ; third joint with a
conspicuous triangular dorsal hump near the base and with very short black
bristles on this hump.

Thorax black, slightly greyish and moderately shining, with faint traces
of two widely separated narrow grey stripes down the disc and of two side
stripes which tend to connect with the inner stripes on the front part and
about the suture ; prsealar calli not at all ferruginous. Pubescence erect,
rather dense, black but with some (or a very few) thin grey depressed hairs
intermixed on the disc, and with more obvious grey hairs on the front part
to which the black hairs do not extend ; the hairs just above the wing-base
are sometimes rusty black ; pubescence on the pleurae long dense and mostly
greyish black but mainly grey along the dorso-pleural suture and sometimes
on the upper part of the mesopleurse and under the front part of the wing-
base where there is a tuft, while there is a dense conspicuous whitish or
yellowish white tuft on the prothorax and a very large tuft on the meta¬
pleurae. Scutellum colored like the thorax and with similar black pubescence,
but with a few long grey hairs towards its tip.

Abdomen black, moderately shining, with the sides of the second and
third and part of the first segments brownish orange; basal segment black
with about a quarter of the hindmargin near each side rather broadly (about
one-third the segment) brownish orange ; second and third segments brownish
orange with rather less than the middle third black (and sometimes the sides
of the third segment obscurely blackish) ; sometimes just the sides of the
fifth and sixth segments obscurely ferruginous ; the second and third
segments each have a conspicuous tuft of greyish white hairs at the middle
of the hindmargin, that on the second segment being the more distinct and
resting on a small indeterminate greyish triangle, while that on the third
segment is less conspicuous and is on a less distinct grey ground colour, and
sometimes a trace of a similar grey tuft exists on the middle of the hind¬
margin of the fourth segment ; the greyish triangle on the second segment
extends nearly up to the middle of the segment ; the second to sixth segments
have a whitish or orange hindmarginal fringe for a long portion of each side
but not on the middle third ; when the abdomen is seen from behind the
orange markings appear more or less pale grey, sometimes only slightly, but
sometimes widely on the second segment and sometimes on all the orange
part, and the third to sixth hindmargins may have narrow pale grey or orange
hems, and a very narrow grey hem may be visible on the seventh hindmargin ;
sidemarginal pubescence distinctly black except at just the hind corners of
the segments. Belly pale brownish orange on the second, third, and fourth
segments though sometimes only indistinctly so ; basal segment black, and
sometimes with a narrow base to the second segment which widens on the
middle quarter or more to nearly half-way across the segment, and also just
the sides of the fourth segment, while the rest of the belly is blackish ; hind-
margins of the second to sixth segments with distinct white or pale yellow
fringes ; pubescence on the second, third, and fourth segments mainly pale
and depressed, but often black about the middle part and more widely
towards the base of the segments, while there may be a longer more con¬
spicuous black tuft on the blackened middle base of the second segment ; the
fifth and sixth segments bear sloping black pubescence and a few pale hairs
about the sides ; seventh segment with rather conspicuous almost erect black
bristly hairs which are not dense but are longer and stronger than the other
pubescence. Genitalia with large triangular greyish black lateral plates,
which bear pale pubescence especially as a longish fringe on the upper
margins, and between these lateral plates are two subquadrate plates which
have a brownish orange endmargin and a pale marginal fringe.

Legs black, but brownish red on the extreme tip of the femora and on
nearly the basal half of the front tibiae ; middle tibiae obscurely reddish or
orange up to near the tip, and also the hind tibiae for about the basal half or
more though usually only obscurely so posteriorly for nearly all the length

2. TABANUS

357

but with the antero-dorsal edge all blackish except just at the base, in fact one
may sometimes almost say that the apical third of the hind tibia; is blackish ;
posterior tarsi hardly at all ferruginous at the base. Pubescence on the front
coxa long and rather dense, mainly pale grey but blackish and shorter about the
tip ; that on the front femora black behind but towards the base postero-
dorsally longer, less dense, and grey, while the bare subfemoral space is almost
as in T. micans; that on the middle femora black and not dense antero-ventrally,
but dense and grey behind ; that on the hind femora abundant beneath and.
mixed black and grey, though a shorter almost adherent pubescence is
conspicuously pale all about the tip (except beneath) ; front tibiae with only
short inconspicuous pubescence ; middle tibiae with long conspicuous delicate
hardly dense pubescence all over except at the base ; hind tibiae with a coarse
dense rather sloping dorsal ciliation and a finer (filiation' beneath, but rather in
front of the latter is a delicate remarkably long suberect fine ciliation which
does not quite extend to the base or tip (very distinct from anything in
T. montanus ) ; middle ankle joints orange, and the spurs brownish red with a
black tip, while the middle tarsi have reddish soles ; hind tarsi obscurely
reddish beneath. Pulvilli brownish yellow ; claws dark brown at the base
but black at the tip.

Wings slightly greyish or brownish, but brownish yellow or pale brownish
at the base up to the basal cross-veins ; subcostal vein strong, dark brown,
widening about its end and with brownish orange or blackish brown marginal
clouding there which forms a long narrow indefinite stigma. Squamae glassy
greyish, the alar pair being rather smoky with a slight or distinct blackish
tinge and a narrow blackish margin, and the thoracal pair with a light
brownish orange margin ; fringes minute and pale, but with the usual
rather conspicuous whitish yellow tuft of longer pubescence at the lower
angle of the alar pair. Halteres with small brown knobs.

?. Similar to the male. Frontal stripe light brownish grey, but with a blackish
sheen down the middle, distinctly contracting from the ocelli to the front
eye-angles and about three and a half times as long as its broadest part
or six times as long as its narrowest part ; lower callus almost quadrate,
not quite touching the eyes, but continued upwards in a narrow black line
which represents the middle callus ; vertical space darkened, with the hind
ocelli sometimes conspicuously red ; pubescence on the frons (when seen
sideways) rather dense and by no means short, black, (normally) sloping
forward, and distinctly longer on and about the vertical space ; cheeks with less
bushy black pubescence than in the male and with a few grey hairs inter¬
mixed, and the black hairs not extending so far as the lowest part of the
eye ; pubescence on the back of the jowls and all about and behind the mouth
brownish or greyish yellow, rather dense and conspicuous ; back of the head
with a narrow light grey bare rim which is only slightly widened on the
lower part, and behind this rim lies a short brownish yellow ciliation
which grows longer on the upper part but which does not merge into the
longer black pubescence about the vertex : frontal triangle light grey, almost
whitish, quite bare. Palpi orange with a blackish tinge ; second joint clothed
with short dense black bristles which are not quite dense enough to obscure
the ground colour but bare on the inner side, rather broad at the base and
gradually diminishing to a point, more than three times as long as the
broadest part, and bearing a little pale pubescence beneath at the base ; basal
joint blackish grey, and bearing pubescence which is long and pale beneath
but black and not so long or abundant dorsally. Eyes with the facets all
nearly equal in size ; pubescence still dark brownish when seen from above,
longer on the front part than in the females of the allied species, dense on
the front part but becoming short, sparse, and pale on the upper, lower, and
hind margins ; in life (var. bisignatus ) bright green with three brownish
purple bands, of which the middle band is entire and runs straight from the top
of the frontal triangle to the middle of the back of the eye, upper and lower
bands equidistant from the middle one but not quite so sharply defined at
the front end, rather broader and on the hind quarter sharply converging
until they each almost touch the middle line ; the part above the uppermost
band rather more bronzy green than the rest. Antennae with the basal

358

TABANIM

joint blackish grey and bearing dense black bristly hairs which are however
longer and less bristly beneath and have a few pale hairs intermixed there ;
second joint reddish or with at least a reddish tinge, and with a circlet of
dense black bristles about the tip which are very short on the upper side
but rather longer on the under side ; third joint reddish with its large basal
segment usually darkened dorsally about its middle, and with the thick jointed
style darkened, or even entirely blackened ; hump moderate but well formed
and bearing minute black bristles, depth of the segment at the hump fully
two-thirds its length.

Thorax similar to that of the male, but with more pale hairs above
the wing-base, on the disc, and on the end part of the scutellum ; pleurae
with more long grey pubescence on the lower back part of the mesopleurae.

Abdomen (in the type form) broad and rather ovate, with the brownish red
coloring more restricted to the side thirds of the second segment and just
the sides of the basal segment, and extending on that segment rather vaguely
and narrowly along about the outer thirds of the hindmargin ; middle
row of dorsal whitish spots more conspicuous, extending distinctly to the
fourth segment and faintly to the fifth and sixth segments ; there are faint
traces of large grey side-flecks on the third (and possibly the fourth) segment,
but no pale hinclmarginal hems to the segments, though the pale fringes exist
on the outer thirds of the hindmargins. Belly either as in the male or with
a continuous indefinite broad blackish middle stripe.

Legs very similar to those of the male in coloring and in the
pubescence of the middle tibiae, but the hind tibiae without the remarkable
long delicate antero-ventral ciliation.

Wings as in the male. Squamae more whitish glassy grey. Halteres with
reddish brown knobs.

Length about 15 mm.

Var. 9 bisic/nahcs Jaennicke. This variety of the female which is
termed melanochroitic by Brauer appears to be very distinct, but I accept
Brauer’s statement that it is only a variety of T. tropicus, as it mainly
agrees with the typical form of that species except in the blacker colour
of the abdomen and in the more whitish grey colour of the head and its
pubescence. Frontal stripe more equal in width from top to bottom in
eleven out of twelve specimens in my collection, and with the middle
callus more sharply defined as a scarcely widened shining black line
extending up from the lower callus ; pubescence sometimes with a few
whitish hairs intermixed. Pubescence on the jowls and all about and
behind the mouth whitish grey, and the postocular ciliation almost
whitish grey; frontal triangle without any tinge of yellow. Abdomen
with the reddish coloring sometimes quite absent, but when present
variable in amount but never conspicuous and usually reduced to a
roundish spot near the basal corners of the second segment (on about the
upper half of the segment) and a slight indication of red on the adjoining
part of the hindmargin of the basal segment, but the second segment bears
three whitish grey triangles of pubescence extending up quite two-thirds
of the segment, as there is the usual middle one on the hindmargin and
two larger right-angled triangles (with the sloping side outwards) which
form the usual tabanoid side-flecks ; these conspicuous side-flecks are
often obscurely rufous ail about their upper part and sometimes the
whitish grey pubescence on them runs away into the whitish pubescence
of the hindmargin, so that it extends right to the sidemargins or even
covers all the second segment except a pair of spots which adjoin the
middle triangle; in perfect specimens three similar but smaller and
less conspicuous triangles exist on the third segment, extending about

2. TAB AN US

359

Iialf-way up the segment; the blacker lme of the abdomen makes the
side tufts of whitish pubescence at the hind corners of the segments more
conspicuous. Belly usually unicolorous blackish grey without any trace
of ferruginous coloring.

This species, like most of the genus, requires care in identification, but
may often be known in the large strong specimens by the considerable
amount of blackening on the apical half of the hind tibiae (though I distrust
this character), and by the posterior tarsi being less ferruginous at the
base than in any of the succeeding species ; both sexes may he distin¬
guished from T. solstitialis and T. distingucndus by the absence of the
conspicuous bright orange abdominal coloring; from T. montanus by the
larger size, by the tuft of black hairs on the vertex, and by the more
pubescent middle tibiae; from T. luridus in both sexes by the normally
larger size, and in the male by the less blackish ground colour and by the
longer extent of the touching of the eyes, while the female has no sign of
any shining black frontal triangle. T. borealis is not well known to me,
but it should have larger front eye-facets in the male and a broader frons
in the female, while I believe both sexes have more conspicuous whitish
hindmargins to the abdominal segments. T. tropicus varies in many respects,
and I have notes that the male may have the outer part of the jowls near
the mouth black haired, the pubescence on the palpi mainly pale but
with numerous black hairs on the front part and some long ones about the
tip of the basal joint, pubescence on the belly much paler as the black hairs
are almost limited to the middle of the sixth segment though still
conspicuous on the seventh segment, colour of the belly very much more
obscured as there are only some obscure yellowish brown markings on the
second, third, and fourth segments; it also varies in size, but is always
larger than T. montanus and T. luridus. One specimen (when seen from
behind), is even more light greyish on the abdomen so that the light grey
coloring occupies most of the second and third segments and forms faint
traces of side-flecks on the fourth and fifth segments. The female varies
(besides the melanochroitic variety bisignatus) in a specimen taken at
AYorcester on July 3, 1869 (which was returned by Brauer and referred to
by him in his monograph as typical T. tropicus) in having the thorax
narrower and less black, the abdomen narrower and more oblong with the
brownish red coloring more extended and more sharply defined on the
inner margin to the end of the third segment and altogether more orange
red and less blackened towards the sides of the second segment when
seen from above, middle tibiae not so pubescent, frontal triangle
apparently less broad, tuft of black vertical hairs less obvious. A still
more remarkable female is one which was taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Clifford’s Castle in Herefordshire on August 13, 1902; some of its
peculiarities are probably due to immaturity, but it is so small (12 mm.)
that I could not for a long time associate it with T. tropicus though I
have ultimately come to the opinion that it must belong to that species ; the
long dense pale brownish grey pubescence on the eyes, the brownish grey
frontal stripe on which the pubescence is long and black, the very obvious
tuft of black vertical bristles, and the small grey triangles on the dorsal
line of the abdomen are characters exactly agreeing with T. tropicus and
very different from T. montanus ; the frontal stripe is narrower and
parallel-sided on the upper half and has the black pubescence on this part

360

TABANID/E

upturned, while the short black pubescence on the lower part has a few
inconspicuous pale hairs intermixed about the lower end of the middle
callus, and this middle callus is narrowly lancet-shaped ; the back of the
head bears a postocular row of tiny black bristles on the lower two-thirds,
beginning almost on the jowls but becoming sparse after the middle of the
head ; thorax browner and with more abundant depressed pale pubescence,
but the pubescence on the slightly ferruginous prsealar calli and on the
scutellum almost wholly black, and the middle part of the mesopleurre
with only a few inconspicuous black hairs ; abdomen brownish black, but
obscurely ferruginous about the basal corners and the sides of the
second and third segments, the middle triangles extending about half-way
up each segment but the bright golden pubescence on the triangle extending
on the second segment narrowly up to a fairly conspicuous tuft of similar
pubescence on the middle of the liindmargin of the basal segment; belly
dull yellowish ; legs with the tiny black bristles on the tibiae more
conspicuous because of immaturity, and the middle tibiae with fine but
not unusually long pubescence ; at a first glance it would seem impossible
for this specimen and T. bisignatus to be varieties of one species.

T. tropicus in its female form bisignatus is not uncommon in Britain,
but the type form seems to be comparatively rare ; I have records of the
type form from Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire,
Worcestershire, Perth (Aberfoyle), and Sutherland (The Mound), but
mostly in solitary specimens ; but the form bisignatus is common in many
Southern woods, such as the New Forest in Hampshire, and Plashet and
Abbotts Woods in Sussex, while I have records from Kent, Surrey, Essex,
Herts, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire, besides the remarkable small speci¬
men from Herefordshire. It is apparently one of the earliest to appear
of the large Tabanidce as I have dates extending from May 19 to July 30.
It is recorded from North and Middle Europe and from Lake Baikal in
Asia, but is not known to occur in South Europe; the var. bisignatus
is apparently very rare on the Continent (except in France and Denmark),
but has occurred in Silesia and Bussia.

Synonym}/. — Very few of the old records can be trusted. The T. tropicus of
Walker and other British entomologists was almost certainly T. distinguendus , while
their T. signatus Panz. was probably T. tropicus var. bisignatus. Several females in
Bigot’s collection stood under the name of T. luridus, and it is practically certain
that even Loew included it under his T. luridus. Two quite normal females of the
type form in the Entomological Club collection were labelled T. rusticus with a
printed label which had been covered over with a ms. label montanus ; while four
males bore a similar printed label of luridus and a ms. label lateralis. Yilleneuve
(Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr., 1905, 306) has stated that the types in Meigen’s collection
consist of one female (which is T. apricus) and three males belonging to two distinct
species ; I have studied the specimens and agree with Yilleneuve, except that I
think the third male may belong to the same species as the other two though it
appears to be distinct because of the different pose of the head ; I do not think
however that any of Meigen’s specimens belong to the species now described.
Yilleneuve distinguished the male of T. bisignatus in La Feuille des Jeunes
Naturalistes, xxxv., 59 (1905), as having the antennae entirely black, the palpi elongate
and cylindrical and fringed with long black hairs, the appearance and shape as in
T. borealis , and the abdomen colored as in the female ; he considered it might be
closely allied to T. nigricornis Zett. (which was unknown to him), but by no means
to T. tropicus any more than to T. luridus ; it is altogether with great reluctance
that I sink T. bisignatus as a mere variety as I am impressed by its abundance
in certain localities where T. tropicus appears to be absent, and its unicolorous

2. TABANUS

361

blackish grey, belly seems to lUrfficZ

islmperfecf ‘in^nonymS note under lib auHnnnalis I have endeavoured to
prove that y’. paganus Fabr. is a synonym of l.tropu-m.

3 T montanus Meigen. Tibi® mainly tawny, including almost the
whole of the hind pair. Vertex without any tuft of black hairs. Abdome i
with brownish rod (not orange-red) lateral markings extending in it
ma over the four basal segments. Wings without obviously clouded
cross-veins. Frontal triangle of the female light grey. A rather small

species.

Distinguished from most species by the absence oi any tuft
of black hairs at the back of the vertex.

(J . Head not remarkably large in comparison witk the thora: x and a e_

From, face, jowls, and back of rather dark

times whitish on at least the frons) c , & £ t£ antennae or the

bands may extend from the eyes to the e “X'fmns Va™^s to its sharp
sides may be obscurely darkened just J h ^ base is rather

upper point ; face and from /°T£lS the anex is produced into a long point

betweenthe eyes^lace^nd joWls^with^^tmr ^veiy kittle

"tiat H

is dull pale yellow, and extends (though much shorter ^ dJced at
the back of the head well away from tli y • , c •_ « , d 0£ the jowls ;

tw®{ S 7 the back rf to £*

yellow fringe to extend all the way uj t , , vertex while on and

EtThe^^

whitish^ y ellowisli, xn'profile^slightly produced to an antennal

Palpi with the last joint elongate ovate, being at the base, and

longer than broad and hardly wide i _ , . , rather long almost entirely

ending in a rather blunt tip dul yellowish : and "ithrather o £

black hairs on the outside but bare and yellower on tne lnsiue , i
“"per part of this last joint about rts jtoe and on to basal >ng
and very nearly all dull yellowish. Eyes touching lor a very io K , ‘ .

densely clothed with brownish grey or (in some ligntsj lignr y l
facets not quite equal, because those on towj^faj^ ^h tZl
larger than the others though sideways the facets for

about the part where the eyes touch, l v- i n ader than those about

a large space on the lower part ar< e very obvious [ 81 of the facets are

the middle and the front parts, but all chants in . ^ le bands

gradual; in life (according to Brauer) the eyes are green wvi h th P P bkck

and a reddish lower margin , against the ZZfi^nt hardly
with the base of the third joint more or less " edi s ’ b ej[ce which is
dilated and bearing comparatively short rather ^en P . with a slight
black above but partly pale beneath; second joint sc ' third joint

reddish tinge and with .“picuom and often

bmwniKd on th"of tLfse^ent, and with a comparatively shght
bare or almost bare dorsal hump near the base.

362

TABANID/E

Thorax and scutellum brownish black, only moderately shining, and with
the large prsealar calli obscurely chestnut ; pubescence on the disc dense, erect,
and black, but scattered in and out amongst it are some thin light grey hairs
which are only about half as long as the black hairs and which are very incon¬
spicuous except on the extreme front part where no long black hairs occur
and sometimes (as mentioned below) on the sides of the disc ; mesopleurae
usually almost entirely clothed with dense black hairs but with pale hairs
on the back and upper parts, though sometimes the black hairs on the
mesopleurae are restricted to the middle part, and the rest of the pleurae bear
dense long shaggy brownish yellow pubescence.

Abdomen brownish orange and blackish ; the brownish orange part
occupying most of the four basal segments except on the fairly broad
blackish dorsal line ; this blackish dorsal line extending all across the base of
the first segment but narrowing down to less than the middle third of the
hindmargin, and on the second segment forming a large quadrate spot
occupying less than the middle quarter of the segment, and the middle
part of the blackish space rather greyish or greyish orange while the spot
itself may widen somewhat near the hindmargin but usually contracts at the
hindmargin itself ; on the third segment the blackish dorsal marking is
similar to that on the second segment but slightly narrower ; on the fourth
segment it becomes again a little broader and is less sharply defined and
becomes wider towards the hindmargin, and very frequently the brownish
red marking on this segment is reduced to a pair of moderate-sized
spots but never to less than that ; near the sides of the second, third, and
fourth segments there is an obscure dark line which usually begins very
faintly but gradually becomes more distinct and diverges from the sides until
it considerably darkens the sides of the fourth segment when viewed from
above, and it is in such cases that an enlargement of the dorsal line reduces
the brownish red colour to a pair of moderate-sized spots with usually the
actual sidemargins also brownish red ; the hindmargins of the second to sixth
segments and the extreme hind corner of the first segment bear a fairly
conspicuous yellow fringe, which can hardly be said to widen into shallow
triangles about the middle even though it is more persistent and conspicuous
there, though I have seen a specimen in which it almost formed shallow
triangles on the second and third hindmargins ; the fifth and subsequent seg¬
ments are blackish, but the fifth and sixth are slightly and obscurely reddish at
just the sides, and the seventh segment is so short that its sides are concealed
beneath the sixth ; remaining pubescence on the upper side of the
abdomen usually black, rather dense and outstanding at the sides, and
fairly equal all down the sides, but sometimes on the disc with pale
hairs on the second, third, and fourth segments just where pale grey flecks
occur in other species. Belly slightly paler, being more brownish orange up
to (or near to) the end of the fourth segment, but the basal segment
obscurely blackish on at least the middle part, and the second segment with
a rather large but sometimes badly defined middle black spot ; the fifth to
seventh segments blackish ; the second to sixth hindmargins bearing a
rather conspicuous yellow hem and fringe and the edges of the fringe at the
dorsal hind corners of the basal segment overlap, and these fringes are most
conspicuous about the middle of each hindmargin ; remaining pubescence
usually all black and short, but sometimes pale hairs occur on the disc and
occasionally almost exclusively. Genitalia when protruded showing a pair
of two jointed large brownish orange upper lamellae, of which the second
joint is nearly as broad as long and bears black hairs on the sides but has a
fringe of incurved pale hairs at the end, and beneath these is a pair of long
two-jointed under lamellae ( = claspers ?), of which the second joint is long
narrow bare and horny.

Legs black but dusted with grey, and the extreme tips of all the femora
dull reddish orange, and all the tibiae obscurely reddish orange except
that the front tibiae are blackish all down the underside and obscurely
blackish on all the apical quarter or even half, while rarely just the tips of
the posterior tibiae are also blackish ; posterior tarsi obscurely reddish orange
except at the tips of the joints ; bare space beneath the front femora
conspicuously black in contrast to the grey dusted sides, and the row of tiny

2. TABANUS

363

bristly hairs on its anterior margin shorter than usual. Pubescence on
the front coxae long and brownish yellow ; that on the femora usually blackish,
fairly long and abundant behind the front pair and beneath the middle pair,
but rather more abundant and conspicuous beneath the hind pair, but that
on the middle pair sometimes ancl that on the front pair rarely mainly
pale ; middle tibiae ciliate but not very conspicuously so ; hind tibiae with a
rather coarse and rather dense dorsal ciliation, and with a more dense though
less coarse ciliation beneath, but with no specially long antero-ventral ciliation
as in T. tropicus; there are some “touch-hairs” beneath the basal joint of
the front tarsi and at the tips of the next three joints, and also some at
the tip and two or three scattered ones on the underside of the apical third
of the front tibiae. Pulvilli brownish orange ; claws obscurely brownish red at
the base but black at the tip.

Wings slightly greyish, rather darkened along the subcostal vein and
this darkening widens out about its tip so as to form a long narrow incon¬
spicuous stigma. Squamae glassy pale brownish orange, with thick and browner
margins, and with pale almost microscopical fringes except for the fairly
conspicuous yellow tuft at the frenal angle of the alar pair. Halteres dull
blackish with the top of the knob brown, or brown with the top of the
knob brownish orange.

9 . Greyer than the male, and usually without any brownish orange markings on
the quadrately ended abdomen.

Frontal stripe yellowish ashy grey or pale brownish grey, only slightly
contracted below as it is almost parallel-sided and hardly four times as long as
its width at narrowest part ; lower callus shining black, rather transverse and
extended quite to the eyes, and almost always connected not narrowly to an
elongate ovate shining black middle callus ; upper part of frons indistinctly
darkened round the ocellar space ; ocellar space only slightly elevated,
brownish red ; pubescence on the frons (when seen sideways) only short and
slight, yellowish all down the sides and front part but black on the upper
middle part right up to the ocelli ; above the ocelli there are very few
curved short black hairs but no obviously longer hairs there or anywhere
about the vertex ; side-cheeks with shorter less dense mainly yellowish white
pubescence, but with a few black hairs on the upper part and some indistinct
(sometimes very indistinct) short ones down the sides near the eyes, and
these short hairs indistinctly extend all along under the eyes to just
the lower part of the back of the head ; pubescence on the lower part of the
jowls and all about the mouth yellowish white ; back of the eyes with a
distinct equal narrow bare light grey rim, and behind this rim with a short
blackish yellow ciliation which becomes a little longer and rather less
blackish on the upper half but does not become in any way evidently longer
about the vertex ; frontal triangle (separated by a furrow from the cheeks)
with apparently a blackish ground colour but obscured by light grey or
yellowish grey dust ; antennal pits dusty orange. Palpi with the second
joint dull yellow or pale yellow, rarely orange, with numerous short black
bristles which are often absent about the base and which are usually longer
and not so dense as in T. distinguendus and not at all obscuring the ground
colour, but in some specimens of apparently this species these black bristles
are more numerous and are shorter ; this second joint is bare on its inner
side, and is moderately dilated soon after its base and then gradually tapers
to a rather blunt point, and is nearly four times as long as its width at its
broadest part ; basal joint also yellow and bearing long pale pubescence
though sometimes with some still longer pale hairs beneath about the tip.
Eyes clothed with short pale pubescence on the front part, but the pubescence
not extending to the upper or hind parts and becoming very sparse on the lower
part ; Colonel Yerbury made notes of the colour of the eyes in three females
taken at Nethy Bridge on July 9, 1905, the first specimen had two bands across
the eyes of which the lower one was very indistinct, the second specimen had
one band, and the third specimen two distinct bands, but Brauer described the
eyes as emerald green with three linear carmine red bands, of which the middle
one often failed to reach the liindmargin, and v'ith the upper and lower margins
emerald green. Antennae almost as in the male, there being no long pubescence

364

TABANIDJE

on the basal joint (as in T. distinguendm\ but the second and third joints
much darker, the third being usually obscurely dull reddish about the base
though sometimes very slightly so, •while the basal segment of this joint is
nearly twice as long as its depth at the hump.

Thorax greyish black, sometimes with two widely separated indistinct
lighter grey stripes on the front part ; pnealar calli sometimes dark ferrugin¬
ous ; the erect 1 4ack pubescence shorter, and with a few depressed thin pale
hairs interspersed, and the pale hairs becoming conspicuous and more erect about
the front part, on the back part near the scutellum, and near the wing-base ;
pleurae dusted ashy grey with mainly long pale yellowish grey pubescence,
but with blackish grey hairs intermixed but not dense on the disc of the
mesopleurae, though the extreme back part of the mesopleurae bears a more
or less conspicuous dense pale tuft.

Abdomen brownish black, glistening, with the hind corners of the first
segment (extending considerably along the hindmargin) and the front corners
of the second segment (extending out considerably on to the disc), rather
obscurely brownish red j this brownish red colour however varies considerably
in extent, as it is sometimes quite inconspicuous while it may occasionally be
broad and conspicuous at the sides of the two basal and on most of the third
segments, or there may be only two small brownish red spots on the third
segment in addition to the brownish red sides of the two basal segments ;
pubescence forming rather conspicuous grey triangles (diminishing in size)
on the middle of the second to fifth hindmargins and extending almost to the
foremargins at their points, and the grey pubescence about the hind corners
of the second segment and about the sides of the third to fifth segments
almost forming the usual rows of grey side-flecks so frequent in the Tabanidce,
and to confirm this there are (when seen from behind) faint indications of a
middle and two side rows of rather large brownish spots, while on each side
of the middle triangle of grey pubescence the abdomen is blackish ; hind-
margins of the fifth to seventh segments rather ferruginous (especially
towards the sides) though any pale hindmarginal fringes are very indistinct ;
sidemarginal pubescence mainly pale but including a few black hairs on
the basal part of the segments. Belly sometimes all greyish black, or at
other times with the upper reddish markings showing through but varying on
until the sides are extensively dull brownish red, while in extreme cases only
the large basal spot is blackish with the tip and the broad middle stripe
(nearly one-third of belly) greyish black, and in one case even this middle
stripe is absent ; second to seventh hindmargins narrowly greyish white ;
pubescence short depressed and pale, though a few inconspicuous black hairs
occur down the middle which are more noticeable on the two or three
terminal segments ; there is no special tuft about the middle of the base and
there are no obvious hindmarginal fringes.

Legs with the front coxae ashy grey and bearing long brownish grey
pubescence ; femora all greyish black with a slight yellowish tinge and
bearing comparatively short pale fringes behind, but the bare subfemoral
space on the front femora contrastedly black ; middle tibiae with scarcely
any longer ciliation ; hind tibiae with a slight coarse black dorsal ciliation.

Wings and halteres as in the male, but the disc of the squamae rather
paler.

Length about 13 mm., but varying from 11 mm. to 15 mm.

This species may be distinguished from most of its British allies
by the absence in both sexes of any tuft of longish black hairs on the
upper part of the vertex ; from T. tropicus it may also be distinguished
by its smaller size, paler hind tibiae, shorter pubescence on the basal joint
of the antennae, and much less pubescent posterior tibiae; T. luridus is a
blacker species and has the frontal triangle of the female brightly shining,
the eyes with longer darker pubescence in both sexes, and the eyes of the
male actually touching for a much shorter distance ; T. distingucndus and
T. solstitialis are rather larger and have the abdomen both dorsally and
ventrally much more conspicuously orange-red in both sexes, while T.

2. TABANUS

365

distinguendus has the fine downy pale pubescence on the abdomen of the
female extended on to the fifth segment, the frontal stripe with longer
and blacker pubescence, the antennae redder and deeper at the hump, and
the palpi larger ; T. solstitialis has the middle tibiae with more pubescence,
the eyes with longer and more dense pubescence and those of the male
with much larger front facets, and the antennae redder. The continental
T. nigricornis is somewhat unsatisfactorily distinguished, but has the
antennae blacker with the dorsal hump on the third joint very slightly
indicated so that the basal segment of that joint appears to be longer and
much thinner ; it also has the eyes blackish haired, the tibiae darker, and
the abdomen with a broader black dorsal stripe on the three basal
segments, with more distinctly three rows of narrower grey flecks,
and not at all reddish either dorsally or ventrally. T. borealis is also
allied, but the female has conspicuous pale hindmargins on the abdominal
segments both dorsally and ventrally, and I think the male also possesses
this character to a certain extent ; the eyes of the male are said to have
larger facets, and the antennae are more as in T. nigricornis ; the frontal
stripe of the female broader at its lower end and consequently the lower
callus wider; the palpi of the female thinner about the base, and
the general tint of colour more bluish with inconspicuous grey (instead
of conspicuous yellow) pubescence, and the dorsal abdominal triangles
grey and inconspicuous. Other characters of T. montanus lie in the short
pubescence of the eyes in both sexes, and the short pubescence on the
frontal stripe of the female ; it varies considerably in size in both sexes
but is ordinarily distinctly smaller than T. trojncus, T. distinguendus, and
T. solstitialis; the female also varies conspicuously in the amount of
brownish red coloring on the abdomen both dorsally and ventrally, and to
a certain extent in the distinctness of any ferruginous tint on the praealar
calli. Some males from Loo Bridge seem to be very near T. nigricornis,
as the hump above the third joint of the antennre is not very pronounced,
while the antennae seem to be long and not much reddish about the base of
the third joint, and the belly has a broad blackish somewhat interrupted
middle stripe right through from base to tip ; the fourth abdominal segment
dorsally has only a small reddish spot. Large specimens seem to have the
palpi with a more pointed pendulous tip and with more pale hairs, the
thorax slightly striped with the three middle stripes well apart and inclined
to curve over and unite in front, while sometimes there are distinct side
stripes after the suture ; the scutellum almost covered with greyish yellow
dust when seen from behind ; the basal segment of the abdomen with a patch
of pale pubescence on each side of the scutellum. Notes on other specimens
refer to the presence of fairly conspicuous pale pubescence just above the
base of the wings, on the postalar calli, and on the reddish prasalar calli,
while the antennae sometimes appear to be slightly longer. A rather large
male from Kenmare (June 7, 1901) has the sides of the fourth abdominal
segment more obviously black and the black dorsal spot longer and wider
especially at the hindmargin, so that very little more reddish orange coloring
is left than a pair of large spots, while the middle of the large dorsal spot
on the second segment is widely greyish orange and the spot is not well
extended to the hindmargin, and the middle of the fringe on the second and
third hindmargins is more conspicuous and almost forms a shallow
triangle. A large specimen from Kingussie (July 20, 1898) has a con-

366

TABANIDdE

siderable amount of pale pubescence on the disc of the second, third, and
fourth abdominal segments where the ordinary grey flecks appear, and
also has the apical half of the front tibiae blackish, the pubescence behind
the middle femora mainly pale, the belly with more pale pubescence on the
disc and the hindmarginal fringes wider and more conspicuous while the
middle of the hindmargin of the fourth segment is blackish. Another
specimen (Loo Bridge, July 8, 1901) has the pubescence behind the front
femora to a considerable extent pale, and the pubescence on the belly
nearly all pale. I think the eye-facets of the male vary a little in size,
and that in some specimens the enlarged facets are rather larger than in
others, and that the contrast between the large and small facets is some¬
times more defined, while the facets against the eye-touching part are not
smaller than those on the middle of the eye.

T. montanus is abundant in some mountainous districts and has been
taken by Colonel Yerbury in large numbers at Rannoch, Aviemore, Brodie,
Nethy Bridge, and other Scotch localities, and in Ireland at Loo Bridge,
Kenmare, Glengariff, etc. I have other records from Loch Duich,
Braemar, Invei shin, Glen Affrick, Kingussie, and Shiel Llouse in Ross-shire,
but I have no Lowland or English records. It is rather remarkable
that Colonel Yerbury at Loo Bridge on July 6, 1901, and Mr \Y. A. Vice
at Shiel House in Ross-shire were both impressed by the number of males
being about equal to that of the females, as male Tcibanidce are usually
but little seen. The dates known to me only extend from July 6 to
August 6, though I believe Mr Yice took it in June. It is recorded from
extreme North Europe to Austria,

Synonymy. — A male under the name of T. montanus in Kowarz’s collection from
Asch in Bohemia taken in May 1868 agrees very well with the smaller British forms,
but is slightly larger and has redder antennae than any British form. A worn
female sent by me to Loew about 1874 was returned as T. borealis , but I have no
doubt that this was a mistake caused by its bad condition. Two females of the
form with the largest amount of reddish coloring on the abdomen stood in the
Entomological Club collection under the label of tropicus. Villeneuve has
suggested (Ann. Soe. Ent. Er., 1905, 307) that T. fulvicornis Meig. is a variety of T.
montanus , but I have examined the specimens in Meigen’s collection and
consider them quite distinct as they have a conspicuous black tuft of hairs at the
top of the vertex ; the specimens however belong to Therioplectes and consequently
are not T. grcecus , but there is a strong probability that they do not represent the
species described by Meigen as he does not seem to have known that himself.

T. borealis Meig. was recorded as British by Mr E. E. Austen in British Blood¬
sucking Flies, p. 38 (1906) from a male taken by Mr W. B. O. Grant at Glen Avon
in Banffshire on June 8, 1893. I have closely studied this specimen and am
unable to distinguish it specifically from several of my specimens of T. montanus ;
unfortunately I do not possess a continental male of T. borealis , though I possess
some females which are abundantly distinct from T. montanus. The facets on the
upper two-thirds of the eyes are certainly larger than those on the lower part, but
not more so than in some of my males of T. montanus , and I do not notice in these
latter that the facets become smaller against the touching part of the eyes (as Brauer
says they do) ; moreover I do not consider the change from large to small facets
at all abrupt in the Glen Avon specimen. The palpi seem to have a darker ground
colour ; the antennae are only reddish near the base of the third joint (as is
frequently the case in T. montanus) ; the abdomen has the reddish side-markings on
the second and third segments rather dull and not extending to the fourth segment,
while there is no light coloring on the hindmargins except such as is caused by pale
pubescence ; the belly has a broad continuous black middle stripe, while Brauer

2. TABANUS

367

describes the stripe as considerably interrupted in T. borealis (though I do not place
much value on that character). The specimen is rather large for T. montanus,
but that species varies considerably in size. The points that weigh the most with
me (in not considering the specimen to be T. borealis) are the entire absence of any
pale liindmargins to the abdominal segments (the presence of which is one of the
chief characters of T. borealis) and the extreme improbability of an otherwise
unrecorded British species being first taken in the male sex only. I also consider
Brauer’s distinctions between many species of Therioplectes far too vague.

4. T. luridus Fallen. Tibiae mainly tawny. Vertex without any tuft
of black hairs. Abdomen with brownish red (not orange-red) lateral
markings extending in the male to the second and third segments only.
Wings with obviously clouded cross-veins. Frontal triangle of the female
shining black.

A rather small species, easily distinguished in the female
by the shining black frontal triangle.

g . Head not specially large in comparison with the thorax and abdomen nor
broader than in the female, but much flatter than in any other British species
because the undersides of the eyes (when seen from in front) spread out at a
much wider angle ; frontal triangle glistening grey, almost silvery, but with
a slight indistinct blackish streak from the antennae to the eyes ; face and
broad jowls entirely pale grey, and the frons and face forming a broad shallow
triangle which is twice as wide as high except that the frons extends upwards
rather narrowly to a point between the eyes ; face and jowls clothed with
abundant long pubescence which is greyish white on the middle part but
widely black all down the sides and under the eyes ; back of the head very
shallow but with a narrow bare glistening pale greyish yellow rim, behind
which (especially on the lower part) is some minute black pubescence, and
behind that again some soft pale pubescence, but the minute black pubescence
dies out on the upper third of the head and leaves a rather longer inconspicuous
pale postocular pubescence which again becomes slightly longer though still
inconspicuous on each side of the ocellar space, and on that part there is no
sign of any black hairs ; frons in profile slightly produced from the eyes ; lower
part of the back of the head hardly inflated but the upper part retreating
to the hollowed out actual back of head. Palpi greyish yellow or greyish
brownish yellow ; last joint broad and stout, forming a broad blunt oval
which is about one and a half times broader than long, and is clothed
with hardly dense longish hairs which are almost equally mixed black and
whitish ; basal joint clothed with longer nearly all black hairs. Eyes
apparently touching for a long space but (as mentioned before) the frons
extends a considerable distance upwards and the vertex extends (though very
narrowly) downwards so that the actual touching part is only about one-third
of the space between the occiput and the antennae ; the eyes are clothed with
very dense long blackish brown pubescence, which however appears in certain
lights to be brownish yellow, and the pubescence becomes sparse on the hind-
margin ; facets all almost equal in size ; in life (according to Brauer) the eyes
are green with three purple bands and a reddish lower margin. Antennae
blackish brown, but the basal joints (especially the basal one) obscured by
light grey dust, and the third joint rather reddish about its base ; basal joint
large and bearing abundant long black pubescence (much longer than in
T. montanus) • second joint with short black pubescence, and neither of the
basal joints extended forwards capdike at its top end • third joint with a
moderate but distinct dorsal hump close to the base.

Thorax and scutellum shining 1 flack, but the thorax with traces of widely
separated faint grey stripes ; preealar calli not at all ferruginous. Pubescence
abundant, rather long and erect, mainly black but quite in front with only
light grey pubescence which is composed of thinner hairs, while shorter thin
light grey hairs are scattered sparsely nearly all over the disc and are rather

368

TABANIO®

abundant near the wing-base ; pleurae clothed with dense long pubescence
in which the grey hairs predominate except on the middle of the mesopleurae.
Scutellum with rather longer black pubescence than that on the disc of the
thorax and with no thin pale grey hairs intermixed.

Abdomen shining black (much more shining than in the other species)
with the sides of the second and third segments bright reddish orange, and
the broad black dorsal line widest on the basal third of the second segment ;
the sidemargins of the second and third segments (when seen from above)
appear to be obscurely blackish but this is caused by the dense erect black
pubescence. Pubescence rather dense and mainly black, but there is a distinct
small greyish white tuft on the middle of the liindmargin of each segment
and the outer thirds of the hindmargins of the second and third segments
bear obvious whitish grey fringes, while the hind corners of the basal
segment are broadly clothed with pale hairs, and just the hind corners of the
fourth, fifth, and sixth segments have a tuft of whitish pubescence, and the
protruding genitalia bear whitish hairs. Belly mainly reddish orange, but
the basal segment mainly, the second segment usually, with a dorsal line
and two oblique streaks, the end part of the fourth segment, and the whole
of the succeeding three segments, blackish ; the segments have narrow
whitish hindmargins which bear whitish fringes, and these fringes are rather
conspicuous on the second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth hindmargins ;
pubescence on the rest of the belly black but not short on the middle
of the segments and rather tuft-like on the middle of the liindmargin of
the basal segment, but the side flanges which overhang the basal segment
bear pale hairs ; the usual black bristly hairs on the seventh ventral segment
are present but are not very conspicuous. Genitalia with two long blackish
lamellae protruding from the middle third of the liindmargin of apparently
the sixth dorsal segment because the true sixth segment is very small.

Legs mainly black, but the tibiae extensively dark brownish orange on
about the basal half of the front pair, on all the middle pair except the tip,
and on all the underside of the hind pair except at the tip, while the upper
side of the hind pair is usually blackish brown, and just the base of the
posterior tarsi is brownish orange. Pubescence all black, rather abundant
on the femora ; front tibiae with a slight filiation behind ; middle tibiae with
very long and abundant ciliation on the upper side, and with a rather shorter
and less abundant ciliation on the underside ; hind tibiae with a coarse dense
ciliation on the upper side, and a shorter and finer but equally dense ciliation
on the underside, and with a few long thin hairs there ; front tibiae about
the tip and the front tarsi with rather numerous “ touch-hairs.” Pulvilli dark
yellowish brown ; claws black but indistinctly brown about the base.

Wings rather smoky brownish ; costal and subcostal cells brownish
yellow ; stigma conspicuously blackish with a brownish surrounding, while
all the cross-veins near the base of the discal cell and the base of the cubital
fork are obviously blackish brown, as is also usually the upper cross-vein closing
the discal cell. Squamae blackish glassy with a slight yellowish brown tinge,
and with the usual yellowish tuft at the angle. Hal teres brownish black.

?. Very similar to the male. Frontal stripe greyish yellowish brown or dark
ashy grey, not three times as long as its broadest part (top) and very
gradually diminishing in width from the vertex to the frontal triangle ;
lower callus shining black and bare, slightly broader than high and
usually rather rounded above so that it does not extend to the eyes except
at its lower edge, and it amalgamates in colour with the shining black frontal
triangle and is only separated from that by the transverse line which bounds
the lower callus against the slightly inflated frontal triangle ; lower callus
united by a black middle line (varying in breadth and distinctness) with the
unusually large elongate oval or peg-shaped dull black middle callus, and
this middle callus is not very sharply defined but occupies about the middle
third of the frontal stripe without ever extending outwards to the eye-
margins and is sometimes connected indistinctly by a line with the upper
callus which is rather triangular in shape and includes the shining black or
chestnut ocellar space ; pubescence of the frontal stripe unusually long
and comparatively abundant, often almost all black but usually with obvious

2. TABANUS

369

greyish white hairs on the space between the middle and lower calli, and
usually with numerous pale grey hairs interspersed among the black hairs ;
most of this pubescence slopes forwards but the usually exclusively black
less dense hairs on the top third are distinctly longer and more erect and
practically form a tuft behind the ocelli ; f rontal triangle polished shining
black, sometimes shining chestnut on its middle part, but with a yellowish
grey marginal front line undulating above the antennal pits ; face and side-
cheeks whitish grey, though the upper part of the side-cheeks is usually more
yellowish grey, and clothed with abundant long pubescence which is white
all over except on the upper part of the side-cheeks where there is a largish
patch of black hairs (very rarely quite absent); jowls and just the lower
part of the back of the head also clothed with similar whitish pubescence
of which the yellower pubescence of the prothorax seems to form a part ;
postocular rim bare and whitish, while just behind it is a greyish white
rather short ciliation which becomes rather longer on the upper quarter, and
slightly longer still (though inconspicuous) behind the black hairs of the
vertex ; actual back of the head greyish white ; ocellar tubercle obvious.
Palpi yellowish with a faint brownish tinge, bearing numerous short depressed
black bristles on about the apical half, but with more abundant depressed
short thin white hairs intermingled with the black bristles on the rest
and with much longer whitish pubescence beneath near the base ; basal
joint with long whitish pubescence ; second joint about three times as long
as its broadest part, fairly stout near the base, but equally tapering thence
to a sharp point, though from other points of view the inner side curves
sharply inwards just after the middle. Eyes with very dense dark brown
pubescence, longer than in the allied species but shorter than in the male
and becoming sparse towards the hindmargin ; even in dried specimens three
purple bars not wide apart of which the middle one is level with the lower
part of the lower callus can sometimes be traced. Antennae almost as in
the male, but the pubescence on the basal joint much shorter, and the
short bristles on the upper side all black, though the longer hairs are con¬
siderably or nearly all whitish ; basal joint almost covered with conspicuous
pale grey dust ; third joint more stoutly built and its dorsal hump more
pronounced, but varying in colour from practically all blackish to all (except
the stout jointed style) dull reddish.

Thorax similar to that of the male but slightly greyer and with four faint
grey stripes ; praealar calli inclined to be brownish ; pubescence including
more pale grey hairs, which form a tuft above the wing-base and on the back
part of the postalar calli. Scutellum with rather notable long pale pubescence
about the margin.

Abdomen also conspicuously shining but broader and more ovate than in
the male, and with the reddish orange side-markings usually more restricted,
and with traces of steeply sloping side-flecks ; ground colour more greyish
black, and in the specimens which have the most extended reddish orange
coloring the outer thirds of the second and third segments are reddish orange
except for a rather large blackish indefinite spot on each side of the third
segment which extends triangularly nearly half-way inwards across the
reddish coloring, and for the trace of a dark spot on each side of the second
segment ; the more usual extent of the reddish orange or dull ferruginous
coloring includes the outer thirds of the second segment except that the
middle part of the sides is blackish, while the inner margin of each ferruginous
part runs out on to the dorsal black stripe as a pale greyside-fleck which
slopes outwards to the hindmargin and is rendered more conspicuous through
the pale grey pubescence on it, and the second segment has the ferruginous
coloring limited to an arc on the foremargin near each side and a spot nearer
the middle of the segment (well remote from fore or hind margin) from
which a fainter sloping side-fleck is indicated by less conspicuous pale grey
pubescence ; and in the darkest specimens the ferruginous coloring is reduced
to the basal corners of the second segment and to two spots which indicate
the ends of the side-flecks, and I have seen a specimen in which even these
markings are very faint ; liindmargins of segments grey with a slight
ferruginous tint at the actual margin, and with a small triangular patch of
pale pubescence on the middle of each which may rest on a slightly grey

2 A

370

TABANID7E

ground colour (occupying only about one-fifth the length of the segment).
Pubescence pale grey (as mentioned before) on the sicle-flecks on the second
and third segments and on the small dorsal triangles, and also on the sides of
the hindmargins from the second segment onwards, while the pubescence on
the sides of the two basal segments is rather dense and pale but not very short,
and that on the other parts of the abdomen is very short, sloping and
black, though slight indications of side-flecks on the fourth and fifth segments
are caused by scattered pale hairs on those parts. Belly greyer than in the
male and with the ferruginous part restricted to parts of the outer thirds of
the second segment and most of the third segment except the sides and
middle of hindmargin, though in dark specimens scarcely any ferruginous
coloring exists • pubescence ubiquitous and rather conspicuous, pale and
sloping, and with scarcely any trace of erect black hairs on the last segment.

Legs dull black, but the tibiae conspicuously orange-red except at just the
tip of the posterior pairs and on about the apical half of the front pair, posterior
tarsi more reddish orange at the base and the middle pair extensively so on
the underside. Pubescence on the front femora abundant and mostly black,
but on the posterior femora nearly all conspicuously greyish white though
black about the base of the middle pair ; posterior tibiae with much shorter
and less conspicuous pubescence than in the male, though the coarse black
dorsal ciliation on the hind tibiae is conspicuous.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 13 mm.

This species varies but little in the male beyond what has been
mentioned in the description, but there is occasionally a slight trace of
reddish orange on the fourth abdominal segment adjoining the spot on the
third segment near its inner margin ; while the variation in the amount
of reddish marking on the abdomen of the female is considerable but has
been also given in the description. It is an easily recognised species in
the female as it may be immediately distinguished from all its allies by
the shining black frontal triangle as well as by numerous other characters,
such as the broader more hairy frontal stripe, the longer darker haired
eyes, the larger longer haired basal antennal joint, the less drooping
less tapering and less black-bristled palpi, etc., but the male requires
closer examination as at first glance it resembles T. montanus. The
male of T. montanus has longer and more pointed palpi, smaller basal joint
of the antennse which bears much shorter hairs, eyes with shorter paler
pubescence and less equal facets and actually touching for a much longer
space, duller thorax and abdomen, browner posthumeral calli, much
narrower black dorsal stripe on the abdomen, and usually more extended
reddish coloring on the first and fourth segments and the dorsal grey
spots broader, legs with paler less pubescent tibiae and paler haired femora,
and wings without any clouded cross-veins. No other continental species
can be confounded with the female. Both sexes are easily known from
their allies by their brightly shining appearance.

T. luridus was first recorded with certainty as British from a number
of females taken by Colonel Yerbury at Nethy Bridge in Inverness in
June 1900, and it was again taken by him in considerable numbers in
June and July 1905 at both Nethy Bridge and Brodie, while on June 9 and
10 he took four males at Brodie. His dates range from June 5 to July 1,
though in writing to Mr Austen he said, “ In May 1905 it was met with
“ in numbers near Nairn, when both sexes were found sitting on a sandy
“ road leading to Maviston Sand Hills,” and he states that it appears to be
an earlier species than T. montanus. Previous records exist but probably
refer to some other species, though Duncan’s record (1837) of “Sutherland-

2. TABANUS

371

“ shire and vicinity of Jardine Hall, Dumfriesshire, Sir William Jardine,
“ Bart.," may be correct ; Stephens recorded it as occurring near London,
and Walker says “ Generally distributed (E. S.),” but both records are
probably incorrect. It is said to occur from Lapland to Middle Europe.

Synonymy. — Scliiner apparently mixed up T. luridus with T. tropicus , and Loew’s
T. luridus is also mainly founded upon T. tropicus. Six females in Bigot’s collection
under the label of T. luridus were in my opinion three T. tropicus and three
T. solstitialis.

5. T. distinguendus Verrall. Tibise mainly tawny. Abdomen very
extensively bright brownish orange even to the fourth segment in both
sexes. Eyes of the male with rather large front facets which are not very
abruptly contrasted with the smaller facets, and with dense short brownish
pubescence.

A rather large species, with the abdomen very extensively
bright brownish orange except for the narrow black dorsal
line and tip ; exceedingly closely allied to the next species.

3 . Head rather large ; frons greyish white, glistening when seen from above but
blackish brown when seen from below ; face ashy grey with broad dark grey
side-cheeks, and with an indefinite paler grey eyemargin extending from the
antennae down the sides of the face right round until half-way up the back of
the head ; the dark grey cheeks beset with rather dense and rather long
(though less conspicuous than in T. tropicus) black hairs (bleached at their
tips) which extend right round beneath the eyes but become rather shorter
and stiller as they approach the lower part of the back of the head ; just the
inner sides of the cheeks with pale greyish yellow hairs which overhang the
sunken bare epistoma ; mouthmargin rather narrowly and the back of
the mouth wholly and extensively clothed with longer shaggier yellowish grey
hairs, which extend up quite at the back of the head and mingle with the
similar pubescence on the prothorax, but the holiowed-out back of the head
bears some shorter thin greyish hairs ; in profile the frons and face scarcely
produced, but the jowls more distinctly so, and the part beneath the back of
the eyes and up the lower third of the back of the head only very slightly
puffed out, while the upper two-thirds of the back of the head are hollowed
out behind the eyes ; the lower third of the back of the head bears a very
short almost imperceptible black postocular ciliation, but above that a rather
close more erect pale postocular ciliation can be seen which is still very short
for the middle third, but which grows slightly longer though still short about
the toi^ third, nor does it become perceptibly longer behind the vertex except
for a slight fringe at the actual corner of the eye, but there are a few (two to
six) rather longer blackish hairs behind the ocelli which bend slightly
forward ; vertical space small, distinctly elevated, shining chestnut ; frons
quite bare, grey but when viewed from in front with large obscure splashes
about the angles of the eyes and with a slight darkening between the antennse
and the eyes. Palpi (fig. 227) with the end-joint broadly oval, not twice
as long as broad, ending bluntly or in an inconspicuous point on which
is sometimes a slight clump of short black bristles though more commonly
these bristles merge into those near ; this end-joint may be all blackish grey
except for the obscurely orange tip and inner side, or may be dull orange
with a slight blackish grey tinge on about the basal half and with a whitish
grey tinge beneath ; sometimes the pubescence may be almost all pale, though
more commonly the rather short and rather numerous hairs on the middle
part and up to the tip are black, but with a longer pale yellow fringe all
along the lower side and with numerous longer pale yellow hairs about the
upper side and base, though the hairs near the base are not so long as those
on the upper side ; basal joint of the palpi blackish grey, and clothed with

TAB AN ID.®

Fio. 230. — Thcrioplectes
distinguendus,

<$ eye-facets, x 22.

mixed black and pale yellow long dense pubescence. Eyes clothed with
rather short very dense brownish pubescence (dark brown when viewed from
above) which becomes shorter towards the hindmargin, and only in some
lights appears paler on the lower part ; eyes touching for quite twice the
length of the frons ; facets (fig. 230) on all the prominent middle and
front part rather large, including all those against the junction of the eyes, and
only slightly diminishing on the front margin down to the level of the antennae,
but becoming distinctly smaller on the lower third of the eyes and on a rather
narrow zone running all up the hindmargin to almost the top, but the
change in size nowhere abrupt and the diameter of the
largest facets less than twice that of the smallest ; in life
the eyes have a narrow dark (almost black) band running
straight across from about the middle of the frons to
almost the hindmargin, and well below this is a broader
vaguer band starting very slightly below the antenme and
turning upwards as it approaches the hindmargin ; facets
above below and between these bands more reddish brown
than the darker brown ordinary facets ; the lower band is
in some lights a rich red brown, being darker than the
facets above and below it. Antennae mainly reddish
orange, but the basal joint and the end half of the third
joint darkened ; basal joint light greyish black, but rather
obscurely reddish beneath, and bearing dorsally several long-
black hairs and numerous short ones, but on the sides and
beneath with some moderate black hairs about the tip, and on the rest
shorter hairs as on the upper side ; the basal joint barely extends cap-like
over the second joint; second joint reddish (sometimes obscurely) with a
rather dense circlet of short black bristly hairs round the tip, which are
longer below than above ; third joint reddish orange (sometimes blackish
dorsally and about the tip) but all the annulations after the basal one rather
dark brown ; dorsal hump near the base distinct but hardly pointed or
hooked and bearing some tiny black bristles, while usually there are some
tiny black bristles on the outer side of the segment near but not close to the
base.

Thorax black, slightly shining, with very faint grey stripes and front part ;
the stripes are best detected when seen from behind, when they can be traced
on the front part as two rather narrow stripes very wide apart with perhaps a
middle stripe between, but the outer stripes are inclined to curve round in front
so as to join the broader grey humeri and side stripes, and the thorax grows
greyish about the suture ; the large praealar calli obviously though rather incon¬
spicuously ferruginous. Pubescence composed of fairly abundant erect black
hairs which do not extend quite to the front part (where the hollowed-out head
fits on), but intermixed with these are scattered sparse very depressed (almost
flattened) thin greyish hairs which become dense and more erect on the front
part where there are no black hairs and there are some long more erect
rather shaggy pale hairs on the humeri and also some others near the meso-
pleural suture, but all these hardly obscure the ground colour ; pleurae with
dark sometimes almost black pubescence on most of the mesopleuras, but
with more conspicuous large tufts of yelloAv or grey hairs on the pteropleurae
and especially on the metapleurae, while the intermediate space bears greyish
yellow hairs. Scutellum black, slightly shining, but greyish on the disc, and
with pubescence similar to that on the thorax but with several longer
yellowish hairs intermixed with the black hairs towards the tip.

Abdomen mainly bright brownish orange with a narrow interrupted
dorsal line and the tip black ; basal segment black at the base but with
the black colour narrowing to about one-third of the hindmargin, and
with the extreme sides black ; second segment with the middle eighth
(or less) black but not quite to the hindmargin ; third segment with
the middle tenth (or only a narrow line) black but also hardly to the
hindmargin, and wirh its sides slightly blackened ; fourth segment
normally with the middle quarter (or thereabouts) and the sides more
extensively blackened, and often the intermediate space darker brownish
orange ; fifth and sixth segments black ; there are small not very con-

2. TAB AN US

373

11 shallow triangles of wliitisli yellow hairs, at the

spicuous nor well denned sna , ' mnfimar<nns and after an interval

grows a longer and more restricted to the side quarters ;

margin ivith the yellow iun0e » , sidemargms ; genitalia

sixth segment with longer v, allow rnirs on . just the ’^mining

;^esctncTo7the°Soiev.r|

part; sidemargmal pubescence blac , - 1 ^ (w]ien viewed from

the LidSetf the W buUhe mid segments ^cXlhJ
pubescence short, dense, and pa y » j sixth (or even slightly

sr1™ as h rtx>

XlbouTfcmiddle6. ’ Genitalia with

wfo? bSB ^"rSe^leoed Aid-j^bS11 a’S

“rSfe So* Schelly o^nge, and below these are two long narrow bare
shining chestnut lamellae. f and almost all the tibiae

bro^lS ap™, and the^tre.e

S^«5W Se.tTp,ea„d t

base and on the short terminal spines, on the” tont cox® long

junctions of the joints i eddish c & • rather shorter and black

and pale grey in front .but ; partb Mad $3 part ; front femora
though still abundant at the front a ncl sic lesoi i A‘b hiAcl ; middle femora

;fh aȣxf jsJg

and behind (though not so c?nsP1^l<;’ ? ‘if orsai ciliation all the length except
conspicuous coarse black rather ant / lons partlv pale ciliation beneath

at just the base, and thin sparse

(except on the apical quaiter), and nostero-dorsal and dorsal

longer almost antero-ventral ciliation ; tmy V^aovs^^ with

bristles on the lnnd tibiae are nios y ) third they are all black.

only scattered black ones intermixed, but on the lastto^cl tney front

Wings slightly smoky, with a mwetot ^P^nged with orange ;
part and the foremargin above stem 0f the postical vein, also

the base, and the upper margm o ^ ^ Sickened end of the

tinged with orange : stigma composed o J d stem 0f postical, veins

subcostal vein ; mediastinal, basal ha c minute black bristles from the

rather orange ; subcostal van «th *undant m ^ tinged,

humeral cross-vein to the tip. ^qua . *? • , \ tiloracai mir more smoky

with the margin of the alar pair blackish thorac at pair . ^

brownish, with a scarcely darkened margin , frmges slignt, l
usual dull yellow tuft at the angle. Halteres dark brown.

? . Very much like the male, but the thorax more greyish black and the abdomen
still more extensively orange. brownish above but becoming more

JtfS about oust above the lower

374

TABANIM

callus, or (when seen from in front) all more equally pale brownish orange,
slightly contracting from the upper part clown to the front eye-angles, and
nearly four times as long as its widest part or six times as long as its narrowest
part ; lower callus shining black and almost quadrate or even higher than
broad and in perfect specimens not absolutely touching the eyes at any part,
and connected by a narrow black line with the long narrow black middle
callus ; ocellar tubercle conspicuous, shining dark chestnut ; pubescence of
the frontal stripe (when seen in profile) rather dense, rather short, mixed black
and yellow with the yellow hairs thinner but rather predominant, and usually
with some hairs sloping forwards and some backwards, while above the ocelli
the pubescence is rather longer, curved forward, and all black except for
sometimes a few pale hairs close against the occiput ; side-cheeks and jowls
with mainly pale yellow silky hairs, which are not so dense or long on the
cheeks as is the black bushy pubescence of the male ; there are sometimes a
few shorter inconspicuous black hairs near the eyemargin on the upper
half (or sometimes more) of the face and sometimes a few inconspicuous
black hairs on the upper middle part of the face ; pubescence on the lower
part of the jowls and all about the back of the mouth longer and pale yellow,
rather dense and conspicuous ; all along below the eyes and up all the back of
the head to the vertex is a narrow dull pale yellow bare rim, behind which
is a rather short though rather crowded ciliation of brownish yellow hairs
which only extends to the upper eye-angle ; back of the head all light grey
and bearing below the vertex some long pale hairs ; frontal triangle bright
ashy grey, quite bare but with a distinct middle furrow ; antennal pits rather
orange. Palpi (fig. 227) rather pale dull luteous but varying to orange, usually
almost obscured by the short dense depressed black bristles amongst which
on the basal part (especially above) are some less distinct thin smaller pale
yellow bristles intermixed, but sometimes the numerous short black bristles
are almost confined to the apical two-thirds and occur only sparsely before the
middle, while the basal part has only the smaller thin inconspicuous
pale yellow bristles ; palpi nearly four times as long as their broadest part,
rather broad from the base up to about the middle, after which they droop
and gradually diminish to a moderate point, quite bare on all the inner side
but with a few longer pale hairs beneath about the base, basal joint
blackish grey but covered with greyish orange dust and bearing long pale
pubescence, though occasionally with one or tAvo black hairs on the outer
side near the tip. Eyes clothed Avith short dense dark broAvnish pubescence,
Avkich becomes very sparse or even absent on and near the hind and
upper margins, and Avhich in some lights appears paler on the loAver part

Avitli

strong

broAvnish coppery tinge, and

bearing

the eyes in life green
three rather narrow dark purple bands, of which the middle one is level
with the loAvest part of the frontal callus but does not quite reach the hind-
margin, Avliile the upper and lower bands are equidistant from the middle
band and someAvkat approach each other at the back after the middle band
has ceased, lower margin of the eyes not purplish though apparently
darkened in some lights. Antennse Avitli the basal joint covered wit 1 greyish
orange dust on apparently a blackish orange ground colour and bearing
numerous long thin pale hairs (most obvious on the underside) and several
short black bristles above on the apical half Avliich vary considerably in
quantity ; this basal joint extends rather cap-like over the short obscure
reddish orange second joint and this second joint bears a circlet of short black
bristles around the tip AA'hich are rather longer on the underside, and of
which sometimes only those on the underside are visible ; third joint reddish,
but darkened dorsally after the hump and with the annulations darkened ;
hump distinct and bearing tiny black bristles, the depth of the segment at
the hump being fully two-thirds its length.

Thorax tinged more greyish broAvn or 1 dackish through the orange pubescence
and more obviously striped, there being (when viewed from behind) three greyish
stripes down the disc, of which the middle one is rather narrow and the side
ones (not far away) wider but only distinct in front and just beloAv the suture,
Avliile on the broadest front part they have a tendency to curve over to the
vague grey side-stripes which extend back to the wing-base, and the grey part
just beloAv the suture has a tendency to unite with other vague grey stripes

2. TABANUS

375

which lie about half-way between them and the wing-base ; prsealar calli
sometimes only indistinctly ferruginous. Pubescence shorter and less dense
than in the male, but much more composed of pale yellow hairs along the
sidemargins, while on the disc there are more depressed thin short pale hairs ;
pubescence on the pleurae, especially on the back part, paler brownish yellow
and more conspicuous. Scutellum greyish black, with mainly pale pubescence
about the tip.

Abdomen more quadrate than in the male because the fifth and sixth
segments are practically as wide as the fourth, and with slightly more
extended paler orange coloring because the black dorsal line (though broader)
is less defined and becomes vaguer on the hind half of each segment through
the greater extent of the rather vague triangles of pale yellow pubescence,
and the whole abdomen appears to be more pale orange because of the
universal short dense depressed orange pubescence on the whole of four
basal segments (except on the black dorsal part), while the hindmargins of
all seven segments have pale orange fringes, and there is a small amount
of scattered depressed pale pubescence on the fifth and sixth segments (where
the usual Tabanus- like side-flecks should be), as well as on the sidemargins ;
otherwise the fifth and sixth segments bear rather longer more erect black
pubescence, and the small seventh segment also bears some longer erect
black hairs • the triangle of pale hairs at the middle of the liindmargin of
each segment rests on a slightly grey piece of ground colour and extends
more than half-way up the segment ; lateral margins of the dorsal plate
beginning with a blackish grey metathoracic plate, then with a fair-sized
blackish grey spot on the first segment, followed by a dark line on the
second segment, while the brownish colour on the third and fourth segments
is widely spread and merges into the blackish colour of the fifth and sixth
segments. Belly orange with a small blackish spot at the middle of the base
but becoming mainly brown on and after the fourth segment ; clothed all over
with dense short depressed pale yellow pubescence, but the seventh segment
with some longer erect black hairs.

Legs colored as in the male, but the pubescence shorter and less con¬
spicuous and decidedly more pale on the hmd femora and tibiae ; front coxae
with more conspicuous all pale yellow pubescence ; the tiny pubescence on
the front tibiae mainly pale yellow on the basal two-fifths, and on the
middle tibiae on the basal three-quarters, and the middle tibiae do not bear
the long delicate black pubescence which is conspicuous in the male but
have a shorter sparser rather inconspicuous mainly pale dorsal pubescence
(much less abundant and less evident than in the female of T. solstitialis)
and a slight short ciliation on the underside (though an isolated black hair
or two may be intermixed) and the apical quarter bears only shorter black
bristly hairs though sometimes the black hairs predominate on the upper
side ; hind tibiae with short pale pubescence on the basal three-fifths, and
with the dorsal ciliation less strong and coarse and conspicuously pale on
usually more (though sometimes less) than the basal half, though this
pubescence becomes rather coarse and black on the apical third, but on the
underside the pubescence is all slight short and pale except at the tip.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 14-5 mm., but varying from 13 mm. to 15-5 mm.

This species varies but very little; the dorsal black line down
the abdomen may vary a little in width and in intensity, and sometimes
in the male the middle quarter of the abdomen may be darkened by a
parallel-sided dorsal stripe to the end of the fourth segment, though the
usual reddish markings are still quite traceable, and this makes the whitish
triangles more distinct, even on the fifth segment ; the palpi of the male
vary from dull orange to blackish grey, and the short black bristles on
them vary in amount in both sexes; the antennae are always mainly
reddish, but the basal joint is often darkened, and the amount of dorsal
darkening on the third joint after the hump and of black hairs or

376

TABANID/E

bristles on the two basal joints varies; the amount of black pubescence
on the tibiae varies a little ; and the belly is sometimes rather obscured
on the orange part. Some of the Nethy Bridge specimens of the
female have a tendency to be larger, with the third and fourth segments
of the abdomen rather darker at the sides and more inclined to black
pubescence, while the fifth segment shows very little soft yellow
pubescence, and the bright coloring of the abdomen is a little more
rufous. A female from Spey Bridge shows the reddish colour on the
fourth abdominal segment only by the reddish pubescence. A female taken
by Colonel Yerbury at Golspie on June 21, 1904, has the third veinlet
from the discal cell (which should separate the third and fourth posterior
cells) missing in one wing and very imperfect in the other.

This species is very closely allied to T. solstitialis (as I interpret that)
but the male may be distinguished by the merely comparatively large
indistinctly contrasted front eye-facets, by the shorter browner pubescence
of the eyes, by the absence of obvious pale postocular pubescence on the
upper part of the back of the head, by the larger size and by the less
sharply margined orange markings on the abdomen ; while the female is
distinguished by the reddish colour on the abdomen extending to the
fourth segment, by the darker colored more black-bristled palpi which are
thicker at the conspicuous knee-like bend, by the shorter pubescence on
the middle tibiae, by the rather larger size, and from all species by the
ubiquitous soft yellow pubescence on the four basal segments of the
abdomen. From even the reddest forms of T. tropicus it may be dis¬
tinguished by its still more reddish abdomen, shorter haired middle tibiae,
less blackened hind tibiae and tarsi, and the less black pubescence and
tiny bristles on all the tibiae, and its larger less black-bristled palpi, and from
all other species it may be distinguished by the predominating bright
brownish orange coloring on the abdomen. The North American T. ajjinis
is exceedingly closely allied, but has a wider and more equally wide frontal
stripe in the female on which is a wider middle callus, and has longer
darker antennae, longer rather more equally thick palpi, browner wings,
and a more dull orange belly on which the fifth segment and the last two
hindmargins are more inclined to be orange; further distinctive notes
are given below in the synonymy.

T. distincjucndus is one of the commonest British species of the genus
Tabanus (in the widest sense) and I have records from Cornwall (Bude),
Devon (Torcross, Avon Valley, Stowford Cleeve, and Sidmouth), Dorset
(Studland), Hampshire (New Forest), Sussex (Beclgebury Park), Cambridge¬
shire (Chippenham Fen, common), Suffolk (several localities t. C. Morley),
Norfolk (Mundesley), Berkshire (Tubney Wood), Herefordshire (Tarrington),
Warwickshire (Sutton Coldfield), Cumberland (Ullswater), Merioneth (Bar¬
mouth), Glamorgan (Porthcawl and Crymlyn Bog), and in Scotland
Colonel Yerbury has taken it at Nethy Bridge, The Mound, Nairn, Brodie,
Rannoch, and Aviemore, while other records include Argyllshire and
Arran ; I suspect also that Colonel Yerbury’s Kenmare specimens belong
to this species ; I can vouch for almost all these records as I have seen
the specimens. The dates extend from June 14 to September 2, and it is
curious that one of the earliest dates (June 15) is from Nethy Bridge, while
the latest (September 2) is from Torcross. Colonel Yerbury has seen
the males hovering over roads through woods, and he has stated that

2. TAB ANUS

377

the bite of the female although not painful is very severe and draws
blood more often than that of any other species.

Synonymy— It is with considerable misgiving that I propose a new name for
this common species, but after prolonged study I am unable to identify it with any
named species ; Pandelle found the same difficulty in reconciling his Pyrenean
specimens with Brauer’s description, and therefore it is most probable that he had
T. distinguendus before him. It is exceedingly close to the two species described as
T. solstitialis and T. Muhlfeldi by Brauer, but Brauer’s T. solstitialis has the eye-
facets of the male very much enlarged on all the front and upper part of the eyes
and strongly contrasted with the small facets on the lower part, and this is
confirmed by three males in Kowarz’s collection from Franzensbad in Bohemia.
A female of this species which was taken at Braemar on July 21, 1873,
was sent to Brauer before his monograph was published, and was returned by him
as T. solstitialis ; it was a specimen which had the basal side-corners of the third
and fourth abdominal segments rather obviously blackened and black haired, but
the fourth segment otherwise very strongly red, and the pubescence on the middle
tibiae rather conspicuous. Another female sent to Brauer at the same time, taken
at Lyndhurst on June 30, 1874, was certainly one of the next species, so that it is
obvious that Brauer had not a very definite opinion about these closely allied
species. Some females in Kowarz’s collection under the name of T. solstitialis (one
from Mannhartsberg in Lower Austria, one from Herculesbad, and one from
Marienbad) are veiy close to T. distinguendus but are I consider not quite con-
specific ; they have the frontal stripe almost wholly black haired, the middle callus
rather broad and not always connected with the front callus ; frontal triangle more
yellowish ; upper part of the side-cheeks with more black hairs ; palpi less dilated
at their thickest part and then abruptly bent downwards, long and blunt-tipped,
with black bristles predominating but with pale ones intermixed right up to the
tip ; basal joint of the antennae with fewer long hairs beneath, and the third joint
with its basal segment brighter red and not darkened dorsally ; thorax more dis¬
tinctly striped and with more obvious brownish yellow pubescence intermixed with
the erect black hairs ; praealar calli hardly ferruginous and mainly black haired ;
abdomen with the black dorsal stripe much broader at its narrowest part (almost
one-third the segment) and the orange part more reddish and not extending to the
fourth segment, though that segment may be reddish along the sides of the hind-
margin ; sidemarginal pubescence all pale even to the end of the sixth segment, and
the general pubescence all reddish orange without being soft and ubiquitous ; hind-
marginal hems narrowly whitish, especially against the dorsal triangles of the
second, third, and fourth segments. A male from Greece (Sir S. S. Saunders) is almost
identical with T. distinguendus but is smaller, and has a ciliation of short inconspicu¬
ous postocular black bristles all the way up the back of the head (a not very trust¬
worthy character), and also has the narrow part of the abdominal black dorsal stripe
interrupted at the hindmargins of the second and third segments. One or two details
in Schiner’s description of T. solstitialis would appear to indicate T. distinguendus,
for instance such as his emphasising the orange praealar calli and the large extent of
the orange abdominal coloring, but it cannot be doubted that Brauer fully under¬
stood Schiner’s very common species. Two males and several females in Bigot’s
collection under the label of T. solstitialis belonged to T. distinguendus, and Walker’s
T. tropicus must also refer to this species because he speaks of it as being
“ generally distributed.” In Meigen’s collection at Paris there is a solitary female
representative of T. solstitialis, which clearly belongs to the next species.

Since writing the above, Lundbeck has considered the males of this species as
conspecific with T. Muhlfeldi Brauer, but he has only doubtfully identified the
female ; he has had Brauer’s original type of the male before him and may be
correct, but in view of the other closely allied species to which 1 have referred I
leave my description and name intact.

6. T. solstitialis Meigen. Tibiae mainly tawny. Abdomen very
extensively bright orange, but with no orange markings in the female on
the fourth segment. Eyes of the male with the front facets very con-

378

TABANID.E

siderably larger than the lower ones, and with dense rather long pale
brownish pubescence.

Fig. 231. — Therioplectes
solstitialis,

<J eye-facets, x 22.

Extremely closely allied to T. (listing uendns, but slightly
smaller.

6 • Compared with T. distinguendus the postocular fringe near the vertex is

slightly longer but sparse, and there is a row of short black
bristles against its front margin. Palpi with the basal joint
bearing only a few long black hairs (among the pale ones)
on the underside near the tip. Eyes clothed with dis¬
tinctly longer and paler brownish yellow pubescence which
is also more extended to the hinder part of the eyes,
where however it becomes shorter; facets (fig. 231) con¬
siderably larger than in T. distinguendus on the prominent
front part, being about three times as large as the small
facets, and the large facets extending up to the touching
part of the eyes but not sharply contrasted with the small
facets anywhere. Antenme as dark as the darkest forms
of T. distinguendus.

Thorax and scutellum blacker, and with more depressed
thin pale grey pubescence on the thorax especially on the
back part, above the wing-base, and on the postalar calli ;
prsealar calli less extensively reddish ; pleurae with very few and indistinct
black hairs.

Abdomen narrower, more shining, more tubular, and more acuminate than
in T. distinguendus , with the orange markings forming a more defined
yellower spot on each side, and when viewed from behind with a much more
whitish gleam almost as in T. tropicus; the dorsal black stripe occupying
nearly the middle quarter of the second segment, but only about half as wide
on the third segment though widening a little towards the hindmargin ;
fourth segment all black except for two sharply defined reddish orange spots
against the foremargin placed about half-way between the middle and the
sides and extending rather more than half-way down the segment ; side-
marginal pubescence all distinctly longer. Belly with no tufts of pubescence,
but with the pubescence mainly black on the fourth and fifth segments.

Legs with the front tibiae less blackened, the middle tibiae yellower,
and the hind tarsi more reddish orange about the base ; front coxae with
more pale pubescence especially on the back part ; femora with rather paler
posterior pubescence ; middle tibiae with possibly rather longer ciliation, and
the hind tibiae with a slightly longer and more conspicuous black antero-dorsal
fringe.

$ . Very much like the female of T. distinguendus but rather smaller, and the
fourth abdominal segment without any reddish coloring. Frontal stripe
with the general tomentum greyer, and with distinctly longer more black
pubescence, the shorter thinner pale pubescence being less conspicuous ;
frontal stripe narrower at its lower end, and the middle callus more linear ;
face, chin, and jowls with the pubescence more greyish white, and the bare
rim against the eyes greyish white and less conspicuous. Palpi with the end-
joint pale yellow and dilated on the basal third, but after that drooping a
little and gradually diminishing to a rather blunt tip, the small black bristles
confined to about the apical half and not at all dense, or even limited to a
few on the underside near the tip ; basal joint covered with light grey dust
and bearing long pale pubescence. Eyes rounder than in T. distinguendus and
bearing longer paler more abundant pubescence. Antennee almost as in IT.
distinguendus but sometimes many of the long hairs beneath the basal joint
are black, as are sometimes most of the short bristly hairs on the upper side,
though sometimes these black bristly hairs are confined to just the tip;
second joint with the circlet of apical black bristles longer and more hair-like
beneath.

2. TAB ANUS

379

Thorax blacker than in T. distinguendus and with pale grey instead of
brownish yellow pubescence ; outstanding black pubescence between the
humeri and the wing-base more conspicuous ; prsealar calli not at all
ferruginous ; pleurae with apparently all whitish grey pubescence, the few
sparse black hairs intermingled on the mesopleurae being very inconspicuous.

Abdomen with no reddish coloring on the fourth segment and without the
ubiquitous soft-tinted yellow pubescence of T. distinguendus , but with a few
black hairs on the foremargin of the second segment not far from the basal
corners, and with a large number of black hairs near the sides of the third
segment ; the pale hindmarginal fringes less continuous and less con¬
spicuous and the middle triangles smaller; the black dorsal line more
broadly and determinately black and widening out a little on the hindmargin
of the third segment ; when viewed laterally the fourth segment is all blackish
except for a very indistinct ferruginous sidemargin. Belly with usually the
fourth and sometimes the third segment considerably obscured, and often
with a few longer erect black hairs on the middle part of the fifth and sixth
segments though not nearly so many nor so conspicuous as on the seventh
segment.

Legs almost as in the female of T. distinguendus , but with longer
pubescence on the middle tibiae which forms a rather long delicate dorsal
cilia tion much more conspicuous than in T. distinguendus but not quite so
conspicuous as in T. tropicus.

\Vings and halteres as in T. distinguendus, but the squamae more whitish.

Length about 14 mm.

This species is very closely allied to T. distinguendus, and also in
many ways to T. tropicus ; it is however in both sexes a slightly smaller
and more sharply marked species than either of them. The male may
be known from T. distinguendus by the larger front eye-facets, the longer
paler pubescence on the eyes, the longer sidemarginal pubescence on the
abdomen, and the presence of black pubescence on the fourth and fifth
ventral segments. The female has no reddish orange markings on the
fourth abdominal segment, and has some black pubescence on the third
segment in contrast to the ubiquitous soft yellow pubescence of T. distin¬
guendus. T. tropicus is a larger broader inseet with far less orange
abdominal markings, and with longer and more abundant ciliation on the
middle tibiae. The female of T. solstitialis has long been known to me,
but I had not seen a satisfactory English male until Dr J. H. Wood sent
me a male and a female in October 1907 which had been taken at the Leech
Pool in Herefordshire on July 31, 1901; the male seems to differ from
an old (probably) English specimen which I previously possessed and
which agrees with continental specimens in having the large facets
on the eyes even larger still and more abruptly contrasted with the
small facets, the black dorsal stripe on the abdomen occupying only a
twelfth of the second segment and still less on the third segment until it
widens out to the dorsal stripe on the fourth segment which becomes as
much as a third of the segment against the hindmargin, and in having no
tiny black postocular bristles. The female taken by Dr J. H. Wood in
company with the male has the frons with but little black pubescence
(rubbed ? ) and slightly narrower than most of my specimens at the vertex,
the palpi dull orange and less dilated at the base and more equal in size
and much more extensively black -bristled even almost to the base, the
black hairs on the second antennal joint not longer or more hair-like on
the underside, the praealar calli more ferruginous, the grey abdominal
triangles larger, the belly without black hairs and the third and fourth
segments not obscured, the black bristles on the seventh ventral segment

380

TABANIDiE

inconspicuous, and the legs with scarcely any long ciliation on the middle
tibiae, but I do not in the least doubt its identity with the species well
known to me. There are however some females which were taken by
Colonel Yerbury at Kenmare and Glengariff, Co. Kerry, which are rather
intermediate between T. solstitialis and T. distinguendus ; they agree
exactly in abdominal coloring with T. solstitialis, but have thinner and
more pointed palpi (like L)r Wood’s specimen), long haired basal antennal
joints, coarse black antero-dorsal ciliation on the hind tibiae almost up
to the base, blackish pubescence behind the front femora and posterior
tibiae except for the tiny bristles beneath the basal half of the hind
tibiae, and the hind tibiae scarcely darkened until the extreme tip ; they
also agree with Dr Wood’s specimen in being smaller than most of my
specimens, and in having the abdomen narrower but more oblong.

T. solstitialis (as understood by me) is by no means so common as
T. distinguendus , but has occurred as mentioned above and also in
Hampshire (Lyndhurst) and Cambridgeshire (Chippenham Fen) from
June 24 to July 8. Brauer records his T. solstitialis from England to
Asia Minor and North Asia, but not from South or North Europe.

Synonymy. — I do not suppose that the species I have now described is the same
as most authors have recorded as T. solstitialis, but I am convinced that it is the
same as the (apparently) type specimen of the female in Meigen’s collection at Paris.
I have dealt at greater length with the synonymy under T. distinguendus.

ATYLOTUS.

(Subgenus of Tabanus.)

Atylotus Osten Sacken, Mem. Bost. Soc., ii., 426 (1876).

A convenient subdivision of the gigantic genus Tabanus.

“Eyes pubescent, with a simple narrow purple cross-band in the
“ middle, or unicolorous (?) ; no vestige of an ocellar tubercle ; frontal
“ callosity either entirely wanting or imperfect. Head rather large, very
“ convex anteriorly and concave posteriorly. In the male, the difference
“ in size between the large and small facets is considerable, the line of
“ division between them distinct ; palpi ( 9 ) stout at base ; third joint of
“ the antennm rather broad, with a comparatively short, stout, annulate
“ portion ; upper branch of the third vein knee-shaped at base, with a ten-
“ dency to emit a stump of a vein ; first posterior cell broadly open.”

The above quoted wrnrds are those used by Osten Sacken in his last
definition of this subgenus (Western Diptera, 215, 1877) and are only a
slight modification of his original characters. His original description
said “ coloration of the eyes uniform (sometimes a single indistinct stripe).
“ The coloring of the eyes I quote after European authors ; I do not know
“ that of the American species but have little doubt, from the appearance
“ of the dry specimens, that it is the same as in the others.” Whether he
subsequently knew more about the eyes I do not know, but he had been
misled as I have noted below.

I do not intend to deal in this work with the limitations of the sub¬
genus Atylotus, mainly because there can be no doubt about our British
species but also because we have so few species; I know however that

2. TABANUS

381

Osten Sacken did not admit that Brauer had properly interpreted his
subgenus, and I know that Bigot had not the most elementary conception
of it. Osten Sacken had however been misinformed about the coloration
of the eyes in the female, as in all the living specimens (A. fulvus and
A. latistriatus ) I have been able to examine the opalescent eyes show a
few irregular shifting spots (according to the point of view) of a very
distinct nature from any others of our inclusive genus Tabanus
(figs. 233, 234); there is however a single slight cross-band in A. latistriatus,
but certainly not always in A. fulvus.

The British species may be easily distinguished from any others of the
inclusive genus Tabanus by their mealy appearance, total absence of
ocelli, bright orange antennae, and by the recurrent veinlet near the base
of the upper branch of the cubital fork, though this last character is said
to be occasionally absent.

Ta ble of Species.

1 (2) Abdomen brownish orange with a broad blackish dorsal stripe.

Femora in the male on at least the posterior pairs orange on at least
the apical half, and in the female orange with only the base grey. A
brilliant golden-hued species in life.

7 fulvus.

2 (1) Abdomen greyish brown (or partly fulvous) with two blackish

dorsal stripes separated by a rather broad ashy-grey stripe.
Greyish brown species in life.

3 (4) Abdominal blackish stripes bowed out.

Femora with only just the tip yellow. Frontal stripe of the female
narrow and parallel-sided.

8 rusticus.

4 (3) Abdominal blackish stripes not bowed out.

Femora with almost the apical half yellowish. Frontal stripe of the
female rather broad and not parallel-sided.

9 latistriatus.

The two latter species are very closely allied, and are now for the first time
closely compared. A. plebeius will probably occur in Britain, as it has been found
in France and Denmark, and may easily be distinguished by its smaller size, long
postocular pubescence, and general pilosity.

7. A. fulvus Meigen. Golden-hued species. Femora orange on the
apical half in the male, or almost to the base in the female. Abdomen
mainly ferruginous.

A very handsome golden-tinted fly when alive, very distinct
from any other British species.

S • Head very much arched, considerably wider than the thorax, and larger (though
often only a little) than in the female. Face, including the side-cheeks,
pale greyish yellow with a tinge of green, bearing short dense yellow pubescence
which becomes longer about the mouth and jowls; back of the head deeply
hollowed out behind the eyes and with only a microscopical brownish yellow
postocular fringe ; vertex greyish yellow with its point blackish, small but
distinct, and with some distinct though short brownish yellow pubescence
on and just behind it ; frons pale greyish yellow, quite bare, depressed for a

382

TABANID.E

lai’ge central space. Palpi long ; end-joint elongate elliptical and barely
pointed, yellow, and clothed with numerous short black bristles on all the
outer side except towards the upper part but with longer pale yellow hairs
about its base ; basal joint also with long pale yellow hairs. Eyes clothed
with dense short brownish hairs, touching for a very long space ( = two-thirds
the distance from the occiput to the antennae) ; facets anteriorly and on almost
the upper three-quarters much larger than those on about the lower quarter
and on a rather broad zone which extends all up the liindmargin to the
vertex, the transverse dividing line between the facets being sharply defined
and sloping down from the front part until it curves round to the hindmarginal
zone ; in life the eyes are beautifully opalescent green and (according to
Brauer usually) without any dark transverse band. Antennae orange ; two
basal joints with short black dorsal bristles, but on the outside of and
beneath the basal joint there are longer yellowish bristly hairs ; third joint
moderately long, with the dorsal hump obvious and occurring much nearer
the base than the middle and with some minute black bristles on it ; style¬
like portion rather shorter than the basal segment of the third joint,
with its last segment conical and not very thin and with microscopical apical
bristles.

Thorax and scutellum brownish black but rather grey on the front part,
clothed with dense brownish yellow sloping and tangled pubescence, and
with numerous but inconspicuous erect black hairs all over except on the
front part ; pleurae ashy grey with long dense brownish yellow pubescence
on the upper hind part of the mesopleurse and on the upper and hind parts
of the metapleurae (close to the tuft on the squamae), but more sparsely
pubescent elsewhere.

Abdomen not at all conical, conspicuously brownish orange with a more
or less broad (about one-third the width of the abdomen) blackish dorsal
stripe and with the tip blackish, but with all the actual sidemargins orange ;
this dorsal stripe begins on the whole breadth of the basal segment and
contracts to about the middle third of the liindmargin of that segment, and
then gradually narrows to the end of the third segment, the fourth and
subsequent segments being almost entirely blackish, though the orange hue may
extend somewhat down the sides of the dorsal stripe on the fourth segment,
and the blackish sides of the fourth segment may extend faintly upwards
near the sides of the third segment, and there may be a small round isolated
blackish spot near each side of the second segment right in the middle of the
orange part. Pubescence all over composed of moderately dense sloping-
glistening orange thin hairs, amongst which abundant though inconspicuous
more bristly black hairs occur which are longer (and when viewed sideways con¬
spicuous) and erect on all the middle part of the disc of the second segment
and on the basal segment ; sidemarginal pubescence rather conspicuous, out¬
spread, and orange except for the blackish hairs at the sides of the basal
segment ; the dense orange pubescence and dust sometimes obscure the black
dorsal stripe and tip. Belly orange with a broad continuous middle stripe,
which however may only extend to the third segment or to a point on the
fourth segment, the remaining segments being then wholly orange on to the
sixth segment but leaving the tip blackish ; sometimes the black middle stripe
widens out on the second segment towards the sides, and sometimes the sides
are blackish ; pubescence short dense and pale yellow, but the usual black
bristly hairs beneath the seventh segment fairly conspicuous.

Legs mainly orange, but blackish on the coxae, on nearly the basal half of the
front femora, on quite the basal half of the middle pair, on more than the
basal half of the hind femora, on about the apical half of the front tibiae,
and on the tip of the posterior tarsi (beginning to darken soon after the basal
joint), while the front tarsi are deep black ; trochanters brownish. Pubescence
on the anterior femora rather long and dense behind, greyish yellow about
the base but growing blackish about the tip, and the bare subfemoral space
rather narrow and inconspicuous with the tiny bristles on its anterior
margin very small and inconspicuous ; pubescence on the hind femora less
dense but longer and more extended to the underside, and with only a
few black hairs about the tip ; front tibiae with a few longer black hairs
postero-dorsally, but otherwise covered almost all over with short depressed

2. TABANUS

383

black bristles ; there are a few scattered “ touch-hairs ” near the tip of the
front tibiae and on the front tarsi ; middle tibiae with a slight fringe of longer
hairs postero-dorsally and with the small depressed black bristles more
scattered and with still smaller glistening yellow ones intermixed, spurs orange
at the base ; hind tibiae with a conspicuous even black dorsal fringe, and with
a shorter finer mainly pale ciliation beneath, and with the tiny bristles black
on the front part but glistening yellow on the back part ; tarsi with tiny
black bristles, but with orange bristles on the soles of the posterior pairs
Pulvilli light brown ; claws black.

Wings hyaline, but the base and the costal and subcostal cells yellowish ;
veins yellow, but the costal vein and all the thin veins after about the middle
of the wings blackish brown ; upper branch of the cubital fork almost always
with a recurrent veinlet (fig. 215). Squamae light brownish glassy with a
dull brownish yellow margin on which is a minute pale fringe, and the usual
tuft about the angle hardly so conspicuous or large as usual. Halteres
pale orange.

$ . Altogether more orange than the male ; frontal stripe yellowish brown, and
bearing (when viewed from in front) rather abundant golden orange short
depressed bristly hairs or (when viewed sideways) with abundant similar
black bristles, and this pubescence extending (though less abundant) down to
the frontal triangle ; this frontal stripe is very nearly parallel-sided and is
about four times longer than broad, and the calli (especially the middle one)
are often almost hidden by the yellow dust, but usually the lower and middle
calli exist as shining black small roundish dots, with a narrow furrow
connecting them ; vertical space somewhat blackened ; frontal triangle covered
with golden dust ; cheeks sometimes deeper yellow, and the pubescence on
the cheeks, jowls, mouth, etc., sometimes brownish yellow or orange; back of
the head less hollowed out than in the male, and leaving a narrow rim behind
the eyes on which is a very short but very dense brownish postocular fringe,
and this fringe is almost as short on the upper part as on the lower ; back of
the vertex with several short (though longer than the postocular fringe) black
hairs. Palpi yellow ; second joint long and hanging straight downwards, peg¬
shaped, thickened on the basal three-fifths but afterwards diminishing to a
thin conical point ; this second joint bears numerous though not dense short
black adpressed bristles with some shorter glistening golden ones inter¬
mixed except about the tip, while some longer thin golden hairs occur
on the underside ; basal joint with denser longer yellow hairs with a
few black hairs intermixed on the upper part. Eyes large and apparently
bare ; facets all equally small ; in life the eyes are beautifully opalescent
green without any band but with darkened reflections which shift in varying
lights. Antennae as in the male, but the third joint larger, and sometimes
the small black dorsal bristles on the basal joints almost absent.

Thorax greyer than in the male, but with more golden orange fading to
brownish yellow pubescence on the disc, and with greyish yellow pubescence
on the pleurae.

Abdomen with the orange markings almost as in the male but usually
obscured (unless rubbed) by the universal short depressed golden reddish
orange pubescence, though the black dorsal stripe is rather broader, and the
short black hairs are very numerous (as may be seen when the abdomen is
examined from behind) but very inconspicuous and rather depressed ; the
sidemarginal pubescence is all orange except for a slight blackish tuft at each
side of the basal segment. Belly greyish black but thickly covered with
brownish yellow dust and with the liindmargins narrowly but obviously
yellow, clothed all over with very short adpressed yellow pubescence except
about the base where the pubescence is longer and not adpressed ; usually
the sides of the belly are dull orange on the three basal segments though
separated from the sidemargins of the second and third segments by large or
small blackish side-spots ; the longer black hairs beneath the fiattened seventh
segment are inconspicuous.

Legs reddish orange, with the coxae, trochanters, and usually just the base
of the front femora Black, as well as the basal third of the middle femora and
the basal half of the hind femora, the front tibiae are also blackish on the

384

TABANID7E

apical half though with a more brownish orange tinge than in the male except
at the tip, but sometimes even the front trochanters and all the front femora
even to the base are reddish orange, while the posterior femora may be only
indefinitely greyish black about the base, and on the other hand the posterior
femora are sometimes more than half blackish. Pubescence on the front
femora sometimes almost all black, less obvious on the tibiae, but the black
dorsal fringe all down the hind tibiae fairly conspicuous.

Wings, squamae, and lialteres as in the male.

Length about 1 3 mm.

This species varies but little in the British specimens I have seen, but
apparently continental specimens vary in the amount of orange coloring on
the abdomen and to a small extent in the practical absence of any blackish
coloring at the base of all the femora. It is easily distinguished from
A. rusticus and A. latistriatus by its gold-tinted appearance and its paler
femora.

A.fulvus is not uncommon in the New Forest, and I have records from
North Devon (Bideford), Essex (Colchester), Norfolk (Norwich), and
Berkshire (Tubney Wood), from June 14 to August 17. In Scotland it
has occurred at Aberfoyle and Banchory, and in Ireland Colonel Yerbury
has taken it at Glengariff, Kenmare, and Loo Bridge. It is recorded from
Scandinavia to Southern Europe (including Spain) and Asia Minor.

Synonymy. — Walker professed to recognise in this species the Tabanus cdpinus of
Schranlc, Fauna Boica, hi., 2534 (1798), but his interpretation has not been accepted
by others. There is a mistake in Bezzi’s Katalog in referring the name aljnnus to
Panzer, as Panzer correctly named and described A. rusticus in his Faun, germ., xiii.,
21. There are possibly other older names for this species, such as Tab. ferns by
Scopoli (1763) or T. sanguisorba by Moses Harris (1776), but the descriptions are too
vague for recognition.

8. A. rusticus Fabricius. Greyish brown species, with two dark
bowed stripes down the abdomen which are not indentate at the fore¬
margins of the segments. Femora in both sexes greyish black with only
just the tip orange.

A rather small species, easily distinguished (except from
A. latistriatus ) by the two dark stripes down the abdomen
which are separated by an equal broad uninterrupted grey
stripe.

This description of the male is drawn up from one possibly worn
specimen.

$ . Bather like A. fulvns, but greyish brown instead of golden hued. Head
large, forming just a semicircle anteriorly (when seen from above) with
the hindmargin slightly concave, broader than the thorax, and always longer
and usually wider than in the female, but the head of the female varying much
in size ; face and side-cheeks whitish yellow with a faint tinge of greenish
grey, bearing fine short whitish yellow pubescence which becomes longer
on the jowls and about the mouth ; back of the head pale ashy grey and
deeply hollowed out behind the eyes, and with only a microscopical greyish
yellow postocular fringe which however grows slightly longer on the upper
part ; ocellar space exceedingly small, pale brownish yellow, and bearing on
the back part some short pale brownish yellow pubescence ; frontal triangle
large, whitish with a grey tinge, and depressed on the middle part. Palin

2. TABANUS

385

yellow ; second joint elongate elliptical, hardly pointed, bearing a few short
black bristles on the outside and some longer ones towards the tip as well as
some long pale yellow hairs above and (conspicuously so) beneath about the
base; basal joint bearing long yellow hairs. Eyes clothed with short dense
pale grey pubescence, touching from the very small vertex for fully two-thirds
of the distance to the antennae ; facets on the upper and middle parts much
larger than those on the rest, so that the small facets extend over the lower
third of the front and outer parts and continue as a zone (narrowest at the
lower hind corner of the eye) all round the hindmargin up to the vertex ;
dividing line of the facets sharply defined and (according to Brauer) bearing
a colored or dark cross-band. Antennae orange ; basal joint with only a few
short black bristles on the upper side and some longer pale yellow bristly
hairs on the rest ; second joint with a terminal circlet of short black bristles
which are longest on the underside; third joint rather short, widened at
the base and with an obvious fairly prominent dorsal hump at the middle of
its basal segment, and with some minute black bristles on the hump; style¬
like portion of the third joint slightly darkened, quite as long as the basal
segment, and with its last articulation long and narrowly conical.

Thorax and scutellum dull greyish black; prsealar calli grey ; the greyish
tints caused by abundant pale ashy grey dust ; pubescence composed of
fine not short sloping greyish yellow hairs, which develop into patches of longer
pale grey hairs above the wing-bases and on the postalar calli, but persistent
long suberect stiff black hairs also occur all over the disc. Pleurae clothed
with dense light greyish yellow pubescence (amongst which no black hairs
are to be found) which becomes almost whitish yellow on the metapleurae.

Abdomen greyish brown with the basal corners rather fulvous, and with
a broad greyish brown middle stripe (when seen from above) which has almost
straight sidemargins, but when seen from behind this broad stripe has a broad
equal light yellowish grey middle dorsal stripe (no row of pale middle
triangles) outside of which are grey-brown stripes rather darker than the
space outside them but rendered rather conspicuous through the absence of
pale pubescence, but all stripes become very vague after the third segment ;
when viewed from above the dull brownish orange or fulvous colour occupies
the outer quarters of the hind half of the basal segment, the whole outer
thirds of the second segment except a small blackish spot near each hind
corner, and a spot on the foremargin on each side of the dark dorsal
stripe on the third segment ; sidemargins after the basal segment all yellow.
Pubescence on the two dark stripes short, black, and inconspicuous, but on
the lighter middle stripe less short, depressed, whitish, and less abundant
(abraded ?), but more abundant and conspicuous outside the two dark stripes
and about the tip, and less obviously blackish about the sides of the
basal segment than in A. fvlvus. Belly greyish black, but ferruginous
on the hind corners of the basal segment, on the outer thirds of the second
segment, and on a spot on each side of the middle stripe on the third
segment, thus leaving a broad almost equal greyish black middle stripe ;
pubescence rather abundant and pale, especially forming fringes on the hind-
margin of the second and subsequent segments, but some of the short incon¬
spicuous hairs on the middle stripe are black and also some on the ferruginous
parts of the second segment and on similar parts of the basal segment, while
the basal segment has a small rather dense clump of black hairs on each side
of the middle of the hindmargin ; seventh segment with numerous hardly
curved black bristly hairs.

Legs blackish grey and orange ; all the femora grey dusted and orange at
just the tip, and the orange or fulvous colour extends on the underside of
the front femora to the apical half, so that the bare channel on the underside is
deep black on the basal half (in strong contrast to the greyish sides), and is
fulvous on the apical half but margined there with deep black, while the tiny
bristles on its anterior margin are very small ; front tibiae orange on the
basal half, though the blackish colour extends much nearer to the base on the
underside, and the posterior tibiae wholly orange except at just the
brownish tip ; posterior tarsi yellowish brown on the basal joint except at
its tip, but the front tarsi deep black. Pubescence pale yellow on the
femora, but black about the tip of the front pair.

2 B

386

TABANIM

Wings less yellowish about the base and fore part than in A. fvlvus.
Squamae greyish white with a darker margin to the alar pair and a whitish
margin to the thoracal pair, and with the usual tuft near the angle whitish
in accord with the tuft on the upper part of the metapleurae. Halteres pale
yellow.

9 . Similar to the male, but the abdomen less fulvous and its two dark stripes
more obviously bowed. Frontal stripe parallel-sided, nearly five times
higher than broad, dark ashy grey with a slight yellowish tinge, and
bearing short sparse depressed whitish yellow hairs all over and stronger
longer (but still short) curved black hairs, but the black hairs do not extend
to the part between the middle callus and the frontal triangle ; lower and
middle calli usually shining black though almost dot-like, but sometimes
practically hidden by grey dust ; ocellar space dusted all over so that no
upper callus is visible; frontal triangle pale yellowish grey; side-cheeks
whitish grey with unusually short whitish yellow pubescence, but on the jowls
and near them the pubescence is longer, more dense, and pale yellow ; back
of the head less hollowed out than in the male, whitish ashy grey, and leaving
a very short glistening pale yellow postocular fringe on all the upper part,
behind which is an inconspicuous short pale yellow pubescence ; the slightly
longer hairs about the back of the vertex mainly black. Palpi pale
yellow ; second joint long and thin, dropping almost straight downwards and
but little bent, moderately inflated on the basal half and then tapering to
almost a point, and this joint bears a moderate number of short black
adherent bristles on the upper part and about the tip, but outside mainly
only similar but pale yellow bristles, and on the underside (especially
near the base) some longer pale yellow hairs ; basal joint also yellow and
bearing long pale yellow pubescence. Eyes bearing very short sparse
pale pubescence, sometimes so slight as to be almost imperceptible ;
in life (according to Brauer) sometimes showing a slight cross -band.
Antennae dull orange, style sometimes brown ; basal joint bearing dorsally
near the tip only short black bristles which sometimes extend slightly on
the outer side; second joint with scarcely more than an apical circlet of tiny
black bristles ; dorsal hump practically at the middle of the basal segment
of the third joint.

Thorax blackish grey, hardly at all shining and not at all striped ;
pubescence composed of rather abundant but not dense short depressed pale
grey hairs which become longer and conspicuous above the wing-bases and on
the postalar calli down to the scutellum, and intermixed all over are rather
abundant suberect longer staffer black hairs which are inconspicuous on the
disc (unless viewed sideways), but which stand out long and conspicuous
between the humeri and the wing-base ; pleurae dusted pale grey and bear¬
ing whitish grey pubescence. Scutellum similar to the thorax in colour and
clothing, but the pale grey pubescence fairly long and conspicuous round
the margin.

Abdomen blackish grey with two bowed blackish stripes and scarcely any
fulvous coloring ; hind corners of the basal segment and the fore corners of
the second segment obscurely fulvous, and the extreme sidemargins of all
the segments also obscurely fulvous ; rather densely clothed with short
adpressed pale greyish yellow pubescence except on the two blackish brown
stripes ; the blackish stripes leave an intermediate fairly broad slightly grey
dorsal space, and about half-way between the blackish stripes and the side-
margins are faint traces of two other blackish stripes (especially about the
base of each segment) which extend inwards about the base of the
second segment and become obvious through the absence of grey pubescence
and through the presence of numerous inconspicuous short black hairs, so
that (when viewed from behind) the abdomen shows traces of the usual
Tabanoicl three rows of grey flecks of which the outer ones on the second
segment have almost the usual triangular shape ; on the four blackish stripes
there is a fair amount of short sloping black bristly pubescence; the outer
margins of the two middle blackish stripes are hardly dentate even though
the dark colour widens out slightly at the hindmargins of the second and
third segments ; all the stripes become indistinct on the sixth and seventh

2. TABANUS

387

segments ; siclemarginal pubescence all greyish white but slightly brownish,
longer, and more outspread on the basal segment ; seventh segment both
dorsally and ventrally with fairly conspicuous rigid black bristly hairs, of
which there are traces (especially dorsally) on the sixth segment. Belly ashy
grey with any ferruginous coloring near the basal corners shining through,
and the liindmargins of segments narrowly whitish on their outer quarters ;
pubescence rather dense all over, short, greyish yellow, and mainly
adpressed.

Legs dull blackish brown and orange, but the femora rendered grey by
abundant dust ; trochanters brownish orange ; just the tip of all the femora,
the basal third or half of the front tibiae, all the posterior tibiae except the
distinctly darkened tip, and the base and underside of the posterior tarsi,
orange ; front tarsi deep black ; bare space beneath the front femora shining
black with a slight tinge of brown (especially just after the middle) and the
very dense row of tiny black bristles on its anterior margin inconspicuous.
Pubescence greyish white, short and inconspicuous on the tibiae, and even the
dorsal fringe on the hind tibiae inconspicuous and only partly black.

Wings as in the male. Squamae (alar) distinctly smoky with a blackish
margin ; thoracal pair yellowish white with an almost white margin ; the
short fringes and the long angle-tuft pale yellow. Halteres whitish yellow.

Length about 12-5 mm.

This species apparently varies considerably in the colour of the abdomen
both dorsally and ventrally as continental specimens are frequently much
more ferruginous, but I have seen but little variation in the few British
specimens I have examined. It is easily distinguished from A. fulvus by
the abscence of the conspicuous golden or orange hue which is so
characteristic of that species (especially in life), but is very closely allied
to A. latistriatus and special attention must be given to the bowed dark
abdominal stripes, the narrow parallel-sided frontal stripe of the female,
and the almost entirely greyish black femora, while more exact distinctions
are given in my description of A. latistriatus. The male specimens in
Kowarz’s collection seem at first glance very distinct, but that is only because
they are in extremely perfect condition and consequently have the disc of
the thorax covered with dense almost felt-like pale grey pubescence amongst
which it is difficult to detect any black hairs, while on the abdomen the dark
middle stripe ( = the two blackish stripes and the intermediate space) is
only faintly discernible ; the palpi are pale yellow and in some cases bear
nothing but long pale pubescence ; in the female specimens the abdominal
stripes are faint and apparently parallel. In some specimens in Bigot’s
collection the side-cheeks bear some black hairs on the upper part, and in
one female the apical half of the femora is orange, while in both Kowarz’s
and Bigot’s collection a specimen or two may have the abdomen rather
acuminate. I am also inclined to think that a distinct continental species
exists in which the enlarged facets on the eyes of the male are still more
enlarged, the pubescence more tawny, the palpi shorter and more black
haired, and the hump on the third joint of the antennse nearer the base of
the joint, and perhaps the prsealar calli ferruginous.

A. rusticus is uncommon in Britain, and all my specimens were taken
in Sussex; Mr J. H. A. Jenner took one male and four females near Lewes
in 1882 and 1883, the females having been taken on July 16 and 17 and
the male on September 6, and I have a female which was taken near
Eastbourne in July 1900. The Cambridge Museum possesses two females
which were taken by Mr C. C. Babington (the celebrated botanist) at
Monk’s Wood, Hunts, on June 9, 1828, and there are two specimens in the

38S

TABANIM

old collection of J. F. Stephens in the British Museum. Duncan (1837)
stated that it was scarce in Scotland but common in Cambridgeshire. It
is recorded from Middle and Southern Europe and probably from North
Africa.

Synonymy . — I can add but little to this except to say that the old records must
be accepted with doubt as the specific distinctions were not sufficiently known.
Six female specimens under the name of T. Roussellii Macq. in Bigot's collection
(three from Biskra) are in bad condition and can only be referred with doubt to this
species, as I think they have the frontal calli larger.

9. A. latistriatus Brauer. Very much like A. rusticus but the two
dark stripes down the abdomen are not bowed out and are indented on the
outside at the foremargins of the segments. Femora in both sexes with
almost the apical half obscurely orange or brownish. Frontal stripe of the
female broader.

Very easily mistaken for A. rusticus , but altogether of a
more blackish hue.

d. Very much like A. rusticus, but frons, face, and jowls with a slightly darker
grey tinge and with slightly yellower pubescence ; back of the head
more blackish ashy grey, and the postocular fringe brownish yellow ; ocellar

space darker brown, and with the
pubescence more brownish ; fron¬
tal triangle slightly more greyish
yellow. Palpi (fig. 232) yellow
with a blackish tinge, rather
narrower, and bearing rather
dense short black bristles on the
outside and some longer but
sparser black bristles dorsally
and towards the tip, and with
some inconspicuous pale yellow
hairs beneath ; basal joint with
some long but not very con¬
spicuous pale hairs on the under¬
side. Eyes clothed with darker
grey pubescence. Antennae dull
luteous, with the style and sometimes the apical third of the basal segment
of the third joint brown; basal joint bearing numerous short black bristles
on the whole of the upper and outer sides and a few short pale hairs
beneath ; second joint short and bearing short black bristles which extend
over more than the dense apical circlet ; third joint wdth the dorsal hump
much less prominent and placed well before the middle of the basal segment.

Thorax and scutellum rather sinning blackish brown (not dull slaty
blackish grey as in A. rusticus ) and in some lights with some vague paler
stripes ; the slight brownish tinge is caused by a little brownish grey dust ;
pubescence composed of inconspicuous (unless viewed from in front) short
brownish yellow7 hairs all over the disc, which develop into conspicuous
patches of longer hairs on the postalar calli, but longer suberect stiffer black
hairs also occur all over the disc. Pleurae clothed with brownish yellow-
pubescence, which becomes paler on the metapleurse.

Abdomen narrower and distinctly more acuminate, grey with the basal
corners more fulvous than in A. rusticus; when seen from above there is a
broad blackish middle stripe which has dentate sidemargins because the
fulvous colour extends inwards at the incisures, but when seen from behind
there is a broad equal brownish yellow middle dorsal stripe (no row- of pale
middle triangles) outside of w-hich are dark grey stripes, succeeded by

Fig. 232. — Atylotus latistriatus $ . x 22.
Palpi and proboscis seen almost from beneath.

2. TAB ANUS

389

indefinite though obvious brownish orange stripe^ £e

middle stripe), and middleUone become Very

dark brownish st xipes but ^ 11 P th(! tw0 dark stripes are narrower
vague on the fifth and sixtn segme > , dull brownish orange or

than the others; when ™w°d from ^nd half of the basal segment,

fulvous colour occupies «'e outer thirds o^he mn^n ^ ^ bladdah spot

the whole outer thirds of the seeon ^ segment but extending

near each hind corner, a snnilai poi < dark spot near each hind corner,

more on to the foremargin and -With st^peson the fourth segment against
and a spot on each side of the blackish stripes ^ | except for a

the foremargm ; sidemargins after the bas g ue^t pufescence on the

dark discoloration on the middle of the second segment yellow,

dark parts short, black, and mconspicu , £ pie basal segment less

and. the blackish P^scenci y ^^s wSi the middlt quarter of the
obvious than m A.tidv . 2 . , ’j a rather narrow middle stripe

Ssti^^^ abnndant and pale, but the seventh

less distinctly orange or brown on the apical hail the orang fi{ , but

extends on the underside of the front -femora to the , ap ^ d ’ 0 at
extends less distinctly up the front l^ry slight trace of fulvous

the tip) until the actual dorsal s^e Jas 01 y more dfstinctly and equally
colour ; on the middle femora the apical half is tJie fivoua

fulvous with just the tip bright orange , , • t traced though very

colour is indistinct on the apical halt but may be \eneath tlie front

different from the bright oiange tip, ‘ , rufous on the apical tliree-

femora is deep black on the basal bv -jf j ; rest of the

fifths and is not distinctly contrasted with the kgr than in A. rusticus ,
legs colored as in A. rusticus. 1 u >e&c ^ ^ hind tibiae stands

so that the tibiae appear darker, and the dorsal mnge

out more conspicuously. .w hr nwner on the fore part. Squamae

pal/ Vnoky* yellowish* with /dark ^^\^ual tuft nefrthl angde
SSbTS in tec M fbe tX n'S

Halteres yellow, with the knob more or less blackish a

9. Similar to the female of A. rusticus, but the ^ pail ^a/^°btprontal stripe

stripes down the abdomen have a Jenta v lilies higher than

slightly contracting at its lower end, about thiee and a hail

Fig. 233. — Atylotus latistriatus 9 .
Left eye, side view.

broad, yellowish brownish grey tat rather biased ^vertioal par,
bearing pubescence similar to that m A. . bearing pale yellow

brownfsh yellow ; side-cheeks a b/wnish

pubescence; back of the head more .bladmh ashy g** third of the

390

TABANID.E

black bristles) ; at the back part of the vertex some distinctly longer
black hairs have their tips bent forwards. Palpi dull orange, bearing
modei’ately numerous or even dense stronger black bristles all over except
about the base of the underside where only longer thin pale hairs occur,
stouter about the base, shorter and less suddenly attenuated to the end.
Eyes almost bare ; in life (figs. 233, 234) opalescent green with peculiar
shifting spots according to the point of view, and these spots are rather few
in number and are not arranged in rows, but there is also a slight cross-band.
Antenme slightly redder orange, with the style brown; basal joint bearing
more numerous and more extended tiny black bristles, which sometimes
extend all over the joint but sometimes not to the exclusion of a few glistening
pale yellow tiny bristles ; dorsal hump on the basal segment of the third
joint less prominent and placed distinctly before the middle of the segment.

Thorax blackish brown, moderately shining but with the prsealar calli
entirely dulled by grey dust, bearing short depressed brownish yellow
pubescence which becomes longer and denser above the wing-base and thence
over the postalar calli to the edge of the scutellum, while intermixed with
the pale pubescence are abundant suberect longer black hairs which are
inconspicuous unless viewed sideways and which are not so dense or long or
conspicuous between the humeri and the wing-base as in A. rusticus ; pleurae
light grey dusted and bearing brownish yellow pubescence which becomes paler
on the metapleurae. Scutellum similar to the thorax in colour and clothing.

Abdomen extensively pale brown or brownish grey with a pair of parallel
outwardly dentate blackish dorsal stripes and with the fore corners fulvous ;
basal segment fulvous on the hind half of the sidemargin -extending inwards
for more than a third of the segment on each side ; second segment fulvous on
the outer thirds except for a small blackish spot at each hind corner ; third
segment fulvous on just the front basal corners and more or less obscurely
on the flecks on the disc, and the remainder of the sidemargins obscurely
fulvous and extending a little on to the disc at the hind corners of each
segment, but all the fulvous coloring may be much less extensive ; the two
blackish stripes have their margins (especially the outer margin) conspicuously
dentate because the dark spots on the second, third, and fourth segments
slope outwards so that they extend outwards at each hindmargin and usually
inwards at each base to about half their own width. Pubescence brownish
yellow, short, recumbent, and rather dense, except on the two blackish stripes
and towards the sides of the segments, so that there appear to be three rather
broad stripes of glistening brownish yellow pubescence of which the side-
stripes may be interrupted at the hindmargins of the segments, but all the
stripes fade out by about the fifth segment, though the brownish yellow
pubescence occurs on almost the whole sides of the two basal segments and
on the base of the third ; when viewed from behind (the most characteristic
view) the abdomen is brownish yellow with two dark brown stripes which
form triangles on the five basal segments (faint on the fifth segment and
hardly a triangle on the basal segment); pubescence on all the blackened
parts short black sloping and rather bristly ; sidemarginal pubescence
pale brownish yellow ; sixth segment bearing short stiff black pubescence
dorsally, and the seventh segment both dorsally and ventrally though the
numerous black bristly hairs on the ventral side are scarcely so strong or
conspicuous as usual. Belly yellowish ashy grey with usually the greater
part of the second and third segments ferruginous but leaving the middle of
the second segment greyish black, and with a little ferruginous coloring at the
base of the fourth segment, but the sides of the second and third segments
and the middle of the hindmargin of the third may be broadly but vaguely
blackish, and in some specimens the ferruginous coloring may be very slight.

Legs blackish grey ; trochanters slightly brownish ; all the femora
distinctly orange at the tip, and the front femora nearly all reddish orange
with just the base (at least posteriorly) black and with an indefinite blackish
ring just before the tip, but dorsally and sometimes posteriorly the front
femora are more greyish black with rather more than the middle third dull
reddish yellow ; middle femora with the outer three-fifths brownish red
(sometimes rather obscurely) ; hind femora with very faint traces of similar
coloration which is most visible antero-dorsally ; tibiae and tarsi colored as in

2. TAB ANUS

391

A. rusticus ; front coxae clothed with rather abundant long pale yellow pubes¬
cence ; bare space beneath the front femora shining reddish orange and the
dense fringe of short black bristles on its anterior margin inconspicuous.
Pubescence on the front femora mainly black posteriorly except sometimes
about the base, but on the rest of all femora pale greyish yellow, though
sometimes there is a little black pubescence about the tip of the middle pair ;
the short bristly pubescence on the tibiae and tarsi mainly black, and the
rather conspicuous dorsal fringe on the hind tibiae almost entirely so.

Wings as in the male. Squamae (alar) smoky with a brown margin ;
thoracal pair pale brownish yellow with a yellow margin. Halteres brownish
yellow, but brownish on the inner side of the base of the knob.

Length about 13 mm.

This species has probably been very much confused with A. rusticus,
but when placed side by side the two species appear quite distinct, and
my description has mainly referred to the distinctions, which chiefly
lie in the colour of the femora, in the form of the two dark abdominal
stripes, in the colour of the tiny bristles on the palpi and the basal joint of
the antennae, and in the width of the frontal stripe in the female. A.
latistriatus varies in the amount of fulvous coloration on the abdomen,
and I have endeavoured to give an accurate description from British
specimens (3d 7 ? ), because Brauer’s description is not very elaborate
and as far as the male is concerned is either inaccurate or inapplicable
to the male of this species.

A. latistriatus was taken in Britain by Colonel Yerbury at Arne
in Dorset on August 26, 1906, but the specimen (a female) was naturally
mistaken for A. rusticus; in August 1907 however he caught several
specimens, including three males, at Walton-on-Naze in Essex, and again
they were mistaken for A. rusticus, but when writing my detailed
description from them for this work I detected the difference. They
occurred on the salt marshes near the town from August 8 to 22, and
upon one occasion Colonel Yerbury saw them in some numbers amongst
sheep ; the males were obtained by sweeping the herbage. Brauer
described the species from specimens taken in Spain, Corfu, Dalmatia,
and Bagusa, while Villeneuve has stated that T. nigrifacics Gobert from
Bordeaux is a synonym.

Synonymy. — I cannot doubt the identification of the female of this species, nor
have I the slightest doubt about the males belonging to the same species ; if
however the male as described by Brauer belongs to this species (concerning which
he himself was in doubt) it was incorrect to say “Vorderbeine ganz schwarzbraun.”
Villeneuve has stated that Tab. nigrifacies Gobert is a synonym, and it is not
unlikely that it is the Tabanus ruralis of Zetterstedt.

TABANUS.

(Sens u stricto .)

Tabanus Zeller, Isis, 1840, 814; Osten Sacken, Mem. Bost. Soc.,
ii., 425.

The characters of this subgenus are the same as those of the comprehensive
genus (page 347) with the following limitations.

Eyes bare. Vertex without any ocelligerous tubercle.

Even these two characters are not absolute, as some species have an
almost microscopical sparse pubescence on the eyes, and some have faint

392

TABANID7E

traces of an ocelligerous tubercle ; the distinctions are however sufficient
to clearly locate our British species.

This is still an enormous subgenus, even after separating off Therio-
plcctcs and Atylotus , and many species are exceedingly difficult to dis¬
tinguish. Even the very large species, T. bovinus, has been separated into
two species which had been confounded for more than eighty years, and in
this work I have recorded specimens which do not clearly answer to either
of those two.

Table of the Males.

1 (4) Very large species (20 mm. or more). Abdomen with only a

middle row of pale dorsal spots.

2 (3) Eye-facets all about equal. Abdomen obviously tawny about the

base. 10 bovinus.

3 (2) Eye-facets enlarged on the front part. Abdomen not obviously

tawny about the base. 11 sudeticus.

4 (1) Large (17 mm.), or moderately large (12-15 mm.) species. Abdomen

with three rows of light grey dorsal spots or flecks.

5 (10) Occiput with no long postocular fringe.

6 (7) Large species (17 mm.). Eyes in life without any band.

12 autumnalis.

7 (6) Moderately large species (12-15 mm.). Eyes in life with one band.

8 (9) Abdomen considerably reddish. 13 glaucus.

9 (8) Abdomen scarcely at all reddish. 14 bromius.

10 (5) Occiput with a long postocular fringe. Moderate sized or rather

small species.

11 (14) Frontal triangle grey, not at all shining (unless rubbed). Eyes in

life with one or no band.

12 (13) Antenme mainly ochreous. Palpi elongate oval.

15 maculicornis.

13 (12) Antennte blackish. Palpi almost globular. Frons with an

obvious brown cross-band at the level of the antennfe.

16 cordigcr.

14 (11) Frontal triangle mainly shining. Eyes in life with three bands.

Palpi elongate. 17 glaucopis.

Table of the Females.

1 (4) Very large species (21 mm. or more). Abdomen with only a

middle row of pale dorsal spots.

2 (3) Abdomen obviously tawny ; belly considerably orange.

10 bovinus.

3 (2) Abdomen scarcely at all tawny ; belly mainly black and grey.

11 sudeticus.

4 (1) Large (18 mm.) or moderately large (13-16 mm.) species. Abdomen

with three rows of light grey dorsal spots or flecks.

2. TABANUS

393

5 (6)

6 (5)

7 (12)

8 (9)

9 (8)
10 (11)

11 (10)

12 (7)

13 (14)

14 (13)

Large species (18 mm.). Eyes in life without any band.

12 autumnalis.

Moderately large species (13-16 mm.). Eyes in life with one or
three bands except in T. cordiger.

Upper black frontal callus almost linear (fig. 237) (unless rubbed)
and connected with the lower callus.

Eyes in life with one band. Frontal
triangle light grey (unless rubbed).

Abdomen considerably reddish. 13 glaums.

Abdomen scarcely at all reddish.

Occiput very shallow, forming an almost
linear band behind the eyes. Yellowish
brown species. 14 bromius.

Occiput distinctly puffed out behind the
eyes. Antennae mainly ochreous. Grey¬
ish species. 15 maculicornis.

Upper frontal callus quadrate or heart-
shaped, isolated (fig. 235).

Frontal triangle all grey. Eyes in life

with scarcely even one band. Frons with a dark cross-band
level with the antennae. Antennae mainly black.

16 cordiger.

Frontal triangle mainly shining black. Eyes in life with three
bands. Antennae mainly ochreous. 17 glaucopis.

Fig. 235. — Tabanus glaucopis <?•

x 14.

The collector will not find the species of Tabanus (sensu stricto ) much more easy
to name than those of Therioplectes ; of course the two very large species are easily
distinguished from the rest but not from each other, and it is not easy to convey the
distinction between them in words. T. autumnalis is also fairly distinct, but the
five smaller species are easily confounded with each other and also with specimens
of some species of Therioplectes such as T. montanus. T. montanus is not likely to be
found south of Scotland and a little care will detect its hairy eyes even in the female ;
by far the commonest species in the south is T. bromius, though T. maculicornis is
not uncommon and these two and T. glaucus are most commonly confused ; the
rather yellowish brown hue of T. bromius affords a handy distinction and usually
T. maculicornis has more reddish orange antennae, while T. glaucus is rather
larger and has the abdomen with more extensive reddish coloring ; T. cordiger is a
darker insect with smaller spots or flecks on the abdomen and usually all black
antennae, or when the third joint of the antennae is partly reddish the two basal
joints still remain black ; the female of T. cordiger may also be known by the broad
usually heart-shaped (whence its name) callus on the middle of the frontal stripe.
T. glaucopis also has a broad callus on the middle of the frontal stripe of the female,
and may be known in both sexes by its shining frontal triangle, and it is also a
rather larger more yellowish brown species.

10. T. bovinus Linne. Eyes bare and unicolorous, with the facets all
small in both sexes. Abdomen ferruginous about the base, and with only
one row of pale dorsal spots. Very large species.

A very large fly, being in bulk only slightly inferior to T.
sudeticus, which is the bulkiest British fly.

394

TABANIDiE

$ . Frontal triangle bare, greyish yellow with the upper angle darkened and
prolonged narrowly a short distance between the eyes ; face and jowls
greyish yellow, clothed with dense but rather short yellowish grey
pubescence which is rather longer on the jowls ; back of the head very
shallow on the lower part and hollowed out behind the eyes on the upper
part, yellowish grey against the eyes, and bearing a very short ciliation which
is yellowish below but becomes darkened on the upper part ; ocellar tubercle
blackish brown and bearing very short pubescence. Palpi dull orange ; end-
joint moderately short being about twice as long as the breadth of its middle
part, with a bluntly rounded end and even sometimes with a very slightly
depressed conical tip, bearing numerous depressed black bristles on the out¬
side with a few yellow ones usually intermixed, and with sparser yellowish
grey hairs inside and beneath. Eyes bare, unicolorous green in life ; facets all
practically equally small. Antennae blackish brown at the base but usually
to a certain extent obscurely reddish brown about the base and especially
about the base of the third joint ; basal joint with the tip above somewhat
hooked over the base of the second joint and bearing dense short black bristles
on its inner side and above, but on the outer side and beneath with mainly
thinner (but almost equally short) pale hairs; second joint with its tip
above prolonged over the base of the third joint, and also clothed with short
black bristles; third joint strongly humped dorsally near its base and then
excavated at a rather prominent angle, its basal segment less than one and a
half times as long as its depth at the hump and with a few very inconspicuous
tiny black bristles on the top of its hump and about the middle of its under¬
side ; style-like portion nearly as long as the basal segment of the third
joint and with indistinct annulations, but with its three basal segments
about equal and the fourth one about as long as the other three together
and hardly pointed, while all the segments bear minute very sparse
bristles.

Thorax dull greyish black with a glaucous hue when seen from behind,
faintly shining on the disc, with live indistinct greyish yellow stripes ;
preealar calli rather brownish. Pubescence short, mainly composed of nearly
erect rather dense black hairs, on especially the praealar calli, but with thin
light grey hairs intermixed on the disc and with mainly pale brownish hairs
in front of the praealar calli, and with depressed yellowish patches above the
wing-bases and after the postalar calli ; pleurae with longer light brownish
grey pubescence, and with a yellow tuft beneath the wing-base and sometimes
with a slight clump of black hairs just in front of this tuft. Scutellum greyish
black, with similar pubescence to that on the disc of the thorax but with
more obvious pale pubescence around the margin.

Abdomen brownish orange or dull tawny on the basal segments, but with
a black dorsal stripe and with the tip darkened or even blackish, and with
darkened reflections on the basal half of the second and third segments, but
with a row of triangular whitish spots on the black dorsal stripe which are
placed on the middle of the liindmargin of each of the five basal segments, and
these whitish spots do not quite or barely extend up to the middle of each
segment ; the second to fourth segments have brownish yellow hindmargins
which bear bands of short fine whitish or yellow pubescence, but these
bands are rather interrupted on each side of the triangular middle spots ;
third to last segments becoming gradually darker brown to black and then
their conspicuously pale hindmargins standing out all the more obvious.
Pubescence all very short, conspicuous and yellowish as bands on the hind¬
margins and on the pale middle spots and on most of the basal segment, but
minute and black on the other parts of the disc ; sidemarginal pubescence
yellow except at the basal corners of the segments. Belly luteous, but with
a broad middle stripe (rather interrupted at the hindmargins of segments) and
with the last three segments blackish brown to shining black though sometimes
entirely dusted with greyish yellow : hindmargins of segments yellow ; side-
margins of the dorsal plates unicolorous yellowish when viewed from the belly
side ; pubescence very short ; the usual longer erect black hairs beneath the
seventh segment rather inconspicuous. Genitalia two- jointed, small, mainly
dull blackish but orange on the upper margin of the second joint, and mainly
black haired on the basal joint ; small inner lamellae yellow.

2. TABANUS

395

Legs blackisli brown, with the tibiae brownish orange except on about the
last third of the front pair and at the vaguely darkened tips of the posterior
pairs • posterior tarsi pitchy brown, but the front pair deep black ; front
coxae long, greyish black, and bearing abundant long yellow pubescence.
Pubescence behind the grey-dusted front femora dull yellowish brown and
dense but rather short, while there are very numerous (say one hundred) short
bristles in a row on the anterior margin of the broad shining deep black bare
transversely striate space on the underside, of which all are black except the
apical ten or twelve ; front tibiae with depressed short golden bristles behind,
with a yellow fur beneath, and with tiny black bristles on the rest ; middle
femora with similar pubescence to that on the front pair, but with rather
longer blackish pubescence beneath ; middle tibiae with the tiny ad pressed
bristles mainly glistening yellow but black on the upper side and tip ; hind
femora with still longer blackish pubescence beneath; hind tibiae with
conspicuous coarse dorsal ciliation which is mainly black but with a
few intermingled yellow hairs, but the black hairs usually predominate
about the tip, and the short fringe beneath is all yellow except about the tip,
while the other pubescence is mainly short depressed glistening _ yellow, and
sometimes the black hairs are much less numerous ; “ touch-hairs beneath
the front tarsi very small and inconspicuous.

Wings with a brownish yellow tinge, especially towards the costa ; anterior
veins distinctly yellowish brown, but the subcostal vein darker. Alar squamae
smoky blackish with a blackish margin and a very short orange fringe ;
thoracal pair more brownish with a brown margin, and with the usual longer
tuft near the angle orange but not very conspicuous. Halteres small, blackish
brown with the stem and the top of the knob yellow to brownish orange.

$ . Very much like the male. Frontal stripe greyish yellow, narrow and very
slightly (if at all) contracted, about four times as long as its widest part;
lower callus shining black and rather long, rifle bullet shaped or triangular,
blunted below or often notched there, not extended outwards to the eyes but
extending upwards in a narrow line (the continuation of which forms the
middle callus) to beyond the middle of the frontal stripe ; just beloAv the blunted
end of the callus indefinite darkened cross-lines from the eyes often occur ;
pubescence very short depressed and inconspicuous, Mack down the middle
but glistening yellow down the sides and across the lower part, and without
any trace of longer hairs about the vertex ; frontal triangle pale greyish
yeilow and quite bare. Face and jowls all pale greyish yellow, clothed
on the cheeks with fairly dense but not long pale yellowish pubescence ; jowls
with rather longer similar pubescence ; middle part of the face bare ; back
of the head hollowed out but with a narrow equal bare rim against the
eyes which is yellowish grey and behind which is an obvious though short
dull yellow ciliation, but this ciliation is interrupted at the vertex where there
are some shorter black and yellow hairs ; absolute back of the head with
soft yellowish white pubescence ; ocellar tubercle absent, and its place on the
vertex not even darkened. Palpi with the second joint elongate yellow or
brownish yellow, abruptly bent soon after its base and thickest at the bend,
after which the joint only gradually tapers to a rounded tip, almost five times
as long as its broadest part and bearing sometimes all black short depressed
bristles on the outside, but varying in amount down to comparatively few
of the bristles being black on the lower part of the outside and the rest silky
yellow, while practically no longer yellow hairs occur beneath about the
base ; basal joint dark grey, almost covered with yellow dust and bearing
abundant long yellow pubescence. Eyes unicolorous, in life bright coppery
green, quite bare ; facets all equally small. Antennae sometimes as black as
in the male, but usually considerably reddish except on the style-like portion ;
third joint with only minute black bristles on the top of the hump.

Thorax almost as in the male but brighter, and the grey stripes more
obvious especially when viewed from behind ; pubescence shorter, and the
depressed thin grey hairs more obvious (unless rubbed oft) ; the black tufts
of pubescence on the ferruginous praealar calli and the yellow depressed
patches above the wing-base and outside the postalar calli rather con¬
spicuous ; pleurae with all greyish yellow pubescence. Scutellum with

396

TABANIM

pubescence similar to that on the disc of the thorax, and sometimes with
the margin slightly ferruginous.

Abdomen similar to that of the male but flatter, longer than broad and
more equally broad, and more rounded at the tip ; coloration and markings
almost as in the male, but the whitish triangles down the dorsal line more
conspicuous and nearly reaching the foremargins of the segments ; or the
abdomen may be better described as brownish tawny on the two basal
segments, and thence blackish with broad (more than a third the segment)
tawny hindmargins to the segments and with one dorsal row of rather elongate
triangular yellowish white spots on the second to sixth segments, and the
tawny hindmargins just separated from the triangular spots by a small
interval. Pubescence conspicuously following the ground colour, but all
golden brownish on the basal segment ; sidemarginal pubescence all yellow,
but black pubescence reaching very near to the corners of the second to fourth
segments. Belly usually less ferruginous than in the male, but more greyish with
broad greyish yellow hindmargins and an interrupted broad blackish middle
stripe and blackish tip ; it is however more ferruginous than in ordinary T.
sudeticus.

Legs with all pale pubescence, even including the slight but obvious
dorsal ciliation on the hind tibiae ; front tibiae orange brown on the basal two-
thirds ; “ touch-hairs ” beneath the front tarsi very slight and inconspicuous.

Wings and squamae almost as in the male. Halteres with a blackish stem,
and with the tip of the knob yellow.

Length about 20 mm. ( J ) or 21 mm. ( 9 ).

This species does not appear to vary much but is very closely allied
to T. sudeticus, while some varieties of the female of the latter are very
difficult to distinguish ; both sexes of T. bovinus are altogether tawnier
than T. sudeticus and are rather smaller, while the male of T. sudeticus may
be distinguished with certainty by its enlarged front and upper eye-facets.
The female of T. bovinus has the pale hindmargins of the abdominal
segments more merged into the ferruginous coloring of the segments, and
has the triangular pale spots longer so that they almost or quite reach the
foremargins of the segments, the blunt lower margin of the frontal callus
less dentate, and as far as my experience goes the frontal callus itself
longer (though Brauer’s figures give it shorter), the frontal stripe slightly
narrower, the sidemarginal pubescence of the abdomen almost or quite
all yellowish, and I should have said that an easy distinction occurs
in the manifestly greyer more distinctly striped thorax were it not for a
number of specimens which I mention later on under T. sudeticus. T.
bovinus appears to occur earlier (end of June and first half of July) than
T. sudeticus, and Brauer states that the eyes in life of T. bovinus are
coppery pale green while those of T. sudeticus are coppery blackish brown.
The only other British species at all approaching in size is T. autumnalis,
which has three obvious rows of abdominal spots or flecks.

T. bovinus cannot be considered a common British species, but in the
New Forest its ominous “ buzz” is not uncommon, and it is not pleasant to
hear several of these grand flies around one in the sequestered glades of the
Forest, especially when the sudden cessation of the “buzz” indicates that
they have settled somewhere ! I have seen specimens from Weybridge,
Woking, and Beading, all of which may be continuations of the New Forest
district (though I believe that T. sudeticus also occurs in the New Forest);
I have also caught it in Abbotts Wood in Sussex, but at present I distrust
other records as they probably refer to T. sudeticus ; I can however
accept Austen’s records of Oxshott and Farnham in Surrey and Ivybridge
in South Devon. Duncan’s old Scotch and Irish localities almost certainly

2. TAB ANUS

397

referred to T. sudeticus or to the Irish variety I mention later on,
but he also recorded “Monk’s Wood, Hunts,” and said it was not
uncommon in Cambridgeshire; Jenyns also recorded it from near Swaffham
Bulbeck in Cambridgeshire on June 30, and from the date I should
imagine that the species was correctly named but I have not been
able to find it myself in this neighborhood. My dates are mainly
from June 16 to July 15, but I believe I have a record as late as August 7,
and Mr H. W. Andrews gave me a record of August 17. The males are
said to hover in forest clearings and on somewhat high meadow pastures
(but not on mountain tops), especially early in the morning on sultry
days when the sun is shining after violent showers. It is recorded from
practically all Europe (including Siberia and North Africa, but excluding
Greece and Spain) and from Caffraria.

Synonymy. — All old British records are a mixture of this species and T. sudeticus
It has been contended that Linne’s species must be T. sudeticus because he said “ In
“ genere suo liic maximus est,” but in answer to that it is only certain that the
conglomerate was the largest species known to Linne, and it was not until the two
species were separated that T. sudeticus could claim to be the largest ; also Linne
said “ oculis virescentibus ” and (as Zeller himself pointed out) “ Dorsum abdominis
“ sub alis magis flavescit, extra eas magis fuscum,” which seems to prove his species
to have a more yellowish abdomen than T. sudeticus, so we can safely continue to
accept Linne’s name for the tawny species without any misgivings.

11. T. sudeticus Zeller. Eyes unicolorous, with the facets unequal in
size in the male. Abdomen of both sexes but little ferruginous and with
only one row of dorsal spots. Very large species.

The largest British fly, as far as bulk is concerned; less
fulvous than T. hovinus.

d • Frontal triangle and face rather darker than in T. hovinus; pubescence on
the cheeks usually but not always darkish brown or even blackish, on the
jowls longer and brownish yellow ; back of the head and vertex almost as in
T. hovinus ; ocellar tubercle less blackish, and at the back part with very short
pubescence which is usually dull orange but sometimes partially black. Palpi
dull orange to brownish orange, not quite so long as in T. hovinus, and with
the numerous bristly hairs sometimes all black except on the underside but
sometimes extensively yellow ; basal joint with long orange pubescence and
with a few black hairs about the tip. Eyes in life (according to Brauer) almost
unicolorous coppery blackish, but when dry the large facets become greyish
and the small ones more reddish ; facets unequal, those on the upper
three-fifths being distinctly larger than those on the lower two-fifths, and
the boundary line between them rather sharply defined across the eye
and beginning in front at about the middle of the frontal triangle and
curving down and round to the back and then upwards so that a narrow
strip of small facets extends about half-way up the hindmargin. Antennae
reddish brown from the base to just after the hump on the third joint ; basal
joints bearing tiny almost exclusively black bristles without any longer pale
hairs ; third joint much longer and thinner than in T. hovinus and, although
the hump stands out high on the basal quarter, twice as long as deep.

Thorax moderately shining brownish black (as contrasted with the dull
greyish black of T. hovinus) with scarcely any glaucous hue and with scarcely
any trace of paler stripes. Pubescence more dense than in T. hovinus, because
the more numerous intermixed depressed thin pale hairs and the pale tuft on
the front part of the postalar calli are longer and more conspicuous ; pleurae
with brownish yellow rather than pale grey or pale brownish yellow
pubescence, and with a very large conspicuous patch of black hairs on the

398

TABANID/E

mesopleurse. Scutellum with more conspicuously black pubescence, but with
brownish yellow hairs about the margin.

Abdomen longer and broader with usually a less acuminate tip, mainly
rather dull black, with tawny hindmargins on the second to sixth segments
(with a trace on the basal segment) which are interrupted at each side of the
pale middle spot, and these hindmarginal lines occupy nearly a third of each
segment, and sometimes the blackish part of the second segment bears traces
of dark chestnut, or as mentioned below (unless that specimen belongs to a
distinct species) the whole abdomen may vary to a tawnier hue ; there is also
a dorsal row of gradually decreasing small whitish yellow triangles on the
middle of the first six hindmargins, and these triangles do not extend
more than half-way up each segment ; the pale hindmargins and triangular
spots much more conspicuous and determinate than in T. bovinns.
Pubescence forming pale bands on the hindmargins of the segments much
as in T. bovinus, but more conspicuous because the dark part of each segment
next to the pale hindmargin contrasts with the pale hairs on it more than the
ferruginous coloring of the same part does in T. bovinus ; when seen from above
these pale bands of pubescence appear to widen towards the sides, and from the
fourth segment to the tip the pale pubescence is more extended on to the
disc of each segment ; siclemarginal pubescence mainly black, but with rather
narrow yellow patches at the hind corners. Belly brownish black with con¬
spicuous broad whitish yellow hindmargins (narrowed about the middle) which
are continuations of the dorsal hindmargins though only narrowly connected on
the sidemargins ; the extreme margin of the dorsal plates (when seen from
below) is blackish with broad yellow hindmargins to the segments. Genitalia
two-jointecl ; basal joint all black bristled, second joint also black bristled but
tawny and with yellow hairs on the upper part, and I think this second
joint is deeper than in T. bovinus.

Legs dull black with the orange parts rather darker than in T. bovinus,
the contrast between the shining broad bare black stripe beneath the
front femora and the sides is less conspicuous, because the femora are hardly
at all grey dusted and the row of tiny bristles on the anterior margin of the
stripe is less regular. Pubescence on the front coxae darker and that behind
and beneath the anterior femora rather dense and mainly black ; hind tibiae
with a dense almost entirely brownish yellow ciliation outside, and in fact all
the tiny pubescence on all the tibiae mainly brownish yellow except just
about the tip.

Wings with a blacker tinge on the veins. Squamae more blackish smoky.
Halteres blacker.

$ . Larger and stouter than T. bovinus and without the tawny or ferruginous
coloring of that species. Frontal stripe slightly broader, pale ashy greyish
to dull orange Avith sometimes the raised margins against the eyes on the
upper two-thirds blackish grey and the slightly depressed channels on the
sides of the calli orange grey, but this character cannot be trusted ;
loAver black callus wider but more narrowed upwards than in T. bovinus
(Brauer’s figures are misleading) and more gradually extended into a wider
and longer black middle line, but hardly notched on its front margin ;
pubescence on the frontal stripe very slight and short, the depressed
pubescence being glistening yelloAv but the more erect hairs black ; frontal
triangle pale greyish yellow and wider than in T. bovinus. Face altogether
larger and wider than in T. bovinus, and the face and joAvls pale ashy grey
rather than yelloAvish Avith their pubescence pale greyish Avliite rather than
yelloAv, while the sutures betAveen the cheeks and the middle part of the face
are less conspicuous especially in the IioIIoav at the lower end ; middle part
of the face much broader and more uneven and bearing a slight pubescence
on its upper part ; back of the head ashy grey Avith a very short yelloAvish
(almost whitish) ciliation close to the eyemargin ; ocellar space indefinitely
blackish, and a very short black pubescence occurs just behind the vertex;
Eyes in life (according to Brauer) unicolorous blackish broAvn with coppery
reflections ; facets all equally small. Palpi Avith the last joint long,
brownish orange, not much bent about the base and thence tapering
almost to a point, Avith the tiny bristles above and outside usually black

2. TABANUS

399

with a few yellow bristles intermixed, but sometimes the black bristles are
restricted to the lower part of the outside or even reduced to a few black
bristles on the underside, and the joint is bare inside except near the tip •
basal joint more blackish hued, with long dull yellow pubescence and
near the tip with numerous black hairs. Antennae as in the male, but some¬
times quite as dark as in T. bovinus and with the dorsal hump near the base
of the third joint more pronounced.

Thorax almost as in the male, being usually blackish and hardly at all
striped, but a variety mentioned below has the thorax greyish and striped
as in T. bovinus ; pubescence in front of the postalar calli black and the pale
tuft on their outer side conspicuous.

Abdomen broader and more rounded at the tip than in the male and a
little broader than in T. bovinus, but the ordinary coloration of both sexes
very similar ; the tawny or yellow hindmargins of the segments usually
broader and less connected with the greyish white middle triangular spots,
and these hindmargins more sharply defined than in T. bovinus because
there is no ferruginous coloring into which they can merge, and towards the
tip of the abdomen they become more whitish ; pubescence pale and more
conspicuous on the hindmargins, and apparently more extended on to the
darker parts adjoining ; the greyish white triangular middle spots scarcely
extending higher up than the middle of each segment; sidemarginal pubescence
mainly following the ground colour, and consequently black on the
basal segment, on the basal three-fifths of the second segment, on the basal
two-fifths or half of the third segment, and on just the base of the fourth
segment. Belly so much more pale yellowish grey than in the male
that the blackish coloring is usually reduced to a middle stripe of large
blackish semicircular spots which are just separated at each hindmargin.

Wings almost as in the male. Squamae more blackish than in T. bovinus.
Halteres with the dark parts blacker.

Length about 22 mm. d , 23 mm. $ .

Var. ? 6. Eather smaller, and generally resembling T. bovinus but
distinguished from that by the enlarged eye-facets. Pubescence all down
the cheeks mainly black ; palpi with all the tiny bristles on the outside
black. Abdomen rather broader, shorter, and less pointed, with the
second segment nearly all rich dark brownish tawny with a blackish dorsal
spot which is cut into by the whitish triangular spot and which does not
extend over the well-defined brownish yellow hindmargin ; this tawny
colour extends upwards considerably on to the first segment, while even
the third segment shows traces of it between the middle and the sides just
before the paler hindmargin ; pale triangular spots not reaching up to the
middle of the segments; sidemargins as in normal T. sudeticus. Belly
black, with whitish hindmargins which are rather narrowed at their
middle. G-enital lamellae mainly pale haired. Hind tibiae entirely pale
fringed.

I possess one male of this distinct-looking form, which came from the
late W. Wilson Saunders’ British collection and which is set in exactly
the same fashion as the specimens of T. bovinus which were in that
collection. If an unrecognised very closely allied species exist, it is
possible that this specimen may be the male of the following female form.

Var. ? perplexus ?. Eesembling normal T. sudeticus in size and
abdominal markings, except that the abdomen has a tendency to a more
tawny colour both above and beneath, while the middle triangles are longer
and more like those of T. bovinus. Front tibiae often with quite the apical
third blackish. Belly grey or even almost tawny on the hindmargins and
sides so that only a middle row is left of more sharply defined blackish
semicircular spots than in true T. sudeticus. Thorax greyish, with the

400

TABANID/E

glaucous hue and the grey stripes quite as conspicuous as in T. bovinus.
Frontal calli (fig. 236) more like those of T. bovinus than of T. sudeticus.

I have seen twenty-five specimens of this form which were taken by
Colonel Yerbury in Ireland in 1901 in various localities in Kerry, from

June 30 to August 16, and it was then so common
that he had eighteen specimens in his cyanide
bottle at one time on July 7 near Killowen
Church ; he also took a similar female in Woolmer
Forest on July 12, 1903, and I possess one which
was taken in the New Forest by Mr E. A.
Waterhouse in July 1882. Brauer records the
occurrence of a number of similar specimens
from Upper Styria and Upper Austria, so that
it appears to have a wide range. The form is
remarkably intermediate between T. bovinus and
T. sudeticus but in general appearance is nearest
T. sudeticus, while Brauer states that his speci¬
mens had in life the dark eyes of that species.

This species is the largest British fly, as far as
bulk is concerned, and is only approached by its
close ally T. bovinus, from which its less tawny
coloration in both sexes and the enlarged facets
on the front part of the eyes in the male dis-
var "pei-piexus'?. x i4. ’ tinguish it, but as may be seen from my descrip¬
tions it is difficult to distinguish dark females of
T. bovinus, from light-colored specimens of T. sudeticus; perhaps the bulk
and the more conspicuously contrasted hindmargins of the abdominal
segments in T. sudeticus give the readiest characters for distinction.
Two more European species, T. spodopterus (with quite black antennae)
and T. intermedins are also very closely allied, but have not been recorded
nearer than from Germany (T. spodopterus ) and South France (T. inter¬
medins).

T, sudeticus is apparently not uncommon in Scotland as I have records
from Nethy Bridge, Aviemore, Carn Ban, Nairn, Brodie, Solway Dis¬
trict, Argyllshire, and Aberfoyle, while in England I have seen
specimens from Cumberland (Derwentwater), and Gloucestershire
(Forest of Dean), and I am almost certain that it occurs in the
New Forest in company with T. bovinus; Austen gives such localities
as Budshead Wood and Walkham Valley in South Devon, and I have
records from Shropshire (Wyre Forest) and Essex, while I have seen
a Welsh male from Merioneth (Barmouth). The var. perplcxus occurs
in numerous Irish and other localities as mentioned above. My dates for
normal T. sudeticus extend from July 5 (8) and 16 (7) to August 18 so
that Brauer’s statement that it is a later insect than T. bovinus seems to
hold good in Britain; the var. perplexus is recorded from June 30 to
August 16. T. sudeticus was first recognised as a British species by
myself from a specimen given me by the late H. T. Stainton, and upon
my pointing out its distinctness in the old Entomological Club collection
to the late Edward Newman he at once recorded it as new to Britain in
the Entomologist for February 1869, but he reversed the species both in
his record and in the collection as he stated that T. sudeticus might be

2. TABANUS

401

distinguished from T. bovinus at a glance by the testaceous colour of its
abdomen ! It is recorded from Kiel through all Western and Middle
Europe to the Ural. The males are said to hover and swarm in the
highest mountain tops before sunrise.

Synonymy. — Probably all the old Scotch records of T. bovinus referred to this
species. I do not agree with the suggestion that this is the true T. bovinus of Linne
and have given my reasons in my synonymical notes upon that species.

12. T. autumnalis Linne. Eyes unicolorous, with the front facets
much enlarged in the male. Abdomen with three rows of dorsal spots.
Large species.

A very large conspicuous fly, but not so large as T. bovinus
or T. sudeticus and easily distinguished from them by the three
rows of dorsal abdominal spots.

3 . Frontal triangle pale greyish yellow, obscurely darkened in the top point and
usually with a slightly darkened band just before that ; face also pale greyish
yellow, with rather short fine indistinctly but mainly blackish pubescence on
the side-cheeks and with light yellow pubescence on the middle part and also
(though longer) on the jowls; back of the head pale greyish yellow, shallow
on the lower part but hollowed out on the upper part, and with a minute
pale postocular ciliation, but the longish pubescence behind the extreme
lower part similar to that on the jowls ; ocellar triangle very small,
obscurely brownish, and the postvertical pubescence pale and short. Palpi
light yellow, bare on the inner side but extensively clothed about the tip with
numerous black bristles and bristly hairs and with yellow hairs on the rest ;
end-joint elongate ovate, more than twice as long as deep, with a rather pointed
tip and a not quite even underside ; basal joint dull pale yellow with long
abundant pale yellow pubescence. Eyes bare, and in life without any
band ; facets very much enlarged on all the central portion of the combined
eyes and in dead specimens brownish there, while the abruptly smaller facets
appear blackish and occupy nearly the lower half of the eyes and extend in a
broad band (about one-fifth the width of the eye) up the back margin
quite to the vertex, so that the small facets occupy considerably the
major portion of the eyes ; in certain lights there is a greenish tinge on
the small facets and even an evasive dark band may occur along their
upper margin. Antennae mainly dull blackish brown, but sometimes
yellowish brown on the inside of the basal joints and even beneath the base
of the third joint ; basal joint greyish with the upper side blackish,
produced at the tip, and bearing short black bristles on the upper and inner
sides, but with pale hairs on the outer and lower sides ; second joint short,
rather produced at the tip above, and bearing very short dense black bristles ;
third joint with a conspicuous rather pointed dorsal hump near the base, and
with its basal segment about one and a half times as long as the style-like
portion and nearly twice as long as its own depth (including the hump) ;
style-like portion with three short nearly equal rings and a moderately
pointed longer terminal segment ; crown of the hump with some very short
black bristles.

Thorax brownish black, slightly shining, and with traces of five
lighter grey dull lines ; prsealar calli obscurely brownish orange ; pubes¬
cence fairly abundant on the disc, composed of dense fine sloping whitish
grey or brownish yellow pubescence (easily worn off) mixed with numerous
more conspicuous erect black hairs, but in front and on the sides the
pubescence is greyish white or brownish grey, becoming conspicuous
and rather yellowish on the tuft outside the postalar calli; pleurae with
longer light greyish pubescence but with numerous black hairs intermixed on
nearly all the disc of the mesopleune, and with a patch of longer crowded

*2 C

402

TABANID.L

pale greyish yellow hairs beneath the wing-base. Scutellum greyish black,
with suberect black pubescence similar to that on the disc of the thorax and
with pale greyish yeliow hairs round the margin.

Abdomen rather tapering to a point, usually conspicuously ferruginous on
the sides of the four basal segments for about the outer third of each segment
(or rather more on the second segment), but sometimes the ferruginous coloring
may be entirely absent, and in all cases large darkened spaces exist near
the front corners of the segments, and also in all cases a blackish dorsal
stripe on the middle third (or less) of the four basal segments which widens
out on the basal segment (spreading to all the base of that segment), while
all the segments after the fourth are blackish, but at the middle of the
liindmargin of each of the five basal segments there is a conspicuous greyish
yellow triangular spot which does not extend much above the middle of the
segment, and the second to fifth segments bear (out on the ferruginous
coloring when present) a decreasing yellowish fleck on each side which slopes
from the front margin near the blackish dorsal stripe to the liindmargin, but
the outward slope decreases on each segment just as the size of the fleck
decreases, and on the fifth segment (if visible at all) is little more than a
faint upright yellow line ; when viewed from behind, the three rows of flecks
appear whitish and the side ones extend outwards along the hindmargins to
the sidemargins. Pubescence short and fairly dense, never long even at the
basal corners, mainly black but conspicuously yellow on the three rows of
yellowish flecks and on the sides of the hindmargins and to a large extent
about the hind corners of the sidemargins of the segments. Belly obscurely
light greyish orange about the sides of the four basal segments and with a
broad more or less blackish middle stripe down them, and with the hind¬
margins of segments narrowly whitish ; pubescence very short, following
the ground colour. Genitalia greyish black, but ferruginous at the tip.

Legs dull black, but the front tibiae obscurely ferruginous on about the
basal third, while all the femora at the extreme tip and all the posterior tibiae
are conspicuously brownish orange (except for an ill-defined black tip to the
tibiae), and the posterior tarsi are slightly ferruginous about the base.
Pubescence fairly obvious and long, greyish white on the greyish black front
coxae, and mainly pale on all femora and tibiae but with many black hairs
behind and beneath, and with a dense row of very short black bristles on the
anterior margin of the shining black bare space beneath the grey-dusted front
femora, while the middle tibiae bear short black hairs on their upper side
intermixed amongst which are a few pale hairs ; the two spurs black ;
hind tibiae with a long coarse antero-dorsal ciliation and a shorter finer
postero-ventral ciliation in which the hairs are pale on the basal portion but
become more and more intermixed with black hairs until at the tip all the
hairs are black, the antero-dorsal ciliation containing more black hairs than
the postero-ventral one front tibiae towards the tip, and front tarsi with a
few scattered “ touch-hairs.”

Wings slightly brownish, with the usual anterior veins brownish orange
and the subcostal vein notably dark. Squamae (thoracal) blackish or dark
brownish glassy, with conspicuous dark thick margins and with very short
pale fringes ; alar pair more pellucid, with the margin narrower and
darker, and with the usual peculiar long yellow tuft near the angle. Halteres
whitish yellow to brownish orange on the knob, but darker on the stem.

9 . Bather like the male, and distinguished from the two very large species by
the three obvious rows of light grey abdominal spots. Frontal stripe yellowish
grey ; lower callus shining black, moderately large ovate, distinctly not
extending out to the eyes and hardly resting on the frontal triangle, but well
defined and continued upwards as a narrow neck to the narrowly elongate
middle callus ; ocellar space slightly darkened ; pubescence short and mainly
black on the upper part of the frontal stripe, becoming conspicuous about the
vertex because of its density, but mainly pale and depressed on the greyish
yellow sides of the lower part ; frontal stripe almost parallel-sided, about
four times as long as its broadest part ; frontal triangle pale greyish yellow,
quite bare. Face and jowls pale greyish yellow and clothed with abundant
yellowish white pubescence, but occasionally the pubescence on the upper

2. TABANUS

403

part of the side-cheeks is mainly blackish ; back of the head greyish white, very
shallow so that there is only an equal narrow rim behind the eyes, and behind
this with a dull greyish white ciliation which is short on the lower part but
longer whiter and more outstanding on the upper part, though the interval
between the eyes at the back of the vertex bears only black hairs. Palpi
with the end-joint long and whitish yellow, bent at about one-third from the
base and thence steadily tapering to almost a point, sometimes with very few
adpressed small black bristles before the bend, but almost always with
numerous such bristles after the bend right on to the tip, though very
rarely without such bristles, and with tiny glistening pale bristles above
the knee of the bend ; this end-joint is bare on the inside, and any longer
pale pubescence beneath about the base is very slight ; basal joint small, pale
yellow, and bearing long whitish yellow pubescence. Eyes unicolorous
purple brown with greenish reflections ; facets all equally small. Antennae
almost as in the male.

Thorax rather greyer than in the male, and sometimes more distinctly
striped ; pubescence shorter and apparently less dense, but with the pale
hairs more obvious.

Abdomen broader and more ovate than in the male, and without any (or
occasionally with a little) ferruginous coloring so that the light grey well-
defined triangles and side-flecks stand out sharply against the moderately
shining blackish ground colour, and the middle triangles longer than in
the male but hardly reaching the foremargins of the segments until the fourth
and subsequent segments. Pubescence shorter, more extensively pale, but
more inconspicuous. Belly light grey, with a conspicuous broad middle
black stripe which extends the whole length except on the basal segment.

Legs with shorter paler pubescence.

Wings rather paler. Thoracal squamae paler and with the margin hardly
darkened. Halteres with the knob whitish or yellowish.

Length about 17 mm.

This species varies in the male by the occasional almost entire absence
of ferruginous coloring on the abdomen, but can then be easily distin¬
guished from its allies by the three rows of abdominal spots ; on the
other hand the female sometimes does have a little ferruginous coloring ;
I have seen a specimen in which the pubescence on the side-cheeks was
mainly blackish, but usually there is not a single black hair there. No
European species is very closely allied.

T. autumnalis is not uncommon in the southern half of England, as I
have records from Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent,
Surrey, Essex, Suffolk, Middlesex, Herts, Hereford, Cambridgeshire, and
Merioneth (Barmouth), from June 22 to August 29. It is known to occur
over all Middle and Southern Europe and up to South Sweden, and
probably to Asia Minor and Northern Africa.

Synonymy. — Moses Harris (1780) thought that he recognised Linne’s T. bovinus
in this species, as he does not seem to have known either of our very large species.
Fabricius in 1775 (Syst. Ent. 789) described a T. paganus from England “capt. d. 28.
“ Iun. prope Henly,” and in 1781 (Spec. Ins., ii., 458) he gave Harris’ T. bovinus as a
synonym, a fact which seems to have been overlooked ever since, and Fabricius’
species has remained a stumbling block. It is however obvious that Fabricius
jumped to the conclusion that T. bovimis of Harris was a synonym of his T. pay anus
simply because both occurred in England, and there can be no doubt about Harris’
species being T. autumnalis , while a reference to Fabricius’ earlier description
(omitted by Bezzi from Ivertesz’s Katalog) shows that! T. paganus has “ Oculi . . . fasciis
“ tribus fulvis, quarum inferior oculum terminat. Margo posticus fuscus ” and
“ abdomine utrinque ferrugineo-maculato ; ” these characters can only apply to
T. tropicus , T. montanus, or T. glaucopis, and of these three T. montanus is not
recorded with certainty from England, while T. glaucopis appears to be very rare.
It seems therefore probable that T. paganus Fabr. is the species which we now recog-

404

TAB AN IDE

nise as T. tropicus L., and that T. tropicus of Fabricius (of which he gave
T. sanguisorba Harris as a synonym) is our T. solstitialis or T. distinguendus.
The opportunity may be taken here of trying to fix the date of Harris’ Exposition
of English Insects. It is certain that one edition was prior to Fabricius’ Species
Insectorum (1781), and it is also certain that there could not have been any edition
prior to 1780 because Plate xxvi. of the copy of the first edition in the British
Museum bears the date of 1780 ; the date may therefore be taken as 1780 or early in
1781. I believe all the supposed three editions have identical plates, and in my
copy (which bears the date of 1782) I find on Plate iii. “ Mos. Harris ad Vivum, May 1 ,
“ 1766,” on Plate xxii. “Mos. Harris Delt. et Sculpt. Dec. 24, 1779,” on Plate xxiii.
“ Mos. Harris Dellt. et Sculpt., Dec. 1779” (in very different writing from that on
Plate xxii.), on Plate xxv. “Mos. Harris, 1780,” and on Plate xxvi. “Mos. Harris,
“ Dell, et Sculpt., 1780.” If the date of publication be taken as 1781 it still holds
priority over the second volume of Fabricius’ Species Insectorum as is proved by
Fabricius referring to it in that work.

13. T. glaucus Meigen. Allied to T. bromius but larger, and with
the abdomen almost as rufescent as in T. tergestinus.

Aii unsatisfactory species, which may be only a very dis¬
tinct looking variety of T. bromius.

g . Head possibly slightly shorter and broader than in T. bromius. Face with a
more fulvous tinge ; side-cheeks more extensively black haired on the upper
part ; vertex almost exactly as in T. bromius , as there is a clump of short pale
yellow hairs on the vertical triangle which somewhat contrast with the rather
shorter tawnier postocular ciliation in the depression which slopes down to
the vertex. Eye-facets almost as in T. bromius , the upper and front facets
being quite four times as large as the lower ones and sharply contrasted ;
colour of the eyes in life not noted. Antennae with the basal segment of the
third joint rather long and thin, and the hump small and placed before its
middle, and (in the specimen described) with its dull reddish colour merging
into the dark brown style.

Thorax and scutellum as in T. bromius.

Abdomen longer and narrower, conspicuously dull reddish on the side
thirds of the second and third segments and on two spots on the fourth
segment and also narrowly on the side thirds of the hindmargin of the basal
segment ; second segment with a small blackish discoloration near each
hind corner, and the third segment with this still more marked ; sidemargins
of the fifth and sixth segments rather narrowly reddish ; fourth, fifth, and
sixth segments with scarcely any trace (rubbed ?) of grey side-flecks or dorsal
triangles and consequently the broad blackish dorsal stripe on the abdomen
more conspicuous. Belly conspicuously dull reddish on the three basal
segments except that the sides are narrowly blackish and that there is a
rather broad but rather vague blackish middle stripe.

Legs with rather more blackish pubescence about the tip of the front
femora.

Squamae (thoracal) with rather darker margins.

9 . Head shorter than in T. bromius ; frontal stripe with the lower callus rather
lai'ger and squarer ; postocular eyemargin rather wider, and (in one specimen)
with a front fringe of tolerably long and distinct black hairs (can this
specimen be true T. Mikii ?). Palpi less stout soon after the base of the
second joint and with the black bristles not quite extending to the base. Eyes
not noted in life. Antennae reddish brown, or (in the second specimen) more
reddish on the basal half.

Abdomen with conspicuous dull reddish coloring on the three basal
segments, but with a pair of brownish diagonal stripes on the second and
third segments outside the reddish flecks and not nearly reaching the side or
hindmargin, and these stripes bear black pubescence which contrasts strongly
with the pale pubescence which occurs on the reddish part ; the reddish

2. TABANUS

405

coloring on the basal segment slightly broader than in the male ; side-
margins of the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments rather conspicuously reddish ;
the grey side-flecks and dorsal triangles which are conspicuous in T. bromius
practically absent in this species. Belly with the four basal segments
mainly dull yellowish red, but the basal part of the basal segment and
(obscurely) the sides of the third and fourth segments rather blackish
grey, and in some lights the fourth segment has a blackish ground colour ; a
second specimen has the middle part of the second segment of the belly rather
blackish.

Legs with a few black hairs behind and about the tip of the front femora.

Squamae distinctly darker than in T. bromius, and with almost blackish
margins.

Length about 14-5 mm.

This species has been described from a male taken at Lyndliurst in the
New Forest on June 23, 1895, and a female taken there on the next day,
but reference is made to another female which was taken in the same
neighborhood by Mr H. Donisthorpe at an uncertain date. The most
closely allied species is undoubtedly T. bromius, of which for a long time
I considered it only a variety, but its larger size and much more reddish
abdomen (and especially belly) distinguish it. T. tergestinus is also a very
closely allied species which agrees in size and almost in colour but has the
eyes of the male with the upper and front facets merely slightly and
inconspicuously enlarged, while some females from Kowarz’s collection
have the palpi thinner and the third and fourth abdominal segments more
rufescent; T. tergestinus also has two purple-red bands across the lower
third of the eyes in the male and three bands in the female.

T. Mikii has a postocular fringe of long black hairs in the male and
no band across the eyes in the female, but the female is so similar to that
of T. tergestinus that Egger had mixed them together when describing the
latter species. It is not improbable that both T. tergestinus and T. Mikii
may occur in the New Forest, and the bands on the eyes should be noted
from living specimens.

Synonymy. — T. <jl emeus was described by Meigen in 1820, but as there was an
apparently earlier T. glaucus of Wiedemann (1819) from Brazil Schiner altered the
name of Meigen’s species to T. glaucescens ; it is however impossible to be certain
about the dates of periodicals at that time, and as Wiedemann in 1828 deliberately
altered the name of his species to T. cinerarius it is obvious that he conceded priority
to Meigen’s name, and consequently that no change was necessary in the name of
Meigen’s species. Brauer was of opinion that Meigen’s T. glaucus was only a variety
of f. bromius , but I do not like sinking the specimens I have described to the rank
of a mere variety, and although they are none of them in first rate condition I prefer
to retain them as belonging to a distinct species ; unfortunately Brauer very seldom
gave the comparative distinctions of species, and in the case of T. bromius, T.
tergestinus, and T. Mikii merely stated that the three species might easily be
confounded while his dichotomic table gave only unsatisfactory distinctions ; as to
T. glaucus, Brauer stated at one page that all the specimens under that name in
Winthem’s collection were males, but at another page he said that of six specimens
in Winthem’s collection the males belonged to the pale silver-shimmering form of
T. bromius in which the abdomen is orange anteriorly, but the females were hardly to
be distinguished as even varieties of T. bromius ; he also stated on the first occasion
that the females of T. glaucus as distinguished by Schiner and Egger were only
rather rubbed specimens of T. maculicornis. Walker’s T. glaucus is only T. maculi-
cornis. Pandelle apparently included both T. glaucus and T. Mikii under his
T. bromius , and his suggestion that T. Mikii is a small clear variety of T. autumnalis
is absurd. Villeneuve has stated that Meigen’s types of T. glaucus in the Paris
Museum are a male T. bromius and a female T. tergestinus.

406

TABANID7E

14. T. bromius Linne. Eyes one-banded. Frons nowhere shining
(unless rubbed) and with no dark cross-band at the level of the antennae ;
male without any long postocular fringe; female with the postocular
part of the occiput only very slightly inflated, and with the middle frontal
callus linear.

A rather small yellowish brown species with scarcely any
reddish coloring on the abdomen.

d . Head not conspicuously larger or more arched than in the female, though
slightly broader than the thorax ; face pale yellowish grey, growing whiter
but not silvery on the lower part, bare on quite the middle but with long
(though comparatively short) fairly dense and fine greyish yellow pubescence
round the bare part and on the inflated side-cheeks and with more or less
blackish (though not conspicuous) hairs on the upper part of the side-cheeks ;
pubescence on the lower part of the cheeks, at the back of the mouth, and on
the jowls longer and pale greyish yellow (almost whitish) ; across the
Lop of the cheeks from the antennae to the eyes there is a very inconspicuous
darkening which would not be noticed unless sought for ; the bare rim under
the eyes greyish white ; back of the head with a very narrow pale bare
postocular rim which at the temple region is practically sunk behind the
eyes, and behind which is a very short very inconspicuous brownish yellow
ciliation which hardly grows longer near the top angle of the eyes
( = temple regions) and which has absolutely no long overhanging or out¬
standing hairs, but in some lights the short ciliation on the temple regions
is almost whitish ; vertex slightly raised, extending lower down between
the eyes than in T. maculicornis or T. cordiger , blackish grey and clothed
with short dense brownish yellow pubescence which is not nearly long enough
to constitute a tuft ; frontal triangle pale grey with usually a slight yellowish
tinge and with the upper point inclined to have a blackish hue. Palpi pale
orange • end-joint oblong ovate, bladdery, about twice as long as its thickest
part which is a little before its middle, and ending in a rather sudden
blunt conical or sometimes evenly rounded tip, and usually with a slight com¬
pression beneath just before the tip, widely clothed on its upper part with long
soft thin pale yellow pubescence of which there is sometimes some indication
on the underside, but the lower half of the outside, sometimes all the under¬
side, and all the tip with numerous (almost dense) not very short black
bristly hairs • basal joint short ovate, half as long as the end-joint, with a
slight blackish grey tinge except at the tip, and clothed with long thin pale
yellow pubescence. Eyes not quite bare but apparently so, as there are only
some very short sparse hairs, bronzy green in life with one brownish
purple band just below the middle which does not quite extend to the
hindmargin, while below that band the eyes are greener than above it ;
facets on nearly the upper two-thirds very much larger (about six times) than
those on the lower part, and the large facets extend upwards to the ocellar
knob and downwards to and rather beyond the junction of the eyes, while
the small facets do not extend in a zone up along the back margin though
the contrast in size is not so conspicuous there. Antennae dull orange red
or rather darker ; two basal joints rather obscured with blackish grey but
with an orange red tinge visible as a ground colour ; style-like portion
usually blackish brown : basal joint extended like a hood over the second
joint, and bearing on all its upper side dense short black bristles, while
on its underside are longer thin pale hairs ; second joint with an apical
circlet of black bristles which are very short on the upper side but rather
longer on the under side ; third joint but little widened, and with only a
small blunt dorsal hump on the basal quarter and usually with a few tiny
black bristles there ; style-like portion nearly as long as the basal segment
of the third joint.

Thorax brownish grey, with five yellowish grey stripes best visible when
seen from behind ; middle stripe the most conspicuous and not con-

2. TABANUS

407

tinned clearly to the hindmargin but inclined to join the next two stripes
soon after the suture, after which these two stripes continue rather more
vaguely and spread out all along the hindrnargin, and the outer stripes do not
quite extend to this hindmargin but bend inwards and end in a point \ pisealai
calli obscurely brownish red. Pubescence composed of fairly numerous but
not conspicuous erect black hairs all over except on the front part where
they are shorter and denser though pale, and in good specimens numerous
sloping or depressed thin greyish yellow hairs occur intermixed among the
erect black hairs but are easily abraded and leave only_ traces of then-
existence : pleurae with all brownish yellow pubescence which is dense and
woolly except on the lower parts. Scutelliun with similar but slightly longer
erect black hairs all over the disc, but with a fringe of equally long fine pale

hairs about the margin. , , . _ . .

Abdomen longish, flat conical, and greyish black with conspicuous brownish
ochreous (but not reddish) and grey markings on the second and third segments
besides less conspicuous markings on the other segments ; the point of the
grey middle triangle on the second segment extended to the foremargm,
but on the subsequent segments not reaching much above the middle, and
there is a rather long yellow hindmarginal fringe on the second and sub¬
sequent segments, and a patch of similar pubescence at the middle of the
hindmargin of the basal segment ; base and the basal corners broadly of the
basal segment grey, and conspicuous sloping grey side-flecks of rather unde¬
fined shape and margin occur on the second, third, and fourth segments, but do
not as grey flecks extend to the foremargins and not widely to the hindmargms,
but the whole front corners (varying in amount) of the second segment are
brownish ochreous (but not so red as in T. glaucus) and _ often amalgamate
with the grey flecks and then extend broadly to the hindmargin, leaving
however a lateral black patch at each hind corner of the segment which
extends obscurely to the hindmargin- third segment sometimes with con¬
siderable brownish ochreous coloring which is not so conspicuous or defined as
that on the second segment, and the blackish side patch much larger though
also rather indefinite; fourth segment sometimes with a trace of similai
ferruginous coloring over about the space occupied by the grey sicle-flecks ,
absolute sidemargins of the second to sixth segments distinctly brownish
ochreous. Pubescence depressed and yellow on the ferruginous and grey pai ts
and occurring as a fairly continuous fringe on the hindmargins ot the second,
third, and fourth segments, though black between the middle and the side-
flecks and more conspicuous on the outer thirds of all the hindmargins ,
sidemarginal pubescence rather longer and fairly conspicuous, yellow on the
five basal segments but considerably black on the sixth and seventh segments,
while some black hairs appear to be intermixed near the lnnd corneis ot flic
basal segment and on the black patch on the second segment, and there aie
traces of black hairs on the third and fourth segments but close examina¬
tion shows that they are not on the actual sidemargins ; pubescence on 1 10
black parts short depressed and black, but more erect on the disc ot the tv o
basal segments. Belly blackish grey down the sides and on a nioie 01 less
interrupted middle line but usually dull ferruginous between; limdmaigins
narrowly and inconspicuously lighter grey ; sixth and seventh segments
blackish, and with the usual longer black bristly hairs numerous and
fairly conspicuous. Genitalia small but margined with deep orange color¬
ing beneath the seventh segment. , . ,

Legs dull greyish black, but dull reddish orange on the extieme tip ot
the femora, nearly the basal half of the front tibiae, all the middle tibiai
except the tip, the extreme base of the middle . tarsi, and either the extreme
base of the hind tibke or sometimes all the hind tibiae except just the tip ;
front tarsi deep black. Pubescence on the front coxae long, greyish white, and
rather abundant; on the front femora scattered and long, greyish yellow
about the base but black about the tip, with the underside conspicuously
shining black and bare (for the reception of the folded tibiae) and w ltli a
dense rowT of minute black bristles on the anterior margin of the bare space ,
on the middle femora shorter and less conspicuous and dull pale yellow lsn ,
on the hind femora dense, longer, and greyish yellow antero-vent rally ;
tibiae with short depressed bristles which are mainly yellowish on the under-

408

TABANIM

side but black dorsally, while the front tibiae have a slight black fringe behind
their basal half, and the middle tibiae a rather more extended but indistinct
similar fringe and a slight pale fringe beneath besides some scattered pale
hairs, and the hind tibiae a more conspicuous longer dense mainly pale antero-
dorsal fringe and a finer shorter all pale postero-ventral one ; front tibiae
about the tip and the front tarsi with very few “ touch-hairs.” Pulvilli
brownish orange.

Wings greyish hyaline ; basal veins yellowish brown ; the narrow brownish
stigma formed by the swollen end of the subcostal vein. Squamae glassy
whitish or yellowish, with a brown margin, and with a short wdiitish or
yellowish fringe which grows into the usual long tuft about the angle.
Halteres dull brown.

$ . Almost like the male. Head not much smaller than that of the male ;
frontal stripe pale brownish yellow, rather narrowed downwards, and quite
four times as long as its broadest part ; lower callus shining black, nearly
quadi'ate unless the margins near be rubbed, possibly higher than broad and
not absolutely extending to the eyemargins, and connected by a short black
middle line with the small middle callus ; middle callus varying in shape and
size, sometimes occupying about one-third the width of the frontal stripe and
then only slightly higher than broad or sometimes long and narrow and then
occupying only about one-fifth the width of the frontal stripe ; vertical space
only very faintly darkened ; upper half of the frontal stripe (down to about
the middle of the middle callus) bearing short mixed black and yellow hairs,
of which certainly the black hairs are of a rather bristly nature ; frontal
triangle covered with yellowish grey dust, which is easily rubbed off so as to
cause shining black lunules just above the antennal sockets ; face yellowish
dusted, slightly darker on the upper part of the side-clieeks and clothed on
them with not very conspicuous whitish yellow or yellow pubescence (in
which there are no black hairs), while similar but longer pubescence occurs all
about the mouth ; jowls moderately broad, greyish yellow, and with a bare
greyish white postocular rim extending from them up to the top corners of
the eyes, and this rim absolutely equal in width for its whole length and when
seen from above narrowly visible on the upper part for about as much as one-
seventh the width of the vertex ; immediately behind this postocular rim
a short greyish yellow ciliation exists which slightly increases in width
from the lower to the upper part, but so slightly that it is not visible when the
head is viewed from in front, though this is partly due to the pubescence
sloping backwards rather than upwards, and sometimes three or four small
black bristles may occur in this ciliation at about half-way up the head ;
vertex with no obviously longer hairs. Palpi dull pale orange ; second joint
fairly stout for about the basal half and thence steadily contracting to a sharp
point, about three times as long as its stoutest part, and clothed with
numerous short depressed black bristles all over the upper and outer
parts except about the base, and with a few thin pale hairs beneath
the basal half, though sometimes the little black bristles are distinctly dense
and then extend almost to the base, and in such cases the short basal joint may
bear a few black hairs though ordinarily it is pale orange with long
abundant pale yellow pubescence. Eyes paler or darker green with reddish
reflections, and with one purple band just above the middle which slopes
upwards from the lowest level of the lower frontal callus • bare or
microscopically and sparsely pubescent and rather higher than long
(being higher in proportion and less evenly rounded on the front lower
quarter than in T. macnlicornis), and the blunt angle between the inner and
lower margins being about 135° the eyes extend rather far down. Antennae
more or less reddish orange with the style-like portion and the black bristled
tip of the basal joint blackish, but usually the large basal segment of
the third joint is brownish red, and the two basal joints still darker;
basal joint drawn out cap-like over the second joint, and with dense short
black bristles on that cap, while usually there are short pale hairs on the rest
of the basal joint though sometimes many of the hairs on the upper side are
black ; second joint with a circlet of short black bristles and a few short pale
bristly hairs beneath ; third joint (without the style-like portion) about one

2. TABANUS

409

and a half times longer than deep, the dorsal hump (well before the middle)
being strongly defined and usually bearing some tiny black bristles ; style¬
like portion about as long as the basal segment of the third joint.

Thorax greyer than in the male and with shorter pubescence, which causes
the grey stripes to become more obvious ; the depressed light grey pubescence
more generally diffused and more obvious, and the erect black hairs
less obvious ; pubescence on the pleurae less abundant. Scutellum greyer,
Avith the erect black pubescence short but rather longer than on the disc of
the thorax, and with the depressed light grey pubescence more obvious.

Abdomen greyish black with three rows of light grey flecks, the middle
row forming triangular flecks on the hindmargins (largest and most distinct
on the second and third segments) Avith the front point on the second segment
almost reaching to the foremargin but on the third segment only about half-
Avay up the segment ; side-flecks forming sloping trapeziums which do not
quite reach the foremargins but which have their outer edge sloping back to
the hind corners, so that there is a distinct interval on the hindmargins
betAveen the middle and the side-flecks ; these side-flecks are largest and most
complete on the second and third segments, though only a little more so than
on the fourth segment ; basal corners of the basal segment light grey, but
those of the second segment rather oclireous and the sidemargins narrowly
grey, and the ochreous corners not quite connecting with the side roAvs of
grey flecks ; on the fifth segment the three grey flecks small, and on the
sixth segment hardly traceable. Pubescence mainly pale yelloAvish, short
and depressed, rather conspicuous on the greyish parts and occurring as a
short fringe on the hindmargins, but short and depressed and black on
blackish parts (much more inconspicuous than the yelloAv pubescence) ;
sidemarginal pubescence very short and inconspicuous and pale yellowish,
though black hairs occur very near the edge on the fourth and subsequent
segments. Belly normally pale ashy grey Avith a vague darker broad middle
stripe and Avith narrow pale hindmargins of segments and Avith the adjoining
parts of the first and second segments obscurely reddish, but this reddish
coloring apparently very variable in extent.

Legs Avith shorter pubescence than in the male, especially on the tibiae, and
the lateral fringes on the hind tibiae reduced to an antero-dorsal i’oav.

Wings, squamae, and halteres as in the male.

Length about 13-5 mm.

This species varies a little in both sexes in the amount of ferruginous
or orange coloring at the sides of the second (or third) abdominal segment
and on the belly, but it is a common species which is soon easily recognisable
except from T. glaucus. In size it is rather smaller than T. glaucus and
compares with only T. maculicornis and T. cordiger, and the male is dis¬
tinguished from both of these by the absence of any long postocular
ciliation, while the female is distinguished from that of T. cordiger by the
more linear middle frontal callus, and from both species (or at any rate
from T. cordiger ) by the absence of any darkened space between the
antennae and the eyes; T. bromius is larger and is altogether a lighter
yellower colored species (whence the name bromius, coffee colored), and
has the sidemargins of the male abdomen more fringed with pale hairs,
and the anterior tibiae with less obvious pubescence; the female has no
blackish pubescence (or very rarely) about the upper part of the cheeks,
and has a shorter postocular fringe than T. maculicornis. If T. glaucus is
a distinct species it is larger and has much more reddish coloring on the
abdomen both dorsally and especially ventrally, while its grey abdominal
markings are indistinct.

T. bromius is the commonest British species of even the comprehensive
genus Tabanus, though (as in T. autumnalis) my records do not extend
north of the Midland counties. I have records from Devon, Dorset,

410

TABANIM

Somerset, Hants, Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Suffolk, Berks, Wilts, Huntingdon¬
shire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Worcestershire, and
Nottinghamshire, ranging from June 16 to August 23. Colonel Yerbury
exhibited at the Entomological Society of London on November 21, 1900,
a specimen which had been bred on July 12, 1899, by Mr Holland of
the Hope Museum, Oxford, from a pupa found in sand at St Helens in
the Isle of Wight. It is recorded from Sweden to Naples.

15. T. maculicornis Zetterstedt. Eyes one-banded. Frons not at all
shining and hardly with a dark cross-band at the level of the antennae ;

male with a long postocular ciliation (fig. 237) ;
female with the postocular part of the occiput
rather inflated, and the middle frontal callus
linear. Antennae all reddish.

The smallest British species of the
germs distinguished its grey and
blackish colour.

J. Exceedingly like the male of T. cordiger, but
the frons with scarcely any trace of a brown
cross-banc! from eye to eye at the level of
the antennae, and the antennae much more
reddish.

Fig. 237. — Tcibanus maculicornis
x 10.

Head large in proportion to the thorax;
face and side-cheeks greyer and less silvery

than in T. cordiger ; side-cheeks with blackish hairs on nearly the upper
half extending to the base of the antennae, and the other pubescence
of the face and sicle-cheeks more greyish white ; the long ciliation behind the
upper part of the eyes all pale greyish yellow or at any rate with very few (four
to live) black hairs intermixed ; frons dull black on the ground colour but
obscured on the lower half by abundant greyish or greyish yellow dust and
with the upper point slightly covered with light grey dust, so that the dark
line dividing the facets of the eyes seems to go right across the frons ; ocellar
tubercle very much sunk in the angle between the eyes. Palpi longer, thinner,
and more yellow ; end-joint elongate ovate, more than twice as long as broad,
and bearing long whitish pubescence with about twenty black bristly hairs on
the apical half, and the tip ending in a slightly down-turned short point ;
basal joint much shorter than the end-joint. Eyes bare, in life brownish
green with one conspicuous purplish band along the top of the small facets,
and this band is broadest in front and has its top margin level with the top of
the dark space on the frontal triangle but its lower margin below the lowest
level of that, and gradually narrowing until close to the hindmargin where it
curves upwards into the zone of small facets and is less distinctly continued up
to the vertex. Facets almost identical in size with those of T. cordiger , but
with the distinction in size much more contrasted, more continued to the
front, and lower down the eye than in T. bromius. Antenme much more
reddish, even on the basal joints, or sometimes even reddish orange, and with
the hairs beneath the basal joint pale ; in shape very much as in T. cordiger ,
but with the three subquadrate basal segments of the style-like portion more
distinct.

Thorax slaty black, with five indistinct dull grey stripes ; prasalar calli
dark. Pubescence moderately long and fine, mainly yellowish grey but black
across the disc from the suture almost to the hindmargin, and by contrast
more pale on the scutellum ; pubescence down the disc appearing to be
more equal in length both on the front part and on the middle ; pleurae with
pale greyish pubescence, which is sometimes slightly tinged with yellow on

2. TAB AN US

411

the upper part and on the tuft near the root of the wing, but without any
black hairs intermixed on the middle of the mesopleurse.

Abdomen proportionately short, with the four basal segments nearly
equal in width and the remaining segments forming a blunt cone, dull black,
but with the second to fifth hindmargins obscurely light grey, and with three
indistinct rows of flecks of which the middle row is the most distinct and is
composed of rather large triangular patches of light grey pubescence at the
middle of the hindmargin of each of the five basal segments (but smallest on
the basal one) and which barely extend up one-third the length of each seg¬
ment ; side-flecks less distinct after the second or third segment, rather
rounded, sometimes ferruginous on the second and third segments, and
not reaching the front margins but extending to the hindmargins and connect¬
ing there with the dark orange sidemargins ; sidemarginal hind corners
of the fourth and fifth segments orange and connected with the pale
hindmargins ; in addition to these markings the second and third segments
are usually orange or chestnut brown on the foremargin between the side-
flecks and the sidemargins or on the front part of the side-flecks. Pubescence
on the disc suberect, fairly long, and black, but pale on the middle triangles
and along the sides of the hindmargins, while down the sidemargins it is
longer and is black about the basal corners but greyish white elsewhere.
Belly dull greyish black, but less dusted with grey than in T. cordiger, and
with broader yellowish hindmargins of segments ; pubescence soft, pale, and
fairly long with no (or scarcely any) black hairs on the sixth segment, but
with numerous longer curved black bristly hairs on the seventh segment.

Legs dull black, but luteous on the tibiae except for the black apical half of
the front pair, the brown apex of the middle pair, and the blackish apical sixth of
the hind pair ; the hind tibiae more luteous than in T. cordiger , but with the
apical sixth more contrastedly black ; pubescence much as in T. cordiger , but
with fewer long black hairs on the anterior tibiae and shorter ciliation on the
hind tibiae, and the short pubescence on all the tibiae much more extensively
black so that very little pale pubescence is obvious except towards the
underside of the hind pair ; the shining black bare underside of the front
femora rather conspicuous.

Wings very similar to those of T. cordiger , but the veins about the base
apparently slightly blacker. Halteres with blackish brown knobs.

9 . Head much smaller and less rounded in front than in the male ; frontal stripe
brownish ashy grey, very slightly narrowing towards the lower part and
about four times as long as its broadest part ; lower callus shining black,
wrinkled, rather higher than broad, subquadrate, notched on the foremargin,
and not quite extending to the eyemargins, but extending upwards at the
middle and connecting rather narrowly with the elongate shining black middle
callus, which is quite three times as long as broad ; ocellar space indefinitely
blackened but not enough to call it a callus ; upper two-thirds of the
frontal stripe bearing rather abundant short rather inconspicuous (because
depressed) black pubescence but at the sides with a few inconspicuous pale
hairs down to the lower callus ; face (except on the upper part of the side-
cheeks) greyish white and clothed with rather dense white pubescence which
is longest about the mouth; frontal triangle bare of pubescence but
covered with brownish orange dust (which is easily rubbed off on the middle
part and then shows the shining black ground colour as a somewhat lunulate
mark) which extends downwards to just below the antennae and even
further in a darker brown hue down the sicle-cheeks and along the margin
of the eyes, and this upper part of the side-cheeks always bears some black
pubescence ; jowls broad and greyish white, while from them a fairly broad
bare conspicuously whitish postocular rim extends right up to the vertical
space, which when viewed from above is well puffed out on the upper quarter
of the eyes to about one-quarter as much as the breadth of the frons ;
behind the puffed-out part of that bare rim there is a moderately long pale
or brownish yellow ciliation which (when seen from in front) projects a little
above the eyes, but below that part there is only a short inconspicuous pale
ciliation which is continued downwards until it merges into the long pubescence
of the jowls; on the front part of the longer upper postocular ciliation there

412

TABANID.E

are sometimes some black bristly hairs. Palpi dull yellow, only moderately
stout on about the basal half but then drooping and gradually diminishing
to a blunt point, about four times as long as the width of the stoutest part,
clothed with rather dense black bristles all over the upper and outer sides
(except at the base) and with a few longer thin pale hairs beneath, especially
about the base ; basal joint short, blackish grey except at the luteous tip, and
bearing long whitish pubescence. Eyes in life brownish purplish green with
frequently a coppery shimmer and with one rather indistinct and incomplete
purple band across the middle, which slopes slightly upwards from front
to back ; the angle at the junction of the inner and lower margins of each
eye about 120°, and consequently the eyes extending not much below the
antennae ; eyes in profile about as high as long. Antennae orange or brownish
orange ; basal joint with its dorsal front angle drawn out into a short black
bristled point ; the two basal joints bearing almost all over short black
bristles; third joint a little widened at the base and (without the style-like
portion) about twice as long as broad, with the small but obvious dorsal hump
placed well before its middle, and the other segments together about two-thirds
the length of the basal segment, sometimes all orange or sometimes blackish.

Thorax greyer than in the male and the lighter grey stripes more evident
and appearing in very perfect specimens as broad stripes of brownish yellow
depressed pubescence ; the erect black pubescence on the disc shorter and
extending perhaps further above the suture and with more numerous
depressed thin pale hairs intermixed, so that any contrast (when viewed side¬
ways) between the black and pale pubescence is less obvious ; pubescence
on the pleurae usually all whitish grey, but sometimes the tuft near the
wing-base brownish yellow.

Abdomen flatter than in the male, and with three conspicuous rows of
light yellowish or whitish grey triangular flecks which extend from the first to
the sixth segments, though all the flecks on the second and third segments
are more conspicuous than the others because the sloping side-flecks on them
extend from near the foremargia right away to the hind corners and merge
there into the conspicuous yellowish or whitish grey pubescence along the
sides of the hindmargins, but on the fourth and fifth segments the conspicuous
sides of the hindmargins mainly form the flecks of the side rows, but only
slightly so on the sixth segment ; the intervals on the hindmargins between
the light pubescence of the middle and that of the sides contrastedly black ;
upper points of the middle triangles seldom extending much over the lower
half of each segment but sometimes touching the foremargins so that the middle
row of flecks becomes then continuous, and (according to Brauer) the side rows
sometimes confluent ; in rubbed specimens the abdominal spots are slaty
blue ; second segment with an inconspicuous brownish orange spot near each
upper side corner, and the hind corners of the second to fourth (and sometimes
even fifth) segments brownish orange. Belly lighter grey than in the male,
and with only very narrow yellowish hindmargins of segments.

Legs almost as in the male, but with the base of the posterior tarsi occa¬
sionally rather more ferruginous.

Wings, squamae, and lialteres almost as in the male.

Length about 1 2 mm.

This species may be distinguished in the male from any other British
one except T. cordiger and T. glaucopis by the long postocular ciliation,
while even in rubbed specimens the frons is not shining as in T. glaucopis ;
from T. cordiger the more elongate palpi, black hairs on the upper
part of the side-cheeks, and the paler antennae provide easy distinctions ;
the female is distinguished from those two species by the more linear
middle frontal callus, and from T. glaucopis by the absence of any shining
space on the frons, and from T. cordiger by its narrower shape and slightly
smaller size, by the presence of a few black hairs on the upper part of the
side-cheeks, by the paler antennae, by the larger abdominal spots of which
the side ones are more spread out towards the hind corners of the

2. TABANUS

413

segments, and by the more extended whitish pubescence along the sides
of the hindmargins ; the female of T. bromius may be distinguished by its
rather larger size, by its browner grey abdomen which has more continuous
yellow pubescence along the hindmargins of the segments, by the more
brownish orange posthumeral calli, by the broader lower frontal callus, by
the absence of black hairs on the upper part of the side-cheeks, and by the
narrower inflation of the upper part of the postocular rim. In fact
(though the character is so slight as to require considerable care in
detecting) the black hairs on the upper part of the side-cheeks near the
base of the antennae distinguish T. maculicornis in both sexes from all its
allies. T. Mikii, which has occurred in Denmark, is a larger species and
has a reddish belly.

T. maculicornis is not an uncommon British species as I have records
from Devonshire (Avon Yallev, Walkham, Ivybridge, and Lynton), Hamp¬
shire (New Forest and its outskirts, Woolmer Forest, and Winchester),
Sussex (Plashet Wood), Surrey (Wey bridge), Herefordshire (Devereux
Bool), Worcestershire (Wyre Forest), Merionethshire (Barmouth), and
Perthshire (Rannoch), from June 10 to July 20. T. maculicornis and
T. cordigcr were both taken at Barmouth by Colonel Yerbury. It is
recorded from Scandinavia to the Tyrol.

Synonymy. — Loew failed to distinguish this species from T. bromius , which
seems to be very extraordinary. It is almost certainly Walker’s T. glaurus , and
this is confirmed by a female in the Entomological Club collection which is labelled
“ glaucus of Diptera Brit, confirmed by Mr Walker, 26/x/1868”; the specimen is
rather small but is otherwise quite normal.

16. T. cordiger Wiedemann. Eyes with not more than one band.
Frons nowhere shining but with a brown cross-band from eye to eye
at the level of the antenna; female with the middle frontal callus broad.
Antenna blackish on at any rate the basal joints. Male with a long
postocular ciliation.

Rather small species, with unusually distinct grey spots
on the abdomen.

$ . Head much larger than in the female, being semicircular and distinctly wider
than the thorax. Face and side-cheeks silvery white, with fairly dense
and fine rather long white hairs, while similar hairs extend all over the jowls
but not at all on to the back of the head ; back of the head with only a very
short pale postocular ciliation behind the narrow whitish grey bare postocular
rim (which grows a little wider on the upper part) until the upper third of
the head, whence a line of long forwards-curved black hairs extends almost to
the vertex, and intermingled with them are some shorter whitish hairs,
but behind the vertex these whitish hairs become more dense and conspicu¬
ous ; ocellar tubercle small, globular, blackish brown ■ frontal triangle pale
yellowish, but with an indefinite blackish cross-band above the middle which
is continuous with the blackened part of the eyes, and usually with a brown
band across just above the antennae which always develops into an obvious
darker cross-band between the antennae and the eyes and then extends a little
down the sidemargins of the face this cross-band is an important distinctive
character and may be more obvious in some lights than in others. Palpi
whitish yellow, short ; end-joint thick oval almost globular, being only
one and a third times as long as broad, and bearing longish white hairs
with a few (about half a dozen) black hairs intermixed towards the tip, and
this joint is thickened forwards so as to become rather club-shaped with a

414

TABANID.E

short thick conical tip, and is slightly excavated just below that tip ; basal
joint as long as the second joint, with a blackish grey tint except about its
tip, not inflated but bearing long whitish pubescence. Eyes bare, grey above
but green on more than the lower third, with one dark (or rarely purple) band
along the top of the small facets ; facets on about the upper two-thirds almost
four times as large as those on about the lower third and with a conspicuous
line of separation except that the small facets extend in a rather narrow
zone all up the liindmargin of the eyes to the ocellar tubercle ; the dividing
line across the eyes is hardly undulating but runs nearly straight across
the eye to the zone of small facets. Antennae always dull black on the
two basal joints, but the third joint sometimes reddish brown at the base
or possibly all dark reddish brown (I possess a specimen in which it is
all dull orange red) ; basal joint dorsally pointed very cap-like over the
second joint, and bearing very short inconspicuous black bristles above
and a few short black hairs beneath ; second joint short, pointed cap-like
over the base of the third joint, and bearing a terminal circlet of short
black bristles which are most distinct i on the underside; third joint with
its basal segment considerably longer than deep and with an obvious
angled dorsal hump, after which it is rather concave on the upper
side ; style as long as this basal segment, slender and usually bent upwards,
with its two basal segments longer than broad and the terminal one longer
still and attenuated.

Thorax greyish black with five faint pale grey stripes, and with the
prae'alar calli usually obscurely ferruginous ; pubescence fairly abundant,
usually mainly black except on the front part, nearly erect and fairly long
(especially after the suture and on the scutellum), but on the front part
shorter, more depressed, and pale greyish, though the shorter fine and more
depressed greyish hairs may extend more on to the disc or especially
on to the sides of the disc and when viewed from in front appear to be pre¬
dominant, or the grey hairs may be even more extended as mentioned
later on ; pleurae with dense woolly contrastedly greyish white pubescence,
though a few inconspicuous black hairs may be intermixed on the lower
part of the mesopleurse. T. maculicornis has the pubescence on the thorax
and especially on the scutellum much paler, but with a broad band of black
hairs crossing after the suture and the pubescence on the front part of
the disc more equal with the rest.

Abdomen blackish grey, or rarely deep black, with three rows of pale grey
spots formed by side rows of distinct rather small but well-defined isolated
side-flecks and by a middle row of less distinct short flattish triangles on the
hindmargins of the second to sixth (or sometimes only to fourth) segments ;
the side-flecks on the second and third segments sloping from the base outwards
and often with a slight yellowish tinge, and isolated as they by no means
extend to the hindmargins, and outside the flecks the second segment is
indistinctly brown or reddish brown to a greater or less extent but becomes
paler towards the basal corners ; hind corners of the second segment and
thence onwards the sidemargins of the third to sixth segments narrowly
yellowish with this colour extending inwards along the hindmargins ; the
hindmargins otherwise (after the basal one) indistinctly and narrowly
greyish ; pubescence rather abundant though rather short and depressed,
black and bristly on the disc but longer and more erect on the disc of the
second segment, while all the sidemargins up to the end of the sixth segment
bear longer softer whitish pubescence, though when viewed from above the
basal segment slioivs black hairs (occasionally absent) at the sides of an
apparent rather broad black liindmargin, and the second segment appears
margined with some black hairs just after its middle, and the third just
before its middle (but these black hairs on the second and third segments
are not on the absolute sidemargins) ; also when seen from above pale
pubescence is obvious on the three rows of pale spots and along the hind¬
margins near the sides ; the black bristly pubescence on the fifth and sixth
segments slightly longer and more erect than that on the preceding segments,
and when viewed sideways the erect black bristles beneath the seventh
segment long and conspicuous. Belly ashy grey with a shimmering light
grey tinge caused by the dense light grey dust and the sloping whitish

2. TAB ANUS

415

pubescence ; hindmargins of the first six segments conspicuously and equally
pale yellowish ; in a variety the belly is blackish with whitish hindmargins
to the second to sixth segments. Genitalia hardly conspicuous, but a pair
of large brown side plates can be seen.

Legs dull black with a grey tinge caused by abundant dust, but the bare
underside of the front femora conspicuously black and shining as usual ;
in the darkest forms the knees and posterior ankles are orange, and upon close
examination more than the basal half of the front tibiae and all the middle
tibiae except the tip show traces of orange colour, the front tarsi being blacker
and slightly broader than the posterior tarsi ; but in the lighter forms the
front tibiae are orange on the basal half (never whitish yellow as stated by
Brauer), as well as the middle tibiae except at the tip and the basal joint of
the middle tarsi for more than half its length, while the hind tibiae and the
base of the hind tarsi are obscurely orange ; between these forms any inter¬
mediates may occur, and I have seen a dark form in which the front tibiae
and tarsi were only brown (immature ? ), but it may be noted that the hind
tibiae are almost always all blackish ; front tibiae a little clavate, but the
“touch-hairs” about the tip and on the front tarsi very inconspicuous.
Pubescence on the front coxae dense white and long, behind the front femora
whitish except for a few black hairs near the tip, behind the middle femora
less abundant and whitish except for a very few black hairs close to the tip,
and beneath the hind femora whitish ; pubescence on the posterior tibiae
mainly whitish but black and almost bristly above the middle tibiae, and the
anterior tibiae with some longer black hairs towards the back part (though
scarcely as a fringe), while the hind tibiae have a distinct rather long and
coarse continuous antero-dorsal fringe and a short pale postero-ventral one,
the antero-dorsal fringe being usually mixed with numerous black hairs ;
in one specimen the fringe is entirely black and the black hairs on the middle
tibiae and behind the front femora are more numerous. Pulvilli brownish
yellow ; claws dull black, but rather brownish about the base.

Wings almost hyaline or slightly smoky brownish ; veins dark brown but
becoming blackish on the outer part of the wing. Squamae glassy smoky
yellowish, with a conspicuous dark margin to the alar pair but a paler brown
margin to the thoracal pair ; fringe very short and pale, but the usual tuft
near the angle long conspicuous and greyish white. Halteres dark brown,
with the top of the knob sometimes light brown.

Resembling the male but greyer and less pubescent. Head much shorter
than in the male but quite as wide, and (when seen from above) with a more
regular arch behind. Face white, and there are rather long and dense white
hairs all over the face, cheeks, jowls, and underside of head, though the hairs
are longest all about the mouth ; frontal stripe brownish ashy grey, suddenly
but slightly contracted at its lower end and slightly widened above, very
broad as it is less than three times as long as its broadest part ; lower callus
shining black, transverse oblong, resting on the frontal triangle, and only
separated from the eyes by narrow grey lines ; middle callus broad (not in
the least linear) usually heart-shaped (being notched above) and very rarely
connected below by a short point with the lower callus ; ocellar callus only
indicated by a large blackish ashy grey space ; frontal triangle dull clear
yellowish with a brown cross-band as in the male extending across from eye
to eye both above and below the antennae and continuing somewhat down the
side-cheeks against the eyes ; postocular margin with a narrow greyish ivliite
bare rim, behind which on the middle part of the eye is a single sparse ciliation
of bristly black hairs and behind that a more abundant greyish white ciliation
which gradually grows a little longer right up to the upper eye-angle ■ behind
the vertex are some slightly longer black hairs which have their tips bent
forward, and some longer grey hairs are intermixed on and about the
vertex ; pubescence on the rest of the frontal stripe almost down to the
lower callus shorter black and sloping forward, or sometimes pale on the
sides and lower part. Palpi yellowish white (or rarely orange yellow) with
whitish silky pubescence beneath the base of the second joint and usually
with short black bristles mixed with tiny inconspicuous whitish ones on the
upper and outer sides, but a Scotch specimen identified by Brauer has not

416

TABANID/F,

one single black bristle on the palpi and another Scotch specimen from
Aviemore has no tiny pale bristles on the palpi except for a few above the
bend ; second joint bent blunt angled and thickened bladder-like on the more
horizontal basal third but then bending and narrowing to a fine sharp point,
the whole joint being three times as long as its thickest part ; basal joint
small and mainly with a blackish grey tinge. Eyes bare and without bands.
Antennae almost as in the male, but the less reddish third joint with its basal
segment longer and the style shorter, the basal segments (apparently three) of
the latter being almost quadrate.

Thorax rather greyer than in the male and with rather shorter less
abundant erect black pubescence, and with much more conspicuous pale grey
pubescence above the wing-base and along the lower margin of the postalar
calli and down the grey stripes of the thorax (especially after the suture).
Scutellum with much shorter less abundant erect black pubescence, and with
a fairly abundant marginal fringe of pale grey hairs.

Abdomen broader, flatter, and more oblong than in the male ; middle row
of spots more triangular and often extending in a thin point up to the fore¬
margins ; side rows of spots less lunulate and more sloping from the front
outwards, and extending to the hindmargins ; the yellowish coloring about the
base of the second and third segments usually more restricted ; pubescence
shorter, especially on the sides and down the sidemargins. Belly as in
the male.

Legs more ochreous, and with a silvery shimmer in front of the tibiae ; only
the apical half of the front tibiae blackish and just the tip of the middle tibiae
brown, though the hind tibiae are still all darker than the anterior pairs,
pubescence shorter and paler, there being scarcely any longer black hairs
on the middle tibiae ; pulvilli darker.

Wings, squamae, and halteres almost as in the male.

Length about 14 mm. but varying from 12-5 mm. to 15 mm.

This species is most nearly allied in the male to T. maculicornis, from
which it may be distinguished by the blacker antennae (at any rate on the
basal joints), by the absence of black hairs on the upper part of the side-
cheeks, and by the shorter oval end-joint of the palpi, as well as by many
minor distinctions which are given under the description of T. maculicornis ;
while it is distinguished from all allied species by the brown cross-band
from eye to eye which includes the base of the antennae; T. glaucopis is
distinguished in both sexes by the shining black space on the frontal
triangle. The female may be known from all British species except
T. glaucopis by its quadrate or heart-shaped (or at any rate not linear)
middle frontal callus, while the bandless eyes and the brown cross-band
about the antennae distinguish it from all other known European species.
It varies a little in the intensity of the cross-band which includes the
antennae (but not enough to cause doubt), and in the colour of the third
joint of the antennae which ranges from its normal dull black through
more or less reddish brown about its base to (in the male) entirely dark
reddish brown or even to reddish orange ; other minor variations in the
colour of the pubescence, or of the abdomen or legs, are noted in the
description, but the variation in the amount of black bristles on the palpi
of the female is remarkable, as it may extend from entire absence to
almost exclusive predominance. A male from Asch in Bohemia has the
pubescence on the thorax more extensively pale grey, and the thoracic
stripes more distinct.

T. cordigcr appears to be an uncommon British species, and I had
little knowledge of it until Colonel Yerbury took a considerable number
of both sexes at Aviemore and dSTethy Bridge in Inverness-shire in 1899
and 1900. I have however other records from Devonshire (Walkliam

2. TABANUS

417

and Avon valleys), Hampshire (Hew Forest), Hereford (The Howards),
Worcester (Wyre Forest), Glamorgan (Porthcawl), and Merioneth (Bar¬
mouth) and from several Scotch localities, the dates ranging from
June 12th (Austen gives May 27th) to July 29th. It has been recorded
from Central Europe and is common in South Europe along the Medi¬
terranean to Asia Minor, hut northwards it becomes less common though
it extends to Finland.

Synonymy. — Loew and Brauer cleared this up, but previously the North European
records have been given under the synonym of T. atricornis Meig. A female in
the Hope Museum at Oxford bears two labels, one of “New Forest, July 11, 1821,”
and the other “ Tabanus lunvlatus ? ” ; it is a very brown specimen, with only
brownish yellow pubescence behind the eyes and with the long and slightly broad
abdominal side-spots extending to the liindmargins and thus when viewed side¬
ways forming a continuous pale line, while the liindmargins bear a pale fringe all
across ; in fact all the black pubescence is much restricted and appears brownish
(bleached 1) ; it has very little reddish hue near the basal corners of the abdomen,
and the legs are more oclireous even to the base of the tarsi, while the basal veins of
the wings are more brownish orange ; it was probably rather immature when caught
and in course of time may have bleached. Walker’s T. atricornis and T. cordiger
cannot belong to this species according to details of his descriptions, especially as he
included T. cordiger in his table among the species with hairy eyes.

17. T. glaucopis Meigen. Eyes three-handed, in the male on the
region of small facets. Frontal triangle mainly shining blackish in both
sexes. Male with a long postocular ciliation. Female with the upper
frontal callus broad and isolated. Abdomen with rather inconspicuous
ferruginous side-flecks.

Easily distinguished by its shining black frontal triangle.

J. Described from a continental specimen in Kowarz’s collection from Asch
in Bohemia.

Head much larger than in the female, being so much more rounded
anteriorly that it forms almost a semicircle. Face and side-cheeks forming
a small pale ashy grey triangle clothed with dense soft whitish grey fairly
long pubescence ; jowls also pale ashy grey, small, and bearing longer and
more woolly pubescence which extends all about the sides and back
of the mouth, but none of this soft pubescence extends up the back of
the head; the side-cheeks blend softly into the face and jowls, and the jowls
blend into the whitish grey back of the head ; back of the head considerably
hollowed out, and with practically no postocular rim until close to the
upper eye-angles because the eyes bulge over, but with short yellowish
postocular pubescence and a few longer black hairs which are rather curved
over the eyes ; vertical space exceedingly small, but with a little curved
pale pubescence ; frons shining blackish chestnut with just the tip of
the top angle light grey and with a fairly broad pale yellowish (almost
whitish) grey line right across in front just above the antennae which merges
at the sides into the grey of the side-cheeks. Palpi with the second
joint elongate oval, about three times as long as its breadth at the middle,
dull pale yellow, and clothed with soft whitish pubescence in which two or
three black stronger hairs are intermixed near the tip ; basal joint greyish,
long and not dilated. Eyes very large, the front facets being all very much
enlarged and strongly contrasted with the small facets on the lower third and
on the narrower marginal zone which extends equally right up to the vertical
space ; the enlarged facets extend undiminishecl up to the touching part of
the eyes ; the contrasting line of facets begins at about the top of the shining
part of the frons and loops down right across the eyes to the narrow zone,

2 D

418

TABANIM

leaving the widest part of the small facets at about the middle of the head
(when viewed sideways) ; the eyes touch for twice the extreme length of the
frons ; in life (according to Brauer) they are grey, dark at the margin, green
below with a purple shimmer, and on the lowest quarter with three purple
bands of which the upper one is cleft towards its inner end. An ten me clear
dull reddish orange ; two basal joints obscured by numerous short black
bristles on all the upper part of the basal joint and on a circlet round the tip
of the second joint, though the bristles on this circlet are pale on the under¬
side, and the underside of the basal joint has some longer (though not long)
thin pale hairs ; basal joint rather small and extending dorsally only slightly
cap-like over the second ; third joint with the dorsal hump on its basal
segment very slight, so that this segment is almost regularly blunt conical
and twice as long as its thickest part, while near its base it bears some tiny
black dorsal bristles ; the next three segments of the third joint are almost
quadrate and are not quite so thick as the tip of the basal segment, while
the end segment is thinner and tapering, and about as long as two of the
previous annulations.

Thorax shining grey black, with five nearly equidistant light grey stripes
which become rather vague soon after the suture, the side stripes being the
least defined ; praealar calli ferruginous • pubescence fairly abundant, nearly
erect, light grey but with a few black hairs inconspicuously intermixed above
the wing-bases, and on the praealar calli and even right across and all about
the middle of the disc; pleurae ashy grey, clothed with dense light grey
woolly pubescence which is however less dense on the lower part. Scutellum
grey, but the disc not so pale as the light grey thoracic stripes ;
pubescence longer, more erect, paler grey, and perhaps more abundant than on
the thorax.

Abdomen small and tapering, about one and a quarter times as long as the
thorax and scutellum together, narrower at its base than the thorax and
steadily tapering to a point so that certainly the fifth to seventh segments
form a conical end ; when seen from above greyish black with a broad
ashy grey dorsal stripe which on the fourth segment and onwards widens and
becomes vague until it dies out on the sixth and seventh segments ; this
dorsal stripe and the greyish black part occupy about the middle third of the
abdomen on the second to fourth segments, but outside them the abdomen is
mainly dull ferruginous, though the third and fourth segments have a con¬
siderable blackish grey space near each side, so that the ferruginous markings
almost form connected flecks of the usual Tabanus type ; on the fifth to
seventh segments as the middle grey part becomes undefined so the grey
side-flecks become more apparent on at any rate the fifth and sixth
segments ; when seen from above no pale triangles are visible on the middle
of the hindmargins but the hindmargins themselves are rather broadly ashy
grey, and the pale yellowish pubescence on the hindmargins of the four basal
segments becomes conspicuous on about the middle third and after a slight
gap obvious but less conspicuous on the rest of those hindmargins, but on the
fifth and sixth segments the middle quarter of the hindmargins bears less
conspicuous pale pubescence; seventh segment rather distinctly transversely
rugose ; the abdomen when viewed from behind appears mainly very light grey
on the broad dorsal stripe but more yellowish towards the sides, and with the
hindmargins (especially on the four basal segments) broadly pale yellowish
grey, and with numerous vague greyish brown flecks which upon a little
tilting indicate a row of brown spots on each side of the broad light grey dorsal
stripe and with traces of another fainter row of spots nearer each side ;
pubescence sloping, mainly blackish and rather short, except for the pale
liindmarginal pubescence mentioned before which spreads up a little on to the
disc about the middle of each hindmargin and extends on to the ferruginous
part and the grey side-flecks, while the pubescence becomes longer and
stronger about the end of the seventh segment and on the basal side lamellae
of the genitalia, but leaves the rest of the genitalia almost bare. Belly ashy
grey, but obscurely ferruginous on the three or four basal segments except for
a large black spot on the middle of the two basal segments, and with the
hindmargins (especially of the third, fourth, and fifth segments) pale ;
pubescence short, depressed, pale (almost whitish), but beneath the seventh

2. TABANUS

419

segment and the genitalia with numerous longer stronger curved black hairs.
Genitalia (when seen from above) blackish, longer and narrower than the
seventh abdominal segment, with a quadrate dorsal plate and two smaller
basal corner plates, and between these dorsal and side plates with elongate
narrow ridged processes which extend beyond even the dorsal plate, and
then between their projecting ends (and projecting beyond them) with a pair
of terminal lamellae whose outer sides slope inwards after the end of the
ridged processes.

Legs greyish black ; tibiae luteous with the apical third or more of the front
pair blackish, and just the tip of the posterior pairs blackish or brownish ;
posterior tarsi rather ferruginous about the base ; front tibiae rather thickened
towards the tip, and the front tarsi rather dilated and deep black. Pubescence
on the front coxae dense long and greyish white ; behind the front and
beneath the hind femora abundant but thin, long, conspicuous and greyish
white, being even longer and woollier behind and beneath the middle femora
which also bear a few black hairs behind the tip ; front femora with a few
black hairs above and behind near the tip, but with the deep black bare stripe
on the underside conspicuously contrasted with the grey pruinose sides ;
the other pubescence on the posterior femora equal short depressed and pale ;
tibiae with short rather silky pale pubescence except for the stronger black
dorsal and apical pubescence and the middle tibiae with no long pubescence
except a little on the upper side, and the hind tibiae with a delicate pale
postero-ventral ciliation and a coarser denser mainly black dorsal one ; tarsi
with short black depressed bristly pubescence ; the. usual “ touch-hairs ”
about the tip of the front tibiae, beneath the basal joint of the front tarsi,
and at the apical side corners of the other joints.

Wings hyaline ; veins blackish, but pale brown on the strong medi¬
astinal, subcostal, radial, and cubital veins up to nearly opposite the tip of the
discal cell, and on the stem and lower branch of the postical vein ; stigma
rather pale brown and only formed by the swollen end of the subcostal vein.
Squamae yellowish brown with dark brown margins and the usual large and
conspicuous pale tuft of pubescence about the angle. Halteres yellowish
brown, with the base of the knob almost blackish.

9. Greyer and broader than the male. Frontal stripe (fig. 235) greyish yellow,
sometimes almost parallel-sided but usually rather contracted at its lower end,
not quite four times as long as its broadest part ; lower callus quadrate,
moderately shining black, rather large, but not touching the eyes at the sides
nor extending at all upwards towards the middle callus, and well remote from
the frontal triangle ; middle callus black but hardly shining, isolated, nearly
as broad as the lower callus, orbiculate but sometimes cleft above and
sometimes extending downwards to a point and thereby becoming elongate
triangular and nearly twice as long as broad, but never at all linear, widely
separated from either lower or upper callus and well away from the eyes ;
upper callus often vague, or large but not shining black being more or less
obscured by dust, but when distinct nearly as wide as the space between the
eyes at the upper eye-angles but quickly sloping inwards from the eyes until it
occupies only about half the width of the frons, incurved on its upper margin
and divided all the way down by a narrow greyish yellow line ; frontal triangle
shining black (or chestnut at its upper angle) all across the upper half, but
with the lower half (against the antennae but hardly extending to the eyes)
bright greyish yellow, the extreme edge against the eyes being dusted greyish
and connected at about the level of the antennae with the greyish yellow cross¬
band, and with a narrow middle furrow down the middle of this cross-band ;
pubescence on the frontal stripe extremely short and nearly all black, not
scarce, but the lower callus quite bare; frontal triangle quite bare. Face
yellowish grey, but with a broad darker brownish undefined band between
the antennae and the eyes ; face clothed with yellow pubescence, but the
lower part of the side-cheeks and the mouth region bearing abundant longer
pale yellow pubescence ; back of the eyes with a narrow bare dull yellow
postocular rim, which widens a little when quite close to the upper eye-
angles, and behind that with a short dense stubby ciliation which may be
darker and shorter still below but which becomes brownish orange right up to

420

TABANID.E

but not beyond the upper eye-angles ; behind the vertex are some longer
thin pale yellow hairs. Palpi dull golden colored ; second joint long though
thickened for nearly the basal half, but tapering gradually after that to
a point, rather drooping and about four times as long as its thickest part,
bearing numerous though not dense short black bristles all over the upper and
outer sides, but sometimes with these black bristles less numerous on about
the basal half and then with numerous shimmering yellow bristles intermixed,
and this second joint bears beneath about its base some longer pale yellow
pubescence, but is bare on its inner side ; basal joint more greyish orange, and
bearing long pale yellow pubescence. Eyes bare ; facets all equal ; in life
(according to Brauer) green, but red above towards the vertex and below on the
margin, and with three arched yellow-margined purple bands on the disc.
Antennae similar to those of the male, but the circlet of black bristles round
the tip of the second joint extending all round the lower part ; dorsal hump on
the third joint more defined and consequently the basal segment of that joint
less than twice as long as its deepest part.

Thorax very similar to that of the male, but with shorter and more in¬
conspicuous pubescence ; pleurae with the pubescence (in English specimens)
slightly yellowish.

Abdomen broad and almost oblong, blackish but sometimes with the grey
dorsal stripe better defined and then with the blackish stripes next to it also
more defined, after which the ferruginous flecks on the second to fifth
segments are also more defined but leave the hindmargins widely though
obscurely ferruginous grey ; outside the ferruginous flecks there is on each
side a rather large blackish hind-corner blotch on the third segment, and
most of the sides of the fourth and fifth segments (except the hindmargins)
are blackish ; pubescence more obviously yellow on the ferruginous flecks.
Belly as in the male, but more ferruginous and sometimes with more signs of
a blackish middle stripe ; the black bristly hairs beneath the seventh segment
conspicuous, as they stand out longer and more erect than the short depressed
pale pubescence on the rest of the belly.

Legs colored as in the male, but the front tibim and tarsi rather
more dilated ; pubescence on the femora shorter and less abundant ; ciliation
on the hind tibiae inconspicuous, and all tibiae with very few dorsal black
bristly hairs except about the tip.

Wings slightly more brownish than in the male. Squamae with lighter
brown margins. Halteres more brownish.

Length about 15 mm.

This species is easily distinguished from any other of the restricted
genus Tabanus by the mainly shining black or blackish chestnut frontal
triangle ; two species of Therioplectcs have the frontal triangle shining, but
T. micans has the legs entirely black, and T. luridus has the frontal triangle
shining in the female only and has the lower callus connected by a narrow
line with the middle one ; as far as my specimens indicate there is an
almost equal broad light grey dorsal stripe all down the abdomen in place
of the usual hindmarginal triangles. I do not know enough of the species
to say anything about its variations, but the female given to me by Mr
AVormald has the basal segment of the third antennal joint with a remark¬
ably broad blunt tip.

The var. cognatus Lw. is considerably darker and has in both sexes the
side-spots isolated from the hindmargins. Therioplectcs quatuornotatus is
extremely like T. glancopis in at any rate the female but may be distinguished
by its hairy eyes.

T. glaucopis is very little known as a British species. I caught
two females on the window of the weighing stand (now pulled down) on
Goodwood race-course on July 30, 1884, and a female was given to me
previous to 1880 by Mr Wormald. Brauer states that he has met with it

2. TAB AN US

421

on leaves of Hazel ( Corylus ). It is recorded from almost all Europe, or
at least from Central Europe and England to Italy and Greece, but the
Scandinavian record seems doubtful.

Synonymy. — Walker said “ Eyes bronzed ; facets of the fore part very small,”
which would seem very inapplicable to this species, but I fancy he referred
to the lower facets when he said “ facets of the fore part,” because he used the
phrase “very small facets in front ” under his T. atricornis , and no species of Tabanus
lias the facets of what I call the “ fore part ” or “ front” small, so his statement
must surely mean that there is a contrast of facets somewhere ; there is also a
probability that Walker only knew the species from a female, because there is a
single female in the Entomological Club collection to which somebody has attached
(apparently more recently) a label of macvlicornis Zett., but which was probably
the specimen from which Walker drew up his description, though it was somewhat
absurd to describe the “Antenna; black ; first joint testaceous ; second dark red ; third
“ slender , dark red at the base.”

422

TABANIM

PANGONIN JE.

Hind tibiae with apical spurs.

Face often produced snout-like. Ocelli usually present. Proboscis sometimes
porrect and then sometimes exceedingly long ( Pangonia ) ; palpi sometimes very
long and thin. Eyes in life brilliant liquid green (with purple spots or markings in
Chrysops ) ; anterior or superior facets in the male often enlarged. Antennae varying
from an absence of a dorsal hump near the base of the third joint to that hump
being exaggerated into a long process ( Dicrania , Dichelacera).

Abdomen often with conspicuous orange markings, which are sometimes
( Chrysops ) more extended in the female.

Legs with apical spurs on the hind (as well as the middle) tibiae. “ Touch-hairs
often indistinct, but sometimes dense and almost brush-like.

Wings showing more variation in venation than in the Tabanince, as the first
posterior cell is often closed and sometimes even a long distance before the wing-
margin, while the fourth posterior cell is sometimes contracted ; small cross-vein
sometimes almost absent.

The females are usually blood-suckers, but I believe the species of this subfamily
are more attracted by flowers than are those of the Tabanince.

The only fully recognised character for distinguishing this subfamily
lies in the presence of apical spurs on the hind tibiae. The Pangonince are
however less homogeneous than the Tabanince and seldom possess the
square-built robust figure of the latter, while the frequently very long
porrect proboscis is very distinctive. The subfamily may be a rather
unnatural one, but is very convenient for dividing the great mass of
Tdbanidce.

3. CHRYSOPS.

Chrysops Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 267 (1803).

Handsome middle-sized rather hairy flies of mainly blackish
colour, with usually yellow abdominal markings, and with
conspicuously banded wings.

Face (fig. 242) arched under the antennae, moderately broad but extending only a
little under the eyes, and with large shining black facial, oral, and buccal callosities,
which sometimes more or less coalesce ; below each of the facial calli is a deep
pit on the side of the middle part of the face ; face with fairly long but not dense
pubescence ; frons of the male small, triangular, and quite bare, of the female broad
and bearing on the fore part a large shining black callus ; three ocelli present.
Proboscis considerably produced and with rather large sucker-flaps ; palpi about half
as long as the proboscis and lying against it in the female, or directed rather upward

in the male. Eyes touching in the male for about
the middle third of the distance between the
occiput and the antennae, bare in all the British
species ; in life brilliant golden, coppery, or blue
green (whence the generic name), with purplish or
rich brownish spots and hindmargin, and these
markings following distinct arrangements (figs.
241, -3, -5, -7, -9); facets on the upper part enlarged
Fio. 238. — Chrysops ccecutie.ns x 2i. in the male. Antennae (fig. 238) much longer than

the head ; basal joint dilated but only a little
longer than the second, and both clothed with biack hairs ; third joint bare and
upturned at the tip, rather longer than the two basal ones together, subulate, and
with five fairly distinct annulations of which the first is long and is itself faintly
annulated, but the last four are short, and the apical one is blunt at the tip and
bears no trace of an apical style.

Thorax almost quadrangular with the angles rounded off ; pubescence fairly
abundant especially toAvards the sides ; pleurae conspicuously pubescent on the upper

3. CHRYSOPS

423

part of the mesopleurse and on the pteropleurse and metapleurae ; but thei’e is no
trace of bristles or long bristly hairs anywhere on the thorax or scutellum.

Abdomen moderately long, scarcely broader than the thorax but slightly narrowed
behind, composed of seven segments which are easily detected on the belly of the
female ; second segment longest, and the following ones gradually diminishing in
length • basal part of the abdomen usually bearing conspicuous orange markings which
are very different in the two sexes. Genitalia in both sexes small and inconspicuous.

Legs with two rather unequal spurs on each of the posterior tibise ; front coxa;
considerably lengthened, about two-thirds the length of the femora ; femora
slightly shorter than the tibiae. Pubescence fairly abundant on the anterior femora
and (in our British species) on the hind tibiae; hind tibiae rather thickened.
Pulvilli three, very distinct.

Wings with conspicuous blackish markings, which usually form irregular bands
across the wings, and which are more extended in the male than in the female ; in
life the wings are extended half open when at rest. Venation quite in accordance
with the usual type of Tabanidte (tigs. 239, 240) ; the four posterior cells always wide
open, and not even contracted at the tip ; anal cell normally closed at the wing-
margin, but sometimes slightly open. Squamae rather large, but with very slight
fringes except near the angle on the alar pair. Halteres with the knob rather large
and almost globular.

Metamorphoses only recently observed, but Beling (Verb, zool.-bot. Wien,
xxxyiii., 1, 1888) found the larva and pupa of C. ccecutiens in the mud thrown out at
the side of a swiftly flowing meadow-brook, while Hart and Hine have noted the egg-
laying habits of some American species. The perfect insects occur in the neighbor¬
hood of water or wet places, and the females annoy cattle and human beings by
their persistent attacks.

This genus is composed of a large number of exceedingly closely allied
species which occur in the Pahearctic region and in North America, and
it is known to extend all through Africa to the Cape of Good Hope,
in Asia through India and Java on to Borneo, in Central and South
America, and in Tasmania, but the genus is not yet recorded from New
Zealand nor with certainty from Australia. 146 species are enumerated
in Kertesz’s Catalogue of the described species of the whole world
published in 1900. About twenty species occur in Europe and
about eight more in the Palsearctic region outside of Europe, while about
sixty have been described from North America ; at present we know four
British species, but two of these have been only recently identified, while
at least two more are likely to occur.

It is strange that almost all authors have considered Chrysops
masculine but Chlorous feminine.

Table of Species.

1 (6) Abdomen with at least some orange markings, even if only at the

basal corners. Wings with the outer margin of the middle

Fxo. 239.— Chrysops ccecutiens . x 6.

dark band somewhat convex (fig. 239). Face with shining
black calli which are separated by pollinose yellow spaces.

424

TABANIDjE

2 (3) Legs entirely black (unless just the base of the tibiae be obscurely

fulvous). 1 ccecutiens.

3 (2) Legs brownish yellow on the posterior (or at least middle) tibiae.

4 (5) Second abdominal segment orange, with an almost isolated small

black spot in the female (fig. 246), or with a large subquadrate
middle black blotch in the male. Hind tibiae of the male
black. 2 quadrata.

5 (4) Second abdominal segment orange, with a black blotch composed

of two blunt-ended triangles which touch on the foremargin
but which are directed backwards and outwards in the female
(fig. 248), or with these triangles bluntly ended against the
hindmargin and the third (and often the fourth) segment with
a wider and less distinct double blotch in the male. Posterior
tibiae brownish yellow in both sexes. 3 relicta.

6 (1) Abdomen and legs entirely black. Wings with the outer margin

Pig. 240 .—Chrysops sepulcralis $. x 9.

of the middle dark band somewhat concave (fig. 240).* Face
almost wholly shining black except on a narrow middle line.

4 sepulcralis.

Pandelle was of opinion that these four perfectly distinct species are all varieties
of one species !

1. C. caecutiens Linne. Legs almost entirely black. Facial and
buccal calli separated. Abdomen of the male with a rather small luteous
spot on each side of the second segment, of the female with a complete
black fork on an orange ground colour.

A handsome fly, with variegated wings. Closely allied to
the other species of the genus.

d . Face mainly covered by the shining black calli, the two facial calli leaving
a narrow intermediate yellowish stripe which widens out at its top just
under the antennte and which also usually widens out a little at its lower
end just above the mouth; at the bottom part of each facial callus there
is a deep pit, and beneath that a fairly large yellowish patch which
usually extends to the eyemargin and consequently separates the facial
and buccal calli, but the facial and oral calli are united on each side of
the middle yellow line ; buccal calli large and indistinctly connected
with the oral calli along the mouth-edge ; jowls below the buccal calli
greyish yellow and extending right across from the lower eye-angles to the

* This character is hardly obvious in the male, but is more distinct in the female.

3. CHRYSOPS

425

mouthmargin ; pubescence of the face consisting of rather long black hairs,
which leave most of the protuberant shining black facial calli bare, as well as
the middle portion of the face and the upper mouthmargin, though even on
parts of these a very few black hairs exist; on the jowls and right across
behind the mouth there are numerous longer yellowish hairs ; back of the
head black, flush with the eyes but hollowed out behind, and with a
very short close black postocular fringe ; vertex dull black, elevated, and
bearing rather abundant black pubescence ; frons small, triangular, quite bare,
rather shining black with a greyish brown foremargin which extends all
round the base of the antennae and joins the yellowish middle line of the face,
while a yellowish line extends down the extreme eyemargin to the large
yellow patch below the facial calli. Proboscis brownish black, shining on the
sucker-flaps, and bearing very short pubescence except for a few hairs beneath
each sucker-flap ; palpi dull black, rather shining, elevated at right angles to the
proboscis and bearing rather dense black hairs, about half as long as the
proboscis and slightly dilated about the middle. Eyes quite bare, touching
for less than the middle third of the distance between the occiput and the
antennae ; facets on the larger upper part dilated and purplish brown in
death, but on the smaller lower part small and blackish, the dividing line
being not sharply defined and running across semicircularly
so that the small facets extend a long way up the back part ;
eyes (fig. 241) in life vivid green, with coppery reflections
varying according to the light but most evident about the
lower part; the blackish purple middle spot is triangular
with a flat upper margin, and between it and the foremargin
but slightly higher up is a smaller second subquadrate spot,
and on the hindmargin level with that second spot is the
point of the usual emargination from the hindmarginal band ;
below the second spot is the usual lower spot which is
moderately large and subquadrate ; the first two spots
mentioned above have peculiar streaks extending upwards,
as directly but considerably above the middle one is a
brownish purple spot with a reddish margin which is continued downwards
in a rather vague reddish stripe which attenuates but faintly reaches the
middle eye-spot, and a similar rather vague reddish stripe exists above
the front spot ; lower margin of the eye blackish purple and this colour
extends up the hindmargin to the place where the usual emargination is con¬
spicuous ; the upper slope of the projection above the emargination has a
reddish edge. Antennae (fig. 238) dullish black, basal joint longer and stouter
than the second, and both bearing abundant rather long black pubescence,
which is, however, slightly longest on the basal joint ; third joint subulate,

Pig. 241. — Chrysops
ccecutiens <$ .

Left eye in life.

longer than the two basal joints together, rather
any trace of an apical style ; antennae

obscurely annulated,
upturned at the tip, and without
nearly twice the length of the head.

Thorax and scutellum black, moderately shining. Pubescence tawny but
varying to black, not scarce but not obscuring the ground colour at all on the
disc ; a patch of rather long black hairs extends on each side from the humeri
almost to the wing-base, and the pubescence on the thorax near this patch is
more dense and is conspicuously tawny or blackish tawny ; on the upper and
(especially) back part of the mesopleurse there is a dense very conspicuous
tawny patch of long shaggy hairs, and a similar patch is almost equally con¬
spicuous on the metapleurse, but below these patches the pleurae are slaty
black and bear only very scattered yellowish hairs.

Abdomen dull black, with the sides of the two basal segments rather
narrowly luteous, the luteous coloring on the second segment being the more
conspicuous (though still sometimes obscure) on an eighth to a fifth of the
segment on each side. Pubescence longest and most dense about the side-
margins, mainly black but with some pale hairs on the luteous patches, and
some short depressed pale hairs occur on the disc of the last two segments
(except at the sides) and on the hind part of the fourth segment and also slightly
up the middle of the third and (even of the second) segment though

most visible
hindmargins.

on the second
Belly greyish

and third segments as pale fringes on the
black with the side thirds of the two basal

426

TABANIM

segments luteous in full connection with the dorsal side-spots, third segment
slightly luteous at the sides ; pubescence not scarce but composed of scattered
long black and shorter pale hairs, of which the pale hairs mainly form hind-
marginal fringes, except about the tip and on the second segment where the
whole of the disc bears longer and more abundant pale hairs ; side fringes
mainly black, but conspicuously pale on the luteous part.

Legs black, moderately shining, with the basal half of the first joint of the
posterior tarsi obscurely reddish ; front coxae two-thirds as long as the femora,
and bearing mixed pale and black pubescence ; front femora with rather
abundant pubescence which is nearly all black ; middle femora with similar
pubescence, but with a patch of pale hairs behind near the base ; hind
femora with less pubescence, which is mostly black but contains some pale
hairs behind near the base ; anterior tibiae almost bare ; middle tibiae with
two not quite equal black spurs ; hind tibiae with dense black fringes of
which the antero-dorsal one is the longer and coarser, and with two short
black spurs ; pulvilli yellowish.

Wings mainly blackish or brownish black on the disc and about the tip, but
a small oval quite hyaline spot occurs at the first fork of the discal vein
and extends slightly down its stem and is sometimes connected with
the light colored outer part (not including the tip) of the upper basal
cell, and the wings are hyaline (with a brownish tinge) on the fork of the
cubital vein, on the adjoining portion of the first submarginal cell so as
almost to separate the dark parts, and on the subapical portion from the
lower half and margin of the cubital cell to the lower outer corner of the
third posterior cell ; outer margin of the blackish brown middle portion

of the wing irregularly

jerpendicular ; all the axillary cell and the large alula

brownish hyaline, but the anal cell darkened ; sometimes the fourth and fifth

posterior cells have pale kernels,
margins, and with a very slight darl
brownish

Squamte rather large, blackish with black
fringe. Halteres blackish, knobs rather

$ . Not much like the male, because of the more extensive yellow markings about
the base of the abdomen and the generally browmer hue.

Frons (fig. 242) nearly one-third the width of the head, flat and flush with

the eyes, greyish yellow with the ocellar triangle
and its neighborhood broadly black and the
black colour extending back to the occiput but
not quite to the eyemargins, shining in places,
and bearing on the lower part a large transverse
frontal callus which occupies more than one-
tliird the length of the frons, and which extends
almost from eye to eye but not quite to the
antenme because a doubly arched greyish yellow-
margin extends across above the antenme, and
that colour extends all round the antennae and
is connected rather broadly with the fairly broad
yellowish middle part of the face ; this latter
space widens just before the large shining black
united oral callus, w-hicli is seldom widely united
with the facial calli ; eyemargins narrowly yellow¬
ish grey and connected with the broad yellowish
band w-hich separates the facial from the buccal
calli ; buccal calli rather large and shining black
but separated from the oral calli by an obscure
grey-dusted space. Pubescence on the frons
composed of rather abundant pale hairs on the
yellowish parts but quite absent near the antennae ; short scattered dark
colored and very sparse pubescence occurs on the middle part of the face,
but becomes longer and pale towards the sides, and a similar pale pubescence
extends on to the jowls ; back of the head a little pulled out, yellowdsh,
and bearing a short brownish orange fringe near but not on the eyemargin.
Proboscis stouter ; palpi longer, lying more against the proboscis and with
much less pubescence, wdiich is mainly pale on the sides. Eyes with the

Fig. 242. — Chrysops ccecuticns 9 .
X 14.

3. CHRYSOPS

427

facets all equal ; in life (fig- 2«>

the middle, and tins nom f ^ with four

again at its lower part; rest ot tne^ the three * m

purplish brown isolated spote, ^ about equi-

near the frontal and facia & . -g transVerse

distant from each other , t 1 V lgest 0f the
(when seen from above;, and is the i&r=
three; the lowest spot is lather on itg

-Tiawas-

-T;

stout dull ferruginous beneath on t ‘ “ . i shining, with two broad

S Thorax black, slightly ^"ofThe front plrt which are separated by a
ashy grey stripes on the middle of ^ t]ie gpace behind them dark
narrow dark line ; humen rather bio , h tgorax yellowish grey on

grey and the ridge along the ey? with the top hind

the two-thirds nearest the w mg- ii’owish °’rey Pubescence all tawny and
corner of the mesopleurse broadly y j™ - J h on the front part

sloping, not at all dene on usually rather darker

basal segments uminly

Abdomen (fig. .44) cbrUtsh Wack, btd t *£

that colour sloping down tbe blackish colour

hindmargin ; second seg extending down to

on the middle quarter ° tfob* « forking to

- S? hindmSn and

wards along the liindmai s , tbe middle of the

lumlmargin^^Pubescence^short^orange^elloWj^ut^on

hindmargin, and on the elsfwhere, and

absent on the base but' dde? and Lind-
longest (though still sh t> ‘ ^ ^ b e but

— . - - margins, belly orar « > tl-q 0f the basal

?• xC' blackish on about the middle tmra 0f the

=^“S,Sai tsfr^r bear abundant short yellow

PULSnaU black, unless the base of the tibhe and the base of the posteuo,

tarsi are obscurely ferruginous conspicuous hyaline spaces than

Wings (fig. 239) with nmqcfn] base and along the costa to the tip

in the male, the black colour about t h< * J^iie blackish band lies across

extending down to the radial > iength of the discal cell as it is bounded

the middle which occupies more than the iengt and extends on

oh one side by the base of that cell or a ■ b^n of this band curves

the other side distinctly beyond that ce ^tl^ tlie hindmargin to the

back rather vaguely and faintly though ^^isal?rfgular and lets the dark
black base of the wing, while the 0 S' &nd fiftb posterior cells and hall

band occupy the whole or part of . it lower outer corner ; an apical

nearly half-way across the cubrtal fork-

Fig 244. — Chrysops cceeutiens
<?. x 6.

428

TABANIM

cell with a rather vaguely defined semicircular lower margin, but does not
include the actual tip or base of that cell ; the hyaline space between
the middle and apical bands forms at its upper part a well-defined hyaline
space extending from the cubital fork upwards almost across the first
submarginal cell ; the basal black marking extends about half-way along
the upper basal cell and only a short distance along the middle basal cell.
Squamae blackish brown with a more obvious golden fringe on the alar pair
near the angle.

Length about 9-5 mm.

This species may be easily distinguished from C. quadrata and C. relicta
by its black tibiae, while C. sepulcralis is a smaller entirely black species in
which the facial and buccal calli coalesce, but there are other closely allied
European species. The pubescence on the sides of the thorax,
on the pleurae, and elsewhere varies in colour from tawny to a more
yellowish colour, and may be almost wholly pale on the face and on
some of the hairs about the base of the antennae; the basal two-thirds
of the first joint of the antennae (and very frequently at least some part
of the base) may be orange red, the grey lines on the thorax may
have only their outer margins distinct, and the discal cell may sometimes
show traces of a pale kernel; a female taken at Lyndhurst on June 22,
1872, has the black coloring on the second abdominal segment very much
reduced, there being only a small middle spot on the foremargin from
which two narrow brownish lines diverge but do not reach the hindmargin,
and at the same time the third segment has a large orange triangle on the
hindmargin and a large orange spot on each side which occupies the side
third of the segment except indistinctly along the foremargin ; other
variations are also mentioned below.

C. ccecuticns seems to be rather less common in Britain than C. relicta,
but yet is far too common in the southern part of England and especially
in the south-west, though I have however records from Cornwall to Nairn.
Colonel Yerbury took it at Brodie and Nairn in July 1204, but I believe
(as Duncan said in 1837) that it becomes “ scarcer as we advance nortli-
“ wards” ; Duncan recorded it from “ Dumfriesshire, vicinity of Jardine Hall,
“ common,” and mentioned a black variety which had been taken in Suther-
landshire and in the south of Scotland, but this variety may have been
C. sepulcralis. A male taken by Mr C. J. Wainwright at Wyre Forest on
July 22, 1901, might easily have been recorded as C. sepulcralis, as
it has the face at first glance all black without any brownish orange middle
line but with only a dark line, the ground colour of the sides of the face
and the mouth hardly ferruginous, and there are a few pale hairs behind
the mouth ; the thorax and scutellum are fairly shining ; the pleurae have
continuous conspicuous brownish orange pubescence (but the pubescence on
the disc of the thorax is mainly rubbed off) ; the abdomen is very much
rubbed, but each side of the second segment has a lurid brownish yellow
spot which extends quite over the sides but is only slightly visible from
aljove ; belly dull brownish black, with the hindmargins not obviously rusty ;
pubescence of the abdomen considerably pale on the hindmarginal fringes
or on the sides of the hindmargins ; legs black on the anterior tibiae and
trochanters, and the posterior tarsi black to the very base. Specimens
taken at Porthcawl in July 1906 have the dark markings of the wing inky
black like specimens of several species of Bcris taken at the same time.
My dates range from June 1 (Austen gives May 24) to August 23. It is

3. CHRYSOPS

429

recorded from all Europe and from Siberia, and according to Macquart
(but obviously in error) from the eastern coast of Australia.

Synonym- At one time I W that *£*£££* ££&£&
refer to C. relicta because his - ' . f tbe female and above all Ins statement

»i°enie0iaree Kt^cTiUo^nonym of C.

2 C quadrata Meigen. Middle ( d ) or posterior ( ? ) tibiae terrug“10us;
Abdomen conspicuously orange at the sides of the second segment (d o
with the second segment entirely orange except for a small black spo )•

The male is distinguished by the colour of the tibise, and
the female by the isolated black spot on the orange base of the

abdomen.

<J. Face mainly covered by the skunng Jj^lv ^tJhes Extend1 outeide the deep
yellow middle line; large greyish yellow Jtche s exw, buccal

pits on the face to the eyemar^ins separatmg » ™ the facial
calli, and below the eyes the j middle line, anil the oral and

and oral calli are united on The face consisting of rather

buccal calli are also united ,1 * the middle part and absent on the

numerous black hairs, which aie . < . blackish but behind the mouth-

front moutlimargin ; pubescence on ^ ^ ^ ^ .

opening a few greyish 7®Uow Ji tl s but hollowed out behind, and with
back of the head black, flush witn tne eyes out ^ frons greyish

a tiny black ciliation against only t Wfk and the greyish yellow colour

yellow with only the top to The yellow middfe line on the

extends all round the base of ^ “ iddle thircl of the distance between

face. Eyes bare touching for about the “ f^rdly contrasted in

the occiput and the antenn^ y face t but in dried specimens blacker

size m comparison with those on t PI P . tj longer and stouter

in some lights. Antennas dull black Join' ^ ramei v rather

than the second and ratlmr longm t .lack putescem*^ and

‘antennas more than twice the length of

the head, curved up at the tip. , . • iiu wp|1 a slight brownish

a broad stnpe near eacn srd ) tendg on eac£ side from the humeri
conspicuous paten ot biacK m „ aild over all the upper part of

all along the margin of the dorso-pleural si tawny pubescence on the

the mesoplenrs, while just above . this patch the^awny A™ ^ and

hinder part of the space between g“ali ,lense black tuft, but the lower
conspicuous; metapleurae with a ppscence of which a few hairs on

&we“rtyofSmesopte™S ah bJk, and some straggling hairs on the
Ste‘XffloZS Sblkck with conspicuous orange markings at the sides of

tlie^secondZgiiieng and y^J^g^j^ekZmmuous^orange^^Zpots on the
basal segment, each of the tliivd of the hindmargin and runs back

diagonalfy1 towariTthe t f ore. ioc^lpicuouslv

SKSSg£sJc*KS

TTS^paT" d-! the S &Tanfm segmen^and Strife but

430

TABANIDJE

sparser hairs spread out on the fifth, and still sparser hairs on the sixth
segment ; the sides of the abdomen bear longer coarser outstanding black
pubescence, without any yellow pubescence on the sides of the basal
segments. Belly dull black, with the sides of the two basal segments widely
but rather obscurely orange ; pubescence on the disc obscurely greyish, but
the hindmargins of all segments with a fringe of yellow hairs, and the second
segment with longer pubescence.

Legs rather shining black, but dull reddish orange on the middle tibiae
(except at the extreme base and tip), and on the basal joint (except at the tip)
and the basal half of the second joint of the posterior tarsi ; pubescence
almost as in C. ccecutiens.

AVings blackish brown, but brownish hyaline on the outer third of the
upper basal cell and on the adjoining part of the middle basal cell, and the
large middle dark band leaves the submarginal cell brownish hyaline above
the cubital fork, and this colour extends down in a concave line to the
middle of the third posterior cell but leaves the outer part of the submarginal
cell and the outer upper part of the cubital fork-cell light brown, while the
anal cell (except on its upper margin) and all the hind angle of the wing and
the large alula are also brownish hyaline. Squamae blackish with black
margins and with slight dark fringes which are tufted at the angle.
Halteres brownish black.

Fig. 245.— Chrysops
quadrata 9 .
Left eye in life.

Differing from the male as usual in Chrysops, the colour being lighter, the wing-
markings more contrasted, and the abdomen with more extensive orange mark¬
ings at the base. Frons, frontal callus, facial calli, antennae, proboscis, palpi,
etc., as in C. ccecutiens , but the frontal stripe slightly
narrower. Eyes in life (fig. 245) not dissimilar to those of
C. ccecutiens, but sometimes of a more intense green shading
into blue and without any coppery tinge, or varying from
brilliant coppery on the upper part to dark bluish green
on the lower part, or in another specimen all the spots
may be rather small and transverse on an intense blue-
green ground, or the spots may be larger and strongly
contrasted on an almost coppery yellow ground, and when
seen from below the eyes may appear to be pale greenish
blue with brown spots ; occipital band narrower and less
intense than in C. ccecutiens , almost fading away towards
the vertex ; the spots and bands more brownish than
purplish and consequently lighter colored, the top spot
being larger, the isolated middle spot less triangular, and
the lowest spot larger and more transverse, but it will be seen that the
markings vary considerably within a limited degree.

Thorax, pleurae, and scutellum almost as in C. ccecutiens.

Abdomen dullish black with extensive orange and greyish orange markings
(fig. 246); the two basal segments wholly bright
orange or yellow except on the black middle third
of the basal segment (hardly extended to the hind-
margin) and on a small black spot (varying a little
in shape) on the middle of the base of the second
segment which extends less than half-way down
the segment ; third segment with its sides and
nearly its hinder half greyish orange with a. gently
produced middle triangle ; fourth segment similarly
marked but with the greyish orange hindmargin rather
narrower and the middle triangle larger and almost
reaching the foremargin ; fifth segment also similar
but the greyish orange portion more vague and more
extended, and the sixth and seventh segments all
obscurely greyish orange. Pubescence on the disc
yellow on the orange base and on the greyish orange

parts, longer about the sides and hindmargins, but almost absent on the
of the third and fourth segments. Belly clear orange on the
and on most of the sides and hindmargin of the third

Fig. 246. — Chrysops quadrata
9- x 6.

black bases
two basal

segments

3. CHRYSOPS

431

segment, and slightly so on the sides and hindmargins of the fourth and fifth
segments, but dull greyish black on the rest ; pubescence short, recumbent,
and golden orange, with usually distinct short fringes on the hindmargins.

Legs almost as in the male, but with the base of the front tibiae rather
obscurely luteous, and the hind tibiae wholly luteous though not so pale as the
middle pair; middle femora obviously reddish at the tip to a greater or
less degree.

Wings with the blackened markings almost as in C. ccecutiens , but the pale
space between the basal and middle bands wider, the dark basal band
only extending to the base of the upper and middle basal cells and the hind-
margin much less blackened, while the boundary of the apical band is less
distinct and the hyaline space above the cubital fork is less defined. Squamae
rather paler than in C. ccecutiens.

Length about 9 mm.

This species has been closely contrasted with C. ccecutiens, from which
the ferruginous middle tibiae of the male and posterior tibiae of the female
readily distinguish it ; C. rclicta is in many ways very closely allied, but the
male of C. qucidrata has black pubescence on the pleurae and on the sides
of the two basal abdominal segments, as well as the hind tibiae black
and the orange abdominal markings more restricted. The female of C. quad-
rata may always be known by the small isolated black spot on the orange
base of the abdomen ; it varies a good deal in the amount of reddish colora¬
tion at the tip of the middle femora, which may either be almost imperceptible
or may extend to a third or even almost a half of the femora ; the antennce
often have all the basal joint except its tip orange or reddish, and the
third joint reddish orange soon after its base, and even the underside
of the second joint reddish orange; palpi often reddish brown. C.
quadrata is slightly smaller than C. ccecutiens and C. rclicta. C. rufipcs ,
which is almost certain to occur in Britain, has the legs much more
extensively red, as all the tibiae in both sexes and the femora to a large
extent in the female are reddish orange, while the basal joint of the antennae
is more thickened.

C. quadrata is not nearly so common in England as C. ccecutiens and
C. relicta, but yet is widely spread over the southern and midland counties.
I have records from Devonshire (Holne on Dartmoor), Dorset (Canford
Common and Studland), Hampshire (Lyndhurst, Lymington, Bourne¬
mouth, and not uncommon in some parts of the New Forest), Sussex
(Abbotts Wood and Guestling), Cambridgeshire fWicken Fen, and not
uncommon in Chippenham Fen), Warwickshire (Sutton Park), and
Glamorgan (Porthcawl), while Col. Yerbury took it at Aviemore in Inver¬
ness in July 1899; it was first recorded as British by Duncan in
1837 under the name of G. pictus Meig. as having been taken by “ Charles
“ C. Babington, Esq.,” at “ Monkswood, Hunts, June 23, 1829,” but Walker
ignored it. My captures range from June 7 to September 1. It is
recorded from almost all Europe.

3. C. relicta Meigen. Posterior tibim orange in both sexes. Abdomen
with conspicuous yellow markings at the sides of the two basal segments
(8), or with the second segment yellow with a pair of black lobes (?).

8. Face mainly covered with dull yellowish dust; the two shining black facial
calli nearly circular and indistinctly split by a longitudinal furrow into a
larger inner and a smaller outer part, usually well isolated but occasionally
united by a narrow line to the two small shining black upright narrow oral
calli which are placed just above each side of the upper mouth-edge; buccal

432

TANANIDiE

calli represented by an indefinite moderately shining rather greyish black
isolated stripe on each side running from the lower eye-angle to the mouth-
edge ; pubescence consisting of moderately numerous long black hairs which
are absent from the facial and oral calli and from a small space between and
just above the oral calli, and some yellow hairs occur outside the oral calli ;
jowls (behind the buccal calli) greyish yellow, with the pubescence all yellow
on their lower part and behind the mouth but black on their upper part and
near the eyes ; back of the head flush with the eyes, blackish grey, and
bearing a very minute black bristly postocular fringe ; vertex dull black,
elevated, and bearing mainly black hairs but sometimes with some pale hairs
intermixed ; frons obscure greyish yellow, with only just the top angle
shining black. Proboscis black, twice as long as the palpi ; palpi brownish
or slightly greyish black, hardly dilated anywhere but long and cylindrical,
and bearing rather bristly black pubescence but with some yellowish hairs
beneath about the base. Eyes bare ; facets on nearly the lower half smaller
than those on the upper part, but with no sharply contrasted division at the
semicircular boundary line, and on the back part the small facets extend
upwards a little but not nearly to the vertex ; eyes in life (fig. 247) similar
to those of the female, brilliant green, but darker green (or when viewed from
above bluish) and not at all coppery on the larger facets, which occupy the
two-thirds of the eye above the brown middle band, or from another point of
view the upper two-thirds of the eyes green and the lower third yellowish
green ; the two brown spots near the middle are united in a long thin bright
brown line which extends from near the foremargin (at almost as high up as
the top of the facial callus) to more than two- thirds across the eye, slightly
dilated at the discal end of the line (i.e., on the usual middle
spot) and very slightly contracted before that ( = the connect¬
ing line between the two spots) ; lower brown spot small and
narrow, and also very transverse, and placed as in fig. 247 ;
it is only when viewed from above in certain lights that the
usual upper spot on the disc of the eye can be traced as a
rounded and faintly brown spot placed as in fig. 247, and in
just about the same light and from almost the same point
of view a slight brown spot can be traced on about the
middle of the back margin of the eye which indicates where
the usual emargination would occur if the whole hindmargin
of the eye were darkened as in C. ccecutiem, and the lower
brown margin of the eye can be seen to be faintly extended
further up the back of the eye almost to this spot. Antennae dull black,
slightly greyish and in some lights rather shining ; basal joint not much
larger or stouter than the second, and bearing conspicuous long black bristly
pubescence all over; second joint with similar but shorter pubescence, and
with an apparent annulation or constriction at about three-fourths its length ;
third joint subulate, but slightly thinner about its base, and rather upturned
at its tip.

Thorax black, slightly shining but with faint indications of two broad
greyish stripes separated by a narrow dark one ; humeri and prothorax
greyish ; pubescence fairly abundant and suberect, mainly black but with
numerous shorter depressed thinner brownish yellow hairs intermixed, though
the two rather shining black stripes outside the faint grey stripes are usually
restricted to rather shorter black hairs which are connected in front with the
denser stripe of black pubescence against the dorso-pleural suture ; the
brownish yellow hairs become more erect about the hindmargin of the disc and
though inconspicuous almost supersede the black hairs there and on the disc
of the scutellum ; a dense stripe of black pubescence occurs on the outer
side of the ridge against the dorso-pleural suture, but on the posterior part of
the dorsal side of this ridge there are some dense tawny or blackish tawny
(rarely inconspicuous) hairs, which are continued over the wing-base and
connected with similar hairs on the postalar calli. Pleurae grey dusted, with
the pubescence dense and tawny (but not so bright tawny as in C. ccecutiens )
on the prothorax, on the upper and hind parts of the mesopleurae, and on the
metapleurae ; the pubescence on the lower anterior part of the mesopleurae is
sparse and sometimes black, and on the sternopleurae less scarce than in

Fig. 247. — Clirysops
relict a £ .

Left eye in life.

3. CHRYSOPS

433

the allied species and dull yellow with sometimes a few black hairs inter¬
mixed. Scutellum shining black, with fairly long brownish yellow pubescence,
and sometimes with a few black hairs about the tip.

Abdomen dull deep black with orange and orange broAvn markings ; first-
segment with the sides orange and that colour extending on the hind-
margin to nearly a quarter of the segment on each side ; second segment with
all the sides and a broad irregular triangle extending to almost a third of the
segment on each side bright orange, and a dull orange or grey triangle against
the middle of the hindmargin, leaving consequently a broad subquadrate
black spot which is notched behind and which occupies more than the middle
third of the hindmargin, and this spot is extended in width just above the
middle and strongly but rather narrowly against the foremargin almost to
the sides ; third segment with the sides and the hinder half or less on the
side thirds dark orange brown, as well as a triangle against the middle of the
hindmargin, leaving the middle five-sixths of the anterior half of the segment
black as" well as the middle third on the hinder half except for the notch
behind ; fourth and fifth segments with similar but more obscure markings ;
sixth and seventh segments short and obscure. Pubescence orange at the
sides of the two basal segments and often on all the orange part, but
frequently the tiny hairs are black on the inner hinder part of the orange on
the second segment with a few stragglers on the rest, and sometimes black
hairs extend though inconspicuously over all the orange part of the disc ; the
black hairs on the black part of these segments are shorter than the hairs on
the orange part ; a rather conspicuous patch of orange hairs occurs on the
orange triangle against the middle of the hindmargin ; pubescence black on
all the rest of the sidemargins, and also on all the third segment except the
mid hindmarginal triangle and slightly on the hindmargin more towards the
sides, but orange on the fourth segment on all the hindmarginal fringe except
just at the sides and a little at the middle where the dark orange triangle
should be ; the orange pubescence on the fifth segment extends all over
except on the base and just at the sides, and apparently over most of
the sixth and seventh segments except at the sides ; the longest
pubescence on the abdomen is the black fringe at the sides of the third,
fourth, and fifth segments. Belly greyish black, extensively dull orange
on the three basal segments and slightly so on the fourth; middle half
of the first segment and rather less than the middle third of the longish
second segment though not quite to the hindmargin, and also nearly the
middle half of the shorter third segment though distinctly not extended to
the hindmargin; in consequence of the third segment being shorter the
middle black part appears flatter and is less determinate than that on the
second segment ; on ithe fourth segment the sides and hindmargin are rather
obscurely orange, while on the next three segments the liindmargins are
rather narrowly orange ; pubescence nearly all orange, especially as fringes on
liindmargins, but the segments (after the two basal ones) bear some black hairs
on the disc. Genitalia black about the base but with two terminal lamellae
which are brownish orange at their ends.

Legs black ; front tibiae obscurely ferruginous on the basal half, and all
the posterior tibiae orange except just the base and tip ; all the basal joint
except the tip of the posterior tarsi orange, and also the base of the second joint.
Pubescence on the front coxae long and orange ; front femora with extensive
rather dense black fringes in which some pale hairs are mingled ; posterior
femora with long straggling pale hairs and a few long black hairs intermixed ;
hind tibiae with the usual abundant black suberect pubescence all over
though most conspicuous dorsally.

Wings blackish with the hyaline spaces restricted to two incomplete
bands which widen below; the basal ( = middle) hyaline band is composed of
a hyaline space on the upper basal cell before its tip, which extends rather
more widely across the second basal cell, and then to more than the basal
half of the anal cell, and on the inner basal third of the axillary cell, leaving
all the rest of the anal and axillary cells with a rather washed-out broadly
darkened hindmargin ; this leaves three-fourths of the upper basal cell and
three-fifths to a half of the lower basal cell blackish, and sometimes the latter
has a dark middle streak right through the cell ; the outer hyaline band has

2 E

434

TABANIDJE

the usual hyaline spot across the middle of the submarginal cell extended
downwards (with a slightly convex boundary of the blackish part) until it
occupies half to two-thirds of the third posterior cell and all its outer
boundary, and to all the cubital fork-cell except a vague semicircular washed-
out darkened patch on its upper outer part. Squamae blackish with blacker
margins and with scarcely any fringe. Halteres blackish.

$ . Face and frons as in C. quadrata, the large frontal callus and the black ocellar
space being slightly smaller than in C. ccecutiens ; the yellow line down the
middle of the face is the broadest of the three species being about one-third
the space between the eyes, while the facial calli are the smallest of the three
species and are joined only narrowly or not at all to the oral calli : the facial
and oral calli are joined the most widely in C. quadrata , while in C. ccecutiens
they are united almost as narrowly as in C. relicta , but the oral calli are much
smaller in C. relicta than in C. ccecutiens ; the buccal ca'lli are isolated in all
three species, but are quite small or rarely almost absent in C . relicta and
occasionally so in C. quadrata ; palpi brown in C. quadrata and C. relicta but
black in C. ccecutiens , and usually palest of all in C. relicta. Antennae with
the basal joints more often reddish orange in C. relicta and C. quadrata than
in C. ccecutiens , as in C. ccecutiens they seem to be all or nearly all black. Eyes
in life of the same brilliant blue green as, or even bluer than, in C. quadrata ,
but with much smaller dark markings ; the hindmarginal band is visible on
only the lower part of the eye, where it is almost as broad as in C. ccecutiens
and C. quadrata , but it fades away before the middle, though just above
where the emargination should be there is a faint pale brown spot which
indicates the widest projection of the band, and sometimes the emargination
and the dilatation above it are fairly distinct, but the upper part of the hind-
margin is not darkened ; the four spots on the disc are small, and the upper
three are very isolated, but the bottom ( = third) one is transverse and near
the foremargin ; the top ( = first) and bottom spots are the brownest (the
others being blackish purple) and may be transverse, the middle ( = second)
one small and sometimes more remote from the foremargin so that it is
almost in a perpendicular line with the one above and the one below instead
of being (as in C. quadrata and C. ccecutiens) more remote from the middle of
the disc; fourth ( = hindmost) spot small and rather rounded, far remote from
any other dark marking.

Thorax ashy black (with the usual two broad greyish stripes) instead of
the blackish colour of C. ccecutiens or the more brownish grey colour of C.
quadrata (caused by the more abundant tawny pubescence) ; humeri ashy
grey, and a rather broad stripe from the humeri to the wing-base somewhat
yellowish grey, but a broad stripe just above the dorsopleural suture may be

of dark brown ground colour and bear darker tawny
pubescence, but ordinarily the dense pubescence on the
sides of the disc is pale yellow in contrast to the tawny
pubescence of C. quadrata and C. ccecutiens , and on
the disc of the thorax there are numerous but not quite
dense sloping dull yellow hairs. Pleurae dull yellowish
dusted on the mesopleurae but more ashy greyish on the
lower part, and clothed with dense pale yellow (not, or
seldom, tawny) pubescence ; on the disc and sides of the
thorax and on the pleurae and scutellum there are no
black hairs.

Abdomen (fig. 248) appearing quite distinct from
the other species, as the pale markings on the third
and subsequent segments are more obvious ; basal
segment with more than the middle third of the hind
margin black and this black part spreading outwards
anteriorly until it occupies all the base of the segment,
yellow (not orange as in C. quadrata and C. ccecutiens)
corner ; second segment yellow (not

extending from
downwards and

Fig.

US. — Chrys jps
?. x ti.

dido.

and consequently

is left occupying each hind

with a pair of large rather rounded black lobes
the black portion of the hindmargin of the basal segment
outwards across three-quarters of the segment but leaving a dividing yellow

triangle
orange)

3. CHRYSOPS

435

triangle well connected along the hindnmrgin with the entirely yellow sides ;
third segment black -with a narrow dull yellowish hindmargin which widens
upwards at the middle and forms a rather large ill-defined equilateral triangle
which is not extended to the foremargin, and with all the sidemargins left
yellowish ; fourth segment with similar but less distinct markings, and also
sometimes with the sidemargins entirely yellow ; fifth segment with very vague
similar markings which leave considerably more than the hinder half slightly
yellowish ; sixth and seventh segments mainly but obscurely yellow dusted ;
pubescence short but abundant, pale yellow except on the black parts. Belly
obscure dull yellowish on the second segment except for a roundish middle
basal spot ; foremargins of the second to fourth segments widely but obscurely
and shallowly black, but on the remaining segments obscure dark yellowish ;
hindmarginal hems yellow with yellow fringes.

Legs similar to those of C . quadrata, but the dorsal black fringe on the
hind tibiae less coarse and less conspicuous.

Wings almost as in C. ccecutiens, but slightly more hyaline on especially
the basal cells, though not so hyaline as in C. quadrata; sometimes the
clouding on the lower basal cell covers almost all the cell except a continua¬
tion of the hyaline space of the upper basal cell (Parknasilla, July 15, 1901,
Colonel Yerbury) ; the second and third posterior cells not so much
darkened as in V. ccecutiens and G. relicta, while many of the blackish mark¬
ings may be more correctly described as brownish ; the pale spot in the
submarginal cell broader than in the allied species.

Length about 9-5 mm.

This species is closely allied to G. ccecutiens and G. quadrata, but C.
ccecutiens may be known at once by all its tibiae being black in both sexes ;
C. quadrata has the hind tibiae black in the male, and in that sex the
pleurae and sidemargins of the base of the abdomen also bear black
pubescence; the female of C. quadrata has the second segment of the
abdomen all yellow except a small black basal spot. A remarkable form
of this species was taken by Colonel Yerbury at Kenmare in Kerry on
July 2, 1901 ; the specimens are larger, broader and darker in both sexes,
but in the male with more orange coloring about the sides of the third
and fourth abdominal segments and with the pubescence on the orange
part of the second segment almost all black though not conspicuously so ;
in the female the abdomen is more ovate and the specimens have a richer
orange appearance; the antennae are all black, with the basal joints slightly
more bristly ; the facial call i large; the pubescence on the abdomen and
legs more conspicuous and more orange, and the orange markings on the
hindmargins more conspicuous. Another variety of the female, taken by
him at Nairn on July 17, 1904, has the facial calli very small and almost
entirely outside the facial protuberance, thus forming a moderately narrow
black line down the inner edge of the sides of the face close against the
bulging middle part of the face and quite isolated from all the other calli.
A female taken at Tangham Forest near Woodbridge in Suffolk on August
26, 1907, has the wing-markings unusually blackened but with a rather
distinct somewhat hyaline kernel to the discal cell and a long subhyaline
streak in the submarginal cell ; the cubital cell is also more hyaline except
on the upper part ; the outer margin of the middle cross-band is much more
definite ; the ground colour of the face and frons is paler grey, and the
facial calli are small and well separated from the oral callus ; the palpi
are blacker ; and the yellow base of the abdomen is paler, and in fact the
triangle on the middle of the second segment is almost whitish.

G. relicta is common and widely distributed from at least Devonshire
(Torcross) to Assynt, Inverness, Nairn, and Brodie, while numerous Irish

436

TABANIDiE

localities are known in Kerry, Cork, and Galway. The specimens from
Kenmare, Co. Kerry, have been noticed above in the remarks about the
variation of the species. My dates range from May 24 to August 26.
It is recorded from North and Central Europe.

Synonymy. — Tabanus nubilosus of Moses Harris (1782) is usually given as a
synonym of C. relicta , but his figure is uncertain and as he said “The legs are
“ black ” it may be taken that he had C. ccecutiens before him, and consequently no
question of priority can arise. C. melanopleura Wahlb. is now believed to be a
variety of C. relicta in which the pubescence on the pleurae is all black. Pandelle’s
ridiculous statement that C. ccecutiens, C. quadrata, and C. relicta are only varieties
of one species merely serves to show the superficiality of his work.

4. C. sepulcralis Fabricius. Entirely black in both sexes.

The smallest British species of the genus, easily known by
the absence of orange markings about the base or basal
corners of the abdomen.

cb Face and jowls almost entirely covered by the shining black calli, so that
only a narrow brownish orange middle line remains, though in good specimens
there may be a little grey dust on the sides of the face (between the facial
and buccal calli) extending rather broadly about half-way across the disc
of the face ; the ground colour of the face may be rather obscurely ferruginous
at the place where the grey dust commences near the eyemargins, and the
sides of the mouth may be obscurely dark ferruginous, and in fact in some
lights all the sides of the face may be broadly though obscurely dark
ferruginous from near the antennae to the sides of the mouth, leaving only
the spaces down the sides of the brownish orange middle line shining black ;
pubescence on all the head (face, jowls, vertex, and antennae) black or rusty
black ■ back of the head slightly hollowed out behind the eyes right away
from jowls to top, and with a minute black postocular fringe ; vertex dull
black, elevated, and bearing rather dense long pubescence ; frons bare, shining
black, but dusted brownish orange all across just above the antennae, and this
dust extends all round the antennae so as to connect with the similar middle
line of the face. Proboscis long, black, and rather shining about the tip ;
palpi black, and bearing long pubescence. Eyes with the facets on about the
upper two-thirds larger than tnose on the lower part, but only contrasted in
a line across the middle of the disc (not near the front or back margin of the
eyes) ; in life the eyes are brilliant blue green with three purple spots and a
faint streak, two of the purple spots and the intermediate streak being on the
forepart of the eye, and the upper spot scarcely above the middle of the
eye and not close to the foremargin, while the third spot is a small one near
the hind part of the eye in a line with the streak. Antennae dull black but
the third joint rather brownish • basal joint longer than the second, and both
bearing long and rather abundant black pubescence.

Thorax and scutellum all black, only moderately shining and not at all
striped ; pleurae rather obscured by brownish dust. Pubescence all black or
rusty black, long, erect, and fairly abundant ; pleurae bearing rather dense
black pubescence even to the lower part.

Abdomen all deep black and very little shining ; pubescence abundant and
all black, some of the erect hairs on the disc of the two or three basal
segments fairly long • even the ends of the genital lamellae dull black or
only slightly brownish. Belly black and very little shining, with the
pubescence rather less dense than on the dorsal side.

Legs black, almost dull ; pubescence on the coxae and femora long and
black but not dense ; hind tibiae thickened and bearing dense black
pubescence.

Wings (fig. 240) mainly blackish, but with a small middle part and a large
apical part almost hyaline and with the hind angle (including the anal cell)
rather washed out ; the middle hyaline part consisting of a space near the

3. CHRYSOPS

437

tip of the upper basal cell which is connected with a larger sloping space
which almost includes the tip of the _ second basal cell ; the large apical
clear space occupying most of the apical half (though not including the
tij5) of the submarginal cell, though really the only truly hyaline part of
this cell is an almost oval spot above the base of the cubital fork of which
the basal margin begins just before the fork, then lower down the blackish
margin retreats in the first posterior cell towards the base of the wing (so
that the outer half of that cell is hyaline) and then descends almost per-
pendicularly 'across the third posterior cell but indistinctly widens out towards
the lower outer corner of that cell ; the cubital fork-cell is almost hyaline
except for an indistinct darkening about its upper outer corner, so that the
subliyaline space in the cubital fork-cell and in three cells below it forms
a large space with a slightly concave inner margin ; the darkened space
which includes both ends of the discal cell extends downwards and
includes (though rather diluted at the tip) all the fourth posterior cell and
all the base of the postical fork-cell, leaving the apical half of the postical
fork-cell less darkened, and after that the whole hind angle of the wing
(including the whole of the anal and axillary cells) also less darkened.
Squamae (alar) small and smoky blackish with a short coarse scaly fringe ;
thoracal pair brownish black and with scarcely any fringe. Halteres blackish.

? . Also entirely black, but usually with some dark tawny or greyish pubescence.
Frons at its narrowest part occupying nearly one-third of the head, all black
and moderately shining, depressed across the middle because the ocellar
triangle above and the large frontal callus below are rather elevated ; the lai’ge
callus quite bare and with an arched upper margin, but the depressed part
with slight dark tawny or blackish pubescence, and the upper part of the
frons with moderate tawny or blackish pubescence ; just above the antennae
a doubly lunate band of brownish orange dust extends completely
round the antennae and for its full width to the eyes, and is connected
beneath the antennae with the similarly broAvnisli orange middle line down
the face ; on the face there is a small spot of similar dust just about the lower
edge of the pit on each side, but otherwise the shining black calli occupy all
the face and joAvls except on a very narrow brownish orange eyemargin ;
pubescence on the face rather slight and usually rusty
black or grey, but becoming longer and more orange or
grey about the mouthmargin and the base of the palpi ;
back of the head only moderately and equally inflated all
the way up, dull black with some short black ciliation
near (but not on) the eyemargin, and with some rather
longer black or rusty black or brownish yellow hairs
behind the top corners of the eyes and behind the vertex.

Eyes (fig. 249) in life brilliant green or blue green Avith only
three distinct purplish spots and sometimes a faint one
higher up, but Avith a distinct shifting coppery tinge on Fig. M9.—Chrysops
the forepart from any point of view; the hindmargin not iSeyetn iffe
darkened at all ; the middle spot small but extending
downAvards at its back part ; the two foremarginal spots considerably larger
and more rounded, and the upper spot placed just half-Avay down the eye
but slightly above the isolated middle spot, Avhile the loAver spot is rather
high up and is only separated from the upper spot by about its own
diameter ; the three spots form an equilateral triangle. Antenme as in the
male, but the hairs on the tAvo basal joints shorter.

Thorax and scutellum more shining black than in the male, and with
very indistinct stripes doAvn the thorax ; pubescence more depressed,
brownish yellow or brownish grey on the disc, becoming denser and dark
taAvny or greyish on both sides of the dorsopleural suture but Avith a narrow
line of black hairs along that suture, and these black hairs usually increase
into a clump just in front of the wing-base ; pleurae with a large dense clump
of rather long dark taAvny or greyish hairs on the back part of the mesopleurae,
and Avith a similar clump on the metapleurse.

Abdomen moderately shining black ; pubescence taAvny or yelloAvish grey
or even almost whitish on the hind margins of the segments, and in good

438

TAB AN I DA

specimens to a large extent on the anterior corners of the second segment, on
triangles at the middle of the hindmargins of the second and third segments,
and rather sparsely on most of the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments except at
the base of the fourth, while the pubescence on the siclemargins of the two or
three basal segments is rather longer and is more distinctly tawny or grey.
Belly dull black with the hindmargins of segments narrowly brownish yellow,
and with brownish yellow [or grey pubescence which forms hindmarginal
fringes to all the segments or is sometimes more extended on to the disc of
the third and subsequent segments. Ovipositor showing two short blackish
yellow lamellae.

Legs almost as in the male, but the pubescence on the coxa; and usually to
a large extent on the posterior femora brownish yellow and rather more
sparse ; ciliation on the hind tibiae less conspicuous.

Wings much more hyaline than in the male, as practically only the fore¬
margin and a broad middle cross-band are blackish ; the darkened foremargin
extended to the tip of the wing (just into the cubital fork-cell) but becoming
rather washed out about its end ; the upper basal cell all blackened except
on the hyaline space near its tip, and the second basal cell all hyaline
except at just its base ; the outer margin of the blackened middle band
almost as in the male but more sharply defined at its lower outer corner
and on the basal third of the postical fork-cell, and a broad darkened
margin occurs against the lower branch of the postical vein ; anal cell some¬
times rather widely open or sometimes closed at the wingmargin. Squama;
(alar) rather small, smoky blackish with black margins and fringed with
coarse black scales ; thoracal pair large and bearing a minute fine greyish
black fringe except for a few scales near the angle.

Length about 7-5 mm.

This species shows little variation in a number of specimens
(2J7?) from Studland Heath, and one female from Parley Heath, in
Dorsetshire, from which the above description has been made, but
one female has the second veinlet from the discal cell extending in both
wings only about half-way to the wingmargin and also has the radial
vein incomplete. Six females taken by Mr William Evans in a marshy
spot at Aberfoyle in Perthshire on June 30, 1905, have a very distinct
appearance, as they are rather larger and have a larger more ovate
abdomen upon which the tawny or rufescent pubescence is much more
conspicuous (being apparently longer) and never at all greyish either
dorsally or ventrally, while the pubescence is also more universally tawny
on all the face, frons, vertex, top of occiput, pleurse, and even on the
dorsopleural suture, except that one specimen shows traces of black
hairs against the dorsopleural suture. A male and a female in Kowarz’s
collection from Dorpat in Livonia are evidently conspecific with the
Dorsetshire specimens, but the female has the pubescence much more
extensively black, as it has numerous black hairs scattered over the
disc of the thorax and a broader stripe of black pubescence along the
dorsopleural suture, and rusty black pubescence on each side of the stripe
and also on the mesopleural and metapleural tufts, while the abdomen has
black pubescence about the sides of the three basal segments and rusty
black pubescence on all the disc and on the belly; the coxte and femora
have entirely blackish pubescence, and the wings are scarcely anywhere
truly hyaline unless on the hyaline portion of the basal cells and on the
spot in the submarginal cell, and the second basal cell has a yellowish
tinge along its lower margin, while each side of the anal vein is rather
widely darkened. The species may be distinguished from any other
European one (except C. maurci, if that be distinct) by its entirely black

3. CHRYSOPS

439

colour (including almost all the face), and by the concave rather than
convex outer margin of the blackened middle cross-band on the wings,
while the upper basal cell is more extensively darkened and the first
posterior cell in the female less darkened than in the three other British
species; it is also rather smaller and narrower than the three other
species.

C. sepulcralis is probably not uncommon in marshy valleys in the
great Dorsetshire commons, but it was not recognised until Mr E. E.
Austen recorded the capture of two males by Capt. Savile Reid at
Studland Heath in August 8, 1895. A visit to Dorset in August 1904
caused Mr J. E. Collin to capture one female on a large wet space on
Parley Heath, and an examination of Rev. 0. Pickard Cambridge’s
collection produced one male and five females which he had casually
taken near Bloxworth ; a visit to Studland in company with Colonel
Yerbury in 1906 led to the capture of one male and seven females in a
shallow boggy valley between August 20 and September 4, the male being
taken on the last date. An examination of the late Mr C. W. Dale’s
collection showed a male and two females labelled “Studland July, 1880,”
but he had probably overlooked their distinctness until after Mr Austen’s
record. Six females taken by Mr Wm. Evans in a marshy spot at
Aberfoyle in Perthshire on June 30, 1905, have been specially mentioned
above, and he has informed me that they were not uncommon on that day
but that he only took them because they were continually settling upon
him. It is very probable that the so-called “ black variety ” of C. ccecutiens
mentioned by Duncan in 1837 as having occurred in Sutherlandshire and
in the South of Scotland may refer to this species. It is recorded from
North and Central Europe, but Osten Sacken justifiably refused to
accept Kirby’s identification of it from North America.

Synonymy.. — The only possible doubt about the identification of this species
lies with the extreme North European C. maura Siebke; Siebke described his
species as similar to C. sepulcralis in size and form but as haying entirely
black pubescence, from which it would appear that the Aberfoyle specimens might
represent his idea of C. sepulcralis and the Studland (or at any rate the Livonian)
specimens his idea of C. maura , but as against that the Aberfoyle and Studland
specimens are hardly alike in size and form. It is almost certain that the male
described by Zetterstedt in Dipt. Scand., xii., 4550, belonged to C. quaclrata.

The two following species of Clirysops are likely to occur in Britain : —

C. rufipes Meigen ; rather like C. relicta but smaller and blacker and with much
more extensively orange legs, the femora being mainly orange in the female and
with at least the front knees broadly orange in the male, while the basal joint of the
antennae is more distinctly dilated than in any of the allied species.

C. paral l elogramma Zeller ; also rather similar to C. relicta , but the outer border
of the blackened middle cross-band on the wings rather concave, and the black
markings on the second and third abdominal segments of the female smaller
and well separated so that they stand almost perpendicularly, whence the name
paral l elogramma is derived.

440

NEMESTRINIM

V. NEMESTRINID^E.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous eremochsetous flies of rather large size,
distinguished by their peculiar venation.

Head broad and short, but often not quite so broad as the thorax, set close
against the thorax so that there is no visible neck, nearly always clothed with dense
soft equal pubescence but sometimes with a strong tuft on the upper part of the
frons, or occasionally the pubescence may be rather slight, and the cephalic bristles
are entirely absent. Face small, more or less roundedly produced, separated
from the frons by a sharply marked deep suture, usually densely and equally
pubescent but occasionally bare, and never with any approach to a face-beard as in
the Asilidce. Frons and vertex flush with the eyes or slightly raised; frons some¬
times wide in both sexes, or contracted in the male, or comparatively narrow in the
female and completely closed by the eyes in the male ; when the frons is very broad
the ocellar triangle is very large and the three ocelli are placed widely apart, but
when the eyes are touching the ocellar triangle is necessarily small and the ocelli are
closer together, while in Colax they appear to be altogether absent. Proboscis often
very long, thin, and porrect (in Xemestrina longirostris about four times as long
as the whole fly), or long without being porrect (being bent down), or quite short and
thick ( Hermoneura ), and when elongate the sucker-flaps are usually small ; palpi
one- two- or three-jointed, often indistinct, but sometimes rather long and
very thin and upturned, or occasionally a little clavate. Eyes usually widely
separated on the frons in both sexes, but sometimes approximated or even closely
touching for a long distance in the male and then only narrowly separated in the
female, usually bare but in some genera with very dense and even long pubescence ;
facets usually all equal, but I think that the front facets are sometimes a little
enlarged in the male. Antennae very widely separated at the base, small, and
inconspicuous unless the thin arista-like style be long; two basal joints bearing stiff
hairs ; third joint almost as short as the others but more pointed, or more elongate,
and bearing a terminal stout or thin bristle-like usually jointed style which is longer
than the antennae and is occasionally tufted at its end.

Thorax rather quadrate with the humeri inconspicuous, absolutely without bristles
or bristly hairs but almost always bearing dense fairly equal pubescence all over
the disc, the pleurae, and the scutellum ; even the usual patches of stiffer hairs about
the postalar calli are absent, but sometimes the pleurae bear longer tufts of hairs
near the back of the mesopleurae and on the upper part of the metapleurae behind

NEMESTRINIM

441

the squamae. Scutellum sometimes unusually large but often small, rounded and
unarmed, without any trace of bristly hairs ; metanotum almost hidden beneath the
scutellum.

Abdomen short and usually rounded, often shorter and even broader than the
thorax, less pubescent than the thorax and absolutely without any trace of bristles or
strong hairs.

Legs usually slender and rather long, but sometimes rather short and stout
though never powerful, absolutely without bristles even to the soles of the tarsi, but
with moderately long pubescence on the femora, and almost always with a minute
sub-erect equal rather dense pubescence all over the tibiae and tarsi (rarely rather
longer on the tibiae), which only rarely gives any indication of spicules (like the Bomby-
Hdce, etc.) on the tibiae ; tibiae without any spurs. Pulvilli three, the middle one being
often rather shorter than the others and often curved up but always pad-like ; some¬
times all three pulvilli are long and rather narrow, but at other times normally broad ;
claws long.

Wings with a peculiar venation, which in its most extreme form (fig. 250)
exhibits a remarkable network on the apical half of the wing, but in its simpler
forms is characterised by the veins curving up and running parallel with the hind-
margin of the wing but never ending in the subcostal vein as in Mydaidce though
some may end in the lower branch of the cubital fork. Subcostal vein long (and always
present in spite of Wandolleck’s statement about Colax) ; pnefurca rather short ;
radial vein simple or connected by a veinlet with the cubital fork ; cubital vein
sloping down until it coalesces for a short space with the discal vein near the end of
the curiously shaped discal cell (so that the discal cross-vein is absent), or connected
with the discal cell at the same place by a short cross-vein, after which the cubital
vein suddenly slopes upwards and may end in a simple long narrow fork
( Hermoneura , fig. 251) or the fork may be connected by a cross-veinlet close to the
base of the upper branch with the radial ( Rhyne h ocephal us , fig. 253), or the curving
up of the veins and a cross-veinlet may cause at least two closed cells to occur
between the space caused by the diverging radial and cubital veins and the wing-tip
( Fallenia , fig. 252), or the cubital fork (which would otherwise have been long and
simple) is connected by a network of numerous cross-veinlets with the veins above
and below it ; beyond this there is a peculiarity in the venation that the basal part
of the cubital vein appears to be carried on as a continuous diagonal vein (called by
Loew the “ Diagonalader ”) either to the wingmargin (fig. 254) or at least to the end
of the upper branch of the postical vein (fig. 252) ; discal vein in its end portion
throwing up two long veins (not necessarily from the discal cell) which run almost
parallel with the wingmargin (and of which the lower one ends at or before the
wing-tip) and of which the upper one sometimes ends in the cubital vein well before
the wingmargin ; discal cell elongate trapezoid, either connected at its lowest point
by a short small cross-vein with the upper branch of the postical vein (close to its
base) or anastomosing there for a short space ; postical vein with a long upper and
short lower branch, of which the upper branch runs along almost parallel with the
wingmargin until it reaches the end of the closed fourth hindmarginal cell, and the
lower branch either ending in the wingmargin or joining the anal vein before the wing¬
margin, so that the anal cell is either narrowly open or is closed a little before the
wingmargin ; upper basal cell extremely long and narrow, second basal cell long and
unusually broad ; in tracing all the principal veins the network of cross-veins in
Nemestrina has been ignored ; posterior cells four or five. The curving up of the
veins and their running parallel with the wingmargin is very suggestive of the
venation of the Mydaidoe , and so is the ending of the veins before the wing-tip ; the
leaving the whole wingmargin for a large space clear of venation (fig. 252) is only
paralleled by the Mydaidce ; alula unusually large in some cases, or very narrow, or
quite absent ; wing-membrane very much rippled, very minutely pubescent.
Squamae (alar) distinct, but not large, and often bearing a very long fringe on the
lower part which gets mixed up with the long tuft of pubescence on the pleurae ;
thoracal pair absent, or small and hidden in the pubescence. Halteres inconspicuous
and often hidden in dense pubescence.

This family may be easily recognised by its peculiar venation, though
doubts have arisen as to its relationships. The pad-like empodium
(whereby there are three almost equal pulvilli) and the absolutely

442

NEMESTRINIM

eremochsetous structure prove its relationship to the true Ekemocileta on
the one side, and the dense pubescence and aerial structure connect it with
the Tkomopteka on the other side. If the presence of three pulvilli and
the absolutely eremochsetous nature be taken as the most important guides
to affinity, then the closest allies are the Cyrtidce , and though the two
families appear widely divergent in the structure of the head, abdomen,
and squamae, yet the erratic venation of the Cyrtidce shows considerable
affinity in Lasia (fig. 259 A), etc. There is no relationship whatever to the
Mydaidce or Apioceridce, and the venation is widely distinct from them
when analysed.

The Nemestrinidce are inhabitants of tropical regions, occurring as
Osten Sacken says “ sporadically in disconnected, limited areas, far distant
“ from each other, and characterised by a warm, dry, almost rainless,
“ climate. (Central Asia, South Eastern Europe, some parts of Africa, of
“ Australia and the deserts of South America.)” . . . “ where there is a
“ minimum of rainfall ; ” and consequently they are not known in
Western Europe nor probably in New Zealand. About one hundred and
forty species have been recorded of which about eight are known to occur
in Europe, though more than thirty are recorded as Palaearctic, and it is
practically impossible for any species to occur in Britain. The species
with a long proboscis are said to probe flowers whilst hovering before
them, like the species of Bombylius. The metamorphoses of Hcrmoncura
obscura have been partially worked out and figured by Handlirsch (Wien,
ent. Zeit., i., 224 and ii., 11, 1882-3), and the full-grown larva has been
found in the fully developed pupa of Rhizotrogus solstitialis (a very
abundant British insect), though the eggs were laid in small heaps in
holes in the bark of Silver Firs (Weisstannen), whence the young larvae
issued in great numbers from the burrows in which they were hatched
and, having placed themselves erect, were blown away by the wind ; after
this it is imagined that they attached themselves by the aid of the
ventral hooks to the bodies of female Rhizotrogus and were carried by
them to the place where she deposited her eggs. The Argentine H. exotica
Wied. is said to lay its eggs in the nests of a large Bee ( Xylocopa Augustii
St Farg.). The larvae are said to be allied to those of the Lcptidce.

Synonymy. — It is curious that the two principal genera in this family have
caused strong orthographical disputes, and this is a matter of some importance as
both of them have given names to the family and subfamilies. The oldest name is
Nemestrinus, which was proposed by Latreille in 1802 and altered by him in 1809 to
Xemestrina ; Agassiz gave “Nom. mythol." as the derivative but I have been unable
to trace such a derivation ; ^ ear pis = three times threaded as if a spider’s web, has
been suggested, and probably with good grounds for the “ vrjpa.” but is far fetched
as a compound. Nemistrinus has been suggested as an emendation, but I do not
know upon what grounds nor from what derivation, and accordingly I retain the old
spelling. Hirmoneura was founded in 1820 by Meigen from “ Parallelschweber,”
but I have been unable to trace any Greek derivation ; Agassiz gave “ typos,
“ comitatus ; vevpov , nervus,” but I cannot trace the word “ typos.” Hermonevra has
been suggested as an emendation (from 'typo-, prop or support), though Philippi in
18G5 made eppa-oppos} line or chain (in reference to the veins), and from this some-

NEMESTRINIM

443

liow deduced Hermoneura , in ignorance that Westwood had in 1835 (I have been
unable to check the reference) already used Hermoneura. Taking all in all I prefer
to retain the old spelling of Nemestrina and to call the family Nemestrinidce, but
probably Hirmoneura is better emended to Hermoneura. Dr A. W. Verrall is of
opinion that both Nemestrina and Hirmoneura are so impossible as Greek com¬
pounds as to be beyond correction.

Type of venation of Nemestrinidce.

Longitudinal (or long) veins.

a Costa (or costal vein),
b Mediastinal (or auxiliary) vein,
c Subcostal (or Is# longitudinal) vein.
d Radial (or 2nd longitudinal) vein.
e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein.

e; Upper branch j f bihJ f ,

e- Lower branch J

/ Discal (or Ath longitiidinal) vein.

f1! These two veinlets represent the usual first and
f2J second veinlets from the discal cell.

f3 represents the usual third veinlet from the discal cell which closes the
fourth posterior cell.
g Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein.

!'i Lower branch} postical fork.

h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

k Praefurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal vein round the hindmargin of the

“Diagonal vein” is a name (only used in the Nemestrinidce ) for the
apparently continuous vein which extends from the base of the
prsefurca to (or near to) the posterior margin of the wing (at g1 in the
type-wing), really commencing with the prsefurca and ending at the
tip of the upper branch of the postical vein

Cross (or transverse) veins.

w Humeral cross-vein.

x Discal (or middle) cross-vein (not always defined in Nemestrinidce, but the point of
connection between the cubital and discal veins always lying near the end of
the discal cell).

y Lower (or small) cross-vein.

z Anal cross-vein — not existing in the type- wing given, but apparent in Faltenia
(fig. 252), being really (g2) the lower branch of the postical vein.

444

NEMESTRINID.E

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal ) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital fork-cell).

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

6b Third posterior cell.

6C Fourth posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 5th posterior) cell (or postical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or ls£) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal (or 3 rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Nemestrinid^e.

The venation is very characteristic and cannot by any possibility be confounded
with that of any other family. The chief peculiarities lie in (1) the long Mediastinal
and Subcostal Veins ; (2) the Parallelism to the liindmargin of numerous veins ;
(3) the position and the absence or smallness of the Discal Cross-vein, and the
consequently very long Upper Basal Cell : (4) the peculiarly shaped Discal Cell and
its Veinlets, and (5) the “Diagonal Vein.

1. The Mediastinal and Subcostal Veins are much longer than in any other
family of the Eremoch.eta.

2. The Outer Veins are very much elongated and slope out towards the tip of
the wing, so that the upper branch of the postical fork and the veinlets arising from
the upper branch of the discal vein run for a long way almost parallel with the
posterior margin.

3. The Discal Cross -vein is sometimes apparently absent, there being
normally only a single small connecting link between the anterior and posterior
parts of the venation, and this connection takes place near the end of the discal cell,
so that the Upper Basal Cell is very long and rather narrow. It is remarkable
that while there is often a cross-vein placed near this same spot in the allied family
CyrtidcB , there is also in that family a strong discal cross-vein (making a second
connection) from near the end of the prsefurca to near the base of the discal cell
of which there is no trace in the Nemestrinidoe ; on the other hand the veins towards
the end of the wing in JSfemestrinidce lengthen out and tie themselves to the strong
“ Diagonal Vein,” and sometimes still further strengthen themselves by numerous
net-like veinlets, while in the Cyrtidce the veins towards the end of the wing grow
weaker and weaker and in many cases disappear. The strength of this “ tie ” in the
N emestrinidce is evidenced by the way in which the cubital vein is pulled down at
this point towards the discal cell, and the same is shown in the Small Cross-vein
where the lower margin of the discal cell is pulled down and the postical vein (both
in its lower and upper branches) is pulled up to the “ tie ” ; the strings in the net¬
work having been drawn tight at these two points. The Mydaidoe have similarly
placed discal and small cross-veins, but the strengthening of the wing has been
obtained in them by tying the ends of the veins to the subcostal vein.

4. The Discal Cell is elongate trapezoid with the basal side longer than the end
one, and with its outer end forming part of the “diagonal vein.” The usual veinlets
emitted from the discal cell are removed further on so that the two upper ones start
beyond the discal cell from a veinlet which would normally represent the third
veinlet from the discal cell, being the veinlet which closes the fourth posterior cell
and is a continuing part of the “diagonal vein.”

5. The “ Diagonal Vein ” is not a vein in itself, but is a continuous line of veins
which extend from the base of the pnefurca to the end of the upper branch of the
postical vein. It is really composed of the praefurca, a long piece of the cubital vein
extending to the discal cross-vein (or its equivalent), the veinlet closing the discal
cell, the veinlet from the discal cell which closes the fourth posterior cell, and
lastly (when existing) the final piece of the upper branch of the postical vein.

NEMESTRINIDvE

445

This pseudo-vein is very conspicuous, and there is no equivalent vein existing
in any other family of diptera.

Other peculiarities worthy of notice exist in the long (and sometimes compli¬
cated) fork of the cubital vein, the long narrow anal cell, the undulated anal vein,
and the rather short praefurca which may commence not much before the base of
the discal cell but still before the middle of the upper basal cell.

Table of the Paloearctic Subfamilies and Genera.

1 (6) Proboscis very long ; palpi short. Nemestrinin^e.

2 (3) Branches of the cubital vein reuniting and forming an almost

triangular cell above the end of the discal cell ; wing-tip and

Fig. 252.—Fallenia fasciata & . x 6.

hindmargin without any outgoing veins except from the end of the
closed anal cell (fig. 252). Pallenia.

The veins near the wing-tip vary, as the terminal portion of the
cubital vein may be joined before the wingmargin by the radial vein or
by the lower branch of the discal vein.

3 (2) Branches of the cubital vein long and running almost parallel to
the posterior wingmargin near the wing-tip ; “ diagonal vein ”
often continued to the wingmargin.

4 (5) “ Diagonal vein ” not extended to the wingmargin (fig. 253).

Rhynchocephalus.

5 (4) “Diagonal vein” extended to the wingmargin (figs. 250, 254).

Nemestrina.

6 (1) Proboscis very short ; palpi very long and upturned.

Hermoneurin^e.

446

NEMESTRINIIXE

7 (8) Cubital fork long and simple; anal cell open (fig. 251).

Hekmoneuka.

Sometimes there is an adventitious cross-vein near the end of the
mediastinal vein connecting that with the subcostal vein.

8 (7) Cubital fork with both branches running into the radial vein and

forming a closed cell above the “ diagonal vein ” ; anal cell closed
at the wingmargin (fig. 255). Symmictus.

Fig. 255. — Buth wings of the type specimen of Dicrotrypana flavopilosa Bigot, x 65.

Loew endeavoured to distinguish Bhynchocephalus and Nemestrina in
the Nemestrinidce, and Hcrmoncura and Sy mmictus in the Hormone urines
by characters derived from the joints of the style and palpi.

CYRTIDiE

447

VI. CYRTID2E.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous eremochsetous flies of medium size, but
with remarkably inflated bodies, small heads, and gigantic thoracal

squamae.

Fig. 250. — Acrocera globulus &. x 7 1.

Head very small (or even minute) and rounded, almost wholly occupied by
the enormous eyes in both sexes, smaller in the female than in the male but always
lioloptic. Face very small, placed almost on the underside of the head. Head
entirely without bristles, though more or less pubescent ; ocelli three, or t ie
front one missing or obsolete, or all three obsolete. Proboscis very vanab e,
sometimes exceedingly long, thin, and conspicuous, but not porrect, anc a
other times very short, while in some cases the mouth opening seems to be quite
closed by a membrane. Palpi usually obsolete. Eyes hairy or bare (bale m all
British species), occupying nearly all the head and contiguous 111 both sexes so that
only the small vertical triangle and the small face and mouth stand clear, touching
in both sexes for a very long space, in fact usually almost all down the head , facets
all equal in both sexes. Antennae three-jointed, or sometimes appearing to be only
two-jointed when the basal joint is minute and almost absorbed into the head, usually
short, porrect, approximated at the base, and placed in varying positions at about
the middle of the head, or at the extreme top near the ocelli, or at the extreme
bottom against the mouth; third joint small but transverse and with a quite bait
apical arista which is swollen and polished at its base (British species), or elongate
and strap-shaped without any style or arista (/' anopince), or short with three apical

hairs (Pterodontia). . . rw ,

Thorax very gibbous; prothoracic lobes sometimes (Philopotxnce) enormously
developed and meeting dorsally so as to form a prolonged shield on the front pait ot
the thorax ; metapleurae bearing a large tuft of fairly long shelter hairs, and some¬
times produced into a sort of peg or knob. Pubescence usually fairly abundant
and sometimes even furry, but without any sign of bristles or long hairs, ant
sometimes quite minute. Scutellum large, unarmed, and clothed like the tnoiax;

metanotum usually concealed by the scutellum. n • 1

Abdomen very broad and globose, in fact usually balloon-shaped and pellucicl,
with about five segments, occasionally contracted on the second and thud segments
( Megalybus ) and then with the end knob-like. Pubescence furry, or moderate and
rather inconspicuous, without any sign of bristles or long hairs. Genitalia in¬
conspicuous. . .

Legs simple, never long nor thin, entirely without bristles but sometimes m itii a
short blunt spur on the middle tibiae, or ( Astomella ) with almost two spurs on the
posterior tibiae and a circlet of very short spines on the front tibiae. 1 ulvdli t nee,
the empodium being as pad-like as the outer pulvilli ; claws and pulvilli Jong.

Wings diverging and deflexed when at rest so that they lie against the abdomen,
longer in the female than in the male, and with a very peculiarly erratic venation m
the British species. Ambient vein sometimes not extending even to the wing-tip,

448

CYRTIIXF

but sometimes quite complete ; pnefurca originating almost opposite the base of
the discal cell ; discal cross-vein (when present) placed close to the end of the
prsefurca and consequently near the base of the discal cell, but another cross-vein
analogous to the union of the cubital and discal veins in the Nemestrinidae (fig. 251)
often occurs near or after the end of the discal cell, causing the presence of an
extra cell which can only be considered the outer portion of the upper basal cell, the
upper basal cell being even then only rather more elongate than in the Nemes-
trinidce, but these veins often become more or less obsolete until in some cases there
appear to be only two posterior cells ; posterior cells therefore ranging from five (of
which the fourth is sometimes closed) to three or apparently two only ; radial vein
sometimes entirely absent ; cubital fork (when truly present as in Cyrtus, Lasia,
Eidonchus , etc.) long and normal, including the wing-tip, or with both branches
curving up (almost as in some Nemestrinidce) and running parallel with the wing-
margin until they end in the costa well before the wing- tip, but in Acroeera
there is a Avide open spurious cubital fork of Avhich I am convinced that the
lower branch is a portion of the discal vein, and then there is also a spurious
small cross-vein Avhich is really the upper branch of the postical fork ; alula) very
variable in development, sometimes slight ( Cyrtus , Pterodontia). Wing-membrane
very much ribbed or rippled, but apparently bare. Squamae (thoracal) extra¬
ordinarily developed, the frenum near the angle and the squamae beyond being
extremely enlarged so that (when seen sideways) they stand up above the wings,
and the latter Avhen at rest are depressed sideways against the abdomen; these
squamae are wrinkled and usually densely hairy on the surfaces (as in some species
of Stratiomys), and their margin is rather strongly thickened and bears a short
dense fringe ; alar squamae proportionately little developed, equally short fringed
or rarely bare. Halteres covered by the enormous depressed thoracal squamae, but
moderate in size.

The metamorphoses of a few species are known and are very peculiar.
The larvae are parasites on spiders ( Arachnida ) such as the Avicularidce,
Thcridce, and Drassidce. “Will you walk into my parlour, said the spider
“ to the fly ? ” ! Giard (Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr., 1894, cliv.) suggests that the
“ etonnants cuillerons ” serve to protect the halteres when the fly enters
the spider’s nest. Konig (Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, xliv., 163, 1894) has
given elaborate details of the earlier larval stages of an Oncodes and states
that the young larvae have considerable springing powers.

This family may be easily recognised by the three pulvilli, the
enormous thoracal squamae, the globular abdomen, and the humped thorax,
but affinities can be seen between the globular shape and that of the small
humpbacked Bombylidce, and also between the venation of such genera as
Lasia and the Nemestrinidce.

The Cyrtidce form a very distinct family of nearly two hundred known
species and about twenty-five genera, of which seven genera and about
thirty species have been recorded from the Palsearctic region, but at least
ten of those require confirmation of their specific distinctness. Only two
genera occur in Britain and (as far as is known) only three species, but
Oncodcs zonatus and varias and possibly another Acroeera may occur ;
not one of our three species has been recorded from Scotland or Ireland,
nor even north of Herefordshire. They occur in all parts of the world
but usually as uncommon insects until their very local haunts are
discovered, but Osten Sacken states that they are abundant in New
Zealand, one species being very common there ; the largest number of
species occur in America.

CYRTIDCE

449

Synonymy. — Tlie term Cyrtidce was defended by Osten Sacken (Cat. N. Amer.
Dipt., ed. ii., p. 239) against Acroceridce and Henopidos ; the name Henopidce, which
was adopted by Erichson, is clearly inadmissible as the genus Ilenops had previously
been described under the name of Ogcodes. The genus Cyrtus is older than Acrocera
and its meaning is applicable to the whole family, while the word Acrocera is absolutely
contradictory to most of the genera and was probably given to indicate its contrast
with them. The term Cyrtidce was used by Newman in 1841, and he had used
Cyrtites as early as 1835 (Entom. Mag., ii., 389). A few species of Bombylidce
(such as Glabelhda ) have at times been mistakenly placed in the Cyrtidce, but the
discovery of the importance of the character afforded by the enormous thoracal
squamae has relegated them to their proper place.

Types of venation of British Cyrtid/E.

2 ia 1

c. b a

Fig. 258. — Acrocera globulus.

All the veins (except the small cross-vein) and cells are distinct in the type-wing
of Lada (fig. 259 A), but many are obsolete in the type-wing of Oncodes (fig. 257), and
the venation is still more imperfect in Philopota (fig. 260 E) and Acrocera (fig. 258).

Longitudinal (or long) veins.

a Costa {or costal vein),
b Mediastinal (or auxiliary ) vein,
c Subcostal (or 1st longitudinal) vein.

d Radial {or 2nd longitudinal) vein, not present in the type- wings given above.
e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein.

e'2 Lower branch] ^ie cu^ital fork, not visible in the type-wings given above.

/ Discal (or 4 th longitudinal) vein.

f1 Upper branch of the discal vein, very faint in Oncodes.
f2 Second discal veinlet, faint in Oncodes.
f3 Third discal veinlet.
g Postical (or 5 th longitudinal) vein.

2 F

450

CYRTIDiE

h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

Prsefurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal vein round the hindmargin of the
wing.

Cross (or transverse) veins.

w Humeral cross-vein, often absent in this family.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.

y Lower (or small) cross-vein, sometimes distinctly present (vide fig. 259 G).

Anal cross-vein =g2 — the lower branch of the postical vein.

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell.

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

6b Third posterior cell.

6C Fourth posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 5th or last posterior) cell.

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or ls£) basal cell.

9a2 Second upper basal cell, peculiar to certain Gyrtidae ( vide fig. 259 A).

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal (or 3rd basal , or lowest basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the venation of the Cyrtid^e.

At first glance the system of venation in the British (and in fact most of the
European) species is difficult to recognise, but the study of other genera will help to
clear up most of the difficulties.

Taking Lasia (fig. 259 A), which is nearest the Nemestrinidce , the mediastinal,
subcostal, and radial veins are quite simple but the subcostal is unusually long ; the
cubital starts from a very short prsefurca, and immediately sends down a thick
discal cross-vein to almost the base of the discal cell, after which it continues
parallel with the upper branch of the discal vein until close to the end of the discal
cell where it branches into a not very abnormal upturned cubital fork (of which the
branches are about equally upturned and both end before the wing-tip), and close
to the base of this cubital fork a supernumerary cross-vein occurs (not known in any
other family,* though obviously related to the contact between the cubital and
discal veins in Nemestrinidce ( Hermoneura , fig. 251) which represents the discal
cross-vein in that family) which ties the cubital vein to the upper branch of the
discal vein very near to (or a short distance after) the end of the discal cell. The
discal cell is very long (half the wing’s length) and narrow being extended unusually
near to the wingmargin, and emits three veinlets, the upper one being in a
continuous line with the upper side of the discal cell, the second one sloping rather
strongly downwards, and the third one being recurrent and closing the fourth
posterior cell. The postical vein is forked in almost the usual way, and the upper
branch just connects with the discal cell (leaving no small cross-vein) before the
middle of the latter, but then diverges again until it is caught by the third veinlet
from the discal cell, after which it bends down to the wingmargin ; the lower branch
of the postical vein slopes downwards and joins the anal vein considerably before
the wingmargin, thereby causing a closed anal cell. The upper basal cell is short
and broad, but according to the analogy in Nemestrinidce (fig. 251) the long narrow

* Unless an adventitious cross-vein which occurs in some species of Exoprosopa, upon which Coquillett
proposed a genus Exoptata, may be of a similar character.

CYRTIDtE

451

a

b a 1 ,y

E. Megalybus tristis Phil. var. x 12.

G. Cyrtus pusillus Macq. x 10.

H. Cyrtus pusillus Macq. var. x 12.

Fig. 259.— Types of venation in Cyrtidce.

452

CYBTIDJE

cell which lies above the discal cell is a second portion of the upper basal cell, and
not a basal portion of the first posterior cell ; the second basal cell is long and
narrow. A comparison of this venation with that of the Nemestrinidce ( Ilermoneura ,
fig. 251) shows every one of the same veins and veinlets, except the strong discal
cross-vein close to the base of the discal cell which is quite absent in Ilermoneura.
It would appear that an absolutely different principle has been adopted (in two allied
groups) to strengthen the wings ; in the Nemestrinidce by tying the elongated end
veins together (exaggerated to an extraordinary degree in Nemestrina , fig. 250), but
in the Cyrtidce by connecting the anterior and posterior parts of the wing by a
strong tie near the base and also (in Lasia, etc.) by a second tie towards the end of
the wing, but subsequently when the Cyrtidce developed the floating balloon-like
flight this second tie was allowed to die out and the outer veins to become obsolete.
The course of the “ diagonal 55 vein in the Nemestrinidce is in no way repeated in
the Cyrtidce (even though a straight diagonal vein composed of entirely different
veins exists in Lasia, , etc.), but that is because the whole of the outer and posterior
veins in the Nemestrinidce slope upwards towards the wing-tip, while in Lasia
only the cubital fork curves upwards.

The venation of Eulonchus (fig. 259 B) shows but little change from Lasia, except
that the cubital fork is less Ilermoneura- like and is distinctly removed from the
supernumerary cross-vein. In Pteropexus (fig. 259 C) the venation is again almost
the same, but the clue is given to the venation of Pterodontia (fig. 260 B and C). In
/Plops (fig. 259 F) and Cyrtus (fig. 259 G and H) the same type of venation can
easily be traced, though some veins become obsolete before reaching the wingmargin,
but in Cyrtus the upright nature of the upper branch of the postical vein becomes
instructive as to future developments. Megalybus (figs. 259 I) and E) exhibits an
important change, but the second upper basal cell and the three veinlets from the
discal cell still remain ; the fork of the cubital vein has disappeared, and in fig. 259 D
the third veinlet from the discal cell (and with it the closed fourth posterior cell)
has apparently gone, but fig. 259 E would seem to show that this third veinlet does
still exist and that it is the outward continuation of the postical vein which had
disappeared* (this again may give a clue to the venation of Oncocles and Acrocera),
the lower branch of the postical vein bends down into the anal vein more abruptly
than in any other genus of the Cyrtidce. In Astomella (fig. 260 A) a somewhat
intermediate stage occurs in which one can now trace an unforkecl cubital vein,
because the apparent lower branch has been accounted for in the previous genera ;
the closed fourth posterior cell (in this genus actually the third though apparently
the fourth) remains, as well as a small cross-vein and a fully developed postical fork,
but the second veinlet from the discal cell has entirely disappeared, and consequently
the posterior cells are reduced in number ; one difficult point becomes cleared up in
this genus, as it becomes practically certain that the wide open space at the wing-tip
is the first posterior cell and not a submarginal cell. The next stage comes in
Pterodontia and shows a great change in the development of the discal vein ; judging
from Pteropexus (fig. 259 C) there can be no doubt about the radial vein which
curves up into the enlargement of the costa, and then an examination of the wing of
P. analis (fig. 260 B) shows the continued presence of the two discal cross-veins, and
at the same time shows that the so-called outer upper basal cell has become merged
into the discal cell, i.e. the upper branch of the discal vein has disappeared but the
upper veinlet from the discal cell remains ; the lower branch of the discal vein
bends sharply downwards and (judging by Megalybus ) receives the short upper
branch of the postical vein, and then continues onwards to the wingmargin ; in my
opinion all this lower margin of the discal cell and the veinlet thence to the wing¬
margin belong to the discal vein and are not in any way a continuation of the upper
branch of the postical vein ; in P. Virmondii (fig. 260 (J) the outer discal cross-vein
and the upper veinlet from the discal cell disappear, and apparently there is no
upper branch to the postical vein, or if there be one it is anastomosed for a short
distance with the lower branch of the discal vein • in P. analis there are three
posterior cells, but in P. Virmondii only two. From Pterodontia one passes on to
Oncocles (fig. 260 D) because the discal cross-vein can still be traced (even though
faint) ; the upper basal cell is much longer, so that the discal cross-vein is further
from the base of the wing, and consequently the supernumerary discal cross-vein is
no longer required and has disappeared ; the shape of the anal cell (in O. pallipes )
seems to indicate that Oncocles may be a degraded form of Astomella , a form in which

* This character is not constant in Megalybus tristis.

CYRTID.E

453

the outer cross-veins have disappeared, and in such a case the lower one of the three
vagus veins between the cubital vein and the lower branch of the postical vein
would be the lower branch of the discal vein, and there would be three discal
veinlets extending towards the posterior wingmargin, equalling Astomelia in number
though not in direction ; the radial vein would however be entirely absent in

A. Astomelia Lindenii Erichs, x 8. B. Pterodontia analis Westw. x 8.

C. Pterodonia Virmondii Erichs, x 8.

Fig. 2 0.— Types of venation in Cyrtidce.

Oncodes, but this is proved to be of only specific value in Acrocera ; I have not full
confidence in my interpretation of the venation in Oncodes, and my doubt
infinitely increases in Acrocera. Philopota (fig. 260 E) shows the mediastinal, sub¬
costal, and cubital veins clearly defined, but the next (incomplete) vein may be the
upper branch of the discal, and in such case the discal cross-vein is absent, but
below that there comes the almost complete second branch of the discal vein,

454

CYRTIM

followed by the unforked postical and anal veins, and the apparent cross-vein will be
(as in Acrocera) the beginning of the upper branch of the discal vein, and there are
two rather undefined basal cells. Lastly in Acrocera (figs. 260 F and G) the venation
is reduced and transposed in an extraordinary manner ; the origin of the subcostal,
discal, and postical veins can be clearly traced, but their subsequent developments
are almost unintelligible because of the numerous suppressions of long veins and
cross-veins ; one is bound to suppose that the prsefurca emerges from the subcostal
vein, and if so a radial vein can be identified in A. sanguinea (fig. 260 F) though not
in A. globulus (fig. 260 G) ; I feel convinced that the wide open fork which includes
the wing-tip is composed of a simple cubital vein in the upper branch, and a con¬
tinuation of the discal vein (almost as in Pterodontia analis) after sundry anasto¬
moses as the lower branch, so that the fork-cell is a posterior cell and not a
submarginal cell ; then I am convinced that there is no discal cross-vein, but that
the almost upright vein just after the middle of the wing is a portion of the discal
vein (as in Pteroclontia) ; again I am convinced that the almost upright vein
connecting the discal with the postical vein is the upper branch of the postical, so
that I make out that A. sanguinea has one submarginal cell, but A. globulus none at
all, but that both have three posterior cells ; in fact it seems probable that Acrocera
sanguinea has a venation equivalent to Pterodontia analis if (1) the outer part of
the discal vein in the latter anastomosed for a considerable distance with the simple
cubital vein, (2) that the discal cross-vein were entirely absent so that it enabled
(3) the discal vein to run in a straight line from its base to the wingmargin (except
for its upward fork).

The suggestion that the venation of Oncodes is a degraded form of Astomella, and
Acrocera of Pterodontia, is somewhat confirmed by the presence of all four genera in
the Palsearctic region.

Two features in the venation are somewhat characteristic of the Stratiomyidce,
viz., the sometimes absent Ambient Vein and the Prsefurca originating almost
opposite the base of the discal cell, but these peculiarities cannot show any affinity
between the two families even with the additional peculiarity of the woolly haired
thoracal squamse.

Table of the Palcearctic Subfamilies and Genera of Cyrtid^e.

1

2

3

(2)

(1)

(4)

Prothoracic plates so strongly developed that they unite dorsally
and form a large shield between the mesonotum and the neck.

Philopotin^e (p. 456).
Discal cell absent ; anal cell open (fig. 260 E).

Philopota.

Prothoracic plates not conspicuously developed.

Third antennal joint long and strap-shaped, bent down and with¬
out any trace of an apical bristle or style
(%• 261).

PANOPINiE (p. 456).

Antennae obviously three-jointed. Venation
(fig. 260A) moderately complete ; upper basal cell
divided into two cells ; posterior cells four (count¬
ing the open space including the wing-tip as a
posterior cell), third (normal fourth) sometimes
closed ; anal cell closed ; small cross-vein sometimes present.

Astomella.

Fio. 261. — Astomella
Lindenii. x 22.

4 (3)

5 (6)

Third antennal joint usually short and always with an apical
bristle or hair-like rays (fig. 262). Cyrtiisle (p. 457).

Proboscis elongate and very thin.

Eyes hairy. Venation moderately complete ; anal cell closed ;
small cross-vein absent (fig. 259 G).

Cyrtus.

CYRTID.E

455

6 (5) Proboscis very short or absent.

7 (8) Antennae ending in three thin rays, or with a long thin terminal

process emitting three hair-like rays (fig. 262). Costa near
the end of the subcostal vein, with a hump bearing a small
tooth-like projection near the end (fig. 260 B and C).

Pteeodontia.

8 (7) Antennae ending in a long arista (figs. 263, 265). Costa not

humped.

Pig. 263. — Acrocera glofailus <J. x 33-

9 (12) Antennae placed at the top of the head near the ocelli (fig. 263).
Proboscis short and stumpy.

10 (11) Eyes hairy. Discal cell complete with apparently three complete
veinlets issuing from it ; anal cell closed (fig. 264). Opsebius.

Pig. 265.— Oncodes gibhosus X 27.

11 (10) Eyes bare. Discal cell absent, and apparently only one discal

veinlet to the posterior margin (fig. 260 G); anal cell open.

1. Aceoceea.

Radial vein present (fig. 260 F). — Acrocera.

Radial vein absent (tig. 260 G). — Paracrocera.

12 (9) Antennae placed at the bottom of the head near the mouth

(fig. 265). Proboscis entirely absent. Three incomplete discal
veinlets extended towards the wingmargin (fig. 260 D).

2. Oncodes.

456

PHILOPOTIN.E — PANOPINiE

PHILOPOTINiE.

Prothorax very strongly developed so that the side-plates join dorsally
and form a remarkable shield in front of the mesonotum.

Mesonotum exceedingly humped anteriorly so that the head is very much
depressed and the abdomen bent downwards more than in the other subfamilies.
Proboscis long or short. Venation very imperfect (tig. 260 E).

The essential character of this subfamily lies in the remarkable dorsal
development of the prothorax, and as a somewhat similar development
characterises the Toxophorince in the Bombylidce (which also have the
drooping abdomen) it may be worth testing whether any closer relationship
exists between these insects.

The Philopotince are represented in the Palsearctic region by only one
species, Philopota murina Loew, which is confined to Greece and Asia
Minor.

PANOPINiE.

Prothorax not forming a dorsal shield in front of the mesonotum.
Third joint of the antennae long and strap-shaped, and without any apical
style or arista.

The characters given above are those which limit this subfamily. The venation
gives the basal and discal cells rather well defined (fig. 260 A).

The Panopince in Kertesz’s Katalog der Palaarctischen Dipt, included
three genera and seven species, but I feel convinced that there should be
only one genus and one species. Pterodontia is better placed in the
Cyrtince ; Physegaster is apparently identical with Astomella, and I possess
a specimen of A. Lindenii from Greece with the third posterior cell just as
incomplete as in Macquart’s figure of Physegaster maculata ; the specimens
of Astomella seem to have the dark abdominal markings very variable or
even absent, and an examination of the original types of Westwood’s A.
apiformis and A. bombiformis (two most inappropriate names) has convinced
me that they are only the sexes of a large Astomella ; A. Lindenii is said
to differ from A. curviventris by its larger size, but many species of Cyrtidce
vary exceedingly in size. On the whole I have come to the conclusion
that all the specimens recorded from Spain and Portugal to Syria and
Algeria belong to A. curviventris Duf.

CYRTINiE — 1. ACROCERA

457

CYRTIN JE.

Prothorax not forming a dorsal shield in front of the mesonotum.
Third joint of the antennse (usually ?) short and with an apical arista
(figs. 263, 265) or hair-like rays (fig. 262).

No other characters have been recorded as distinctive of this subfamily, but
Pterodontia has been sometimes included in the Panopince ; I consider however that
the structure of its antennae accords better with the Cyrtince, and its venation is
also more in accord.

The Cyrtince (with the inclusion of Pterodontia ) in Kertesz’s Katalog
include five genera and thirty-one species, hut, while all the genera are
distinct, it is probable that at least fifteen of the so-called species are
synonyms or varieties. Only Oncodcs and Acrocera have been recorded
away from the Mediterranean region, and of the two genera three species
are known to occur in the southern half of England, though it is probable
that one or two more may still be found.

1. ACROCERA.

Pig. 2 66.— Acrocera globulus <$ . x 10.

Acrocera Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 266 (1803).

Antennae placed at the extreme top of the head, ending in
a long thin arista. Venation very much reduced. Proboscis
absent, or very short and stumpy.

Head of the male larger than that of the female, almost all eyes except for the
rather large broad triangular vertical space, the tiny mouth part, and the inflated
back of the head ; head broad ovate when seen from above, but circular when seen
from in front ; mouth parts very small and almost at the bottom of the head : proboscis
short and withdrawn ; back of the head rather inflated but close to the thorax and
consequently the neck barely visible ; ocelli three. Eyes bare, touching beneath the
antennse quite down to the tiny mouth part. Antennse inserted in the front part of
the vertical triangle, apparently two-jointed because the basal joint is concealed ;
next joint apparently orbicular, and the last joint long ovate with a long thin apical
arista.

458

CYRTIM

Thorax strong'ly arched, with none of the calli very prominent (unless
from colour) though the postalar calli are large and conspicuous ; pubescence
abundant, adpressed and coarse. Scutellum shorter than in Oncodes, and with
hardly any flat disc.

Abdomen inflated oval, conico-globular, with five obvious segments • pubescence
very short and adpressed. Genitalia of the male more dilated than in Oncodes.

Legs rather short and stout, quite simple and without any spurs or processes ;
tarsi as in Oncodes but the claws even longer, and the pulvilli shorter and more
pad-like.

Wings shorter and smaller in the male than in the female ; venation (fig. 266)
very difficult to homologise, but with a simple (mediastinal) vein near the costa,
then a long (subcostal) vein from which the prsefurca issues before the middle
of the wing ; a radial vein may arise from the prsefurca (fig. 260 F), or may be
vaguely indicated (fig. 267), or may be quite absent (fig. 266) ; a wide open fork
includes the tip of the wing, of which the upper branch is probably the end piece of
the cubital vein, and the lower branch an end piece of the discal vein ; below this
come two simple long veins (lower branch of discal and postical), and these long
veins are connected by one conspicuous rather long apparent cross-vein between
the cubital and discal and another between the discal and postical, and the
venation ends with a straight simple anal vein ; there is no trace of a discal cell ;
the posterior veins hardly reach the wingmargin ; posterior cells three if the
cell which includes the wing-tip be one • alulae large. Squamae (thoracal) exceed¬
ingly large, of apparently thinner texture than in Oncodes , and without any
long woolly pubescence on the surface ; alar squamae small. Halteres completely
covered by the squamae.

This genus is easily distinguished from Oncodes by the vertical position
of the antennse and by the venation; no other genus of Cyrtulce can
possibly be confounded with it. The larvae are parasitic on spiders
( Tcgcnarici agilis , etc.).

Acrocera is represented in Europe by about five fairly well distinguished
species (of which two have only recently been described by Pokorny),
though several more names occur in the list ; the species have not been
well distinguished (as is the case in many genera of Cyrtidce ) because in
so many cases they are imperfectly known. A. globulus is the only well-
known one with the venation as in fig. 266, and therefore should be easily
recognised. Nine species are recorded from N. America, but I have not
noticed any other records.

Synonymy. — Mik endeavoured in 1886 (Wien. ent. Zeit., v., 276) to separate
Acrocera into two genera, founded on the presence or absence of a radial vein, and
gave the name of Paracrocera to the group in which the radial vein was absent.
Osten Sacken (Berl. ent. Zeitschr., xl., 323) has shown that Mik was both hasty
and careless in this action ; hasty, inasmuch as specimens of Acrocera occur in which
the radial vein is represented by a basal stump or by an incomplete end without any
base (fig. 267) ; careless, inasmuch as he founded Paracrocera mainly on A. globulus
which was the only species known when Meigen founded the genus Acrocera, and
which must therefore under any circumstances retain the name of Acrocera and
be its typical species.

1. A. globulus Panzer. Wings hyaline; radial vein obsolete. Legs
yellow with the tip of the tarsi black. (Fig. 267.)

A small almost globular fly ; very distinct from any other
British species except Oncodes, in which the venation of the
wings is very distinct and the antennas are quite differently
placed.

1. ACROCERA

459

(?. Head (fig. 263) nearly globular, but when viewed sideways deeper than
broad ; back of the head inflated from top to bottom, and the inflation con¬
tinued under the eyes to the face. Face (if the small triangular space be¬
tween the lower parts of the eyes may be so denominated) dull black and
bare, with a conspicuous central furrow ending below in a small circular pit
which represents the mouth opening • the puffed-out back of the head begins
close to this, but the inflation is rather less on the upper third than on the
other part ; this back of the head bears fairly conspicuous yellowish grey
rather recumbent pubescence ; vertical space somewhat triangular, and by no
means small as it has to accommodate the small antennae and the three ocelli
of which the upper two are widely separated. Eyes enormous, quite bare ;
facets all equal. Antennae brown, very small and closely approximate at the
base; basal joint concealed, second apparently orbicular, third long and
narrowly ovate, with a long apical arista which is about four times as long as
the antennae.

Thorax black, obscured by very densely crowded punctuation and by
abundant short close pubescence, the latter being mostly tawny but greyer on
the sides and front part ; humeral swelling large, whitish yellow, extending
nearly half-way to the wing-base ; postalar calli bone-white, narrow near the
wing and gradually widening towards the scutellum until they enclose all
the sides of the base of scutellum ; mesopleurae similar in texture and
pubescence to the sides of the thorax, but the sternopleurge and the rest
almost bare ; the sternopleurge may have along their upper margin a long-
irregular yellowish spot which bears a short close yellow down. Scutellum
orange, with triangular black corner spots which occupy most of the lateral
(not dorsal) margins and extend a little on to the disc ; pubescence similar to
that on the thorax but shorter and more erect.

Abdomen almost globular, humped, and most so at about the end of
the second segment but then curving down on the upper side to the
moderately pointed end ; when viewed from above the four basal segments
form an almost true sphere, with the fifth segment about half as long as each
of the three preceding ones and rapidly narrowing ; beyond this the genitalia
extend and are about half as long and half as wide as the fifth segment. The
abdomen is mainly bone-white or yellowish or even orange, with rather
variable black markings, which usually cover the middle of the almost con¬
cealed basal segment, all the basal half of the second segment with three
projections extending downwards, of which the middle one is almost always
obvious but does not nearly reach the hindmargin while the lateral ones are
less constant and when present are well away from the sidemargins and may
extend right across to the hindmargin ; the black base of this second segment
widens towards the sides until at the actual sidemargins it often occupies
the whole of the segment except for the extreme white hindmargin ; third
segment with a small black middle basal spot, and with a conspicuous
black transverse spot at each side which occupies about one-third the
depth of the segment, beginning on the foremargin opposite where the
lateral extensions of the black band on the second segment should
be and sloping downwards on its lower side until at the actual side-
margin it occupies all the segment except the white hindmarginal hem as on
the second segment ; the fourth segment Sometimes has an indication of the
middle basal spot, but always has a triangular black spot at each side which
occupies all the sidemargin and a part of the foremargin ; the fifth segment
has similar but more restricted side-spots ; pubescence all over very short and
depressed, pale yellow, abundant but inconspicuous. Belly black, with the
hindmargins of the second and third segments often conspicuously whitish
yellow for about one-third of each segment, but on the fourth segment the
pale hindmargin is narrower especially towards the sides, and sometimes all
the pale hindmargins are vague ; pubescence all over pale yellow, very short
and recumbent. Genitalia globular, conspicuous, darker orange, and almost
bare.

Legs, including the coxae and trochanters, pale yellow with an inconspicuous
darkened streak along the front of all the femora, and with the tarsi con¬
spicuously black on the apical half of the last joint ; tibiae especially the hind
pair slightly dilated towards the end. Claws long and black ; pulvilli

460

CYRTID.E

pale yellow, long and conspicuous. Pubescence pale yellow and very minute
all over, with a slight tendency to a short fringe behind the posterior femora.
Wings hyaline with a faint yellowish tinge; veins darkened and rather

distinctly defined, though the lower
ones hardly reach the margin ; sub¬
costal vein thickened, darkened,
and almost reaching the wing-tip ;
radial vein obsolete, or almost so,
though occasionally there are vague
indications of it or even a detached

Fig. 267. — Acrocera globulus <$. var. x 14. piece existing (fig, 267). Thoracal

squamae very large, obscurely vit¬
reous, bare (except microscopically) but with short pale yellow fringes and a
narrow glistening whitish margin ; alar squamae small, whitish glassy.
Halteres clear yellow, knob rather large.

? . Not unlike the male, but with the usual sexual distinctions.

Head smaller than in the male.

Thorax with shorter and greyer pubescence. Scutellum all black, but
usually with a brownish tinge which becomes more obvious on the underside.

Abdomen in mature specimens shining black with a brownish tinge ;
second segment with a pair of long narrow well-separated inconspicuously
luteous spots on the hindmargin ; third segment with a pair of large obscurely
bone-white spots on the hindmargin which unite and form a large spot
occupying more than half the depth of the segment but emarginate anteriorly
at the middle and shelved off at the sides and not nearly reaching the
sidemargins ; fourth segment all obscure bone-wliite except on the blackish
foremargin ; all these markings are however very seldom well defined, and in
obscure specimens little can be clearly noted except perhaps very narrow
pale hindmarginal seams on the third and fourth segments and the pale sides
of the second segment ; the dorsal plate of the fifth segment overlaps con¬
siderably on to the ventral segments. Ovipositor short and thick, but con¬
spicuous and ending in a pair of oblong lamellae.

Legs brownish yellow, with the black tips of the tarsi less determinate
and less conspicuous.

Wings longer, more hyaline, and with the subcostal vein less darkened.

Length about 4 mm., but variable from 3-5 to 4-5 mm.

This species has no well-recognised close ally in Europe, as it is almost
certain that both A. orbiculus Fabr. and A. tumida Erichs, are synonyms ;
at any rate no good comparative distinctions have been pointed out up to
the present. A. Iceta G-erst. from Sardinia is but very little known (only
three specimens having been recorded) but apparently has the abdomen
entirely orange except for a round black spot on the second segment.
A. borealis Zett., of which one specimen of uncertain sex was taken in
Lapland in July 1832, is probably only a dark variety of A. globulus ; all the
other known European species of Acrocera have the radial vein obvious.

A. globulus is a species very little known to me in a living state,
though I believe it is not uncommon in England and sometimes has
occurred in great abundance. Dr D. Sharp has informed me that at
Milford in the New Forest it occurred in such numbers at a school outing
as to be a nuisance to the children through getting into their eyes, and
Schiner states that at Trieste they hovered in the shelter of his cap like
Anthomyice and were scarcely to be kept off. I have records from Dorset
(Parley Common, Glanville’s Wootton) Somerset (Shepton Montague),
Hampshire (Lyndhurst, Woolmer Forest, Milford), Surrey (Albury,
Wimbledon), Middlesex (Esher, Woking), Sussex (Heathfield), Suffolk
(Tuddenham Fen), Lincolnshire (Scotton), Gloucester (Forest of Dean),

2. ONCODES

461

Hereford (Tram Inn), and Shropshire (Wyre Forest), with dates ranging
only from July 10 to August 13. All of these localities are practically in
the southern part of England. The Hope Museum at Oxford has a
good series hut unfortunately without histories except one well-marked
rather large female labelled “Donovan”; another rather large female is
immature and consequently has a paler abdomen, brownish thorax, and
rather brownish wings; two labels are placed in proximity to the series,
a printed one bearing “ albipes Mei.,” and a MS. one “ globula xd S.”
It is recorded from Northern and Middle Europe.

Synonymy. — The first intelligible description of this species was that given by
Panzer in his Fauna Germanics, lxxxvi., 20 (1803), under the name of Syrphus
globulus , and consequently I adopt his specific name. It may be true that Fabricius
intended to indicate this species in his Ent. Syst., iv., 311 (1794) under the
name of Syrphus orbicidus, but his description is absolutely unintelligible, and so is
every repetition of it until Wiedemann examined the type at Kiel and sent a more
detailed description to Meigen in 1822. I consider therefore that A. orbiculus was
not really described until 1822, and I can never support the resuscitation of an
old unintelligible name identifiable only by reference to a type (which type may
easily have been transposed or replaced by a supposed better substitute), when in
the meantime an intelligible description, requiring no reference to a type, has been
given. If the examination of Fabricius3 type in 1822 had revealed a species
unrecognised at the time of such examination and redescription a fresh description
would establish the species on a sound foundation and it would not matter if the
supposed Fabrician type were a changeling or whether the date of its origin was
1794 or 1822, but as a recognisable description accompanied by a name was given
in 1803 that must have priority over any description of 1822. I fully recognise the
law of priority for recognisable descriptions, but if it is to be enforced for
unrecognisable descriptions which may subsequently be made intelligible only by a
fresh description, then the sooner any attempt to make descriptions recognisable is
given up the better and let us fall back upon comparisons of types alone and burn
all our books. When I revived such a name as Platychirus sticticus Meig. I made
sure that Meigen’s description was one which should have been recognised if
reasonable care had been exercised, but had his description been unrecognisable I
should have sunk his name as a synonym of P. spathvlatus Rond, or else have thrown
it into the limbo of nomina nuda.

A. orbiculus ( Fabr .) Wied. may therefore be considered a synonym of A. globulus ;
A. turnida of Erichson described in 1840 from possibly Germany has never since
been recognised and has been sunk by Gerstaecker as another probable synonym.
A. borealis Zett. described from one specimen of uncertain sex taken in Lapland in
July 1822 is apparently only a dark specimen of this rather variable species, and
A. Iveta Gerst. from Sardinia rests at present rather uncertainly upon three
specimens.

There might be some reasons advanced for identifying this species with Syrphus
globosus ol Fabricius (Syst. Entom., 770, 1775) which was described from England,
and which name is now applied to Cistogaster globosa (a species which is not known
to occur in England), but “frons ferruginea, linea longitudinali nigra. Thorax
“ antice ferrugineus 33 and “Pedes nigri33 are prohibitive as regards Acrocera.

2. ONCODES.

Ogcodes Latreille, Free. Car. Gen. Ins., 154 (1796).

Antennae placed on the extreme lower part of the head, and
ending in a long thin style or arista. Venation very imperfect.
Proboscis absent.

Head of the male larger than that of the female, almost all eyes except for the
small vertex (on which are two ocelli) and the small space at the bottom of the head
on which are the antennae and the indistinct mouth parts ; frons slightly produced

462

CYRTIDiE

below the touching part of the eyes ; back of the head rather inflated in the male,
but more so in the female, and crammed on to the thorax ; jowls slightly inflated.
Proboscis absent, the place where it should be being closed with a membrane. Eyes
enormous, quite bare. Antennae (fig. 265) apparently two-jointed, dovetailed into
the face: apparent basal joint cylindrical, short and thick; apparent second joint
oval, with a long apical thin style, which is dilated at its base but ends in a minute
hair-like bristle.

Thorax (fig. 268) forming a complete sphere ; humeral, prsealar, and postalar calli

large, but not very conspicuous • pubescence
rather dense and soft but hardly abundant
enough to be furry, and without the slightest
sign of bristles or long hairs even on the
postalar calli or the margin of the scutellum.
Scutellum large, •with a very deep rounded
margin which leaves only a small portion of
the disc rather flat, pubescence similar to that
on the thorax ; metanotum rather small.

Abdomen dorsally arched but hardly globu-

Fig. 2gs. — Oncodes gibbosus 9 • x ii. lar, short ovate with a blunt base and tip in

the male, but short and round in the female,
with five obvious segments ; pubescence fairly abundant. Genitalia concealed
beneath the rather small fifth segment.

Legs rather short and stout, but simple and without any trace of spurs or
processes ; tarsi with the first and fifth joints longer than the others. Pulvilli and
claws well separated from the fifth tarsal joint ; claws long and thin ; pulvilli in the
male almost equally long and thin, but shorter and more pad-like in the female.

Wings short in the male, but larger and longer in the female; venation very
imperfect ; in 0. pallipes the two large basal cells and the closed anal cell can be
traced but the small cross-vein is absent ; the wing-tip is clear of all venation for a
very large space ; radial vein absolutely absent ; cubital vein sloping downwards
incomplete, and not forked ; discal vein indicated by three incomplete veins running
towards the wingmargin long after the wing-tip. Squamae (thoracal) enormous,
depressed, and clothed all over their upper surface with not at all dense woolly
pubescence ; alar pair rather small but thick, clothed with only minute down.
Halteres on comparatively short stems, hidden beneath the thoracal squamae.

This genus is easily distinguished from Acrocera by the position of the
antennae and by the venation. The species occasionally occur in large
numbers, sitting on the underside of leaves in the neighborhood of damp
meadows or on dry tips of boughs ; 0. varius has occurred near Berlin about
the middle of June on Equisctum limosum, and Gerstaecker has given
(Stettin, ent. Zeit., xvi, 339, 1856) some elaborate and interesting
details about finding 0. zonatus in abundance. The larvae are parasitic
upon spiders, and full details of their early life-history and saltatory
powers have been given by Konig (Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, xliv.,
163-166, Taf. vii. 1894).

Oncocles is represented in the Palaearctic region by about six species,
though thirteen names are included in Kertesz’s “Katalog” of which
several are most probably only varieties. The better known species may
be tabulated as follows :

1 (2) Wings more or less darkened.

Wings brownish on the basal half or even on the whole wing.

varius Latr. ?

(bcnacensis Pok, (?) gvJttatus A. Costa, fumatus Erichs., cvpicalis
Meig.)

2 (1) Wings not at all darkened.

3 (4) Squamae with pale margins.

1 gibbos tLs L.

2. ONCODES

463

4 (3) Squamae with blackened margins.

5 (6) Femora black at the base.

6 (5) Femora all yellow (or at least all one colour).

7 (8) Blackish species.

2 pallipes Latr.
( nigripes Zett. ?)
formosus Loew.

zonatus Erichs.

8 (7) Yellow species.

0. etruscus Griff, is probably a variety of one of these species, but it
is at present difficult to say which; it has the wings brownish tinged,
and the femora black at the extreme base.

0. pubcscens Latr. “Pattes blanchatres ” was queried by Latreille
himself as a synonym of “ Syrphus orbiculus Fab./’ which in turn is almost
certainly a synonym of Acrocera globulus.

0. nigripes Zett. according to a female in Kowarz’s collection from
Pontresina may be distinct, as it has the frons conspicuously covered with
pale down and the thorax more coarsely punctate; legs black with just
the tip of the femora yellow, tibia brown or dark brown ; and the squama
whitish with the margin blackish in front but light brown behind.

The genus is represented by about ten species from North and Central
America, one from South Africa, one from South Asia, and about six from
Australia and New Zealand.

1. O. gibbosus Linne. Squama bone-white, with hardly darker
margins. Halteres orange or brownish. Wings with the foremarginal
veins pale yellowish, but with no dark clouding, femora mainly black.

A remarkably gibbous fly, with bone-white markings on
the abdomen which are restricted in the female to the narrow
hindmargins of the segments.

Head (figs. 265, 268) small, almost globular except for being a little
flattened behind and beneath. The enormous eyes occupy almost the
whole head except the vertex and the small concealed face ; face and
frons almost on the underside of the head and forming a nearly equila¬
teral triangle of which the dull velvety frons occupies the upper half,
but sometimes the frons is dull black with slight _ grey tomentum ;
frons quite bare and with slightly raised margins which slope gradually
down inwards so as to leave a broad middle channel. Face very short,
dull brown, extending down the sides of the mouth ; jowls small but
distinct, deep black and bearing some fine pubescence on the back part;
lower part of the sides of the mouth also deep black and not quite bare ;
back of the head dull blackish, narrow but visible all the way up, and bearing
inconspicuous brownish or yellowish brown pubescence ; ocellar space raised,
shining black, with two gleaming red ocelli. Eyes enormous, quite bare ;
facets all equal, but a channel runs from the back part about half-way across
the middle of the eye. Antenna} blackish brown, very small and short ;
basal joint so minute that the antenna} have often been called two-jointed ;
third joint distinctly transverse and bearing a _ subterminal arista ; arista
swollen and polished black at the base but becoming thinner (though not very
thin) and brown or even pale brown and appearing to be thicker near its end
than just after about its base, while the actual tip bears a minute apical
bristle ; arista longer than the antenna}.

Thorax shining black with a slight brownish aeneous tinge, and clothed
with rather thick brownish yellow, greyish yellow, or greyish pubescence
which slightly obscures the ground colour ; this pubescence is rather depressed

4G4

CYRTID.E

and becomes greyer about the postalar calli, and on the back part, and
especially on the scutellum where it is rather more erect. Pleurae bare on the
lower part, brilliantly shining down the middle part but slightly obscured by
grey dust in front and behind.

Abdomen shining black, rather shallowly and not conspicuously punctulate,
the punctuation becoming scarcer and vague on the last three segments. All
the segments after the basal one have a rather broad bone- white hindmargin
which scarcely reaches the sidemargins, and on the second and third segments
this bone-white hindmargin is a little narrowed about the middle ; above
these hindmargins there is a considerable but varying amount of bone-
white coloring which is caused by a widening upwards of the hindmarginal
colour on to the disc of the segments between the middle and the sides,
sometimes in the form of long transverse spots scarcely connected with the
bone-white hindmargin but separated from it on the second segment by a
slight black line and on the third segment by a depressed line, while more
commonly it appears as about doubling the width of the bone-white hind¬
margin for about the same space, or in the whitest forms the extreme fore¬
margins of the third and fourth segments and sometimes of the fifth bear on
each side a long transverse luteous spot which may amalgamate with the
extended white coloring ; the bone-white hindmargin of the third segment is
usually rather wider than that of the second and, without its widening, occupies
about one-third of the segment ; on the fourth segment the whitish hind¬
margin occupies fully half the segment and usually forms a broad well-defined
band, but sometimes its upper margin is irregular about the middle ; on the
fifth segment (the last apparent segment) all the hindmargin quite to the
sidemargins is bone-Avliite and occupies about half or more of the segment,
but the fore-edge of this white marking (while usually straight) may have
a shallow emargination on each side of the middle ; sixth segment small,
concealed under the fifth segment, with its basal half black and its end half
bone-wliite ; sometimes even the basal segment has a narrow bone- white hind¬
margin. The whitest specimen I have seen has the abdomen bone-white,
with the small basal segment and three subquadrate dorsal spots black, and this
is caused by the bone-white coloring extending up from the hindmargins until
it meets the two luteous transverse spots along the foremargins, whereby the
second segment is left with a subquadrate black spot on its middle which at
its widest part is less than one-third the width of the segment and is narrowest
at its fore part but gradually widens downwards and at the middle of its
slightly arched hind part extends up to the bone-white hindmargin ;
the third segment has a similar spot (larger but not so large in comparison
with the size of the segment) occupying about one-tliird the width of the
segment and not sharply defined against the foremargin but at its hindmargin
fully one-third of the segment away from the bone-white hindmargin except
for a slight prolongation just at its middle ; the fourth segment has a shallow
transverse black spot along its foremargin which occupies hardly more than
one-third the depth of the segment and which dies away at the side sixth ;
the fifth segment has a black foremargin with two very shallow indistinct
long luteous transverse markings against the absolute foremargin but other¬
wise nearly equal all across the segment ; the sixth segment has a sharply
defined black basal line which occupies nearly half the segment ; the fore¬
margins of the third and fourth segments outside the black spots are rather
luteous. Occasionally the bone-white hindmargin of the second segment is so
much narrowed about the middle as to be interrupted, while that on the third
segment is reduced to a fine line. When viewed sideways the lower margin
of the dorsal plate is all black except very narrowly at the hindmarginal
corners, while the outer margin of the ventral plate is all bone-white. As a
rule the larger the specimen the more extended is the white coloring on the
abdomen. Pubescence greyish yellow or pale yellow, ubiquitous but depressed
and inconspicuous, not at all long, rather scarce and slight and whitish on
the last three segments. Belly nearly bare, all six segments well visible,
rather brightly shining, nearly all bone-white except at the black base and
tip and on the broadish black often interrupted line running down near (but
not close to) the sides and often not extended to the end segments, but
often the foremargin of each segment rather narrowly and irregularly blackish,

2. ONCODES

465

while other obscure markings may be present ; sometimes the hindmargins of
the segments may be obscurely darkened, possibly through the concealed
black foremargins of segments showing translucently through the hind margin
of the previous segment. Genitalia in large specimens fairly conspicuous,
bearing greyish yellow pubescence all over, black at the base, then followed
by a pair of approximated dark tawny or orange triangular lamella; above
and a thin projecting dark tawny middle piece.

Legs shining black on the coxa; and trochanters and basal three-fourths or
more of the femora, but after that dull orange or brownish or bright
red brown, or even dark brown on the hind pair, while the knee joints are
narrowly darkened on at least the base of the tibiae, and the tarsi are more
or less darkened dorsally after the basal joint though sometimes not until
the fourth or even last joint ; joints of the coxae and trochanters
rather brownish ; large specimens have a tendency towards less blackened
front femora and darker hind tibiae ; anterior femora slightly dilated about
the middle and the hind femora after the middle, all being rather rugose
perpendicularly ; tibiae stout and nearly straight, slightly larger at the tip
than at the base ; tarsi thinner than the tibiae, and the joints in relative
length being 51234, the fifth joint being rather stout and strong and slightly
shorter than the first, with the others gradually decreasing in length ; claws
and pulvilli long, entirely projecting beyond the fifth joint ; claws black,
curved, dilated at the base ; pulvilli three, the middle one being slightly
shorter than the other two, all brown. Pubescence on the femora nearly
equal all over, pale but inconspicuous ; on .the tibiae and tarsi short and
closely adpressed all over, pale and fairly abundant but very inconspicuous
because so short and adpressed ; there is no sign of any bristles, long hairs,
or spurs.

Wings quite hyaline, except that the veins on the foremargin are pale
yellowish down to the base of the cubital vein and the basal third of the
postical vein is pale yellow ; costal vein extending almost to the tip of
the wing • extreme base of the costal and subcostal veins blackish and
slightly swollen,' while the base of the costa bears slight pale pubescence ;
postical vein only faintly forked towards the discal vein ; sometimes the
wings have a faint brownish tinge. Squamae (thoracal) enormous,
resembling roughened glass in colour, but usually with a pale yellowish
margin, and the whole disc bearing an abundant almost dense though
inconspicuous whitish pubescence which is as long as the marginal fringe ;
sometimes these squamae appear to have a thickened margin with a slight
darkening all round just before the margin, while at other times the
margin is as vitreous as the disc ; alar squamae small, inconspicuous, glassy
whitish. Halteres rather small, completely covered by the thoracal squamae,
bright orange or orange brown or brown.

? . Exceedingly like the male, but the bone-white markings on the abdomen
reduced to narrow lines on the hindmargins of the segments.

Head distinctly smaller.

Thorax with shorter and less abundant pubescence, less punctulate and
consequently much more shining black ; humeri and postalar calli brownish.

Abdomen shining black, less punctulate and consequently more shining,
with narrow bone-white hindmargins of segments which occupy about one-
sixth of each segment but which hardly reach to the sidemargins of the
basal segments until the sixth segment which is half bone-white ; a very
short rather narrower seventh segment is often visible and is black on its
basal half but bone-white on its apical half, and after this appears a still
narrower all blackish eighth segment (= base of ovipositor?), which is
followed by a thick short ovipositor ; sometimes the bone-white bands on the
fourth and fifth segments are broader and occupy a quarter of the fourth
segment and a third of the fifth segment. Belly bone-white with the base
and tip black ; incisures darkened narrowly at the middle, but more widely
towards the sides.

Legs less distinctly black, the front femora having only about the basal
quarter quite black and the next third obscurely brownish.

Wings larger and conspicuously longer, paler, and with the blackened base

2 G

466

CYRTIDJE

of the costal and subcostal veins less distinct. Squamae whiter. Halteres
orange.

Length about 4-5 nun. but very variable in size in both sexes (3-5 to
5-5 mm.), some specimens being three or four times as large as others.

This species varies considerably in size in both sexes but especially in
the male, and in the extent of the bone-white bands or markings. It is
easily distinguished from its allies by the pale glassy squamae which have
no dark margins, by the partially black femora, and by the absence of any
darkening on the wings.

0. gibbosus seems to be a fairly common New Forest fly in June and
July, as I have taken it there myself hovering or floating high up in the
air, and I have seen a large number of specimens from there ; I have also
seen specimens from Herefordshire taken by Colonel Yerbury in the
Golden Valley and by Dr J. H. Wood at Woolhope. Mr Claude Morley
has recorded it from Barnby Broad in Suffolk, and there is a male in the
Hope Museum at Oxford labelled as from Richmond Park on July 4, 1835.
Curtis said that it was taken “in May and June on Wimbledon Common,
“ and in Coombe Wood,” while he said of his Henops marginatus (which
was almost certainly the female of 0. gibbosus ) from the New Forest, “My
“ specimens I purchased of the late Mr Joseph Standish, who beat them
“ out of old white thorn bushes that were covered with lichen, the end of
“ June and beginning of July. They were so sluggish in the net that
“ they laid with their wings closed, which made it difficult to detect them ;
“ and the least pressure destroyed the rotundity of their bodies, which are
“ very thin, and with the large wings and scales appear to be well adapted
“ to enable the insect to float like a balloon in the air, subject to the
“ influence of any current that may prevail.” The few certain dates that I
know range only from June 26 to August 5, and I may note that all the
males were taken in June or July but all the females in August. The
remarkable fact recorded (Entorn. Month. Mag., xxxviii., 205, 1902) by
Rev. H. S. Gorham as to the storing of upwards of fifty specimens of this
fly in a hollow thistle ( Cnicus palustris ) stem by Crabro interruptus at
Emery Down in the New Forest shows that the species must be common
or at least locally abundant, and his statement that there is a mimicry
between them and the spider they prey upon makes a closer study of their
habits most desirable. It is recorded from Central and Northern Europe.

Synonymy. — It is almost certain that Curtis’ figure and description of Henops
marginatus refer to this species, as his statement “Legs dull ferruginous, fuscous
“ towards their base” could not apply to 0. pallipes, and I am confirmed in this
opinion by a female in the Hope collection at Oxford labelled “ marginatus .”

2. O. pallipes Latreille. Squanne smoky, with blackish margins.
Halteres black. Wings with the foremarginal veins blackish, but with
no dark clouding. Legs entirely pale luteous.

Very much like 0. gibbosus , but easily recognised by the
diagnostic characters.

8 . Longer in proportion to its width and less bladder-shaped than 0. gibbosus.
Head almost as in 0. gibbosus. Eyes with the dividing line running from the
back across the middle almost absent, though some irregular facets show
where it might be.

2. ONCODES

467

Thorax rather densely punctate, clothed with conspicuous denser and much
longer pubescence than 0. gibbosus, and this pubescence is more brownish
yellow or brownish and obscures the ground colour more, and is also more
erect and more entirely of one colour.

Abdomen mainly dull (or sometimes obscurely) luteous, with large black
dorsal spots and with narrow yellow hindmargins to the segments ; narrower
than in 0. gibbosus, being conspicuously longer in proportion to its width
and consequently much less globular, and also much less bladder-shaped
when viewed sideways because the belly is flatter ; hindmargins of the second
to fifth segments narrowly clear pale yellowish, but otherwise an obscure
luteous or brownish luteous colour spreads over all the abdomen except on
the large black dorsal spots, and inconspicuously on the lateral spots ; the
large black dorsal spots are subquadrate and are placed against the fore¬
margin of each segment, that on the second segment being the widest and
reaching downwards to the pale hindmargin but rather undefined and
occupying fully three-fifths of the width of the segment or sometimes even
too undefined for accurate measurement ; the spot on the third segment is
better defined and occupies about the middle half of the segment and though
slightly produced behind about the middle is still not quite extended to the
yellowish hindmargin ; the spot on the fourth segment is similar, but is slightly
less wide and only extends down about two-thirds of the segment and is
consequently well separated by luteous coloring from the narrow yellowish
hindmargin ; on the fifth segment there is a smaller less defined spot, which
occupies about the middle third of the foremargin and extends only about a third
down the segment, though sometimes this spot is too undefined for accurate
measurement ; the sixth segment appears to be all black, but has a narrow
obscure luteous hindmargin or tip and also very vague luteous tinges on its
middle ; viewed sideways the lateral margins of the dorsal plate are not
narrowly though sometimes rather indefinitely black, but distinctly more
narrowly so on the fifth segment and not extending to the end of that
segment. Pubescence long erect and rather abundant but not very conspicu¬
ous, greyish brown on the three or four basal segments but paler grey on the
rest. Belly obscurely luteous brown with four pairs of large badly defined
pitchy black spots placed at the basal corners of the second to fifth segments,
and with conspicuous rather wide whitish hindmargins to those same four
segments, the sixth segment being black on the basal half and luteous on the
apical half ; belly by no means bare but with only inconspicuous thin light
grey pubescence.

Legs pale luteous or almost yellow from the extreme base of the femora
to the last joint of the tarsi, and even the claws luteous with curved black
tips ; coxae and trochanters shining black but rather obscured by the longish
pale pubescence ; knee joints darkened, but hardly at the base of the tibiae.
Pubescence on the femora pale yellow rather abundant and long all over, and
not quite so much adpressecl on the tibiae and tarsi as in 0. gibbosus.

Wings hyaline, but the foremarginal veins smoky ; venation more complete
than in 0. gibbosus ; costal vein thin and dark nearly up to the end of the
mediastinal vein, then thickened and dirty yellowish until the end of the
subcostal, then again often more conspicuously black on the thickened
costal margin, but fading away just before the tip of the wing; mediastinal
and subcostal veins brownish yellow ; cubital vein becoming pale before
the wingmargin ; even the postical vein yellowish, and its upper branch
across to the discal vein usually visible though some limes very faint and
not quite reaching the discal vein ; base of the wing rather blackish ; lower
basal cell and anal cell usually complete or almost so, the latter being closed.
Squamae (thoracal) smoky (in some lights blackish) vitreous, roughened,
with a distinct well defined blackish margin, and with long greyish white
pubescence all over the disc and on the margin ; alar squamae small, paler,
and without any pubescence but with minute down on the disc and margin.
Halteres with dull black knobs and obscure stems.

? . As usual in this genus the head is smaller and the wings are longer than in
the male. Pubescence shorter than in the male, but much longer, darker, and
more erect than in 0. gibbosus.

468

CYRTIDdE

Tliorax less punctulate, and consequently more shining than in the male ;
humeri and postalar calli very slightly brownish.

Abdomen with the pale hinclmargins of segments narrower and straighter
because the abdomen is so much less balloon-shaped ; in a small brightly
shining (possibly immature) specimen from Wells the abdomen has incon¬
spicuous obscurely defined dark luteous markings against the [(ale hind-
margins on the second to fourth segments, and the fifth segment has incon¬
spicuous similar but more extended markings. Belly with only the
hinclmargins of the fourth to sixth segments rather broadly white, as well
as just the middle of the hindmargin of the third segment.

Legs in the specimen from Tram Inn more obscurely luteous than in the
male, but in the specimen from Wells clear pale yellow.

Wings as in the male, but in the specimen from Wells (possibly immature)
less dark about the foremarginal veins though still with a blackish tinge.

Length about 5-5 min.

This species may be easily distinguished from 0. gibbosus by the
blackened margin of the thoracal squamae, from 0. zonatus by its entirely
pale legs, and from 0. varius by its hyaline wings. I do not know much
about its variations, but Erichson stated that his two specimens had the
prothoracic lobes, the postalar calli, and the scutellum, yellowish piceous,
but his specimens may have been females as I have found similar traces
in that sex. P. Marchal (Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr., 1899, 286) has given some
details concerning the eggs and very young larvae of this species ; Giard
(Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr., 1894, cliii.) once found a pupa, along side of which
were the remains of a spider of the genus Clubionci.

0. pallipes is but little known as British, and is still less known in
Central Europe where 0. zonatus and 0. varius are well recognised.
Colonel Yerbury took two males and a female near Tram Inn on July 23,
1902, and one male at Tarrington on August 1, 1902, both these localities
being in Herefordshire ; he also took a male at Porthcawl in Glamorgan
on July 17, 1906, and Mr C. G. Lamb took an apparently immature female
at Wells in Somerset in July 1903. Dr J. H. Wood has also taken a few
specimens at Tram Inn and Shobden Marsh, and there is a specimen in
the Dale collection at Oxford which was taken at Glanville’s Wootton in
Dorset on June 23, 1888. Its distribution is not well known, but it
probably occurs over most of Central Europe. It is worthy of note that
Gerstaecker once sought in a known locality near Berlin for the allied
0. zonatus on July 26 and could not find a specimen, but found it
plentiful on August 3.

Synonymy. — This species appears to have been but very little known to German
authors, and consequently has been very much confused by them, though most
French authors appear to have known and understood it. It is practically certain
that the species now described is Latreille’s H. pallipes, of which Fallen’s II. gibbosus
and Meigen’s II. marginatus are synonyms. I am also of opinion that Meigen’s
II. limbatus is a synonym of this (as Meigen himself suspected) and not of 0. varius
Latr., which has the wings partly brownish, while Meigen’s H. limbatus had “ fliigel
“ glasartig.” Three specimens in Bigot’s collection labelled 0. pallipes are very
unsatisfactory ; one very immature specimen and one very bad one have the
scutellum palish at the tip, while the third is an obvious female 0. pallipes
though in very bad condition ; one female in his collection labelled 0. marginatus
has the abdomen all obscurely luteous tawny with no clear dorsal spots and the
hindmarginal lines inconspicuous but the last segment normally colored and the
foremargin of the wing very yellowish but the squamae obviously darkly margined.

0. zonatus is a very probable British species and is closely allied to

2. ONCODES

469

0. pallipcs, but has the thorax rather densely punctate and bearing longer
more erect pubescence than in 0. yibbosus, though this pubescence is pale
grey as in that species, and not so long, erect, or abundant as in
0. pallipes ; abdomen clear black with conspicuous bone-white bands on
the hindmargins of the second to sixth segments, usually widest at the
middle on the third and fourth segments, and with a slight similar band on
the fifth; belly white, with an entire black band near the base and with
triangular black spots down the sides ; femora black at the base, becoming
bright brown about the middle and orange on the apical quarter ; tibiae
darkened anteriorly and dorsally except at the tip ; hind tibiae slightly
curved ; tarsi all obscured dorsally ; claws black ; wings with the fore¬
marginal veins brownish; squamae whitish glassy, with rather broad
brown (sometimes only light brown) margins ; halteres with light brown
knobs; polished base of the arista short. Female with the hindmargins
of the abdominal segments obscure luteous ; femora with the basal half
or more black.

DIPTERA BRACHYCERA

TROMOPTERA

Two pad-like pulvilli only. Strong bristly hairs or even
bristles usual on the thorax, and spicules or even bristles on
the legs, with an apical circlet of spines on the tibiae. Aerial
flies, usually clothed with dense furry pile.

Head usually holoptic, but sometimes dichoptic in the male, and
without cephalic bristles (except a pair of ocellar bristles in Toxopliora ) ;
never sunk between the eyes on the vertex in such a way as to make
the eyes appear protuberant ; collar never bristly. Eyes always bare,
facets all equal in size in both sexes (Conf. Systropus), and (as far
as is known) unicolorous and not brilliantly colored in life. Antennae
with the third joint never annulated, and usually with a style or arista or
pencil of hairs which when present is always terminal.

Thorax either with or without bristles, eremochaetous though densely
pubescent in most Bombylidce, but closely allied species may have
praesutural bristles or strong bristly hairs on the postalar calli, and in
many genera numerous strong bristly hairs may occur on other parts
until in the Toxophorina: and the Tlierevidce strong chaetotactic bristles are
present (figs. 294, 311), though no bristles ever occur on the pleurae. Strong
tufts of dense pubescence are almost always present on the mesopleurae and
metapleurae, but the hypopleurae are bare in order to allow free move¬
ment of the middle femora. Scutellum unarmed, but often with a few
strong marginal bristles.

Abdomen ordinarily without any approach to bristles amongst the
furry pubescence, though strong hairs may occur. Genitalia rarely at
all conspicuous, but the ovipositor is sometimes ( Anthrax , Tliereva )
provided with a circlet of spines as in some My d aider and Asilidce.

Legs usually weak and thin, only adapted for alighting; femora
often with bristle-like spicules on the underside, which become strong in
some species, tibias with minute spicules and an incomplete apical
circlet of spines in the Bombylidce, which develop into rows of bristles and
a complete apical circlet of spines in the Toxophorincc and Tlierevidce.
Tulvilli never more than two, and even these sometimes obsolete ( Anthrax ,
etc.).

Wings with a venation of the ordinary type for the earlier families of the
Brachycera, but in the Bombylidce the posterior cells are never more than
four in number and the small cross-vein is always absolutely absent, while
in the Tlierevidce the posterior cells are always five in number and the

470

TROMOPTERA

471

small cross-vein is prominently present ; anal cell always long and con¬
tracted or closed near the hindmargin ; ambient vein complete. Squamae
(both alar and thoracal) small or at the utmost moderate in size, but
occasionally (Toxophora) with remarkably long fringes.

The perfect insects are never very large and never very small ; they
are essentially aerial, and the Born bylidce possess a hovering power which
is developed sometimes to a most remarkable degree, while the Therevidce
are very active and the males sometimes execute frantic aerial dances.
They are essentially sun-lovers and never blood-suckers, and though the
Therevidce are reputedly “ Eobber-Flies ” the statement requires confirma¬
tion. The larvrn are parasitic and (as far as is known) have two very
distinct stages of development in the Bombylidce, the mobile one after
hatching and the torpid one after reaching their intended host, while in
the Therevidce they are very active in their earlier stages.

The Teomoptera are easily distinguished from the Eeemocii^eta by
the presence of only two pad-like pulvilli, and usually by the presence of
distinct bristles on the thorax and legs ; even when these bristles are
absent still spicules and an apical circlet of spines exist on the tibiae, and
usually the spicules or spines beneath the hind femora are of a stronger
nature than those which occur in any Eremochasta. The Dermatina
are distinguished by their remarkable absence of pubescence and bristles,
by their pedestrian heavily built legs, by their different antennae, and by
the totally distinct system of venation in which the discal vein always ends
before the wing-tip. The Energopoda (certainly in the Asilidce ) possess
strong stout bristles on the thorax and legs, or at any rate have
coarse dense pubescence in place thereof, and are essentially pedestrian
and predaceous species apparently without any powers of hovering * or
dancing.

The Teomoptera (in the sense adopted by me) include only the
Bombylidce and Therevidce, but in the sense of the founder (Osten Sacken)
included the Nemestrinidoe, Cyrtidce, and Scenqpinidce. The reason for
Osten Sacken’s inclusion of the first two of these families lay in the stress
which he placed in the aerial habits of the superfamily, while I have been
more impressed by the structural characters afforded by the total absence
of bristles and the presence of three pad-like pulvilli and consequently
have included them in the Eeemocireta. As regards the Sccnopinidce it
is probable that Osten Sacken himself would not have included them in
his Tromoptera, but placed them there in association with the Therevidce
“according to the received opinion.”

Osten Sacken’s words (Berl. ent. Zeitschr., 1896, p. 368) in connection
with the founding of the Superfamily Tromoptera are worthy of quota¬
tion, but it must be borne in mind that he included the Nemestrinidce,
Cyrtidce, and Scenopinidce.

* Colonel Yerbury informs me that be has seen the male of a species of Promachus (or some allied genus)
hovering over the female when courting.

472

TROMOPTERA

“Tromoptera. The relationship of the Nemestrinidae, Cyrtidae and
“ Bombylidae is obvious, and has been noticed by the earliest writers ; it
“ finds its confirmation in the history of the transformation of these families.
“ They are all parasitic in their larval stages, and, as far as known, all
“ show two stages of development of the larva, the mobile one after
“ hatching, and the torpid, after reaching their intended host. The
“ Cyrtidae and Nemcstrinidae, both ache t a (that is without macrochaetae),
“ are specialized types, the former, as far as known, are parasites of
“ spiders ; the Nemcstrinidae are not universally distributed, but occur
“ sporadically in disconnected, limited areas, far distant from each other,
“ and characterized by a warm, dry, almost rainless, climate. (Central
“ Asia, South Eastern Europe, some parts of Africa, of Australia and the
“ deserts of South America.) [Compare in Berghaus’s Physic. Atlas, new
“ edit.; the map Meteorologie, N°- XI (1886) has areas tinted in the
“ palest blue, indicating a minimum of rainfall ; those are the regions of
“ the Nemestrinidae.] ”

“As I have said above, the prevalence of holoptic heads in the male,
“ connected with the power of hovering, and legs, fit principally for
“ alighting, distinguish the Tromoptera. Dichoptic heads in the male
“ occur only exceptionally. The number of posterior cells as a maximum
“ is fi v e in the Cyrtidae and Nemestrinidae and four in the Bombylidae.
“ But as the venation in all these families is very variable, and subject to
“ degradation, this is not a very deep-seated character. The number of
“ pulvilli is normally three in the Cyrtidae and Nemestrinidae, and in
“ this, just as in the number of posterior cells, they approach the
“ Eremocliaeta. Whether this double coincidence is an index of some
“ hidden relationship is as yet unknown.”

“The Bombylidae are a much more numerous family than the two just
“ mentioned ones, spread almost universally, but always seeking dry and
“ sunny situations. The variety of forms in this family is unique among
“ Diptera : Bombylius, Anthrax, Lomatia are the principal types, showing
“ a more or less distinct system of macrochaetae, especially on the sides of
“ the thorax {Bombylius on the abdomen, concealed within a dense clothing
“ of fur). The extremes, as to form, are the slender Systropus, entirely
“ bare of hairs or bristles, and the heavy Toxophora with comparatively
“ small wings, but stout legs, and showing an unusual development of
“ stout macrochaetae on the thorax, and even a pair of ocellar bristles on
“ the head (a unique case, I believe, among Tromoptera), almost a pedestrian
“ among aerial Diptera ! Among all this variety of forms, however, the
“ parasitism of the larvae is a constant character.”

“ I have no hesitation in placing the Thcrevidac among the Tromoptera,
“ but I would consider them as an ancestral form. I derive this opinion
“ from the fact that species of this family are apparently common in New-
“ Zealand (which, as well known, abounds in non-evoluted forms, as
“ Dr D. Sharp calls them in his paper on N.-Z. Coleoptera). All collections

TROMOPTERA

473

“ from N.-Z. contain Therevae, and the earliest Dipteron described (1775)
“ from these islands was T. bilinccita Fab., collected by Sir J. Banks,
“ companion of Capt. Cook. The greatest difference between the Therevidae
“ and the three above-mentioned normal families of Tromoptera consists
“ in their earlier stages ; however the great mobility of the larva of
“ Thereva in hunting for prey, favored by its serpentine shape and tough
“ consistency, may be premonitory of the first, mobile stage of the larvae
“ of the other groups. Besides the Therevidae, the Cyrtidae also seem to
“ be comparatively frequent in N.-Z. Three species of Cyrtidae, represent-
“ ing as many genera, have been brought from that country. One of them,
“ Oncodes brunneus, seems to be exceedingly common. Thus, of the four
“ families of Diptera, composing the Superfamily Tromoptera, the Therevidae
“ and Cyrtidae seem to be much more common in N.-Z. than in Europe
“ or in North America. The Bombylidae, on the contrary, flourishing in
“ the rest of the world, seem to be exceedingly rare in N.-Z. I have never
“ seen a Bombylid (or still less a Nemcstrinid ) from N.-Z. in any collection,
“ and none have been mentioned, as far as I know, in literature, except the
“ two species of Neuria, in Schiner’s Novara- work, quoted as coming from
“ Auckland, N.-Z., but the origin of which still requires conflrmation, as
“ there is no other authority for the locality. One of these Neuriae has
“ been described by Macquart from Eastern Australia ; the locality of the
“ other is vaguely described by Fabricius as ‘ the Islands of the Pacific
“ Ocean.’ Such a striking result, although based upon rather meagre
“ data, has its significance, the more so as both Bombylidae and Nemes-
“ trinidae are very abundant in Australia. This result seems to me a
“ potent argument for the opinion that the Therevidae are an ancestral
“ form among the Tromoptera .”

“ The Seenopinidae, according to the received opinion, may be placed
“ alongside of the Therevidae, although they are glabrous and bristleless,
“ while Thercvae have a regular system of macrochaetae on the thorax.”

ARRANGEMENT.

The natural sequence of families runs from the Cyrtidae to the
Bombylidae, probably through the bare humpbacked Glabelhda, Platypygus,
etc., on through the Bombylince to the Lomatinoe and Anthracinoe and
thence to the chsetophorous and five-posterior-celled Therevidae, after which
embryonic characters may lead to the Seenopinidae, or else the stepping
stone would seem to be natural on to the Apioceridce (with which the
Mydaidce must have some close affinity, as is proved by the venation)
and so on to the Asilince ; or else a connection may be traced from the
Philopotince to the Toxophorince through the remarkable dorsal develop¬
ment of the prothorax, but against that has to be placed the very strong
chsetotaxy of Toxophora ; in fact the position of the Toxophorince and
Systropinoe is not clear.

474

TROMOPTERA

VII. BOMBYLID^.

Fio. 269. — Bombylius major &. X 3.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous Hies of moderate to rather large size,
seldom small nor remarkably large, often bearing bristles but the bristles
usually concealed in the dense furry pubescence. Proboscis often long and
porrect. Legs thin and usually almost without bristles but with minute
spicules, used for alighting purposes only; pulvilli two only.

Head rather round or transverse, narrower than or as broad as or occasionally
broader than the thorax, and so closely applied to the thorax that any neck is
seldom conspicuously apparent. Frons and vertex not at all sunk between the
eyes ; occiput puffed out from the eyes (except in Systrovince) and sometimes bearing
long postocular hairs ; ocelli present. Proboscis usually very long and porrect (and
then horny and pointed), but sometimes short and with broad sucker-flaps; palpi
one- or two-jointed. Eyes bare, usually touching or at least approximated in the
male (and even touching in both sexes in Systropus). An ten me porrect, approximate
or remote at the base ; third joint not annulated, though in many species a distinct
suture cuts off the base of the joint, and usually produced style-like or ending in
a style or circlet of bristly hairs, but sometimes without any process.

Thorax in all British species without any conspicuous clnetotactic bristles,
though tufts of longer pubescence of a somewhat scaly nature may occur above the
wing-base and on the postalar calli, but in many non-British species prsesutural,
supra-alar, and postalar bristles are evident, or even sometimes ( Toxophorince ) an
elaborate and unusual chsetotaxy, while in the Anthracince closely adherent scales
often occur hidden beneath the long dense pubescence, though when these scales are
abundant the pubescence is less dense ; metapleurae usually densely hairy, but the
hypopleurae bare so as to allow a free movement of the middle femora. Scutellinn
usually clothed like the thorax, but sometimes with inconspicuous (or rarely
with conspicuous) marginal bristles or bristly hairs, and sometimes clothed only
with scales, never armed ; metanotum small, concealed under the scutellum.

Abdomen (Bombylince) almost globular and clothed with dense furry pubescence
intermingled with which may be some longer straggling hairs, or ( Anthracince ) more
elongate with almost parallel sides and less furry pubescence on (at least) the disc,
or (Cyllenia, Mulio, etc.) with strong hindmarginal bristles, or ( Systropus ) very
elongate slender and bare ; the six to eight segments often difficult to trace under

BOMBYLIDJE

475

the furry pubescence. Genitalia inconspicuous ; those of the male sometimes turned
to one side, and the ovipositor sometimes with a circlet of spines (Anthrax).

Legs rather long and weak, made for alighting only and never for predatory
purposes ; hind pair usually elongated. Moderately strong bristles (like little
sticks) may occur beneath the femora (especially the hind pair), and inconspicuous
rows of spicules occur down the tibiae, rarely (Toxophonnoi) developing into
obvious stick-like bristles, while a circlet of terminal spines is almost always
present ; numerous short bristles occur on the tarsi, especially on the soles, but
touch-liairs are completely absent. Pulvilli two (said to be three in Cyrtosia), the
empodium being minute, and sometimes even the pulvilli are only microscopical
(. Anthrax , etc.) ; claws moderate in size or small, or the front pair very small while
the others are normal.

Wings usually half open or outspread when at rest ; venation distinct from the
other families of the Brachycera (except the Cyrtidce and Scenopinidoe and some
Stratiomyidce and Asilidce) owing to the complete absence of the small cross-vein,
as the upper branch of the postical vein forms the lower margin of the discal cell for
a considerable distance (rarely reduced to a point), and after excluding this upper
branch of the postical vein the discal cell emits only two veinlets (or occasionally
only one) to or towards the wingmargin, so that there are never more than four and
sometimes only three posterior cells ; fork of the cubital vein (when present) almost
always rather short and wide open, similar to that in Tabanidce, so that the upper
branch ends well before and the lower branch considerably after the wing-tip ; sub¬
marginal cells rarely one ( Platypygus , etc.) commonly two, but sometimes three,
four, or even five, the third one being caused by an adventitious cross-vein between
the upper branch of the cubital fork and the radial vein, while the others are caused
by similar adventitious cross-veins ; praefurca starting far before the end of the
upper basal cell and usually soon dividing at a very acute angle into the radial and
cubital veins, but sometimes ( Anthracince ) extended until almost or quite level with
the discal cross-vein near the middle of the discal cell, and when this is the case the
radial vein usually appears to start from the cubital almost rectangularly and not
unfrequently a recurrent veinlet is thrown back at this angle of the radial vein ;
discal cell very rarely absent ( Cyrtosia , Apolysis. etc.) ; anal cell more often open
than closed, but sometimes shortly pedunculate. Alula sometimes strongly developed
and either beset with scale-like marginal hairs ( Anthrax ), or with longer and shaggy
hairs (Bombylius), or bare and even rippled, but at other times the alula and hind
angle of the wing disappear. Wing-membrane sometimes smooth ( Phthiria ) or
sometimes conspicuously rippled or even almost ribbed near the margin, minutely
pubescent or only microscopically so (Anthrax). Squamae (alar) rather large with a
thickly set rather long broad flattened scale-like fringe (Anthrax), or difficult to see
and with a simple short or a woolly long marginal fringe, or (Phthiria) moderately
developed and with a short delicate fringe ; frenum sometimes distinctly widened
before the angle and bearing long hairs similar to those surrounding it, but other¬
wise the thoracal squamae absent. Halteres small and concealed in the dense
pubescence of the furry species, but not at all covered by the squamae.

The metamorphoses of many species are well (though almost always only
partially) known; many species of Anthracince ( Anthrax , subgenus
Hyalanthrax ) are parasitic upon the larvae of Lepidoptera, more especially
upon Noctuidce of the genus Agrotis, but others are parasitic upon Aculeate
Hymenoptera ( Anthophila ) ; Gallistoma sometimes proves to be a check
upon the ravages of a locust ( Caloptcnus italicus ) by preying in the egg-
capsules of the species; Bombylius itself is usually parasitic upon Aculeate
Hymenoptera (Anthophila such as Andrena, Colletes, etc.). The larvae
have an obvious head and are amphipneustic, while the pupae are mummy-
like; the following is quoted from Dr Sharp’s (Cambridge Natural History,
Insects, Part II., 486) translation of Fabre’s writing upon the life history
of Argyramceba (Anthrax) trifasciata. “ The parent-fly oviposits by
“ merely dropping a minute egg while flying over the surface of the mass

476

TROMOPTERA

“ of masonry by which the grubs of the Mason-bee, Chalcidroma muraria ,
“ are protected. From this egg there is hatched a minute delicate vermi-
“ form larva. In order to obtain its food, it is necessary for this feeble
“ creature to penetrate the masonry; apparently a hopeless task, the
“ animal being scarcely a twentieth of an inch long and very slender . . .
“ the frail creature hunts about the surface of the masonry, seeking to
“ find an entrance; frequently it is a long time before it is successful;
“ but though it has never taken any food it is possessed of great powers of
“ endurance. . . . Finally, after greater or less delay, the persevering little
“ larva succeeds in finding some tiny gap in the masonry through which
“ it can force itself. . . . Having once effected an entrance the organisation
“ that has enabled it to do so is useless ; this primary form of the larva,”
which may have lived without food for some weeks, “ has, in fact, as its
“ sole object to enable the creature to penetrate to its food. Having
“ penetrated, it undergoes a complete change of form, and appears as a
“ creature specially fitted for feeding on the quiescent larva of the bee
“ without destroying it. To accomplish this requires an extreme delicacy
“ of organisation and instinct; to bite the prey would be to kill it, and if
“ this were done, the Anthrax would, Fabre supposes, ensure its own
“ death, for it cannot feed on the dead and putrefying grub ; accordingly,
“ the part of its body that does duty as a mouth is merely a delicate
“ sucker which it applies to the skin of the Clialcidoma- grub; and thus
“ without inflicting any perceptible wound it sucks day after day, changing
“ its position frequently, until it has completely emptied the pupa of
“ its contents, nothing being left but the skin.” The larva changes to a
pupa the next spring, and then is provided with a special apparatus for
piercing the enclosing masonry. “Thus this species appears in four
“ consecutive forms — in addition to the egg — each of which is highly
“ specialised for the purposes of existence in that stage.” The males of
the genus Bombylius are magnificent hoverers in bright sunshine, and are
capable of evading quick strokes of a net and then boldly renewing their
hovering in almost the same spot ; the females however usually hover in
a more feeble fashion at blossoms or low growing plants in somewhat the
same fashion as the Humming-bird moth (Macroglossa) ; the species of
Anthracince commonly rest on bare hot sand or on bare patches, or foot¬
paths on heaths and commons, though even then they are very ready to
move with a peculiar hovering flight, and the females may be found on
the blossoms of large Umbelliferce.

The Bombyliclce form a large family of very beautiful flies, of which
many show most varied forms of wing coloration while others show most
attractive hues in the pubescence or scales ; sometimes bright silvery tufts
appear at the wing-base or near the end of the abdomen, or cross-bars
or small spots occur on the abdomen, and in some exotic species
brilliant prismatic scales occur on the frons and scutellum ; many of
these varied hues can only be seen in certain lights, and a specimen which

BOMBYLIM

477

when viewed from in front appears to be of a black or gloomy colour may
when seen from behind glitter with brilliant spots. They naturally occur
in their greatest numbers in the dry and sunny regions of the world and
are abundant in Australia, though no species is known from New Zealand.
About 1700 species are known, of which more than 500 have been recorded
from the Palcearctic region, but in Britain we possess only a few stragglers
as we live in the most northern and western range of the family. Only
nine species are now admitted as undoubtedly British, of which three
appear to be confined to the commons of the South-west ( Bombylius minor,
Anthrax fenestratus, and A. circumdatus), while only four are known
with certainty from Scotland ( B . major, B. canescens, A. paniscus, and
P. pulicaria), and only one from Ireland (B. canescens), though Walker
included B. major, A. paniscus, and P. pulicaria from Ireland, and
B. minor (probably in mistake for B. canescens) from Scotland. Although
only nine species are now admitted into the British List it is remarkable
that about twenty-five others are reputed to have occurred ; this can
partly be accounted for by our early collectors having been attracted by
the beauty of the various species, and having brought specimens home
from travels in Europe too hastily mixed them up in their British
collections.

This family is distinguished by the small number of posterior cells,
and by the total absence of the lower (or small) cross-vein, the upper
branch of the postical vein always forming for a long (or rarely short)
space the lower margin of the discal cell; the Scenopinidce and a few
Cyrtidce and Stratiomyidce also possess these characters, but the
Bombylidce cannot be confounded with the hairless Scenopinidce nor with
the Stratiomyidce, and the Cyrtidce though rather closely allied can be
easily distinguished by their enormous thoracal squamae and by the
presence of three pul villi.

Arrangement : — The most natural arrangement is apparently
arrived at by beginning with those genera which are most allied to the
Cyrtidce both by their shape and their deficient venation, and consequently
the Bombylince, commencing with Glabellula, Platypygus, etc., would be
the first subfamily. The Anthracince being the most distinct subfamily
would come last (showing a relationship to the Therevidce in the circlet
of spines on the ovipositor) and would naturally be preceded by the
Lomatince, but the position of the Toxophorince and the exotic Systropince
is not so obvious. On the other hand there may be a close relation¬
ship between some of the Toxophorince and the Cyrtidous subfamily
Philopotince, grounded on the remarkable development of the prothorax
and the extreme pendulousness of the somewhat cylindrical abdomen.

The subfamilies accepted in this work are five in number, but the
systematic arrangement of the Bombylidce still awaits a competent mono¬
grapher, the limits of some of the subfamilies being not well defined, and the
allocation of various genera open to doubt. The Anthracince are the

478

TROMOPTERA

most easily distinguished, through the long prsefurca and the very
distinct divergence of the radial and cubital veins whereby the radial
vein appears to originate rectangularly from the cubital vein quite close
to (or only shortly before) the discal cross-vein ; very few genera remain
doubtfully placed in this subfamily, though in Henica Macq. ( = Lagochilus
Loew) and in some other genera the small cross-vein is placed (Lomatici- like)
towards the end of the discal cell, and in Mulio (and its close allies) the
prsefurca is rather long and the divergence of the veins considerably
before the discal cross-vein. The Systropincc, though the last subfamily
to be suggested, are also well defined through the remarkable elongation
and bareness of all parts of the structure, and through the somewhat
hollowed-out back of the head. It is not easy to decide the nearest
relationship of the Systropince, but it is curious that they seem to be
allied to the most strongly bristled genus in the whole family, viz.,
Toxophora, because of the similarity of the peculiar structure of the
scutellum and the basal joint of the antennre; if this surmise be correct,
it is not so difficult to trace the relationship through the Toxophorincc
to the Lomatincc, though a great difference of opinion may exist as to
the boundary line. The Toxophorincc in the sense adopted by me do
not form a very coherent group, especially as regards Eclimus (including
Thevenetimyia ) and Tomomyza; Schiner included Amictus (including
Thlipsomyza ) and Cyllcnia in his Lomatincc, but I have laid more stress
upon the remarkable “ bumpiness ” of the Toxophorincc and have therefore
included those genera which also show many points of divergence from
the Lomatincc in their more bristly nature, longer proboscis, and cylindrical
abdomen. The remarkable dorsal development of the prothorax in
Toxophorct and Lepidophora may distinguish those two genera from the
others included by me in the subfamily, but they seem to be allied to
Eclimus and Thevcnetimyia which have the most Lomatia- like figure.
Tomomyza is of still more doubtful location and may well belong to the
Lomatincc, but has a more cylindrical abdomen and an upright discal
cross-vein placed near the middle of the discal cell, and also seems to be
allied to Cyllcnia. The Lomatincc (restricted by the omission of the genera
just mentioned) become a rather symmetrical subfamily and are distin¬
guished from the Bombylincc by a more oblong flatter abdomen and many
minor details which are mentioned under the characters of the subfamily.
The Bombylincc are also not quite homogeneous, and when the genera which
have a simple cubital vein are better known it is very probable that they
will form another subfamily, the Platyyygincc, distinguished further by
the almost total absence of pubescence and by the humped Cyrtidous-like
figure.

O

I have been able to examine specimens of the following genera :

Bombylin.e : Anastoechus, Bombylius, Dischistus, Geron , Heterostylum, Lordotus,
Plithiria, Platypygus, Ploas, Rhabdopselaphus, Systoechus, Usia, and the
rather aberrant Corsomyza and Lasioprosopa (head very transverse), Seri-
cosonia and Pantarbes (antennae widely separated, and abdomen conical).

BOMBYLID/E

479

Lomatin/E : Anisotamia, Comptosia, Ligyra , Lomatia , Macrocondyla, Scinax,
Tritoneura, and the rather abberrant Cyrtophorus (thorax humped, Toxo-
phorinarum '!), Aphoebantus and Epacmus (antennae widely separated).

Toxoi'HORIN.e : Amictus (incl. Thlipsomyza), Cyllenia , Edimus , Lepidophora,
Thevenetimyia , Tomomyza {Stomylomyia Bigot),* and Toxophora.

SystropinvE : Systropus.

Antiikacin.e : Anthrax , Argyramoeba, A strophanes, Dipalta , Exoprosopa , Hypera-
lonia , Litorrhynchus , Spongostylurn, and the rather aberrant Mulio (incl.
Chalcochiton), Callistoma, and Henica { Lagochilus ) which have the discal
cross-vein at a considerable distance from the end of the long praefurca.

I have not had time to study the character indicated by Bezzi
in the indented hindmargin of the eyes, but the following notes and
possible affinities may be worthy of attention :

Toxophora may show affinity to Systropus in the long basal joint of the antennae
and the sloping scutellum.

Edimus may be near Toxophora or Systropus or Codionus.

Prorachthes may be near Cyllenia or Edimus.

Cyllenia and Amictus appear to be near Toxophora.

Legnotomyia connects Bombylius with Usui.

Platypygus may be allied to Usia.

Henica may connect Cyllenia with Anthrax.

Tomomyza has an Anthrax-YAne, appearance.

Aphoebantus and Epacmus connect the Lomatince with the Anthracince.

The incomplete ambient vein in Phthiria , Geron, and Toxophora may afford some
clue to affinities.

Amictus auripilus Bigot is an Edimus.

Type of venation of the Bombylid^.

k

Longitudinal {or long) veins.

a Costa {or costal vein),
b Mediastinal {or auxiliary) vein.
c Subcostal {or 1 st longitudinal) vein.
d Radial {or 2nd longitudinal) vein.
e Cubital {or 3 rd longitudinal) vein.

e® Lower branch) cubital fork.

/ Discal {or ith lonegitudinal) vein.

f1 Upper veinlet ) f ,i r , ni
f* Second veinlet/ from tlle dlscal cel1-
g Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein.

g1 Upper branch of the postical fork (always anastomosing for some dis-

* The single type specimen of Stomylomyia leonina Bigot has lost both wings and the last joint of the
antennae, but I am convinced that it is only a specimen of Tomomyza europcea Loew.

480

TROMOPTERA

tance with the lower branch of the discal vein, and thereby appearing
to be a third veinlet from the discal cell).
g2 Lower branch of the postical fork.
h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

k Prsefurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal vein round the hindmargin of the
wing.

Cross (or transverse ) veins.

w Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.

y Lower (or small ) cross-vein, always absent in the Bombylidce.
z Anal cross-vein = </2, when that vein unites with the anal vein before the wing-
margin.

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal ) cell.

2 Subcostal cell, sometimes almost lost in Bombylidce through the close approxi¬

mation of mediastinal and subcostal veins.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital fork-cell ), which when
4 is divided by an adventitious cross-vein as in fig. 278 becomes the
third submarginal cell and so on.

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

G Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

6b Third posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 4th posterior) cell = the 5th posterior cell of the Tabanidoe, Therevidce,

Asilidce, etc.

8 Axillary cell.

9:i Upper (or Is?) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal (or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Bombylidje.

The peculiar characteristics of the venation of this family lie in (1) the presence
of only Four or Three Posterior Cell s, and (2) the complete Absence
of the Small Cross-vein.

(1) The Discal Cell emits (irrespective of the upper branch of the postical vein)
only two (or sometimes only one) veinlets towards the wingmargin, of which the upper
often bends up to (and sometimes even joins) the lower branch of the cubital fork
some distance before the wingmargin, and then closes the first posterior cell. There
are therefore never more than four nor less than thi'ee posterior cells, and this
character gives an infallible distinction from the Therevidce , Asilidce, Tabanidoe, etc.
The cubital fork is liable to throw a veinlet from its upper branch to near the
end of the radial vein and thereby cause the existence of three submarginal cells,
while sometimes other cross-veinlets occur in connection with the cubital fork and
cause a fourth or even a fifth submarginal cell, but these extra submarginal cells
are very unlike the third submarginal cell which occurs in many Asilidce, as in the
latter the veinlet is recurrent to almost the base of the radial vein.

(2) The Small Cross- vein is entirely absent, as the upper branch of the postical
fork forms for a long (or rarely punctiform) distance the lower margin of the discal
cell. It is, of course, possible for an inexperienced student of venation to mistake
the base of the upper branch of the postical fork for a small cross-vein, but when it
is recognised that the postical vein always has a large open fork in all the families of
the Brachycera until after the Asilidce no such misinterpretation should be
possible. This character also distinguishes the family from the Therevidce ,
Tabanidoe , etc.

Other details worthy of note lie in the frequent close approximation of the
mediastinal vein to the subcostal, thereby making the latter for once in a way

BOM BY LI M

481

appear to be the true “ first long-vein,” in the comparatively short subcostal vein, in the
usually wide open cubital fork (when present) which includes the wing-tip in a
similar fashion to the Tabanidce, in the variation in the length of the prsefurca, and
the position of the discal cross-vein, and in the frequently most remarkable loop of
the radial vein near its end which may turn up rectangularly or even be looped back
into the costa.

Table of the Subfamilies of Bombylid^e.

1 (8) Prsefurca short (fig. 270), and the radial vein emitting the cubital

vein at an acute angle far before the discal cross-vein. Antennse
almost always approximated at the base. Frons narrowed in
the male so that the eyes almost or quite touch, or if the eyes
be widely separated in the male (as in some species of Usia)
then the abdomen unusually broad and short and usually
almost bare.

2 (5) Abdomen rounded or oblong, usually furry, or with soft pubescence.

Antennse never conspicuously long. Occiput inflated.

3 (4) Abdomen short and rounded ; usually both thorax and abdomen

clothed with furry pubescence. Eyes without an indentation
on the middle of the hindmargin. Proboscis always long, and
with very small sucker-flaps except in the species with a
simple cubital vein ( Platypygus , etc.). Thorax usually arched,
almost circular, and almost without bristles. Radial vein
never with a strong loop before its end. Head usually
narrower than the thorax. Bombylin/E (d. 483).

4 (3) Abdomen oblong, rather flattened, and seldom with furry pubescence.

Eyes often with an indentation at the middle of the hindmargin.
Proboscis usually short and with fairly broad sucker-flaps.
Thorax comparatively flat, thinly haired, but with some strong
bristles towards the sides. Head usually as wide as the thorax ;
frontal triangle large. Radial vein almost always with a
strong loop just before its end, and ending rectangularly or
recurrent in the costa; posterior cells always four; discal
cross-vein often sloping. Lomatin^: (p. 506).

5 (2) Abdomen long and tubular, either bare or with conspicuous

bristly hairs. Eyes without an indentation at the middle of
the hindmargin. Antennse usually very long, especially the
basal joint. Proboscis almost always long. Thorax more or
less humped. Discal cross-vein upright.

6 (7) Abdomen, legs, and antennse remarkably long and bare. Occiput

hollowed. Posterior cells three only. Prothorax normal.
Eyes usually touching in both sexes. Systropin^; (p. 513).

7 (6) Abdomen and legs moderately long, and often with bristles or

bristly hairs. Occiput inflated. Thorax almost always with
strong bristles on the disc, and very much humped against the
head. Abdomen very much drooped downwards. Prothorax

2 H

482

TROMOPTERA

sometimes extended dorsally into an anterior thoracic shield,
on which are some very strong bristles. Thorax and abdomen
often with scaly pubescence. Toxophokin^: (p. 509).

8 (1) Prtefurca long (figs. 305, 306), and the cubital vein apparently

emitting the radial vein rectangularly (or at least abruptly)
nearly opposite the middle of the discal cell and very close to
the discal cross-vein (unless the latter be placed near the end
of the discal cell). Eyes often with an indentation at the middle
of the hindmargin. Antennas always widely separated at the
base. Frons often very little narrowed in the male. Abdomen
usually oblong. ANTHRACiNiE (p. 515).

As far as British species are concerned we have only to deal with the
Bombylince and Anthracince, and our species are easily distinguished by
the different divergence of the radial and cubital veins. The other sub¬
families have never been well differentiated and considerable difference of
opinion may arise as to their limitations; I have dealt with this subject
in some detail under the family and subfamily characters, but my work
is merely of a tentative nature owing to my studies in this family having-
been but slight and superficial. Many genera of Bombylidce are in¬
sufficiently characterised, and my hasty studies for this work have already
suppressed two ( Bniconeura and Stomylomyia ).

BOM BYLINE

483

BOM BYLINE.

Prsefurca short, ending almost opposite the base of the discal cell.
Antennae approximated at the base. Proboscis usually long and porrect.
Abdomen short and rounded.

Head rather small and rounded, rarely ( Lasioprosopa , Corsomyza ) transverse and
wider than the thorax, considerably puffed out behind the eyes but without bristles.
Proboscis conspicuously long- and horny (except in GlabeUula and Platypygus), with
very small sucker-flaps. Eyes approximated or touching in the male, or when
widely separated ( GlabeUula , Platypygus , Usia ) then the abdomen short and broad ;
eyes with no indentation at the middle of the hindmargin. Antennae approximated
at the base ; basal joint not specially long nor bare ; style variable.

Thorax arched and often humpbacked, usually clothed with dense furry
pubescence, but sometimes with few hairs, or even bare in those species which
have a simple cubital vein.

Abdomen short and broad, rarely conical, often clothed with dense furry
pubescence but sometimes bare.

Legs thin, sometimes bare, but often with stick-like spines beneath the femora
and with spicules and a circlet of terminal spines on the tibke. Pulvilli two as in
all Tromoptera, unless it be correct that Cyrtosia has three.

Wings (fig. 270) with the radial and cubital veins leaving the short prsefurca at
an almost equal very acute angle which is almost opposite the base of the discal
cell ; subcostal vein comparatively short ; radial vein never looped before its end,
but in Ploas (fig. 278) drawn back by the adventitious connecting veinlet and
ending rectangularly in the costa ; cubital fork usually short and wide open (but
notin Phthiria or Usia)-, submarginal cells one, two, or three ■ posterior cells four
or three ; anal cell open or closed.

The Bombylince are easily distinguished from the Anthracince by the
short prsefurca and usually by the radial and cubital veins diverging from
the prsefurca at an acute angle long before the discal cross-vein ; from the
Toxophorinco and Systropincc by the short rounded abdomen ; and from the
Lomatinoe (which are the nearest allies) by the rounder abdomen (except
perhaps in Oligodranes), by the longer proboscis, and usually by the less
looped or upturned radial vein. The species with the simple cubital vein
will probably form a separate subfamily distinguished by almost total
bareness, humped figure, and (except in Cyrtosia) short proboscis.

Table of Palcearctic Genera of Bombylince.

1

2

3

(8) One submarginal cell, the cubital vein (if present) being not

forked.

Extremely humpbacked, al¬
most or quite bare flies, somewhat
like Cyrtidce.

(5) Badial vein practically absent.
(4) Proboscis short.

Fin.

271. — GlabeUula arctica Zett.
(After Becker)

Second basal cell very large?
emitting two simple veins in
addition to the two branches of the postical vein (fig. 271).
One little known arctic species.

Glabellula.

484

BOMBYLINJE

4

5

6

3' Proboscis long and perpendicular.

Second basal cell moderately large, emitting only one forked vein
in addition to the two branches of the postical vein (fig. 272).

Empidideicus.

(2) Ptadial vein present.

(7 1 Discal cell absent, being merged into the third posterior cell
(fig. 273).

Proboscis long. Eyes touching in the male.

Cyetosia.

Fig. 272. — Mmpididdcas carthagi n i+nsis 5>.
(After Becker)

7 (G) Discal cell closed (fig. 274).

Proboscis short. Eyes separated in both sexes.

Platypygus.

8 (1) Two or three submarginal cells, the cubital vein being always

forked.

9 (16) Posterior cells three only (figs. 275, 276).

Discal cell sometimes absent.

10 (11) Discal cell absent, being merged into the second posterior cell

(fig. 275). Apolysis

11 (10) Discal cell present (fig. 276).

12 (15) Abdomen rather long and conical or narrow.

Eyes of the male touching.

13 (14) Palpi long. Basal joint of antennae rather short and thick, little

BOMBYLIN.E

455

longer than the second joint. Antennte shorter than the
head. Oligobranes.

14 (13) Palpi very short. Basal joint of antennae long and thin, more
than twice as long as the second joint (fig. 277 .

Antennae rather long : third joint long and evenly pointed.
Scutellum long, rather triangular. CrEEON.

15 ( 12) Abdomen short tand broad.

Eyes of the male usually separated. Antennae not so long as the
head. Scutellum rather short, broad, and rounded. Legs without
spicules. UsiA.

16 (9) Posterior cells four.

Diseal cell always present.

17 (20> Submarginal cells three (fig. 278 •. caused y fine u: per branch

of the cubital fork being united to the radial vein by a cross-vein.

18 (19) Basal joint of antenme short (as in B :o-i :iu . TRiPLASrrs.

19 (18 ) Basal joint of antennae long and stout (fig. 279 >. Ploas.

20 (17' Submarginal cells two only (figs. 252. 254. etc. .

21 (2S First antennal joint about as long as the second figs, 251 25_ .

Legs without spicules on the femora.

22 (25) Anal cell open Abdomen broad and fiat. Third antennal joint
with long hairs about its tip 1 fig. 252
Legs without bristles.

486

BOMBYLINAi

23 (24) Kadial vein very much looped up at its end (fig. 283).

Alula small and indented off from tlie hind angle of the wing.

Legnotomyia.

Fla. 283. — Legnotomyia trichorrhcua Lv\ (After Becker)

24 (23) Kadial vein only moderately curved up at its end (fig. 284).

Alula large and hardly indented off from the hind angle of the wing.

PSIATHOLASIUS.

25 (22) Anal cell closed. Thereva- shaped flies. Third antennal joint

with a terminal style (sometimes minute).

26 (27) Discal cell not widened towards its end (fig. 281). 1. Phthiria.

27 (26) Discal cell widened towards its end. Heterotropus.

28 (21) First antennal joint much longer than the second (fig. 285).

Anal cell open.

Fiq. 285. — Bombylius major & . x 23.

29 (32) Upper basal cell only as long as the second; first posterior cell

closed (fig. 286).

Legs usually with spicules on the femora.

30 (31) Underside of the head moderately pilose, and hence its different

parts (including the base of the antennae, the oral edge, etc.)
easily perceptible. Systcechus.

1. PHTHIRIA

487

31 (30) Underside of the head densely pilose, and hence the root of the
antennae, epistoma, mouth, etc., completely hidden.

Anastcechus.

33 (29) Upper basal cell longer than the second one (fig. 287).

Not. much longer in Plocis , of which a few species occur with onlv
two submarginal cells.

Fig. 2S7. — Bombylms discolor $ . xii.

33 (34) 1 irst posterior cell closed (fig. 287). 2. Bombylius.

34 (33) First posterior cell open (fig. 288).

35 (36) Basal antennal joint elongate and slender and bearing only

moderate pubescence (fig. 289).

Hind femora spinose beneath.

Dischistus.

Fig. 2SS.— Dischistus minimus, x 12.

36 (35) Basal antennal joint swollen and bearing abundant long bristly
hairs (fig. 279).

Hind femora not spinose beneath.

N.B. — Most species of Plans have three submarginal cells (fig. 278).

Ploas.

1. PHTHIRIA.

Phthiria Meigen, lllig. Mag., ii., 268 (1803).

Small, rather slightly pubescent flies of a light grey or
yellowish grey appearance.

Head of the male nearly semicircular but that of the female almost circular, not
broader than high when seen from in front, but about as wide as the thorax ; face
broad, but very short down the middle because the large and rather wide mouth-
opening extends up between the wide side-cheeks ; frons of the female broad,
depressed on the middle part ; ocelli three. Proboscis long and thin, almost like
a bristle, directed forwards in a slight arch, and with very small sucker-flaps ; palpi
rather short and very thin. Eyes of the male approximated or touching, but of the
female widely separated by the broad frons. Antennae (fig. 280) porrect, shorter
than the head, and approximated at the base ; two basal joints almost equally short ;

488

BOMBYLIM

third elongated, peg-shaped with a (sometimes very short and indistinct) terminal
style.

Thorax oval, longer than broad, and not much arched, clothed in the male with
rather abundant but not dense fairly long erect pubescence without any sign of
bristles, but in the female with only short depressed pubescence ; pleurae with only
slight pubescence, except for a rather dense tuft on the mesopleurm ; metapleurm
bare. Scutellum large and semicircular.

Abdomen with seven segments, conical in the male but rather ovate and rather
flattened in the female ; pubescence as on the thorax of the female.

Legs long and thin, entirely without bristles except for some tiny spicules on the
hind tibiae.

Wings (fig. 281) longer than the abdomen; cubital vein with a long fork which
is not very widely open, the upper branch ending in the wing-tip nearer to the
lower branch than to the radial vein ; discal cross-vein well beyond the middle of
the discal cell, almost upright ; discal cell emitting two veinlets to the wingmargin
in addition to the upper branch of the postical vein ; submarginal cells two ;
posterior cells four, all wide open but the third one sometimes rather contracted ;
anal cell closed and even petiolate ; ambient vein not continued round the alula.

The metamorphoses are unknown, but should not be difficult to trace.

The Hies occur on bare patches among low growing flowers, and our
British species is sometimes abundant on Composites on sandy grassy
ground near the coast. They bore into the blossoms with their long
proboscis and are said to rest so during the night.

This genus is easily distinguished by the long and little widened
cubital fork of which the upper branch runs straight out to the wing-tip,
and by the closed anal cell.

Phthiria includes about fifteen Palaearctic and about twenty North
American species, while stray species are recorded from Central and
South America (Chili), South Asia, and South Africa ; all other references
require confirmation. We have only one species known as British, though
one or two more may occur.

1. P. pulicaria Mikan. Scutellum all black or at the utmost with
a yellow spot at its tip. Frons strongly prominent. Wings with the
third posterior cell rather contracted towards the wingmargin.

By far the smallest British species of the Bombylidce.

d . Head almost triangular in profile, the produced frons (or more strictly speak¬
ing the very much inflated upper part of the side-cheeks) forming one point
of the triangle, and the vertex and hind mouth angle forming the other two
points ; frons and upper part of the side-cheeks conspicuously produced but
not to the extent of half the diameter of the eye when viewed in profile, but
when seen from above for about as long a space as the eyes touch ; frons
itself depressed as compared with the inflated cheeks, slate colored but (when
viewed from in front) separated from the side-cheeks by a paler grey depres¬
sion, and bearing comparatively long but not dense erect black hairs, or more
correctly those on the back part erect but those on the fore part sloping rather
forward. Face mainly occupied by the very much inflated broad side-cheeks
which leave only the middle quarter occupied by the depressed bare slaty grey
epistoma ; side-cheeks in profile light slaty grey but more blackish when seen
from in front, descending nearly straight from the antennae for about one-third
their length but then sloping back a little to the upper mouth-edge and thereby
becoming a little narrower about half-way down this slope, but still broad to
all the mouth-edge-, and all clothed with numerous though not dense equal
long erect black hairs, but the inner margin of each side-cheek with a fringe
of long white hairs which curve somewhat over the face and mouth, while a
similar white pubescence extends all round and behind the mouth ; the side-

1. PHTHIRIA

489

cheeks are separated from the jowls by a depression, but the jowls merge into
the back of the head, and all this part is light grey and fairly puffed out
and clothed with rather long yellowish white pubescence up to the vertex,
but on the upper third of the back of the head is a postocular fringe of
longer thin black hairs ; vertex greyish black, rather large, and considerably
elevated, clothed with rather long greyish yellow hairs which slope forward.
Proboscis dull black, more than twice as long as the head ; palpi small, dull
black. Eyes long, being nearly as long as high when seen in profile, some¬
what four-sided but the front side little more than half as long as the hind
side, and this partly caused by a large shallow depression of the eyes
between the vertex and the frons ; the eyes touch for about one-third of the
distance between the occiput and the antennje, but the frontal triangle is
longer than the vertical one. Antennae (fig. 280) dull black ; first and second
joints short and cup-sliaped, about equally long but the second rather the
stouter, and both bearing very short black bristles ; third joint lancet-shaped,
nearly three times as long as its broadest part (or the two. basal joints
together), and bearing a few very short inconspicuous dorsal hairs ; style so
short and thick as to be inconspicuous.

Thorax and pleurae light grey, but the disc of the thorax usually showing
three indistinct broad blackish or brownish stripes which do not extend to
the front part ; humeri concolorous ; pubescence on all the upper side
composed of rather long greyish yellow hairs, which are all equal and nearly
erect but not very dense ; pleurae lighter grey, with similar but whiter
pubescence on the mesopleurae, and a slight fringe on the hypopleurae.
Scutel lum more brownish even to the very tip, and bearing similar but rather
longer pubescence.

Abdomen dull brownish black, with pubescence similar to that on the
thorax but rather sparser and longer and more radiating and on the basal
segment denser, and with traces of sparse pale greyish yellow scaly
pubescence all about the disc. Belly light greyish, with rather long sparse
greyish pubescence. Genitalia rather knobbed, with two large bulging greyish
brown side plates and a long under part which is prolonged into a shining
black point.

Legs dull dark greyish brown ; front coxae long ; all the coxae and the
anterior femora postero-ventrally with long greyish white pubescence ; hind
femora with sparse long pale pubescence ; a short scaly adherent whitish
grey pubescence exists on all parts of the legs and especially on the hind
femora, but there are no bristles on the hind femora, and the only spicules
are a row of tiny dorsal ones on the hind tibiae ; pulvilli whitish yellow,
fairly distinct for so tiny a tip to a tarsus.

Wings (fig. 281) hyaline, but (when viewed from behind) with the whitish
gleam so usual in flies which occur on dry sand, minutely pubescent but not
at all ribbed or rippled ; base, stigma, and mediastinal vein pale brownish
yellow, other veins brown and not very intense ; discal cross-vein distinctly
beyond the middle of the discal cell and sometimes placed at about two-
thirds of its length ; the three marginal spaces of the wing after the wTing-tip
almost equal (the middle one being very slightly the narrowest) but the fourth
space ( = third posterior cell) only rather more than half as long as the third.
Alar squamae large, glassy yellowish with a less glassy margin and a short
yellowish fringe. Halteres large and conspicuous, light brown but with the
base of the knob only brownish yellow.

9 . Rather distinct from the male. Head when seen from above more rounded ;
frons at the vertex about one-third the width of the head and thence steadily
widening down to the antennae where it is nearly twice as wide as at the
vertex, suddenly produced from about its middle to the base of the antennae ;
the flat upper part of the frons light grey with a slight glistening scale-like
yellow pubescence on its middle lower part and a slight sloping longer
yellowish pubescence near the sides, and the sides themselves sometimes
yellowish ; the produced part of the irons is broadly dull yellowish at the
sides and bears there short glistening scale-like yellow pubescence, but its
middle part is grey and has minute black hairs at its sides, and the blackish
grey part of the side-cheeks close to the frons between the antenme and the

490

BOMBYLIM

eyes extends a little way down the side-cheeks and bears numerous longer
rather drooping black hairs • sides of the mouth and all the lower part of the
side-cheeks and all the chin and jowls whitish yellow with rather long not at
all scarce whitish yellow pubescence, more especially near the mouthmargins
and on the jowls and chin ; back of the head grey with a slight blackish
tinge, almost equally inflated up to the vertex and bearing fairly abundant
erect shorter yellowish pubescence which is short and glistening close against
the eyes • the absolute margin against the eyes on the upper part is slightly
or even conspicuously yellowish. Eyes more rounded though extended rather
pointedly to the vertical eye-angle, widely separated. Antennae as in the
male.

Thorax rather lighter grey with no trace of any dark stripes, but dull
yellow on the humeri, on an equal broad stripe extending back on each side
from them to the wing-bases, on the postalar calli (as a long but rather
narrow stripe), on the metapleurae, and on the tip of the scutellum, the latter
being sometimes extensively and conspicuously yellow, or at other times
only yellow at quite the tip ; pubescence mainly pale yellow, short, depressed,
squamose, and dense enough to almost conceal the ground colour, but
numerous suberect longer pale hairs also exist ; pubescence on the pleurae
short, sparse, and whitish yellow. Scutellum with numerous longer more erect
pale yellow hairs.

Abdomen more greyish, but the sides of the basal segment often exten¬
sively yellow or at other times only obscurely so and to a small extent ;
pubescence mainly composed of conspicuous short depressed squamose hairs
which considerably conceal the ground colour, but with a number of longer
suberect brownish yellow hairs scattered all over. Ovipositor short and
blunt.

Legs with shorter less conspicuous whitish yellow pubescence on the coxa;
and femora, and with adherent short pubescence which rather densely covers
all the femora (especially the hind pair) • trochanters (especially the middle
pair) brownish. Rows of minute spicules may be just traceable on the tibiae.

Wings almost as in the male. Alar squamae more glassy white, and their
fringes pale yellow. Halteres pale, almost whitish yellow.

Length about 3-5 mm.

This species has several close allies on the continent, of which P.
canescens may be the nearest but that has the frons but little produced
and the third posterior cell scarcely narrowed at all ; P. convergent also
has the frons but little produced but the third posterior cell conspicuously
narrowed. A female specimen which I possess has the left wing with a
conspicuous cross-vein between the upper branch of the cubital fork and
the radial vein a little before the tip of the latter, while the right wing
has a trace of a similar fork and also has the upper end cross-vein of the
discal cell absent.

P. pulicaria occasionally occurs in some abundance on the bare
patches of sand amongst short herbage near coast sand-hills, and on the
flowers of various species of Composite e. I have records from Cornwall
(Padstow, a female with unusually blackish wing-veins taken by Mr C.
G. Lamb), Hampshire (Christchurch), Suffolk (Covehithe, whence Curtis
recorded it as abundant on the denes in June 1833 sucking the florets
of Hieracium pilosella and Hypochceris radicata), Norfolk (Winterton),
Cheshire ( t . B. Cooke), Wales (Porthcawl, Barmouth, and Llanbedr), and
Scotland (Aberlady, Aberdeen, and Nairn). My dates extend from the
end of May to July 25. It is recorded from all North and Middle Europe.

Synonymy. — No doubt need arise on this point, and I am glad that Walker’s
attempt to revive an older name supposed to have been given for it by Olivier was
given up by Walker himself in 1856 upon the belief that Olivier’s name might refer
to some species of Geron.

2. BOMBYLIUS

491

2. BOMBYLIUS.

Fig. 290. — Bombylius major <$. x 4.

Bombylius Liinie, Syst. Nat., Ed. x., T., i., 606 (1758).

Moderately large, middle-sized, or rather small flies, which
are clothed with dense furry pubescence, and in all British
sjDecies with that pubescence mainly tawny. Many species
have conspicuously marked wings.

Head semicircular, small in comparison with the thorax, and placed at a lower
level because of the high arch of the thorax. Face short, densely hairy, and with a
large mouth -opening from which projects a horizontally porrect long thin horny
proboscis (fig. 290) which has small narrow sucker-flaps; palpi short and thin.
Frons bearing either long pubescence or scales. Ocelli three. Eyes elliptical, bare,
touching in the male, but separated by the broad frons in the female, not indented
at the middle of the hindmargin. Antennae (fig. 285) porrect, approximated at the base ;
basal joint much longer than the second and bearing long straight hairs ; second
joint short and cup-shaped ; third joint elongate, long strap-shaped in the British
species, but conical, peg-shaped, or even dilated leaf-like in others, and sometimes
bearing dorsal scales ; style terminal and jointed.

Thorax oval, short but strongly arched, usually with only dense furry pubescence
but sometimes with fairly distinct praesutural bristles. Scutellum broad, unarmed,
and also bearing dense furry pubescence in all British species, but sometimes bearing-
only scales.

Abdomen round, short but arched, with seven segments but the last segments
indrawn, covered with dense furry pubescence in which sometimes long hairs of a
different texture occur.

Legs long, thin, and bearing spicules ; hind legs elongate, and the hind femora
often with stiff bristly spicules on the underside ; tibiae all with rows of minute
spicules and with small terminal spurs. Pulvilli distinct, but the empodium minute.

492

BOMBYLID7E

Wings (figs. 290, 291) outspread when at rest, hyaline, or with a brown foremargin,
or with brown spots ; radial vein gently curved up to the costa but not looped ;
cubital vein with a wide open fork which has its upper branch ending before the wing-
tip and much nearer to the radial vein than to its lower branch ; submarginal cells
two only ; posterior cells four, the first one closed through the upper veinlet
from the discal cell running into the lower branch of the cubital fork at some con¬
siderable distance from the wingmargin ; discal cross-vein placed near or just before
the middle of the discal cell and consequently the upper basal cell distinctly longer
than the second one ; upper branch of the postical fork forming for a long distance
the lower margin of the discal cell ; anal cell contracted towards the wingmargin
but distinctly open.

The metamorphoses of a few species are partially known, but the earlier
stages are not well understood even though the eggs have been seen to be
laid near the burrows of bees ; in a later stage the larvoe prey upon the
larvse and (probably) pupae of small bees ( Andrena , Golletes, Halictus, etc.).
An account is quoted on page 475 of the changes in structure of a larva of
this family (though not of this genus), and some interesting details are
quoted on page 502 concerning the breeding habits of Bombylius canescens.

Bombylius is a very large genus even after shedding off Discliistus,
Systoechus, etc., and nearly a hundred Palrearctic species have been recorded.
It contains many of the most beautiful and attractive species of the
whole order, and the power of “ hovering ” possessed by the males is of the
most perfect nature ; when poised apparently motionless in mid air they
can defy the best efforts at capture, and they return fearlessly again and
again to the same spot. The females hover in front of the blossoms of
low growing plants, such as Prunella and Erica, and probe the flowers with
their long proboscis. Two of our most beautiful British species are not
uncommon in the southern half of England in the earliest bright days of
March and April and may be found hovering and darting about the flowers
in most country gardens, but the clear winged smaller species occur later
in the hottest days of summer. About twenty-five species have been
recorded from North America and a similar number from South and
West Africa, but only a few from South Asia and Australia.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Wings with numerous brown dots (fig. 291). 1 discolor.

Fig. 291. — Bombylius discolor J . X 6.

2 (1) Wings not dotted.

3 (4) Wings with a sharply defined dark brown foremargin (tig. 290).

2 major.

4 (3) Wings at most with only a slight and indistinctly defined light

brown foremargin.

2. BOMBYLIUS

493

5 (6) Numerous long black hairs standing out amongst the short

dense tawny pubescence behind the eyes; face with con¬
spicuous black pubescence on the sides and across under the
antennae. Femora mainly black. 3 canescens.

6 (5) Only short dense apparently shorn tawny pubescence behind

the eyes; face without any conspicuous black pubescence.
Femora mainly orange. 4 minor.

B. venosus Mikan is closely allied to B. canescens, but has hardly any
black pubescence extending across the face just under the antennae,
and has the front part of the frons in the female almost entirely pale
haired; two obvious black praesutural bristles also exist of which there
is no trace in B. canescens ; the upper part of the pleurae is said to have
several black hairs intermixed in the tawny pubescence, and it is altogether
a larger species than B. canescens.

B. fulvescens Meig. is closely allied to B. minor, but has the discal cross¬
vein before (instead of at) the middle of the discal cell, the face and
antennal district with black hairs, and the abdomen without the middle
fascia of black hairs.

B. fugcix Wied. This and the next species differ from B. minor in
having the femora almost wholly black ; B. fuyax has the discal cross-vein
before the middle of the discal cell, and has practically no black hairs on
the abdomen, and is usually larger than B. minor.

B. cinerascens Mikan is distinguished from B. fuyax by having the
discal cross-vein at the middle of the discal cell, by the numerous black
hairs about the antennal district, and by two black prresutural bristles
on each side of the thorax. I have a note that one or two males standing
under the label of B. minor in the Dale collection at Oxford have black
femora.

Systoechus ctenopterus or sulphurous, or Anastcechus nitidulus, if occurring
in Britain may be distinguished from any Bombylius by the distinct
venation.

1. B. discolor Mikan. Tawny haired, but with black hairs all about
the end of the abdomen. Wings dotted. Antennse with the third joint
linear.

A very beautiful fly, which is easily distinguished from its
close allies by the abundant black hairs about the end of the
abdomen.

$ . Frons triangular with a deep middle furrow, greyish brown, clothed with long-
dense black hairs (not quite so long as those on the vertex or those on the
basal antennal joint) but with a few tawny hairs intermixed on the front
part and with some short depressed glittering yellowish hairs at the sides
just above the upper margin of the cheeks, where also a slightly darker
brown band of ground colour crosses from the antenna; to the eyes ;
face produced (in profile) nearly as much as the length of the eyes, greyish
brown, clothed on the middle part with dense reddish tawny pubescence
which droops at the tips of the hairs and with some black hairs intermixed
close around, while all the hairs on the upper part of the side-cheeks are
black and more erect, but the tawny hairs only die out by steadily growing

494

BOMBYLID.E

shorter, and on the lower part of the side-cheeks and below the eyes the
tawny hairs extend up to the eyes even though a few straggling black hairs
also reach to these parts ; behind the mouth the dense long pubescence is
dark reddish tawny mixed with black, but on the small dull orange jowls it
is nearly all dark reddish tawny and merges into the tawny pubescence on
the lower part of the pleurae ; back of the head not much puffed out, clothed
with very dense coarse brownish tawny pubescence in which no black hairs
are intermixed and which merges into the similar dense pubescence of the
thorax ; vertex dull black, elevated, and bearing a tuft of long exclusively
black hairs. Proboscis rather shining black, as long as from the front of the
head to the tip of the scutellum. Eyes touching for about as long a space
as the length of the vertex, hardly widening from top to bottom. Antennai
dull black ; basal joint linear and about five times as long as wide, covered
with brownish orange or greyish dust and bearing all over (except on the
basal third) numerous but not dense long straight black hairs which are
directed forwards and outwards; second joint about one-third the length of
the basal joint, long cup-shaped, also rather obscured by brownish orange
dust but ferruginous at the tip, and with numerous short black hairs on the
upper and outer sides which point almost straight forwards ; third joint long
strap-shaped, quite twice as long as the basal joint, gradually diminishing
towards the tip ; style short, two-jointed, the basal joint being short transverse
but the end joint conical and ending in a point.

Thorax with a dull black ground colour which is obscured by very dense
tawny pubescence ; this pubescence besides being very dense is perfectly
equal just as if it had been shorn, but when seen from above the ground
colour shows somewhat through on the disc and causes a blackish brown
appearance, while the sides are shimmering paler tawny and indicate a
depressed whitish yellow patch just above each wing-base and similar but
longer haired depressed patches on the postalar calli ; seen from in front the
pubescence is brownish yellow but paler posteriorly and the same two patches
appear less distinctly whitish, while right on the middle of the front part a
reddish brown short V-shaped marking becomes obvious ; seen from behind
the pubescence is almost all unicolorous pale brownish yellow without any
whitish patches, though when tilted the short forked brown line right in front
is visible ; seen sideways the pubescence is all yellowish but with possibly a
slight brownish tinge on the front part, and thence backwards with a whitish
shimmer down the disc, but usually without any visible whitish patches or
brown front line ; a microscopical examination fails to show any black hairs
or any approximation to bristly hairs anywhere, though the patches of
depressed whitish hairs seem to be of a different texture to the rest of the
pubescence; pleurae with dense deep black hairs extending widely from the
front part to the wing-base, but after that and on quite the lower part of the
mesopleurae with dark reddish brown pubescence, that on the back part
being longer rather less dense and somewhat directed backwards ; just behind
the wing-base a bright reddish orange tuft pointing backwards is conspicuous
( = fringe of alar squamae) and a similar tuft occurs on the metapleurse, but
both these tufts are quite distinct from the long yellow fringe on the alulae.
Scutellum with its pubescence merged into that of the thorax and with no
long marginal hairs.

Abdomen dull black, but obscured by very dense long pubescence which
is brownish yellow on all the basal two-thirds but black on the rest ;
pubescence on the belly all black except at the sides near the base, and this
black pubescence extending upwards on the sides of the abdomen at the
junction of the second and third segments and up all the sides of the fourth
segment ; the anal black pubescence apparently coarser and more tangled
than the. brownish yellow pubescence, and including some isolated rather
longer thin hairs, while a few isolated long black hairs may occur amongst the
tawny hairs on the hindmargin of the fourth or even third segment, and
sometimes a few isolated inconspicuous long thin tawny hairs occur in the
black pubescence ; when seen from behind the tawny pubescence has a paler
sheen about the sides, and extends furthest down the sides of the first
and second segments.

Legs dull orange, but the coxae, trochanters, and most of the femora

2. BOMBYLIUS

495

black, leaving the apical eighth of the front, the apical third of the middle,
and the apical half of the hind femora, orange, though not very definitely
so on the posterior pairs ; extreme tip of the hind femora with a small
blackish spot in front; last tlmee joints of all the tarsi blackish ; coxae with
long dense tangled clumps of black hairs, and these hairs extending onwards
though less coarsely dense along two thirds of the under part of the front
femora and along more than half the middle femora, while the hind femora
bear a rather sparser longer black pubescence on about the basal half or more,
and the hind femora have in addition about six long black an tero- ventral
stiffer bristly hairs on the apical half and a few rather shorter ones about
the tip above and in front ; all tibiae with rows of twelve to twenty small
moderately equal black spicules, there being three rows on the front pair
(front row depressed) and four on each of the posterior pairs ; front tibiae with
three small black spurs beneath, middle pair with about five unequal spurs,
and the hind pair with a circlet of small spurs of which three on the under¬
side are most distinct ; tarsi with numerous tiny black bristles, which become
very numerous on the soles ; tibiae and tarsi with some minute elongate
golden scales. Pul villi elongate ovate, almost as long as the claws, dirty
whitish ; empodium only a minute spine ; claws black, rather long.

Wings (fig. 291) brown (sometimes dark brown) all across the base
(including the alula), but the lower margin of this brown part sloping
steadily though irregularly upwards from the end of the alula to the middle
of the costal part of the marginal cell and leaving the rest of the wing
hyaline with numerous small brown spots ; six of these dots occur at the
tips of the veins (counting the two veins at the tip of the anal cell as one)
of which those at the tips of the radial and upper branch of the cubital are
the largest, a seventh spot occurs on the discal cross-vein, an eighth near
the middle of the first posterior cell ( = closed cell above the discal cell), a
ninth at the base of the upper branch of the cubital fork, a tenth on the end
of the first veinlet issuing from the discal cell where it joins the lower branch
of the cubital fork, an eleventh on the end veinlet of the discal cell, a twelfth
on the basal part of the upper branch of the postical fork, and a thirteenth
at the lower angle of the discal cell ; there are hyaline kernels near each side
of the discal cross-vein and one at the end of the lower basal cell ; discal
cross-vein well before the middle of the discal cell ; the stout black basal part
of the costa bears numerous brownish golden scales behind and a few
above ; alulae large, with a minute brownish yellow fringe and with a
conspicuous fringe of pale golden hairs along the basal edge. Alar squamae
not small, blackish brown with a broad blackish margin of which the fringe
forms one of the conspicuous orange tufts mentioned as being visible on the
pleurae after the wing-base and below the alulae. Halteres small, light
brown, but difficult to detect because so deeply imbedded in the long dense
pubescence.

? . Extremely like the male. Frons at the vertex about one-third the width
of the head, reddish brown, steadily widening until well past the antennae
and the face there nearly half the width of the head ; the middle part of
frons bears dense reddish brown or pale brown pubescence which is short
when compared with the other pubescence (about a quarter as long as the
neighboring black hairs), but towards the sides numerous longer black hairs
are intermixed which are however still shorter than the other adjacent black
hairs but which merge into those on the upper part of the cheeks, and some¬
times short glistening depressed pale yellow hairs occur near the sides when
level with the antennae as in the male ; ocellar space with a tuft of much
longer outspreading black hairs, and near this towards the sides are other
black hairs which are not quite so long ; the reddish tawny pubescence on
the face extends (though only short) out to the eyes, and the longer dense and
almost whitish pubescence on the lower part of the jowls and behind
the mouthy merges into similar pubescence on the lower part of the meso-
pleurse. Eyes longer in proportion, so that their front margin (in profile)
is nearly a semicircle. Antennae with the strap-shaped third joint a little
broader and contracting on the last third only.

Thorax as in the male, but the pubescence on the lower part of the pleurae

496

BOMBYLIDiE

whitish rather than tawny and merged into the similar pubescence on the
jowls.

Abdomen similar to that of the male but the basal pubescence usually
more rufous tawny and with a dorsal line (more or less interrupted) of short
but conspicuous (when seen from behind) silvery white pubescence on at
least the last three or four segments which sometimes extends back almost
to the base ; a thin row of long (longer than the tawny hairs) black hairs is
fairly obvious on the hindmargin (except at the middle) of the second seg¬
ment, and still more numerous black hairs occur on the hind part of the
third segment, after which the fourth and fifth segments are more intensely
black haired and have more tangled long outstanding hairs of which a few
may sometimes be inconspicuously tawny ; anus (when visible) brown and
encircled with a fringe of red-orange or yellow hairs strongly contrasting
against the dense short black pubescence on the short last abdominal
segment ; ovipositor also with a reddish orange or yellow fringe.

Legs orange or pale yellow, leaving little more than the basal half of the
anterior femora black and even less (though indeterminately) of the hind
pair ; tarsi less blackened towards the tip • coxae with less dense black or
brownish black pubescence, and the femora with rather dense black to
brownish orange pubescence ; hind femora with the row of antero-ventral stiff
black bristles more numerous (ten to twelve) and extended more towards the
base, and the other bristles about the apical third also more numerous ; tibiae
with the rows of small black spicules rather more conspicuous.

Wings, squamae, and lialteres as in the male.

Length about 13 mm. : but varying from 10 mm. to 14 mm.

This species appears to vary but very little except in size, even though
it has a wide geographical range ; it can be distinguished from B. viedius
and its allies by the conspicuous black pubescence on the hinder part of
the abdomen. The marginal spots on the wings are sometimes faint and
the two large ones especially may occasionally almost disappear; I have
noticed several female specimens in which the radial vein throws off a
short adventitious fork on the upper side almost level with the base of the
cubital fork ; 1 once took a remarkably small specimen near Uckfield
in Sussex (8 mm.).

B. discolor is not uncommon in early spring in the southern half of
England, as I have taken it in Sussex (all large woods and even open road¬
sides), Kent (Darenth, Folkestone, etc.), and Suffolk (my own garden),
while I have records from Devon (Plymouth and Tavy Valley),
Dorset (Glanvilles Wootton), Somerset (Bath and Bristol), Hants, Essex,
Cambs, Suffolk (Ipswich, Sudbury, and Felixstowe), Norfolk, Oxfordshire,
Berks (Emborne), Hereford (Tarrington), and Glamorgan (Porthcawl), from
March 15 to May 17. It never has been so common in my garden as B.
major and I have not seen it in recent years ; it is a magnificent hoverer
in sunny places in woods, and is then very difficult to catch, but when
attracted by low growing flowers or seen out in cool sunshine it is not
difficult to secure. It is recorded from all Europe except the North and
extends to the countries bordering on the Mediterranean (where it
is most abundant) but it is curious that while not uncommon in
England it does not appear to occur in Scandinavia, while B. medius is
common there but does not occur in England. B. medius, which has the
pubescence tawny or even pale yellow all round the abdomen, should still
be sought for in England.

Synonymy. — This is now fully unravelled, though many old authors (including
Walker) persisted in calling it />’. medius.

2. BOMBYLIUS

497

2. B. major Linn 4 Tawny haired. Wings with an irregular but
sharply defined dark brown foremargin extending to the tip and without
any isolated spot. (Fig. 290.)

A very pretty conspicuous bee-like fly, which is quite
distinct from any other British species.

Frons brownish ashy grey with a middle furrow, clothed with long dense
hairs which are black on its upper part but which become mainly light brown
near the antennae, and with some short (about a quarter the length of the
long hairs) pale brown depressed pubescence about the border line between
the frons and the side-cheeks ; face produced (in profile) snout-like about as
much as the length of the eyes, brownish grey, and clothed on the middle part
with dense long mainly yellowish brown or brownish yellow hairs which
droop at their tips, and intermingled with which are a few equally long black
hairs, but towards the sides of the face the black hairs increase in number until
all the long pubescence near the eyes becomes black and more erect, and this
is caused by the yellowish brown hairs growing shorter and more drooping as
they approach these sides; the long black hairs diminish in numbers down -
' wards and are reduced to a single rather sparse row down the lower part of
the eyemargins and round under the eyes to the hind eye-angle ; jowls small,
light greyish yellow, and bearing long whitish pubescence which is hardly so
dense as the pubescence on the face, and with shorter (about one-third the
length of the long pubescence) depressed whitish pubescence, and this long
pubescence merges into the similar whitish pubescence on the lower part of
the pleurae ; back of the head inflated to about as much as a third the length
of the eye, and clothed with dense coai'se dark tawny pubescence intermixed
with which are numerous but not dense much longer erect thin black hairs,
which rest as a sort of collar against the dense tawny pubescence of the
thorax; vei’tex greyish black, triangular, elevated, and bearing a tuft of
long exclusively black hairs. Proboscis dull black, about as long as the distance
from the tip of the snout to the tip of the scutellum. Eyes touching for
about as long a space as the length of the vertex, slightly widening down¬
wards. Antennae (fig. 285) dull black, about as long as the distance from the
tip of the snout to the back of the head ; basal joint linear, about five
times as long as wide, covered with light grey dust, and bearing all oyer
(except about the base) numerous long straight black hairs which point
outwards and rather forwards ; second joint about one-third the length of
the basal one, long cup-shaped, and obscured by light grey dust but with the
tip ferruginous, and bearing numerous short black hairs on the upper and
outer shies which point forwards ; third joint long strap-shaped, about twice
as long as the basal joint, bare, slightly thickened about the middle ; style
short, two-jointed, with the basal joint quadrate and rather narrower than the
tip of the third antennal joint, and the thinner and rather tapering end joint
about twice as long as the basal one.

Thorax with a deep black ground colour obscured by very dense pale
tawny pubescence ; pubescence all equal as if shorn ; when seen from above
the deep black ground colour is visible, but the front part and sides appear
dirty greyish yellow or greyish brown, and there is a pale yellow patch above
each wing-base and a larger longer fan-like yellow patch behind each wing-
base radiating down to the patch on the metapleurse ; seen from in front the
pubescence appears to be dirty greyish white or greyish yellow or even
brownish with broad paler or even almost whitish sides, and when tilted the
sides after the wing-base are broadly shimmering yellow and then the disc of
the thorax has a more brownish yellow tinge ; seen from behind the
pubescence has a unicolorous dirty brownish orange hue because the pale
patches above and behind the wing-base are not visible unless the specimen
be tilted almost upright ; seen sideways the pubescence is mainly dirty whitish
or brownish yellow, against which (when pale) the brownish tawny pubescence
and the long black ciliation on the back of the head stand out conspicuously,
while the pubescence above and behind the wing-base appears to be rather

2 i

498

BOMBYLID.E

tawny ; no black or strong liairs exist anywhere on the dorsal part ; pleurae
on the upper part with dark rufous tawny pubescence (so dark as to appear
blackish until closely examined) extending broadly from the front part and
usually narrowing to the wing-base, but not always very conspicuous when
the dorsal pubescence is darkish, and below this dark band is a fairly broad
white band (not very sharply defined) which extends from the jowls all along
the lower part of the mesopleurae until it rises quite up to the wing-
base at the back part of the mesopleurae ; after this the pubescence on the
pleurae is longer and usually yellower, still dense and sloping backwards on all
the space from the postalar calli to low down the pleurae ; all the lowest part
of the pleurae between and about the posterior coxae are densely black haired,
and this black pubescence extends outwards in a rather large deep black
patch behind (even perhaps on to the base of the abdomen). Scutellar
pubescence merged into that on the disc of the thorax.

Abdomen deep dull black obscured by very dense long pubescence which
is mainly brownish orange, but the sides of the third segment (beginning
widely on the fore part but narrowing back to the hind corners) bear black
pubescence and form a black fascia across the belly, and when viewed from
above the marginal pubescence of this third segment appears darkened, and
in addition numerous isolated longer black hairs occur on the hindmargins of
the second^ third, and fourth segments, while on the fourth and subsequent
segments similar black hairs are sparsely scattered all over the segments and
stand out from the tawny pubescence ; pubescence of the abdomen consider¬
ably longer than, but not so neatly shorn as, that on the thorax. Belly (when
seen from beneath) with four conspicuous large white or whitish tufts
which are separated cross-ways by the black fascia (broadest about its
middle) and longitudinally by the blackish grey middle line which occupies
about the middle third of the belly on about the basal half but less towards
the tip.

Legs dull orange, but the coxae, trochanters, and base of the femora black,
leaving about the apical sixth of the front, nearly the tip half of the middle,
and the apical two-thirds (or more on the upper side) of the hind femora,
orange ; extreme tip of hind femora darkened in front ; tarsi darkened soon
after the basal joint and becoming blackish on about the last three joints ;
front coxm with long dense brownish white pubescence, middle pair with less
abundant dark brownish pubescence, and the hind pair with blackish
pubescence ; all the femora with long but not at all dense blackish pubescence
on about the basal half and also thereabouts (or closer to the base and
specially noticeable on the front pair) with less erect long greyish pubescence
which develops on the rest of the anterior femora into inconspicuous
adpressed greyish white almost scaly pubescence, and on the hind femora into
similar but more glistening whitish scaly pubescence ; hind femora antero-
ventrally with a row of about eight conspicuous rather long black bristles not
extending quite to the base, and postero-ventrally with a similar row of
smaller black bristles ; tibiae and tarsi with small black spines almost as in
B. discolor. Pulvilli and claws almost as in B. discolor.

Wings (fig. 290) dark brown or almost blackish brown all across the base
(though rather lighter on the alula), and the lower margin of this dark part
sloping upwards steadily and determinately though irregularly from the end of
the alula to the end of the marginal cell, but extending somewhat downwards
into the discal and submarginal cells and as a spot connected with the dark
marginal cell about half-way further on in the first submarginal cell ; there are
no hyaline or subhyaline spots in this dark part of the wing, but the rest of the
wing is greyish hyaline without any dark spots or cloudings ; discal cross-vein
before the middle of the discal cell ; the stout black basal part of the costa
bearing a few small inconspicuous golden scales in front and behind ; alulae
large, with a minute blackish brown fringe which becomes lighter on the
outer part, and with a long rather conspicuous brownish orange or dull yellow
fringe along- the basal margin. Alar squamae small, brown with a thick
darker margin and with a long fringe which may form one of the orange tufts
visible behind the base of the wing. Halteres small and very difficult to trace
in the long dense pubescence, dark orange on the stem but the knob dark
brown.

2. BOMB Y LIUS

499

? . Extremely like the male. Frons at the vertex one-third the width of the
head, dark greyish brown, widening rapidly until a little below the antennae,
after which the face slightly contracts to the mouth ; face at its widest part
half as wide as the head ; frons apparently bare about the middle and all
across above the antennae because there is no short scaly pubescence there, but
actually with some long thin yellow hairs, and with short brownish tawny
pubescence on the sides about the middle and across just below the ocelli,
while all the upper part and the part below the short brownish pubescence
bear long black by no means dense hairs ; ocellar space with long black
outstanding hairs. Eyes more rounded on their front margin (in profile).

Thorax almost as in the male, but the broad dark stripe along the pleurge
paler (even pale brown) and hardly so well defined and only rarely of at all
a blackish hue. Sometimes (especially in large specimens) a number of incon¬
spicuous black hairs occur on the middle near the front part of the disc,
showing indications of the var. australis mentioned below.

Abdomen with the rows of long black bristles on the hindmargins of the
segments better defined, and altogether with more numerous long black hairs ;
anus with a tawny fringe on its inner margin, but externally with a ring of
longer black hairs.

Wings, etc., as in the male.

Length about 11 mm., but varying from 8 mm. to 12 mm.

This species appears to vary but little in British specimens except in
size, but as it has a very wide geographical distribution local forms appear
to exist ; the var. australis Lw. is abundant in Southern Europe, and has
a conspicuous patch of black hairs on the front part of the thorax just
about where the V*shaPe<l mark occurs in B. discolor ; specimens from
California have the dark longitudinal line down the belly almost absent, so
that a practically entire snow white broad fascia exists before the black
brown one, and possibly these may represent B. fratellus Wied. which in
that case may claim varietal though probably not specific rank. It has
some very close European allies, but B. fimbriatus and its nearest allies
have the dark outer spot in the first submarginal cell cpiite isolated, while
B. basilinea from Sicily is still doubtfully distinct, and B. consanguineus is
accejAed as only a variety.

B. major is not uncommon in early spring in the southern half of
England; I have records from Devon (Plymouth and Tavy Valley),
Somerset (Bristol), Hants (New Forest), Sussex (various localities),
Kent, Essex (Epping Forest), Cambs (Dullingham), Suffolk (my own
garden, where it can be looked for with confidence on any sunshiny day
during its season), Norfolk, Oxford, Hereford (Tarrington), Cheshire,
Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Shropshire. Colonel Yerbury has
taken it at Porthcawl in Glamorgan, and Duncan recorded it in 1838 from
Raehills, Dumfriesshire, while Mr A. Adie-Dalglish has caught it at
Riddon in Argyllshire, and a specimen was taken by Mr Anderson Eergusson
at Ayr in 1896. I consider it distinctly commoner than B. discolor,
and I think it is a rather less difficult species to capture. My dates range
from March 27 to May 27. It is recorded from all Europe, and from
Japan and North America. Dr T. A. Chapman gave (Entom. Mon. Mag.,
xiv., p. 197) long details of the larva and pupa of this species which he
bred from the cells of Anclrena labialis, and he called special attention to
the cephalic spines of the pupa which he considered were expressly
formed to tear down the clay-stopping in front of the pupa and to be in
fact actual digging organs ; he added that the pupa was the only one he
knew that was “actually provided with mattock and shovel with which
“ to do its own navmatincr”

O O

500

BOMBYLIDdE

3. B. canescens Mikan. Pale tawny haired. Wings with the base
and foremargin light brown. Head with numerous long black hairs
behind the eyes ; sides of the face and a cross-band under the antennae
black haired. Thorax without any black hairs between the humeri and
the base of the wings. Femora mainly black.

A soft pale tawny haired clear winged small Bombylius,
closely resembling the next species.

6 ■ Frons shallow triangular, blackish grey, and clothed with numerous long
black hairs and still more numerous shorter rather depressed dull yellow
hairs which however do not extend to the upper angle ; face broad, produced
at the upper part less than the length of the eyes and then sloping l-apidly
back to the lower eye-angle, greyish yellow where the pubescence is yellow
but blackish where the pubescence is black, clothed on the middle part with
dense long yellowish or whitish yellow hairs which droop at their tips and
which are surrounded on their upper and side margins by a broad dense band
of equally long but more erect deep black hairs, and this band contracts
downwards and does not extend on to the lower part of the cheeks, where
only the yellowish pubescence exists and even that in turn becomes pale
yellow on the small ashy grey jowls and back of mouth and merges into the
similar pubescence on the lower part of the pleurse ; back of the head
considerably puffed out and bearing numerous though not very conspicuous
long thin black hairs and a shorter denser coarse brownish yellow pubescence
which rests like a collar on the similar pubescence of the thorax ; viewed from
in front the radiating long black hairs behind the eyes are conspicuous
(being numerous though not dense) but do not quite extend to the upper
eye-angles ; vertex black, considerably elevated, and bearing a tuft of long
pubescence which is brownish yellow and erect on its back part but black
and directed forwards on its front part. Proboscis dull black, not quite
so long as from the point of the face to the tip of the scutellum. Eyes
touching for about as long a space as the length of the vertex, rather
widening towards the lower part. Antennae dull black ; basal joint rather
obscured by orange dust and bearing numerous long almost entirely black
hairs (but perhaps with one or two yellowish hairs) ; second joint cup-shaped,
with numerous very short black bristles ; third joint strap-shaped with a
small basal swelling, slightly increasing in size from the base to the middle
and then decreasing to the tip, not quite bare and in very good specimens
bearing just before the middle several glistening yellow dorsal scales ; style
as usual.

Thorax deep black, obscured by very dense equal long pale tawny or dirty
pale yellowish pubescence ; when seen from above the black ground colour is
well visible all over the disc, but the front and sides show only brownish
tawny or dirty brownish yellow pubescence which is hardly or only a little
paler above the wing-base or on the large radiating patch of longer hairs
between that and the corner of the scutellum ; seen from in front, behind, or
sideways the pubescence is all soft yellow or almost brownish yellow or
even of a brownish tawny tint, against which (in the front view) the long-
radiating black hairs behind the eyes stand out distinctly ; on the back part
there is some minute scaly pale yellow pubescence similar to that on the
scutellum ; there are no black hairs anywhere ; pleurae with dense long-
pubescence similar to that on the disc of the thorax but groAving paler
beloAv like the pubescence on thejoAvls. Scutellum Avith pubescence similar
to that on the disc of the thorax and merging into it, but in addition AArith
minute scaly pale yelloAv pubescence all over the disc.

Abdomen deep dull black, but densely covered Avith long pale yelloAv
pubescence which has a more or less brownish tinge, and which is longer
than that on the disc of the thorax but not so neatly shorn, while underneath
that is a short scaly pale yelloAv pubescence ; isolated long black hairs
occur on the hindmargins of the second, third, fourth, and fifth segments

2. BOMBYLIUS

501

especially towards the sides, and these black hairs, though stronger and more
rigid than the thin yellow hairs and longer than those on the fourth and fifth
segments, are not very easily detected. Belly greyish black with no black
hairs intermixed in the pale pubescence, but when seen from beneath the
long black hairs on the sides and dorsal part of the abdomen become much
more distinct.

Legs dull brownish orange, but the coxae, trochanters, and most of the
femora black, leaving the apical sixth of the anterior femora and the apical
quarter of the hind femora orange ; extreme tip of the hind femora with a
blackish spot in front ; tarsi black, but brownish at the base ; coxae and base
of femora with long pale yellow or brownish yellow pubescence, which
extends further along the anterior femora than along the hind pair ; all the
femora rather thickly though hardly crowdedly covered with dirty whitish
scales ; hind femora with a row of about seven long stiff black antero-ventral
bristles not extended to the basal third or more ; the small bristles on the
tibiae in rows of six or seven, and those on the tarsi aipparently rather more
distinct on the last four joints of the front pair. Pulvilli very small and
ovate, dirty yellowish white.

Wings brownish or almost brownish orange across all the base to about
the end of the anal cell and to about half-way across the subapical cell and
onwards to the costa further on, but without any definite boundary, so that
the hindmargin and the tip of the wung are broadly (more than one-third of
the wing) rather brownish hyaline, or the wings may have no approximation
to any defined boundary between the brownish orange base and the lighter tip
and hindmargin ; middle cross-vein just before the middle of the discal cell ;
thickened black base of the costa with numerous adpressed short golden
hairs in front, above, and especially behind, the hairs on the back part being
longer and less adpressed close to the base ; alulae with a minute dark brown
fringe, and with a long brownish yellow fringe on the inner edge. Alar
squamae not small, orange brown with a thick blackish brown margin and
with long orange fringes. Halteres orange on the stem, and yellow or orange
on the top of the knol >.

?. Extremely like the male. Frons at the vertex about one-quarter the width
of the head but steadily widening down to below the antennae where the
face is about two-fifths the width of the head, dull black, with abundant
scaly dull yellow pubescence of which the lower corners against the eyes and
level with the antennae form patches of more glistening scales which contrast
with the adjacent long black pubescence of the side-cheeks, but on the upper
half of the sides of the frons numerous long more erect black forwards-
sloping hairs are intermixed, and lower down the frons (after an interval) are
some shorter (though still long) erect black hairs ; ocellar space as in the male
with a tuft of long black hairs on all the fore part (which radiate forwards) and
with numerous equally long dull yellow erect hairs on the back part. Eyes
when seen in profile more rounded in front. Antennae with the second joint
almost bare, and the third joint with no yellow scales on its upper side.

Thorax, scutellum, and abdomen with more abundant very short depressed
pale yellow scaly pubescence (hidden beneath the long pubescence) which is
easily rubbed oft’ and then leaves the abdomen dull velvety black. Anus pale
orange with only very short yellow pubescence.

Legs with the small black bristles about the tip of the hind femora more
obvious than in the male.

Wings more hyaline, being only a little brownish about the basal quarter
and along the costa to the end of the subcostal cell.

Length about 8 mm., but varying from 7 mm. to 10 mm.

This species resembles B. minor only of the known British species, but
has many close allies on the continent. It may be easily distinguished
from B. minor and its allies by the postocular fringe of long black hairs.
The closely allied B. venosus has hardly any black pubescence across the
face just under the antennae, and has the front part of the frons in the
female almost entirely pale haired, and is a rather larger species which

502

BOMBYLIDJE

Loew says occurs a little earlier in the year ; my continental representatives
of B. venosus have two distinct black prsesutural bristles on each side of the
thorax of which I can find no trace in B. canescens, and my continental
males have a broader more puffed-out blackish grey frons ; B. venosus is
also said to be distinguished from B. canescens by the presence of black
hairs on the pleurae between the humeri and the wing-base, but I am not
sure that this is a constant character. I give these details at some length
because B. venosus is very likely to occur in Britain. I cannot satisfactorily
distinguish light colored specimens of B. variabilis through their description,
but it is not likely to occur here as it has a more southern range. B.
canescens varies very much in size, and probably B. fwjax was introduced
by me as British on a very large specimen of B. canescens before I knew of
its great, variation in size.

B. canescens is by no means common in Britain though it is widely
distributed and sometimes occurs in fair numbers. I have records
from Cornwall (where I found it in some numbers near Penzance on
July 11, 1871) Devon (Stowford Cleeve), Herefordshire, Worcestershire
(Wyre Forest), Monmouth (Abergavenny), and Pembroke (Saundersfoot),
while in Scotland it has occurred in Perthshire (Pitlochry), Kinross, and
according to Duncan near Edinburgh ; in Ireland Colonel Yerbury took
it in 1901 commonly at Glengariff and Kenmare, and his remarks in the
Irish Naturalist of March, 1902, are worth quoting. He says, “As nothing
“ has been put on record regarding the hosts, ovipositing habits, etc., of
“ this Dipteron the following notes may be of interest : — Roughty Bridge,
“ near Kenmare, June 27. A female was observed hovering over a bit of
“ bare ground containing numerous burrows of small Hymenoptera ; she
“ was hovering about 12 inches above the surface of the ground, and every
“ now and again brought the point of her abdomen round under her
“ thorax, and gave a sort of ‘ flick,’ which gave one the impression that
“ she was throwing off an egg ; if such was the case, the eggs must be cast
“ about at hazard, the larvae finding their way after hatching to the nest
“ of the Hymenopteron, either by clinging to the lios.t, or else by crawling
“ about until a suitable burrow is found. The above female Bombylius
“ was caught, and also several bees, the apparent owners of the burrows
“ over which she was hovering. The bees have been kindly identified for
“ me by Mr Saunders as Halictus vubicundus and IT. niticliusculus.”

“July 10th — South Bank of the Kenmare River, about one mile below
“ the Suspension Bridge.”

“ On this occasion Bombylius canescens was flying in some numbers
“ over a bank running alongside of a country road (a rough estimate of the
“ numbers made at the time was forty specimens). In order to ascertain
“ what was going on, a length of about 4 yards was selected and a watch
“ kept on the insects working this stretch. The regular frequenters
“ appeared to be eleven Bombylii, numerous bees, and a few An thorny id ae.
“ The Bombylii were, however, acting in a manner quite different from the
“ female observed on the 27th June; several times one of them was seen
“ to settle on the ground near the burrow of a Hymenopteron and to
“ remain quite still, and it was assumed that she was ovipositing, but
“ though the spot was carefully marked and the neighbourhood searched
“ with a lens, no sign of an egg could be found, and the conclusion
“ eventually arrived at was that they were not ovipositing, but were all

r

2. BOMBYLIUS

503

“ old spent females basking in the sun and making the most of the last
“ few hours of their existence. All these (40 ?) Bombylii were much worn,
“ and therefore useless as specimens. A stroke of the net was, however,
“ made at one of them, and resulted in the capture of one bee and one
“ Bombylius. The bee has been identified for me by Mr Saunders as
“ Hcilictus villosus, female. Bombylius canescens appears, therefore, to be a
“ parasite on more than one species of Halictus.”

It is most probable that this Bombylius was referred to by Dr T. A.
Chapman in the Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine of February 1878
when he wrote, “ I watched the oviposition of a small brown species, a
“ number of years ago, when observing the habits of Odynerus spinipes. A
“ portion of the same hot, sunny bank where spinipes had a colony was
“ frequented by this species, which would approach tolerably close to me
“ when I refrained from moving ; the process of oviposition was conducted
“ against the bank of earth in a manner closely similar to that adopted by
“ dragon-flies on the surface of water ; the fly (not, of course, a pair, as
“ with dragon-flies) would approach the bank within an inch or so, and
“ carefully examine it, and, if satisfied, would make a little sudden swoop,
“ bringing the extremity of the body close to the bank, by passing from a
“ horizontal to a sloping attitude, yet not touching it, the small white egg
“ being seen to be thrown with a short jerk against the bank. On several
“ occasions I noticed very closely the spot, but always failed to find the
“ egg, which was not, however, surprising in the rough and cracked earth.
“ I over and over again, however, satisfied myself that it was not thrown
“ into the burrow of any bee, though Halictus and others were numerous
“ in the same bank.” My records extend from May 27 to July 11, so that
its period of occurrence is very distinct from the early spring species
(B. major and B. discolor).

Synonymy. — Most of the British records of B. minor undoubtedly refer to B.
canescens , and of three males in the Hope Museum one was labelled “ minor ” and
one “ f virus while I expect my record of B. posticus Meig. ( = B.fugax Wiecl.) was
founded on a large specimen. Walker’s description of B. minor when contrasted
with his B. cteiwpterus ( = canescens) would seem to refer to true B. minor , as I have
mentioned under that species ; but Curtis’ B. minor (Brit. Ent. 613) was obviously
B. canescens.

4. B. minor Linne. Tawny haired. Wings without any conspicuous
markings, though darkened on the basal half in the male. Head without
any long black postocular fringe, and the face without any conspicuous
black hairs. Legs orange.

d . Frons small and triangular, bearing on the sides of the fore part short
yellowish or whitish pubescence ; face small, less than one-third the width of
the head and hardly widening downwards, moderately produced just below
the antennae to about one-quarter the length of the eye but then sloping
straight back towards the lower eye-angle, covered with light greyish yellow
dust and clothed with dense rather long yellowish to whitish pubescence
which is drooping at the ends of the hairs and which overhangs the very large
mouth-opening like a drooping fair moustache ; towards the eyemargins on
the upper part of the side-cheeks there is only a short glistening scaly whitish
yellow pubescence ; the outer edges of the long pubescence include some thin
nearly erect long black hairs ; jowls pale greyish yellow and bearing rather
long pale yellow pubescence which merges into similar pubescence on the
under part of the pleurae ; the underside of the head and the space behind
the mouth bear whitish pubescence ; back of the head but little inflated and

504

BOMBYLIM

clothed with dense coarse brownish orange pubescence, which grows paler
on the lower part and includes no trace of long black hairs but forms a
distinct short cropped collar against the longer paler pubescence of the
thorax ; vertex greyish brown, moderately elevated, and bearing a tuft of
long (though not so long as in the other British species), mixed tawny and
black hairs. Proboscis dull black, about as long as from the tip of the
face to the tip of the scutellum. Eyes touching for about as long a space as
the length of the vertex, and about equal in size from top to bottom. Antennae
dull blackish brown, longer than the head • basal joint linear, about four
times longer than wide, and bearing (except at the base) long pale pubescence
beneath but comparatively short dorsal pubescence ; second joint slightly cup¬
shaped, and bearing only very short inconspicuous bristly hairs ; third joint
strap-shaped, slightly widest about its middle, not absolutely bare, and with
a few pale scales on the upper side just before its middle ; style very short.

Thorax dull black, but obscured by very dense long level (though rising
into a sort of crest on the front part) tawny to almost whitish pubescence ;
seen from above the ground colour is not much obscured on the disc though
the conspicuous brownish tawny pubescence obscures all the front part and
sides, while the long radiating hairs of the fans between the wings and the
scutellum are pale yellow ; seen from in front or sideways the dense
pubescence appears mainly soft pale yellow or brownish yellow with the front
quarter (including the crest) whitish yellow ; seen from behind it appears
browner ; no black hairs occur anywhere but at least two rather strong
reddish orange prsesutural bristles can be traced ; pleurae with almost equally
dense but rather paler pubescence like that on the fore part of the thorax
and on the lower part of the back of the head. Scutellum with pubescence
similar to and merging into that on the disc of the thorax, and with scarcely
any short scaly pale yellow pubescence.

Abdomen deep black, but covered with dense long brownish yellow or pale
tawny pubescence, which is slightly longer than (but not quite so neat as) that
on the thorax ; hindmargin of the second segment and its neighborhood with
numerous long black hairs extending round over the sides so as to form an
indistinct fascia, and the third segment with similar but rather less numerous
black hairs, but no black hairs elsewhere. Belly greyish black.

Legs dull brownish orange, with the thickened base of the front femora
blackish and the base of the posterior pairs slightly darkened ; hind femora
with a blackish dot at the tip in front ; tarsi beginning slightly darker than
the tibiae and soon growing blackish ; coxae with dense pale yellow or even
whitish pubescence, and the anterior femora with a pale yellow fringe behind,
and the hind femora with a little long pale pubescence about the base ; femora
almost covered with yellowish white scales ; hind femora with an antero-
ventral row of about six or eight long stiff black bristles and with a few
smaller anterior and dorsal bristles about the tip ; tibiae and tarsi with the
spicules almost as in B. canescens ; pulvilli as in B. canescens.

Wings rather dark brownish all across the base, and this colour slopes
indefinitely upwards and outwards to about the encl of the subcostal cell but
has no defined boundary ; rest of the wing hyaline with a greyish brown
tinge ; small cross-vein just before or at the middle of the discal cell ; thick
black basal part of the costa as in B. ccmescens, but with shorter and more
whitish scales ; alula smoky blackish with a minute pale brown fringe on the
outer part and a long conspicuous whitish yellow fringe all along the margin
near the base. Squamae (alar) not small, brownish yellow with a slightly
darker thick margin on which is a long pale yellow fringe. Halteres brownish
yellow, with the top of the knob yellowish.

9 . Very much like the male, but the wings much less infuscated. Frons at the
vertex about a quarter the width of the head, but the eyes gradually diverging
until half-way down the face ; frons greyish white and bearing rather dense
coarse whitish pubescence which slopes forward, and with the pubescence on
the part just in front of the ocelli longer, more erect, and tawnier, but without
any glistening scales on or near the frons ; face also greyish white with longer
whitish rather coarse drooping pubescence on the upper half even to the
sides but not extending far down the sides of the mouth, and with no
trace of black hairs ; postocular pubescence scaly and depressed, whiter and

2. BOMBYLIUS

505

shorter than the coarser pubescence behind it, and agreeing with the main
pubescence on the frons ; ocellar space with some inconspicuous forwards-
directed black hairs between the ocelli.

Thorax slaty grey with three broad light brownish stripes ; pubescence
dense as usual and mainly pale yellow, but brownish tawny on the three
brown stripes so that the middle stripe extends to the front but the broader
side stripes are considerably abbreviated anteriorly ; a few scattered black
hairs can usually be traced on at least the hind half of the disc ; there are
about three obvious reddish orange prsesutural bristles, and the large depressed
tufts of long pale hairs on the postalar calli are conspicuous. Scutellum with¬
out the short scaly pale yellow pubescence which occurs so freely in B. canescens,
and with some rather inconspicuous upturned long hairs on the margin.

Abdomen greyish black but obscured by the abundant long tawny and
pale yellow pubescence and by short almost scaly brownish yellow pubescence
which does not occur in the male ; hindmarginal cross-rows of long strong
black hairs more conspicuous than in the male, and there is a row on the
hindmargin of the fourth segment, and even a sparse row on the fifth seg¬
ment ; anus with only very short yellow pubescence.

Legs almost as in the male but less darkened at the base of the femora,
and the antero-ventral bristles on the hind femora rather more numerous.

Wings not at all brown about the base or fore part, though the thick
brownish subcostal vein tinges its neighborhood ; alulae lighter brown with a
blackish marginal line.

Length about 8 mm.

This species has numerous allies on the continent, but at present has
only one in Britain. B. cancscens is easily distinguished by its postocular
fringe of long black hairs and by the band of dense black hairs across the
upper part of the face ; other continental allies may be distinguished by
their blacker legs and differently placed discal cross-vein, and I think
that a black legged species occurs in England. It varies in the
extent of the darkening on the wings of the male, in the tint of the
pubescence, and I believe in the more or less distinctness of any stripes
of darker pubescence on the thorax of the female. B. minor lias been
very seldom correctly recorded as British, as practically all the old records
referred to B. canescens ; it is however probably a fairly common inhabitant
of the large commons in Dorsetshire, and it has also occurred in the Isle
of Wight ; the British Museum possesses a specimen from Barmouth, and
the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield recorded one as taken by Mr Tuck at Tostock
in Suffolk, but I suspect that that was only B. canescens; there are also
three or four specimens in the Entomological Club collection. It was
not uncommon on Studland Heath in Dorset on August 22 to 28, 1906,
but the males were extremely difficult to catch ; they could be detected
by their shadow or by their shrill humming note, but they dodged
any ordinary stroke of a net; the females were more easily captured
while hovering in front of low-lying blossoms, and some were taken on
August 24 and 26 at Arne on the flowers of sea lavender (Limonium).
It is a late summer insect as my records of dates extend from July 11
to August 28, but no specimens were found after the latter date.

Synonymy. — There can be no doubt that almost all the old English records of
B. minor referred to B. canescens , but several specimens of the true B. minor exist
in the Dale collection at Oxford mainly under the name of B. ctenopterus. A small
male in the Hope Museum (presumed to be British) labelled “ posticus ” may be a
small B. cinerascens but is certainly not B. posticus ( = B. vulpinus) ; a larger male
in the same collection labelled minor (both in MS. and in print) is B. fulvescens,
but has no history to prove it British. Walker’s description probably referred
to the true B. minor because it is evident that his B. ctenopterus was founded on
B. canescens , but I do not trust his record for Scotland.

506

BOMBYLIM

LOMATIN.E.

Praefurca ending (as in Bombylince ) almost opposite the base of the
discal cell. Antennae approximated at the base. Proboscis usually short.
Abdomen rather oblong but not cylindrical.

Head hardly transverse, as broad as or rather narrower than the thorax, never
depressed, but fitted closely on the thorax. Face usually and often considerably
produced over the large or long narrow mouth-opening. Frons large, almost as in
Anthracince. Occiput rather or considerably inflated and not bearing any strong
bristles. Proboscis usually short and thick, with rather large sucker-flaps, but
sometimes porrect and long though hardly so conspicuously as in the Bombylince.
Eyes of the male very much approximated or even touching, and often with an
indentation at the middle of the hindmargin which indicates the commencement
of an impressed line bisecting the eyes transversely. Antennae approximated at
the base, but not always closely so (. Lomatia ) and sometimes widely separated
( Aphcebantus , Epacmus ) ; basal joint only moderately long, and often thick ; style
practically absent.

Thorax not humped nor with the prothorax unusually developed ; mesonotum
usually with two or three prsesutural bristles on each side, and often with postalar
bristles, but without any dorso-central or prothoracic bristles, and sometimes
( Comptosia ) without any bristles. Scutellum large, with the disc flat, and the
broadly rounded margin without any strong bristles.

Abdomen longer than broad, rather flattened, rather oblong, never broad or round
or globular (rather conical in Antonia ), and never in the least tubular and bare as in
Systropince, not depressed at the base nor drooping, and without any bristly
pubescence.

Legs without spines beneath the femora or with only a few slight ones, but the
tibiae with spicules.

Wings (fig. 293) with the radial and cubital veins diverging from the short
praefurca at a very acute angle almost opposite the base of the discal cell and conse¬
quently far before the discal cross-vein ; subcostal vein rather long ; cubital fork
usually wide open as in Bombylius ; cubital vein always forked, and the submarginal
cells two or three ; radial vein almost always strongly looped a little before its end
and then curved up so that it ends rectangularly or even recurved into the costa ;
discal cross-vein usually placed near the end of the discal cell, and often sloping ;
posterior cells four, the first one either open or closed ; anal cell open (closed in
Prorachthes).

The Lomatince are dealt with here in a more restricted sense than
heretofore, as the bristly species which have a tubular abdomen [ Tomomyza,
Amictus (including Tldipsomyza), and Cyllcnia ] have been relegated to the
Toxophorince. The subfamily may now be distinguished from the Toxo¬
phorince by the rather oblong flattened abdomen, by the absence of bristles
or bristly hairs on the disc of the thorax or on the abdomen, by the thorax
not being humped and the head and abdomen not depressed, by the
comparative absence of scaly pubescence, and usually by the shorter
proboscis and basal joint of antennae. They hardly require comparison
with the Systropince, and the short praefurca and position and style of
the divergence between the radial and cubital veins at once distinguish
them from the Anthracince, but it is difficult to draw a fixed line
between them and the Bombylince. The most obvious distinctions from

LOMATIN.E

507

the Bombylince lie in the rather flattened oblong abdomen, and the absence
of dense furry pubescence, as well as the usually shorter proboscis,
but in cases of doubt attention should be given to the pronounced loop
near the end of the radial vein, and to the position of the discal cross-vein
which in the Lomatince is frequently placed quite near the end of the
discal cell, a character which (I believe) is not shared by any other
subfamily of the Bombylidce, and this discal cross-vein is often sloping in
Lomatince ; the absence of any alula or hind angle of the wing is also more
usual in Lomatince than in Bombylince.

Table of the Palccarctie Genera of Lomatince.

This subfamily has never been clearly differentiated, and I have
removed several genera with a long proboscis and an almost bristly
abdomen to the Toxophorince, to which subfamily I have also removed
Tomomyza because of its humped figure. Other genera ( Plesiocera ,
Codionus, etc.) are not well known and may not belong here, so that
altogether this table is only a tentative one.

Proboscis short in all Pal sear c tic genera.

1 (4) Anal cell closed, or almost so.

2 (3) First posterior cell open.

Pubescence rather scaly.

Prorachthes.

o

o

(2)

4 (1)

5 (10)

First posterior cell closed and petiolate.

Venation almost as in fig. 292, but the discal cross-vein placed
at the middle of the discal cell, the radial vein less looped, and the
upper branch of the postical vein forming part of the lower margin
of the discal cell for a shorter distance.

CONONEDYS.

Anal cell open.

Discal cross-vein before (or very near) the middle of the discal

cell.

6 (9) Upper branch of the postical fork forming the lower margin of

the discal cell for only about one-fifth of the length of the
latter.

7

(8)

Antennae approximated at the base.

Thorax with obvious praesutural, postalar, and scutellar bristles.
Hind femora only slightly spinose beneath.

Plesiocera.

8

9

10

(7) Antennae widely separated at the base. Aphcebantus.

(6) Upper branch of the postical fork forming the lower margin of
the discal cell for a long distance.

Hind femora not spinose beneath. A little known and unsatis¬
factory genus.

CODIONUS.

(5) Discal cross-vein much beyond the middle of the discal cell and
sloping obliquely.

508

BOMBYL1DJE

11 (12) Alula and hind-angle of wing rather well developed (fig. 292);
first posterior cell closed or contracted.

Prsesutural and postalar bristles present. Spines beneath the
femora numerous but small.

Anisotamia.*

12 (11) Alula almost absent, and hind angle of wing almost or quite

sloped away (fig. 293).

Only two or three praesutural bristles. Basal joint of antennae short-

13 (14) Submarginal cells two only (fig. 293).

Abdomen rather oblong and flattened. Hind femora without any
bristles beneath. First posterior cell open, only moderately contracted.

Lomatia.

14 (13) Submarginal cells three.

Abdomen long and narrow, rather conical,
closed.

First posterior cell

Antonia.

* Macquart’s figure of the wing of Anisotamia (Dipt. Exot., ii., T. xiv., F. 2) undoubtedly refers to A.
ruficornis. Williston considers Anisotamia to be only a section of Oncodocera.

TOXOPHORINHi

509

TOXOPHORIN^E.

Prtefurca ending (as in Bombylin^e) almost opposite the base of the
discal cell. Antennae usually very long, approximated at the base.
Thorax usually very much humped, with the head and abdomen
remarkably depressed; thorax (except in Eclimus ) with strong bristles
on the disc or sides. Abdomen long and tubular.

Head moderately transverse but rounded behind the eyes, as wide as or rather
wider than the thorax, usually depressed and almost at a right angle with the
equally depressed abdomen. Face usually produced over the long and narrow
mouth-opening. Ocellar space with a pair of strong bristles in Toxophora, but
ordinarily the frons with only the usual tuft of pubescence. Occiput more or less
inflated, and without any occipital or postocular bristles (except some strong
bristles in Lepidophora which are placed quite out on the back of the head) ; ocelli
distinct. Proboscis usually long and thin, though hidden in the long mouth-opening
in Tomomyza, short and thick in Cyllenia , and not very long in Lepidophora. Palpi
very long and thin in Toxophora , but short in Cyllenia , Amictus , and Tomomyza.
Eyes of the male touching or closely approximated and the front facets sometimes
rather enlarged, but the eyes have no indentation at the middle of the hindmargin.
Antennae porrect, closely approximated at the base, usually very long, but only as
long as the head in Eclimiis and short in Tomomyza; basal joint usually very
long and thin (much longer than the head in Toxophora) ; in Lepidophora the
antennae bear plume-like scales, especially on the third joint.

Thorax so much humped, and the head and abdomen (except in Thevenetimyia)
each so much bent down that they are almost at right angles to one another
(fig. 294) ; prothoracic plates so much developed in Toxophora and Lepidophora

Fig. 294. — Toxophora maculata.

as to meet dorsally and form a sort of shield (as in Philopotince) between the
mesonotum and the head, and this shield bears several strong bristles, which in
Toxophora are curved ; mesonotum with strong prsesutural and (except in Eclimns,
Thevenetimyia , etc.) postalar bristles, besides more or less distinct dorso-central
bristles. Pubescence in Toxophora and Lepidophora mainly scaly. Scutellum
rather large, and in Toxophora , etc., with strong marginal bristles ; in Toxophora
and Lepidophora the disc of the scutellum forms a flattened arch right on to the
abdomen (as in Systropince).

Abdomen tubular and elongate, sometimes ( Edwins , Thevenetimyia, and to a
certain extent Lepidophora and Amictus ) very elongate and narrow, drooping from
the thorax (except in Eclimns, etc.), and sometimes {Amictus and Cyllenia) bearing

510

BOMBYLID.E

strong bristly hairs. Pubescence in Toxophora and Lepidophora mainly of a scaly
nature, and the males of Lepidophora and Thevenetimyia with splayed out lateral
tufts of scaly feathers which apparently mimic the anal tufts of Sesiidoe (Lepidoptera).

Legs with strong bristles beneath the hind femora (except in Eclimus, and only
slight in Thevenetimyia) but limited to the apical part in Toxophora and occurring
in the male only of Cyllenia macidata, and with conspicuous bristles or spicules on
the hind tibiae (except in Eclimus and its allies).

Wings with the radial and cubital veins diverging at an acute angle almost
opposite the base of the discal cell and consequently far before the discal cross-vein,
and this cross-vein upright and placed slightly or considerably beyond the middle of
the discal cell ; radial vein varying from not being looped at all before its end
( Toxophora ) to being exceedingly looped ( Lepidophora ); cubital fork short and
wide open ; submarginal cells two or three ; posterior cells three or four ; anal cell
closed and petiolate in Toxophora . and closed at the wingmargin in Lepidophora,
but open in the other genera ; alula and hind angle of the wing well developed in
Toxophora, and Lepidophora, but weak in Tomomyza, and absent in Amictus and
Cyllenia* Squamae usually with only a slight fringe, but in Toxophora with a
remarkably long rigid one.

Some of the species of Lepidophora and Thevenetimyia seem to mimic
Sesiidoe {Lepidoptera).

The Toxophorince were suggested as a separate subfamily by Schiner in
1868 (Novara Reise, Dipt., 116) for Toxophora, Eclimus, Lepidophora,
Eniconcura, Systropus, and Dolichomyia, upon the characters of three
posterior cells, the structure of the antennae, the usually humped thorax,
and the usually very long and narrow abdomen. Of these genera
Systropus and Dolichomyia are now separated off into the subfamily
Systropince, and Eniconeura is synonymous with Toxophora. Lepidophora
has four posterior cells, and in many ways is so much allied to Toxophora,
especially in the remarkable development of the prothorax, that at one
time I was inclined to restrict the Toxophorince to these two genera, but
when I tried to define the Lomatince I came to the opinion that Amictus
and Cyllenia through their tubular elongate abdomen, their drooping head
and abdomen, their long proboscis (in Amictus), and their unusual bristliness,
had more in common with the Toxophorince than with the Lomatince,
and then I came to the conclusion that Eclimus (with its allied genera)
and Tomomyza (from its affinity to Cyllenia) must also join them.
Eclimus and Thevenetimyia differ in many ways from the subfamily
characters, as their thorax is not humped nor the abdomen so much
drooped, while the bristles are reduced to about two prresutural, and the basal
joint of the an tenure is only moderately long. Tomomyza has an Anthrax-
like appearance and a short proboscis, but does not readily associate
with the Lomatince. Like Osten Sacken I must leave further develop¬
ments of the grouping of these genera to the monographer.

Table of the Palcearctie Genera of Toxopiiopjn/E.

1 (2) Prothorax exceedingly developed so as to form a dorsal shield

between the mesonotum and the head. Anal cell closed.

* Bigot’s collection contained a single specimen each of Eclimus Quedenfeldti and E. venosus ; E. Quedenfeldti
has a fairly well-developed alula and hind angle, but in E. venosus both are entirely absent.

TOXOPHORINiE

511

Squamae with very long rigid fringes. Proboscis long and stiff.
Ocellar bristles (2) long and distinct. Basal antennal joint long and
thin. Tibiae very bristly. Posterior cells three only (tig. 296) ; radial

Pig. 295. — Eniconeura fuscipennis.
(From a specimen in the Paris Museum.)

vein ending almost straight ; anal cell petiolate. The American genus
Lepidophora has four posterior cells and a very much looped radial

vein.

Toxopiiora.

2 (1) Prothorax almost normal. Anal cell open.

Ocellar bristles merged into general pubescence (unless moderately
distinct in Amictus). Squamae with short inconspicuous fringes.
Posterior cells four.

3 (4) Thorax scarcely humped, and without any strong bristles except

about two praesutural ones. Abdomen, even if arched, begin¬
ning on the same plane as the thorax, long, narrow, and hairy.
Hind femora without spines beneath, tibioe almost bare.
Proboscis long and thin.

Eclimus.

4 (3) Thorax strongly humped, and usually with strong bristles or

bristly hairs on the disc besides distinct praesutural, postalar,
and scutellar bristles. Abdomen pendulous. Hind femora
beneath often, and the tibiae always with strong spines.

5 (8) Proboscis long, protruding far {Amictus) or moderately ( Cyllcnia )

beyond the mouth-opening. Discal cross-vein far beyond the
middle of the discal cell.

Wings short and narrow.

6 (7) Proboscis long and thin, conspicuously porrect. Basal joint of

antennae long and cylindrical, second joint short, third joint
long, thin, and pubescent; antennae nearly as long as the head
(fig- 297).

Fig. 297. — Amictus pietus x 10.

512

BOMBYLIM

First posterior cell open or closed ; radial vein not abruptly up-
curved at the tip. Hind femora spinose beneath. Palpi thin.

Submarginal cells two (fig. 298). Amictus.

Submarginal cells three. Tldipsomyza.

Amictus.

7 (6) Proboscis stout and only slightly produced beyond the mouth¬

opening. Basal joint of antennm thick, third joint short;
antenme less than half the length of the head, and without
any style but with several bristly hairs in its place (fig. 299).

Radial vein sharply upcurved at its tip ; submarginal cells three
(fig. 300). Dorso-central rows of bristles long and continued up to the

Fio. 299. — Cyllenia maculata 9- x 14.

fore part of the thorax. Hind femora with a long spinose ciliation
beneath in the male but practically bare in the female. More allied to
Tomomyza than to Amictus.

Cyllenia.

8 (5) Proboscis short, hidden in the very long and narrow mouth¬

opening over which the face is extended roof-like. Discal
cross-vein hardly beyond the middle of the discal cell in T.
curopcea (fig. 301).

Abdomen conico-tubular and rather drooping,
bristles and thin bristly hairs.

Thorax with

Tomomyza.

SYSTROPIN.E

513

SYSTROPIN^E.

Very elongate, thin, bare, long-legged species. Basal joint of the
antennae very long, thin, and almost bare. Occiput hollowed out.
Posterior cells three only.

Head (fig. 302) transverse, when seen from above more
long ; face and frons quite bare ; mouth-opening long and
narrow, being extended almost up to the antennae. Below
the touching eyes the small frons and the narrow face
gradually widen down to the lowest level of the eyes,
the face at its middle being only about one-eighth the
width of the head and widening to about one-sixtli at the
lowest part ; back of the head excavated and bare ; ocelli
three, placed on a small but distinct tubercle. Collar small
and short. Proboscis long, thin, and porrect, as long as or
twice as long as the thorax ; palpi small. Eyes in both
sexes bare and touching on the frons (narrowly separated
in the female of S. chilensis and of Dolichomyia), and
without any indentation at the middle of the back margin ;
facets in the male rather larger above and in front than
in the female. Antennae very elongate, thin, and porrect,
as long as the head and thorax together (but in S. chilensis
only about as long as the head), very closely approximated
at the base and scarcely diverging up to the end of the
long thin basal joint ; basal joint nearly or quite half the
length of the antennae and with some minute bristles
beneath ; second joint about a third the length of the first,
and diverging ; third joint still more diverging, elongate
flattened, and usually pointed,

than twice as broad as

Fig. 302.-

-Systropus fcenoides.
X 9.

but slightly widened,

Thorax humped anteriorly though not conspicuously so, bare of all bristles and
with very slight short pubescence, but with a large praealar depression on each side ;
protliorax moderate in size and without bristles ; hypopleurse and metapleurae large
or very large, and bearing slight down but no bristles. Scutellum rather small,
sloping down from the thorax to the abdomen and concealing the middle part of
the metanotum, but the latter has a peculiar always pale colored membranous tubercle
on each side.

Abdomen very long, thin (like Leptogaster), and quite bare, with nine segments in
the male, but only eight in the female. Genitalia ( = last segment) of the male
usually moderate in size though distinct and sometimes knobbed, of the female
sharply compressed and ending on the underside in two small points.

Legs rather short and thin on the anterior pairs, but the hind pair very
and rather thickened, bare of bristles and pubescence except for three rows of
spicules and some short spurs on the hind tibiae and some plantar spines on the
tarsi, and in some species an antero-ventral spine occurs near the middle of the
hind femora.

(fig. 303) comparatively short, being much shorter than the

long

Wings

elongate

abdomen ; mediastinal and subcostal veins very long ; proefurca very short ; radial
vein only moderately curved up to the costa and ending nearer to the subcostal
than to the upper branch of the cubital fork ; submarginal cells two, rarely

2 K

514

BOMBYLIM

three • posterior cells three only, all open, first one long and usually narrowing towards
the wingmargin ; cubital fork wide open ; discal cross-vein upright and placed after
the middle of the discal cell ; anal cell closed and petiolate ; alula absent, and the
hind angle of the wing quite shelved off. Squamae apparently absent, but the alar
pair existing though small. Halteres very conspicuous, on long stalks.

This subfamily is difficult to locate. The three posterior cells and
wide open cubital fork at once place the species in the Bombylidce, but
they are as widely removed as possible from the Bombylince and Anthra-
cince ; their nearest allies are apparently the Toxophorince. (with which
Schiner united them because of the three posterior cells), and with
which they somewhat agree in the shape of the body, in the elongate
basal joint of the antennae, and in the sloped scutellum, but from which
they are very distinct in the absence of bristles or pubescence and in the
hollowed-out back of the head. They are apparently mimics of Ammo-
phila ( Hymenoptera ), but give an idea in structure of Leptoyaster
( Asilidce ).

The Systropince are composed of only two genera ( Systropus and
Dolichomyia ) and about forty species, which mainly occur in Africa, Asia,
and North and South America, though quite recently some Chinese species
have been described. The larvie are parasitic on Lepidoptera ( Limacodes ).

Synonymy. — The erroneous spelling Xystropus was first suggested by Agassiz in
1846.'

ANTHRACINiE

515

ANTH RACING.

Fig. 304. — Anthrax circimdatus 3 . x 5.

Prsefurca long, ending almost opposite the middle of the discal cell,
and usually close to the discal cross-vein (unless the latter be placed
beyond the middle of the discal cell) ; radial vein usually appearing to start
out of the cubital vein at a right angle. Antennae well separated at the base.
Proboscis usually short. Abdomen rather oblong and rather flattened.

Head transverse, about as broad as the thorax and closely fitted against it even
though considerably puffed out at the back, and without any bristles ; frons large.
Proboscis porrect, but almost always short and usually thick, with fair-sized sucker-
flaps. Eyes often hardly more approximated in the male than in the female, and
often with an indentation at the middle of the hindmargin. Antennae rather or
very widely separated at the base ; basal joint not specially long oi bare.

Thorax rather flat, clothed with moderate or rather dense pubescence, and
usually with traces of praesutural, supra-alar, and postalar bristles but with no

bristles on the disc. , , ,

Abdomen distinctly longer than broad, almost oblong, but neither tubular nor

drooping, and usually bearing soft pubescence. . . , . ,

Legs thin, though not so thin as in Bombylince, often with spines beneath the
femora and always with spicules and an apical circlet of small spines on the tibia?.
Pulvilli usually obsolete ; claws sometimes toothed at the base, and the tiont tlavs

much shorter than the others. .

Wings (fig. 304) with the radial vein usually appearing to arise at a right angle
out of the straight vein formed by the unusually long prsefurca and cubital vein, and
not arising until nearly opposite the middle of the discal cell and ciose to the
discal cross-vein when the latter is near the middle of the discal cell ; subcostal 'em
long ; radial vein usually more or less looped before its. end ; submarginal cells t\\o,
three, or four (or even five), caused by an adventitious almost upright vemlet
connecting the upper branch of the cubital fork with the radial vein (fig. 3( >6), and
by another nearer the wingmargin connecting the branches of the cubital tork with
each other (fig. 305); cubital fork rather short and wide open ; posterior cells tour
or three, the first being either open or closed ; upper branch of the postical vein
usually forming a considerable portion of the lower margin of the discal cell, but
sometimes the contact is only punctiform ; anal cell open.

516

BOMBYLIDvE

The Anthracince are the most sharply defined subfamily in the
Bombylidce, owing to the long prsefurca and the peculiar divergence of
the radial vein at its fork from the cubital, the oblong flattish figure,
the well separated antennae, and (usually) well separated eyes in both
sexes; Hcnicci Macq. ( = Lagochilus Lw.) is peculiar in having the discal
cross-vein placed much further on towards the end of the discal cell, and
in Mulio and Callistoma the divergence of the radial and cubital veins
is not very abrupt and takes place before the middle of the discal cell, but
the long prsefurca readily distinguishes them from the other subfamilies.
The upper knee-like angle at the divergence of the radial vein frequently
throws back an incomplete recurrent veinlet towards the base of the wing,
but such veinlet is seldom of even specific value, and even the adventitious
cross-veinlets from the upper branch of the cubital fork are in some cases
not of specific value, though they have been used in some cases for
generic distinctions; the first posterior cell may be open or closed in
closely allied species, but is wide open in all the British species.

Synonymy. — The distinct appearance of the Anthracince as contrasted with the
common species of Bombylius early gave rise to a suggested family Anthracidce, but
a wider knowledge has relegated them to their proper position as a subfamily of
the Bombylidce.

Table of Palcearctic Genera of Anthracince.

1 (4) Proboscis long, horny, and pointed at the tip. Badial vein

diverging from the prsefurca well before the discal cross-vein.

2 (3) Abdomen narrow and tubular. Callistoma.

3 (2) Abdomen broad and flattened. Mulio.

4 (1) Proboscis short, with fairly broad sucker-flaps. Badial vein

diverging from the prsefurca close to the discal cross-vein.

5 (6) Submarginal cells four (fig. 305). Claws not toothed near the

base. Hyperalonia.

6 (5) Submarginal cells three (fig. 306) or two (fig. 304). Claws toothed

near the base.

7 (10) Submarginal cells three (fig. 306), i.e., the upper branch of the
cubital vein connected by a cross-vein with the radial.

ANTHRACIN7E

517

8 (9) Third joint of the antennae elongate-conical, with a more or less

long style separated from the cone by a distinct suture and
ending in a microscopic bristle, but without any apical pencil of
hairs (fig. 307). Pulvilli undeveloped.

N.B. — These characters clo not apply to several European species

which have been placed in Emprosopa simply because they have three
submarginal cells and apparently a terminal style, e.g., E. stupida has
no separated style but only the apical microscopic bristle, and E.
Pallasii has only a short rather thick style.

Exoprosopa.

9 (8) Third joint of the antennce and its style as in Argyramceba

(fig. 308). Pulvilli developed. Spongostylum.

10 (7) Submarginal cells two only (fig. 304).

11 (12) Antennal style separated from the prolongation of the third
antennal joint by a distinct suture, and bearing an apical
pencil of hairs (fig. 308). Pulvilli developed.

Fig. 307. — Exoprosopa Jacchus
$. X 33.

Fig. 308. — Argyramceba sinuata
?. X 22.

Fio. 309. — Anthrax Paniscics
6- x 33.

Third antennal joint usually shaped like a flattened onion except
for the contrasted style-like prolongation, but stages occur in which it
is more conical.

Argyramceba.*

12 (11) Antenme with the third joint produced into a long style-like cone
which bears a microscopic apical bristle but no pencil of hairs
(fig. 309). Pulvilli usually undeveloped.

Contact of the discal cell with the third posterior at least twice as
long as with the postical, the latter contact being sometimes only
punctiform.

3. Anthrax*

* Bezzi contends that Argyramaiba should be called Anthrax, and that Anthrax in the sense used above
should be called Hemipenthes.

518

BOMBYLIDJE

3. ANTHRAX.

Anthrax Scopoli, Ent. Carn., 358 (1763)?

Large, medium-sized, or even small Hies of black or
brownish red colour, often bedecked with particolored or
pale pubescence.

Head semicircular, inflated behind but slightly inarched at the middle, as broad
as or a little broader than the thorax. Face very short, sometimes conically project¬
ing but sometimes only gently convex ; mouth-opening large ; ocelli three.
Proboscis only a little produced, or withdrawn into the mouth-opening ; sucker-flaps
rather broad; palpi small, thin, and cylindrical, apparently not jointed. Eyes of
the male separated on the frons, but not quite so widely as in the female, both sexes
with an indentation at the middle of the hindmargin. Antennae porrect, short,
widely separated at the base; basal joint short and cylindrical; second joint cup¬
shaped ; third joint ranging from the shape of an elongate cone to that of a
flattened onion, with a filiform style ; style not bisected, and with a microscopic
bristle but no pencil of hairs at its tip.

Thorax quadrate with rounded angles, wider behind than in front, and with
indistinct prsesutural but distinct postalar bristles. Scutellum broad and short,
without any marginal bristles ; metanotum completely concealed.

Abdomen rather flat and oblong, longer than the thorax, with seven segments.
Genitalia small and almost hidden, with the male forceps placed asymmetrically in
connection with the abdomen ; ovipositor with a circlet of short blunt spines.

Legs rather long, but not so thin as in Bombylius ; hind pair lengthened and
often bearing conspicuous scaly pubescence, while all the femora and tibiae may bear
some shorter more depressed scaly pubescence ; front tibiae sometimes quite bare, or
sometimes with small spicules ; posterior tibiae with an apical circlet of spines ; front
tarsi varying in shape and in nature of pubescence ; front claws varying in size ;
pul villi absent or usually very small, but sometimes fully developed.

Wings in life half open when at rest, very often with variegated markings and
spots ; cubital vein with a wide open fork, of which the upper branch is strongly
S-swung and ending in the costa very much nearer to the radial vein than to its
own lower branch, sometimes with a recurrent veinlet from its first bend (showing
an inclination towards three submarginal cells) ; radial vein also often showing a
recurrent veinlet from its rectangular bend, and with a loop before its end ; postical
fork-cell touching the discal cell for less than half the distance that the third
posterior cell does, and sometimes with only a punctiform contact, but the small
cross-vein never present ; discal cross-vein upright and placed at or before the middle
of the discal cell ; posterior cells four, all well open ; anal cell open ; a prsealar hook
occurs close against the base of the wing but is often concealed by pubescence.

Larvae parasitic on the larvae and pupae of Lepidoptera ( Agrotis , etc.), Hymen-
optera, and Orthoptera.

The flies occur on bare patches and pathways on commons or on sand¬
hills, and though they readily settle after a peculiar hovering flight they
are very quick in their movements and difficult to catch.

Anthrax is still an enormous and not very homogeneous genus, but
Osten Sacken (Biologia Centrali-Americana Dipt., i., 112) endeavoured
to establish some definite groups to which he gave subgeneric names, in
the hope that they would lead to a more accurate subdivision of the
genus. Three of those groups are well represented in Europe, and two of
them in England, while increased knowledge tends to show that the different
groups are parasitic upon the larvae of widely distinct groups (if not orders)
of insects. These subgenera may be characterised as follows : —

Thyridanthrax. — Antero-proximal half of the wings more or less dark,
with more or less large subpellucid spots on cross-veins and bifurcations ;
abdomen dark with white bands on the third and fourth segments; the

3. ANTHRAX

519

Avthbax— Antero-proximal portion of the wings to a greater or less

ss» 2kix°^X

«• rVidf dWilvTnand £ tith ch^lristle delicate, erect

pubescence and with the joints distinct; in some species the piilvilli are

distinctly developed but in others they are very small or rudiments, y.
distinctly neve hyaline with sometimes only the costal cell

wa&mm

bein<T usually clothed with a dense covering <> *-Cc . g adorn

V lvmt silvery or -olden reflection ; similar scales, in such cases, adorn

nndeT1^

to he made both to elucidate synonymy and to test , the “ good

o-enus- many of the species are exceedingly closely allied, a g
descriptions are very scarce ; some authors have got out of the difficulty by

number of undistinguished European species the diffic h M s0

hv the fact that the sexes are often differently l anded on h

hiAmericaPbut have not been recognised ,n Europe, while pioba^some

An tZx is incomplete, but enough is known to cause a belief that the

520

BOMBYLID2E

different groups of species are parasitic upon different orders of insects or
at any rate on widely different groups. Specimens of Hyalanthrax have
been bred several times, and always from the larva of Noctuidce belonging
to or near the genus Agrotis ; Thyridanthrax { Anthrax ) fenestralis as
Kunckcl d’Herculais calls it, probably through a mistake for A. fenestratus
(which is not at all likely to occur in Algeria/ being replaced there by
some allied species which would probably be A. perspicillaris Loew), has
been bred in considerable numbers from a Locust (Ocnerodes), and Kunckel
d’Herculais has published a detailed history of its metamorphoses; but
A. fenestratus is also said to have been bred from the Bee, Megachile
muraria. Anthrax (sensu stricto) morio is said to have been bred from
aculeate Hymenoptera ( Osmia , Megachile, and Odynerus. Considerably
over a hundred species of Anthrax have been recorded from North
America but none from South America; nearly fifty are recorded from
South Asia and more than thirty from South Africa, but I believe com¬
paratively few from Australasia.

Synonymy. — The genus Anthrax was founded by Scopoli in 1763 for
the coal-black A. morio, and, although his generic characters are as usual
hopelessly unrecognisable, A. morio (if correctly identified by Scopoli)
would be the type of the genus, and consequently Loew would not have
been justified in founding a genus Hemipenthes for that species; moreover
Osten Sacken has shown that Loew’s principal character for Hemipenthes
is not distinctive from Anthrax (sensu stricto). Other authors have
noticed the distinctness of Hyalanthrax, though they have not defined the
characters so clearly as Osten Sacken, and consequently Aspiloptera of
Kunckel d’Herculais may be taken as a synonym ; Villa of Lioy was
founded in a paper which does not come within the range of scientific
literature, Lioy’s own countryman, Rondani, saying of it “ c’est de la poesie.”
Bezzi (Zeitschr. Hymen. Dipt., ii., 192, 1902) has contended that Scopoli’s
A. morio was not the same as Linne’s species but was Argyramceba anthrax,
and that consequently the present genus Anthrax (after shedding Hemi¬
penthes) is without a name, or should be known by the name of Hemipenthes.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Wings with extensive dark markings in which are hyaline spots

{Thyridanthrax). 1 fenestratus.

2 (1) Wings at most only brownish on the foremargin {Hyalanthrax).

3 (4) Abdomen of the male without bands, of the female with only three

distinct bands. Hind tibiae with a dorsal fringe of conspicuous
splayed-out black scales.

Largest species, common on coast sandhills. Wings with the fore¬
marginal browning limited to the costal and subcostal cells.

2 Paniscus.

4 (3) Abdomen of the male banded, of the female with five distinct

bands. Hind tibiae without any splayed-out black scales.

5 (6) Wings with the foremarginal browning limited to the costal and

subcostal cells.

Smaller species, occurring on shrubby slopes of chalk hills. Male
with only three distinct pale abdominal bands.

3 cingulatus.

3. ANTHRAX

521

6 (5) Wings with the foremarginal browning at least including the upper
basal cell.

Small species, occurring on heathy commons. Male with five
distinct pale abdominal bands.

4 circumdatus.

Some other species allied to A. Paniscus which may have occurred in England are
mentioned after the description of that species, one of which (A.Jlavus) is larger,
while another is smaller, than any of the above species.

The males of our clear winged species can easily be distinguished, as A. Paniscus
has no trace of bands of pale scales across the abdomen, while A. circumdatus has
five and A. cingulatus practically only three bands, and the last two species can be
distinguished from each other by the extent of darkening on the foremargin of the
wings.

The females of our three species are less easily distinguished, but the extensively
dark foremargin of the wings of A. circumdatus should readily distinguish that
species.

A. Paniscus 9.

Abdomen with practically
only three bands of pale scales ,
which are placed on the fore¬
margin of the 2nd, 3rd, and
4th segments, those on the
hindmargin of the 5th and
6th segments being scarcely
defined.

Postocular scales silvery.

Legs with numerous pale
scales ; hind tibia: with a
dorsal fringe of splayed-out
black scales.

Wings with only the
costal and subcostal cells
darkened.

A. cingulatus 9 •

Abdomen with five well-
defined bands of pale scales.

Postocular scales whitish.

Legs with scarcely any
pale scales on the tibise ;
hind tibiae with no splayed-
out black scales.

Wings with only the
costal and subcostal cells
darkened.

A . circumdatus 9 •

Abdomen with five bands
of pale scales.

Postocularscales yellowish.

Legs with numerous pale
scales ; hind tibiae with no
splayed-out black scales.

Wings with the foremargin
conspicuously darkened for
considerably more than the
costal and subcostal cells.

The female of A. Paniscus may be known from the males of A. circumdatus and
A. cingulatus by the different abdominal banding, wider frons, and more densely
scaled hind tibiae.

1. A. fenestratus Fallen. Wings with conspicuous dark brown
markings. Scutellum reddish brown. Legs black, with reddish tibise.

A very handsome particolored fly. The dark wing-
markings suggest an idea of Chryso'ps.

f . Ground colour black, moderately shining ; clothed all over with conspicuous
particolored pubescence.

Face rather produced roof -like over the elongate mouth-opening, broadly
blackish all down the middle and on the sidemargins but with the intermediate
spaces rather obscurely orange-red, and with the lower part of the sides and
all round the mouth-edge except on just the front part obscurely orange or
yellow ; on all the middle part of the face shimmering elongate yellowish
white (ranging to brownish orange) scales occur, and these scales extend
upwards for some distance above the antennae, and downwards (becoming
sometimes silvery) on the lower orange sides of the face ; some pale yellow
or orange (rarely black) pubescence begins on the eyemargins a little below
the antennae and is erect and not scaly, and yellow hairs usually occur over
all the sides of the face (especially on the lower part) among which are on the
upper part a few black hairs of similar texture, but occasionally all these
scattered hairs are black ; pubescence round the front part of the mouth-
margin all yellow except just at the middle ; the space from the

522

BOMBYLIM

bottom of the eyes back to the mouthmargin fairly wide, dull orange-red or
yellow, and nearly bare ; the absolute underside of the head more blackish
and bearing only sparse microscopical black pubescence ; lower part of the
back of the head hardly puffed out and practically bare, but the hindmargin
of the eyes indented considerably about the middle so that the back of the
head is much wider there, and the upper part also widely arched out ; postocular
pubescence entirely composed of fairly abundant shimmering white closely
adpressed scaly hairs, but all the pubescence about the deep channel at the
top of the occiput is mainly black and more erect. Frons brownish black,
at its uppermost part fully one-eighth the width of the head, and continuing
so until about half-way down but then gradually widening in a slight curve
down to the antennae where it is nearly half the width of the head, and the
face very slightly widening after this ; frons (best seen when viewed from
behind and above) with rather long dense coarse black pubescence quite down
to and even past the antennse. Proboscis large, with a long blackish base and
with large ribbed brownish orange sucker-flaps, only the sucker-flaps being
extruded from the large mouth-opening ; palpi long and very thin, but not
half the length of the proboscis, brown or dull reddish orange, and also
mainly concealed in the mouth-opening bearing minute erect black pubescence.
Eyes quite bare ; facets all equal, but with the peculiar line at the middle of
the back part towards which the facets slope from both above and below
much less conspicuous than in A. Paniscus. Antennse orange-red on the two
basal joints, but brown on the third joint and style ; basal joint more than
twice as long as deep, bearing numerous black bristly hairs both above and
beneath ; second joint short and transverse, bearing some shorter black
bristles; third joint forming an elongate cone which imperceptibly merges
into a long blunt apical style so that the two seem to form one elongate joint
which is longer than the two basal joints together ; third joint and its style
quite bare.

Thorax black, with a rather short moderately dense erect thin blackish
pubescence on the disc, in front of which is a conspicuous broad dark tawny
collar composed of dense longer pubescence which extends all round the front
part of the thorax even to the underside ; numerous scattered whitish
scales occur on the disc which tend in very perfect specimens to form two
stripes which considerably widen out near the scutellum but which leave
all the depressed middle part near the scutellum clothed with only black
scales ; above each wing-base a patch of tawny scales occurs which is some¬
what extended backwards ; postalar calli with some very long yellow bristles
pointing straight backwards, and above each wing-base is one long strong dark
orange bristle preceded by two or three similar but shorter bristles ; pleurae
with abundant, longer, and paler tawny pubescence, but with a large con¬
spicuous patch of dense white pubescence all about in front of and beneath
the wing-base though not extended at all away from the oval patch, and all
the upper part of the metapleurae with conspicuous glistening white coarse
pubescence ; pleurae on their under parts greyish black and almost bare.
Scutellum reddish brown, but black on the base and basal corners, and with
the erect thin black hairs extending all over just as on the thorax, but with
the pubescence at the sides white and rather long, and with pale scales all
over except on the middle, while round the margin are about eight or ten
yellow or black long bristly hairs.

Abdomen short oblong, moderately shining black ; second segment dis¬
tinctly the longest, but the third slightly longer than the others ; second,
third, and fourth segments almost forming a square ; ground colour chestnut
on the sides of the second segment and also near the sides on the foremargin
of the third segment ; second segment with an interrupted narrow band of
cinnamon scales close against the foremargin ; third and fourth segments with
conspicuous interrupted bands of elongate white scales, of which the one on
the third segment occupies more than half the depth of the segment but does
not extend to the sides ; the white band on the fourth segment is similar
but is extended to the sidemargins in the form of long white hairs and is more
widely interrupted in the middle ; the second segment has numerous black
scales all over except on the interrupted basal line of cinnamon scales and on
the middle, and also has dark cinnamon hairs on the chestnut part of the

3. ANTHRAX

523

sides, besides several cinnamon scales scattered amongst the black ones ;
third segment with cinnamon scales more about the margin of the white
band and behind that to the hindmargin ; fourth segment similar, but with
the cinnamon scales rather more numerous ; fifth segment black haired, but
with numerous conspicuous cinnamon scales forming a band on the hind-
margin ; sixth segment similar, but with the cinnamon scales more numerous
than the black ones, and with a conspicuous small patch of white scales on
the middle ; seventh segment nearly all clothed with coarse white scaly hairs,
but with black hairs at the basal corners ; longer inconspicuous erect black
hairs occur all over the abdomen, and a few very fine pale hairs occur mainly
on the white bands ; marginal pubescence of the abdomen long and white on
the basal segment and on the extreme base of the second, but long coarse
shaggy and conspicuously black on the rest of the second and on all the third
segment, then shorter more depressed and nearly all white on the fourth
segment, and black again on the fifth and sixth segments and denser and
more conspicuous than the white pubescence of the fourth segment, and
white on the last segment except at the extreme basal corners. Belly
greyish black, but all the liindmargins broadly obscure orange ; seventh
segment all orange, and the eighth (or genitalia) black with orange margins ;
but sometimes nearly all the fourth and fifth segments are orange, or even
the third, fourth, and fifth segments except at the basal margins of the
fourth and fifth; pubescence abundant, dark orange, closely adpressed,
almost scaly ^ the scaly hairs at the sides of the third and fourth segments
inconspicuously whitish at the sides for the full depth of the segment, but
sloping away on the lower side until they die out before reaching the middle
third of the segments, and traces of similar whitish hairs exist about the
sides of the liindmargins of the fifth and sixth segments ; a few inconspicuous
long erect black hairs are scattered all over as on the upper side, and inter¬
mingled with them are a few similarly long and thin pale hairs ; the actual
margin of the dorsal plate (commencing with the tuft of bright tawny hairs
with white tips on the lower part of the metapleurm) has its pubescence
long clear white on the second segment, shorter and tawny on the third and
fourth, mainly black on the next three but tawny at the basal corners, and
pale yellow round the tip. Genitalia mainly concealed, but a pair of sub¬
quadrate lateral plates can be detected.

Legs dull black, but all the tibiae reddish orange except rather obscurely
about the tip of the front pair ; tip of the front femora behind and almost
the apical third of the middle pair behind obscurely reddish orange, and the
base of the posterior tarsi sometimes slightly reddish ; front coxae long, with
mainly shorter adpressed tawny pubescence, and with longer black hairs
intermixed with a very few pale ones ; posterior coxae mainly with longer
erect black bristly hairs and some shorter orange cnes, especially at the base
towards the outside ; all femora and the posterior tibiae densely covered with
closely adhering shimmering elongate golden scales ; front tibiae with a few
similar scales which however do not extend to the tip ; anterior femora
with rather sparse thin inconspicuous short black pubescence behind. Front
femora and tibiae with no strong black bristly hairs, and the front tibiae with
no trace of spicules or spurs ; tibiae distinctly longer than the tarsi ; tarsi
slightly tapering, with no long “ touch-hairs ” or spicules though bearing a
peculiar erect short sparse pubescence both above and beneath. Middle femora
with a row of about five black bristles on the middle part beneath but with
the end ones tending towards the upper side ; middle tibiae with four rows of
similar but smaller bristles (5-7 in each row) and with a circlet of spurs ;
hind femora with a row of about nine black bristles beneath and with three
or four more antero-dorsal near the tip ; hind tibiae with several rows of
numerous (6-10) bristles and with a circlet of spurs ; posterior tibiae about as
long as their tarsi. Pulvilli absent ; front claws black, very small ; posterior
claws fairly long, very little curved and with an indication of a tooth at the
obscurely orange base ; empodium absent or exceedingly minute.

Wings on the basal two-thirds dark brown interspersed with hyaline spots,
and with the apical third and all the hindmargin irregularly and unequally
hyaline ; the apical end of the brown colour ends in two steps, i.e., not
in one continuous slope ; the first of the four “ window spots runs

524

BOMBYLID.E

interruptedly across near the base of the wing, the second forms a large sub¬
quadrate spot near the middle of the dark colour which usually has its
lower marginal space slightly brownish but occasionally sharply defined, the
third forms a double spot at the discal cross-vein and has its upper portion
clear hyaline but its lower part usually slightly brownish, while the fourth
forms the other double spot on the (apparent) lower cross-veins and
always has both its parts obviously tinged with brown ; base of the wings
black tending towards dark brown near the first hyaline band ; foremargin
of wings and stem of postical vein brownish orange ; costa with a broad
dull black base on which are dense dull black stout scales, and in good
specimens these are overlaid with numerous orange scales which decrease
in number as they recede from the base of the wing ; at the extreme wing-
base is a very small tuft of brownish yellow or shimmering orange hairs,
and between this and the broad costal space is a strong black hook bent
finger - like and slightly tapering ; discal cross-vein opposite to, or a
little before the origin of the cubital vein ; the portion of the upper branch
of the postical fork which forms the lower part of the discal cell very short,
being only from an eighth to a fifth the length of the basal end of the discal
cell or sometimes only a spot. Squamae (alar) fairly large, dull black with
a tinge of brown or altogether brown, with a thick dull black or dark brown
margin, and with a dense continuous moderately long snow-white fringe, while
a similar but shorter fringe extends round the alulae. Halteres brownish
orange, or even yellow, with a darkened stem.

$. Very similar to the male, in fact so much like it that the sexes are not at
all easily distinguished. Frons deep black, usually rather wider than in the
male, being at the vertex sometimes about one-seventh the width of the
head and widening more regularly, the sides being oblique without any
trace of a curve, and with a few golden scales on its middle part ; face and
neighborhood of antenme with numerous more silvery grey or brownish
yellow scales ; the red-orange part of the face may be wider and more
conspicuous and may bear more dense yellowish silvery scales, while the scales
against the front part of the mouthmargin are more tawny ; back of the
head more puffed out, with the silvery sheen behind the eyes most conspicuous
on the widened space about the middle, but less conspicuous on the upper
part. Eyes when viewed from in front not quite so wide above the middle
part.

Thorax with fewer erect thin black hairs on the disc, but with several long
yellowish white bristles on the postalar calli.

Abdomen without any chestnut coloring near the basal corners. Belly
blackish with only very narrow inconspicuous tawny hindmargins, and with
a universal adpressed cinnamon pubescence amongst which is no trace of
white hairs ; numerous inconspicuous long pale hairs are scattered all about,
but 110 black ones occur except near the tip ; ovipositor small, orange.

Legs with the anterior tibiae a little more darkened at the tip ; front tarsi
more pubescent, and the bristles on the posterior tibiae more numerous.

Length about 10 mm., but varying from 7 mm. to 12 mm.

This species is very easily distinguished from any other in Britain,
and probably from any Anthrax in North Europe, but several very closely
allied species occur in Southern Europe and in North America,
of which one (A. gallus Loew) occurs as near as Bordeaux. A. gallus and
A. perspicillaris (a common species in Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and
South Kussia) have the tuft of white hairs beneath the wing-base extending
as a complete stripe across the pleurae to the bottom of the sternopleurae
between the front and middle coxae, and both have the tomentum on
the third and fourth ventral segments all conspicuously snow-white; A.
hispanus from Spain has the face all luteous, and the white tomentum
on the belly even more extended ; while A. mutilus from Rhodes has

3. ANTHRAX

525

the face and fore part of the frons yellowish, and is moreover less closely
allied; apparently also A. g alius, A. perspicillaris, and A. hispanus have
the tibiae more extensively black.

A. fenestrcitus is limited as to its range in Britain, as I have seen
recent specimens from only Dorsetshire, Hampshire, and Surrey, though a
specimen has been recorded from Wellington College, Berkshire (Hope
Museum) taken on August 4, 1902. I have seen it fairly common at
Bournemouth and I know that it occurs on many of the hot sandy
commons in and near the New Forest and in South Dorset; in Surrey it
occurs in similar localities about Chobham and Weyhridge. The original
locality, discovered by the late J. C. Dale in 1821, was at Parley Heath
(where I found it again in August 1904) which is a continuation of the
Bournemouth locality and is partly in Dorset and partly in Hants. I
have also taken it at Studland in Dorset. My records extend from June
19 to the end of August, but Curtis adds September; in June 1901 Dr
D. Sharp took twenty eight specimens at Matley in the New Forest
all of which were males, and my own experience seems to be that
the males are much more common than the females. It is accurately
recorded from only Middle and North Europe and North Asia, as all
records south of that apparently refer to one of the allied species.
Kunckel d’Herculais states that he bred Anthrax fenestralis {fenestratus ?)
from the egg-case of a large locust ( Ocnerodcs sp.), but his species was
probably one of the allies.

Synonymy. — There can be but little doubt that this is the true A. fene strata
Fallen, as it is the only Swedish species to which his description can apply, and it
is equally certain that it is the A. ornata Curtis. There is however the usual
difficulty that so few good descriptions exist of supposed well - known species ;
everybody is supposed to know A. fenestrata Fallen and consequently authors
have not troubled about its description. The name fenestrata was first used
by Fallen in 1814, and his description might be doubtful because he said “Pedes
“ nigri,” which does not apply to our species ; the next use of the name was Meigen’s
in 1820, but his description obviously included A.perspicillaris ; Macquart’s descrip¬
tion in 1834 said nothing about the legs, and might apply to any of the closely
allied species; Zeller’s remarks in the Isis of 1840 I have not seen. Zetterstedt,
who must have known Fallen’s species correctly, wrote in his Insecta Lapponica
(1837), “Pedes nigri, femoribus ferrugineo-squamulosis, genubus tibiisque prsesertim
“ anticis saepe obscure testaceis,” which is almost in accord with our species, only
I consider the tibia; always obscure testaceis prcesertim posticis ; in 1840 and subse¬
quently he made no reference to the legs whereby he might seem to have acquiesced in
Fallen’s “pedes nigri.” Walker in 1851 said “pedibus fulvis” and “legs tawny” . . .
“ tips of the tarsi black,” which is hopelessly inaccurate. Bonsdorff in Finland’s
Tvavingade Insekter (1861) said nothing about the legs. Schiner in 1862 had
obviously one of the allied species, probably A. perspicillaris, before him.
Jaennicke in 1867 had probably two or three species before him, but his notes are
insufficient for distinction. Lastly, Loew in 1869 when differentiating the allied
species always appeared to consider the legs of A. fenestrata to be black, especially
as he gave as one of the distinguishing characters of A. mutilus “tibiis prseter
“apicem luteis.” An examination of various continental specimens shows that
several from Bohemia in Kowarz’s collection are practically the same as our species,
the legs being quite as pale, but the markings rather brighter and the cinnamon
scales on the abdomen more abundant and more generally scattered ; a type of
A. perspicillaris from Loew is well distinguished. Bigot’s collection contained
numerous specimens under his label of A. fenestratus from Corsica, Sicily, Spain,
etc., but not one of them was the same as our species. I remain therefore
confident that our species is the true A . fenestratus Fallen and that that species has
reddish orange tibite.

526

BOMBYLID-E

2. A. Paniscus Bossi. Wings hyaline, except for a brownish fore¬
margin down to the subcostal vein. Pubescence dense and tawny, with
three black and two white alternating tufts at the end of the abdomen.
Abdomen of the male without any bands of yellow scales, but that of the
female with one narrow and two rather broad bands. Scutellum and legs
black.

A large handsome fly, covered with dense tawny pubescence,
but with alternate black and white tufts at the end of the
abdomen, and with three bands of yellow scales on the
abdomen of the female.

d . Face slightly and equally produced, not projecting at all over the mouth-
opening, all dull black but covered with long yellow or orange scales which
almost or quite obscure the ground colour except just over the middle of the
mouth-edge, while on and above this mouth-edge are a few black scales ;
numerous more erect but inconspicuous black hairs occur on the upper eye-
margins, and a few such hairs straggle on to the disc of the face white on the
lower half some longer yellow hairs occur intermixed with the yellow scales.
Face at the antennal base one-third the width of the head, but becoming a
little narrower on the lower part ; sides of the mouth when almost under the
head Hush with the eyes, leaving only a narrow line on which is a single row
of coarse yellow scales ; mouth-opening long and narrow, dull black ; back of
the mouth and the underneath parts of the head quite bare, and the narrow
mouth-edge near the bottom of the eyes light brown ; back of the head very
considerably puffed out, beginning rather narrowly at the bottom but quickly
widening to the middle and upwards, all slaty black and vaguely shining, but
the lower part almost all covered with whitish scales which become silvery
near the eyes (when viewed from behind), and which are most dense and
conspicuous but almost confined to the eyemargin after the lower quarter of
the lead, while thence upwards the back of the head behind these scales is
black with only minute black hairs and behind them again with dense furry
short yellow pubescence, and (unless in very perfect specimens) with very few
tiny orange scales except near the eyes where the scales are more numerous
and shimmering white about the middle of the eyes but become yellower or
even orange higher up the head ; behind the vertex on the absolute back of
the head short pale yellow pubescence is visible, and about the narrow middle
channel are some inconspicuous short black bristly hairs. Frons narrow,
being at the top less than one-twelfth the width of the head but widening
(with an almost imperceptible curve) to nearly one-third the width of the
head at the antenna;, dull black with abundant erect rather rigid black hairs,
and with conspicuous dark orange scales on at least the lower half (in perfect
specimens on the whole) of the frons. Proboscis long and narrow, with long
narrow brown sucker-flaps which usually just protrude below the mouth¬
opening ; palpi black, long, narrow, and concealed. Eyes bare and with the
facets ail equal, but just at the middle behind a peculiar line divides
the facets so that those above and below slope towards it for nearly a quarter
the width of the eye. Antenme dull black ; basal joint slightly longer than
the short transverse second joint, and bearing rather dense hairs both above
and beneath, those above being all black while those beneath may be nearly
all black or may have either a few or a good many pale hairs intermixed ;
second joint with shorter black hairs above and beneath ; third joint with a
slight brownish tinge, slightly broader at its base than the second, forming a
short triangle until produced into a long cylindrical point which has a blunt
tip, but which bears on that tip a minute style ; the narrow prolongation of
the third joint is twice as long as the short triangular base and altogether the
third joint is longer than the two basal joints together.

Thorax dull black, densely clothed with tawny pubescence which is
shortest and least abundant on the disc and consequently leaves the ground

3. ANTHRAX

527

colour there but little concealed ; the disc also often has some inconspicuous
blackish tawny hairs intermixed and numerous closely adherent black scales,
so that these combined clothings give it a barer and darker appearance than
the rest of the thorax • the tawny pubescence is richest in colour and most
dense on the fur-like collar, though that which extends from the collar down
the sides to the wing-base is nearly as much so, and then the pubescence from
the wing-base down the sides to and across the hindmargin is usually though
not always paler tawny ; on the postalar calli are from three to six long strong
yelloAV bristly hairs which are bent back towards the scutellum, and just above
the wing-base are about five similar but shorter more depressed and less con¬
spicuous hairs ; near the front part of each absolute wing-base is usually a con¬
spicuous snow-white patch of scales, but sometimes this patch has a slight
yellowish tinge in certain lights, and occasionally is so much darkened as to
be rather inconspicuous, and moreover the patch becomes invisible if the
wings are somewhat raised because it is then hidden between the wing-base
and the thoracal pubescence ; pubescence on the flat slope on the hind part
of the disc rather coarse and not short. Pleurae with similar dense tawny
pubescence on all the upper part of the mesopleurse and metapleurae, but with
less dense and greyer pubescence on the lower part, while the absolute sternum
is dull greyish black and bears only slight pale pubescence. Scutellum
with pale tawny pubescence which is comparatively inconspicuous because
the abundant closely adhering black scales dominate the ground colour, but
with some long strong bristly hairs round the margin which are often not
very easy to detect owing to their being merged in the dense surrounding
tawny pubescence, though about six of them round the tip are obviously
black ; a few thin inconspicuous yellow scales occur about the sides of
the margin.

Abdomen oblong, being from the tip of the scutellum to the anus (when
denuded of pubescence) rather more than one and a half times longer than
broad ; in absolutely denuded specimens the sides of the two basal segments
are rufescent ; the whole of the four basal segments are densely covered with
tawny pubescence, which is richest in colour and longest down the sides
but is paler, less dense, and more irregular in length on the disc, while
black scales occupy a large portion of the disc of the fourth segment
and thereby reduce the tawny pubescence, and similar black scales
exist also on the disc of all the previous segments but are hidden by the
denser pale pubescence ; fifth and sixth segments with the marginal
pubescence deep black and quite as long and dense as the previous tawny
pubescence, but sometimes this deep black pubescence is a little broken
up by pale hairs, while on the disc the paler tawny pubescence still
extends but is usually weaker and consequently the middle quarter is
rendered more dull black through the dense adhering black scales ; seventh
segment with the marginal pubescence snow-white but with the middle
(apical) third again deep black ; the extreme basal corners of this seventh
segment have some inconspicuous black hairs, but the black coloring both at
these basal corners and at the tip is mainly composed of more raised longer
black or brownish black scales among which however towards the margin are
some longer black hairs ; the dorsal surface of the abdomen bears no
trace of pale scales. Belly dull black, with conspicuous but not at all
dense unarranged pale yellow pubescence of about the same length as that on
the dorsal side ; on the extreme inner margin of the dense marginal
pubescence (which appears paler when viewed from beneath than from above)

long

black hairs which

are

the long dense pale tawny pubescence ; disc of the
with close black scales and with rather slight bands
on the hindmargins of the second to fifth segments

are several elongate black scales and a few
almost concealed by
belly densely clothed
of pale yellow scales
(inclusive), and these yellow scales are rather numerous and more extended
on the fourth segment but yet are scarce in comparison with the black scales
and do not occur on the middle of the segment ; some irregular scales occur
on the sixth segment ; a few tawny hairs occur between the black and the
white tufts at the end of the sixth segment. Genitalia very small, orange.

Legs all dull black ; hind pair slightly thickened, especially on the tibiae.
Pubescence on the front coxae abundant and pale yellow on the front part but

528

BOMBYLID.E

more brownish behind and with a few black bristly hairs about the tip ;
posterior coxae with abundant greyish yellow pubescence, the .middle pair
with more numerous black bristles at the tip, and the hind pair with one
long bristle on the outside (usually hidden in the abundant yellow pubescence) ;
anterior femora with moderate inconspicuous pubescence behind and beneath
which may be either yellowish or blackish, and the posterior pairs with
moderate blackish or pale pubescence beneath near the base. Bristles on the
middle femora few and not conspicuous but with a few antero-ventral ones in
a row after the middle, while the hind femora have a conspicuous row of
about seven black antero-ventral bristles and two less distinct anterior ones
near the tip ; front tibite with dorsal and postero-ventral rows of easily
abraded black spicules ; middle tibiae with four rows of small but distinct
bristles and with two or three fair-sized apical spines besides some rather
shorter ones ; hind tibiae with smaller and more numerous black bristles which
are almost lost among the sloping black scales, and with a circlet of
apical spines. Scales on the front femora both in front and behind pale
and conspicuous though not crowded ; middle femora with similar but more
crowded scales almost all over ; hind femora with still more crowded pale
scales all over except on the apical dorsal and anterior surfaces, while closely
adherent black scales occur on this apical dorsal surface ; pale scales also
occur sparingly behind the basal half of the posterior tibiae, and sometimes
these pale scales are much more extended and become fairly conspicuous on
the front part of the hind tibiae ; closely adherent black scales occur
sparingly on the upper side of the front tibiae near the base and in
greater quantity on the middle tibiae, but on the hind tibiae besides dense
and adherent black scales there are numerous long splayed out sloping black
scales which give the tibiae the appearance of being considerably incrassated.
Pulvilli absent ; front tarsi with short delicate almost erect pubescence
above and beneath ; front claws shorter than the others.

Wings shimmering glassy, but sometimes slightly greyish, with the base
and foremargin conspicuously yellowish brown from the costa to the subcostal
vein, while the space below that is occasionally faintly brownish down to the
discal vein ; praefurca slightly margined with brown, and all these anterior veins
and the stem of the postical vein brown while the other veins are black ;
the absolute root of the wing brownish black ; the broadened base of the
costa black or brownish black with a densely spinose foremargin, and bearing
dense small black scales amongst which are some pale ones near the base
but well away from the actual foremargin, but these pale scales vary very
much in extent and are sometimes restricted quite to the inner base, but
when more considerably extended over the widened base of the costa they
may be replaced at the inner base by some inconspicuous ferruginous scales ;
the patch of silvery (or yellow) scales on the wing-base has been described
before when dealing with the thorax, but between it and the spinose fore¬
margin there is occasionally (but rarely) a black finger-like spine, and even
when this does occur it is usually very small and I feel convinced is
usually quite absent ; discal cross-vein often exactly opposite the base
of the cubital vein, but sometimes after and occasionally just before it ;
base of the radial vein often rectangular and sometimes throwing out a
short recurrent veinlet ; loop of the radial vein before its tip rather deep ;
the piece of the upper branch of the postical fork which forms the lower
margin of the discal cell about as long as, or slightly shorter than, the
basal line of the discal cell ; the ambient vein obviously black, and becoming
rather conspicuous round the alula ; alulae bearing some greyish white
scales on the inner two-thirds of their margin. Squamae brownish yellow
with a rather darker margin but blackened at the root ; fringe rather long,
very dense, scale-like and coarse, pale dull yellow to orange. Hal teres small,
pale orange with darker orange stems.

Rather like the male, but the pubescence less abundant and each of the
second, third, and fourth segments of the abdomen bearing a band of pale
scales.

Frons at the top about one-eighth the width of the head and steadily
widening to fully one-third its width at the antenme, black, moderately

3. ANTHRAX

529

shining, and with much more numerous golden scales than in the male ; face
with very few black hairs on the eyemargins. Eyes slightly smaller.

Thorax and scutellum almost as in the male, but the black scales less
abundant and the silvery patch at the base of the wing quite absent.

Abdomen black, mainly dull ; the longer pubescence exactly as in the male
except that the pale tufts at the tip are pale yellow rather than silvery, and
the pubescence on the disc is much less abundant and consequently the
ground colour less obscured ; a conspicuous band of golden scales occurs on
each of the second, third, and fourth segments, of which the one against (but
not on) the front margin of the second segment is the broadest and occupies
slightly more than one-tliird of the segment, and the one on the front margin
of the third segment is the narrowest, but the band on the front margin of
the fourth segment is almost as wide as the one on the second segment ; these
two bands are narrowest at the middle and widen a little towards the sides,
while all three bands merge into the long tawny or yellow side pubescence ; the
hindmargin of the sixth segment bears an inconspicuous narrow not dense
band of golden scales, and the hindmargin of the fifth segment may have a
very inconspicuous and still narrower band ; the seventh segment forms
a short triangle not half so wide as the sixth segment, and has black
scales on the disc, and some yellow scales and long yellow hairs about
its basal corners besides conspicuous black pubescence. Belly with
numerous conspicuous white scales on the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments,
covering all the fourth segment and the hindmargins widely of the fifth and
sixth segments, but the seventh segment with less conspicuous more scattered
scales ; the three basal segments have less conspicuous yellowish scaled hind-
margins, and also numerous less conspicuous yellow hairs, and on the seventh
segment are fairly numerous longer black hairs ; but at first glance the belly
appears to have a black fascia across the fifth and sixth segments which
is extended at its middle to the tip of the abdomen ; ovipositor orange.

Legs with the pale scales on the inside of the hind tibiae more regularly
numerous and conspicuous, and the black scales less splayed out.

Wings as in the male, but the dilated base of the costa with more
numerous tawny scales except on the front part. Squamae and halteres
as in the male.

Length about 12 mm., but varying from 10 mm. to 14 mm.

This species varies but very little. Occasionally a specimen of either
sex may reach 14 mm. in length, hut usually the size is very regular ; in
these large specimens the silvery patch at the base of the wing has a
tendency to become obscure, and the pale scales against the hindmargin
of the eyes to be less silvery. One female has conspicuous pale hairs
beneath the basal joint of the antenme, and one taken by Colonel
Yerbury at Barmouth on September 4, 1902, has the pubescence on
the sides and back part of thorax more tawny (like the fur collar), and
has a small prsealar spine at the base of the costa, and the whole margin
of the dilated costal base more spinose ; a female taken at Sidmouth by
Mr Fred. Smith in August, 1871, has the prsealar spine distinct and the
costal base as spinose as in the Barmouth specimen just mentioned ; and a
large female also taken by Mr Fred. Smith at (probably) Southend in 1870
has the pubescence on the pleurse rich tawny, and the middle of the face
unusually black haired. An immature female taken at Barton Mills on
July 9, 1901, has white scales all over the third to sixth segments of the
belly, but at present I have seen no other female from that locality ; other
very fresh females have unusually numerous tawny scales on the fifth
and sixth dorsal abdominal segments.

Some closely allied species occur in Britain, of which I now recognise
A. circumdatus and A. cingulatus, both of which have obvious bands on the
abdomen in both sexes ; both are also rather smaller, and A. circumdatus

2 L

530

BOM BY LIDA!

has the foremargin of the wings more conspicuously and extensively
darkened ; I have pointed out all the distinctions I have been able to detect
in the descriptions of those two species, but I may add that the female of
A. Paniscus can be distinguished from that of A. circumdatus by the
much less blackened marginal and upper basal cells of the wing, and from
A. cingulatus by the narrower band of golden scales on the fourth
abdominal segment and the practical absence of any band on the fifth or
sixth segment, while both those species have less conspicuous black scales
on the hind tibiae and have the radial vein less looped. Besides these I
believe we possess a larger species very closely allied to A. Paniscus,
which may be A. hottentottus L. ( = A. Jiavus Meig.), and which has no
silvery scales ’at the wing-base, the tufts near the tip of the abdomen
yellower, the ground colour at the sides of the abdomen near the base
reddish, and the middle tibiae rufescent, but I have seen no recent or
satisfactory specimens. We may also possess a much smaller British
species with clearer wings, of which I have seen two old specimens
without any history, and I once saw (but failed to catch) a small specimen
on the sandhills at Palling in Norfolk.

The following species have two white tufts of pubescence alternating
with three! tufts of black pubescence at the tip of the abdomen. A.
hcdtemlis Kowarz ; a species very near A. circumdatus but with blackish
halteres, the abdomen with five pale bands in both sexes, and the wings
darker and with a more distinct prsealar spine. A. ctaripennis Kowarz
also has the abdomen banded in both sexes, the wings pellucid in front and
with a small praalar spine, while the male has only three bands on the
abdomen, the first one being on the foremargin of the fourth segment and
the others on the hindmargins of the fifth and sixth segments, and con¬
sequently is very closely allied to A. cingulatus but has the frons narrower
at the vertex. A. hottentottus and A. Jiavus (which are given as synonymical
by Bezzi) are the closest allies of A. Paniscus, and I can only distinguish
them at present (with the material I possess) by their larger size and
by the yellow patch of scales at the base of the wings in both sexes.

A. Paniscus occurs in abundance in many hot sandy localities, and I
had closely examined more than a hundred specimens before I came
against any other British clear-winged Anthrax. It apparently occurs
wherever there are coast sandhills, as I have numerous records from the
South (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Hants, and Kent), East (Norfolk,
Suffolk, Essex), and West (Glamorgan, Merioneth, Carnarvon, Cheshire),
while Colonel Yerbury informs me that he has seen it at Aberlady in
Haddington, so that it is one of the few Scotch Bombylidce. I think the
only localities I know far away from the coast are the sandy commons
near Barton Mills in Suffolk, and perhaps the neighborhood of Darenth
in Kent (unless the specimen from Darenth be true A. Jiavus), but it may
be noted that many marine species of insects and plants occur near Barton
Mills. An interesting note as to the date of its occurrence has been given
by Colonel Yerbury, who after several weeks collecting at Porthcawl in
1906 saw his first specimen on July 19, but found it in abundance on
July 20; some other records as to the sexes on some dates are of interest,
e.g., on J une 29 and July 9, 1901, a number (twenty-seven) of specimens were
taken near Barton Mills which were all males with the exception of one
immature female which occurred on July 9, and even on August 9 a

3. ANTHRAX

531

laro-e number captured in the same locality were all males, but of forty-four
specimens taken by Mr C. J. Wain wright at the Lands Lnd and St I\es
from July 29 to August 8, 1899, ten were males and thirty-four females ;
these records tend to show that the males appear late in J une or early in J uly,
while the females do not appear until the middle of J uly, and after that
date both sexes probably linger on to the beginning of September. A
female taken at St Ives by Mr C. J. Wainwright on August 1 and a male at
the Land’s End on July 13 were very unusually large but were obviously
not distinct, while I suspect that a very small specimen seen by me at
Palling also belonged to this species. Colonel Yerbury exhibited at the
Entomological Society of London on November 21, 1900, a specimen which
had beeu bred by ML Holland of the Hope JMuseum, Oxfoid, fiom a
Lepidopterous pupa found in sand at St Helens, Isle of Wight, the pupa
having been found on July 7 and the fly emerging on July 12, 1899;
Webster has recorded (Bull. Hep. Agric. Ent., xxii., 44) a Noith Ameiican
species of Anthrax as parasitic on Af/rotis herilis.

Synonymy— It is at present very difficult to disentangle the synonymy of the
European species of the group distinguished by Osten Sacken under the name of
Hyalanthrax, because no good and accurate comparative descriptions have been
published by any of the old authors. The original description of Bibio Pamscus of

Rossi is as follows :

“ * 1433. B. Paniscus.

Long. 6.1. Lat. 2. 1. . . . ...

“ Hirta, flavescens, compressa, abdomine mgi'o, lulvo-strigoso, alls hyalinis costa

^ fuSCcl •

“ Statura, et magnitudo B. Ilottentottce eique valde affinis, et forte mera varietas,

“ sed corpus in hac magis compressum, et magis elongatum. Thorax, et. abdomen
“ constanter nigra dorso fere nudo, pilis rufis. lateral ibus longiusculis hirta. Am
“ reffio obtusa fasciculo pilorum pilis albis intermixto. Subtus vix pubescens.

“ Pedes nigri, tenues. Alae hyalinae costa nigra. Yariat colore villorum minus

“ rufo.

“ Habitat in sil vis frequens in floribus Umbellatis." . „

I see nothing contradictory in this description as abdomine . . . fulvo-stngoso
mav well apply to the female, while “ costa nigra ” is counterbalanced by costa
“ fusca.” It is certain that Rossi had a species before linn which had the abdomen
narrower and more truncate than his A. hottentotta and which had a black anal
tuft between two white tufts. I sent a pair of our English species to Bezzi in
order to be certain that it occurred in Italy, and he wrote me that both sexes
agreed perfectly with the species which he possessed under the name of A. Pamscus ;
he also remarked that it was the rarest Italian species of the group except Ant hr.
halteralis Kow., the commonest ones being hottentotus L. (Jtavus bclun.) and
circumdatus Mg. (hottentotus Sell in.). A specimen m the Hope Museum at Oxford
was labelled A.flava.

3. A. cingulatus Meigen. Wings hyaline except for a very narrow
blackish brown foremargin which does not extend below the subcostal
vein. Abdomen with three conspicuous bands of yellow scales in the
male, and five in the female.

Very similar to A. civcumdcitus , but with the darkened foie-
margin of the wing much more restricted and the male with only
three bands of pale scales across the abdomen ; also similar to A.
Paniscus , but the male with a banded abdomen and the female
with the bands more conspicuous.

532

BOMBYLID.E

$ . Frons slightly wider at the vertex than in A. Paniscus or A. circumdatus, and
with fewer golden scales ; face with scarcely any black hairs on the upper eye-
margins or over the middle part of the mouth-opening ; postocular scales
about the middle part of the head more silvery than in A. circumdatus.
Antennae with the basal part of the third joint more globular than in the
two allied species, but with the styliform portion quite as short as in A.
circumdatus.

Thorax with the usual silvery patch above each wing-base ; pubescence on
the flat slope near the scutellum as in A. circumdatus.

Abdomen without distinct bands until the fourth segment ; outstanding
tawny pubescence as short as in A. circumdatus and also comparatively
absent on the disc, but the outstanding black pubescence on the fifth and
sixth segments and on the base of the seventh more conspicuous, and the
pale tufts on the last segment pale yellow and comparatively small, while
the apical black tuft is as conspicuous as (though smaller than) in A. Paniscus ;
the black tufts are conspicuous in combination with the long exclusively
black pubescence on the disc of the fifth, sixth, and seventh segments ; a few7
golden scales can be traced on the base of the second segment but not
enough to form a band, and a very few can be traced near the extreme basal
corners of the third segment, but the first obvious band of yellow scales is a
broad and conspicuous one on the base of the fourth segment which covers
more than the basal half ■of that segment except where so much emarginated
behind at the middle as to be almost or quite interrupted ; on the hind-
margins of the fourth and fifth segments are conspicuous though narrow equal
bands of golden scales, more obvious than in A. circumdatus but not quite
extended to the sidemargins. Belly almost as in A. circumdatus, but the fifth
and sixth segments deeper black because of the deep black scales on them ;
fourth segment covered with whitish scales except down the middle, while
similar scales form bands across the hindmargins of the fifth and sixth
segments, but black scales occur abundantly on all the segments except the
fourth and first ; the long straggly pubescence comparatively sparse and
brownish tawny.

Legs blacker than in the two allied species because there are only a few
scattered pale scales mainly beneath the basal half of the posterior femora
and about the base of the middle tibiae ; hind tibiae without the splayed out
black scales of A. Paniscus, and the hind femora with rather obvious long-
black pubescence about the base and with few7 (four) postero-ventral bristles
which do not occur on the basal half.

Wings hyaline with only the costal and subcostal cells rather brownish
or even tinged with a blackish hue, and without the slightest trace of
darkening in the marginal cell ; widened base of the costa without any pale
scales ; loop of the radial vein shallow ; rectangular base of the radial vein
usually with a recurrent veinlet, and also the base of the upper branch of
the cubital fork sometimes with one ; the piece of the upper branch of the
postical fork which forms the lower margin of the discal cell as long as (or
longer than) the base of the discal cell. Squamae more orange than in
A . circumdatus. Halteres with orange knobs.

9 . Rather blacker looking than A.circumdatus and with a more spatulate abdomen.

Frons slightly broader at the vertex than in the two allied species and
perhaps more gradually widening ; postocular scales greyish yellow7 and
rather less abundant.

Thorax as in A . circumdatus.

Abdomen with five distinct yellow bands, of which the first and third are
broader than the others, and the third band (across the base of the fourth
segment) even broader than in A. circumdatus as it occupies almost all the
segment except at its emarginated middle part ; the three narrow bands
rather more sharply defined than in A. circumdatus, and the last segment
bearing numerous tawny or yellow scales except on the base ; the black side-
tufts on the hind half of the fifth and the whole of the sixth segments more
conspicuous than in A. circumdatus. Belly clothed with dense pale yellow7
scales except on the foremargin of the fifth, sixth, and seventh segments, and
also with rather long pale yellow pubescence on the four basal segments.

3. ANTHRAX

533

Legs blacker than in the two allied species even though there are a
considerable number of pale scales on the femora, but the tibiae (especially
the hind pair) bearing scarcely any pale scales ; hind femora with only about
three postero-ventral bristles which are placed near the middle.

Wings blacker at the base and with a more blackish hue in the costal cell
than in A. circumdatus, and sometimes faintly smoky over the portion which
is strongly darkened in A. circumdatus ; costa with hardly any pale scales on
the widened black base. Squamae almost blackish orange.

Length about 10 mm., but varying from 9 mm. to 1 1 mm.

This species shows but little variation, but it is worthy of notice that
Loew (Zeitschr. ges. Naturw. x., 100, 1857) stated that both the yellow
colour of the pubescence and the dark foremargin of the wings lose their
colour to a certain extent with age. The male is not difficult to distinguish
from its English allies as it lias only three distinct abdominal bands,
while A. circumdatus has five and A. Paniscus none. The female requires
considerably more care in determination, but has the foremargin of the
wing much less darkened than in A. circumdatus , while A. Paniscus is
normally a larger species and has the last two abdominal bands indistinct.
The European A. claripennis is very closely allied, but has the costal cell
quite hyaline and the postocular scales whitish, while the male has the
frons at the vertex distinctly narrower and the band on the fourth
abdominal segment less wide.

A. cinyulatus is at present very little known as a British species, but
is not uncommon at Wonnsley near Stokencluirch in Buckinghamshire,
where it occurs on the steep slopes of the Chiltern Hills, and 1 believe
that a female taken by Colonel Yerbury at Holne in South Devon on
July 28, 1896, belongs to this species. The Wonnsley locality was
found by Mr W. E. Grant on July 7, 1895, when he took three females,
and on July 17, 1898, he took three of each sex, but it was not until
after we had been taking A. circumdatus in Dorset in August 1906 that
Colonel Yerbury called my attention to the distinctness of the Wonnsley
species from A. circumdatus, though he had long before recognised its
distinctness from A. Panicus ; a search for it about July 13, 1907, was
ineffective, but as that year was a remarkably late season a further search was
made on August 13 and produced two males, with which several females
occurred on that and the three succeeding days. The specimens all
occurred amongst the long grass and flowers of a small glade surrounded
by trees, but I have little doubt that the species is widely spread along
the Chilterns.

Synonymy. — It is impossible to ascertain how far the old British authors
distinguished the clear-winged species of Anthrax, and it is almost certain that they
mistook the two sexes of A. Paniscus for distinct species ; it is however probable
that they distinguished A. circumdatus because the localities they gave would suit
that species, and consequently I believe that the A. cingulata of Walker (Ins. Brit.
Dipt, i., 78) referred to A. circumdatus, but the late Edward Newman gave me a
specimen which I believe to be a true A. cingulatus. Villeneuve states that
Meigen’s collection contains two types, of which the male has been figured by
Meigen and is the species now described, but that the female is only A. Paniscus.

4. A. circumdatus Meigen. Wings hyaline, but with a rather wide
smoky blackish brown foremargin which includes at least the upper basal
cell. Abdomen with five bands of yellow scales in both sexes. (Fig. 304.)

534

BOMBYLIM

Very similar to A. Paniscus and A. cingulatus but dis¬
tinguished from both by the more extensive and obvious
darkening of the foremargin of the wing, and from A. Paniscus
by the banded abdomen of the male.

c£. As the species of this group are exceedingly closely allied I give only
comparative characters, mainly with A. Paniscus.

A smaller narrower species than A. Paniscus with a much more conspicu¬
ously smoky blackish foremargin of the wing which occupies the whole of
the base and is bounded below exactly by the upper side of the discal cell
until the dark cloud fades away in an indefinite diagonal direction from
about two-thirds or more of the discal cell towards the end of the subcostal
vein. Pubescence slightly shorter.

Head with the space between the eyes at the vertex slightly narrower
and widening downwards witli straighter sides ; frons with more diffused
golden scales ; face without any black hairs on the upper part of the eye-
margins or with them very indistinct ; back of the head more greyish black
and perhaps duller, with the pale postocular scales smaller and yellower or
greyer or even tawny orange but distinctly not silvery anywhere. Antennae
possibly with the dilated triangular base of the third joint tapering more
gradually into the style-like portion, and thereby making the latter appear
shorter.

Thorax with the silvery patch at the base of each wing very much as in
A. Paniscus; pubescence on the fiat slope on the hind part of the disc less
coarse and slightly shorter ; pubescence on the pleurae similar in colour to
that on the disc.

Scutellum margined about the sides with conspicuous dark tawny scales.

Abdomen with five bands of yellow scales, and with much less pale
pubescence on the disc so that the black ground colour is much more obvious,
and the few erect thin black hairs on this black part of the end segments
more conspicuous because of the absence of the concealing tawny pubescence ;
the black tufts on the sides of the fifth and sixth segments rather smaller,
less conspicuous, and less combined with the other black pubescence on
those segments, and the white tufts smaller and rather yellowish or at least
not brilliantly white, while the apical black patch is smaller or at any rate
less defined because of the pale pubescence on the hindmargin of the sixth
segment. Abdomen with five bands of elongate yellow scales, the bands on
the foremargin of the second and fourth segments being rather broad and
conspicuous as they occupy about one-third of each segment though rather
narrowed about the middle (especially on the fourth segment) ; the three
narrow bands placed respectively on the foremargin of the third segment and
on the liindmargins of the fifth and sixth segments are also conspicuous
though much narrower than the other two, and sometimes a slight band of
yellow scales occurs on the seventh segment ; no other yellow scales occur
on the disc of the abdomen except a very few scattered ones about the
middle of the fourth and fifth segments. Belly with the fourth segment
almost entirely covered with pale yellow recumbent coarse scaly pubescence,
and the fifth and sixth (and to some extent the seventh) segments with
similar pubescence which is abundant rather broadly on the liindmargins,
while the basal segments have still sparser scaly yellow pubescence but have
some long pale yellow hairs ; the middle part of the third segment and the
base of the fifth and sixth segments bear some depressed black scales which
may be rather concealed in very perfect specimens.

Legs without any splayed out black scales on the hind tibiae though with
very numerous short black bristles and some closely adpressed black and
grey scales ; hind tibiae bearing fairly numerous and sometimes abundant
yellow scales ; hind femora with the postero-ventral row of black bristles less
complete, but with numerous black scales on the underside ; claws tawny
on the basal half.

Wings with the foremargin darkened or almost blackened (though not

3. ANTHRAX

535

so much as in the *»£)£%£

with the darkening fading out lnden y subcostal vein ; rectangular

thirds of the discal cel towards ^eeroi ' ^ & recurrent veinlet, and the

origin of the radial vein more w nv.turn near the tip; the piece of the
loop of this vein with a more sha 1 1 he lower margm of the discal

upper branch of the base of the discal cell. Squamae darker,

cell is as long as or ionger than t s0 pa]e orange on the top of the

“knob and the stem dark orange or almost

blackish.

. . | Pnnisem but the distinction of the wing darkening even

? . Very similar to A. I aniscus, out

more pronounced. i . i ,ck of the head with the postocular

Frons less expanding dowiTOds, back^ot^ ^ q{ ^ ead

scales yellower and becoming orang jr ^ wiile some tiny black

and more diffused over t visible in A. Paniscus is hardly visible

intermixed pubescence which is just visioie

in this species. ,

Scutellum as m the male. tban in the male, and apparently

Abdomen broader but more tmne t U . though this appearance

narrower and more parailel-sided than in bescence and the broader

may be only caused through rath^ Qn the di c shorter and
and more sharply defined bands more conspicuous and more orange
less pale than in A t anis™s > V p;de pubescence, and more defined on

than in A. Paniscus because of the ^ also more pronounced on

at least the second, third and f ourtl g ^ g nts sometimes have more

the fifth and sixth segments even A °nd fourth segments rather

abundant golden scales, bands on^ pale side tufts near the tip smaller
emarginate at the middle . i , p snace may be larger but less sharply
and less distinct, while The apica ^ Jack; DBeny°covered with dense
black because it includes numerous ta^ y^f ^ td{h, sixth, and seventh
tawny golden scales, except o a]s0 numerous long tawny hairs,

segments, while the basal s g • spfayed.0ut scales on the hind tibia; and
Legs almost as m the male "Ji iese tibiaf; yellow scales far more numerous,
with rather stronger bristles on these y and tbose on all the

the posterior femora being < no- numerous but more scattered; antenoi
tibiae and the front femora bein* n()t dense black pubescence except
femora with some moderately lo g antero-ventral spines but none

near the ***\ T* **'>“***

neai the base , . i harcllv tawny at the base.

""“f tt than ffTX M

&£*£$ ~ specimen.

Length about 1 1 mm.

• i-n tbp colour of the pubescence from light greyish

This species varies m the coloui 1 p j le to various small

yellow to fulvous, and the vena ton seems to to J»We ^ ^ ^ o£

aberrations; the recurrent veinlet sometimes rather long, and the

the radial vein is frequen ) P , V a opposite to or before or after

radial vein may diverge from the F*f ^ l ^ Adams at Lyudhurst has

the discal cross-vem. _ A male take y from the upward bend of

a moderately long vein et issuing th® h the veinlet is imperfect

the discal vein m the third postei ’imtfn very nearly destroys the

at its base in the right

essential character of only fom 1 Paniscus and even more closely

This species is very simlf.tonf^wS however it is distinguished
allied to A. cingulatus, from both o 1 h character is very obvious
by the darker foremargin of the wmg, wmc

536

BOMBYLID7E

in the female, while the male is distinguished from A. Paniscus by
its banded abdomen, and from A. cingulatus by its different banding.
Several other continental species are probably also very much allied, but
in most cases better descriptions are wanted ; a few further notes upon
allied species are given under A. Paniscus.

A. circumdatus was not fully recognised by me as British until I saw
two specimens which were sent by Mr R. C. Bradley for exhibition at the
Entomological Society on April 20, 1904 ; the male of these two was
caught by Mr W. G. Blatch at Poole in Dorset on July 24, 1870, and the
female by Mr R. C. Bradley at Bournemouth (which is close by, though in
Hampshire) on August 30, 1900. I next saw a female which had been
taken by Mr H. Donisthorpe in the New Forest on August 1, 1901, and
then two pairs taken by Mr F. C. Adams at Lyndhurst on July 22 to 28,
1901. It is practically certain that this is the species recorded by Curtis
in 1824 under the name of A. flavci, upon which he said, “End of June,
“ borders of woods, Devon, Parley Heath, upon places where the turf had
“been peeled off, and hovering over a bank; Mr Dale, Monk’s Wood,
“ Huntingdonshire ; Rev. W. L. P. Garnons,” and being desirous of testing
Curtis’ locality I went in August, 1904, to Parley Heath and Canford
Heath, but found only A. fcnestratus sparingly ; a visit however to the
Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge disclosed a long series (twenty or more) of
A. circumdatus which had been taken lay him on Bloxworth Heath at
intervals in the previous thirty or forty years, and no allied species was
known to him, so that Coucke’s idea of all these closely allied species being
only varieties of one species is completely dissipated. The Rev. O. Pickard-
Cambridge used to take them when searching for the spider, Xysticus
sabulosus, which occurs about the end of August and in September. I
subsequently saw odd specimens which had been taken in the New Forest
by Colonel Yerbury (August 31, 1894, 1?) and Mr H. W. Andrews
(August 21, 1903, 1 J), near Chobham in Surrey by Mr Edward Saunders
(August, 1904 and 1905), and finally Colonel Yerbury, Mr J. E. Collin,
and myself found the females not uncommon at Studland, Arne, and
Bloxworth Heaths in Dorset in August 1906 from the 22nd to the 27th
(but only one male), when they were rather worn and after which date
not a single specimen was seen. I have no doubt it occurs over a very
wide expanse of the commons in the south of England, but its habitats
are quite distinct from those of either A. Paniscus or A. cingulatus.

Synonymy. — There can be no doubt but that this species is the one recorded by
Curtis under the name of A.flava from at least the Parley Heath locality, though
Curtis does not seem to have recognised that the female of A. Paniscus (called by
him A. hottentotta ) has pale bands on the abdomen. A specimen exists in the Hope
Museum at Oxford under the label of Anthrax Belzebub , and the species does bear
a superficial resemblance to Lomatia sabcea and to a less extent to L. Belzebub ;
another specimen in the same museum stands under the name of A. cingulatus ,
though there is also a specimen correctly labelled A. circumdatus.

THEREVIM

537

VIII. THEREVID^E.

Orthorrhaphous brachyeerous but by no means eremochaetous flies of
moderate size and more or less conical shape, usually resembling the
Bombylidce in their furry pubescence but distinguished by the five
posterior cells; also resembling some Asilidce but distinguished by the
eyes being not protuberant from the sunk vertex.

Head usually almost as broad as the thorax, somewhat semicircular, and rather
pulled out behind the eyes, but with hardly any obvious collar and only a short

Fig. 310. — Thereva nobilitata <$. x 5.

neck ; cephalic bristles practically absent except for the strong black postocular
bristles and some bristles which usually occur quite out on the upper part of the
actual back of the head. Frons by no means excavated between the eyes, but
usually rather (and sometimes strongly) produced near the base of the antennae,
ranging from densely hairy ( Thereva ) to quite bare (Psilocephala) ; _ ocelli three.
Face hairy or bare, but never with a distinct mouth-beard. Proboscis rather pro¬
minent, upturned and rather thick, but not porrect and produced; sucker-flaps
broad ; palpi not jointed ; but in Xestomyza the proboscis and palpi are elongate and
thin. Eyes bare, not bulging out from the vertex, touching or considerably
approximated in the male, but widely separated in the female. Antennae porrect,
approximated at the base, and composed of three joints with an apical (sometimes
jointed) style; basal joint large and long; third joint elongate, and often with an
indistinct basal annulation whereby the antennae may appear to be four-jointed.

Thorax (fig. 311) rather flattened, usually (but not always) densely pubescent in
the male but with the pubescence shorter and more adpressed in the female, and
with some strong black (usually conspicuous) cliaetotactic bristles, which show no

538

THEREVID.E

humeral bristles but about four (two to six) praesutural in a row, two (or one) supra-
alar, one strong postalar, and usually one or two pairs of praescutellar ; other dorso-

central bristles only rarely present. Scutellum
with two pairs of conspicuous slightly convergent
long black marginal bristles, or one pair only in
Xestomyza.

Abdomen with seven (or more) segments,
usually rather elongate and conical, and also
usually bearing dense soft pubescence which is
rather erect in the male but depressed in the
female and which never includes any strong
bristly hairs. Genitalia of the male rather long
and moderately conspicuous, but of the female
long and shining and bearing at the end a circlet
of coarse black spines (fig. 319) similar to those
which occur in some Mydaidce , Apioceridos , Anth-
racince, and Asilidce.

Legs slender, rather long, and bearing distinct
bristles which are hardly macrochmtae and which are not adapted for predatory
purposes ; anterior coxae with two (or more) bristles in front near the tip, and the
hind coxa; with one outside not so near the tip besides two or three small ones
in front at the tip; anterior femora often with about two (1-3) bristles beneath
near the middle and sometimes one behind ; hind femora usually with an irregular
row of antero-ventral bristles ; front tibhe with two or three rows of shorter bristles,
while the posterior tibiae have four rows, and all have an apical circlet of about
six spines, of which one almost anterior is conspicuously long on the front pair
but about four are long on the posterior pairs ; tarsi rather thin and with small
circlets of bristles at the tip of each joint (except the last), though the circlets
are short and inconspicuous on the front pair ; posterior tarsi with short plantar
bristles on the basal joint, and the front tarsi sometimes with a few “touch-hairs”
on the underside. Pulvilli two only or none ; empodium represented by a thin
bristle or absent.

Wings (fig. 310) with a well marked and comparatively simple venation some¬
what intermediate between that of the Tabanidae and that of the Asilidce , but
distinguished from the former by the longer upper basal cell and the less wide open
cubital fork, and from the latter by the shorter subcostal vein. Subcostal vein
comparatively short ; praefurca fairly long and commencing long before the base of
the discal cell ; cubital vein with a simple fork, which is long but begins beyond
the end of the discal cell and is rather wide open and includes the wing-tip ;
discal cross-vein placed near the middle of the discal cell, and consequently the
upper basal cell longer than the second ; discal cell always well defined and entirely
composed of the discal vein, as the small cross-vein is distinctly present ; discal cell
always emitting three veinlets to (or towards) the wingmargin, which are either
quite simple or the lower one may curve down enough to join the upper branch of
the postical fork and thereby cause a closed fourth posterior cell ; postical vein with
a well defined simple fork, of which the upper branch is connected by the small
cross-vein to the discal ceil near the base of the latter, and this branch is usually
joined by the third veinlet from the discal cell close to the wingmargin, while,
the lower branch is always united with the anal vein near the wing¬
margin so as to form a closed anal cell ; submarginal cells always two ; posterior
cells always five. Wing-membrane crowdedly but not very distinctly rippled,
minutely pubescent. Squamae with only the alar pair developed, but they are
rather large and peculiarly folded so that the strongly defined margin is angled
about the middle and gives an impression of there being two pairs of squamae ;
fringe above that fold rather short, even, and delicate, but after the fold long and
similar to the pubescence on the neighboring part of the metapleurae when there is
long pubescence there but otherwise with only a moderate fringe ; frenum distinct.
Halteres in no way concealed, and with the upper part of the stem widening out to
the knob.

The metamorphoses in all stages are not satisfactorily known, but the
young larvae are very mobile in hunting for prey; they are serpentine

THEREVID.E

539

and of tough consistency and show apparently nineteen segments ;
they are said to occur in fungi and rotten tree-trunks hut I received a
female specimen of T. nobilitata 1 from Mr C. D. Ash, which he was con¬
fident he had bred from a Lepidopterous larva, and also a male from Essex
(June 23, 1901) which had been bred from Triphmna inter jecta, which tends to
confirm Wahlberg’s statement (Yet. Acad. Handl., 1838,? ) that he had bred
T. eximia from Noctua larvae ; Westwood also stated (Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond.,
1859, 59) that the larvae had been bred from the pupae of Aleucis pictaria
and Sphinx ligustri ; it is probable that the active young larvae live in loose
earth and sand and are ready to prey upon any vegetable or animal
refuse, or even to affix themselves to living larvae.

This family is well defined and may be distinguished most readily from
the Bombylidce by the presence of the small cross -vein and the five posterior
cells. It is hardly necessary to compare it with the eremochaetous Tdbanidw
and Leptidce, but it is desirable to give some distinctive characters from
the Asilidce and Apioceridce. The Asilidce are more heavily built pedestrian
predaceous flies with the eyes widely separated in both sexes and con¬
spicuously bulging out from the depressed or even excavated vertical
portion of the frons; their bristles are as a rule much more strongly
developed, the tarsal bristles being evidently used for grasping prey; the
subcostal vein is much longer and frequently ( laphrinm and Asilince )
receives the radial vein before its tip. The Apioceridce are easily dis¬
tinguished by their spatulate palpi and their venation, the subcostal
vein being very long and receiving the radial vein and the upper branch
of the cubital fork (or both branches) before its tip, so that these veins
run upwards rather parallel to the wingmargin.

The Thcrevidce are not a large family, about 250 species being
known which have been placed in rather more than a dozen imperfectly
distinguished genera ; they seem to occur in all parts of the world, though
the majority have been described from Europe and North America (about
seventy species from each) ; they are, however, apparently numerous in New
Zealand. In Britain we recognise about a dozen species, of which I have
seen only one (T. annulata ) from Ireland, though Haliday recorded T.cincta
(probably nobilitata ) from Holywood in Co. Down; hitherto our species
have been in a chaos of nomenclature for the reasons given by Loew in
1847, which are as true to-day as when he wrote them sixty years ago ;
Loew then said, “ The genus Thereva belongs to the Dipterous genera of
“ our Fauna which quickly attract the eyes of the collector through their
“ beauty; his first success in distinguishing them causes him no difficulty,
“ partly because he at first possesses only universally common species, and
“ partly because he applies no close criticism of the existing descriptions
“ to the few species of his collection ; as soon as he enriches these, he
“ must become doubtful about identifications which he had previously
“ considered certain ; he notes that these descriptions apply to two or
“ more closely allied species and does not know to which of these they

540

THERE VI D.E

“ belong; he sees that species are often sharply and surely distinguished
“ by trifling differences but finds little or no information upon such
“ distinctions in the existing descriptions; he discovers that in the genus
“ Thereva essentially distinct species may agree in all points of structure
“ and be only distinguished by the difference of coloration, and at the same
“ time that the colour of many species is exceedingly variable; these
“ circumstances compel him to study afresh for a long time before he
“ arrives at a definite result.” After writing these words in an intro¬
duction, Loew proceeded to describe thirty-three European species, to
twenty-one of which he gave new names, and it is disconcerting to find
that two of his names have sunk as synonyms and that no less than
twelve out of the remaining nineteen new species have never been
recognised (or at any rate recorded) by subsequent writers. The
distinctive specific characters in the restricted genus Thereva (< sensu meo)
lie in the colour of abdominal ground markings (probably the best char¬
acter), the colour of the pubescence on frons, face (middle as distinguished
from sidemargins), jowls, lower, middle, and upper parts of the back of
the head, basal antennal joint, thorax and abdomen especially, back of
front femora, etc., while in the females distinctions may be found in the
shape of the shining black callus on the frons (a character not absolutely
invariable), and the ground colour and pubescence of the last abdominal
segments. I have not the slightest doubt that there are many perfectly
good species distinguished by these apparently trivial characters, but the
difficulty lies in fixing the absolute distinction ; perhaps under microscopic
examination characters will ultimately be found in the genitalia, but at
present the eye distinguishes our species better than the lens. The charac¬
ter of the presence of two pairs of prsescutellar bristles is usually useful
for distinguishing T. fulva, annulata, and lunulata, but is not infallible,
while the wide open fourth posterior cell is characteristic of T. lunulata.
To add to our difficulties, specimens of British species seldom look exactly
like specimens of the same species from the continent, so that even after
identification by description doubts may easily re-arise upon comparison.
Schiner says the species are as a rule “ Bobber Elies,” which have a some¬
what cunning and uneasy cat-like demeanour, in that they lurk between
the leaves of low shrubs, and know how to conceal themselves like lightning
without flying away. I have never seen them acting predaceously myself,
though I admit that their actions appear very suspicious, and it is worthy
of note that Professor Poulton has not been able to obtain any record for
his paper on predatory Diptera; Walker however states that they some¬
times prey on other insects, and Williston says, “Their food is chiefly
“ other diptera, for which they lie in wait upon leaves and bushes, or upon
“ the bare ground.”

Synonymy. — I consider the spelling Thereva to be both more correct and more
euphonious than Thereua ; it is also the original spelling proposed by Latreille, and
I cannot find the spelling Thereua until Agassiz incorrectly stated in 1846 (Nomenclator
Zoologicus) that it was Latreille’s spelling of 1796.

THEREVIM

541

Type of venation of the Therevid^e.

Longitudinal (or long) veins.

a Costa (or costal vein),
b Mediastinal (or auxiliary) vein.
c Subcostal (or 1st longitudinal) vein.
cl Radial (or 2nd longitudinal) vein.

e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein ; always with a simple fork which includes the
tip of the wing.

e; Upper branch! f , bi , f k
e2 Lower branch J

Discal (or Ath longitudinal) vein ; always including all the discal cell and all the
veins issuing from it.
f1 Upper veinlet \

f2 Second veinlet - from the discal cell.
f3 Third veinlet J

Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein ; always with a simple fork, but the branches
of the fork usually uniting with veins on either side before reaching the

/

wmgmargin.

g1 Upper branch \ f .• i f k

g2 Lower branch/ ot tlie postlcal t01k-
h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

h Praifurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal vein round the liindmargin of the
wing.

Cross (or transverse) veins.

w Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.
y Lower (or small) cross-vein.

Anal cross-vein =g2 = the lower branch of the postical fork.

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital forlc-cell).

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

542

THEREVID.E

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

6b Third posterior cell.

6C Fourth posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 5th posterior) cell (or postical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or 1 st) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9° Anal (or lower , or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Tiierevid/e.

The venation is very simple and liable to very little variation.

Subcostal Vein short, thereby affording a distinction from the Asilidce and
Apioceridce. Pr.efurca rather long, starting before the middle of the upper basal
cell and consequently far before the base of the discal cell. Discal cross-vein
placed near the middle of the discal cell, and consequently the upper basal cell
longer than the second. Cubital Fork wide open and including the wing-tip, but
not so wide open as in the Tabanidce, and usually the upper branch ending as far
from the radial vein as from the lower branch ; the cubital fork starts after the end
of the discal cell. Discal Cell hexagonal and emitting three almost equidistant
veinlets, of which the lower one is usually bent down and sometimes closes the
fourth posterior cell. Posterior Cells always five, the fifth (postical) having its
upper vein sometimes connected at the wingmargin with the third veinlet from the
discal cell, and its lower vein always connected with the anal vein. Small cross¬
vein always distinct.

Table of the Tala’ arctic Genera of TiiEREViDiE.

1 (6) Basal antennal joint almost as long as (or even longer than) the

head. Species almost hare.

2 (3) Basal antennal joint long and thin, antenme twice as long as

the rather short head.

Fourth posterior cell closed. Abdomen elongate, pointed.

Phycus.

3 (2) Basal antennal joint remarkably thick, much longer than the

other two together; antenme hardly longer than the rather

long head (fig. 313).

Fig. 313. — Xcstomyza chrysanthemi 9- X 24.

4 (5) Eyes of the male separated. Basal antennal joint bristly from

base to tip (fig. 313).

Discal cross-vein near the middle of the discal cell.

Xestomyza.

THEREVID.E

543

5 (4) Eyes of the male touching. Basal antennal joint bristly near

the tip only.

Discal cross-vein considerably beyond the middle of the discal cell.

Baryphora.

6 (1) Basal antennal joint much shorter than the head. Species

sometimes furry.

7 (8) Cubital fork long and rather narrow (as in Leptis), fig. 314.

8

Basal antennal joint shorter than the third ; style rather long
and distinctly jointed, two-thirds as long as the third antennal joint
Fourth posterior cell closed.

Rueppellia.

(7) Cubital fork wide open (as in fig. 312).

Basal antennal joint as long as the third ; style short, indistinctly
jointed.

9 (10) Pulvilli absent.

Femora bare.

10 (9) Pulvilli distinctly present.

11 (12) Face and frons with long dense pubescence (fig.

Abdomen conical. Very furry species.

CCENOPHANOMYIA.

315).

1. Tiiereva.

12 (11) Face bare; frons bare or in the male with pubescence not longer
than that on the basal antennal joint.

Species almost bare, except in Dialineura.

Fig. 315.— Thereva nobilitata <J. x 18.

Fig. 316. — Dialineura anilis S- X 25.

13 (14) Basal antennal joint swollen, more bristly than usual, and as
long as the other two joints together (fig. 316). Frons
pubescent in the male. Furry species.

Fourth posterior cell wide open.

2. Dialineura.

544

THEREVID.E

14 (13) Basal antennal joint not swollen nor more bristly than usual,
shorter than the other two joints together (fig. 317). Frons
bare. Abdomen elongate, oblong rather than conical.

Almost bare species.

3. PSILOCEPHALA.

Synonymy. — I believe that Cionophora Egger is an absolute synonym of
Xestomyza , and I very much doubt the distinctness of Baryphora Loew, Tabuda
Walker, or Pachyrrhiza Philippi ; it is noteworthy that Loew made no reference
to Xestomyza when founding his genus Baryphora, and his figure of the an ten me
is very misleading ; Egger also made no reference to either Xestomyza or Baryphora
when founding Cionophora ; I possess several specimens of Xestomyza chrysanthemi
and one female of Baryphora speciosa, and have endeavoured to show their
differences. Tabuda Walker (1856) and Pachyrrhiza Philippi (1865) are probably
synonyms of Xestomyza Wied. (1820) or Baryphora Loew (1844), but the American
entomologists profess to distinguish Tabuda by its less produced and less flattened
frons and its more pubescent basal antennal joint. Macquart’s genus Exapata
was in my opinion founded on an injured or deformed specimen of an ordinary
Thereva , and I believe (though I am not quite certain) that I possess the original
specimen of Ex. anthracoides, and if so it is very closely allied to T.fidva but may
be distinct as there are indications of cloudings on the cross-veins and on the upper
margin of the discal cell after the discal cross-vein ( = T. arcuata ?). I have given a
more limited interpretation of the genus Dialineura than has usually been done
as I have placed the most stress upon Rondani’s second character, “ Antennaj
“ articulo primo incrassato,” and have ignored his character founded on the open
fourth posterior cell. The genus Phycus Walker may have been misunderstood by
subsequent authors, but my characters have been drawn from P. canescens only.
Anabarrhynchus Macquart is very closely allied to Dialineura and Psilocephala
but has the eyes of the male well separated. Some of the other genera have been
very imperfectly distinguished and when well known may be refounded on better
characters or be suppressed.

1. THEREVA.

Thereva Latreille, Precis car. gen. Ins., 167 (1796).

Medium-sized flies of rather conical shape, clothed with
dense furry pubescence which obscures the dark ground colour,
and may be silvery white, fulvous, brown, or even mainly
black in colour.

Head (fig. 315) semicircular but not flat behind, short, and without any obvious
neck to connect it with the thorax, but not crammed on to the thorax. Frons

1. THEREVA

545

Fio. 318. — Thereva nobili-
tata ? . x 30.

slightly produced towards the antennse, bearing in the male long dense pubescence,
but in the female only short pubescence ; a transverse shining black bare callus
(sometimes divided into two spots) is almost always present on the broad frons of
the female, and though this callus varies in shape it does not give infallible specific
distinction. Face sloping or gently curving down to the mouth, and bearing in the
male long dense pubescence, which extends round under the eyes and all up the
back of the head to the vertex, while on the upper part of the back of the head are
indications of a postocular row of rather strong black bristles, and out on the back
of the head well away from the eyes are some more black
bristles ; in the female the pubescence is shorter and the black
bristles are more numerous and conspicuous ; back of the head
rounded out behind the eyes, mouth-opening large and long
being extended considerably forwards ; ocelli three. Proboscis
rather withdrawn but upturned and not extending up to the
antenna? ; sucker-flaps large and ribbed ; palpi cylindrical,
rather knobbed at the tip, and conspicuously pubescent. Eyes
bare, touching in the male for a considerable space but in
the female widely separated ; facets hardly conspicuously con¬
trasted in size. Antennae (fig. 318) porrect, approximated at
the base, rather long, but not longer than the head ; basal
joint long and cylindrical, not inflated, but bearing some long-
pubescence on the basal two-tliirds and some stiff black bristles
on the apical part; second joint about a quarter the length of the first, and also
bearing shorter but more numerous bristles ; third joint divergent, about as long
as the first, and with an indistinct annulation near its base, bare of pubescence, and
ending in a short style which bears a very short thread-like apical filament.

Thorax oval, densely pubescent in the male but with shorter more depressed
pubescence in the female ; strong black chaetotactic bristles are always present, of
which about four (3-6) are praesutural, two supra-alar, one strong postalar, and one
or two pairs praescutellar, but the pairs of praescutellar bristles are liable to vary
in an irregular manner so that they may be asymmetrical. Scutellum semicircular,
with two pairs of conspicuous black marginal bristles ; metanotum small and
bare, rather concealed beneath the projecting scutellum.

Abdomen conical and longer than the thorax, with seven or eight obvious

segments in the male, but with the distinct eighth
segment in the female forming the basal portion of
the ovipositor ; hindmargins of segments usually
yellowish on just a marginal hem both dorsally and
ventrally ; pubescence dense and almost furry in the
male but with hairs of different lengths, and with
shorter usually adpressed pubescence on the basal
segments in tire female, and in the latter sex the
pubescence on the fifth to eighth segments is short
and rigid (fig. 319). Genitalia of the male fairly dis¬
tinct, but the ovipositor of the female (fig. 319)
longer and more produced and ending in a circlet of conspicuous thick black

-Thereva nobilitata ?.
End of abdomen.

spines.

Legs slender, and bearing abundant soft pubescence in addition to some black
bristles on at least the coxae and anterior femora. Bristles on the coxae about two
on the front, four on the middle, and one on the hind pair ; those on the anterior
femora usually (but not always) two or three (rarely one) beneath (or almost antero-
ventral) near the middle, and those on the hind femora forming an irregular antero-
ventral row of about seven bristles ; tibiae with rows of small bristles and with circlets
of spurs, but the rows on the anterior pairs do not extend to the base, and though
there are about three rows of three (3-6) bristles on the front tibiae, four rows of
about three (3-7) bristles on the middle tibiae, and four roAvs of about eight
bristles on the hind tibiae extending the whole length, yet the bristles vary in
both species and individuals ; tarsi normal, but with a few “ touch-hairs ” beneath
the front pair, and with short strong black plantar bristles on the posterior pairs ;
there is a small process on the front of the hind coxae near the base, which is not
easily detected in the pubescence.

Wings normal in venation ; fourth posterior cell usually closed but occasionally
just open in the female or in individual specimens though this cell is more or less

2 M

546

THEREVIDdE

widely open in a number of species which many authors have placed in Dialineura.
The metamorphoses of scarcely any species are well known, but the larvae are
very active in their earlier stages and are said to live in damp earth and in fungi,
while the pupae have been found beneath stones -} there is however reason to believe
that the larva; are (like the Bombylidce ) parasitic on Lepidopterous (Ifoctuce) larvae
as I have noted on page 539.

This genus is well distinguished if limited to the densely hairy-
faced species which have the basal joint of the antennae not dilated
and the fourth posterior cell distinctly contracted towards the wing-
margin even if not quite closed. Dialineura can then be distinguished
by the dilated basal joint of the antennae, the bare face, and the widely
open fourth posterior cell, but this last character is only subordinate value
as it occurs in many species of Thereva. Psilocephala may be at once
distinguished by its bare frons and face and its more oblong abdomen.

Thereva is by far the largest genus in the family, and more than fifty
species (in my interpretation of the genus) have been described from
Europe. They occur on the leaves of shrubs and on large leaved plants
(such as nettles) and in hedge-rows, where they sit very warily and are
not at all easy to capture, while some species sit on hot dry sand or bare
places ; I have seen the males of T. annulata executing a frantic dance
over hot white sandy places in small numbers in the hottest sunlight, and I
think I have also seen the males of T. nobilitata acting in a similar
manner, while other species are said to dance in small swarms (like some
species of Ernpidce) round about an individual bush. I cannot help
suspecting that hybrids occur in this genus, as I have seen a female
taken at Padstow in Cornwall in July 1902 which gave me the impression
of being a hybrid between T. bipunctata and T. nobilitata, which both
occurred there at that time, but it may have been a female of T. marginula
which however has not yet been recognised as British ; Colonel Yerbury
has taken T. annulata (d) and D. anilis (?) in cop., and I have seen
specimens of T. annulata with a most suspiciously brownish pubescence
on the thorax ; Zetterstedt has recorded T. bipunctata S in cop. with
T. annulata $ , and Rossi (Faun, etrusc., vol. ii., p. 274) stated that he
had taken his B. marginata (which is consequently a Thereva, and possibly
T. marginula Meig.) in cop. with T. plebeia; Rossi’s B. marginata was
described between his B. plebeia and B. anilis, of which the latter seems
to be T. annulata. Numerous species of Thereva occur in North and
South America, South Asia, and Australia, while three species each are
recorded from South Africa and New Zealand.

Synonymy— I have preferred the original spelling of Thereva to the emendation
Thereua, as mentioned in the synonymy of the family. Bibio Fabricius ( 1 781-1787)
is practically a synonym of Thereva but is quite distinct from Bibio Geoffroy (1764).

Table of the Males.

1 (14) Pubescence not silvery white (even though mainly whitish is

T. bipunctata).

2 (13) Pubescence of abdomen mainly tawny, yellowish grey, or black

(not whitish or pale yellowish grey). Wing-veins normally
distinct.

1. THEREVA

547

3

6

(4) Pubescence wholly bright tawny (black hairs may be traced with

difficulty down the mid dorsal line of the abdomen, and incon¬
spicuous thin black hairs occur all about the disc of the thorax,
besides the usual strong black bristles). Prsescutellar bristles
in two pairs. 1 fulva.

(3) Pubescence obviously considerable mixed with black or at any rate
not wholly bright tawny. Prsescutellar bristles normally in
one pair (except sometimes in T. arcuata).

(6) Abdomen mainly jet black with bands of bright tawny pubescence.
Tarsi ferruginous at the extreme base only. Prsescutellar
bristles sometimes in two pairs. Fourth posterior cell often
just open. 2 arcuata.

(5) Abdomen not jet black with bands of bright tawny pubescence.

Tarsi considerably ferruginous at the base.

7 (8) Abdomen and thorax with mainly black or dark brownish yellow

pubescence. Pubescence on the face and jowls extensively
black. Eather large species. 5 circumscripta.

8 (7) Abdomen and thorax with considerable obvious tawny or greyish

yellow pubescence. Pubescence on the face and especially the
jowls not extensively black. Medium-sized species.

9 (10) Abdomen with pale ventral and black dorsal pubescence, and the

pale pubescence not extending beyond the sides. 4 plebeia.

10 (9) Abdomen with the pale ventral pubescence extending over the

sides and to a considerable extent on to the disc.

11 (12) Ground colour black. Abdomen rather narrow and elongate.

2 arcuata.
var. inornate.

12 (11) Ground colour brownish black. Abdomen wider at the base and

apparently less elongate. 3 nobilitata.

13 (2) Pubescence of abdomen mainly whitish grey or pale yellowish

grey. Smallish species. Wing- veins very intense. Prse¬
scutellar bristles in one pair. 6 bipunctata.

14 (1) Pubescence silvery white. Prsescutellar bristles (normally) in

two pairs.

15 (16) Halteres blackish. Fourth posterior cell usually wide open.

7 lunulata.

16 (15) Halteres whitish. Fourth posterior cell closed or almost so.

8 annulata.

Table of the Females.

1 (12) Frons with a shining black callus or pair of spots.

2 (11) Frontal callus (normally) entire. Seventh abdominal segment

with short rigid black hairs.

3 (4) Almost wholly tawny species. Prsescutellar bristles in two pairs.

1 fulva.

548

THEREVID/E

4 (3) Species by no means wholly tawny. Praescutellar bristles in one

pair (except sometimes in T. arcuata).

5 (8) Fifth and subsequent abdominal segments bearing short rigid

black hairs. Abdomen black, with light grey hindmargins
which widen moderately at the sides.

6 (7) Frontal callus very large (fig. 322) extending up to the front

ocellus. Wing-veins hardly darkened. 4 plebeia.

7 (6) Frontal callus small. Wing- veins darkened. 5 circumscripta.

8 (5) Fifth and sixth abdominal segments (normally) bearing short rigid

pale hairs. Frontal callus moderate in size.

9 (10) Thorax with two rather obvious grey stripes. Abdomen with the

black markings on the second and third segments extending to
the sidemargins. Praescutellar bristles sometimes in two pairs.
Fourth posterior cell sometimes just open. Tarsi sometimes
ferruginous at only the extreme base, or (var. inornate i) con¬
siderably ferruginous at the base. 2 arcuata.

10 (9) Thorax very indistinctly striped. Abdomen golden with the

black markings on the second and third segments not extending
to the sidemargins. Praescutellar bristles in one pair only.
Fourth posterior cell closed. Tarsi considerably ferruginous
at the base. 3 nobilitata.

11 (2) Frontal callus divided into a pair of spots (fig. 323). Seventh

abdominal segment pale haired. 6 bipunctata.

12 (1) Frons brown on the upper part, but without any shining black

callus.

13 (14) Halteres blackish. Fourth posterior cell more or less wide open.

7 lunulata.

14 (13) Halteres whitish. Fourth posterior cell closed or almost so.

8 annulata.

I have called attention in my notes upon the variation of T. bipunctata to a
British specimen which may represent T. marginula Meig.

Very few species of Thereva can be determined with certainty from single
specimens unless they are quite normal and in very perfect condition. T. fulva,
T. lunulata , and T. annulata should be easily named in both sexes and the
females of T. bipunctata and T. plebeia can be distinguished by their frontal callus,
while the male of T. bipu/nctata is not difficult to name because of its rather smaller
size and whitish abdominal pubescence ; the female of T. circumscripta is not
known to me with certainty, but may be distinguished from that sex of T. plebeia
by its smaller frontal callus and probably from T. nobilitata and T. arcuata by
sharply defined light grey abdominal bands. There then remain the males of
T. arcuata (of which the tawny and black form is very distinct), T. nobilitata,
T. plebeia, and T. circumscripta and the females of T. nobilitata and T. arcuata,
and as far as my experience goes these are all difficult species, and their determina¬
tion can only be arrived at by a close examination of the descriptions.

1. T. fulva Meigen. Almost wholly bright tawny-liaired, but usually
with a slight dorsal line of black hairs on the abdomen though without
fine transverse lines of black hairs across the hindmargins of the segments,
and with black hairs on the vertex, frons, and sides of the face in at least

1. THEREVA

549

the male, besides the black chsetotactic bristles. Abdomen of the female
with the seventh abdominal segment and the ovipositor shining black.
Prsescutellar bristles two pairs.

An extremely beautiful bright tawny fly.

d. Face and frons entirely covered with dull golden dust; frons bearing con¬
spicuous long black pubescence which extends (though gradually contracting)
down the sides of the face almost to the bottom of the eyes but becomes almost
restricted to a single row of hairs on the lower part ; all the rest of the face
with long dull yellow drooping pubescence which becomes paler on the lower
part and which is divided by the long mouth-opening ; lower part of the face,
jowls, and lower part of the back of the head covered with more whitish
dust, while the pubescence on the rather wide jowls is long and dull yellow
with (almost always) a few black hairs intermixed though not enough to call a
clump ; lower part of the back of the head with long shaggy pale yellow
pubescence, but the upper part covered with tawny dust and with denser
shorter and tawny pubescence, while out on the middle part of the back of
the head are about six (or fewer) irregular black bristles, and there is a single
postocular row of about twenty long black bristly hairs on the upper half of
the head which curve over at their tips and which are connected with the
black pubescence on the dull yellow vertex ; the conspicuous tuft of long
black hairs on the frons leaves the hairs quite close to the base of the antennae
dull yellow. Eyes touching for almost one-tliird of the distance' between the
occiput and the antennae, and with the facets almost imperceptibly diminish¬
ing in size from the upper part downwards. Antennae entirely obscured by
dull yellow dust on the two basal joints and the base of the third joint, but
the third joint is dull dark brown with its basal annulation rather orange ;
the stout black bristles on the apical half of the basal joint and on the second
joint conspicuous, but the finer pubescence on the basal half of the first joint
dull yellow.

Thorax and scutellum with the ground colour apparently dull brownish
orange, but entirely covered with almost erect dense tawny, dark tawny, and
yellow pubescence besides the strong black ckmtotactic bristles, but a close
examination shows that (almost always) numerous thin black hairs are
scattered all over the disc, and these black hairs (except when very few)
cause a darker tawny appearance on that part ; the chaetotactic bristles
placed as usual (fig. 311) but the praesutural bristles often irregular (some¬
times four on one side and two on the other), and the prsescutellar bristles
always present in two pairs ; pleurse with rather long dense pubescence
which is tawny on the upper part but paler below, and the tuft on the meta-
pleurse large, long, dense, and tawny. Scutellum with rather longer tawny
pubescence, and with fewer or none of the longer thin black hairs ; metanotum
bare of pubescence but covered with greyish yellow dust.

Abdomen entirely dull brownish orange but covered with dense tawny
pubescence, and in some lights the second to fifth segments with sharply
defined perfectly equal bare orange hindmarginal hems, of which a trace
exists on the sixth segment ; pubescence apparently all tawny but a few black
hairs can be traced on a middle dorsal stripe, though not on the hindmargins,
and occasionally these black hairs are numerous enough to form a fairly con¬
spicuous black dorsal stripe on the six basal segments, and may even
extend across the hindmargins of the sixth and seventh segments and even on
to the disc of the seventh and genital segments. Belly with a dull blackish
ground colour obscured by yellowish grey dust, and with conspicuous yellow
hindmargins to the second to sixth segments and a tawny hindmargin
to the seventh segment ; pubescence long but not conspicuous, as it is thin
erect and pale when compared with that on the dorsal side. Genitalia with
two large broad tawny side-plates which end in narrow tawny claspers,
between which on the upper part at the base is a pair of lamellae which are
shorter and darker than in T. nobilitata , while the genitalia are conspicuously
bright taAvny when seen from beneath and bear long rather bristly tawny hairs.

550

THEREVIM

Legs dull blackisli, but tlie tibiae dull orange except at the narrow in¬
definite blackish tip, and the tarsi dull orange about the base of the basal
joint of the front pair and on most of the two basal joints of the posterior
pairs except at their tips ; front part of the hind femora covered with yellow
scaly hairs. Pubescence fairly abundant and long behind and beneath the
anterior femora, brownish yellow with numerous long black hairs intermixed ;
front coxfe with two black bristles, middle coxae with four, and the hind
coxae with one ; other bristles strongly developed in accordance with the
generic characters.

Wings with a distinct yellowish tinge which becomes positively orange
on the subcostal vein and on the basal part of the postical vein, while the
cubital vein from its base to its fork and the upper branch of the postical
fork (with the exception of its basal part) are also rather orange ; sometimes
there is a slight suspicion of darkening about the upper outer angle of the
discal cell ; when viewed from the wing-tip the orange colour about the base
and stigma is conspicuous. Squamae (alar) small, glassy yellowish with
a blackish base, brownish margins, and a short rather dark fringe. Halteres
orange, with the base of the knob sometimes brownish.

Fig. 320. — Thereva fulva $.
X 16.

9 . Resembling the male, but distinguished by the usual sexual characters.
Frons occupying less than one-fifth of the head at the vertex but steadily
widening downwards, dull dark rich golden at the top but with a large

brilliantly shining black obcordate callus — or (say)
a brilliant black crossband from eye to eye, which
sends a broad bend upwards in the middle almost
to the ocelli, but on the lower side has a con¬
spicuous narrow triangular emargination (fig. 320)
— while below this shining black callus the frons
just above the antennae is dull golden ; pubescence
on the frons mainly black but partly tawny, not
dense from the vertex almost down to the antennae,
and leaving the shining black callus bare except
anteriorly at the sides, though the pubescence just
above and about the antennae is yellow ; face pale
yellow and bearing dense pale yellow pubescence,
while similar pubescence is continued round under
the eyes and up the back of the head, but as it ascends becoming tawny
until it reaches the black hairs of the vertex, and there is a postocular row
of about twelve stout black (almost) bristles on the upper part of the head
which bend slightly forwards, while in addition about sixteen black bristles
right out on the upper part of the back of the head are continuous from
side to. side ; one or two black hairs occur immediately under the eyes, but
otherwise there are no black hairs after those on the frons down the face
and round the jowls and back of the head until the postocular bristles ; back
of the head moderately puffed out. Antennae with the fine yellow pubescence
about the base of the basal joint short.

Thorax with the ground colour much more obvious and with a pair of
faint narrow paler stripes down the disc ; pubescence mainly short, recum¬
bent, tawny, and hardly dense enough to conceal the ground colour, but still
with several of the rather longer erect black hairs all over the disc, besides
the black chaetotaptic bristles of which the praesutural are usually four in
number but sometimes three on one side and four on the other ; praescutellar
pairs two as in the male ; pleurae with rather long thin yellow hairs in which
no black hairs are intermixed, and the tuft on the metapleurae still dense
and conspicuous ; the ground colour of the lower part of the pleurae is light
ashy grey. Scutellum with tawny pubescence, amongst which no black
hairs occur except the four long marginal bristles.

Abdomen with the six basal segments entirely dull fulvous except for
a narrow shining black base on the fifth and sixth, and these six segments
bear an abundant depressed yellow pubescence which becomes fairly long
and more erect and conspicuous about the basal corners and rather long
on a prsehindmarginal fringe on the basal segment, but all over the disc
the pubescence is short and depressed and without a trace of black hairs

1. THEREVA

551

until the middle of the base of the fourth and fifth segments, where about
three or four almost microscopical rather erect black hairs exist, but on the
sixth segment all the pubescence is erect and rigid and the tiny erect black
hairs may predominate ; seventh segment shining black, but slightly dusted
with yellow at the sides towards beneath, and with its pubescence sometimes
all yellow but sometimes black except on the yellow dusted part ; eighth seg¬
ment shining black and bearing short rigid black hairs. Belly with thin but
nearly erect and almost all yellow pubescence which is shorter than in the
male, though a few black hairs may occur down the middle of the fifth
and sixth segments and sometimes all over the seventh segment ; eighth
segment forming a bare ventral genital plate. Ovipositor with numerous
short thick-set dark tawny spines, but with the usual circlet not so well
defined as usual.

Legs with the coxae light ashy grey (like the pleurae just above them) and
bearing whitish grey pubescence; pubescence behind the anterior femora
very much shorter, less conspicuous, and all yellow ; hind tibiae with four
rows of bristles, but the antero-ventral row consisting of only four bristles.

Wings without any trace of darkening at the upper outer corner of the
discal cell. Squamae more whitish glassy, with a brownish yellow margin
and pale fringe.

Length about 9-5 mm.

This species varies a little in the amount of black hairs intermixed
with the tawny pubescence on the thorax, on the sides of the face, and
on the dorsal line of the abdomen. A remarkable male taken by
Colonel Yerbury at Porthcawl on June 10, 1903, has the frons moderately
wide but bare between the eyes, and with an indication of black calli
where it widens out, the face with but few black hairs, the postocular
ciliation more confined to the upper part and composed of about twelve
bristles, the pubescence on the thorax short and depressed, the abdomen
with scarcely any black dorsal hairs, the seventh and eighth segments
more blackish, and the genitalia smaller ; I do not think it is a herma¬
phrodite, but I consider it to be a male with numerous female characters.
This species may be distinguished from all British allies by its almost
entirely bright fulvous pubescence, and also from most of them by its
two pairs of prsescutellar bristles ; occasionally other species have two
pairs of these bristles, and its nearest continental ally, T. subfasciata,
appears to always have them, but the male of T. subfasciata has paler
pubescence and has an inconspicuous fine hindmarginal fringe of black
hairs right across the abdominal segments, whereas the male of T. fulva
has the dorsal black hairs (even when they exist) not confined to the
hindmargin and not spread far away from the dorsal line. The female
of T. subfasciata may be easily distinguished by its dulled lighter colored
seventh abdominal segment. T. subfasciata is almost certain to occur in
Britain, as it is nor uncommon in North Germany and Scandinavia.

T. fulva is decidedly uncommon in Britain and although all our old
lists included it I have failed to find it in any old collections, the
specimens representing it being nearly always T. nobilitata. It is how¬
ever a very distinct and very beautiful species, but requires great care
in collecting to preserve its brilliant pubescence intact. 1 first caught
it near Farningham Boad Station in Kent on June 18, 1868, when I
believe it was not uncommon, and I took another male at Foot’s Cray
in the same neighborhood, while Colonel Yerbury found it not uncommon
at Dartford in July 1908, which makes it probable that Stephens (who
often collected in Kent) may have correctly identified the species. Colonel

552

THEREVIM

Yerbury also took several specimens at Porthcawl in Glamorgan in 1903
and 1906, and these are the only other British specimens I have seen.
The dates range from June 10 to July 8.

Synonymy. — As I have said above I believe that all the old British records (with
the possible exception of Stephens’) refer to other species and mainly to T. nobilitcita.
I cannot doubt the correctness of my own determination even though Loew stated
that the “ sehr intensive gelbe Farbung und, ausser den gewdhnlichen schwarzen
“ Borsten, keine Beimischung schwarzer Harchen.” Walker’s description applies
fairly well to the female, but his statements of “ hind borders of the third and follow-
“ ing segments black , shining ; underside grey, ferruginous and shining at the tip ; ”
are not very applicable. It is also remarkable that I have never seen a specimen
of T. fulva in any old British collection. In my notes on the synonymy of the
genera of Therevidee (page 544) I have called attention to the possibility of the
genus Exapata having been founded upon a distorted specimen of this or some
closely allied species.

2. T. arcuata Loew. Thorax dark brown with two narrow pale stripes.
Pubescence mainly rufous orange, but the abdomen with conspicuous jet
black bands; jowls without a clump of black hairs. Abdomen rather
narrowly conical. Prsesutural bristles often two pairs. Tarsi ferruginous
only at the extreme base. Wings with a very faintly clouded arc above
the discal cell; fourth posterior cell often just open.

Yar. inornata Verrall. Pubescence grey or greyish yellow, with
indistinct black bands on the abdomen. Tarsi considerably ferruginous.

A rather elongate conical species which is distinguished in
its typical form by its beautiful rufous orange pubescence
which with the jet black bands across the abdomen give it
a very striking appearance, though the form inornata bears
a strong resemblance to T. noUlitata.

f . Face and frons covered with greyish tawny dust, which however has a
blackish tinge on the upper part of the frons ; frons bearing long black
pubescence which spreads out like a fan at the sides and extends down fully
two-thirds of the sides of the face, but then grows scarcer until it is reduced
to a single line of hairs or sometimes dies out on the lower sixth of the
face ; all the middle part of the face bearing dense bright foxy tawny
pubescence (in which one or two black hairs may be detected), but the black
hairs on the sides just below the antennae may stray out for a short distance
and on the other hand the foxy pubescence may extend all round the antennae
and occupy all the front part of the frons (unless obscurely just about the
middle) ; a shimmering whitish margin encircles the lower half of the eyes ;
the foxy pubescence clothes all the lower part of the head (amalgamating
with the similar dense pubescence on the front coxae) but a thin line of
black hairs runs under the lowest angle of the eyes, and the black hairs
extend a short distance up the back of the head ; back of the head otherwise
clothed with foxy pubescence which however becomes rather darker on
the upper part, and with the usual overhanging long black postocular
ciliation on the upper part which extends to the more dense black hairs on
the vertex, while out on the back of the head quite away from the eyes are
about half a dozen black bristles which are sometimes difficult to detect
amidst the dense foxy pubescence ; vertex covered with brownish dust.
Eyes touching or at least approximated for a space which is rather longer
than the vertical triangle ; when seen in profile the eyes are deeper than
usual in proportion to their length and when seen from above seem to be
shorter than usual ; facets almost imperceptibly diminishing from the upper

1. THEREVA

553

to the lower part. Antennae with the basal joint covered with greyish yellow
dust and with fine pale tawny pubescence on its basal part and the usual stiff
black bristles on its apical part, but these bristles not so numerous nor so
strong as usual ; second joint with numerous short black bristles ; third joint
blackish brown, and bearing a tiny black dorsal bristle near its base ; style
short.

Thorax dark brown, with two distinct but inconspicuous widely separated
tawny stripes which extend its whole length ; pleurae ashy grey. Pubescence
almost erect and mainly black on the disc, but foxy red all round the margin,
and when viewed from in front this foxy red pubescence appears to be even
more abundant and to be interspersed (though shorter than the black hairs)
on the disc; chaetotactic bristles as in fig. 311, but with five or six unequal
praesutural bristles and sometimes a trace of a second prsescutellar bristle
on one or both sides ; pleurae with abundant foxy red pubescence (slightly
paler than that on the sides of the dorsum), and with the dense tufts on the
mesopleurae and metapleurae very conspicuous and including no black hairs
except a few at the hinder upper corner of the metapleural tuft. Scutellum
with long dense tawny pubescence and the usual black marginal bristles.

Abdomen more conical than in T. nobilitata and T. plebeia , deep velvety
black with bright orange bands ; the deep black colour occupying the basal
segment except at the sides, a spot on the second segment beginning on about
the middle half of the base but narrowing somewhat triangularly down to the
orange hindmarginal hem, the basal two-thirds of the third segment (and
even more about the middle but less than half on the sidemargins), the basal
two-thirds of the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments even to the sidemargins,
and sometimes the seventh and eighth segments ; the hindmarginal hems
broad and clear orange on the second segment, and narrower but still bright
orange on the third and fourth segments, but becoming lost in the greyish
orange bands on the fifth and sixth segments ; greyish orange bands lie
between the bright orange hindmarginal hems and the black base of the
segments or lie on the hindmargins themselves and the one on the second
segment is almost interrupted at the middle but widens out at the sides (in
conjunction with the bright orange hindmarginal hem) until it may occupy
the whole of the sidemargins, and the one on the third segment is obscurely
narrowed at the middle but widens out slightly at the sides to rather more
than half the sidemargins, while the one on the fourth segment does not widen
out at all ; the greyish orange bands on the fifth and sixth segments occupy
the hindmarginal third of each segment. Pubescence very conspicuously
bright rufous orange but with a fairly broad black dorsal stripe which forms a
series of slight crests because the hairs droop just before (and overhang) each
bare hindmarginal hem ; the bright rufous orange pubescence diminishes in
length and density on the fourth and fifth segments, and the whole pubescence
becomes mainly black on the sixth segment, and all black but rather longer
again on the seventh and eighth segments, and almost forming a tuft about
the base of the seventh segment. Belly shining black, with conspicuous
broad pale orange hindmarginal hems on the second, third, and fourth
segments, and with a narrow hem on the fifth segment ; pubescence on the
second to fifth segments remarkably long and thin, though not at all dense, in
fact almost sparse, black on all the seventh segment, and partly black but
mainly rufous orange on the eighth segment. Genitalia with a pair of
upraised blackish lamellae, and near them with a pair of lurid red narrow
lamellae which bear some pale orange hairs on the inner side, and with two
subquadrate blackish plates beneath which bear some reddish orange hairs at
their end margins.

Legs black, but the tibiae blackish red except rather broadly at their tips,
and the base of the first tarsal joint (and more on the middle pair) obscurely
reddish orange. Pubescence on the anterior coxae tawny and so dense that
the usual strong black bristles are almost hidden, but on the hind coxae
shorter and less dense and mainly black ; on the front femora the pubescence
behind and beneath is densely matted and dull black, and the black
pubescence may extend even more but usually the pubescence on the upper
part is mainly yellow ; on the middle femora it is similar but less matted ;
while on the hind femora it is pale and fairly conspicuous but is limited to

554

THEREVIM

the basal third ; the front femora have two or three black bristles on the
underside, while the middle femora have four or five inconspicuous ones, and
the hind femora have about seven inconspicuous ones in a row.

Wings with a strong smoky tinge which becomes more conspicuous on the
upper outer quarter, and this smoky tint tends to form kernels in the
marginal, submarginal, and cubital fork cells ; there is a slight clouding all
about the base of the first posterior cell, and a more distinct clouding just
above the dip in the upper branch of the discal vein, while there is a slight
cloud on the basal part of the upper branch of the postical vein • veins thin,
brownish black, but rather yellowish on the mediastinal vein, the prsefurca
and the veins just after it, and on the stem of the postical vein ; when viewed
from the wing-tip the veins are hardly intensified but the cloud above the
dip in the discal vein extends (though less distinctly) back to the discal
cross-vein ; fourth posterior cell sometimes just open, sometimes just
closed, and sometimes differing in the two wings. Squamae (alar) smoky
blackish orange, with a long blackish fringe on the outer part and a short
blackish fringe on the inner and lower part. Halteres blackish brown, with
the stem rather paler.

9 . Similar to T. nobilitata, but with rufous golden pubescence and with more
distinct and wider entire black abdominal bands. Frons and face more
golden both in ground colour and in pubescence ; black hairs on the jowls
under the lowest part of the eyes rather more numerous than in T. nobilitata
but not forming a clump as in T. plebeia ; pubescence on the back of the
head longer and more reddish orange, and the black postocular bristles
stronger, and those out on the back of the head more numerous ; frontal
callus a little larger than in T. nobilitata , less emarginate in front, and
distinctly wider against the eyes. Antennae with the basal joints golden
rather than grey, and the third joint browner and without a pale base.

Thorax brighter brown, and consequently the golden brownish stripes
more distinct especially anteriorly and posteriorly and along the sidemargins
and the middle stripes widened out laterally at their front end ; back part of
the thorax and the scutellum golden brownish almost like the stripes ; black
pubescence on the disc less abundant, and the depressed pubescence more
orange, while the tuft on the metapleurae is conspicuously orange ; prae-
scutellar bristles usually in two pairs, but sometimes two bristles on one side
and one on the other side, or one out of two bristles on one side smaller than
the other.

Abdomen with alternate orange and black bands, and clothed with reddish
orange pubescence ; hindmarginal hems nari’ow but bright orange on the
second and third segments, and very narrow on the fourth and fifth segments,
and these hems are preceded by greyish orange bands ; on the second segment
the greyish orange band occupies about a quarter of the segment at its
middle but gradually widens until it occupies two-thirds of the sidemargins,
leaving the anterior part of the segment black ; on the third segment the
greyish orange band is more equal and occupies less than half the segment
at its middle but widens out to more than half the sidemargins • on the
fourth segment the bands are similar to those on the third but the greyish
orange band is not widened at the sides though it is slightly narrowed at
the middle, and the black band is more shining ; on the fifth and sixth
segments the bands are similar to those on the fourth but the light colored
bands are slightly more greyish and occupy more of the segment, so that the
shining black basal bands occupy less than half each segment or are some¬
times reduced to a narrow basal margin ; the seventh and eighth segments
are shining black with no reddish tinge beneath. Pubescence less dense than
in T. nobilitata but longer, more erect, and more conspicuous, besides being
rufous orange ; it forms a conspicuous fringe on the hindmargin of the basal
segment, and is fairly abundant on the greyish orange parts of the abdomen
but is more sparse or even absent on some parts of the black ground colour ;
the erect stubby bristles on the fifth and sixth (and to a small extent on the
fourth) segments are a little longer than in T. nobilitata and are more
extensively black, being almost wholly black on the sixth segment, and
form little fringes on the actual hindmargins of the fifth, sixth, and seventh

1. THEREVA

555

segments • seventh and eighth segments with numerous short black stubby
bristles. Belly greyish black on the three basal segments, more blackish
but still dusted on the next three, and rather shining black on the seventh,
while the bare brightly polished apparent eighth segment forms the under¬
side of the base of the ovipositor ; hindmarginal hems conspicuously pale
yellow and unusually broad on the second and third segments, narrow on the
fourth, and only just visible on the fifth ; pubescence on the second and
third segments long, thin, sparse, erect, ana yellow, on the fourth segment
shorter but still pale, on the fifth segment more rigid and mainly black, and
on the sixth and seventh segments all black. Ovipositor almost all black,
but some of the spines on the apical circlet have a slight lurid red tinge
and some longer bristles immediately against the liindmargin of the seventh
ventral segment are conspicuously lurid red.

Legs similar to those of the male, the tibiae (especially the anterior) and
tarsi being darker and more extensively black than in T. nobilitata so that
the tarsi are ferruginous at only the extreme base of the posterior pairs ;
anterior femora with longer postero-ventral pubescence than in T. nobilitata ;
antero-ventral bristles on the femora about three on the front pair, three
on the middle, and seven on the hind.

Wings similar to those of T. nobilitata, and without any cloudings unless
a faint arc can be traced above the end portion of the discal cell. Squamce
with darker margins.

Length about 11 mm.

This species, as I understand it, does not seem to vary much in its
handsome form. The tufts of black pubescence in the male on the dorsal
line of the abdomen may resolve themselves into black triangles on the
second, third, and fourth segments, and the greyish orange bands may
not reach the sidemargins, so that these may appear all black except
on the bright orange hindmarginal hems, or the bands on the fifth to
the eighth segment may be more greyish and a little less orange, while
the seventh and eighth segments may be entirely but inconspicuously
brownish ashy grey ; the golden pubescence may be more extensive but
by no means dense ; the prsescutellar bristles on the thorax have a strong
tendency in both sexes to form two pairs as in T. fulva, but this is more
common in the female, and again in the female it is more common to find
the fourth posterior cell even wide open in both wings, though when it is
narrowly open in one wing it is often closed in the other, but the male
shows this tendency in a minor degree. It may be rather difficult to
distinguish it from tawny haired specimens of T. nobilitata, but in the
male the conspicuous velvety black entire abdominal bands form an obvious
distinction, while the general rufous orange coloration is conspicuous in
comparison with the greyish fulvous pubescence of T. nobilitata; numerous
small distinctions may be found in the fewer black hairs on the middle
part of the face, more numerous black hairs below the lowest angle of
the eyes, more conspicuous thoracic lines, frequent occurrence of two pairs
of prsescutellar bristles, yellower scutellum, black tufts of pubescence at
the sides of the abdomen near its tip, and longer pubescence and bristles,
blacker tibiae and tarsi, etc., but I cannot trace any good distinction in the
cloudings on the wings. The female has a slightly larger and differently
shaped frontal callus which extends more to the eyemargins (though the
shape of this occasionally varies in all species of the genus), and in cases
of doubt may be distinguished by the blacker tarsi.

T. arcuata (as described above) is apparently a species limited with
us to North Scotland as I have seen it from only Nethy Bridge, Golspie,
Brodie, Logie, and Forres, from July 27 to September 9. I have never

556

THEREVIM

taken it myself, but Colonel Yerbury has given me five specimens
(2 c?, 3 9), and the Cambridge Museum has about five others taken by
Mr F. Jenkinson, who once caught a pair in coitu and who watched two
females at Forres which were laying eggs in dry soil.

Synonymy. — I record this species as T. arcuata Lw. because there is no other
German species described in Loew’s Beitrage ii. which can possibly be it, and I
cannot believe that it was unknown to him. Further corroboration is given
through Loew’s statement that T. arcuata is exceedingly variable in the colour
of the pubescence, and I think it was the only species in which he spoke of
the pubescence on the abdomen being sometimes “ rothgelb, fast fuchsroth ” ;
amidst all its variations however he gives as an unfailing character, “ arculus
“ infuscatus a nervulo transverso ordinario trans finem cellulae discoidalis ductus,”
and unfortunately I am unable to clearly recognise that character in our British
specimens ; nevertheless in viewing the wing from the wing-tip (whereby the wing-
markings become most clearly defined in all species of Thereva) I think this arched
cloud can be traced ; Loew however does not seem to have met with any specimens
in which the tarsi were so extensively black as in my description. I cannot trace
this species at all in Zetterstedt’s writings unless he mixed it up with T. nobilitata,
.nor does it occur in his collection at Lund. Thereva albilabris and T. flavilabris
Meig. may include it, but unfortunately the types were out on loan when I examined
the Paris Museum in 1906.

Yar. inornatci. Pubescence light grey or greyish yellow instead of
bright tawny. Tarsi as ferruginous as in the allied species.

Described from two specimens only. Pubescence light grey to greyish
yellow (when pale) on the face, jowls, lower part of back of head, and
pleurae, but in one specimen becoming rather tawny but not foxy tawny on
the upper part of the back of the head and on the disc of the thorax, and
pale brownish yellow on the abdomen until the much less conspicuous out¬
standing black hairs are reached ; in the other specimen the pale abdominal
pubescence is grey (not at all tawny), but (when seen from above) with
numerous black hairs outstanding at the basal corners of all (including even
the basal) segments ; pubescence on the disc of the thorax and on nearly all
the disc of the scutellum extensively black in one specimen. In the male
(Aviemore, June 18, 1899) which has a tendency towards tawny pubescence
the black markings on the abdomen cover about the same space as in the
typical T. arcuata but are less defined and the lighter spaces are greyish or
greyish yellow (not greyish orange), and in some lights this greyish yellow
coloring becomes much more extensive on the fourth segment and thence
to the tip of the abdomen, in fact very much so when viewed from behind.
Pubescence on the anterior femora greyish brownish yellow with a slight
admixture of black hairs near the tip, — in typical T. arcuata this pubescence
is black and apparently more dense ; — hind femora with the pale scales more
numerous than in the typical T. arcuata ; tarsi with all the basal joint except
its tip, and the base of the second joint, brownish yellow.

9 • Pubescence and dust grey with a slight yellowish (not tawny) tinge. Frontal
callus small and rather more emarginate in front. Hind femora, as in the
male, but Avith more numerous grey scales. Stigma yellower. In a second
female the pubescence is rather more orange.

I have seen two males of this form which were taken by
Colonel Yerbury at Aviemore on July 10 and 18, 1899, and one or two
females taken by him at Golspie in July 1900. He also took a female at
Golspie on August 18, 1900, Avhich I consider to belong to true T. arcuata
and another female in July (Avhich however may be only T. nobilitata )
and a female at Nethy Bridge on July 29, 1904, in which the frontal callus
is small and narrow. The chief distinctions of inornata from typical

1. THEREVA

557

T. arcuata (as I interpret that form) lie in the colour of the tarsi, and in
the shape of the frontal callus in the female ; while both forms of
T. arcuata have the abdomen more conical than in T. nobilitata.

Synonymy. — I cannot consider this variety distinct from T. arcuata, because
Loew expressly referred to the remarkable variations in the colour of the pubescence ;
Loew however doubted whether his Sicilian specimens belonged to the same species
as his northern ones and stated that if the two should prove to be distinct the name
T. arcuata should apply to the Sicilian form ; this looks as if he possessed very few
German specimens and those probably belonging to the var. inornata because his
description applies best to the bright colored form. The capture of a considerable
number of specimens is requisite before any certainty can be attained. Kowarz’s
collection contained two males and one female, of which one of each sex was
labelled “Sicilia” and “sec. typ. Lw.” ; the male is not at all like my first form as it
has the main pubescence pale brownish yellow (not tawny), the abdomen blackish
with the second and third hindmarginal hems conspicuously whitish when seen
sideways or yellowish when seen from above, the next hindmarginal hem very
narrow, and no more hems visible, while the yellowish grey abdominal bands are
indistinct or absent (but the specimen is in too bad condition for certainty), the legs
have the most extensive pale markings, and the fourth posterior cell of the wings is
closed. and distinctly pedunculate ; the female has the frontal callus almost divided
into two large circular spots which however just touch at the upper arch where they
are rather close to the front ocellus, the third antennal joint rather light brown, the
pubescence on the face and lower half of the back of the head white, and the wings
with an obvious clouded arc over the last portion of the discal cell which extends
downwards across the two cross-veins closing the discal cell, the base of the cubital
fork clouded, and the fourth posterior cell slightly pedunculate ; Kowarz’s other
male (from Eger in Bohemia) is in very good condition, and its general pubescence
is almost tawny, the thorax rather pale brown with two faint yellowish brown
stripes, the yellowish grey bands on the abdomen (before the hindmarginal hems)
extensive and conspicuous, the tibiae and tarsi almost as black as in my blackest
form, and the femora apparently thinner and bearing less pubescence and scales but
possibly abraded ; in many respects this latter male is intermediate between my two
forms but is similar to the more tawny specimen of inornata which I have described,
though it has the blackened legs of the handsome form.

3. T. nobilitata Fabricius. Thorax brownish, with long erect black
and short depressed usually ferruginous pubescence. Abdomen of the
male with large black spots on the bases of the segments, and clothed
with yellowish ventral, and more or less black dorsal, pubescence ;
that of the female mainly golden, and usually with pale hairs on the sides
of the fifth and sixth segments but with short rigid black hairs on the last
two segments. Frontal callus of the female moderate in size.

A rather broad species of ferruginous or brownish hue in
the male, but with the abdomen of the female mainly golden.

£ . Face and frons entirely covered with dull yellow or pale greyish dust which
becomes paler on the lower part of the face; frons bearing moderately dense
long black hairs except for a few yellow hairs quite close to the antennae ;
face clothed on the middle part with dense and long yellow or pale yellow
pubescence in which a few black hairs occur, but on the sides with black
hairs four or five (or even more) wide which extend from the black pubescence
of the frons downwards to the lower eyemargin, though the band of black
hairs becomes narrower as it descends and is continued very sparingly along
under the eyes, but otherwise the yellowish ground dust becomes yellowish
white under the eyes and on the lower part of the back of the head and the
pubescence there is pale yellow with sometimes a very few black hairs inter¬
mixed ; on the upper part of the back of the head the ground dust is brownish
yellow and the pubescence mainly dull darkish yellow, but about the middle

558

THERE VIM

(where the back of the head is widest in profile) about six strong black
bristly hairs are intermixed quite away from the eyes, and on the upper
part there is a postocular ciliation of about thirty longer black hairs ; the
black bristles behind the ocelli long; vertex dull golden and bearing
moderate shorter black pubescence and with some inconspicuous pale hairs
between the ocelli. Eyes touching for about a quarter the distance between
the occiput and the antennae, but the part of contact nearer to the occiput
than to the antennae ; facets very gradually decreasing in size towards the
lower part. Antennae dull brownish black, but with the two basal joints
covered with dull whitish yellow dust ; basal joint bearing soft yellow hairs
about its base, but on the apical third mainly with strong stiff black bristles ;
second joint with rather dense short black bristles ; base of the third joint
and tip of the second narrowly brownish orange.

Thorax dark brownish ashy grey, clothed with moderate (sometimes
obscure) dark yellow or greyish white fine pubescence of very equal length
but subordinated to abundant longer and more erect black hairs whose length
is also more regular than in the allied species ; chaetotactic bristles normal
but not very conspicuous, praescutellar bristles one pair only ; pleurae ashy
grey, with rather pale shaggy pubescence but with a few black hairs inter¬
mixed under the wing-base and on the metapleurae ; metapleurae otherwise
with conspicuous long dense pale tawny pubescence amongst which a few
black hairs occur. Scutellum with pubescence similar to that on the thorax
but with a more yellowish tinge about the margin.

Abdomen black, with conspicuous bright yellow liindmarginal hems to
the segments which vary but are usually broad on the second and very narrow
on the third and fourth segments, and with a greyish yellow (or when seen
sideways brownish) cross-band on each segment which is narrow at the middle
but widened so much against the sides that only a large rather indefinitely
triangular black spot remains, so that each black spot occupies at its base
the whole foremargin of the segment and then extends down (usually
rather abruptly) at the middle of the earlier segments to rather near the
liindmarginal hems, but on the subsequent segments the black band or spot
is more remote from the hindmargin, so that on the last segments very little
or nothing of the spot remains visible. Pubescence long and erect, dull
darkish yellow ventrally and laterally until almost on to the dorsal disc, but
on the dorsal disc itself very extensively and obviously mixed with black hairs ;
on the dorsal middle line (after the basal segment) a considerable number
of black hairs occur which can be seen most distinctly when viewed in a
very sloping direction from in front or behind, and there is a cross-band
of black hairs before the hindmargin of each segment which becomes broader
and less defined on each succeeding segment until black pubescence pre¬
dominates all over the dorsal surface of the last segment. Belly yellowish
ashy grey, clothed with long erect yellowish pubescence ; second segment
with a narrow dull orange liindmarginal hem. and the third and fourth
segments with a broad hem ; base of the second, third, and fourth segments
inside the semicircular row of spiracles rather shining greyish black.
Genitalia mainly reddish orange with some orange pubescence, but the upper
lamellae more blackish.

Legs black, with the tibiae luteous to reddish yellow or reddish brown
with just the tip blackish ; tarsi with the basal joint (except its tip) and the
basal half or more of the second joint reddish brown ; front coxae clothed
with long greyish yellow pubescence and with four or five black bristles near
the tip which are hidden in the pubescence ; posterior coxae with darker grey
pubescence and less pronounced bristles. Pubescence on the anterior femora
long and usually yellow about the base posteriorly, but blackish on the rest
of the front femora and on most of the middle pair ; hind femora almost
entirely covered with yellow scaly pubescence. Bristles on the anterior
femora limited to two or three inconspicuous antero-ventral, on the hind
femora to an irregular row of about ten antero-ventral with about four
others more ventral near the base and to three or four small neat postero-
ventral close to the tip ; front tibiae with three rows of four bristles ; posterior
tibiae with four rows of more numerous bristles except that the postero-
ventral row is composed of three strong and two weak bristles.

1. THEREVA

559

Wings distinctly tinged with greyish brown or almost reddish or brownish
yellow about the base and foremargin 3 stigma brownish or brownish yellow 3
veins dark brown, thin, and not intensified when viewed from the wing-tip,
but the costal, mediastinal, subcostal, and stem of the postical veins pale
reddish or yellowish brown ; the veins have no dark clouding except slightly
on the portion of the discal vein between the end of the discal cross-vein and
the end of the discal cell just above the outer upper angle of the discal cell,
and sometimes slightly on the cross-veins and at the fork of the cubital vein
Squamae (alar) smoky yellowish or brownish glassy 3 margins brown and
rather thick 3 fringe short and yellowish on the upper curve of the margin

but longer on the lower part.

Halteres brown, with the knob paler on its upper part.

9 Agreeing with the male in general characteristics, but the depressed orange
' pubescence giving it a golden appearance. Frons (fig. 321) pale brownish
orange but varying from brownish orange to light yellowish ashy grey, anti
with a 'moderately large shining black callus across the middle 3 pubescence
on the anterior part black and by no means short but with a narrow band
of yellow hairs right across just above the antennae, the black hairs
form a weak band which does not quite extend to the eyemargms and
not at all into the anterior emargination of
the callus, though sometimes they are more
abundant and may extend down as far as
or even slightly farther than the an ten me 3 on
the upper part the black pubescence is shorter
and much more scarce except about the sides,
and stray yellow hairs may occur just above
the callus 3 the shining black callus is practi¬
cally bare and extends across the frons almost
from eye to eye, and is not nearly so large as
in T. plebeia as it seldom occupies a third or
even a quarter of the length of the frons and
never extends at all near the lower ocellus even
though looped upwards at the middle, while it

has a deep notch in front. Face and lower ,

part of the back of the head whitish yellow 3 pubescence on the face dense
but not very long, all yellow without any admixture of black Hans
(though I have seen one specimen in which about two black hairs occurred
on each side and in that specimen the black frontal pubescence was unusually
extended); pubescence below the eyes. also yellow but usually with one 01
two black hairs intermixed, though with no approximation to a clump o
black hairs 3 lower part of the back of the head with pale yellow pubescence
which becomes longer and denser towards the back part and amalgamates
with similar pubescence on the prothorax and on the anterior part ot tne
front coxae, but the upper part of the back of the head becomes pale brownish
orange and bears brownish orange pubescence besides the postocular lestoon
of about fifteen black bristles and the usual bristles in two irregular rows
quite out on the back of the head. Antennae dark greyish on the two basal
joints but dull blackish brown on the third joint, though the end of. the
second and the base of the third joint are usually ferruginous 3 basal joint
with the usual rather long black bristles on the apical half and a few bristly
hairs on the basal half which may be black dorsally but longer and mai y
yellow on the underside 3 second joint with the usual short black bristles,
and the third joint sometimes with some tiny black dorsal bristles near

Tliorax light greyish brown with two faint narrow pale stripes which
are wide apart and often only visible in certain lights ; pubescence all ovei
the disc in good specimens composed of depressed almost scale-like 1a s
which are not dense enough to obscure the ground colour, and of almost equally
abundant though very inconspicuous suberect longer, black hairs 3 pimme
light ashy grey and bearing abundant longer pale greyish yellow pubescence,
metapleural tuft almost orange on the upper part and composed of even
still more dense and long hairs. Scutellum with very few erect black hairs.

Fig. 321.

-Thereva nobilitata $ .

X 16.

560

THEREVID.E

Abdomen shining black at the base of the segments but otherwise
almost covered with the dull golden or ashy grey dust; basal segment
light brownish ashy grey ; third to sixth segments with narrow orange hind-
marginal hems of which the one on the third segment is broadest and the
one on the sixth segment narrowest ; the segments are broadly dull golden
in front of these orange hems and on most of the second segment, but the
fifth and sixth segments are slightly greyish golden with only the front margin
of each segment black ; in very good specimens the black basal ground colour
is hardly visible on the second and third segments because of the abundant
golden pubescence, though usually the middle of each segment is obscurely
blackish for about half or two-thirds of the length of the segment, or on
the third segment the basal third is left blackish and is rather abruptly
though vaguely widened at the middle for quite two-thirds of the length
of the segment ; the fourth segment has more than the basal third shining
black and this band slightly widened about the middle ; fifth segment with
a similar but narrower basal black band which is more conspicuously widened
about its middle ; sixth segment similar to the fifth but with the black
base narrower still ; in all these segments the basal black band is almost
equally wide over the sidemargins, though yellow dust (especially on the
sixth segment) may obscure the sides a little ; seventh and eighth segments
shining black, but the seventh segment with some pale dust about the
hind corners ; ovipositor with the usual circlet of shining dark red spines.
Pubescence depressed but abundant and dark golden on the two basal
segments, altogether shorter on the third segment, and less abundant on the
sides and middle of the foremargin, and still less abundant on the fourth
segment ; basal segment with a conspicuous prsehindmarginal fringe of
long pale hairs ; pubescence on the fourth, fifth, and sixth segments
shorter, stiffer, and more erect, usually all orange except for a few black
hairs on the middle of the black base, and usually with notable erect orange
pubescence standing out from the sides, but less commonly this erect side
pubescence is considerably or even wholly black at the sides of the sixth
segment and to a considerable extent on even the fifth segment ; on the
seventh segment the stiff erect pubescence is usually almost all black but
with a few yellow hairs intermixed about the basal corners and beneath
(but very distinct from the obvious yellow pubescence on this segment in
T. bipunctata), or rarely all this pubescence on the seventh segment may be
quite black ; eighth segment with similar short stiff erect black pubescence.
Belly dull yellowish grey or grey about the basal three segments, 1 nit slightly
browner and rather shining on the fourth, fifth, sixth, and especially seventh
segments ; second and third segments with fairly wide whitish yellow hind-
marginal hems, fourth and fifth segments with narrower hems, which are
in fact usually inconspicuous on the fifth (and sometimes sixth) segment ;
pubescence never dense, but rather erect and yellow, with a fairly conspicuous
orange fringe on the hindmargins of the fifth, sixth, and seventh segments,
and with rigid orange hairs about the hind corners of the seventh segment ;
eighth segment bright shining chestnut.

Legs with light grey dust on all the femora and with some pale depressed
dorsal pubescence, but any pubescence behind or beneath the anterior femora
is rather short and inconspicuous ; coxal bristles as in the male but more
conspicuous on the posterior (especially middle) pairs ; bristles on the femora
and tibiae almost as in the male.

Wings and squamae as in the male but distinctly lighter, which gives the
latter a more yellowish tinge. Halteres brownish orange, with the base
of the knob darker and the stem paler.

Length about 10-5 mm.

This species varies very much in the male as to the greater or less
quantity of black hairs in the pubescence on the upper side of the abdomen
and on the anterior femora, and also in the quantity of black hairs on the
sides of the face ; the pale pubescence varies everywhere in tint of colour,
ranging on the thorax and especially on the abdomen from brownish

1. THEREVA

561

yellow to tawny or reddish yellow through various shades to greyish white,
so that the term " ferrugineo-hirta ” as used by Zetterstedt is not always
quite correct, though it is approximately so in contrast with “obscure
“ hirta” as applied to T. plebeia. As to the allied British species; T.
bipunctata is smaller and may be at once distinguished by the more
whitish colour on all parts, by the apparently wholly whitish {not
white) haired abdomen (when viewed from behind), and by the more
emphasised veins when seen from the wing-tip ; T. plebeia is more difficult
to distinguish in the male, but has the thorax of a blacker hue and the
abdominal pubescence (when viewed from behind) apparently all dull
yellowish beneath and all black above, with the sides of the abdomen
whitish rather than light brownish grey and the black bases of the
segments less suddenly widened at the middle ; T. circumscripta is a
darker species with an appearance of much blacker pubescence generally ;
T. ctrcuata (if my species be correctly named) has the ground colour of the
abdomen deep black with cinnamon bands and usually brilliant alternate
foxy red and black pubescence, but I cannot well distinguish Loew’s
character of a brownish arc over the end part of the discal cell. The
female of T. nobilitata is more easily distinguished from its allies but
varies in the size of its frontal callus (which is never so large as in T.
plebeia), which may be very small and even occasionally divided into two
spots (when I am bound to consider it to be the T. oculata of Egger), but even
then these spots do not show any relationship is to T. bipunctata which
is a smaller species with a much more yellow haired seventh abdominal
segment; a specimen taken by Colonel Yerbury at Barmouth on June 26,
1902 has the frontal callus separated into two small spots which are well
isolated as they are well apart from each other and from the eyemargins,
and this same specimen has the frons brown with the black pubescence on
the fore part rather extended and has its fifth and sixth abdominal segments
yellow haired at the sides ; I have seen a female with two prsescutellar
bristles on one side but only one on the other; the abdomen varies con¬
siderably in the distinctness and extent of the basal black bands though
they are always much narrower than in T. plebeia, and it also varies in
individual specimens in the extent of the black pubescence until in a
small female taken by Colonel Yerbury at Derrynane in Kerry on July
21, 1901, the fourth segment bears numerous erect black hairs mixed with
the recumbent yellow pubescence and has all the hairs on the fifth to
eighth segments erect and black, while it also has the wings absolutely
unclouded ; on the other hand I have seen a specimen with the seventh
abdominal segment almost all yellow haired, and any black pubescence on
the abdomen very slight; two specimens taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Netby Bridge on July 7, 1903, are small and have the last four (especially
the last three) segments black haired and with distinct black bases on the
fifth and sixth segments, while in both specimens the fourth posterior cell
is wide open ; this latter character however is not uncommon, and some¬
times a specimen may have the cell open in one wing and closed in
the other, while on the other hand this cell is sometimes distinctly stalked ;
a male taken by Mr F. Jenkinson in his garden at Cambridge on
August 10, 1903, has the lowest veinlet from the discal cell of the right
wing broken off at half its length but becoming visible again at its end in
the wingmargin so as to show that the fourth posterior cell would have

2 N

562

THEREVID.E

been closed ; sometimes the pale abdominal pubescence is brownish orange ;
the belly may be grey on the three basal segments, then shining and
blackish brown on the fourth segment, shining and still darker on the
fifth and sixth segments, until it becomes quite black on the seventh
segment. The female of T. bipunctata is smaller, whiter, and always has
the frontal callus separated into two spots and the seventh abdominal
segment mainly pale haired ; T. plebeia has the shining black abdominal
bands more extensive than the whitish grey bands, the frontal callus much
larger, a clump of black hairs just below the eyes, and the last four
abdominal segments conspicuously black haired ; T. circumscripta has the
abdomen with black and almost white bands; T. arcuata has the black
abdominal bands more sharply defined, wider, and occupying more than
half the sidemargins, while the pubescence on the sides of the face and on
the fifth to seventh abdominal segments has fewer black hairs intermixed,
but (as in the male) I cannot well distinguish any brownish arc over the
end part of the discal cell ; T. fulva has the thorax and abdomen entirely
tawny haired, and has two pairs of prsescutellar bristles.

T. nobilitata is distinctly the commonest and by far the most universally
distributed British species of the genus, but for all that is not what
can be called a common fly, though stragglers often occur in gardens
where I have found only this species and T. plebeia. While writing this
description (July 31, 1904) I have about 170 specimens of the species
before me and I have seen recently about 50 others ; a very large number
of these have been taken during the last few years by Colonel Yerbury,
more especially at Porthcawl and Barmouth in company with T. bipunctata
and T. annulata but not with T. plebeia, and it is mainly through these
specimens (which are nearly all in beautiful condition) that I have formed
my ideas of the limits of variation. Still, with all this material, I cannot
to my own satisfaction distinguish the males in some cases from some
males of T. plebeia ; I do not for a moment doubt their distinctness, as I
hardly ever have the slightest hesitation between the females of the two
species and all the tawny or orange haired males can at once be known as
T. nobilitata, but the difficulty lies in the more blackish haired males ; in
these the browner ground colour of the thorax and brownish orange tinted
abdominal bands (when viewed from the sides) seem to distinguish T.
nobilitata from the blacker thorax and more ashy grey tinted abdominal
bands of T. plebeia. I have records of T. nobilitata from numerous
localities which extend from Penzance to Tongue, and consequently I
conclude that it may occur anywhere if sought for in June and July. On
June 20, 1907, the males were common on the leaves of nettles ( Urtica
dioica ) near Sudbourne in Suffolk, but only one female (and that in cop.)
was seen, but at the same time some rather large flies were executing a wild
frantic sort of dance in the air about ten feet from the ground in a
manner which reminded me of the dance of the males of T. annulata and
I have no doubt but that they were the males of T. nobilitata. My dates
extend from J une 6 to August 29, which seem to prove it to be a rather later
species than T. plebeia. A female specimen in such condition as to render
its identification doubtful was bred from a Lepidopterous larva in July,
1897, by Mr C. D. Ash, who also bred a male in June, 1901, from a
larva of Triphcena interjecta found in Essex, but this specimen is also of
rather doubtful identification as the soft pubescence is unusually grey for T.

1. THEREVA

563

nobilitata, in fact so much so that at one time I mistook it for T. bipunctata
from which however the wing coloration clearly distinguishes it ; Meigen
said that he bred this species from larvae found in old rotten tree-trunks.

Synonymy. — All Fabricius’ descriptions of this species are unrecognisable, and
consequently it should really date from Meigen ’s first description in 1804. Speci¬
mens in which the pubescence on the abdomen tends towards reddish yellow and in
which at the same time the black pubescence is especially extensive would fairly
answer to Meigen’s description of T.cincta. Walker’s description of his T.plebeia
is most likely derived from the female of T. nobilitata, but these two species were
hopelessly mixed in old British collections. Walker’s T. cincta Meig. is also most
probably only T. nobilitata , but with the description mainly derived from the male.

4. T. plebeia Linne. Thorax blackish and mainly black haired in the
male. Abdomen of the male extensively black and with black dorsal and
pale ventral pubescence, of the female mainly black with whitish grey
bands and with rigid black pubescence on the last four segments.
Frontal callus of the female very large.

A rather broad species of mainly blackish hue, but with
conspicuous ashy grey bands on the abdomen of the female.

d . The following description is made from a representative male taken on the
Malvern Hills on May 14, 1899. Face and frons ashy grey, but the frons
rather greyish yellow about the middle, and the face shimmering whitish
about the sides on especially the lower part, and this shimmering whitish
hue extends under the eyes and on to the lower part of the back of the
head ; pubescence on the frons long dense and wholly black (except close
against and around the base of the antennae), and similar pubescence extends
more sparsely down the sides of the face but is reduced to almost a single line
of hairs or even practically dies out on the lower quarter, but there is a small
clump of black hairs beneath the lower eye-angle ; face clothed on the middle
part with long whitish or yellowish grey pubescence with some black hairs
intermingled ; pubescence on the lower quarter of the back of the head
mainly pale greyish yellow but with longer black hairs behind, and brownish
yellow on the back part of the upper three-quarters, while there is a
single postocular fringe of about thirty-five long thin black hairs on about
the upper half overhanging the eyes and extending up to their top corner,
though the lower part of this fringe is shorter and comparatively sparse ;
vertex brownish grey, elevated, and bearing numerous black hairs which are
less dense and shorter than those on the frons. Eyes touching for a fairly
long space, but leaving the vertical longer than the frontal triangle ; facets
gradually diminishing in size towards the lower part. Antennae dull greyish
black, but yellowish grey on the basal joint ; basal joint bearing fine pale
pubescence about its base but this pubescence (especially dorsally) soon
becoming black, and the apical third of the joint bearing the usual longer
stiff black bristles ; style short.

Thorax and scutellum greyish black (in comparison with the brownish
hue of T. nobilitata) and with two very faint pale stripes down the disc ;
pubescence dense but mixed, being composed of conspicuous long erect black
hairs and less conspicuous more decumbent shorter brownish yellow hairs,
though when viewed from in front in certain lights the brownish yellow (not
ferruginous or tawny) pubescence appears to almost cover the front part of
the disc and to be abundant about the sides, on the back part, and on the
scutellum, while numerous but less abundant similar hairs occur on the disc ;
chaetotactic bristles normal, and the prsescutellar bristles limited to one pair.
Pleurae more ashy grey, and clothed with tangled long light brownish yellow
pubescence, but the dense tufts on the back part of the mesopleurae and on
the metapleurae largely composed of long black hairs except on the upper part
of the mesopleural tuft.

564

THEREVID.E

Abdomen black, with yellow liindmarginal liems to the segments and
with inconspicuous dark ashy grey cross-bands ; the yellow liindmarginal
hems are fairly conspicuous on the second to fifth segments but each one is
slightly narrower than the preceding one ; the grey cross-bands appear to be
brownish grey in some lights or light grey when seen sideways, and the first
one almost covers the basal segment, but on the subsequent segments each
band is placed close against the yellow liindmarginal hem and the anterior
portion of the segment is left black • on the second segment the grey band
is ill-defined but occupies at its middle about one-third the length of the
segment and gradually widens outwards until it occupies fully two-thirds of
the sidemargins ; on the third segment the grey band is narrower at its
middle but widens outwards until it occupies almost all the sidemargins ; on
the fourth segment the grey band is broader and in some lights occupies at
its middle about half of the segment and widens outwards until it occupies
almost all the sidemargins ; on the fifth segment the grey band occupies
about two-thirds of the segment at its middle and almost all the sidemargins,
and on the sixth segment it is still wider, while the seventh segment is all
brownish grey ; the base of the genitalia seems to form a more ashy grey
eighth segment. Pubescence dense, fairly long, and slightly tufted on the
dorsal ridge when viewed sideways, especially on the back part of the second
segment, and the tufts are caused by the more decumbent shorter pubescence
on the basal part of each segment being followed by longer more erect
pubescence on the middle part while the yellow liindmarginal hems are
bare ; in the specimen described all this dorsal pubescence is black except
quite close to the sides (which distinguishes it at once from T. nobilitata ),
but the dense pubescence all along the sides of the dorsal plates is brownish
yellow, and when viewed from behind this pale pubescence extends on the
four basal segments slightly up on to the sides of the dorsum. Belly greyish
black with broad conspicuous yellow liindmarginal hems, and with rather
long erect but not at all dense yellow pubescence ; the contrast between the
pale pubescence of the sides and ventral part of the abdomen as against the
black pubescence of the dorsum is marked when seen from behind, as the
few trespassing pale hairs which creep up on to the sides of the dorsum on
the basal segments are practically imperceptible : on the three basal segments
there is a narrow yellow hem along the exact line between the dorsal and
ventral plates. Genitalia knobbed, rather conspicuous ; upper lateral plates
comparatively small and bearing a moderate number of mainly black hairs
but with some tawny hairs 'intermixed about their ends, where they form a
semicircular emargination through which uprise two rather small greyish
black -brown lamellae • latero-ventral plates rather large and subquadrate,
greyish black with some rather inconspicuous black hairs about their base
followed by a large number of conspicuous long tawny hairs which project
out beyond the end of the abdomen, while from the hind corners of the eighth
abdominal segment a ciliation of shorter tawny hairs extends all across
the ventral hindmargin ; when viewed from behind some bright chestnut
middle processes can be seen at the tip which consist of a pair of rather
long narrow outer lamellae, a pair of shorter inner lamellae, and a rather
long middle piece.

Legs black, but the tibiae except just at the tip reddish orange, and the
basal joint of all the tarsi except at its tip and most of the second joint of the
posterior tarsi rather obscurely reddish orange. Pubescence behind the
anterior femora long and dense, mainly black behind the front pair but with
some grey hairs on the upper part, and mainly grey on the middle pair but
with some black hairs on the lower part ; hind femora greyish black and
bearing only a little pale yellow scaly pubescence : two strong black bristles
occur beneath the front femora, four beneath the middle, and about nine
irregular ones beneath the hind pair.

Wings slightly tinged with a smoky hue ; outer veins dark brown and
rather thin, hardly intensified when seen from the wing-tip ; costal vein until
past the end of the radial vein, all the mediastinal and subcostal veins, the
small piece of the radial vein between the origin of the cubital vein and the
discal cross-vein, all the stem of the postical vein, and the base of the anal
vein, brownish orange ; discal and lower cross-veins clouded brown, as well as

1. THEREVA

565

the small piece of the postical vein between the small cross-vein and its own
fork, the discal vein above the upper outer angle of the discal cell, and very
slightly at the base of the radial fork ; stigma rather conspicuously; brownish
orange. Squamse (alar) smoky yellowish glassy, with pale brownish yellow
margins and slight obscure yellow fringes. Halteres blackish biown, with
the stem rather paler.

Such a specimen would be easily distinguished from T. nobilitata by
its blackish hue and the well- contrasted pubescence on the dorsal and
ventral surfaces of the abdomen, as well as by the pale pubescence having
in general a more greyish hue ; but T. plebeia varies as follows :

Face lighter ashy grey with a slight brownish tinge on the upper part and
on the upper part of the back of the head, and the pale pubescence on the
face of a more pale brownish yellow tint (in a specimen, possibly not con-
specific taken at Padstow in July, 1902., numerous black hairs are intermixed
on the face) : frons equally pale greyish brown all over ; lower part of the
back of the head with the pubescence well away from the eyes more exten¬
sively pale, and at the same time the black pubescence on the frons and
face more extended (also Malvern Hills, but on June 8, 1902) ; vertex covered
with light grey dust.

Thorax brownish and with the shorter yellow pubescence abundant, con¬
spicuous, and equally distributed all over ; or on the other hand ashy brownish
with the shorter pubescence nowhere abundant but more blackish or only
comparatively inconspicuous light brownish grey ; pleurae with the ordinary
pubescence paler or. even whitish grey without. any trace of yellow or fulvous,
and the mesopleural tuft sometimes more greyish yellow and almost without
black hairs, and the metapleural tuft at the same time composed of orange
yellow hairs with a fairly conspicuous back fringe of black hairs on the upper
part, or sometimes the pleural tufts (especially the metapleural one) mainly
black haired.

Abdomen with the pale hindmarginal hems varying very much m breadth
and intensity, being sometimes equal and rather broad on the second and
third segments, or at other times narrow and equal on the second and next
two segments, while often the fifth segment has no hem, or the hems may
continue to the sixth segment ; the hems are usually pale yellow but may be
brownish orange, or even glaring white on the second and third segments and
obscure on the others ; the ashy grey bands also vary in colour towards
having a strong brownish tinge or even sometimes almost blackish, m which
latter case they are less distinct and tend to merge into the black basal part of
the segments and become less widened towards the sides, and sometimes the
ashy grey bands are much narrower (Malvern Hills, June 8, 1902) and the
black ground colour very extended (Gravesend, June 11, 1898); sometimes
the brownish ashy grey bands are so extended as to cause the black colour to be
reduced to the base and middle quarter of the second segment (as is usual in
T. nobilitata ,), to the middle two-thirds of the base of the third segment
extending about half-way down the segment, and to the middle halt of the
base of the fourth segment for about half-way down the segment (Aberlady,
June 23, 1884); the basal plate of the genitalia which looks like an eighth
segment is seldom visible. Pubescence varying in the greater or less sharp
distinction between its colour on the dorsal and ventral parts ; the ventral
brownish yellow hairs sometimes extending upwards gradually round, the
sides, or on the other hand the ventral pubescence sometimes dull whitish.
Belly varying from blackish grey through brownish ashy grey to lighter ashy
grey, and its pale hindmarginal hems sometimes narrow and inconspicuous
except on the third segment ; the narrow lateral pale hem may extend the
whole length of the abdomen or may be entirely absent. Genitalia, with the
dorsal and lateral plates varying from greyish black to dull reddish brown
and the pubescence on them less contrasted in colour, as it may be. less black
about the base of the lateral plates and less tawny on the long hairs on the
hind part, while the ciliation across the liindmargin of the last ventral
segment may be merged into the general pubescence of the segment.

566

THE RE VIM

Legs varying moderately in the amount of obscure reddish orange on the
tarsi, and in the colour of the pubescence behind the anterior femora, as the
latter may be mainly greyish about the basal half of the front femora, while
the scaly yellow pubescence in front of the hind femora is at times much
more extensive or at other times very much restricted ; the black bristles
beneath the anterior femora vary in number, as there may be only one on the
front femora and only one or two on the middle femora, while the irregular
black bristles beneath the hind femora may vary in number from about eight
to twelve.

Wings varying considerably in the intensity but not in the position of the
small cloudings, except that the clouding may occasionally be almost reduced
to the two cross-veins and the base of the radial fork, while on the other hand
the cloudings may be sharply marked though restricted, and rarely even the
base of the first posterior cell is clouded slightly brownish close against the
discal cross-vein ; the stigma may be brownish orange. Squamae sometimes
with dark brown margins. Halteres paler brown.

All these variations may seem to be very slight, but they often tend
to cause uncertainty in distinguishing T. plebeia from T. nobilitata, and I
think it possible that an unrecognised species exists between T. plebeia
and T. bipunctata.

$ . Not at all like the male and but little variable, so that it can easily be dis¬
tinguished from its allies. Frons broad at its narrowest part near the
vertex, more than a quarter the width of the head, and widening to more
than half at the antennae j frons dusted brownish yellow, with an unusually

large shining black callus (fig. 322), in front of which
are numerous fairly long black hairs extending
across (but not to the eyemargins) in a slight arc
but scarcely (if at all) extending down below the
antennae, while in front of them the pubescence is
black ; the callus is bare and impunctate, looped
up behind at the middle as far as the front ocellus
and notched anteriorly with a narrow yellow exten¬
sion of the anterior frons, and almost always
reaching the eyemargins for its full width ; the
frons above the callus is dusted slightly darker
fig. 322.— Thereva plebeia ?. than anteriorly, and bears some rather sparse
x 16‘ shorter black hairs • face greyish white, clothed

with dense white or pale yellow pubescence, while similar pubescence extends
all over the jowls and lower half of the back of the head without a single
black hair intermixed except a distinct small clump of black hairs just
below the lowest part of the eyes ; back of the head pale greyish yellow,
but almost white on the lower part and (when seen from above) more
brownish yellow on the upper part, and the whitish lower part bearing dense
long white pubescence which completely dies away about the middle of the
head, but is succeeded by slighter shorter inconspicuous brownish yellow
pubescence, while the usual scattered stout black bristles occur quite out on
the back part of the head, and the usual postocular ciliation of about fifteen
black bristles extends from the middle of the head to the top angle of the
eye, but only the top six or eight bristles are long enough to curve slightly
forwards. Eyes comparatively small. Antennte less pubescent about the
base than in the male ; third joint usually more decidedly brown.

Thorax dull greyish dark brown, with two moderately distinct widely
separated brownish yellow stripes which extend the whole length of the
thorax, but which are somewhat vague and widened at each end and almost
widen to each other at the hinder end, amalgamating there with the similarly
colored liindmargin of the thorax ; sides of the dorsum more ashy, and the
pleurte more whitish grey. Pubescence on the disc composed of compai'a-
tively sparse but ubiquitous suberect short inconspicuous black hairs, which

* In this figure the frontal callus is somewhat foreshortened, or else it would appear to occupy more of the
frons, and the pubescence in front of the callus is given as extending to the eyemargins.

1. THEREVA

567

overtop the more conspicuous short adpressed brownish yellow hairs ; this
brownish yellow pubescence is slightly longer and more greyish tinted about
the sides of the dorsum ; pleurae with fairly abundant long greyish white
pubescence, which forms the usual dense long tufts on the back part of the
mesopleurse and on the metapleurae ; none of the pubescence on the dorsum
or on the pleurae is quite dense enough to conceal the ground colour ; prae-
scutellar bristles occasionally in two pairs. Scutellum greyish yellow, with
rather longer though still inconspicuous black hairs and with depressed
yellowish pubescence.

Abdomen black with the hind part of each segment yellowish ashy grey,
usually dull on the black parts though sometimes shining ; hindmarginal hem
of the second segment often fairly broad and conspicuously pale yellow but
occasionally orange, while the hems on the next two segments are very
narrow, and sometimes a pale hem is just visible on the fifth hindmargin,
or in a large specimen (Wendover, June 9, 1899) the second, third, and fourth
segments all have narrow orange hems ; basal segment greyish black ; next
three segments each black with a light ashy grey (slightly yellowish) hind-
margin (before the pale hindmarginal hem) which occupies about a quarter
of the segment at the middle but widens outwards until it occupies about
half of the sidemargins, and the basal corners of the second segment obscurely
light grey ; fifth and sixth segments usually almost all ashy grey, but some¬
times the fifth segment with a comparatively large part of its base and the
sixth segment with a narrow portion darkened and both with the actual
base shining black, or both may have a fairly broad shining black base ;
seventh and eighth segments shining black, but the seventh segment may
be slightly dusted with grey at the extreme sides and hindmargin ; base
of the ovipositor blackish chestnut and the ring of spines dark red, while
the apical lamellae are short semicircular and clothed with dense short rigid
bristles. Pubescence on the black parts of the second and third segments
all very short and black, adpressed and very inconspicuous, but on the sides
of the greyish part of those segments greyish white, and conspicuous though
hardly forming a hindmarginal fringe, on all the basal segment greyish white
and forming a conspicuous long fringe all across the hindmargin ; the fourth
to eighth segments bear all over rigid little black bristles, but a few short
depressed pale hairs may be intermixed about the basal part of the fourth
segment. Belly blackish ashy grey with broad obscurely greyish yellow hind¬
marginal hems to the second and third segments and a narrow hem to the
fourth segment, all of which meet the corresponding dorsal hems ; pubescence
long and thin, though rather sparse and inconspicuous on the three basal
segments, and on the other segments composed of rigid little black bristles
which however are less dense on the fourth segment than on the others.

Legs colored as in the male, but the pubescence on the femora much
slighter, shorter, and less conspicuous, and usually greyish white behind the
front femora but sometimes with numerous black hairs near the tip ; the
still slighter pubescence behind the middle femora whitish with rarely
one or two black hairs intermixed ; all the femora bear almost all over a
whitish adpressed almost scaly pubescence. Bristles beneath the front
femora usually two, beneath the middle about five, and beneath the hind
pair about nine placed irregularly.

Wings almost as in the male, but sometimes cloudings are visible at the
usual places on the cross-veins, on the basal piece of the upper branch of
the postical fork, on the veins ending the discal cell, and at the radial fork.
Squamae more hyaline, with a brownish yellow margin and brownish grey
fringes which are rather short and coarse on the outer part but long thin¬
haired and straggly on the inner part. Halteres blackish brown, with the
stem paler.

Length about 10-5 mm.

This species varies in many details beyond what has been mentioned
above. Two males from Padstow may belong to a distinct species which
would come between T. plebeia and T. bipundata, but at present I consider
them to be only varieties of T. plebeia which have numerous black hairs

568

THEREVIDJE

on the face, exclusively black hairs and two visible stripes on the
disc of the thorax, and the pubescence on the abdomen not sharply
differentiated in colour though whitish ventrally; a third male taken in
company with the other two is less distinct hut also has stripes down the
thorax, narrow hindmarginal hems on the abdomen, and the ventral
pubescence all yellow. The females (though usually rather regular in
size) may vary from 9 mm. (Denmark Hill, London, June 21, 1867) to
12 mm. (Bunker’s Hill, near Lewes, June 5, 1870). The male is often
difficult to distinguish from those specimens of T. nobilitata in which
the black pubescence predominates, but in my opinion is a slightly
narrower blacker insect (especially about the base of the abdomen) in
which the abdominal pubescence (besides being rather abruptly contrasted
in colour dorsally and ventrally) has the pale hairs without any tawny
hue, while ordinarily only a few inconspicuous light colored hairs extend
over the sidemargins on to the fore corners of the second abdominal
segment. The female can easily be distinguished from T. nobilitata by
the large and conspicuous black bands on the abdomen, by the much larger
frontal callus, and by the short rigid black abdominal pubescence which
commences on the fourth segment. T. arcuata var. inornata is not always
easily distinguishable in either sex, but the male is narrower and has the
fulvous or greyish pubescence more extended up on to the disc of
the basal abdominal segments while the clump of black hairs below the
eyes is less distinct, and the female has a much smaller frontal callus
which does not extend up at all near the front ocellus, less numerous
black hairs below the eyes, the abdomen much more covered with pale
pubescence and broader grey bands, the thorax more distinctly striped,
and the fifth and sixth abdominal segments less black haired. My
description has been made from about fifty British specimens, but amongst
them were only about a dozen males in good condition, and it is only
on one occasion that I have known a number of specimens to have been
taken in company and they were all females.

T. plebeia is not an uncommon British species and is one that may
occur in gardens, where it is not quite so common as T. nobilitata , though
I have taken it both here and at Denmark Hill, while Mr F. Jenkinson
has taken it rather freely in his garden at Cambridge. I have numerous
records from almost all the southern counties from Cornwall to Kent,
and from Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Bucks, Worcestershire,
and Herefordshire, while I believe I have seen it from Rannoch and
Golspie. It is worthy of note that when Colonel Yerbury was taking
very large numbers of T. nobilitata and T. bipunctata at Porthcawl he
did not take a single specimen which could by any possibility be con¬
founded with T. plcbeia. The dates range from May 13 to August 15.

Synonymy. — Of course T. plebeia, cannot be fully identified by any of the older
descriptions though Linne’s description almost fixes it and by tradition the present
species has been accepted as the exponent of his name ; Loew however called it
T. lugens and said that it commonly occurred in collections under the name of
T. lugubris. Walker’s description of T. plebeia cannot possibly apply to this species
but probably to the female of T. nobilitata. A very small female of this species
which I sent to Loew was returned as “ Thereva sp 1 nr. lugubris .”

5. T. circumscripta Loew. Rather large species, normally with darkened
wing-veins. Male with unusually predominant black pubescence, and even

1. THEREVA

569

with numerous black hairs intermingled on the middle of the face and on
the jowls. Female with a small narrow frontal callus; abdomen with
whitish hindmargins of segments.

The male is the blackest of our British species.

Jt This description has been made from a specimen which was caught by
Colonel Yerbury at Lyndhurst in the New Forest on June 16, 1897, but as
it is partly discolored through grease I have eked out the description by the
help of a male from Kowarz’s collection which was taken at Manenbad on

Face ashy yellowish grey, but slightly whitish shimmering about the
lower part and round under the eyes ; frons more greyish tawny dusted but
narrowly blackened at the sides down to the level of the antennae (perhaps
discolored) ; pubescence on the frons forming a rather dense black tuft, ana
similar pubescence extends broadly down the sides of the face and is but
little reduced until well round the lowest part of the eyes, and even after
that numerous black hairs are intermixed with the dense brownish yellow
pubescence on the lower part of the back of the head; pubescence on the
middle part of the face brownish yellow and slightly drooping but with more
suberect long black hairs intermixed than in any other British species, ancl
similar brownish yellow pubescence extends rather inconspicuously all louncl
the antennae; the mixed pubescence on the jowls amalgamates with similar
pubescence on the front coxae ; close against the lower part of the back ol
the eyes is a patch of shorter all pale pubescence, and the pubescence on the
upper part of the back of the head is shorter and denser but daiker brownis i
orange ; the usual black postocular fringe of curved and slightly overhang¬
ing hairs begins rather sparsely and rather short at about the middle ol
the back of the head but soon becomes dense' and long, and merges
into the shorter thinner black hairs on the vertex; the usual stiong blacc
bristles quite out on the back of the head are barely percepti >le; vei tex
covered with greyish orange dust ; proboscis brown. Eyes touching lor less
than one-third the distance between the occiput and the antennae but
the part of contact nearer to the occiput than to the antennae , facets
fairly large on the upper part but steadily though almost imperceptibly
diminishing in size to the lower part. Antennae yellowish grey on the basa
joint, but greyer on the second joint, and dull brown (except for its obviously
ferruginous base) on the third joint; basal joint with the usual hair-li e
pubescence on its basal half which is partly black but with long pale nans
beneath near the base, and with the usual stiff black bristles on the apical hall ;
second joint with the usual numerous short black bristly hairs , thud pun
with two or three tiny black dorsal bristles near the base ; style angulated
from the third joint, and with a distinct though tiny apical arista.

Thorax blackish (probably from discoloration, or else_ probably greyish
brownish black with two faint paler stripes and the hinclinaigm paler) .
pleurae ashy grey. Pubescence suberect, composed of predominant rather
long black hairs with some short inconspicuous yellowish brown hairs inter¬
mixed on the disc, but with abundant yellowish brown hairs on the sides and
hind part amongst which a few inconspicuous black hairs are mtei mixed;
pleurae with pale greyish yellow pubescence, but with numerous black hairs
intermixed in the large mesopleural tuft and with some on the hind part ol
the metapleural tuft; cliaetotactic bristles almost as m hg. 311 but rathei
difficult to trace in the long dense black pubescence, two with perhaps a
smaller thinner one on the postalar calli. Scutellum greyish orange about t le
margin, mainly clothed with moderate fine yellowish brown pubescence but
with some considerably longer weak black hairs on the disc.

Abdomen discolored in the specimen described but probably blackish
with obscure indefinite brownish bands before the pale hindmargmal hems,
and with these bands becoming broadly greyish black and more obvious about
the sides of the two basal segments ; hinclmarginal hems dark orange, con¬
spicuous on the second to seventh segments but steadily growing narrower

570

THEREVIM

until the one on the seventh segment can hardly be traced. Pubescence
suberect, dense, moderately long, and black on the dorsal part, but in the
English specimen broadly brownish yellow all about the sides of the second
to fifth segments and on the belly, though when seen from above the long
black pubescence forms conspicuous tufts at the sides of the three basal
segments and numerous black hairs are intermingled at the sides of the
fourth and fifth segments ; in a continental specimen the abdominal
pubescence is all black except for some brownish black pubescence about
the basal corners, and when seen sideways appears rather tufted down the
dorsal line because of the gaps caused by the bare hindmargins. Belly in
the English specimen ashy grey, with broad but rather obscure hindmarginal
hems on the second to fifth segments which unite with the dorsal hems, and
it bears long thin straggly dark yellowish brown pubescence on the second,
third, and fourth segments and partly blackish pubescence on the next three
segments, and all this pubescence is somewhat interrupted at the base of
each segment ; belly in a continental specimen dull black, with broad
conspicuous pale dull golden hindmarginal hems on the second to fourth
segments, a rather narrower hem on the fifth segment and a decidedly narrow
one pn the sixth segment. Genitalia with the upper lamellae as usual, and
the inner ones as well as the underside shining reddish orange.

Legs mainly black, but the tibiae reddish orange except at the tip of the
front pair and slightly at the tip of the middle pair, and the four basal joints
of the tarsi obscurely reddish orange except at their tips ; trochanters
shining; femora with an ashy grey tinge. Pubescence on the coxae and
femora mainly greyish or brownish yellow, but blackish and dense behind
the anterior femora, while pale scaly pubescence is abundant all over the
hind femora except on the underside ; in a continental specimen all this
greyish yellow pubescence becomes greyish black ; coxae strongly spinose
especially on the front part of the front pair ; front femora with about two
strong black bristles beneath, middle pair with about five, and the hind pair
with about fifteen irregular ones (or fewer in a continental specimen).

Wings in the English specimen rather smoky and without any distinct
cloudings, but in a continental specimen much darker with the stigma brown
and with a tendency towards cloudings at especially the dip of the discal
vein ; veins dark brownish in the English specimen, [but the stigma, the
costal, subcostal, and stem of the postical, veins brownish orange ; fourth
hindmarginal cell closed. Squamae brownish orange, with thick darker
margins and brownish orange fringes. Halteres brownish black, but brownish
orange on the stem.

V . As I am unable to be certain about the female I give Loew’s description.

“ Cinerascens, thoracis dorsum vittis tribus nigricantibus interjectis lineis
“ cinerascentibus angustissimis parum conspicuis ; abdomen nigrum, segmentis
“ postice albo-fasciatis, fasciis arcuatim excisis lateraliter valde dilatatis ;
“ callus frontalis brevissimus ab ocellis separatus, antice distincte emarginatus ;
“ alarum nervi transversi fuscedine distinctissime marginati.”

Face whitish with whitish pubescence, and a clump of black hairs at the
lower eye-angles ; back of the head dirty whitish haired. Antennae black.
Frons yellowish, beset with fairly dense black hairs, which extend downwards
in a small degree on the eyemargins. Frontal callus very short, almost like
a cross-band, in front not deeply but distinctly emarginate ; behind it does
not reach to the front ocellus and has an undulating margin ; frons above the
callus and on the vertex brown.

Thorax with three more brownish black than slaty grey stripes, which are
altogether not sharply contrasted against the narrow grey separating stripes,
so that these latter stand out less distinct ; the pubescence on the upper side
of the tlioi’ax consists of rather dense, short, depressed, wholly pale yellowish
hairs, between which more erect, longer, blackish hairs occur. Pleurae rather
pale grey, in the Silesian specimen with white, in the South of France
specimen with greyish white pubescence. Scutellum blackish grey, paler at
the margin.

Abdomen black ; basal segment with a large triangular grey spot in each
hind angle and with whitish or greyish white pubescence especially obvious

1. THEREVA

571

on the sides and on the hindmargin ; second segment with a narrow but
obvious yellowish hindmarginal hem, and the third segment with a still
narrower and less obvious one ; on the following segments the extremely
narrow hems are hardly obvious ; on the second segment there is a greyish
white cross-band immediately before the hindmarginal hem which is excised
in an arch in the middle, so that it becomes quickly broader from the middle
outwards but then from the end of the arched incision extends to the side-
margin in considerable, but almost equal breadth ; the third segment has a
similar, but somewhat narrower band, on which the arched incision is not so
sharply defined towards the sides, as the band distinctly widens from its end
out to the sidemargins. The same applies in an even greater extent to the
band on the fourth segment, which again is rather narrower than the one on
the third ; the fifth and sixth segments have a somewhat broader greyish
white cross-band, which is not very sharply defined anteriorly and is only
indistinctly excised on the middle, and not widened at the sides ; the seventh
and eighth segments are altogether shining black. Belly ashy grey; the
front segments rather paler than the hind ones ; the second and third
segments have a quite distinct very dirty whitish, but the following segments
not clearly perceptible, hindmarginal hem ; also the pale band which lies
quite at the side of the abdomen, and which connects the hindmarginal hems
with each other is at least on the anterior segments very distinct. The
pubescence is whitish on the upper side of the basal segment, on the sides
and on the cross-band of the second and third segments, and also on the
underside of the three basal segments, but black and depressed on the black
marking of the second and third segments, on the fourth and all subsequent
segments it consists of short, erect black hairs on the sides. The femora are
black with short whitish pubescence ; the tibiae are more rusty yellow than
rusty brownish, and the tip of the front pair to a small extent, of the middle
and hind pairs scarcely blackened ; tarsi black, the basal half of the first
joint of the front pair, and the greater part of the first joint and the base of
the second joint of the middle and hind pairs brown. Halteres dark brown,
with the middle of the stem paler. Wings hyaline with a brownish tinge,
veins dark brown, more rusty brown at the base and foremargin ; stigma
brown.

Length about 11-5 mm.

This species is not very generally known though probably dis¬
tributed over a wide area, and but few students have known it in both
sexes. The male may be distinguished from T. plebeia by its larger size
and more universally black pubescence, while the female should be dis¬
tinguished by its much smaller frontal callus.

T. circumscripta has not previously been recorded as British, but
Colonel Yerbury took a male at Lyndhurst on June 16, 1897, and since
I distinguished that specimen I have seen another male in the Entomological
Club collection mixed up with specimens of T. nobilitata, and I think the
fragments of a male taken by Colonel Yerbury at Nairn on June 4, 1905,
belong to this species but the pale pubescence on all parts of the thorax
is whitish grey while that on the head is grey rather than brownish
yellow. If T. circumscripta and T. ursina are synonyms this species is
recorded from Lapland to South France and from Central Europe.

Synonymy. — This species was probably first described by Scliummel in 1838 under
the name of T. frontalis , but his description is very uncertain and there was
already a T . frontalis of Say. Loew in 1846 described the female under the name
of T. circumscripta and Wahlberg in 1854 probably described both sexes under the
name of T. ursina. Kowarz in 1883 called attention to T. ursina being the male
of T. circumscripta, but Bezzi in Kertesz’s Ivatalog retains the two as distinct
species ; if they should be distinct we must adopt the name of T. ursina for
the British species. Wahlberg’s diagnosis of the female of T. ursina is as follows :
“ cinerascens opaca brevius et remotius hirsuta supra grisea pilis nigris intermixtis

572

THEREVIDJE

“ subtus albida, vertice flavo-griseo call is 2 parvis nigris nitidis parum elevatis
“ in lineam transversam dispositis, thorace cinereo-albido-bivittato, segmentis
“ abdominis basi anguste subnitidis nigris, apice fascia albida opaca ad latera latiori
“ antice medio retusa, 2 ultimis totis nigris nitidis, tibiis rufis, alis hyalinis fusco-
“ nervosis.— Femina callis verticis parvis in lineam transversam positis, nec callo
“ magno obcordato. Tarsi antici in utroque sexu nigri, vix summa basi rufe-
“ scentes.”. From this it would appear that the frontal callus of his female was
separated into two spots, and the tarsi in both sexes were more extensively black
than in my description.

6. T. bipunctata Meigen. Male with mainly whitish (not brilliant
white) pubescence. Female with the frontal callus divided into a pair of
spots. Wing-veins very strongly defined when viewed from the wing-tip.

A rather small species with the pubescence of the male
more whitish than in any other British species except T.
annulata and T. lunulata but not silvery white as in them,
and the frontal callus of the female distinctly divided.

6 • Face and frons entirely covered with pale dust ; frons yellowish grey with its
margin darkened in some lights, bearing long moderately dense black
pubescence but that on the fore part and all round the base of the antennae
composed of rather shorter thinner pale hairs which are slightly bent
forwards ; face light grey, with an almost whitish shimmer near the lowest
angle of the eyes and on the lower part of the back of the head near the eyes,
clothed with dense long rather drooping yellowish white hairs on the middle
part but with more or less abundant more erect black hairs near the eye-
margins, and these black hairs usually forming lateral fringes irregularly three
or four hairs wide which extend from the black hairs on the frons to almost
the bottom of the eyes and are followed after a short interval by a small sparse
clump of similar black hairs below the eyes, but these fringes of black hairs
may extend only about half-way down the face or on the other hand may be
five, six, or even seven hairs wide and be practically continued to the sub¬
ocular black hairs, and sometimes scattered black hairs intermingle with the
yellowish white hairs though not to the middle of the face ; under part of the
head with long dense dull yellowish white pubescence which amalgamates
with similar pubescence on the front coxae and becomes conspicuous ; lower
part of the back of the head inflated, greyish yellow (except where shimmer¬
ing white), and bearing moderately long greyish yellow pubescence with a
single inconspicuous row of scattered black hairs near the eyes ; upper half
of the back of the head hardly inflated and bearing less abundant shorter
greyish yellow pubescence, while the postocular black hairs become longer,
more numerous (about fifteen), and more conspicuous ; the usual few black
bristles on quite the back of the head are almost hidden in the pubescence ;
vertex dusted yellowish and bearing moderate black pubescence. Eyes bare,
touching for about a quarter the distance between the occiput and the
antennae ; facets all practically equal in size. Antennae with the two basal
joints rather light grey, but the third joint greyish black -brown and some¬
times a little ferruginous at the base; first and third joints almost equal in
length, second joint short, and style short ; first joint bearing pale pubescence
about its base but stiff black bristles near its end; second joint with very
short black bristles ; third joint bare.

Thorax dull dark greyish brown, often with three or five inconspicuous
dark lines down the disc of which the two outside the middle one are more
conspicuous than the others and seem by contrast to leave greyish lines inside
them ; pubescence on the disc fairly dense but only slightly obscuring the ground
colour, composed of mixed black and pale yellowish hairs of which the black
hairs are long and erect while the pale hairs are short and depressed ; when
viewed from in front the pale hairs become conspicuous but when viewed
from behind the black hairs seem to predominate ; towards the sides the pale
hairs become longer, denser, and less recumbent and consequently more

1. THEREVA

573

conspicuous ; black bristles as usual ; pleurae with dense shaggy dull greyish
yellow pubescence, which may become darker yellow or even tawny and more
conspicuous on the metapleurae. Scutellum with rather longer mixed
pubescence.

Abdomen obscurely black or blackish brown on rather more than the basal
third of the second, third, and fourth segments, though the blackish colour does
not quite extend to the sides and is not sharply separated from the brownish
grey colour which covers all the rest (including all the sidemargins) except
the hindmargins of at least the second and third segments which are rather
broadly and conspicuously sharply margined dull yellowish, while the fourth
segment also has a similar but narrow hindmargin, and according to Loew
these narrow yellowish hindmargins may extend even to the seventh segment.
Pubescence in the best marked forms when viewed from behind all pale fawn-
colour and of almost equal density on all parts, but more commonly the
belly pubescence is dull yellowish white and slightly lighter than that on the
dorsal part because more or less numerous black hairs become inconspicu¬
ously mingled with the pale hairs about the sidemargins and sides of the
hindmargin of the first segment, and also a few depressed black hairs occur
on the middle of the second and third segments near their hindmargins, while
still more such hairs occur on the fourth segment, and from thence to the
base of the genitalia longer more erect black hairs may become numerous on
the disc and even extend to the sides of the base of the genitalia ; in ordinary
specimens the pale pubescence is long and rather tufted about the sides of
the second and third segments, less abundant on the fourth segment, and
longer and more erect and less tufted on the next three segments, but rarely
(when viewed from above) the first segment may have numerous black hairs
intermixed near the sides of the hindmargin and predominating in the lateral
tufts, while the second segment may bear some such hairs, and the third
segment a few, while slightly tuft-like black hairs may occur on the sides of
the next three segments ; hardly any of these black hairs are noticeable when
viewed from behind, but the general pale pubescence seems to be a little
darkened. Belly blackish grey ; hindmargins of the second, third, and fourth
segments conspicuously, of the fifth segment narrowly, and of the sixth very
narrowly yellowish. Genitalia usually reddish orange on at least the large
lateral plates or about the base and lower part of the plates.

Legs black ; tibiae luteous but blackened at just the tip ; tarsi with almost
all the basal joint and the base of the second joint and sometimes of even
subsequent joints brownish yellow. Pubescence on the anterior femora long
and pale greyish, (almost whitish), but on the front pair tending to become
more or less blackish about the tip beneath and behind ; hind femora with
recumbent scaly greyish yellow pubescence ; bristles as usual.

Wings whitish hyaline with a slight brownish grey tint, but pale brownish
at the base and fore part ; stigma dark brown • veins conspicuously blackish
brown, very much intensified when viewed from the wing-tip, and then
sharply contrasted with the whitish hyaline cells, but slight clouds occur
about the end of the submarginal cell and the upper part of the cubital fork¬
cell, and the veins tend to reddish brown at the base and on the subcostal ;
slight blackish seaming may be found about the discal cross-vein and on the
discal vein in the dip between the discal and second posterior cells, while the
piece of the upper fork of the postical vein which forms part of the middle
basal cell is conspicuously blackish. Squamae smoky with brownish margins,
and with the fringes short and greyish white on the lower part but long as
usual about the fold. Halteres rather dark brown, stem paler.

$. Frons including the ocellar triangle greyish yellow to brownish orange;
the shining black callus (fig. 323) divided into two fairly large spots which
though quite distinctly separated lie near each other and form a moderate
arch which is well remote from the lowest ocellus and all but or quite reaches
the eyemargins ; frons with short and rather sparse black pubescence on the
front part which extends outwards to the eyemargins but does not extend back¬
wards, while a few shorter yellowish hairs occur in front close to the base of
the antennae and sometimes these pale hairs increase in number until they
extend almost from eye to eye (and Loew says until they even displace

574

THEREVIM

Pig. 323. — Thereva lipunctata

?. X 16.

Thorax dull brownish,
and with a short depressed
which are almost equally

all the black hairs on the fore part of the frons), the upper part of the frons is
the same colour as the fore part and is beset with sparse moderately short
black hairs amongst which single pale hairs are sometimes intermixed.
Face white, with rather dense and long all white pubescence without any
admixture of black hairs except that there is a slight continuation of the frontal

black hairs at the sides to just below the antennse,
and there are a few black hairs below the lowest part
of the eyes though not nearly enough to call a clump ;
back of the head whitish below and with whitish
pubescence there which amalgamates with the similar
white pubescence on and in front of the front coxae,
but higher up as the ground colour becomes yellowish
grey the pubescence becomes more yellow or orange ;
there are six to ten black postocular bristles on the
upper part and usually two or three more smaller
ones nearer the middle of the back of the eye, besides
the usual black bristles quite out on the back of the
head. Antennae with the two basal joints light grey
and the third joint greyish brown ; first joint with the usual black hail’s
and bristles on the apical half, but with whitish pubescence near the base
at the sides and beneath.

with two more or less indistinct grey stripes
felt-like yellow pubescence intermixed amongst
numerous though inconspicuous almost upright
longer black hairs, but the ground colour hardly obscured ; chaetotactic
bristles conspicuous as in fig. 311 ; pleurae light ashy grey, with the pubescence
dense and shaggy yellow on the upper part and back of the mesopleuras, but
longer dense and whitish on the metapleurae, though occasionally a few black
hairs occur on the back part, while there are more sparse and whitish hairs
on the lower part of the pleurae. Scutellum with only a few of the erect
black hairs.

Abdomen black, hardly shining, but the grey cross-bands occupying most
of the disc, and the hindmarginal hems yellow ; these yellow hindmarginal
hems are fairly conspicuous and rather narrow on the second segment,
narrower or almost absent on the third segment, and hardly visible on the
subsequent segments, or the hems may be distinct though narrow on all the
segments from the second to the sixth, or again they may be fairly broad on
the three basal segments and narrow but distinct on the next three • basal
segment usually all rather dark grey ; second segment with a broad pale ashy
grey cross-band before the yellow hindmarginal hem which is narrowed at
the middle to about one-third of the depth of the segment but widened out
until it occupies fully two-tliirds of the sidemargins ; third segment similar
but the grey band slightly narrower; fourth segment with the grey band
occupying nearly half the segment and more equal in width until close to the
sides ; fifth segment usually all ashy grey except on a shallow black basal
cross-band which scarcely extends to the sides ; sixth segment ashy grey
with only a slight trace of a basal darkening ; seventh segment more shining
black with the hindmargin and sides orange grey ; eighth segment shining
black ; ovipositor with the underside of the shining black eighth segment
bright shining chestnut and with the usual circlet of dark red spines.
Pubescence black and recumbent on the black parts of the disc but yellow on
all the rest, and forming a fringe over (not on) the yellow hindmarginal hems ;
some moderately long and abundant whitish yellow hairs occur on the sides
of the basal segment and on the front corners of the second segment ; on the
fourth segment a few erect hairs occur on the sides, and all the hairs on the
next three segments are erect and conspicuously yellow , especially on the
seventh segment. Belly pale grey, with sometimes an almost whitish sheen on
the four basal segments ; the yellow hindmarginal hems conspicuous on the
second, third, and fourth segments and just visible on the fifth and sixth ;
pubescence yellowish, forming a depressed fringe near the hindmargin of
the fourth segment and on the hindmargins of the fifth, sixth, and seventh
segments, but the other pubescence on these last three segments erect and
almost orange.

575

1. THERE V A

Legs as in the male, but the pubescence on the anterior femora shorter
and the hind pair with only a few whitish scales.

Wings as in the male, or with a more yellowish tinge which makes the
veins about the base, on the subcostal, and on the stem of the postical, more
orange, and in such cases the stigma is brownish yellow. Halteres brown,
stem light brown.

Length about 8 mm.

This species may be known by its small size, by the entirely whitish
(not silvery white) haired abdomen of the male and by the intense
venation of the wings when viewed from the wing-tip ; while the female may
be known by its divided frontal callus and the pale haired seventh abdominal
segment, and as a rule it is easily recognised by these characters but
occasionally specimens occur which are not easily identified. A female
sent to me by Nicholas Cooke in 1870 has the pair of frontal calli
very small and transverse, while the white pubescence on the front part
of the frons is more extensive than usual, and the front part of the frons
is paler than the hind part though still darker than the face, the dark
parts of the abdomen are brown rather than black and are more extensive
than usual until they occupy all the seventh segment, and the pale hind-
marginal hem is broad on the three basal segments but narrow and distinct
on the next three, the pubescence on the mesopleurse, metapleurse, and
abdomen is almost brownish yellow, the wings are slightly yellowish, and
the veins and stigma pale ; it is well distinguished from T. binotata Lw.
by the segments of the abdomen after the third being pale haired, all
those segments in T. binotata (from Sicily) being entirely black haired ; it
can hardly be Zetterstedt’s var. canescens because that is rather smaller
than ordinary T. bipunctata, while Cooke’s specimen is unusually large.
A remarkably large (12 mm.) and stout female taken by Mr C. G. Lamb
at Padstow in July, 1902, has the frontal calli unusually large and rounded
and only narrowly but distinctly separated and not quite touching the
eyes, the frons yellowish grey with rather numerous white hairs across
the front part, and the black hairs below the eyes almost forming a clump,
the pubescence on the upper part of the head brownish, about twelve black
postocular bristles and about four others out on the back of the head away
from the eyes, the thorax hardly striped, the abdomen with the ashy grey
cross-band on the second segment narrowed to a quarter of the segment at
the middle, but the grey band on the third segment wider at the middle, and
the grey bands on the fourth and fifth segments occupying fully half each
segment, the sixth segment with the basal blackening obscure, the seventh
segment with the liindmargin and sides grey (not at all orange) ; another
note on this same specimen says that the black parts of all the segments
are more shining black, much more distinct and sharply defined on the fourth
to seventh segments, and the grey on the seventh segment is more extended
and more conspicuous, the hindmarginal hems are narrow but distinct
on the second to sixth segments, the pubescence on the abdomen (exclusive
of the white pubescence on the basal corners) is more yellowish with a
decidedly yellow fringe near the liindmargin of the basal segment, but the
ventral pubescence not at all orange on the end segments, and there are a few
erect black hairs on the middle of the front part of the fourth, fifth, sixth,
and especially seventh segments, the anterior femora have more abundant
whitish pubescence and the hind femora more numerous white scales

576

THEREVIM

which almost cover them, the wings are slightly clouded, the middle of the
cubital cell being paler than the rest, and the postical fork especially and
the cells near it with slight dark clouds; it was apparently taken in
company with normal T. bipunctata and with T. annulata and T. nobilitata,
but I do not think it a hybrid though Zetterstedt has recorded the capture
of T. bipunctata $ in cop. with T. annulata ? ; a rather similar female
was taken by Mr Lamb at the same place in July, 1906, but a male taken
at the same time is indistinguishable by me from ordinary T. bipunctata.
Minor variations occur in the relative contrasts between the black and the
grey abdominal bands, which are usually rather undefined in both sexes
but sometimes well defined or on the other hand very vague in the female,
also slightly in the size and shape of the frontal calli, and in the amount
of pale pubescence on the front part of the frons which seems to be more
extensive when the calli are small. The male cannot be confounded with
any other British species, because T. plcbcia and T. circumscripta have the
abdomen almost entirely black haired dorsally, and the lateral and ventral
pubescence not whitish; T. nobilitata has the abdomen with brownish
tawny hairs, and T. arcuata in its handsome form has the abdomen with
black and tawny bands, or in its form inornata has not the slightest
tendency to a whitish pubescence. The female is distinguished from all
other British species by the almost absolute character of the divided frontal
callus, though I have seen this character in a female of T. nobilitata but
that specimen was at once distinguished by the golden brown pubescence
on the face and back of the head and by the black haired seventh abdominal
segment. Even now I am inclined to believe that there may be a very
closely allied species with much more extended black dorsal pubescence on
the abdomen and with the upper part of the mesopleural tuft darker ;
most (if not all) of the specimens from Golspie and Nairn seem to belong
to this darker form, while Porthcawl specimens belong to the lightest form.
T. marginula is closely allied but has a still more intensified venation and
has a fairly well defined cloud concentrated into a blotch which is partly
in the submarginal cell and partly in the cubital fork-cell.

T. bipunctata. is common on sandy banks or dunes, more especially on
the coast, but occurs inland in suitable localities. My localities are
numerous on the Norfolk and Welsh coasts and extend from Cornwall
(Padstow) to Sutherland (Golspie), and from Yarmouth on the east to
Barmouth on the west, whilst I have taken it inland at Barton Mills in
Suffolk (where however other maritime insects and plants occur). My
dates extend from May 30 to August 11.

Synonymy. — Coucke considers tins species to be a variety of T. nobilitata, from
which however it differs “ toto ccelo.” Walker’s diagnosis is practically a copy from
Loew, but his English description applies to some entirely distinct species, probably
T. 'nobilitata. Moses Harris’ Sylvicola unions is probably a synonym as he refers
to two black shining studs on the “frontlet,” but otherwise his description is
unrecognisable.

7. T. lunulata Zetterstedt. Similar to T. annulata, but the wings with
the fourth posterior cell more or less wide open. Thorax with suherect black
hairs intermixed in the pale pubescence in both sexes. Halteres blackish.
Female with large blackish brown spots (or almost bands) on the abdomen.

1. THEREVA

577

Extremely like T. annulata , but apparently a more Arctic
species.

$ . Resembling T. annulata but tbe face altogether smaller and the eyes curving
round more on their lower margin; pubescence on the side-cheeks less
abundant ; postocular festoon more conspicuous because composed of stronger
bristles ; black bristles quite out on the back of the head fairly numerous.
Eye-facets hardly contrasted in size. Antennae with more obvious black
bristles near the base of the third joint.

Thorax with very different pubescence, as when viewed from the side the
most conspicuous hairs are all black except on the hind part and on the sides
after the suture, the brilliant white pubescence is not quite so dense or
woolly, and the black chsetotactic bristles stand out conspicuously; there
are two well defined pairs of prsescutellar bristles.

Abdomen with slightly shorter and less abundant white pubescence.
Genitalia very distinct, the large greyish white basal piece being produced
into a long triangular lobe on each side, leaving a somewhat quadrate dorsal
space between in which some upper lamellae lie, whilst the lower margin of
each lobe slopes back to the base ; beneath these come a pair of large long
oval lamellae, rather pointed at the end and bearing there some long
black bristly hairs; between these lamellae some elongate thin brownish
orange processes can be seen (when viewed from behind) which are difficult
to determine in the single specimen I have seen.

Legs more extensively but less sharply blackish at the tip of the tibiae,
and the tarsi less yellowish at the base. Anterior femora with one rather
small black antero-ventral bristle ; hind tibiae with rather more numerous
dorsal and postero-dorsal bristles.

Wings Avithout any orange tint, the veins being stronger and blacker ;
stigma broAvner ; fourth posterior cell Avide open though slightly contracted
in all the British specimens I have seen, but only moderately contracted in
one specimen and almost closed in another specimen in Zetterstedt’s collec¬
tion at Lund. Squamae not so blackish at the base but with a dark marginal
speck just before the fold. Halteres greyish black, but lighter grey on the
outside and greyish yellow on the underside ; middle of the stem orange.

? . Very much like T. annulata , but with a more bluish grey tinge. Frons
distinctly narrower at the vertex where it is only about one-seventh the width
of the head, with the brown upper part darker broAvn and bearing stronger
black bristles; a slight interval occurs before the bristly hairs on the white
part of the frons, and these bristly hairs are more or less black with some
thin silvery white hairs intermixed, or vice versd, and a large portion of
the middle of the white part is bare ; the side-cheeks bear less abundant
pubescence, and the sides of the mouth are narrower and bear less pubescence ;
black bristles quite out on the back of the head considerably stronger and
more numerous. Antennae Ayitli more numerous bristles on the basal joint.

.Thorax greyish black, with two conspicuous pale yellowish grey narroAv
stripes which start from the front but do not extend quite back to the hind-
margin ; _ pubescence on the disc mainly composed of rather thin suberect
black hairs, intermixed Avith which are a few shorter depressed inconspicuous
yellow hairs, and these latter become more numerous and longer towards the
sides and hind part ; the pubescence altogether is very different from the
conspicuous short depressed yellowish pubescence of T. annulata , and does
not at all conceal the ground colour ; pleurae with pubescence similar to but
Avhiter than in T. annulata. Scutellum with considerable rather coarse pale
pubescence about the margin, but with suberect mainly black hairs on the disc.

Abdomen less conical, with the same silvery sheen on the ground colour
but the blackish brown spaces large and forming wide arcs ; second
segment with a large blackish brown arc which commences close to the basal
corners and arches down on the middle until it occupies quite two-thirds of
the segment ; third segment with a similar but slightly flatter dark arc,
which begins still nearer the basal corners and (as the segment is shorter)
extends at the middle down three-fourths of the segment ; fourth segment

2 o

578

THEREVIDiE

with an equally large but rather less defined dark arc; fifth segment with
only an elongate oblong blackish space on more than the middle half of the
foremargin which does not extend half-way down the segment ; fifth and sixth
segments each with a narrow dark brown liindmargin ; pubescence longer and
more erect about the sides of the three basal segments, whitish and recumbent
on the silvery grey parts of the second and third segments, but very incon¬
spicuous and dark brown on the dark parts ; on the rest the black stubby
pubescence is as in T. annulata. Belly wider, all covered with whitish grey
dust ; second and third segments with a fairly wide but inconspicuous
yellowish _ hindmargin, and the next two segments with a narrow yellow
liindmargin ; pubescence on the three basal segments all slight short depressed
and pale, but on the next four segments rigid and black.

Legs much as in T. anmdata , but the tibial bristles on all legs and
the apical circlet on the front pair much stronger ; coxae almost silvery white,
with _ snow - white pubescence, and with the black bristles conspicuous ;
anterior femora without any bristles beneath in the Rannoch specimen, but
with one or two strong bristles about the middle in the Nethy Bridge
specimens and with one bristle behind nearer the base.

Wings (fig. 324) perhaps rather more hyaline or without the slight yellowish
tint which occurs in T. anmdata ; fourth posterior cell nearly always wide
open, but sometimes only moderately so. Halteres blackish, with just the top
of the knob and the base of the stem rather pale brown.

Length 9-5 mm.

This species might easily be mistaken for T. annulata, but the open
fourth posterior cell gives a good (though variable) distinctive character ;
it may moreover be easily distinguished by the blackish halteres, erect
blackish pubescence on the thorax, and in the female by the extensive
blackish brown cross-bands on the abdomen. It is curious that when
Zetterstedt enumerated (Dipt. Scand., xii., 4586) ten species of Thereva
with a closed fourth posterior cell he omitted to mention T. lunulata,
though he said “ nostratum tantum in Tli. anili eadem area aperta oceurrit.”

T. lunulata first became known to me from a female taken by Colonel
Yerbury at Rannoch in Perthshire on June 24, 1898, and it was not until
1906 that I came to the conclusion that it must belong to this little known
species ; soon afterwards however I detected two more females in rather bad
condition among his captures at Nethy Bridge in Inverness on June 25,
1905 ; then in 1906 Messrs D. Sharp and C. G-. Lamb found it in fair numbers
at Nethy Bridge on the rough stony ground by the edges of water channels
which had partly dried up in the summer, but all the captors state that the
specimens are exceedingly difficult to catch. It has previously been recorded
from only extreme North Europe, where it is apparently not uncommon.

Synonymy. — I have seen the specimens in Zetterstedt’s collection at Lund (3 J ,
3 ? ) which all have the fourth posterior cell more or less open, though one male has
it only narrowly open. It can hardly be T. cassia Meig. because that has “ Schwinger
weissj

1. THEREVA

579

8. T. annulata Fabricius. Male entirely covered with silvery
pubescence; female without any shining black frontal callus. Halteres
whitish. Femora blackish in both sexes. Fourth posterior cell closed.

A common and very distinct species.

<$. Face and frons entirely covered with brilliant white tomentum, and
densely clothed with long pure white pubescence except on the upper part
of the frons and on the depressed middle part of the face ; this pubescence
slopes downwards on the sides of the face, and is conspicuously continued
quite as long and dense under the eyes (without a black hair being inter¬
mixed) and all round the back of the eyes ; face and frons slightly produced
in profile towards the base of the antennae, and when seen from in front
forming a broad bell-shaped space which is more than half the width of the
head ; the space below and behind the eyes fairly wide and still covered with
white tomentum but gradually diminishing in width as it ascends the back
of the head, and on the upper part with a row of (3-7) conspicuous rather
overhanging postocular black bristles, but no similar bristles occur on the
absolute back part of the head or if there are any they are very small and
difficult to detect ; vertex brownish, bearing moderately long forwards-sloping
black pubescence. Proboscis brownish, rather long and prominent though
thin ; palpi greyish white, bearing long upturned white pubescence. Eyes
quite bare, touching (or only linearly separated) for nearly one-third the
distance between the occiput and the antennae ; facets on the upper three-
fifths larger than these on the lower two-fifths. Antennae about as long as
the head, dull brownish black, but the two basal joints completely covered
with whitish dust and the third joint obscured ; basal joint long and
cylindrical, not at all incrassated, and bearing the usual circlet of (10-12)
black bristles round close to the tip but with long pure white pubescence on
the basal part ; second joint not a quarter the length of the first, and bearing
only a few very short sometimes black bristles ■ third joint about as long
as the first, and bearing at its tip a short thick bent-down style which is
terminated by an exceedingly short thread-like arista.

Thorax with a dull greyish black ground colour on which two light
grey lines run down the disc and become a little widened where the
praescutellar bristles occur, but everywhere obscured by abundant whitish
dust and almost white dense equal rather long nearly erect pubescence,
though this pubescence becomes faintly brownish white on the front
part of the disc (and in a specimen taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Porthcawl on May 23, 1903, obviously brown on all the disc), while the strong
black chsetotactic bristles stand out conspicuous ; pleurae with equally
abundant and rather longer quite white pubescence on a white dusted
ground colour. Bristles as in fig. 311 but usually with two pairs of prte-
scutellar bristles. Scutellum clothed with similar dust and pubescence to
that on the thorax, and with the usual two pairs of conspicuous slightly
converging black marginal bristles ; metanotum greyish white and quite bare
on the middle part, but with dense side tufts.

Abdomen entirely covered with pure white almost silvery dust and
pubescence ; pubescence rather long but recumbent on the disc, though
long and outspread all down the sides and nearly all equal in length • all
the hairs long, silky, and pure white without a trace of a dark hair except
the black hairs connected with the genitalia. Belly covered with whitish
dust, but not enough to prevent the hindmargins of the segments being
yellowish ; pubescence long, but very thin and sparse. Genitalia dull orange,
beneath with a pair of thin incurved lamellae which bear black bristly hairs
on their apical half, while the ventral hindmargin of the seventh abdominal
segment bears a fringe of black bristly hairs which are long at the sides
and are conspicuous from almost all points of view.

Legs with the femora all dull blackish though very considerably obscured
by white scales ; tibiae dull yellow, except for the narrowly blackish tip ;
tarsi obscurely dull yellow about the base and after that obscurely dull

580

THEREVID,®

blackish ; anterior femora with the front side of the notch beneath the tip
(into which the base of the tibiae folds) rather produced downwards.
Pubescence on the coxae, abundant, long, and white, with two or three
black bristly hairs near the tip, and on the hind coxae with one rather
conspicuous strong black bristly hair outside near the tip ; trochanters
almost bare ; anterior femora with long shaggy white pubescence
beneath and behind, but the hind femora with hardly any similar
pubescence except near the base in front. Bristles (black) consisting of
two or three antero-ventral on the anterior femora near or rather before
the middle, and a row of about eight on the hind femora which do not
quite extend to the base ; front tibiae with three dorsal bristles and about
five postero-ventral (but two of these very small) ; middle tibiae with similar
bristles, but the dorsal ones stronger, and with three minute postero-dorsal,
the antero-ventral bristles being after the middle and also strong ; hind
tibiae with four rows of bristles (dorsal four, postero-dorsal four, antero-
ventral four, and postero-ventral four to six very small) ; apical circlets of
spurs on the posterior tibiae rather strong, but the circlet on the front pair
much weaker (except one bristle) ; basal joint of the hind tarsi rather thickly
beset beneath with plantar bristles ; front tarsi with some small “ touch-
hairs ” beneath the basal joint. Claws and pulvilli small, brown.

Wings (fig. 325) with a whitish glossy shimmer, and with the costal, end
of subcostal, and the basal veins orange, but the other veins blackish and
sharply defined ; stigma yellow ; fourth posterior cell almost always closed,

or at any rate very much narrowed to the wingmargin. Squamae (alar)
rather large, whitish with a conspicuously black base, and with a short white
fringe on the upper part but a long pure white fringe on the lower part ;
frenum forming only a whitish grey line. Halteres yellow, but the broadened
end of the stem blackish.

$ . Frons at the vertex less than one-fifth the width of the head, but quickly
widening so that at the antennae it is about half the width of the head, and
the eyes continuing to diverge down to their lowest margin ; frons rather
light brown on the upper two-tliirds and bearing there short black bristly
pubescence which is directed forwards, but the rest of the frons and all the
jowls and back of the head white and bearing long white pubescence similar
to (but not so long nor so pure white) as in the male ; this pubescence
does not commence quite close to the black pubescence on the frons, and on
the back of the head is rather greyish white ; back of the head much more
inflated than in the male because the eyes are smaller, and on the upper
part on each side with a postocular row of about nine strong black bristles
which are rather bent forwards, while on the upper part of the extreme back
of the head are about twenty smaller black bristles. Antennae with
the pale pubescence on the basal joint shorter and less pure white.

Thorax dull brownish black with the light grey lines not always obvious,
clothed and obscured with short greyish white decumbent pubescence, inter¬
mixed with which are some inconspicuous erect darker hairs, but these
together and 'even with the addition of some grey dust are not quite abundant
enough to conceal.the ground colour • pubescence longer and more erect above
the wing-base, on the postalar calli, and across the hindmargin; pleurae
with very different pubescence composed of thinner more sparse almost silky
long hairs, which are numerous only on the prothorax and the metapleurae
and probably the mesopleurae (but easily abraded). The strong black bristles

1. THEREVA

581

just the same as in the male, but more conspicuous because of. the shorter
pubescence ; prsescutellar bristles normally in two well-definecl pairs. Scutel-
lum with the pubescence greyish white, rather longer and more erect than
that on the disc of the thorax.

Abdomen dull greyish white with a slight silvery sheen except on the shining
black eighth segment and ovipositor, but the foremargin of the second segment
bears a small obscure brownish spot, and each of the third and fourth segments
bears a similar but better defined spot; sometimes the darkened mark¬
ing on the third segment extends along the foremargin to the sides. Pubescence
long and rather erect on the basal segment and on the sides of the second
segment, but on the rest of the second segment and on all the third segment
and on nearly all the fourth segment short, pale, and recumbent, but
black, short, rigid, and erect on the fifth, sixth, and seventh segments, and on
the sides of the fourth, while the shining black eighth segment bears still
stronger short black rigid hairs, and the ovipositor has its usual circlet of
stout conspicuous rather blunt black bristles. Belly dull blackish, but all
obscured by whitish dust ; sidemargins conspicuously revolute, i.e., the dorsum
encircles the sidemargins and folds a conspicuously raised margin against the
belly leaving only about half of the underside visible as belly, and this sunk
portion has the hindmargins of the second, third, and fourth segments pale
yellow ; pubescence similar to that on the upper side, but the fourth segment
and the sides of the third bear the erect rigid black hairs ; seventh segment
dropped at its liindmargin ; eighth segment shining brownish black.

Legs as in the male, but the pubescence on the anterior femora not so long
and abundant but still quite enough to be conspicuous ; hind femora with
hardly any pubescence ; bristles as in the male, but the front tibiae with three
or four antero-dorsal bristles on the basal half, three or four postero-dorsal,
and three postero-ventral rather low down.

Wings less glassy whitish, and with the blackish veins less sharply defined
when seen from above though especially distinct when seen from the tip.

Length about 9-5 mm.

This species is very easily known from all except T. lunulata by the
uniformly silvery white pubescence of the male and by the absence of
any polished callus on the frons of the female. D. anilis has the face bare,
and the fourth posterior cell wide open, while its female has orange
femora. T. lunulata Zett. occurs in extreme North Europe, and may be
readily distinguished by its blacker halteres, more or less open fourth
posterior cell, and by the numerous rather rigid black hairs intermixed
with the pale pubescence on the thorax, while the female has the abdomen
much more extensively darkened. T. annulata varies a little in the number
of prsescutellar bristles, as I have seen specimens of each sex with two
such bristles on one side and only one on the other side, and others with
only one pair of such bristles.

T. annulata may be expected to occur wherever there are white-hot sand
dunes, and is recorded from Cornwall to Sutherland and from Yarmouth
on the East to Barmouth on the West. It naturally is most frequent on
the coasts, but I have several inland localities such at Lyndhurst,
Barton Mills in Suffolk, Kannoch and other Scotch localities, while Colonel
Yerbury found it common on sandhills at Waterville, Co. Kerry, and
other Irish localities. The males execute a wild frantic dance in groups
numbering up to eight or ten individuals over hot sand in bright sunshine
at from four to six feet from the ground, and when I first saw them near
Porthcawl in Glamorgan in June 1906 I was greatly interested in their
rapid flight and wide swoops. Mr C. H. Mortimer (Entom. Mon. Mag.,
1905, 261) records “the beautiful silvery 9s of Oxybelus mucronatus
“ dragging the bodies of an almost equally silvery (^) fly ... to their

582

THEREVIDiE

“ burrows,” this fly being T. annulata ; this habit agrees with the record
made by Dahlbom concerning Crabro patellatus and Dialineura anilis.
My dates range from May 6 to August 26. It is recorded from all
Northern, Western, and Middle Europe; I possess several specimens
from Cintra.

2. DIALINEURA.

Dialineura Rondani, Dipt. Ital. Prodr., i., 155 (1856).

Face bare ; frons liairy (fig. 326). Antennse with the basal
joint conspicuously incrassated. Wings with the fourth
posterior cell wide open.

Fig. 326. — Dialineura anilis <J . x 25.

This genus is distinguished from Thereva by its bare face and con¬
spicuously open fourth posterior cell (though Thereva varies in this latter
character), and from Psilocephala by its hairy frons and its entirely
different “ facies,” and from both by its conspicuously dilated basal
antennal joint ; the frons of the female is also without the shining black
bare calli which commonly occur in Thereva. The species of Psilocephala
are elongate oblong flies, while in Dialineura i the abdomen is conical and
densely pubescent like Thereva.

Synonymy. — Rondani founded the genus Dialineura as follows : “ A. Vence
“ lonyitudinales octava et nona sejunctim margini alarum productce. — Antennae
“ articulo primo distincte incrassato.” “ Genus 1 Dialineuka Mihi.”

The character of the open fourth posterior cell has been found extremely un¬
trustworthy, but Rondani’s second character holds good, and that in conjunction
with the entirely overlooked character of the bare face has induced me to retain the
genus for D. anilis only. Every writer seems to have described the face of D. anilis
as pubescent, and I can only imagine that they have been misled by the hairy palpi.

1. D. anilis Linne. Abdomen of the male entirely clothed with
silvery pubescence, but the thorax light brown. Female without any
shining black frontal callus, and with the femora all orange.

A very distinct species. Possibly a mimic of Scatophaga.

A . Frons and face forming a bell-shaped space which is broader than high;
frons moderately produced to the base of the antennae, but the face sloping
back straight from there to the front lower corner of the eye ; frons covered
with yellowish brown dust, separated from the whitish yellow face by a more

2. DIALINEURA

583

or less obvious darkened stripe which runs from beneath the base of the
antennae slightly downwards to the eyes, and bearing numerous black hairs
except on the produced upper angle and not quite to the antennae ; face bare,
but the pubescence long and pale yellow beneath the eyes and on the broadened
lower part of the back of the head and without any black hairs beneath
the eyes (though I have sometimes detected a strajr black hair there); jowls
yellowish white ; back of the head dull yellow, diminishing in width upwards
but never becoming flush with the eyes, and the pale yellow pubescence
which is long on the lower part becoming almost brownish yellow and shorter
on the upper part with a shorn appearance, while on about the middle part well
away from the eyes are several (6-10) black bristles, and on the upper third is
a postocular row or festoon of about ten or twelve rather long black bristles
overhanging the eyes ; vertex rather small and triangular, rather elevated
and covered with dull brownish yellow dust, and bearing short inconspicuous
forwards-sloping mainly black pubescence. Proboscis large and considerably
produced, brown with yellowish coloring near the tip, and moderately
pubescent beneath ; palpi protruded, thin, brownish yellow, and bearing con¬
spicuous long yellow pubescence. Eyes quite bare, practically touching for
more than a quarter of the distance between the occiput and the antennae but
with a brownish yellow line separating them ; facets all equal. Antennae
brownish grey, considerably longer than the head ; basal joint lorig and
conspicuously incrassated, more than twice as long as broad and as long as the
rest of the antennae, entirely covered with light brownish grey dust, and
bearing all over numerous long black bristles or bristly hairs (more numerous
and more scattered than in Thereva ) with some finer pale hairs beneath
about the base ; second joint very short, and bearing numerous short black
bristly hairs ; third joint bare and conical but slightly enlarged at its tip,
and with a very short terminal triangular style which bears a minute apical
arista.

Thorax brown with a slight reddish tinge and with a pair of widely separ¬
ated pale stripes, which widen posteriorly but barely reach the hindmargin ;
pubescence brownish yellow, but some slightly longer and more erect black
hairs are inconspicuously intermixed on the front half of the disc, and these
hairs spread out above the suture as far as the dorsopleural suture ; pleurae
whitish grey, and bearing pale yellowish pubescence which forms large shaggy
tufts on the mesopleurae and metapleurae, and is fairly abundant on the
sternopleurae, but leaves the hypopleurae quite bare. Bristles black, usually
three praesutural and usually two supra-alar (but both sometimes asymmetri¬
cal), one large postalar, and two pairs of large praescutellar. Scutellum
similar to the thorax in colour, but the pubescence longer, paler, and more
conspicuous, and with two pairs of not very long almost straight black
marginal bristles.

Abdomen long and conical, entirely covered with silvery white dust and
moderately long pubescence, which is more recumbent on the disc than at the
sides ; not a single dark colored hair is visible on any part of the abdomen.
Belly obscured by similar whitish dust and with all the hindmarginal hems
whitish yellow ; pubescence erect but not nearly so abundant as dorsally,
though still all white and fairly conspicuous. Genitalia covered with whitish
grey dust ; upper basal plate large and bearing rather long pale yellow
pubescence (with two small rounded pale brown lamellae extending from
beneath its end), arched and curving over towards the lower lamellae, which
are blackish (or dark orange), long, narrow, and bear long pale pubescence ;
inner processes brownish orange.

Legs dull blackish but obscured by grey dust, with just the tip of the
femora dull orange as well as all the tibiae except just the blackish tip ; tarsi
obscurely orange from the base to rather more than half-way through the
second joint and after that only obscurely brown ; coxae all covered with
whitish grey dust and bearing long greyish white pubescence ; trochanters
shining black at the tip and almost bare, but the hind pair with some erect
pale pubescence. Pubescence behind and beneath the anterior femora
whitish, and these femora with scaly adherent whitish pubescence on the
upper part ; hind femora with but little hairy pubescence except beneath on
the basal half, though they bear scaly adherent whitish pubescence all over

584

THEREVID.E

except on tlie bare underside. Bristles on the front coxae two strong black
ones in front near the tip, on the middle coxae two rather smaller, and on the
hind pair some small ones in front almost hidden in the long pubescence
with one larger one outside on about the middle : anterior femora without
any black bristles (not even any subapical ones), but the hind femora with
about six antero-ventral extending over nearly the whole length ; front tibiae
more strongly spinose than in T. annulata , there being three antero-dorsal
bristles, three postero-dorsal closer together near the middle, and three
postero-ventral with a smaller one nearer the tip, besides the apical circlet ;
middle tibiae with three antero-dorsal bristles on the basal third and one just
after the middle, three small posterior, four postero-ventral, three or four
antero-ventral (one just after the middle being the longest, and one after that
the smallest) ; hind tibiae with four rows of bristles of which the antero- and
postero-dorsal rows consist of about nine irregularly sized, the antero-ventral
row of about six or seven, and the postero-ventral row of two to four or even
five not very small bristles ; all the spines on the tibiae black, and the
posterior tibiae have apical circlets of about six spines ; tarsi with circlets of
small spines at the tip of each of the four basal joints, posterior tarsi with
plantar bristles beneath the basal joint, but the front tarsi almost without
them ; “ touch-hairs ” distinctly visible beneath the front tarsi. Pulvilli
obscurely brownish orange, and also the claws about their base.

Wings with a glittering brownish tint suggestive of Scatophaga, but dis¬
tinctly orange on the costa to the end of the subcostal vein, on the
mediastinal vein including the humeral cross-vein, on the cubital vein from
its origin to the discal cross-vein, and on the postical vein from its base to its
fork ; discal cross-vein and the veinlets closing the discal cell rather
conspicuously darkened, as well as the first portion of the upper branch of
the postical vein, and to a certain extent the basal part of the upper branch
of the cubital fork • the other veins are black and sharply defined, especially
when viewed from the tip of the wing, with a tilt sideways ; fourth posterior
cell always wide open because the third veinlet from the discal cell slopes
only moderately downwards to the wingmargin. Squamae (alar) rather large,
pale glassy yellow but with the base conspicuously blackish ; margins yellow
with a long pale yellow fringe on the produced part, but with a short fringe
on the part extending thence to the frenum. Halteres orange, but the
broadened top part of the stem and the base dark brown.

$ . Differing considerably from the male through the absence of silvery pubescence
on the abdomen. Frons at the vertex quite one-fifth the width of the head
but widening to nearly half the width of the head at the level of the
antennae, entirely covered with yellowish brown dust ; there is a distinct
though slight narrow middle channel and also a broad vague depression, and
the frons bears very short forwards-sloping black bristly pubescence except on
the absolute sides and on and about the broad middle depression, though a
few bristles near the antennae are pale ; a small blackish inconspicuous spot
against the eye occurs rather below the middle of the frons on each side, but
there is no trace of the usual polished black callus. Face scarcely widening
from the antennae to the mouth, quite bare of hairs but covered with yellowish
dust, very short under the antennae but sloping straight back at the sides as
in the male ; back of the head brownish yellow on the upper part, and with
the irregular black bristles which occur well away from the eyes more
numerous (about 20) and the postocular row or festoon reduced to about eight
similar bristles. Palpi prominent, pale brown, and bearing long conspicuous
pale yellow pubescence. Antennae as in the male, but the black bristles on
the basal joint shorter.

Thorax colored as in the male, but with very short recumbent yellowish
pubescence and short inconspicuous rigid black bristly hairs which cause the
black chaetotactic bristles to show up more conspicuously ; pleurae and
scutellum with similar but shorter pubescence than in the male.

Abdomen light greyish brown with the hindmargins of the second to
seventh segments narrowly but obviously yellow, though those on the fifth,
sixth, and seventh segments may be more orange ; when viewed sideways a
slight brownish shallow arc is visible on the middle of the foremargins of the

2. DIALINEURA

585

third to fifth or sixth segments ; eighth segment shining black or fulvous ;
pubescence all whitish yellow until the eighth segment and even then partly
yellow at the sides, fairly long and erect about the base but depressed and
short on the rest. Belly entirely obscured by pale grey dust, but the sides of
the abdomen are considerably revolute so that only about the middle three-
fifths of the belly can be readily observed ; hindmargins of the segments
narrowly yellow, or even orange on the end segments ; pubescence slight, pale,
and inconspicuous on the basal segments but becoming shorter and more
erect on the rest, and especially erect and rigid beneath the seventh segment.
Ovipositor fulvous, with the usual circlet of strong black spines, and with a
terminal pair of small brownish yellow pubescent rounded lamellae.

Legs all orange except on the light yellowish grey coxae and the blackish
trochanters, and with the extreme tip of the tibiae and the gradually increas¬
ing tips of the tarsal joints blackish. Pubescence practically absent (except
on the coxae), but the coxal spines almost as in the male though more con¬
spicuous because of the shorter pubescence ; all the femora with dense short
closely adpressed scaly yellowish pubescence and with very minute sparse
black bristles all over, but the anterior femora with no strong bristles
beneath ; hind femora with the antero-ventral row of bristles irregular and
sometimes reduced to about five in number ; tibiae and tarsi with bristles as
in the male but rather stronger and more numerous ; all the tibiae with almost
dense minute black bristles all over.

Wings almost as in the male, but rather more brownish and the veins very
conspicuous when seen from the tip of the wing. Squamae and halteres
almost as in the male.

Length about 9 mm.

This species does not vary much, and the male may be distinguished
from any other known European species of Therevidce by its combination
of bare face and hairy frons ; the open fourth posterior cell, the silvery
abdomen of the male, the absence of any shining black frontal callus in
the female and the orange femora of the female place both sexes beyond
possibility of confusion.

D. anilis appears to be common on sandhills on the coasts of Wales,
but I have no British records from elsewhere. I found it rather
common at Barmouth (in company with T. annulata) in June, 1887, and
Colonel Yerbury took it freely at Porthcawl from May 3 to June 30. It
seemed to me that the male partly trusted to its silvery abdomen to
render it inconspicuous when flying over white sand, and that both sexes
imitated a Scatophaga when at rest; this imitation was emphasised by
their closing the wings closely over each other so that there were appar¬
ently darkened cross-veins as in some species of Scatophaga. T. annulata,
which was also common at the same time, appeared to trust its safety
entirely to its resemblance to the colour of the sand. It is possible that
Scatophaga may be distasteful to some enemy, because in the Syrphidco
Brachyopa bicolor also seems to mimic it for protection. Zetterstedt was
informed by Dahlbom that the female of Grabro patellatus kills the female
of D. anilis and stores its nest with it for the nutriment of its larvae.
Colonel Yerbury caught a male T. annulata in cop. with a female D. anilis
at Porthcawl on June 27, 1902.

Synonymy. — Thereva rufipes Macq. is represented in the Paris Museum by a
female D. anilis and by a very rubbed specimen which may be T.fulva. Some
specimens of D. anilis in Dr P. B. Mason’s collection were labelled T. plebeia.

586

THEREVID7E

3. PSILOCEPHALA.

Psilocephala Zetterstedt, Ins. Lap., 526 (1837).

Very closely allied to Thereva but with the frons of the
male and the face of both sexes quite bare (fig. 327).

Fig. 327. — Psilocephala ardea $. x 33.

Frons of the female narrower, without any shining black bare calli,
and bearing only very short sloping black bristly pubescence on the upper
two-thirds. Antennae with the basal joint about three times as long as
the second joint but not so long as the third.

Thorax with at most only very short decumbent pale thin pubescence and very
inconspicuous depressed sparse bristly black pubescence, but with the usual (or
more than usual) chcetotactic bristles ; pleurae almost bare, but with slight pubescence
on the mesopleurse and the upper part of the sternopleurae, and with a dense rather
long tuft on the metapleurae.

Abdomen with only short adherent pubescence. Genitalia of the male of a
different type to that of Thereva , as they are extended out conspicuously beyond
the seventh abdominal segment and are composed of at least a large covering dorsal
plate and large but shorter side lamellae besides a complicated lot of internal
pi’ocesses.

Legs similar to those of Thereva , but the anterior femora bearing fewer bristles.

Wings as in Thereva , and varying as to the fourth hiudmarginal cell being closed,
contracted, or wide open, and often even differing in the sexes as to the cell being
closed (in the male) or slightly open (in the female). Squamae with only slight
fringes.

Psilocephala contains only about seven European species, though five or
six more are Palsearctic ; about thirty-five are recorded from North
America and two from South Asia.

1. P. ardea Fabricius. Frons of the male and face bare. Abdomen
of the male silvery white with the genitalia orange, of the female black
with white lateral spots. Wings tinged with yellow. Frons of the female
white in front but brown behind.

Distinguished from the other British Theremdce in the male
by the bare frons and by the silvery abdomen with long con-

3. PSILOCEPHALA

587

spicuous orange genitalia, and in the female by the black
abdomen with conspicuous white lateral spots.

This description of the male is made from two German specimens in
Kowarz’s collection.

Face and frons covered with dense silvery white tomentum, but with no
pubescence ; sides of the face almost parallel ; similar silvery white tomentum
extends over the jowls and under the eyes to all the back part of the head,
but on the jowls and lower half of the back of the head there is in addition
long silvery white pubescence (not connected with any similar pubescence on
the front coxae) ; lower half of the back of the head considerably inflated
from the eyes, but the upper half only moderately so, and on this upper half
there is practically no pubescence but about fifteen stout black bristles not
far from the eyes which when seen from in front form a postocular ciliation
(even slightly bent forwards over the eyes), and a few similar but longer
bristles occur more on the absolute back of the head well away from the
eyes ; vertex more greyish white and bearing numerous very short black
bristles on its middle and back parts ; collar 'with a circlet of stout black
bristles. Proboscis brown, rather long ; palpi light brown, nearly half as long
as the proboscis, curved up on the sides of the depressed lower part of the
face, and only very slightly pubescent. Eyes touching on the frons for only
a short distance as the frontal triangle extends fully half-way up to the
vertex and the vertical triangle extends more than a quarter of the way down
to the antennae, front profile of the eye forming an even curve from top
to bottom but the hinder side almost straight ; facets all equal. Antennae
brown ; basal joint dusted greyish and bearing numerous black bristles ;
second joint only about a quarter the length of the first and bearing only short
black bristles; third joint paler brown, about as long as the two basal ones
together and tapering to the stout jointed apical style, which further tapers
to a point and is about one-third the length of the third joint.

Thorax light (almost whitish) grey with three broad dull black stripes ;
middle stripe extending to the front but rather greyish there and contracted
on the hind quarter to a rather narrow line ; side stripes considerably
shortened in front and becoming vague on the hind quarter of the disc ; pleurae
rather silvery grey. Pubescence very short and inconspicuous being mainly
depressed and yellowish or greyish white, but with some still more incon¬
spicuous suberect short thin black hairs intermixed ; pleurae with only
short whitish pubescence on the hind part of the mesopleurae and still
fainter pubescence on the fore part of the sternopleurae, but with a rather
dense and long tuft on the metapleurae. Bristles almost normal as on fig.
311 ; praesutural only three, and praescutellar two strong pairs. Scutellum
greyish, with slight pale pubescence and two pairs of black marginal bristles ;
metanotum bare, light grey.

Abdomen glistening silvery through abundant but not dense short adpressed
white pubescence on a very light slaty grey ground colour ; second to fifth
hindmarginal hems white (when seen from above), the one on the second
segment being conspicuous but the last two rather narrow • when seen side¬
ways the whole abdomen appears more silvery but the white incisures dis¬
appear ; pubescence on the basal segment longer but still much depressed, as
is also the pubescence down the sides to the end of the sixth segment ; seventh
segment very short. Belly similarly colored and clothed but with a more
yellowish hue (especially about the hindmargins) and with only very sparse
pubescence ; the tubular form of the abdomen appears to cease at the end of
the fifth segment. Genitalia conspicuously orange large and long,. being as
long as the three previous abdominal segments together, and well distinguished
from the abdomen ; upper plate large and long and rather flattened above but
curved over at the sides to half the depth of the genitalia, and prolonged at
its end on each side into a process (with a small rounded down -turned lobe
at its outer end) so that an almost quadrate opening is left with its basal
side a little produced in the middle so as to make it more heart-shaped,
but this open space is occupied by another lower middle process, and the
side processes sometimes become blackish towards their tip ; lower lamellae

588

THEREVIDiE

large and broad, rounded oblong, about half as long as the upper plate,
and bearing where they approximate ventrally a fringe of long stiff black
hairs, while the rest of these lamellse and also the upper plate bear obvious
though not abundant pale yellow stiff depressed hairs ; all the inner processes
of the genitalia are bright dark orange.

Legs probably blackish brown but the femora rendered light greyish by
whitish dust and adpressed pale scaly pubescence, and the end of the femora
and all the tibiae except the blackened tip orange, while the basal joint
of all the tarsi except its tip and a good deal of the second joint are also
orange ; coxae glossed silvery, with moderately long whitish pubescence, and
the anterior pairs with two black bristles in front near the tip, while the hind
pair have one black bristle on the outside not quite so near the tip besides
two smaller ones in front at the tip ; femora without bristles except two or
three small black ones beneath the middle jrnir near the tip and a row of
about eight very small black ones beneath the hind pair and about three
rather larger antero-ventral bristles also on the hind pair ; front tibiae with a
row of about four small dorsal bristles and two posterior ones, besides the
apical spines of which an anterior one is the longest ; middle tibiae with four
rows of three or two spines besides the strong apical circlet, and the hind
tibiae with similar but more numerous spines ; tarsi all with a few short stout
black bristles and a circlet of short spines at the tip of the first four joints
growing shorter after the basal joint. Pulvilli dull orange ; claws small,
blackish.

Wings with an obvious yellow tinge which becomes conspicuous about the
base and foremargin, but with no cloudings ; veins yellowish ; fourth posterior
and anal cells closed close to the wingmargin. Squamae glassy, with a broad
yellowish white margin on which there is no fringe except a slight pale one at
the end which mixes itself up with the metapleural tuft. Halteres orange,
but with the base of the knob darkened.

9 . Very different from the male. Frons barely one-eighth the width of the head
at the vertex but widening to double that width at the antennae, dark brown
on the upper two-thirds and with narrow bare side-channels just before the
very narrow orbits and bearing on all this part (except on the channels) rather
numerous short black forwards-directed bristles, but silvery on the front third
and bare unless two or three of the short black bristles straggle forward on to
it, and this silvery part has a very narrow depressed middle line ; face all
quite bare, silvery with a large middle mouth-opening which leaves only
narrow sides and which extends almost up to the base of the antennae ; jowls
and lower part of the back of the head with rather long white pubescence as
in the male ; back of the head more silvery than in the male and more equally
inflated from the eyes, and with the black bristles more numerous and arranged
in two irregular rows of which the hinder row is well out on the occiput ;
collar whitish grey, with less strong bristles ; palpi larger and bearing more
obvious pale pubescence. Antennse as in the male but more dusted with
whitish grey.

Thorax not so light grey, and with the three dark stripes broader and
more obvious ; middle stripe with a faint very narrow dividing line on the
fore part and not so narrowly continued to the hindmargin ; pubescence com¬
posed of rather more abundant adpressed short black bristly hairs except
about the sides, where some similar but thinner and yellow hairs occur, and
there is a small tuft of a few longer erect whitish hairs behind the postalar
calli ; pleurm with only very short inconspicuous pale pubescence except on
the metapleural tuft which is composed of white hairs with sometimes a few
stronger black ones on the back part. Scutellum light grey, but greyish
black on the disc near the thorax.

Abdomen long and slender, twice as long as the thorax, with eight dorsal
segments, of which the last five are almost equal in length, and the last two
rather tubular, almost bare, and shining black with five or six pairs of rather
silvery white side spots ; basal segment greyish brown with the hind corners
widely greyish white ; second and third segments shining black with a large
triangular silvery white spot at each hind corner of which one side runs along
more than one-tliird of the hindmargin and another side occupies all the side-

3. PSILOCEPHALA

580

margin ; fourth segment with similar but smaller spots which extend a
shorter distance along the hindmargin ; fifth and sixth segments with similar
spots which slope up from the hindmargin and occupy only the hind half
of the sidemargins so that they end in a point rather farther out on the disc
than the spots on the fourth segment ; hindmargins of segments sometimes
showing yellow hems. Pubescence short depressed and whitish on the sides
of the two basal segments and on the triangular white spots of the third
segment, but adpressed rather sparse and black on the rest, becoming rigid
and erect on the last two segments and to a certain extent on the fifth and
sixth segments. Belly shining black, with the basal segments more or less
silvery grey, and with the hindmargins rather widely yellow on the second
and third segments, narrow on the fourth and fifth, and a mere line on the
sixth and seventh ; pubescence almost absent on the basal segments, though
there are a few very short white hairs on the second segment, but rigid and
not scarce on the sixth and seventh segments and to a small extent on the
fifth; eighth segment absent ventrally because the dorsal plate forms only a
covering to the female genitalia which extend right back to the hindmargin
of the seventh segment. Ovipositor shining black ; terminal lamelhe short,
rounded and beset with very short dense rigid bristles, and preceded by the
usual circlet of stout blunt spines which are black but somewhat lurid at
their tips.

Legs almost as in the male, but the hind femora with about five small
antero-ventral bristles set wide apart and with any bristles on the underside
very small and on the apical half.

Wings with the fourth hindmarginal cell often slightly open ; base of the
wing and the mediastinal vein rather distinctly orange. (Squamae whitish,
with a thick dull yellow margin on which is a short pale fringe.

Length about 1 1 mm.

This species is not sufficiently known to me to enable me to state any¬
thing about its variation, but I think it varies a little in the more or less
numerous black bristles on the occiput of the female. The smooth face
distinguishes both sexes from Thereva, while the moderate basal joint of
the antennse distinguishes it from Dialineura, and I do not think that
the male can be confounded with any European species, but the
female may not be so easily distinguished, as, if a female named P. fusci-
pennis Meig. in Kowarz’s collection is rightly determined, that species only
differs in having the veins on the base and fore part of the wing con¬
spicuously blacker.

P. ardea is apparently very rare as an English species ; it was first
recorded by Benjamin Cooke in Entom. Month. Mag., xv., 19 (1878) under
the name of Thereva fuscipennis Meigen, and was taken by him on the
banks of the river Bollin in Cheshire (a locality which he afterwards called
Bowdon) in June and July, 1875; he stated that he took one male and
five females, and one of those females was given to me by the late Dr P.
B. Mason. Since that time two females have been taken in Wyre Forest by
Mr E. C. Bradley on July 7, 1889, and June 15, 1890 (from which my
description of the female has been made), while two more females were
taken in the Monnow Yalley in Herefordshire on July 3, 1906, by Dr J.
H. Wood, and a male on July 31, 1908.

DIPTERA BRACHYCERA

DERMATINA

Two pad-like pul villi only. Neither bristles nor pubescence
present in the ordinary sense of those terms, but the femora
sometimes spinose beneath, and the tibiae in some Mydaidce with
rows of small bristles. Discal vein ending before the wing-tip.
Usually leathery looking flies of pedestrian habits or appear¬
ance.

Head usually dichoptic, but occasionally ( e.g ., Scenopinus fenestrcdis)
holoptic in the male, and without cephalic bristles; frons and vertex
usually sunk ; collar or neck distinctly visible though not bristly in Mydaidce,
but indistinct in Scenopinidce, and the head not crammed on to the thorax.
Face broad, very short in the Scenopinidce, and without the face-beard which
is present in many Asilidce ; jowls usually very small ; ocelli obvious in
Scenopinidce but indistinct in Mydaidce. Proboscis usually short and
thick, but elongate and thin in some Mydaidce. Eyes quite bare, bulging
in Mydaidce, but almost flush with the frons and vertex in Scenopinidce ;
facets rarely enlarged on the upper or front part in either sex. Antenme
close together at the base and usually rather long ; usually very distinct
in the two families, as in the Scenopinidce the two basal joints are short
and the third elongate but drooping without any apical style or arista,
but in the Mydaidce the antennae are porrect and the basal and third joints
are usually elongate, and the third usually ending in a remarkable large
long clubbed style ; in all cases the antennae are quite distinct from those
of any Tromoptera or Energopoda.

Thorax without bristles or conspicuous hairs, but sometimes with
moderate pubescence on the disc, and in the Mydaidce usually with coarse
pubescence towards the sides of the disc; pleurae sometimes bare, but
sometimes pubescent. Scutellum always unarmed ; metanotum large
and not at all concealed.

Abdomen without bristles or obvious pubescence unless about the basal
corners. Genitalia of the male moderate in size; ovipositor of the female
often with a circlet of strong spines.

590

DERMATINA

591

Legs strongly built and apparently adapted for slow walking purposes ;
femora in the Mydaidce usually spinose beneath, and the tibiae with rows
of small bristles, but otherwise the legs almost always without bristles
or pubescence except for one or more apical spines on the hind tibiae in
some Mydaidce ; in Mitrodetus however the posterior femora bear distinct
pubescence. Pulvilli two only ; empodium absent or represented by only
a thin bristle.

Wings with a peculiar venation, very different in the two families but
possessing one remarkable feature in common, viz., the cliscal vein runs
into the wingmargin before the wing-tip. In the Scenopinidce the subcostal
vein is very short and quite simple, but in the Mydaidce is very long and
receives several of the subsequent veins before its tip ; in the Scenopinidce
the praefurca is moderately long, but in the Mydaidce extremely short ; in
the Scenopinidce the cubital fork diverges rather widely in a somewhat
triangular fashion, but in the Mydaidce it hardly diverges after its base
but is long and often contracted before it ends in the subcostal vein ; in
the Scenopinidce the discal cross-vein is placed near the middle of the
discal cell, but in the Mydaidce (except in Megascelus) near the end
of that cell (as in the Ncmestrinidce ) ; in the Scenopinidce the discal cell
has its lower margin entirely formed by the upper branch of the postical
vein, but in the Mydaidce is entirely separated from the postical vein ; in
the Scenopinidce the fourth (and even third) posterior cell is entirely absent,
but in the Mydaidce is present and forms a long conspicuous closed cell
lying under the discal cell ; in the Scenopinidce the veins are simple and run
comparatively straight into the wingmargin, but in the Mydaidce are looped
and curved up in a most remarkable fashion ; in fact the venation
exhibits two extreme contrasts except for the remarkable peculiarity
that the discal vein (whether simple or forked) entirely ends before the
wing-tip. The venation of the Mydaidce presents features suggestive of
the Ncmestrinidce in the exceedingly long upper basal cell and up-curved
veins, but the similarity is probably caused by the venation being in
both cases modified in order to secure great strength in the outer part of
the wing, while the opposite cause has reduced the venation in the
Scenopinidce; a similar contrast, caused by probably the same motives,
exists between the families of Ncmestrinidce and Cyrtidce, and in fact the
dissimilarity of the venation of Myclas and Sccnopinus is hardly greater
than that between Ncmcstrina and Acrocera. In both families of the
Dermatina the wings when at rest lie as a rule flat upon the abdomen.
Squamae (alar) comparatively small and ordinarily with only slight fringes,
but in the large Mydaidce fairly large and bearing a stiff coarse marginal
fringe ; thoracal pair practically absent.

The Dermatina are not easy to place in a natural sequence, because
they seem to divide the two apparently allied families of Thercvidce and
Apioceridce ; there can however be but little doubt that the Scenopinidce are
allied to the Thercvidce, especially in the embryonic stages, and that the

592

DERMATINA

Mydaiclce are allied to the Apioceridce, and by this means the connecting
links can be traced. The Dermatina are easily distinguished from the
EREMOCHiETA by the presence of only two pad-like pulvilli; from the
Tromoptera by their heavily built pedestrian legs, distinct venation and
antennae, their dichoptic heads, and their general absence of any furry
pubescence ; and from the Energopoda by their distinct venation
(except in rare cases) and antennae, and by the absence of any chaetotactic
bristles. They include only two small families, which at first sight seem
to have but little in common, the best known Mydaidce being gigantic
flies of American origin endowed with a peculiarly complex venation,
while the Scenopinidce are small flies which occur in houses and have a
very simple venation ; a study of exotic forms however produces some
connecting links, and Brauer in his exhaustive inquiry into the relation¬
ship of Scenopinus stated that the Mydaidce with short antennae show the
most undoubted (unzweifelhaftesten) connection with Scenopinus. Osten
Sacken gave super-family rank to the Mydaidce alone, and apparently
reluctantly left the Scenopinidce along with the Thercvidce “according to
“ the received opinion.”

The larvae as far as is known are parasitic or predaceous. The name
of the super-family is derived from Sepyarivos, denoting “the leathery
“ ones.” I am aware that there is a genus of Hemiptera called Dermatinus,
but I agree with Osten Sacken’s views (Entom. Mon. Mag., xxix., 149)
that the appellations of these larger groups are “ not exactly names but
“ designations ,” and as such are not subject to the laws of generic
nomenclature.

SCENOPINIDJE

593

IX. SCENOPINID^.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous practically eremoclisetous flies of rather
small size; distinguished by their narrow oblong shape, dark colour, and
peculiar simple venation.

Fig. 328. — Scenopinus fenestralis $. x 8.

Head semicircular, the arc being slightly flattened in front and almost straight
behind, not quite close to the thorax. Face broad but very short, quite bare ; frons
and vertex almost flush with the eyes, or so slightly sunk that the eyes cannot be
termed bulging ; ocelli three. Proboscis withdrawn, very short, with broad sucker-
flaps ; palpi cylindrical or slightly clavate, sparsely bristly at the tip. Eyes bare,
usually (but not always) touching in the male, but separated in the female by the
wide irons ; when the eyes touch the facets on more than the upper half are
enlarged ; in life they bear colored bands. Antennae three-jointed, close together at
the base ; basal joints short, but the third joint elongate strap-shaped, bent down¬
wards, and without any distinct style or arista.

Thorax oblong, being rather longer than broad, rather flattened on the disc and
yet appearing humpbacked because the head is depressed ; absolutely without
bristles, but with very short scaly pubescence on the disc, and with minute
pubescence on the pleurae ; metapleurae without any tuft or shelter hairs.
(Scutellum broad, short, flat, and unarmed ; metanotum rather large but not
conspicuous.

Abdomen flattened, with seven or eight segments but each segment bearing an
impressed transverse channel across its middle, and the membranes between some
of the segments usually bearing narrow white bands in the male. Genitalia of the
male rather knobbed ; ovipositor concealed.

Legs usually short, stout, and entirely unarmed ; tibiae never spurred, though
some small bristles may have a spur-like appearance. Pulvilli two, small but
distinct ; empodium represented by a thin bristle only.

Wings when at rest lying flat on the depressed abdomen ; veins few and simple ;
costal vein ending well before the wing-tip and not continued as an ambient vein
after the end of the discal vein ; subcostal vein short and simple ; radial vein also
short ; cubital vein forked, and the fork commencing nearly level witli the end of the
discal cell ; all the veins down to and including the discal vein ending separately
and before the wing-tip ; discal cell oblong, emitting towards the wingmargin only
an upper veinlet and the end of the upper branch of the postical vein, as through
the complete absence of the small cross-vein this upper branch of the postical vein
forms the whole of the lower margin of the discal cell ; posterior cells three only,
of which the first slopes upwards and is narrowed or even closed towards the wing-
margin and wholly reaches the wingmargin before the wing-tip (in S. varipes Loew
apparently at the exact wing-tip) ; discal cross-vein only slightly after the middle
of the discal cell and about the middle of the stem of the cubital vein, and conse-

2 p

594

DERMATINA

quently the upper basal cell twice as long as the second one unless the second one
is lengthened ; anal cell closed well before the wing-margin through the sharp
descent of the lower branch of the postical fork. Wing membrane smooth, never
ribbed, but minutely pubescent. Squamae (alar) small but fairly well developed
and bearing very short fringes ; thoracal squamae almost absent. Halteres in no
way concealed, knob large.

The metamorphoses are well known, and the larvae (which are closely
allied to those of the Therevidce ) have an obvious head and are amphi-
pneustic, wdiile the pupae are mummiform, The species used to he
called “ Carpet Flies ” and the larvae were accused of destroying carpets
and more especially stable rugs, &c., but from their affinities it is now
believed that they prey upon the larvae of Fleas ( Pulex ) and Clothes Moths
{Tinea) which occur in the rugs and that they are consequently bene¬
factors. In some ways the larvae are said to show tendencies towards
those of Nemotelus and Pachygaster. The flies are not common in the
perfect state but sometimes occur on windows, especially in stables and
outbuildings.

The Scenopinidce form a very small but very distinct family, which is
easily recognised by the eremochaetous (in fact absolutely naked) body,
there being no true pubescence on the head, thorax, or abdomen ;
they are distinguished from the true Eremoch^eta by the absence of any
middle pulvillus or pulvilliform empodium. Girschner says that in the
structure of the abdomen, the nature of the wing-membrane (which
is smooth), and the legs, as well as in “ habit,” they bear closer relation¬
ship to Subula (Xylomyia), and especially to the Xylophagidce, than to the
Therevidce. In fact the Seenopinidce show so many characters indicating
most diverse affinities that great uncertainty has prevailed as to their
proper position, but a steadily growing knowledge of the life history has
placed them beyond doubt in close relationship to the Therevidce, in fact
so close that Osten Sacken joined them at one time with that family,
though how he could have associated them with his aerial furry-haired
Tromoptera seems strange. Brauer in his latest arrangement associated
them upon larval characters with the Therevidce in his section “ Polytoma,”
though only just previously (1882) he had devoted nearly eleven quarto
pages to the question of their proper location and had decided to
place them as intermediate between the Therevidce and Mydaidw, though
with the more close affinity to the latter. Different though they are at
first glance from the Mydaidce, I have found that close examination tends
to bring them into intimate connection, and I do not think that I am
wrong in uniting them with the Mydaidce in a super-family (Dermatina)
of practically equal rank with the Tromoptera or Energopoda. The
usually complete absence of pubescence and the frequent three posterior
cells will distinguish them at a glance from the Therevidce, while the
simple venation will at once distinguish them from the Mydaidce. The
absence of an ambient vein is shared with the Stratiomyidce and some
Cyrtidcc, but I do not believe that it shows any affinity. A strong

SCENOPINIM

595

connecting link between the Mydaidce and Scenopinidce occurs in the
Chilian genus Megascelus.

The Scenopinidce are composed of very few species (not more than
twenty-four) and of only one or two genera, of which only the genus
Scenopinus occurs in the Palfearctic region ; species occur in North
America (down to Florida), while one has been recorded from New
Guinea, and one from Hawaii.

Type of Venation of the Scenopinidce.

Fig. 329. — Scenopinus fenestralis <j>.

Longitudinal (or long ) veins.

Costa (or costal vein).

Mediastinal (or auxiliary) vein.

Subcostal (or I st longitudinal) vein.

Radial (or 2 nd longitudinal) vein.
e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein.

eHribSSohjo^-^italfork.

/ I) is cal (or Mh longitudinal) vein.

f1 Upper veinlet from the discal cell.
g1 Lower veinlet from the discal cell.

Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein.*

g1 Upper branch of the postical fork, if that anastomoses with or sup¬
plants the lower branch of the discal vein all along the underside of
the discal cell.

g2 Lower branch of the postical fork.

Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.

Axillary vein.

Praefurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

Ambient vein absent.

9

Cross (or transverse) veins.

io Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.

y Lower (or small) cross-vein probably absent, “y” being part of the discal vein.
Anal cross-vein = g1.

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital ) cell (or cubital fork-cell).

* Vide Corrigenda for a corrected interpretation of th!s vein.

596

SCENOPINIM

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell, in this family really prseapical.

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 3rd , but the normal 5th, posterior) cell (or poetical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or ls£) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal (or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Scenopinid^e.

The chief peculiarities of the venation lie in (1) the short subcostal vein, (2) the
reduction of the discal vein, and (3) the upturned cubital and discal veins.

1. The Subcostal Vein is unusually short, as it extends hardly beyond half
the wing, and in this character the Scenopinidce are extremely different from the
Mydaidce, though they may show some similarity to their other allies, the
Therevidce.

2. The Discal Vein is more reduced than in any other family of the
Beachycera, as its lower branch completely anastomoses into the upper branch
of the postical vein, and consequently the discal vein consists of only a simple *
continuous vein which throws down two cross-veins to this upper branch of the
postical vein and thereby forms the discal cell. The Discal (Jell consequently
can only have four sides, but is long and narrow and gradually widening from base
to end ; it emits only one veinlet (besides the upper branch of the postical fork), and
that slopes upwards and reaches the wingmargin before the wing-tip.

_ 3. The two branches of the cubital fork and the single veinlet from the discal
vein slope (rather than curve) up into the foremargin of the wing, and this
peculiarity is limited to this family and the Mydaidee and (to a certain extent)
the Apioceridce.

Other points of interest exist in the form and position of the cubital fork ;
the complete absence of an ambient vein after the end of the discal vein ; the
position of the discal cross-vein near the middle of the discal cell, so completely
different from that of the Mydaidce (except Megascelus) ; the presence of only one
posterior cell between the first and the normal fifth ( = postical fork-cell). Some
writers have professed to see a similarity in the venation to that of Pachygaster or
Peris or Xylomyia , but the complete absorption of the lower branch of the discal
vein, the shape of the discal cell, and the single veinlet from the discal cell show
very great distinctions.

SCENOPINUS.

Scenopinus Latreille, Hist. Nat. Crust. Ins., iii., 463 (1802).

Rather small oblong blackish flies, with short simple-veined
wings, and with elongate drooping antennte which are without
any style or arista.

Head transverse, short semicircular, being flattish behind or slightly excavated
there against the vertex, not crammed on to the thorax but with no perceptible
neck ; frons flush with the eyes or slightly produced ; face not produced, very short
being mainly occupied by the mouth-opening, bare and broad ; jowls very small ;
ocelli three. Proboscis withdrawn ; palpi inconspicuous, cylindrical, and bristly at
the tip. Eyes bare, usually but not always touching in the male but well separated
in the female, and when the eyes touch the facets on more than the upper half
are enlarged. Antennae close together at the base ; two basal joints short and
very minutely bristly ; third joint elongate but drooping, strap-shaped, and with
any style or arista concealed in a depressed pit (fig. 330).

Thorax rather oblong, being longer than broad, rather flat on the disc but
appearing to be rather convex because the head is depressed • pubescence practically
absent, but the disc of the thorax bears some minute scaly bristles and the pleurae are
minutely pubescent ; front part of the mesopleurae with a rather large depression

* Vide Corrigenda.

SCENOPINUS

597

for the reception of the short thick front femora. Scutellum short, flat on the disc,
and quite unarmed ; metanotum fairly large but inconspicuous.

Abdomen flattened, more or less elongate oblong, and composed of seven or eight
segments, while all the middle segments bear across their middle an obvious trans¬
verse depression, and in the male several of the segments have the foremargins
white. Genitalia of the male large.

Legs short and stout ; front femora especially short and thick ; pubescence and
bristles absent except for some spur-like bristly hairs at the tip of the tibiae.
Pulvilli two, small.

Wings with a limited and apparently simple venation ; costal vein extending to
the end of the discal vein and then abruptly ceasing so that the ambient vein is
absent ; subcostal vein short ; praefurca rather short • cubital fork moderately long
and rather triangular, with both branches ending in the foremargin of the wing ;
discal cross-vein placed just beyond the middle of the discal cell, and consequently
the upper basal cell nearly twice as long as the lower one ; discal vein apparently con¬
sisting of a single simple * vein with two cross-veins extending from it to the upper
branch of the postical vein and in this way forming the discal cell, and this simple
discal vein ends in the wingmargin before (or rarely at) the tip of the wing ; discal
cell long and narrow, but gradually widening from base to tip ; postical vein with a
long very wide open fork, of which the upper branch forms the whole lower margin of
the discal cell, and of which the lower branch curves down rather quickly and joins
the anal vein well before the wingmargin, thereby forming a stalked anal cell ; posterior
cells three only, the first one being long, narrow, and almost always open ; alulae well
developed. Squamae (alar) small, with very short fringes ; thoracal pair hardly
developed. Halteres with very large knobs and rather short stems.

This genus has no ally in the Palsearctic region, and consequently
should be easily recognised. The figure, venation, and antennae are each
by themselves sufficient to distinguish it.

Scenojoinus contains but few species, of which only two are known to
occur in Britain ; from 1845 to 1873 only two other European species
were recognised, but since then eight more have been described from the
Palaearctic region. The genus is recorded from Europe, Egypt, North
America, Surinam, and Hawaii. The flies are usually seen resting
quietly on windows, and more especially in stables or outhouses, but I
once found some on Asparagus in my garden. Mr Jenkinson once saw
some males dancing in the sun and the white markings on the abdomen
made them look like beads of silver.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Legs mainly reddish.

2 (1) Legs blackish, except on the tarsi.

1 fenestralis.
2 niger.

1. S. fenestralis Linne. Legs mainly reddish. Frons dull. Eyes of
the male touching.

A rather small oblong dull black By, which often occurs on
windows.

8. Dull black, very densely and coarsely punctate, almost shagreened. Face
scarcely existing because the large mouth-opening occupies almost all the
space below the antennae, but the narrow bare side-cheeks are dark greyish
and slope down into the epistomal depression, which has its upper boundary
distinctly above the antennae so that the antennae arise from within it ;
the eyes rapidly diverge from the top of the frons down to their lowest
part where their interval is about twice as wide as at the antennae ;
at the back of the mouth-opening is some thin grey pubescence, which extends
along the narrow jowls and part way up the shallow back of the head but

* Vide Corrigenda.

598

SCENOPINIDJE

dies away about half -way up ; upon close examination a narrow bare polished
eyemargin can be traced all down the sides of the face and round under the
eyes to nearly half-way up the back of the head ; frons forming a long
narrow triangle above the antennae and extending at its point more than
half-way to the occiput, dull roughened black with sometimes a slight middle
channel which may even shine in some lights, and bearing sparse short
glistening white depressed pubescence ; vertex practically bare and forming
a rather shining black short triangle. Proboscis short, brownish ; palpi
fairly long, brown, and bearing slight brownish yellow hairs. Eyes bare,
practically touching for about six or eight facets above the
middle of the space between the antennae and the occiput ;

^ "O facets on the larger upper part conspicuously and sharply
/■" larger than those on the rather smaller lower part, and the

dividing line rather curved. Antennae (fig. 330) dull brownish
^ black, placed in a pit-like depression as mentioned above ;

basal joint very short ; second joint also short and trans-
VfL^tTnii7Stm°vtAnS verse, almost bare ; third joint subulate, about four times
‘as long as broad at base and slightly diminishing towards
its tip but still ending very bluntly and with any trace of a terminal style or
arista concealed in a sort of pit.

Thorax dull black, almost shagreened, and bearing exceedingly fine but
fairly abundant scale-like greyish pubescence ; humeri at the extreme hind
angle, and the postalar calli more extensively, usually chestnut ; pleurae rather
shining because their punctuation is less coarse but with their pubescence
longer and more distinct, until the sternopleurae become still more shining
and their pale grey pubescence fairly obvious ; pteropleurae polished black
and quite bare. Scutellum similar to the disc of the thorax and usually
chestnut on the underside, but all these chestnut markings often very obscure.

Abdomen longer than the thorax, flattened on the disc, shining black
especially about the sides ; second to fourth segments about equal in width,
the first being rather narrower, and the fifth and sixth diminishing in width
towards the genitalia though more shelving over at the sides, the seventh
short and drawn back dorsally about the middle to allow room for the swollen
genitalia ; second segment conspicuously long, being longer than any other
two together, but the others except the shorter seventh segment nearly
equal in length ; extreme basal margins of the fourth and fifth segments
(or the membrane between them) conspicuously pure white, but the white
bands not quite extending to the sidemargins. and a similar band is just
traceable on the sixth segment ; pubescence composed of such minute black
bristles as to be almost imperceptible, except for a slight pale pubescence
about the basal corners and some pale hairs on the genitalia. Belly shining
black with chestnut reflections, bearing minute black bristles which become
increasingly crowded after the second segment ; dorsal plate of the abdomen
considerably overlapping the ventral plate. Genitalia large, with two large
brownish black upper plates which push the sixth and seventh abdominal
segments backwards and upwards, and these plates bear on their hind-
margins a fringe of rather long pale yellow or brownish yellow hairs, while
beneath them are two other large inflated plates which bear a few short pale
hairs and which leave a small apical space between them from the lowest
point of which a small yellowish pale haired process may protrude.

Legs shining chestnut, but the coxae and trochanters with blackish reflec¬
tions, and the femora occasionally, and the tibiae (especially the hind pair)
frequently, with extensive darkened or even blackish markings; tarsi also
considerably obscured, but chestnut at the base for at least the basal half of
the first joint of the front pair, the basal three-quarters of the first joint of
the middle pair, and the three basal joints of the hind pair except at their
tips ; femora short and thick, front pair most so and hind pair least so ; hind
tibiae slightly curved but not at all dilated anywhere. Pulvilli small, brownish
orange ; claws small, black. Pubescence slight and all pale, forming distinct
fringes behind the anterior femora, and a delicate thin fringe of longish pale
hairs behind the basal half or more of the hind tibiae ; no spurs present,
but bristly almost spur-like hairs exist at the tip of all tibiae.

Wings with a faint brownish tinge ; veins brown and strongly marked,

SCENOPINUS

599

though the lower one from the discal cell ( = the upper branch of the postical
fork) and the anal vein do not quite reach the wingmargm ; costal vein
finishing before the wing-tip and not continued as an ambient vein ; upper
branch of the cubital fork about two-thirds the length of the lower branch,
and ending in the costa about half-way between the radial vein and the lower
branch of the fork; subcostal vein stouter than the others and more
surrounded with brown. Squamae (alar) small, blackish grey, with a very
short grey fringe ; thoracal pair absent. Halteres with the large knob occa¬
sionally all white, but more commonly white with the upper part brown, or
chestnut brown with the upper part blackish, or all dull orange or brown
more or less darkened, but with the rather short stem always darkened.

Q Very similar to the male, but the frons about ope- fifth the width of the
* head ; the frons has the narrow sidemargms shining and slightly curved
so that it is slightly wider near the antennse than about the middle, and
it is dull black but roughened by coarse punctuation and stria? radiating
from the lower ocellus, but sometimes when the punctuation is less dense
it is rather shining, and usually bears a depressed middle line which is
sometimes slightly shining on its middle part or even for its whole length,
and this line "may be widened about its middle part though not _ enough
to form a large rounded depression, and the minute pubescence is pale ;
the eye-collar Sn the upper third of the back of the head is puffed out and
shining black unless occasionally rendered dull by dense grey dust, and
no tiny bristles occur down the postocular band; the raised collar is quite
distinct from the hollowed-out back of the head, and diminishes downwards
until about the middle where it amalgamates with the back of kead, but
all the eyemargin round to the jowls still remains puffed out. Lyes wit
the facets all equal ; in life clear brown with aeneous reflections and a dark
purple band about four facets wide across from almost the front margin just
above the level of the base of the antennse to almost the hindmargm. Antennse

as in the male. , , , ,

Thorax as in the male, but with even shorter pubescence.

Abdomen flatter and without any white transverse bands ; the six
segments after the long second one almost equal m length and the thir
the sixth with a transverse depression across the middle of each, which is also
slightly visible on the sixth segment and on the second near the liindmargin ,
pubescence very short, but slightly longer and greyish towards the basal
corners ; the segments are almost parallel-sided until the base of the seventh.
Ovipositor small but broad and projecting from the tip of the abdomen

Legs similar to those of the male, but the fringe behind the antenoi
femora almost absent though the delicate ciliation behind the hmd tibiae is

quite as strong. Pulvilli greyish yellow m life.

Wings with the radial vein sometimes distinctly not extending to the
win "'margin, though in individual specimens it may do so m one wing but
not in the other. Halteres very variable in colour, being sometimes all clear
white but often white on the underside of the knob or sometimes obscurely
whitish for a moderate space on the underside and shining black on the upper
side.

Length about 5 mm. J , 6 mm. V •

This species varies beyond what is mentioned in the above description
in the amount of darkening on the legs, the hind tibiae being o ten en ire y
blackish while the other tibiae may be considerably obscured ; large blackish
longitudinal spaces also often occur on the femora, or the hmcl legs may be
almost entirely blackish with only the knees rather broadly and the
base of the tarsi dark orange; the wings and especially the veins vary
towards being more blackish; in two large females m perfect condition
taken at Crowborough on June 27, 1903, the rosette of strue radiating
outwards from the front ocellus is conspicuous. A peculiarity of tiie
female lies in the frequency with which the tip of the wing is broken o ,

600

SCENOPINID.E

and this happens so often that there must be some regular cause for
it; can it be done in pairing? It may easily be distinguished from S.
niger in the male sex by the touching eyes and simple hind tibiae, while
both sexes may be known by the extensively reddish or brownish legs.
S. glubrifrons, which has been incorrectly recorded as British, has the
eyes almost touching in the male, but has the frons brightly shining and
very little (if at all) punctulate in either sex.

S. fenestralis is not uncommon on windows, especially in stables,
mills, and such like localities. The larva was at one time supposed to
feed on stable clothing and old carpets especially when thrown into a
heap and neglected, whence the perfect insect obtained the name of
“ Carpet Fly.” It is now however known to be predaceous and to feed
on the lame of the Clothes Moth (Tinea pellionella) or of the Puiicidce which
are the real culprits, and consequently it is a benefactor instead of being
injurious; two females occurred in my garden at the end of June, 1801,
on Asparagus. I have numerous records from Cornwall to Bristol,
Herefordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, but at present I know of no
trustworthy records further north, except that I know a species of Sccno-
pinus occurs in Warwickshire ; my dates extend from June 5 to August
11. The females are apparently much commoner than the males. It is
recorded from all Europe and from North America.

Synonymy. — Although numerous names have been given to various varieties
of this species I have nothing fresh to note, except to express a doubt as to the
validity of some of the recently described species. I may however state that the
specimens upon which I recorded S. glabrifrons Meig. as British were only specimens
of S. fenestralis in which the frons was rather shining; at that time I had never
seen the true S. glabrifrons , which seems to be confined to Southern Europe.

2. S. niger DeGeer. Legs blackish except on the tarsi. Frons rather
shining. Eyes of the male widely separated. Hind tibise of the male very
much dilated.

A rather small very black oblong fly.

J. Frons at the vertex occupying nearly one-fifth the width of the head and
gradually widening down to the antennae where it is nearly one-third the
width of the head, shining black, very little punctate but with a very large
rather shallow almost circular depression below the middle which almost
reaches to the sides, and sometimes with a narrow longitudinal middle furrow
in addition ; the sides of the depression are slightly roughened ; pubescence only
microscopical ; when viewed from above a whitish band extends on each side
of the antennae down the. eyemargin but is only caused by whitish dust
reflections ; jowls small, but bearing some dark pubescence ; back of the
head with a shining black raised eye-collar on the upper half which begins
very thin about the middle but becomes considerably raised at the upper eye-
angle ; vertex obviously sunk forward between the eyes, and the ocellar space
elevated. Eyes bare ; facets all equal. Antennae brown, practically bare ;
two basal joints short, about equal in length; third joint nearly three times
as long as the two basal joints together and about three times its own breadth,
slightly thickened about its middle.

Thorax black, rather shining, but roughly punctate striate. Pubescence
ubiquitous but consisting of only exceedingly minute adherent yellowish
bristles. Scutellum with more erect pubescence.

Abdomen shining brown or brownish black, with sparse and faint
punctuation ; the white transverse bands at the hindmargins of the fourth
and fifth segments are conspicuous but narrow out before reaching the side-

SCENOPINUS

601

margins, and a similar but narrower band occurs on the sixth segment and a
less conspicuous whitish band on the third segment. Genitalia forming a knob
which is less than half the width of the seventh abdominal segment ; the pair
of brown upper plates are much smaller than in S.fenestralis and have an
inconspicuous brown fringe on their straight hindmargins ; the two lower
plates are large and almost overlap behind on the lower part, but leave above
an almost quadrate open space which is microscopically fringed, and in the
middle of which three tiny pale thread-like processes can sometimes be traced,
and of them the two side processes are longer than the whitish middle one.
Belly blackish.

Legs blackish, knees very faintly ferruginous, and all the tarsi reddish
orange on the three basal joints except at their tips ; front femora stout,
and the hind femora flattened ; hind tibise very much dilated and flattened,
club-shaped. Pubescence very slight and inconspicuous, but a little pale
pubescence occurs behind the anterior femora, and the hind tibiae bear
behind a sparse delicate fringe of longish pale hairs on rather more than the
basal half.

Wings decidedly blackish brown ; veins (except the subcostal) distinct
though not coarse, but in other respects similar to those of S. fenestralis ;
upper branch of the cubital fork undulated, barely half as long as the straight
lower branch, and ending long before mid-way between the radial vein
and the lower branch. Squamae (alar) blackish brown with a brownish
black margin and with a slight pale fringe. Halteres blackish, but with the
top of the knob dark brown.

?. Very similar to the male. Frons shining black, sparsely punctate on the
upper part (except at the sides) but not striate near the lower ocellus, and
rather wrinkled transversely on the lower half ; a large conspicuous rather
shallow almost circular depression occurs about the middle ; sides parallel on
about the upper half but afterwards gradually widening down to the antenna),
though even there the frons is barely one and a half times as wide as at
the vertex ; a minute furrow runs down to the lower end of the depression,
and a polished channelled eyemargin exists on the upper two-thirds of each
side ; collar at back of upper part of eyes rather narrow, fairly equal, greyish
black.

Thorax black, but somewhat obscured by minute dark bristles and trans¬
verse striae on all the disc except on the middle part ; humeri not at all chest¬
nut, and the postalar calli only on the front knob. Scutellum roughened.

Abdomen shining black, but not at all brilliant ; hind angles of the basal
segment 'with some rather long though inconspicuous greyish yellow
pubescence, and the hinder half of the second segment with more extended
though shorter more greyish pubescence ; pubescence on the rest of the
abdomen blackish grey, fairly abundant, and short, though longer and
more conspicuous than in S.fenestralis.

Legs colored as in the male, or often with only just the base of the
anterior tarsi and the three basal joints of the hind tarsi conspicuously
brownish orange except at their tips ; front femora only slightly thickened,
and the posterior femoi’a elongate but hardly thickened ; hind tibise shorter
than the femora, straight, and not at all dilated, but with the usual delicate
sparse pale fringe behind ; pubescence very slight, pale behind the middle
femora. Pulvilli blackish ; claws black.

Wings very nigrescent, especially on the front half ; upper branch of the
cubital fork usually rather undulating and ending in the costa about half-way
between the radial vein and the lower branch. Squamae (alar) small, dark
greyish with a distinct dark margin and slight light grey fringe. Halteres
blackish brown, with a shining blackish tip.

Length about 4^ mm. £ , 5 mm. $ .

This species varies a little in the amount of reddish orange or reddish
brown on the tarsi and knees, but never in a way at all approximating to
S. fenestralis. A female taken by Dr D. Sharp in the New Forest in
June, 1902, has the portion of the upper branch of the postical vein which

602

SCENOPINIM

forms an apparent cross-vein obsolete on its middle in both wings. It is
easily distinguished from any other species in the male by the wide frons
and the dilated hind tibiae ; while the female may be known by its black
legs (except on the tarsi) and by the shining frons which bears a large
circular depression on its middle, as well as by its very nigrescent wings.
S. niger is not a common species in Britain as far as my experience goes.
My localities are only from Devonshire (Exeter), Hampshire (New Forest),
Surrey (Greenings), Herefordshire (Stretton Grandison), and Elgin (Forres),
but Mr Tuck has recorded it from Tostock in Suffolk in May, 1898, and
Haliday from Holy wood in Co. Down, while a note on Scenopinus niger ?
when occurring near Norwich in June was sent to me by Mr F. Jenkinson
who wrote, “ Two of them hovered in the sun, and looked like beads of silver !
“ I could hardly beheve I had got the right insect the first time, when
“ we saw another and caught it ; and again a black Scenopinus. It must
“ be due to the white (china-like) bands which dwindle after death.”
Walker recorded it as “Generally distributed (E. I.).” My dates only
extend from some time in June to July 3. It is recorded from Central
and Northern Europe.

M YD aim;

603

X. MYDAID^.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous almost eremochsetous (excepting on legs)
flies of gigantic to moderate size, distinguished by their peculiar venation
and antennae.

Fia. 331. — Syllegoviydas cinctws x 3.

Head broad and short, pubescent but absolutely without bristles, and well
separated from the thorax by a narrow neck. Face pubescent, but hardly with a face-
beard. Frons and vertex sunk between the eyes; ocelli indistinct, unless on an
elevation on the middle of the frons far away from the vertex. Proboscis usually
rather thick and with large sucker-flaps, but ranging to very long and thin with
scarcely any sucker-flaps ; palpi usually apparently absent, but sometimes long, thin,
and one-jointed. Eyes bare, widely separated in both sexes, and without any
enlarged facets in either sex. Antennae porrect, approximated or in fact almost
touching at the base ; two basal joints normal, the first longer than the second
and bearing obvious bristles or hairs ; third joint usually elongate and bearing at its
end a very large and usually long apparently jointed characteristic clubbed style,
but sometimes forming a large hatchet-shaped joint which bears no style
(Dolichog aster).

Thorax rather quadrangular with the humeri strongly prominent, absolutely
without bristles, though with coarse pubescence on the sides of the disc or
occasionally with moderate pubescence on the disc ; pleurae sometimes with rather
abundant pubescence on the pteropleurae, or sometimes with a tuft of hairs on the
metapleurae. Scutellum small and unarmed, forming a narrow parallelogram which
does not project or overshadow the very large metanotum.

Abdomen elongate with seven segments besides the genitalia, and absolutely
without bristles or long bristly hairs ; basal segment rather broad and often with
a projecting hump at each front corner. Genitalia of the male not large nor much
produced, and with small foliaceous lamellae which are often hidden ; ovipositor
produced but never elongate, and in all European species with a terminal circlet of
spines.

Legs nearly always strong and stout but sometimes the anterior pairs only
moderately so ; hind femora usually thickened but occasionally almost slender, and
almost always distinctly serrate or spinose beneath ; tibiae often bearing a row of
small spines (not spicules as in many Tromoptera nor long strong bristles as in
Energopoda) either on the hind or middle tibiae only, or on all the tibiae, and
apical spines sometimes occur on all the tibiae, while the hind pair usually have a

604

DERMATINA

strong apical spur or two or three apical bristly spines ; tarsi with plantar bristles
only. Pul villi two, moderately large and distinct, but the empodium absent and
apparently without even any bristle in its place ; claws long.

Wings with a peculiar complex venation, which is distinct from that of any other
family in the Diptera though somewhat approached by the distinctly chsetophorous
Apioceridce and by some Asilince near Erax, while some of its less obvious pecul¬
iarities occur in the Scenopinidce. Subcostal vein extremely long, with the radial
vein and the upper branch of the cubital fork always curving up into it before
its tip (fig. 331) ; the lower branch of the cubital fork also curving up almost parallel
with the upper branch, and often also ending in the subcostal vein, while even the
upper veinlet from the discal cell (and sometimes two veinlets, as in fig. 332), after
leaving the discal cell curves up in a similar way (almost parallel with the wing-
margin) and sometimes ends in the subcostal vein ; the upper branch of
the postical vein also curves up almost parallel with (but well away from) the
wingmargin, so that altogether the curving up of the veins and their running almost
parallel with the hind and apical margins of the wing, are most striking ; in addition
the peculiarity of the two branches of the cubital fork (and sometimes also the vein-
lets from the discal cell) reaching the wingmargin before the wing-tip is almost un¬
paralleled ; prsefurca exceedingly short ; discal cell always present, but remarkably
long and narrow and often of trapezoid or most irregular shape, in no way bounded
on the lower margin by any portion of the postical vein, and usually appearing to
emit one veinlet only which curves up towards (and sometimes runs into) the sub¬
costal vein, and when the (normally) second veinlet is distinct it curves up parallel

with the first but appears to arise from the closed fourth posterior cell, while the
(normally) third veinlet bends sharply downwards (unless apparently altogether
absent) and closes the (normally) fourth posterior cell (fig. 334) ; upper branch of the
postical fork often running into the discal cell at the end of the latter and never
running clear to the wingmargin, but always causing a long closed (normally fourth)
posterior cell to lie under and parallel with the discal cell ; basal cells long, the
upper one being most unusually long through the discal cross-vein being placed near
the tip of the discal cell (as in the N emestrinidee) and near the end of the stem of
the cubital vein, but sometimes the discal cross-vein ties the longitudinal veins so
tightly together that the upper margin of the discal cell is hitched up until it
touches the cubital vein at the place where the latter is pulled down ; ambient vein
complete though sometimes very faint ; lower cross-vein always present though
short and placed close to the base of the upper branch of the postical fork ; posterior
cells three (the normal second, third, and fifth being united as in fig. 335), or four
(the normal second and third being united as in fig. 334 or the third and fifth as
in fig. 332) ; anal cell closed before the wingmargin ; wing-membrane ribbed or
rumpled, bare ; alulae often large, and overlapping the scutellum when the wings
are folded. Squamae (alar) present, but small and usually without any fringe, or
sometimes (in at least Mydas) rather large and bearing a stiff very coarse marginal
fringe ; thoracal pair absent.

This family has long been well recognised through its peculiar venation
and antenna, though for a long time the distinctly chsetopliorous Apiocerince
were incorrectly associated with it, but it is now almost certain that these
latter are more closely related to the Asilince. Brauer was of opinion that

MYDAIDiE

605

the Scenopinidce were allied to the Mydaidce, because in these two families
both branches of the cubital fork and the discal vein end before the wing-
tip, and he considered that the antennae had some affinity ; in fact he said
that the Mydaidce with short antennae appear to be the most undoubted
stepping - stone to Scenopinus. In nearly all the characteristics of the
Mydaidce one can trace their intermediate position between the Tromoptera
and the Energopoda ; the very long subcostal vein shows close relation¬
ship to the Asilidce , the tendency to bristles beneath the hind femora
and to a small extent on the tibiae affords a connecting link between the
spicules of the Tromoptera and the macroehaetae of the Asilidce , the long
thin porrect proboscis of Triclonus resembles that of many Bombylidce,
while the shorter stouter proboscis of Mydas leads to the Asilidce, the
eremochaetous nature of the head and thorax is shared by some of the
Asilidce, even though the latter are considered to be chaetophorous, and
the genitalia of the male are more distinct than in the Tromoptera but
less conspicuous than in most Asilidce, while the ovipositor in the female
of many species has the peculiar circlet of short thick spines which occurs
in many Therevidce and Asilidce. Taken altogether the sequence of
families is almost certainly — Bombylidce, Therevidce, Sccnojnnidce, Mydaidce,
Apioccridce, Asilidce.

The Mydaidce are said to catch insects with their front legs, but I
am unable to trace any positive account of their being predaceous ; Colonel
Yerbury’s experience of a large Ceylonese species and a small Spanish
species has caused his opinion to be that they are not predaceous ; it may
be that the formidable appearance of the large species has given them this
reputation; Olivier however stated than an Egyptian species was very
predaceous on other insects ( Hymenojptera ) which it caught when flying.
About a hundred and forty species have been described, which mainly
occur in North, Central, and South America, and in Australia, while about
a dozen are recorded from the Palaearctic region, and of these only one
or two are known with certainty to occur in the extreme south of
Europe. Some of the species which occur in Central and South America
are the most gigantic forms that occur in the Diptera. One species
is said to be parasitic in the larval stage on Prionidce.

In the characters given for the Mydaidce the genus Megascelus of
Philippi from Chili has been excepted, because it possesses so many
characters differing from the rest of the Mydaidce that Gerstaecker refused
to admit it into the family, but it cannot be included elsewhere. It
has the head much less transverse ; face very short, bare, and retreating ;
frons and vertex not at all sunk ; antennae with the two basal joints very
short, and the third almost circular and without any style but rather
produced to where a style would naturally occur (not very unlike Dolicho-
ciaster ) ; pleurae with but little pubescence except for a large rather dense
long tuft on the metapleurae ; abdomen without any humps at the basal
corners ; venation (fig. 333) quite distinct in the position of the discal
cross-vein ; both branches of the cubital fork curving up and joining the

606

DERMATINA

subcostal vein; upper veinlet from the discal cell quickly joining the
lower branch of the cubital fork, and the second veinlet joining the same
branch just before that joins the subcostal; five posterior cells, the
(normally) fourth posterior cell with a blunt end, and the end of each
branch of the postical fork rather recurrent; discal cell conspicuously
small, pentagonal (the end being blunt) ; discal cross-vein normal (not
placed as in true Mydaidce ) and almost upright, only just beyond the
middle of the discal cell ; small cross-vein distinct, just before the

middle of the discal cell ; prsefurca comparatively long ; ambient vein
absent or very faint after the end of the subcostal vein ; alulae small
and narrow. The genus essentially belongs to the Dermatina and may
help to connect the Mydaidce with the Scenopinidce, as it approaches
the latter family in size and figure as well as in the antennae, though it
seems to indicate even more affinity to the Apioceridce in the face,
antennae, venation, etc. At present I can only regard it as an aberrant
genus of the Mydaidce, to which it is somewhat connected by Dolichog aster.

Synonymy. — I am very sorry to add to the controversy over the spelling of the
name Mydas , but I give my reasons for retaining that word ; I am fully conscious
of the temptation to consider it a misprint for Midas , as the long antennae give the
notion of “asses ears.” Osten Sacken (Berl. ent. Zeitschr., 4895, 345) very carefully
considered the orthography and ultimately decided in favour of Midas , but I
cannot help thinking that his argument was weak when he said, “ To justify the
“ spelling Mydas Dr Cferstaecker should have proved that it was introduced by
“ Fabricius with a deliberate intention , and that it was not a mere lapsus;” it
seems to me that the proof should be the other way about, and that it should be proved
that Mydas was a lapsus and not a deliberate intention. 1 also notice that
Fabricius continued to use the spelling Mydas in 1805, even though Latreille had
altered it to Midas in 1 796, and as Latreille in 1802 and 1809 reverted to Mydas it seems
to me that fabricius refused to be converted by Latreille, and that on the other
hand Latreille was converted by Fabricius. I agree with Osten Sacken that “ it
“ seems evident that the first impression of Latreille was that Mydas was a lapsus
“ calami on the part of Fabricius,” but it seems to me that he was ultimately
convinced that it was not a lajmis. I note also that Rye in Zool. Record, 1877, Ins.,
]93, saidj “The reading Midaidoe cannot be supported; Midas nom. propr., gives
“ in Latin gen. Midce. Midasidce , though irregular, preserves identity.” I am
unable to dogmatise, but I think if a genitive could be formed for Mydas it would
be Mydais and consequently I use the term Mydaidce. It is also peculiar that
Osten Sacken in 1896 regularly used the spelling Mydaidce, though it may be (as
he himself considers others have done) through inadvertence. I conclude that the
spelling Mydiadce used by Hunter (Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc., xxvii., 121, and in
“Contents” of Part) must be a misprint, as he uses Mydaidce on page 153; I am
also absolutely unable to accept Bezzi’s spelling “ Mydidce ” (Kat. Palaarct. Dipt.,
ii., 99) which lie himself corrected to Mydaidce. I do not use the spelling Mydas
simply because it has priority, as I consider orthography stands before priority.

S5* «

MYDAID^

607

Type of venation of MydaidvE.

Fig. 334. — Mydas vittatus $.

Longitudinal (or long ) veins.

a Costa (or costal vein),
b Mediastinal (or auxiliary ) vein.

Subcostal (or ls£ longitiidinal) vein.

Kadial (or 2 nd longitudinal) vein, always ending in the subcostal vein.
e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein, always with a long fork of which the upper
or both branches end in the subcostal vein.
e; Upper branch ) £ h cubita, tork
e- Lower branch )

/Discal (or 4th longitudinal) vein.

f1 Upper veinlet from the discal cell, sometimes ending in the subcostal
vein.

f2 Second veinlet from the discal cell, (absent in Mydas , but present in
Mitrodetus (fig. 332), etc., as a vein curved up from the lower end
of f3 and running parallel with f1 until it ends in the costa close to
the end of the subcostal vein).

f3 Third veinlet from the discal cell, bent sharply back in Mydas and
closing the fourth posterior cell, but sometimes apparently absent
through the upper branch of the postical fork curving up to the end
of the discal cell (fig. 335).
g Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein.

g1 Upper branch of the postical fork, sometimes ending in f3.
g2 Lower branch of the postical fork.
h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

k Praefurca = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal vein round the hindmargin of the
wing.

Cross (or transverse) veins.

w Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.
y Lower (or small) cross-vein.

Anal cross-vein = g2.

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital fork-cell).

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

6 Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

608

DERMATINA

6b Third posterior cell ; united with 6a in fig. 334, and with 7 in fig. 332, but
present in fig. 333.

6C Fourth posterior cell, always closed in Mydaidoe.

7 Postical (or 5th posterior) cell (or postical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9C Anal (or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Mydaidoe.

The venation is specially notable in (l) the very long mediastinal and subcostal
veins, (2) the remarkable curving up of the cubital and discal veins so that they end
in the subcostal vein or at any rate in the costal vein before the tip of the wing,
(3) the position of the discal cross-vein which is similar to that in the Nemestrinidce,
and (4) the very short prsefurca.

(1) The Mediastinal Vein is longer than in any Diptera except the Neme-
strinidce , and the length of The Subcostal Vein is only approached by the
JYemestrinidce, Apioceridce, and some Asilidce.

(2) The curving up of the two branches of The Cubital Fork and the end
portion of the Discal Vein (whether single or duplicate) and their ending in the
long subcostal vein are not indicated in any way in the Nemestrinidce, but are
represented in the Apioceridce and to a certain extent in the Asilidce , though in
neither of those families to such a remarkable extent.

(3) The position of The Discal Cross-vein is rather similar (except in Megascelns)
to that in the Nemestrinidce (conf. also Cyrtidce), but altogether distinct from that
in the Apioceridce and Asilidce , its position near the end of the discal cell in con¬
junction with the tying of the veins near the wing-tip to the subcostal vein evidently
aims at strengthening the wing power in a similar manner to that in the Nemestrinidce ,
but it is almost certain that the similarities which occur in the venation of the two
families do not indicate the slightest relationship, and are merely the development of
the venation in a somewhat similar manner in order to obtain a similar result.
Just as the tying- together of the long-veins in the JYemestriniclce through the cross¬
veins has caused the pulling of the long-veins out of their normally straight course,
so in some genera of Mydaidoe ( Triclonus , etc.) the discal cross-vein has pulled the
discal vein quite out of its normal course.

(4) The Piuefurca is much shorter (except in the abnormal genus Megascelus)
than in any family of the Brachycera except the Stratiomyidce, but is very
differently placed from where it is in that family as it commences almost opposite
the middle of the second basal cell. The continuous line of veins in the Nemestrinidce
which is known as the “ diagonal vein ” is somewhat indicated in the Mydaidoe, but
only extends from the base of the praefurca to the end of the discal cell, because
in the Mydaidoe the lower veinlet from the discal cell (if existing at all) is
recurrent.

There are numerous other details in the venation of the Mydaidoe which are
remarkable, but perhaps the strongest one not already mentioned is in the discal
vein ending (with the exception of the lowest veinlet from the discal cell) distinctly
before the wing-tip ; in the Apioceridce the second veinlet from the discal cell is
always present and ends considerably below the wing-tip. The only other family
in which the discal vein ends before the wing-tip is the Scenopinidce, and con¬
sequently, although the venation of the two families appears at first sight to be
completely distinct, they have one important feature in common. The peculiar
shape of the discal cell and the closed (normal ) fourth posterior cell are noteworthy,
and the anal cell is always closed well before the wingmargin.

Table of the Palccarctic Genera of Mydaidoe.

1 (2) Third antennal joint remarkably large and “ monstrous.”

Perissocerus.

2 (1) Third antennal joint with an elongate narrow base and a droop¬

ing club.

MYDAID7E

609

3 (8) Both branches of the cubital fork ending in the subcostal vein.

4 (5) Upper branch of the discal vein ending in the subcostal vein

(fig. 335). Syllegomydas.

Proboscis short.

Fig. 335. — Syllegomydas cinctus. x 6.

5 (4) Upper branch of the discal vein ending in the costal vein.

6 (7) Proboscis long. Leptomydas.

7 (6) Proboscis short. Eremomydas.

8 (3) Lower branch of the cubital fork ending in the costal vein.

Rhopalia.

I know nothing about the value of these genera, as I have not even

seen the description of Eremomydas nor have I seen a specimen of Peris-

socerus. I do not believe that the presence of a recurrent veinlet near the
base of the upper branch of the cubital fork is of generic value, although
it has been used by Gerstaecker to separate Leptomydas from Rhopalia.

Only one species is satisfactorily recorded and described from Europe
{Leptomydas lusitanicus from Portugal), but A. Costa described M.
sardous from Sardinia and I possess a specimen of Leptomydas from Corsica
which has a few distinct spines under the hind femora ; Dufour described
L. lusitanicus as occurring in Corsica, but stated that that species has
no spines beneath the hind femora. M. rufipes Westwood is a doubtful
species which was recorded with doubt from Sicily.

DIPTERA BRACHYCERA

ENERGOPODA

Two pacl-like pulvilli only. Strong bristles occurring on
the thorax and legs (unless replaced by dense coarse
pubescence). Venation including a long cubital fork, five
posterior cells, and a long anal cell. Pedestrian flies of
strongly predaceous habits (in at least the Asilidce).

Head always dichoptic, more or less excavated about the vertex so as
to give the eyes a bulging appearance. Face in the Asilidce, with a face- or
moutli-heard, which however is not present in the Apioceridce. Collar usually
well developed and bearing strong bristles. Proboscis prominent and horny
in the Asilidce, or with fleshy sucker-flaps in the Apioceridce, but never long
and porrect. Palpi usually rather long and thin in the Asilidce, but
conspicuous and spatulate in the Apioceridce. Eyes always bare, with the
facets sometimes considerably enlarged on the front part in both sexes.
Antennae composed of the usual three joints, the third one being never at
all annulated but usually with a terminal (never dorsal) style or arista.

Thorax ordinarily with strong chaetotactic bristles besides bristly
pubescence, amongst which can be detected the prsesutural, postalar,
sometimes supra-alar and dorso-central bristles, while the pleurae fre¬
quently have bristles or bristly hairs on the metapleurae and hypopleurae,
and these latter often form fans, but sometimes the bristles are reduced to
a single praesutural and a single supra-alar ( Leptogaster ) or in other cases
dense coarse pubescence may obliterate all the bristles {Laphria, etc.).
Scutellum ordinarily with long strong marginal bristles but otherwise
unarmed ; metanotum to a large extent under the scutellum.

Abdomen usually rather elongate, often bearing bristles in a row just
before the liindmargins of the segments. Genitalia of the male and the
ovipositor of the female almost always large and conspicuous, and the
latter often with a terminal circlet of stout blunt spines.

Legs strong, essentially adapted in the Asilidce for pouncing on and
seizing other insects and consequently provided with strong bristles on the
tibiae and tarsi, and with a circlet of bristles at the tip of all the tibue
and of each of the four basal joints of the tarsi, but any bristles on the

CIO

ENERGOPODA

611

femora and tibine are sometimes absorbed in dense coarse pubescence.
Pulvilli two, the empodium being represented by a bristle ; claws usually
powerful and strongly curved.

Wings with the full venation of the Brachycera, there being almost
invariably five posterior cells, a long cubital fork, a long contracted or
closed anal cell, and a very long subcostal vein which usually receives the
radial vein before its tip ; mediastinal vein unusually long ; ambient vein
almost always complete; small cross-vein usually present but occasionally
just absent; prsefurca fairly long. Wing-membrane ribbed or wrinkled
in Asilidce but smooth in Apioceridce. Alar squamae moderately well
developed though not large, and usually bearing a soft marginal fringe down
to the angle ; thoracal squamae entirely absent, and the frenum bare.

Larvae in some cases predaceous upon other larvae and in other cases
occurring in earth and then probably carnivorous. Perfect insects never
hoverers or even dancers (unless in courtship) and never bloodsuckers,
but in the Asilidce always predatory upon other insects. The Apioceridce
are said to be not predaceous.

The Energopoda must be allied to the Tlierevidce, the Mydaidce, and
the Empidce, but are distinguished from the two former by the strong
chaetotaxy and from the latter by the more elaborate venation. Their
distinctness is not likely to cause the British collector any trouble.

ARRANGEMENT.

The natural sequence must go from the Tlierevidce and Mydaidce
through the Apioceridce to the Asilidce, and in the Asilidce the Asilince
belonging to the genera about Erax must be the most nearly allied to the
Apioceridce; consequently a reversal of the usual arrangement of the
subfamilies becomes necessary, and this seems more natural because
at the other end of the family the Dasypogonince and Leptogastrince bear
considerable affinity to the Empidce (especially Hybotince) ; the Dasypo¬
gonince through their usual absence of pubescence and the reduction of
their chsetotaxy and the similarity of build between such genera as
Holopogon and Hybos ; and the Leptogastrince through the absence of any
hind angle to the wing.

I have restricted Osten Sacken’s conception of the Energopoda to a
very much smaller limit than he proposed, because I consider that the
Micropiiona form an eminently natural group which is abundantly dis¬
tinct from the Energopoda.

612

ENERGOPODA

XI. APIOCERID^E.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous chsetophorous flies of rather large size.

Fig. 336.— Apiocera racer ens $. X 2J.

Face very short, and without any face-beard. Palpi one or two-jointed ;
end joint large and spatulate. Antennae with a solid oval third joint which
bears a short stout terminal style.

Thorax distinctly chsetophorous. Scutellum large, concealing the
metanotum.

Abdomen (excluding the genitalia) short and conical.

Wings with a peculiar venation suggestive of the Mydaidce.

Head, without bristles except for numerous strong occipital ones, widely trans¬
verse when seen from above but less so when seen from in front, always dichoptic
but with the eyes of the male rather closer together than those of the female. Face
very short and without any trace of a face- or mouth-beard • back of the head rather
hollowed out behind the upper part of the eyes ; vertex but little excavated between
the eyes ; ocelli three, wide apart, the front one being in front of the tubercle ; collar
very short, but bearing numerous strong bristles. Proboscis sometimes rather long
and porrect, with fleshy sucker-flaps ; palpi one- or two-jointed, the end joint being
large, broadly spatulate, and rather sparsely pubescent. Eyes bare, scarcely bulging,
flattened anteriorly, but with the anterior facets not enlarged, more approximated
in the male than in the female. Antennae short and stout, placed below the middle
of the head ; basal joints bearing rather strong bristles ; third joint oval, and ending
in a very short stout jointed style.

Thorax bearing strong bristles at the humeri, sides of the disc (including inter
alia prsesutural, supra-alar, postalar, prsescutellar, and sometimes one or two
on the anterior subalar callus), and on the margin of the scutellum ; pleurae without
bristles, even as a metapleural or liypopleural tuft or fan, but with short soft
pubescence, the prothorax however usually with a few strong bristles. Scutellum
large and concealing the metanotum.

Abdomen (without the genitalia) short and conical, especially after the second
segment, the two last segments being narrowly cylindrical. Genitalia of the male
very large, similar to those of some Asilince (especially Erax) ; ovipositor short, and
provided with a circlet of short blunt spines.

APIOCERIDiE

613

Legs not strong, but provided with numerous bristles on the tibiae and usually
on the femora though sometimes only sparsely on the anterior femora ; tibiae with
long apical spurs, and the four basal tarsal joints bearing terminal circlets of bristles,
but the tarsi altogether not so stout nor so much armed as in the Asilidce. Pul villi
two, well developed ; empodium absent or only represented by a bristle ; claws
fairly long and strongly curved.

Wings with a venation rather suggestive of the Mydaidce , but very distinct in
the position of the discal cross-vein and in the shape of the discal and fourth
posterior cells ; mediastinal vein very long ; subcostal vein also very long, and
receiving the radial and (usually) the upper branch of the cubital fork before its tip ;
upper branch of the discal vein (= upper veinlet from the discal cell) curved up
parallel to the branches of the cubital fork, and ending a little before the wing-tip ;
praefurca moderately long ; discal cross-vein almost upright and placed near the
middle of the discal cell ; discal cell almost pentagonal because the end is blunt ;
fourth posterior cell bluntly closed and rather small ; basal cells all large and long,
fully half the length of the wing ; posterior cells distinctly five ; ambient vein
complete. Wing-membrane smooth and practically bare. Alulae very much
developed. Squamae (alar) long but narrow, and bearing a long dense fringe all
along the margin ; thoracal squamae absent. Halteres comparatively small and
inconspicuous.

Rather large, elongate, shortly but rather densely though inconspicuously
pilose flies of Thereva-AkQ appearance or still more resembling some species
of Erax , but easily distinguished by the peculiar Mydas-Wkz venation and
by the strong macrochsetse on the sides of the thorax. The family has
had a very chequered career, the species having been associated with the
Mydaidce and Nemestrinidce through their venation, with the Therevidce
through their general appearance, and with the Asilidce; Osten Sacken
at one time considered them to be true Asilince allied to the genus Erax,
but subsequently considered them entitled to subfamily rank next to
the Asilince; Williston on the other hand has contended strongly that
they are distinct from any other family, and I agree with him; they are
certainly quite distinct from the Mydaidce and have no relationship what¬
ever to the Nemestrinidce. Tho long subcostal vein distinguishes them
from the Therevidce ; the strong bristles on the sides of the thorax dis¬
tinguish them from the Mydaidce ; while the short beardless face, the
only slightly excavated vertex, the spatulate palpi, and the short collar
distinguish them from the Asilidce.

The Apioceridaz are very few in number, only about twelve species
having been described ; they are mainly recorded from America and
Australia, but a species has recently been described from South Africa
and a male of a small species in Bigot’s collection was labelled “ Ceylon ” ;
it is not at all probable that any will occur in the Pakearctic region.
The perfect insects are flower lovers and are not predaceous ; according to
Williston the mouth-parts show a much closer relationship to the Mydaidce
and Therevidce than to the Asilidce.

614

ENERGOPODA

XII. asilid^s:

Fig. 337. — Philonicus albiceps S . x 3.

Orthorrhaphous brachycerous chsetophorous “ Robber-Flies ” of very
large to moderately small size. Habits pedestrian and predaceous, and
consequently the powerful legs usually provided with long strong bristles.
Eyes bulging and widely separated in both sexes. Third antennal joint
simple. Venation rather elaborate.

Head broad but short, well separated from the thorax : frons at the vertex more
or less deeply sunk between the bulging eyes ; face usually produced into a facial
knob or with a moderately produced upper mouthmargin, and bearing a con¬
spicuous bristly or coarse-haired face- or mouth-beard or with extensive soft
pubescence ; cephalic bristles as a rule indistinct, being usually when present
mixed up with adjacent hairs, but sometimes a pair of ocellar bristles and another
pair rather behind the first pair can be differentiated ; a row of occipito-orbital
bristles or bristly hairs (forming the “festoon”) occurs on the upper part of the
postocular region, and according to Osten Sacken these bristles are sometimes
plumose ; ocelli three, usually on a raised tubercle. Proboscis strong and shortly
porrected either horizontally or sloping (rarely perpendicular), but not in any way
resembling that of the Bombylidce ; sucker-flaps not fleshy. Palpi composed of one
or two joints. Eyes bulging from the sunk vertex, always bare, widely and almost
equally separated in both sexes, and often with the front facets enlarged. Antennae
porrect, approximated or well separated at the base, three-jointecl, the third joint
usually more or less elongate but never annulated, and usually (but not in the
Laphrinas) provided with a terminal (never dorsal) sometimes jointed style or arista.

Thorax narrowed in front, and leaving the head apparently isolated because the
prothorax (including the neck) is long, always bearing strong bristles (macrocliaetae)
or dense coarse-haired pubescence intermixed in which traces of macrocliaetae may
almost always be detected. In the simplest form of bristling ( Leptogaster ) only one
conspicuous praesutural bristle and one supra-alar occur (though the latter is placed
so far out on the disc that it may be mistaken for an intra-alar bristle) ; but in the
next development of bristles there is an increase in the numbers of the praesutural and
supra-alar bristles, which very soon leads on to the presence of postalar, dorso-

ASILIDAi

615

central, and marginal scutellar bristles, while a continuation of the supra-alar
bristles out on to the disc appears to sometimes show several intra-alar
( Asiliis ) ; the dorso-central bristles form two rows only and are most developed
between the suture and the hindmargin, but sometimes dwindle in strength
towards the hindmargin and usually extend forwards until about half-way
between the suture and the foremargin. Pubescence of the thorax, other than the
macrochcetse, often very short but not unfrequently gradually developed into long
dense humble-bee-like clothing ( Laphria , etc.) or into short stubby bristles which
extend over most of the disc and usually become longer towards the hindmargin, and
in some cases this bristly pubescence becomes longer and may extend along at least
the middle stripe right up to the front (Dysmachtis, Lophonotus, etc.) with some¬
times a mane-like appearance. Pleurae never quite bare, though sometimes with only
just traces of the metapleural fan but more commonly with slight pubescence on
various parts and with the metapleural and hypopleural fans distinct and composed
of long more or less bristly hairs or even decided bristles (especially in the Asilince),
or in other species the pleurae may bear dense long pubescence in which all bristles
are lost (especially in the Laphrince), and occasionally the metapleurse and
hypopleurae are quite bare ( Stenopogon ). Scutellum ranging from being quite bare
{Leptogaster) to bearing slight or even dense pubescence without marginal bristles,
or with slight short pubescence on the disc and several long strong upturned
marginal bristles ; metanotum rather large but considerably overhung by the
scutellum when the latter is large.

Abdomen usually elongate, composed (in most species) of eight segments irre¬
spective of the genitalia, but the eighth segment sometimes entirely or partially
concealed (at least dorsally) in the male and commonly forming part of the
ovipositor in the female. Genitalia usually prominent and conspicuous in both
sexes, and in some species a circlet of bristles occurs at the end of the ovipositor
similar to that in the Therevidce , etc.

Legs powerful and rather long, but rarely very much elongated, often hairy, and
often beset with thorn-like bristles ; tibiae with a terminal circlet of spines, and
frequently (in the Dasypogonince ) with a curious strong curved
thorn placed antero-ventrally and curving underneath the end
of the front tibiae ; tarsi usually broad and powerful, also armed
with a terminal circlet of spines at the tip of each of the four
basal joints, and almost always with one posterior bristle near
the base of the basal joint of the front tarsi, one anterior and
one posterior one near the base of the middle tarsi, and one
similar anterior one near the base of the hind tarsi, these four
bristles being probably brought together when grasping prey.

Pulvilli two, with a thin bristle-like empodium between them
(fig. 338), but exceptionally ( Leptogaster , etc.) the pulvilli
entirely absent or only partially developed ; claws usually
powerful and strongly curved.

Wings usually rather long and narrow, when at rest lying Fia. 33s.— Asilus era -
flat and overlapping on the abdomen. Venation always con- broniformis $.
forming to one type in which but little variation occurs ; (Emi ot front tarsus‘)
veins never pubescent nor bristly ; subcostal vein very long and in the Asilince
and Laphrince receiving the radial vein before its tip, but in the Dasypo¬
gonince not quite so long though still longer than in any other family except the
Apioceridce and Mydaidce ; prmfurca rather unusually long, starting before the
middle of the upper basal cell and far before the base of the discal cell ; cubital vein
with a long usually rather bell-mouthed fork which usually includes the wing-tip,
but sometimes the lower branch of the fork curves up enough to end at or before the
wing-tip (fig. 349) and sometimes the upper branch bends down to or below the
wing- tip while occasionally the lower branch bends down enough to join the upper
veinlet from the discal cell and thereby forms a closed first posterior cell (fig. 350),
and sometimes the upper branch of the cubital fork throws back a recurrent
veinlet (fig. 350) from near its base which may even extend completely back to the
radial vein (fig. 346) and thereby cause the existence of three submarginal cells ;
posterior cells almost invariably five (two American genera have only four), of which
the fourth is frequently closed through the third veinlet from the discal cell bending
down enough to meet the upper branch of the postical vein, while individual species
occur in which other posterior cells are closed ; anal cell either closed near the

616

ENERGOPODA

wingmargin or slightly or even considerably ( Leptogaster ) open ; discal cell always
present, pentagonal, the long upper side being almost a straight continuation of the
base of the discal vein ; discal cross-vein placed not far from the middle of the
discal cell ; small cross-vein often present but sometimes absent through the upper
branch of the postical fork just touching the lower margin of the discal cell for a
short distance, though this character may vary in individuals of the same species ;
alulae usually distinct and well developed but very small or obsolete in many
Dasypogonince and practically absent in Leptogaster (fig. 344) ; _ wing-membrane
ribbed or wrinkled. Squamae (alar) usually rather small but distinctly developed,
with usually a thick margin on which is a longer or shorter delicate or dense
fringe, and this fringe frequently becomes longer against the angle and may be even
tufted there ( Stenopogon ), in which case the tuft appears to act as a substitute for
the usual shelter hairs or bristly fan on the metapleuree ; when the wings are
closed the alar squamae when large may project upwards like lobes ( Laphria );
thoracal squamae absent or only present as a bare frenum. Halteres normal and not
at all concealed.

This family is a very large one and contains some of the largest
known Diptera, while none of the species are very small. Loew’s words
in 1847 when he began his elaborate paper, “ Ueber die europaischen
“ Raubfliegen (Diptera Asilica)” were as follows: “The family of the
“ Robber-flies is so sharply defined on all sides that at present no fly has
“been found concerning which it can be doubtful whether it is to be
“ reckoned in this family or not. Nevertheless it contains a great wealth
“ of most varying forms which renders their study especially attractive.”
These words are almost as true now as when they were written, and
Loew then laid the strong foundation for the elucidation of this immense
family which has well borne the enormous superstructure that has been
raised upon it, the Asilidce of the world being now probably better
worked out than any other family of Diptera, and this is all the
more remarkable when it is recognised that Loew made but little use
of the numerous chaetotactic characters. I do not know of any Diptera
(except the Apioceridce ) having been placed in recent times in the Asilidce
which do not belong to them, nor have any true Asilidce been misplaced in
other families. As to the Apioceridce (which had been united by many
authors with the Mydciidce ) Osten Sacken in his enthusiasm for
chaetotactic characters went too far, and began by sinking them as
only Asilince in the neighborhood of Erax, Promachus, etc., but sub¬
sequently raised them to the rank of a subfamily of the Asilidce ; other
authors however have properly considered them to be a separate family
between the Mydciidce and Asilidce, being distinguished from the latter
by their venation, spatulate palpi, absence of face-beard, form of
antennae, etc.

After excluding the Apioceridce the Asilidce form an extremely well
defined family. The Mydciidce are easily distinguished by their venation,
antennae, and absence of all bristles ; the Therevidce by their aerial habits
for which they have thin legs adapted for alighting only, by their usually
furry pubescence, and by their short subcostal vein ; while the Empidce
and Dolichopoclidce (with which Osten Sacken associated them) are smaller
flies which have a much reduced venation. I am unable to accept Osten

ASILIM

617

Sacken’s superfamily Energofoda in his sense, as I consider the
Microphona (. Empidce and Dolichopodidce ) less allied to the Asilidce than
the latter are to the Mydaidaz and Therevidce. The remarkable circlet
of stout spines which occurs at the end of the ovipositor in some
Anthracince, the Thcrevidce, many Mydaidce, and some Asilidce in all
probability shows close affinity.

The Asilidce form the largest family in the Brachycera, as in 1868
Schiner reckoned the number of described species to be 1996, and since
then about 1000 more have been described, so that after making requisite
allowance for synonomy about 2700 known species must exist. Their
size and habits have no doubt attracted collectors, but amongst the smaller
and more obscure forms a very large number of unrecorded species must
still remain. In the Pakearctic region about 570 species have been
described, but in Britain we recognise only 23, of which 21 have occurred
in England, 11 in Scotland (including two which have not been recorded
from England), and (as far as I know) only one ( Philonicus albiceps )
in Ireland; Walker however included in addition N. cyanurus, E.
cingulatus, and the species which he called A. forcipatus (by which I
think he meant E. rufibarbis ) from Ireland, and Dioctria celandica from
Scotland. A few more species may occur in Britain, Zetterstedt having
described 43 from Scandinavia, and our sandhills on the Welsh coasts
might produce even the large S. diadema, which is reputed to have been
taken near Swansea.

The species are all exceedingly predaceous and are said to always catch
their prey upon the wing. I have seen Neoitamus cyanurus sitting at the
end of leafless twigs ready to dash out and capture the little green Oak
Tortrix (T. viridana ) but not hesitating to seize a comparatively large
Geometer ; Asilus crabroniformis rests motionless on rather bare patches
on heaths or pastures, but is evidently keenly alert for any passing insect
and is ready to seize any large Dipteron (such as Sarcophaga ) or even a
flying beetle, and when disturbed it only flies a short distance and then
settles again motionless. Exotic species have been seen to seize small
Dragon-flies ( Agrionince ) and Williston states that he once saw a female
seize a pair of her own species and, thrusting her proboscis into the
thorax of the male, carry off both together. The larvae have been
found in rotten wood, under bark {vide note on Lapliria flava), or in
decomposing vegetable matter, where they feed upon the larvae of other
insects, etc., or possibly act as scavengers. Loew long ago (1847)
remarked the difference in habits between the quick-flying powerfully
armed Asilince and the slow-flying weaker Easypogonince, comparing the
former to Boad-Bobbers and the latter to Bush-Thieves. Prof. Poulton
(Trans. Ent. Soc., Lond., 1907) has collected all the details he could
obtain as to the prey of the various species and has shown that there
is in many cases a considerable (and sometimes remarkable) mimicry
between the preyer and the prey, and that certain genera affect special

618

ENERGOPODA

orders of insects ; further notes are given upon these points under
the Dasypogonince on page 706.

Arrangement. — For upwards of sixty years this family has been split
up into three subfamilies ( Asilince , Laphrince , and Dasypogonince). These
three subfamilies may have been somewhat artificial hut were at any rate
convenient and easily distinguishable, the Dasypogonince being known
from the other two through the open marginal cell, while the Laph-
rince had no style at the tip of the antennse but the Asilince had a
long terminal style or arista. In recent times another subfamily, the
Leptogastrince , has been indicated but on somewhat uncertain grounds;
Schiner, who first mentioned it in 1868, hesitated whether to limit it to
the species which had the alulse absent (or obsolete) and the hind legs
thickened, or to those which had obsolete or abortive pulvilli, and Williston
in 1893 distinguished it on the character of possessing (in common with
the Asilince) only one-jointed palpi as against the two-jointed palpi of the
other two subfamilies ; I can hardly follow this latter arrangement because
I consider the Leptogastrince infinitely more closely related to the Dasypo¬
gonince than to the Asilince, and the character founded on the number of joints
of the palpi (even if correctly distinguished) does not appear to be of much
value in the allied family of Mydaidce. In 1905 Hermann (Berlin, entom.
Zeit., L., 29) pointed out that the character of the open marginal cell is
not an infallible one for differentiating the Dasypogonince, as there are one
or two species in which that character may differ in even individuals, but
still for all practical purposes that character may remain if it be recognised
that there are a few Dasypogonince in which the radial vein curves up
and joins the costa at practically the same spot as the subcostal vein ends
and in so doing causes the end of the subcostal cell to be blunt instead
of pointed. The preceding family, Apioceridce, is evidently allied in vena¬
tion to the Asilince through some species of Dr ax, and consequently it is only
natural that the sequence of Asilidce should commence with the Asilince
and with such genera as Dr ax, Promachus, Mallophora, etc., and additional
confirmation is given to this arrangement through the circlet of spines which
occurs at the end of the female ovipositor in Thereviclce, some Mydaidce, and
such genera of the Asilince as Proctacantlius and Philonicus ; other genera of
the Asilince indicate relationship to the Laphrince (with which they agree
in the closed marginal cell), and thence the gradation passes on from the
Laphrince through Laphystia and those genera of Dasypogonince in which
the marginal cell is almost (or quite) closed. Some of the Dasypogonince
such as Microstylum, Stcnopogon, etc., seem to show affinity to Asilince in
their chsetotaxy and in their large size, while the gradual diminution in
size accompanied with a shorter subcostal vein and a diminished chsetotaxy
with obsolescent or obsolete alulse leads on ultimately through Dioctria, etc.,
to the Leptogastrince, in which the abortive aluke and almost entire absence
of bristles indicate the proximity of the Dmpidce. The nearest allies in
the Empidce should exist in the Hylotince with their moderately long anal

ASILIDiE

619

cell and humpbacked thorax. The subfamilies of the Asilidce may some
day be founded on more natural characters, as Laphria- like species occur
unnaturally in quite the middle of the Asilince or Dasypogonince, and
many abrupt contrasts exist in the present arrangement; the general line
of development from Apioceridce to Empidce seems however to be a
natural one.

Type of venation of the Asilidce.

Longitudinal (or long ) veins.

a Costa (or costal vein),
b Mediastinal (or auxiliary) vein.
c Subcostal (or Is# longitudinal) vein.

d Radial (or 2nd longitudinal) vein, ending in the subcostal vein in the Asdina
and Laphrince.

e Cubital (or 3rd longitudinal) vein.

e1 Upper branch! of the cubital fork.
e2 Lower branch J
/ Discal (or 4th longitudinal) vein.
f1 Upper veinlet 1

f2 Second. veinlet -from the discal cell.
f3 Third veinlet J

g Postical (or 5th longitudinal) vein.

g1 UPPer branch \ of t]ie postical fork.
g2 Lower branch J
h Anal (or 6th longitudinal) vein.
i Axillary vein.

k Pi'cef urea = the common stem of the radial and cubital veins.

Ambient vein = the continuation of the costal vein round the hindmargin of the
wing.

Cross (or transverse) veins.

iv Humeral cross-vein.
x Discal (or middle) cross-vein.
y Lower (or small) cross-vein.

Anal cross-vein = g2 = the lower branch of the postical vein.

620

ENKRGOPODA

Cells.

1 Costal (or mediastinal) cell.

2 Subcostal cell.

3 Marginal cell.

4 Submarginal cell.

4a Second submarginal (or cubital) cell (or cubital fork-cell). Sometimes
a third submarginal cell is caused through a long recurrent veinlet
as in figs. 345, 347, 348, from near the base of e1 to d.

5 First posterior (or subapical) cell.

G Discal cell.

6a Second posterior cell.

6b Third posterior cell.

6C Fourth posterior cell.

7 Postical (or 5th posterior) cell (or postical fork-cell).

8 Axillary cell.

9a Upper (or ls£) basal cell.

9b Second (or middle) basal cell.

9c Anal (or lower , or 3rd basal) cell.

10 Alula.

Notes on the Venation of the Asilid^e.

The general “facies” of the venation of the Asiliclce is characteristic, and yet
presents but few striking peculiarities.

The Subcostal Vein is unusually long and is only paralleled in the Apioceridce
and Mydaidce ; it very commonly (A silinoe and Laphrince) receives the radial vein
before its tip as in those two families, but whereas in them it also receives at least
the upper branch of the cubital fork it is in only two or three instances that this
happens in the Asilidce; it is also very unusual for the veins of any Asilidce to
exhibit the peculiar upcurving which is so characteristic of those two families.
In the Dasypogonince and Leptogastrinm the subcostal vein is not so remarkably
long, nor does it (except in rare instances at the absolute wingmargin) receive the
I'adial vein before its tip, but still it is longer than in the Therevidce and ends nearer
to the tip of the radial vein than to the tip of the mediastinal.

The Pilefurca is rather long and consequently very distinct from that of the
Mydaidce (except Megascelus) ; it starts before the middle of the upper basal cell and
consequently far before the base of the discal cell.

The Discal Cell is always present, and is long and pentagonal, the long upper
side being almost a straight continuation of the basal stem of the discal vein ; it
always emits three veinlets (of which one may rarely be misplaced), though the
course of these veinlets (especially the lower one) may vary.

The Posterior Cells are always five (except in two small American genera,
Townsendia and Leptopteromyia ), usually all open, but all subject to being closed
through connection between neighboring veins.

The Small Cross-vein is usually present, but sometimes disappears and then the
upper branch of the postical fork touches the lower margin of the discal cell for
a short (never long) space.

A peculiarity in venation occurs in a few genera ( Promachus , Mallophora , etc.)
in which the upper branch of the cubital fork throws back from near its base a
recurrent veinlet which actually extends to the radial vein, so that the radial vein
appears to be forked soon after the emission of the cubital vein and the base of the
upper branch of the cubital fork looks like an ordinary cross-vein separating the
second submarginal cell into an inner and outer cell ; a recurrent veinlet of a some¬
what similar nature is not uncommon in the Anthracinoe but only as an almost
upright branch to the radial vein.

ASILID.U

621

Table of the Subfamilies of Asilid/E.

1 (4) Marginal cell closed and with a short petiole, the subcostal and

radial veins meeting at an almost equal curve (fig. 339).

2 (3) Third antennal joint ending in a bristle-like style (fig. 340).

Usually elongate bristly but not hairy flies. AsiLIN^ (p. G23).

3 (2) Third antennal joint without any style or with only a rudimentary

or very short blunt one (fig. 341).

Usually stout woolly haired flies. LapiiiuX/E (p. 692).

Fxo. 341.— Laphriaflava <?. X 26.

4 (1) Marginal cell open (figs. 342, 344), or if just closed then the radial
vein sharply curved up at its end so as to form a blunt end to
the marginal cell (fig. 343).

Fig. 342. — Dioctria Baumhciueri. X 10.

5 (6) Alula normally developed and hind-angle of the wing present, or
if obsolete then the claws and pulvilli normal.

Bristles or pubescence always obvious. Sometimes slender long-

Fig. 343. — Laphystia sabulicola <J. x 15.

622

ENERGOPODA

legged species but not exceedingly so, and often by no means so.
Second posterior cell not pointed at its base (fig. 342).

Dasypogonin^e (p. 704).

6 (5) Alula and hind-angle of the wing absent (fig. 344). Claws long;
pulvilli absent.

Bristles and pubescence reduced to a minimum. Exceedingly
lanky species with elongate clavate bind femora and tibiae. Second
posterior cell pointed at its base (fig. 344).

Leptogastrin,e.

Asilin^e.

Leptogastrin^e (p. 748).
Williston (Kansas Univ. Quarterly, i., 115, 1893) separates these sub¬
families in the following manner :

(4) Palpi one-jointed.

(3) Marginal cell open.

(2) Marginal cell closed.

(1) Palpi two-jointed.

(6) Marginal cell open. Dasypogonin^e.

(5) Marginal cell closed. Laphrin^e.

I do not like Williston’s arrangement as I am unable to test the

character drawn from the palpi, and I consider the Dasypogonince closely
allied to the Leptogastrince. I am not satisfied with my own distinction
between these two subfamilies but hope it may prove workable.

ASILIN/E

623

ASILINiE.

Marginal cell closed (fig. 345). Third antennal joint with a terminal
style or arista.

Head wide and short. Face almost equally broad or gradually widening from
the antennae to the mouth, usually bare on the upper part and against the eyes but
with a conspicuous face-beard which practically covers the facial knob (when that is
present), or the whole face may bear pubescence quite up to the antennae and out to
the eyes ; face-beard composed of long bristles or bristly hairs or even soft hairs
which droop downwards on the lower part over the front of the mouth-opening.

Frons almost equally wide in both sexes and the eyes scarcely ever in any way
approximated in either sex, deeply sunk at the upper part so that there is a deep
depression at the vertex between the top inner eye-angles, and the middle channel
of this depression nearly always bare and divided out forwards down each side ot
the rather elevated ocellar space ; several small bristles or bristly hairs occur about
the ocelli, and below this part the orbits bear small bristles almost down to the
antennae, but the middle of this part of the frons is always bare. Chin and jowls
with long fine-haired dense pubescence. Back of the head bearing pubescence and
(with rare exceptions) on the upper half (or thereabouts) a postocular “festoon' of
stout usually black bristles near (but not quite close to) the eyes; this “festoon
may be composed of only a few stout straight blunt bristles, or more commonly oi a
rather conspicuous row of bristles which towards the upper part have their tips bent
over forwards and sometimes even bent over rectangularly {Xeoitamus). Proboscis
strong, sloping or almost horizontal; palpi one-jointed distinct though not con¬
spicuous, sometimes with bristly hairs ( Craspedia ). Antennae porrect ; two basal
joints comparatively short and bearing short bristles ; third joint almost bare, more
elongate, and bearing at its end a style or arista which is bare in all European
species, but which bears a thin comb-like ciliation in the extensive exotic (or

624

ASILIM

Palaearctic Asiatic) genus Ommatius and its allies ; in all the British species the style
is slender and has only a very short indistinct basal joint.

Thorax strong, rather contracted forwards (which causes a contrast with the wide
short head) and almost always with certain well defined stripes and markings, and
(except in some species of Mallophora ) with strong bristles of which the
praesutural, supra-alar, postalar, and dorso-central are well defined, and of which
further details are given in the characters of the comprehensive genus Asilus.
Pleurae rarely with conspicuous pubescence except on the metapleurae and hypo-
pleurae, and on those the metapleural and hypopleural fans are composed of either
long bristly hairs or even strong bristles. Scutellum with long upturned marginal
bristles.

Abdomen usually long and in European species narrow, rarely flattened broad
and bare on the disc ( Craspedia ), composed of eight segments without the genitalia
though the eighth segment may often be very short or even quite concealed, and in
the female the end segments of the abdomen (even occasionally beginning with the
sixth segment) may appear to form part of the ovipositor. Genitalia of the male
conspicuous and always conforming to one type though varying very much in
details ; there are a pair of lateral upper lamellae which end by forming a forceps,
and beneath them are the usually much shorter under lamelke • female ovipositor
long and often compressed laterally, also composed of upper and lower parts and
with a pair of terminal lamellae, though these parts are not so conspicuously
separated as in the male ; in several genera (allied to Proctacanthus ) the ovipositor
ends with a circlet of short stubby spines, which seems to show affinity to the
Therevidce. and Mydaidce. Pubescence and chaetotaxy somewhat variable, but with¬
out bristles except when the praehindmarginal ciliation (which crosses each segment)
becomes so strong as to form bristles either only near the sides or almost all across,
and this band of ciliation generally precedes a quite bare hindmarginal hem on
especially the second and usually on the succeeding segments.

Legs strong, seldom very long or very short. Pubescence varying in amount,
but strong bristles always occur in circlets at the tip of all the tibiae and of the
four basal joints of all the tarsi, and (though the traces may sometimes be faint) in
sparse rows on the tibiae, while other strong bristles usually occur ; femora commonly
with strong spines on the underside, but not unfrequently (especially the front
pair) unarmed. Pulvilli two, long and narrow ; claws long and strong but otherwise
normal.

Wings long ; subcostal vein very long, extended almost to the wing-tip and joined
just before its end by the radial vein so that the marginal cell is always distinctly
closed. Venation conforming very much to one type and but little modified in the
British species, the cubital fork being always a long simple one with a somewhat
bell-mouthed opening, while the fourth posterior and anal cells are always closed ;
in some genera (of which there are a few Palmarctic species) the upper branch of the
cubital fork throws back from near its base a recurrent veinlet (fig. 350), which may
be short or may extend quite back to the radial vein and thereby cause the presence
of three submarginal cells (figs. 346-8), and in some specimens of Promac/ms leoninus
this recurrent vein (or veinlet) shows a tendency to continue onwards toward the
wing-base even after its junction with the radial vein ; the cubital vein is longer
between its origin and the discal cross-vein than the praefurca, and consequently the
discal cross-vein is placed after the basal third of the discal cell ; the opening of the
cubital fork is not always bell-mouthed ; the small cross-vein is often punctiform
and on rare occasions the upper branch of the postical fork forms for a very short
distance the lower margin of the discal cell ; the first posterior cell is sometimes
narrowed or even closed ; veins strong ; wing-membrane ribbed or wrinkled though
occasionally only faintly wrinkled. Alulae well developed, even if sometimes rather
small. Squamae with only the alar pair developed, not large but well defined
and with a thickened margin on which is a delicate out fairly abundant fringe ;
thoracal pair only represented by a bare frenum. Halteres normal.

Loew in 1848 divided the Asilince into three “ super-genera ” as
follows : —

1. Polyphonius nov. Gen. Antennal style hare, thick, and extremely
short, with its first joint much longer than the second; middle femora

ASILIN/E

625

exceedingly thickened; middle tibiae armed with a very strong blunt
terminal thorn.

2. Asilus. Antennal style bare and slender, with its first joint much
shorter than the second ; middle tibiae without a terminal thorn.

3. Ommatius. The bristle-like antennal style with comb-like hairs on
the underside.

Several genera had previously been proposed by Macquart on rather
vague characters.

Loew then divided the European Asilince into a number of smaller
groups to which in those days he hardly dared to give the rank of genera,
but, in accordance with the general trend of scientific nomenclature and
the test of experience, all his groups have been accepted by most sub¬
sequent writers as good genera, and many additional ones have since
been distinguished ; Schiner only undecidedly acknowledged these genera
in 1862, but accepted them all without hesitation when he dealt with the
Asilidce of the world in 1866, and Loew himself to the end of his days
defended the retention of all of them. In Britain we have only Loew’s
“ super-genus ” Asilus to deal with, and it may be contended that these
smaller genera provide a separate genus for almost each one of our native
species, but an examination will show that several of these smaller genera
contain from twenty to thirty European species.

Loew in 1860 (Die Dipteren-Fauna Siidafrika’s, p. 142) wrote “The
“ number of species belonging here is already so great, the difficulty of clearly
“ distinguishing them is so serious, and the task of recognisably describing
“ them is so difficult, that their separation into a larger number of genera is
“ absolutely necessary. ... If the number of species in one genus has so
“ accumulated, as in the Meigen -Wiedemann genus Asihis, which already
“ contains at least 500 described species, if these species are so closely
“ allied that the most exact details on precise but little obvious plastic
“ distinctions are indispensable for their recognition and apparent
“ grouping, if thereby the experience is continually repeated that new
“ species are published without every consideration of these details and
“ that determination from the descriptions given is an almost absolute
“ impossibility, then it is surely the right time to found smaller genera
“ on those characters and so to enforce the necessary attention to those
“ plastic characters, for the advantage of scientific progress and the
“ checking of the ever increasing confusion. If no distinctions offer
“ themselves so material as in other genera, less material ones must be
“ used ; if they are only so chosen that true allies are not separated from
“ each other, then such genera should not be censured ; if on the other
“ hand it can be shown that the choice of other distinctive characters
“ would have led to more precise and more easy distinction, or to genera
“ which would correspond better with the natural grouping of the species,

626

ASILIM

“ then the distinctive characters selected by me should he rejected and
“ these others substituted.”

While fully recognising the comparative unimportance of the dis¬
tinctions given at present between several of the genera of Asilince, I
retain them for the reasons given by Loew, and though some species
cannot be allocated without the knowledge of both sexes yet even then
it is a gain to be able to locate a specimen somewhere in (say) one out
of two comparatively small genera instead of leaving it in an unarranged
genus of several hundred species. In proof of this it may be seen that
PandelP’s revision of the French species of the comprehensive genus
Asilus has left several of his new species incertce sedis, while their
identification might have been simple if they had been correctly allocated
to the smaller genera. In Kertesz’s “ Ivatalog ” Philonicus is retained as
distinct from the comprehensive genus Asilus on account (I presume) of
the circlet of spines on the female ovipositor, but I fail to comprehend
why the line is drawn at this single sexual character.

Table of the Palcearetic Genera of Asilin.®.

1 (52) Arista bare.

2 (7) Three submarginal cells (fig. 346), the third one being formed

by the upper branch of the cubital fork throwing back from
near its base a recurrent veinlet which extends until it
unites with the radial vein so as to make the latter appear
to be forked soon after the emission of the cubital vein, while
the commencement of the upper branch of the cubital fork
resembles a cross-vein.

3 (4) Base of the second submarginal cell ( = the cubital fork) not nearly

reaching back to the end of the discal cell (fig. 346).

Plump, more or less hairy flies. Abdomen conical, moderately
elongate so that the folded wings as a rule hardly reach its tip and
only exceed it in the males (genitalia in both sexes excluded). Legs
rather strong but not stout. Ovipositor without a terminal circlet
of spines.

Promachus.

4 (3) Base of the second submarginal cell ( = the cubital fork) reaching

at least as far back as the end of the discal cell.

ASILIN7E

627

5 (6) Base of the second submarginal cell ( = the cubital fork) nearly

level with the end of the discal cell (fig. 347). Ocellar

tubercle prominent. Thorax usually bare on the front half.

Slender bare flies, with long slender legs and very narrow elongate
abdomen. Genitalia of the male comparatively small. Ovipositor
with a terminal circlet of spines.

* Alcimus.

6 (5) Base of the second submarginal cell ( = the cubital fork) distinctly

before the end of the discal cell (fig. 348). Ocellar tubercle

Fig. 34S. — Philodicus javanus ?. x 6A.

flat. Thoracic stripes usually hairy up to the front.

Bather bare, true Asilus-Wks flies. Legs slenderer than in
Promachus and spinose. Ovipositor with a terminal circlet of spines.

Philodicus.

7 (2) Only two submarginal cells, because the upper branch of the

cubital fork is simple or throws back only a short recurrent
veinlet'that does not extend to the radial vein (fig. 350).

8 (11) Lower branch of the cubital fork curving upwards and ending

in or before the wing-tip, and consequently the first posterior
cell wide open (fig. 349).

Large species (conf. Eccoptopus).

628

ASILID/E

9 (10) Abdomen always conical and much longer than the wings.

Upper branch of the cubital fork often with a peculiar recurrent
bend or even with the rudiment of a recurrent veinlet. Face-knob
strong. Ovipositor with a conspicuous circlet of spines.

A large genus of mainly American flies of which three species may
occur in Asia and one in South Russia unless these belong to a genus
intermediate between Proctacanthus and Polysarca.

Proctacantiius.

1 0 (9) Abdomen shorter than (or only as long as) the wings, bare, short,

and plump.

Veins incomplete towards the hindmargin. Ovipositor without
any conspicuous circlet of spines.

Russian or Transcaspian species only.

Polysarca.

11 (8) Lower branch of the cubital fork straight, undulating (fig. 353),

or bent downwards (fig. 350), but always ending after the
wing-tip (except in EccojJtopus).

12 (13) Upper branch of the cubital fork with a short recurrent veinlet

(fig. 350). _

First posterior cell usually closed or very much narrowed.

Fig. 350. — Apoclea femoralis (after van der Wulp).

though sometimes wide open. Face-knob inconsiderable. Ocelli
absent.

About a dozen Pakearctic species, none of which are known to occur
in Europe.

Apoclea.

13 (12) Upper branch of the cubital fork without any trace of a recurrent

veinlet, and without even an unusual bending at the spot where
such a veinlet might occur (fig. 353).

14 (15) Middle femora very much thickened; middle tibiae serrulate

beneath on the apical third and ending in a short blunt thorn.
Style rather short and thick, but with its first joint longer
than the short second.

Small cross-vein long and sloping. A single very distinct species,
which occurs from Greece to Rhodes.

POLYPHONIUS.

15 (14) Middle femora not unusually thickened; middle tibiae without

a terminal thorn. Style thin, with its first joint usually
rudimentary and always shorter than the second.

ASILIN7E

629

16 (17) Ovipositor with an obvious terminal circlet of short stout spinos
(%. 351).

Fiq. 351. — Philonicus albiceps ?. x 17.

Light grey species. Only one well-known species in Europe, but
with perhaps a closely allied Mediterranean species. The male has
bristles against the hindmargins of the abdominal segments, but none
beneath the front femora and only one in front of the middle femora.
For other distinctions see page 636.

1. Philonicus.

17 (16) Ovipositor without any terminal circlet of spines.

( Asilus sensu lato recentiore).

18 (31) Ovipositor flattened or rounded but not laterally compressed.

Legs partly conspicuously reddish orange, except in Eccoptopus.

19 (28) Abdomen without bristles against the hindmargins of the

segments.

20 (21) Face-beard composed of fine hairs.

Legs extensively orange. Antiphrisson.

21 (20) Face-beard bristly as usual.

22 (27) Abdomen with short decumbent pubescence.

Wings not halved in colour.

23 (26) Large brightly colored flies.

24 (25) Legs (including the tarsi) of ordinary length and shape.

Wings maculated in European species. Legs mainly reddish
orange.

2. Asilus.

25 (24) Legs and especially the anterior tarsi very much lengthened

(fig. 352).

Fig. 352.— Eccoptopus erythrogaster <f> . x 10. (Right front leg.)

630

ASILIDdE

Thorax and legs black,
species.

One Mediterranean and one Persian

Eccoptopus.

26 (23) Small dark ashy grey flies.

Face shining black. One species only.

3. PtHADIURGUS.

27 (22) Abdomen with rather long fine outstanding pubescence.

Wings halved in contrasted colour (fig. 353). One species only
in Europe, very distinct from any other of the Asilince.

Fig. 353. — Pamponerus germanicus x 6.

4. Pamponerus.

28 (19) Abdomen with obvious bristles in a row against the hindmargin of

each of the four or five basal segments, even if only towards
the sides.

29 (30) Basal joint of anterior tarsi very short (fig. 354).

Fig. 354. — Echthistus cognatus <$. x 10.

Front femora beneath and middle femora anteriorly with strong
bristles. One well known and one doubtfully distinct European
species.

Echthistus.

30 (29) Basal joint of anterior tarsi not specially shortened.

Ovipositor knobbed, and with only dense soft pubescence beneath.
Legs black, with the tibiae red ; front femora without, and middle
femora anteriorly with very few, strong bristles.

Antipalus.

31 (18) Ovipositor laterally compressed.

32 (35) Thorax with the two rows of dorso-central bristles extending con¬

siderably in advance of the suture and sometimes with specially
long and dense pubescence on the middle stripe extending
forwards like a hog-mane to the front part.

Abdominal segments with conspicuous rows of prafiiindmarginal
bristles. Eighth ventral segment of the male simple even if with a
conspicuous hindmarginal fringe.

N.B. — The character of the bristly hairs on the fore part of the
middle stripe of the thorax is not always conclusive.

ASILIN/E

631

33 (34) Third antennal joint linear (fig. 355).

Basal joint of anterior tarsi rather shftrt. Face-beard extending
almost up to the antennae. Ovipositor long, narrow, and pointed,

Fig. 355. — Protophanes
punctipennis <J. x 22.

Fig. 356. — Dysmaclius
trigonus 3 • x 22.

with the end lamellae free. Legs usually with the front femora con¬
siderably reddish.

Pkotophanes.

34 (33) Third antennal joint of the usual long elliptical shape (fig 356).

Ovipositor (fig. 357) with the end lamellae wedged in almost as in
Eutolmm. Moclerate-sized or small species. Legs usually black, and at

Fig. 357. — Dysmachus trigonus ? . x 10.

most only the base of the tibiae inconspicuously reddish. A large genus
of which some species are not easily distinguished from Eutolmm.

5. Dysmachus.

35 (32) Thorax with only short bristly pubescence on the fore part of the

middle stripe and with the two rows of dorso-central bristles
not extending much in advance of the suture.

36 (37) End lamellae of the ovipositor rhomboidal or egg-shaped, driven

in like a wedge between the upper and lower points of the

upper piece of the ovipositor (fig. 358).

Male with the eighth ventral segment sometimes produced on the
hindmargin like a trowel or lappet. Legs frequently considerably red¬
dish on at least the tibiae, but not in the British species. Usually rather

632

ASILIM

large species. Some species are not easily distinguished from Dysmachus
in the female or from Machimus in the male. 6. EUTOLMUS.

37 (36) End lamellae of the ovipositor free, almost style-like in shape
(fig. 359).

Fig. 359. — Machimus rusticus $. x 10.

38 (39) Eighth ventral segment of the male produced on the hindmargin like
a spoon or trowel, or pronged or more or less widened (fig. 360).

Fig. 300. — Machimus atricapillus x 17.

ASILIN3E

633

Legs not mainly yellowish, with not even the tibiae mainly clear
reddish or orange. Abdomen not shining black dorsally or ventrally.
A large genus of which some males are not easily distinguished

from Eutolmus. _

7. Machimus.

39 (38) Eighth ventral segment of the male not produced or widened.

40 (41) Legs mainly shining yellow or orange, and with the ground colour

not obscured by dust.

Only two very distinct supra-alar bristles. About twenty species
known from South or Central Europe, but none from North Europe.

N.B.— If the tibiae only are conspicuously bright orange compare
Neoitamus and Paritamus.

Heligmoneura.

41 (40) Legs mainly black, or if yellow the ground colour always (except

the tibiae of Neoitamus and Paritamus ) obscured by dust and
consequently appearing dull.

42 (43) Abdomen shining black both dorsally and ventrally.

Face-knob large. A very distinct-looking species.

Stilpnogaster.

43 (42) Abdomen grey on both or at least one surface, and in no case

shining black.

44 (45) Yellowish grey or ashy grey flies. Legs striped or ringed with

dull orange and of a peculiar brownish grey appearance
(in one species nearly all blackish grey).

Never large species.

9. Epitriptus.

45 (44) Blackish grey flies. Legs black, but

sometimes with the tibiae more or
less orange.

46 (47) Dark thoracic stripes bare. Ovipositor

very long and apparently including
the sixth and seventh abdominal
segments.

Male with the sixth and seventh
abdominal segments shining. Tibiae con¬
spicuously bright orange.

8. Neoitamus.

47 (46) Dark thoracic stripes more or less

clothed with minute bristles. Ovi¬
positor not including the sixth and
seventh abdominal segments.

48 (49) Male genitalia conspicuously swollen.

bright orange.

Paritamus.

49 (48) Male genitalia not conspicuously swollen. Tibiie black, or when

pale colored not bright orange from the base to almost the tip.

Fig. 361. — Ommatius chinensis

6. X 24.

Tibiee conspicuously

634

ASILIM

50 (51) Facial knob large. Genitalia of the male when seen from above

not at all swollen but extending more or less to a point.

Legs mainly black but obscured by minute pale pubescence.
Ovipositor never very long. Third veinlet from the discal cell rather
upright ; small cross-vein absent.

Tolmerus.

51 (50) Facial knob small. Genitalia of the male when seen from above

more or less blunt.

Small species. Legs mainly or usually extensively black. Third
veinlet from the discal cell unusually sloping.

Cerdistus.

52 (1) Arista plumed (fig. 361). Ommatius.

Table of the British Species of ASILHSLE.

As the generic characters of the Asilince are difficult to follow and
the British species are often confounded by inexperienced students I
have attempted to give a “Table of Species” on more obvious even if
more superficial characters.

1 (2) Very large, yellow and black, hornet-like fly.

Wings obviously maculated on the hindmargin. Legs mainly
brownish red or orange.

As. crabroniformis.

2 (1) Large or moderate-sized flies of inconspicuous blackish or greyish

colour.

Wings never maculated, though with the outer half conspicuously
darkened in P. germanicus.

3 (4) Wings halved in colour (fig. 353), the base being whitish or hyaline

and the apex conspicuously (unless immature) darkened.

Large species. Tibiae reddish orange. Abdomen without any
bristles on the hindmargins of segments.

Pamp. germanicus.

4 (3) Wings without any contrasts in colour, though often with a vague

gloomy tint about the tip and hindmargin.

5 (12) Legs altogether blackish, or at most with just the base of the

tibise reddish.

6 (9) Tibiae black even at the extreme base.

Bather large species.

7 (8) Light grey species. Bristles mostly whitish, even on the legs and

scutellum.

Scutellum with only two bristles. Eighth ventral segment of the
male simple. Ovipositor with a circlet of spines (fig. 351).

Phil, albiceps.

8 (7) Brownish grey species. Bristles mostly black.

Scutellum with more than two (usually black) bristles. Eighth
ventral segment of the male with a produced densely bristly process.
Ovipositor without any spines and with the terminal lamellae wedged
in (fig. 358).

Eut. rvfbarbis.

asilin^

635

9 (6) ™" bS It " t£L> with four (or more) bristies _

, ■, (■ fi,p mid die line bears a crest of bristly

10 (11) Thorax^ ^ Abdomen with conspicuous rows of

whitish bristles all across the hmdmargms of segments.

Eighth ventral segment of the male simple. Moderately sma

species. Dysm. trigonus.

11 (10) Thorax without any conspicuous 1^1^®s on ^ ^“^hitish

Abdomen without conspicuous transvers

tel! Efchth ventral .segment of the male with a process and tuft of
bristles. Large species. Mach, rusticus.

12 (5) Legs with obvious orange or reddish markings on more than the

extreme base of the tibise.

i„ nn "FVymora more or less reddish, even the darkest specimens having

13 (l6) "ddirprteapical ring on the front and hind femora

Tibias with more or less distinct blackish streaks or patches.

U (15)

•with all hairs black. Bust es m Mach, atricapillus.

“ «“> ‘ —
pale hairs. Epitr. cingulatus.

■* '“> r-» t- £% ■- *

cyanurus and cothurnatus.

17 (18) Face shining black :<* ‘ Abdome„ without any hind-

Rather small blackish species. , i i
marginal bristles. Tibise often extensively Wadash.^^ variabilis.

18 (17) Face yellowish on the upper part ^ Qn the t]lorax

Rather large species, which have th d< n(\marginal bristles

* ** tiP-

10 (20) Sixth and seventh ahdomina,

segments of the male shining blue. Eeoit. cyanurus.

20 (19) Bristles of the legs to a large extent yelj^ of the male blackish
Tarsi obviously orange at the base, aix

near the tip. JSfcoit. cothurnatus.

. THI can * upon, oven tto — — ** ~ ^

636

AS1LIM

1. PHILONICUS

Philonicus Loew, Linn. Ent., iv., 144 (1849).

Rather large light grey flies, notable from their comparative
absence of pubescence and by the female having a circlet of
spines at the end of the ovipositor.

Head with but little pubescence on the frons or ocellar tubercle ; facial knob and
face-beard rather small, leaving' the upper half of the face bare ; festoon rather
inconspicuous though represented by distinct stiff bristles which do not (or scarcely)
curve over at their tips. Antennae normal ; style about as long as the third joint,
and with its basal joint short and inconspicuous.

Thorax with the usual stripes well defined, and with only very short bristly
pubescence on all the front part. Bristles normally two prsesutural, two supra-alar,
two postalar, and with the dorso-central rows dying down towards the hindmargin
and also dying out anteriorly about half-way between the suture and the front ;
metapleural and hypopleural fans distinct but with not very strong bristles.
Scutellum normally with only two marginal bristles.

Abdomen with but little long pubescence, but with long distinct prsehind marginal
bristles towards the sides ; eighth ventral segment of the male quite simple and not
very short. Genitalia of the male rather long but not at all clubbed, the forceps
being rather narrow and enclosing a wide space as the claspers are deeply cut back
after about half their length ; ovipositor long, conical at its extreme base but
strongly compressed laterally for the rest of its length, and with a terminal circlet of
stumpy but obvious spines (fig. 351).

Legs rather slender, and all black though somewhat obscured by closely adherent
short pale pubescence; the longer pubescence scarce, and the bristles practically
normal (including the terminal tibia! circlets) but few in number ; middle femora
with only one anterior bristle near the middle ; tarsal joints all normal in length.

Wings normal. Alar squamae with a rather dense marginal fringe.

This genus may be distinguished in the female sex from all other
British Asilince by the anal circlet of spines, and from Procta-
canthus and its allied genera by the absence of any recurrent veinlet or
even kink in the upper branch of the cubital fork and by the lower branch
of that fork ending after the wing-tip. The distinctive generic characters
of the male are not so easily defined ; our British genera, Asilus, Pam-
ponerus, and Bhcidiurgus have no prsehindmarginal bristles on the sides of
the abdominal segments, and moreover bear no resemblance to the light
grey Philonicus ; Pysmachus has long bristly pubescence right up to the
front part of the thorax ; Machimus and our species of Eutolmus have the
hindmargin of the eighth ventral segment produced into a lobe or pair
of prongs; Neoitamus and Ppitriptus have conspicuous yellow markings
on the legs.

Philonicus was originally founded upon the common and widely
distributed P. albiccps, of which the Mediterranean P. elutus may be only
a variety. P. dorsigcr Wied. and P. scaurus Walk, appear to have the
legs colored as in Tolmerus, while P. areolaris Bigot from Celebes is
probably a Pamponerus, but van der Wulp described two species from
South Asia (Celebes and Sumatra) which he considered to belong to this
genus.

1. P. albiceps Meigen. Light yellowish grey, with the usual darker
markings. Legs black. Scutellum with two pale marginal bristles.
Ovipositor with a circlet of short spines. (Eig. 345.)

1. PHILONICUS

637

A large yellowish ashy grey fly, resembling Machimus
rusticus and Eutolmus rufibarbis but lighter colored than any
British Asilid except the very distinct Dysmachus trigonus.

£ . Face broad, densely covered with whitish or pale yellowish grey tomentum ;
facial knob small ; face-beard long and drooping, whitish yellow or white but
with the uppermost (3-20) hairs black less drooping and more bristly ; upper
half of the face and sides of the knob bare ; chin-beard long, dense, and
white : jowl-beards rather shorter, dense, shaggy, hanging straight down, and
extending more sparsely nearly lialf-way up the back of the head • pubescence
above the middle of the back of the head pale yellowish, shorter and sparser
(though still abundant) ; festoon represented by about twelve stout yellow
bristles which are not quite close to the eyes but which extend all across
behind the vertex so that there is only a small gap at just the middle of the
postvertical depression, and even the uppermost bristles hardly bent forwards
at their tips ; vertex bare on the depressed channel between the eyes and on
the forks of this channel which extend down the sides of the ocellar space,
but the sides of the frons from the upper ocelli to the antennm bearing some
rather short black bristly hairs at first on the orbits only but lower down more
out on the frons itself ; frons greyish white, ocellar space bearing some black
bristly hairs, but many of the thinner hairs about and between the ocelli
whitish ; sometimes a few thin black hairs occur in front of the postvertical
bristles, and sometimes a few thin whitish hairs are intermingled amongst those
on the upper part of the sides of the frons ; back of the head lighter grey, with
an indefinite dark streak or blotch extending downwards from the postvertical
bristles along the space on which the festoon bristles occur ; actual back of
the head bearing fine whitish hairs ; collar yellowish grey, bearing on the
upper part six or more stoutish yellow bristles (though sometimes one or two
of the uppermost of these may be black) besides numerous fine pale hairs.
Proboscis shining black, rather long, and bearing short pale pubescence about
its tip and long rather sparse pale pubescence beneath on its basal half ; palpi
short and thin, bearing porrect pale hairs. Antennae dull black ; two basal
joints tinged with grey, and bearing numerous black bristles with sometimes a
few pale hairs intermixed on the underside of the basal joint ; third joint
hardly so long as the two basal joints together, minutely pubescent dorsally
just before its middle; style quite as long as the third joint, linear with a
very short thin tip.

Thorax yellowish ashy grey with the usual dark stripes well defined ;
middle stripe blackish, or (if brownish black) with its borders blackish (best
seen when viewed from in front or behind), broadened anteriorly but gradually
narrowed posteriorly quite to the hindmargin, and split by a lighter yellowish
grey line (which in its turn is sometimes forked quite in front) not quite to
the hindmargin ; side-stripes large and broad, greyish brown but well con¬
trasted against the yellowish grey ground colour, beginning about half-way
between the front and the suture, rather narrowly interrupted at the suture,
and continued afterwards as smaller parts which are rounded at both ends,
and followed by the usual more blackish brown awl-shaped (sometimes fainter
and curved) spots which do not nearly reach the hindmargin ; humeral stripes
represented by dark isolated triangular spots. Pubescence (as distinguished
from strong bristles) on the dorsum of the thorax composed of small sloping
black bristles over nearly all the disc, though sparse above the wing-base and
on and about the back part of the postalar calli and absent on the blackish
brown awl-shaped spots ; these small bristles are very short on the front half
but thence grow gradually longer towards the hindmargin, though they can
never be confused with the true bristles unless with the last one or two of
the dorso-central rows ; besides these bristles fine short pale brownish yellow
or whitish yellow inconspicuous pubescence occurs on the humeri, above the
wing-base, on and about the front part of the postalar calli, and in fact some¬
times scattered anywhere about the disc. Macrochretm or strong bristles
varying extremely in colour between black and white ; praesutural normally
two long and strong, sometimes both black, but sometimes the hind one or

63S

ASTLID,®

occasionally both, white, while sometimes a smaller third bristle occurs con¬
siderably in advance of the other two ; supra-alar two (2-3) long and some¬
times both black but both varying to white, and the second one (which is far
away from the wing-base) sometimes represented by two bristles close
together ; postalar two on the lower end of the callus, long and usually white
but each varying in colour, while sometimes a smaller white one occurs nearer
the base of the callus ; dorso-central (on the light grey stripes) about four
(2-5) postsutural of which the middle two are the strongest and the one
nearest the scutellum sometimes so weak as to be almost confused with the
liner pubescence, and four or five small praesutural which are obvious only
because they occur on the light grey stripes or otherwise they would almost
merge into the surrounding small black bristles. Pleurae yellowish grey but
with a large dark indefinite cloud on the middle part of the mesopleurae ;
pubescence rather abundant long and pale on the prothorax and on the space
between that and the front coxae and also on the upper part of the sterno-
pleurae, slight and inconspicuous on the upper part of the mesopleurae but
lorming a tuft at the back of the upper part of the ptero pleurae, while the
metapleural fan is composed of long strong bristly hairs and some finer hairs,
and the hypopleural fan and pubescence are similar but less dense. Scutellum
(when seen from behind) light ashy grey, bearing numerous very thin
yellowish white hairs with which black hairs are not uncommonly inter¬
mingled, and with two long rather thin (almost always) whitish upturned
marginal bristles ; metanotum ashy grey, bearing a patch of rather short
coarse brownish yellow pubescence about each hind corner.

Abdomen (when seen from above) pale yellowish grey with rather lighter
grey bare hindmargins of segments, or (when viewed from behind) blackish
brown or brown with the bare hindmargins conspicuously pale grey (almost
whitish) and the sidemargins less definitely so, but from all points of view
with the genitalia shining black. Pubescence on the dorsum short, depressed,
and pale yellowish, with sometimes a very few black hairs (of a similar
nature to the yellow ones) down just the middle line, but the pubescence at
the sides of the two basal segments (especially the first) is long and out¬
standing, and that across the prsehindmarginal crest of the basal segment is
but little shorter, while the third segment has a few similar outstanding pale
hairs at the sides, and the prsehindmarginal line on the second and third and
sometimes fourth segments bears a rather bristly fringe all across ; the outer
two or three hairs on each side of the fringe on the basal segment are strong
enough to be called bristles, while on the second segment there are about
three similar bristles on each side, and on the third segment about six which
die out into the prsehindmarginal fringe, and on the fourth segment also
about six which however merge still more into the fringe, until on the fifth
segment the side bristles become still less distinct, and on the sixth segment
any fringe is scarcely perceptible ; eighth segment very short, but distinct and
concolorous with the seventh. Belly of the same pale yellowish grey colour,
with long pale sparse pendent pubescence on the five basal segments ; hind-
margin of the fifth segment slightly dropped. Genitalia (including the
claspers) nearly as long as the sixth and seventh segments together, shining
black and not at all clubbed, all bearing conspicuous fairly long but not
dense pale yellow pubescence with a few inconspicuous black hairs inter¬
mixed on the basal part ; claspers (when seen from above) sloping inwards
and rather stout for about half their length, but then suddenly and deeply
cut back so that the end halves form a pair of rather narrow forceps which
enclose an almost circular open space, while the basal halves enclose an ovate
space ; when seen quite sideways the claspers show but little of the middle
enlargement and appear to be long and narrow with a rather bluntly
rounded end ; lower lamellae short, rather dusted outside near the base, and
with a pair of inconspicuous chestnut processes between them.

Legs black, but the minute recumbent yellowish or almost whitish
pubescence causes a greyish appearance, and reddish or greyish orange felt
covers the inner ( = posterior) apical half (or even the whole) of the hind tibiae
and the basal joint of the hind tarsi as well as the antero-ventral part of the
front tibiae and the basal joint of the front tarsi ; coxae grey or whitish grey
like the pleurae, with fairly conspicuous coarse but not dense almost whitish

1. PHILONICUS

639

drooping pubescence : there is no other pubescence on the legs except a few
long pendent whitish hairs beneath the front femora and a few as usual
beneath the front tibiae, but these latter hairs are inconspicuous and much
shorter than the postero-ventral bristles. Bristles on the front femora quite
absent on the underside, but about three postero-dorsal at and after the middle
and one small antero-dorsal near the tip ; front tibiae with about three or four
irregular small dorsal bristles, three or four irregular postero-dorsal, and the
usual three longer equidistant postero-ventral from the middle to the tip, and
with one rather long white spur-bristle in the same row ; tip of the front tibiae
with the usual circlet of spurs which vary very much in colour, as sometimes
only the long anterior one is black and sometimes only the posterior one
white ; front tarsi with the long posterior bristle near the base of the basal
joint whitish, and the bristles on the circlets at the tips of the three basal
joints often with the longer ones white and the rather shorter ones black or
sometimes with only the posterior bristle white, but with only black bristles
on the two last joints : middle femora with two or three small antero-ventral
bristles near the middle, one longer antero-dorsal (almost anterior) just after
the middle, while close to the tip are one small antero-dorsal and two small
Dostero-dorsal ; middle tibiae with two dorsal bristles (one at about half the
engtli and the other at about three-quarters), two small anterior bristles just
below the corresponding dorsal bristles, two longer ventral nearly opposite
the anterior ones, and two or three long postero-ventral, while the anterior spur-
bristle is long and black but the rest of the circlet small and white ; middle
tarsi with the circlets of bristles black except an anterior white bristle on each
of the first and second joints and sometimes some other white bristles ; hind
femora with two antero-dorsal bristles and two smaller anterior near the base
(but these four sometimes merging into one row), two small postero-dorsal
near the tip, three or four small antero-ventral, and one thin almost ventral
just before the middle with two or three long thin bristles or bristly hairs in
the same row but nearer the base ; hind tibiae with three conspicuous antero-
dorsal bristles (one at about a sixth the length, one at half, and one at
three-quarters), and three conspicuous postero-dorsal at almost the same level
but the first one usually a little further from the base, two or three less
conspicuous antero-ventral at and after the middle, and sometimes one small
postero-ventral near the base, and the apical circlet of spur-bristles usually
white but sometimes with two long ventral ones black ; hind tarsi with the
bristles usually all black, but sometimes one white antero-ventral one on each
of the first and second joints or even with three white ones on the basal joint.

Wings rather smoky with scarcely any gloominess ; veins dark brown but
more brownish orange towards the base. Squamae brownish orange, with the
margin yellow and bearing a long white rather conspicuous and abundant
fringe. Halteres brownish orange.

$. Very much like the male but easily distinguished by the ovipositor. Face
and f rons rather whiter ; frons and the underside of the basal joint of the
antennae in some specimens with no pale hairs intermixed with the black ones.

Thorax with the pubescence and bristles very variable in colour, as of two
specimens caught on the same day and place (Dyflxyn, July 21, 1888) one has
all the bristles black while the other has them all white except the front
praesutural, and at the same time this latter specimen has the short whitish
pubescence on the hinder part of the thorax more obscure than usual ; another
specimen caught on the same day has all the postsutural pubescence white ;
sometimes all the bristles on the thorax, even including the front praesutural,
are white. Scutellum usually as in the male, but in one specimen the long
marginal bristles are black.

Abdomen with the prsehindmarginal fringes becoming slighter on the later
segments ; eighth segment merged into the ovipositor ; ovipositor compressed
after the base, and with a circlet of rather short and stout but conspicuous
black bristles at the tip (fig. 351) (peculiar to this one of the British Asilinoe ),
of which usually about three belong to each lamella but sometimes four (or
even five, though then some are smaller) ; beneath this circlet are some more
inconspicuous shorter stout bristles, and the whole of the ovipositor bears
sparse short pale pubescence which becomes more abundant towards the tip.

Length about 1 5 mm. but varying from 1 2 to 1 7 mm.

640

ASILIDiE

This species varies a good deal in size and remarkably in the colour
of the bristles on especially the thorax and legs, as mentioned in the
previous description. Amongst British species it is liable to be con¬
founded with Eutolmus rujibarbis and Machimus rusticus, but the female
may be at once distinguished from both of them by the anal circlet of stiff
bristles ; the male may be known from Eutolmus rujibarbis by the absence
of any ventral process from the eighth abdominal segment, as well as by
the much more extensively white pubescence and bristles, while the male
of Machimus rusticus also has a ventral process from the eighth abdominal
segment, the base of the tibiae obviously (even if only to a small extent)
reddish, and the scutellar bristles more numerous. P. albiceps is also
altogether a lighter grey fly with the face and especially the face-beard
and the frons more whitish than in the others, while the fine pubescence
beneath the front tibiae is comparatively short and slight and consequently
inconspicuous. The very closely allied P. elutus from the Mediterranean
region may be a distinct species, as is noted in the synonymical note below.

P. alhiceus is an abundant species on sandy coasts, and I have
numerous records from Cornwall, North Devon, Dorset, and Hampshire
(Christchurch) to Aberlady in Haddington, and Irvine Moor in Ayrshire ;
Mr C. Morley states that it is very common on coast sands at Lowestoft
Denes and Felixstowe in August, and it is noteworthy that while I
caught immature Pamponerus r/ermanicus at Barmouth on June 10 and 11,
1887, and did not then find P. albiceps at all, on July 20 and 21, 1888, I
found P. albiceps in abundance but no P. germanicus. Colonel Yerbury
found it common at Waterville and Dooks (Glenbeigh) in Ireland on the
sand-hills, and I had an old record from South Tyrone. I believe it also
occurs inland on sand-hills and such-like localities. My records extend
from June 28 to September 18, and on the latter date in 1907 Colonel
Yerbury took a female at Aldeburgh which was feeding upon a female
Platychirus fidviventris. It is known to occur over Middle and Northern
Europe, but such localities as Portugal and Japan require testing as
against P. elutus. Specimens taken by the late Frederick Smith in North
Devon were preying upon Grasshoppers, while Colonel Yerbury records
that “A female taken at Dooks was preying on a Lucilia, but at
“ Waterville the usual quarry was Orygma luctuosum, though now and
“ again an Anthomyid was taken. On more than one occasion instances of
“ cannibalism were met with, and one (at any rate) of these was that of a
“ female preying on a female.”

Synonymy. — It is very probable that Moses Harris’ Asilus delector (1782) is this
species, but his description and figure are far too vague for positive identification.
Stephens considered Harris’ species (which he incorrectly called As. delecta) to be
probably the same as A. cristatus Meig., by which he undoubtedly meant Dysmachus
trigonus, but Harris’ species would be far too large for that as he says “ nine lines.”
P. elutus Loew has the face-beard all white (in a female from Kowarz’s collection) or
with perhaps one black hair (two females from Bigot’s collection), the frontal and
ocellar hairs all white except a few small black hairs close to the upper eye-angles ;
the thorax lighter grey than in P. albiceps with the side-stripes less separated from
the middle stripe, and with the tiny bristles conspicuously white all over the disc
even to the front part ; wings whiter, with the veins (in Bigot’s specimens but
hardly in Kowarz’s) to a large extent yellowish • squamae clearer yellow ; hal teres
clearer orange ; a male from Sicily which stood in Bigot’s collection under P. albiceps
is shorter and whiter, and has a more distinct dark dorsal stripe on the abdomen
with far more numerous tiny black bristles on it. Pandelle (Rev. d’Entom., xxiv.,

ASILUS (SENSU LATO NEC LATISSIMo)

641

90) considered P. elutus to be a variety of P. albiceps. T cannot help believing that
P. albiceps must be the species recorded by B. Cooke (Naturalist, v., 134) under the
name of A.forcipatus as common on the Cheshire coast, as he surely cannot have
overlooked so common a species.

ASILUS (sensu lato nec latissimo).

(Including Antiphrisson, Eccoptopus, Bhadiurgus, Pamponerus, Echthistus,
Antipalus, Lophonotus, Protophancs, Dysmachus, Eutolmus, Machimus,
Heligmoneura, Stilpnogaster, Epitriptus, Ncoitamus, Paritamus, Tol-
merus, and Cerdistus, but not including Promachus, Alcimus,
Philodicus , Proctacanthics, Polysarca, Apoclca, Polyphonius, or
Philonicus.)

Asilus Linn Syst. Nat. Ed. x., T. 1, 605 (1758); v. Hendel, Wien.
Ent. Zeit., xviii., Ill (1899).

Style bare, first joint much shorter than the second. Abdomen
narrow. Middle tibiae without any terminal hook-like thorn. Cubital
vein without any trace of a recurrent veinlet from its upper branch.
Ovipositor without any terminal circlet of spines.

Strongly bristled flies of very large to moderate size (never
really small), distinguished from the other Asilince by the
simple cubital fork, and middle tibiae and by the unarmed
ovipositor.

Head with a strong conspicuous face-beard which leaves at least some space
(usually about a third of the face) bare on the upper part as well as the sides ; this
face-beard may be composed of stiff bristles or soft hairs but is always well defined
and droops over the mouth-opening; face sometimes slightly narrower in the
male than in the female. Chin and jowls with long dense soft pubescence, while
similar pubescence extends some distance up the back of the head, but on the
upper part {\ to §) is the “festoon,” which is composed of a row of stiff bristles near
(but not quite close to) the eyes, and these bristles though sometimes comparatively
short and stumpy are more commonly long and have the upper ones bent forwards
at their tips in a peculiar manner (fig. 362). Frons almost equally wide in both
sexes, and deeply sunk between the eyes on at least the upper part or vertex,
bare on the channel between the tops of the eyes and on the two forks of that
channel which run down the sides of the ocellar space and also on the com¬
paratively large middle space between the ocellar space and the antennae, but some
small bristles begin on the orbits about level with the ocelli, and extend more
inwards away from the orbits on the lower part nearer the antennae ; collar
( = prothorax) conspicuous and always pubescent, and with a few strong bristles on its
upper part. Proboscis prominently produced, usually shining, and with short
pubescence about its tip and long straggly hairs beneath on its basal half. Eyes
bare, and with a bulging appearance caused by their protuberance from the sunken
vertex. Antennae porrect ; two basal joints comparatively short and always bearing
bristles ; third joint strap-shaped, and sometimes tapering, as long as the two basal
ones together, with a terminal thin style which is usually almost as long as the third
joint, and this style has a short basal joint and a thin pointed tip.

Thorax strongly built, rather contracted in front so that it stands well away
from the head. Pubescence (including short bristling) always extending over
almost all the disc and usually composed of short bristles, but thin (usually pale)
hairs exist inconspicuously along the sides, e.r/., on and about the humeri, over the
wing-base, on and about the postalar calli, and often between these parts and on
the hinder part of the thorax ; the usually short bristles generally increase in length

2 s

642

ASILIDiE

between the suture and the hindmargin but can seldom be confounded with the
strong bristles (macrochaetae), and in some cases ( Dysmachus and Lophonotus) the
small bristles on the middle line may be as long as the macrochgetae even to the
front part of the disc. Bristles (macroch setae) following very similar arrangements
in all the species though varying in numbers ; praesutural usually consisting of
two strong ones, though sometimes (Epitriptus) there may be only one strong one,
while in other cases ( Pamponerus , Asilus , Dysmachus, etc.), there may be five or
six, and often when there are only two strong ones there may be one or more
weaker ones in advance (nearer the foremargin of the thorax) ; supra-alar (as
distinguished from the “ postalar ” which are placed on the postalar callus) usually
about three distinctly supra-alar, but varying from two to five or six and sometimes
these bristles are placed so far from the wing-base as to appear intra-alar {Asilus,
etc.), or the supra-alar bristles may form a sort of row which may extend almost
intra-alarly (. Pamponerus ) ; postalar usually about two strong ones but varying from
one to six, with some additional weaker bristles usually present ; dorso-central in
two well defined rows but varying in numbers, extent, and strength, as they often
die down towards the hindmargin so much that they may be lost in the ordinary
pubescence, while often they may not extend forwards in front of the suture ( Asilus )
or they may extend as far as the front of the thorax though then they are hardly dis¬
tinguishable from the long dense bristly pubescence on the middle line. Pleurae with
only moderate and usually inconspicuous pubescence except for the metapleural
and hypopleural fans, both of which are always obvious, though the metapleural
fan may be composed of long hairs of any degree of strength from soft hairs to stiff
bristles, while the hypopleural fan usually has its two or three uppermost hairs
or bristles even stronger than those on the metapleurae but the subsequent hairs
or bristles weaker ; some soft fine pubescence always exists on the prothorax and
on the space between that and the front coxae, while at least traces of fine
pubescence occur on the upper and hind parts of the mesopleurae, on the ptero-
pleurae (generally rather more bristly), and on the upper part of the sternopleune,
besides some fine hairs about the metapleural and hypopleural fans. Scutellum
usually with fine pubescence on the disc, but sometimes this pubescence is repre¬
sented by tiny bristles {Asilus), and always with some long upturned marginal
hairs or bristles. The colour of the bristles (both small and large) affords some
valuable specific distinctions but yet is liable to variation within certain limits,
and must therefore be accepted with doubt when applied to individual bristles.

The markings of the thorax are generally persistent in each species, but not so
invariably as to provide good specific distinctions in all cases, yet they are so charac¬
teristic in some species that they give important means of identification. The most
conspicuous marking is as a rule the middle stripe, which begins rather widely
quite anteriorly but narrows posteriorly in most species and as a rule does not quite
extend to the hindmargin or is carried on only as a narrowing stripe or spot ; this
middle stripe is usually split (at least in front) by a pale line which is called the
middle line. Next to the middle stripe come the (usually distinct) side stripes,
which however are sometimes entirely absent ; when present and complete each
stripe is composed of three parts, of which the front part is praesutural but does
not extend to the front of the disc, and the middle part is postsutural being separated
from the front part by a sloping pale line which follows the suture, while the third
part is an awl-shaped spot rather close to the middle stripe and pointing towards
though not reaching the hindmargin. There is also usually a dark humeral stripe
on each side which slopes from the humeral region and may curve round towards
the front end of the side-stripe or may extend down alongside the middle stripe.
The thoracic markings will be found to vary in colour and shape according to the
light and the direction from which they are viewed, and consequently it is necessary
when describing these markings to indicate the point of view ; the usual point of
view accepted for producing the most sharply defined markings is obtained by
looking down on the specimen held perpendicularly with its head farthest away
and with the light shining from in front.

Abdomen rather long and narrow, without any conspicuous lateral tufts of
pubescence ; usually with but little pubescence and consequently very different
from the humble bee-like Laphrince, but with exceptions ; the actual liindmargins
of the segments (especially the second segment) usually have a more or less narrow
bare hem ; eighth segment often dorsally or entirely concealed in the male, and
often providing valuable distinctive characters in the form of its ventral hind-

ASILUS (sENSU LATO NEC LATISSIMo)

643

margin as mentioned later on in the characters of the belly, while in the female it
forms part of the ovipositor. Bristles often entirely absent, but a row of bristles
or strong bristly hairs frequently occurs close to the hindmargins of the segments
or may be limited to the sides of these praehindmarginal rows, or be limited to
the sides of the praffiindmarginal rows on the basal segments only ; when the bare
hindmarginal hems are wide or obvious these bristles are ranged in a row close
to the bare hindmargin ; no other bristles occur upon any other part of the dorsal
surface of the abdomen. Belly often with long pendent sparse fine pubescence on
at least the basal segments, and sometimes with minute bristly pubescence on the
end segments ( Asilus ), and sometimes with a few bristles just before some of the
hindmargins in the male, while the shape of the hindmargin of the eighth segment
in the male often gives strong characters and indicates close relationships, as it is
sometimes quite straight, sometimes more or less widened, and sometimes produced
into a spoon or trowel-like projection upon which considerable bristly pubescence
may exist ; the hindmargins of other ventral segments are sometimes more or less
dropped from the ventral line. Genitalia of the male conforming to one main type,
though with manifold variations in the form and size of the various parts. There are
two pairs of lateral lamelke, and one basal ventral process near or enclosing the
penis ; the upper and larger pair of lamellae are called the “ claspers,” and the
different forms of their upper, under, and especially inner, sides, afford valuable
specific (and perhaps generic) characters. The claspers commonly have a more or
less conspicuous dentation on their inner side about their middle, so that when placed
in such a position that their points meet they enclose (on the end half) a more or
less oval or circular space and this part of the claspers is called the “ forceps ” ; the
claspers also before this dentation usually enclose a small oval space, but when
there is no middle dentation the two arms of the claspers would together form the
forceps. The lower and smaller pair of lamellae lie under the basal part of the
claspers and are merely called the “lower lamellae”; they either lie against the
arms of, or push their curved tips up between, the claspers, and as their shape does
not seem to vary much they are not of so much value for distinctive purposes. The
basal ventral process may be called the “ middle piece,” and is a small narrow strap¬
shaped lamella, which lies between the claspers in a more or less sloping position
and usually bears a moderate pale pubescence, but as its form seems to afford but
few obviously distinctive characters it has been but little referred to. The penis
can seldom be examined without softening and opening the genitalia, but forms
a three-pronged fork in which the prongs vary specifically both absolutely and
relatively, while sometimes its length and direction are obvious enough to notice.
The genitalia of the female are composed mainly of the ovipositor which is formed
out of the eighth and ninth abdominal segments and is ended by two small lamelke
which extend out (generally) from the tip of the ninth segment. The simplest and
most typical form shows a conical two-jointed ovipositor with two lamellae projecting
from its tip, but as the parts are usually distinctly modified this simplest form
occurs but seldom ; the terminal lamellae are usually crooked, and occasionally
are of considerable size and bent downwards ( Antipalm ), in which case the eighth
abdominal segment does not form part of the ovipositor. The ninth segment is
often emarginate or notched at its end, and both the eighth and ninth segments
(like the previous ones) are divided into an upper and an under half -segment ; as a
rule the upper half of each segment is distinctly separated, but the segments of the
under half are usually indistinct ; in many species the under half of the eighth
segment is very much enlarged, especially in those females which have the ovipositor
strongly compressed and of the well-known triangular or sabre-shaped figure.
It is usually not difficult to distinguish the two separated upper pieces, the terminal
lamellae, and the single under-piece, of which the end part is usually characterised by
peculiar sculpture and sometimes by strongly characteristic pubescence. When the
upper part of the ninth segment is notched on the hindmargin (fig. 358) the terminal
lamellce are wedged in this notch. The shape, comparative size, and sculpture of
all these parts of the female genitalia deserve the closest examination as they provide
very positive distinctions. The ovipositor when compressed is often formed of not
only the eighth and ninth segments, but also of the seventh, or even of the sixth
and seventh segments ( Xeoitamus ).

The markings of the abdomen are usually less distinct and less characteristic
than those of the thorax, and are also difficidt to describe because they vary so much
according to the point of view ; the contrast in different lights is so great that those

644

ASILIM

parts which appear the lightest when viewed from in front appear the darkest
when viewed from behind and vice versa ; as a rule the most definite markings are
seen when the specimen is viewed from behind ; sloping lights also give different
patterns of colour. Each segment has a skin-like bare hem on its hindmargin which
is the membrane uniting it with the next segment.

Legs strong, and normally provided with strong bristles which are probably
useful in catching and holding prey. The tibiae always bear rows of bristles and
a circlet of bristles at the tip, while each of the four basal joints of the tarsi is pro¬
vided with an apical circlet ; other bristles also occur on the basal joints of the tarsi
away from the tips, while the femora usually bear scattered bristles. Besides the
bristles there is often considerable long soft pubescence behind and beneath the
anterior femora and to a smaller extent on the hind femora. Another form of
clothing exists in the minute adpressed short usually whitish hairs which cover
almost all parts of the legs, and which may even modify the ground colour, and
dense orange or reddish felt covers considerable spaces on the inside of the front
and hind tibiae and on the soles of the tarsi. Some long thin postero-ventral bristles
always occur on the front tibiae. The bristles are by no means invariable in position
or colour, but yet in conjunction with the long bristly hairs they afford useful
specific characters.

Wings usually conforming to one type of coloring, and only distinguished notably
amongst British species in Asilus crabroniformis and Pamponerus germanicus ; there
is however a peculiar but indistinctly margined grey clouding or gloominess on the
outer part of the wing which may afford specific distinctions, as its extent may vary
in its limitations to grey kernels in the cells or to its leaving the veins with hyaline
borders or to its greater connection between the posterior cells and the wingmargin.
The intensity of brownish coloring about the veins may vary within the limits of
individual species according to the age of the specimen, and the general tint of the
wing may vary according to the colour and nature of the earth upon which the
specimens exist. Small distinctions may occur in the venation, in the shape of the
cubital fork, and especially in the presence or absence of the small cross-vein, but
this latter character must always be accepted with doubt in this genus because
individual specimens may differ, as in all cases the cross-vein if present is very short
and if absent the upper branch of the postical vein only touches the lower margin of
the discal cell for a short space.

The characters now given for the extended genus are partly original
but mainly adopted from Loew’s article in the Linncea Entomologica.

2. ASILUS (sensu strietissimo).

Asilus Linne, Syst. Nat., Ed. x., T. 1., 605 (1758) pt.

Asilus ( sensu strietissimo ) Loew, Linn. Ent., iv., 132 (1849).

Large or very large brightly colored flies ; wings orange
with brownish markings at the tip and spots or markings
near the hindmargin.

Face broad ; facial knob forming only a rounded projection, and the unicolorous
bristly face-beard leaving the upper half of the face bare ; face-beard not connected
with the jowl-beard ; festoon composed of only short hardly curved bristles.
Proboscis long and pointed. Antennae with only short inconspicuous bristles on
the two basal joints.

Thorax rather fiat, with the usual dark stripes rather faintly defined. Pubescence
composed of minute bristles all over the disc except on a narrow middle line, and
these minute bristles are strongly contrasted with the strong bristles. Bristles not
long or strong but conspicuous ; 2-3 praesutural, 3-4 supra-alar or almost intra-alar,
3-5 postalar, 4-6 dorso-central all postsutural ; metapleural fan composed of about
six long bristles or bristly hairs, and the liypopleural fan of about four stiff hairs.
Scutellum with short bristly pubescence on the disc except down a middle stripe,
and with 2-6 curved marginal bristles which are neither stout nor strong.

2. ASILUS (SENSU STRICTISSIMo)

645

Abdomen long and curved, conspicuously black or partly orange ; eighth segment
concealed dorsally, but short and simple ventrally. Pubescence mainly composed of
minute bristles, but with longer tufts at the sides of the basal segments (occurring
on the second segment about the middle of the sidemargins) ; no hindmarginal
bristles. Belly with minute bristles, besides the pendent long hairs on the basal
segments. Genitalia rather small ; claspers moderately dentate after the middle on
the inner side ; ovipositor conical and pointed, not at all compressed laterally nor
with any terminal circlet of spines.

Legs strong, mainly orange ; tarsal joints neither unusually long nor short.
Pubescence slight, and the usual strong bristles rather numerous but comparatively
short.

Wings with a brownish orange tint, and with conspicuous brownish apical and
hindmarginal spots or dashes ; cubital fork with a very slightly bell-shaped opening ;
third veinlet from the discal cell curved round to the upper branch of the postical
vein (fig. 339). Squamae (alar) with a single fringe on the upper part of the margin
but a dense outspread pubescence on the lower part.

This genus is very distinct from any other European one, but such
a vast number of species have been described under the term Asilus that
it is not easy at present to define its limits. It needs no comparison with
any other Palsearctic genus.

Asilus in its most limited restriction includes in Europe only two
well known species, of which one (A. barbarus ) is confined to the Medi¬
terranean district, but a considerable number of species are recorded
(perhaps not truly congeneric) from North America and South Asia.

Synonymy. — Linne’s conception for this genus in his Systema Naturae, Ed. x.,
605 (1758) included twelve species of which six are recognised as well-known species
of the Asilidce, and three others are believed to be true Asilidce ; his first species
A. maurus has not been recognised, but as he compared it with A. crabroniformis
the latter may well be considered the type of the genus.

1. A. crabroniformis Linne. Abdomen basally black but orange after
the third segment.

A large handsome fly with a light brown thorax, black
basal half and orange apical half to the abdomen, and macu¬
lated hindmargin to the wings.

S . Head nearly as broad as the thorax and more than twice as broad as long ;
frons near the antennae when seen from above not sunk between the eyes.
Face broad (one-third the width of the head) and very little wider at the
mouth than at the antennae, but the frons slightly widening out just above the
antennae though very slightly contracting again towards the vertex ; face and
frons covered with golden tomentum ; lower half of the face down to the
upper mouth-edge produced into a rounded projection which can hardly be
called a facial knob, and on this projection with a long strong drooping
face-beard composed of bristle-like yellow or deep orange hairs, and these
hairs extend down the sides of the mouth for more than half-way to the lower
mouth-angle, but the upper half of the face and the lateral thirds are bare ;
after the face-beard ceases there is a bare rather blackish interval before the
commencement of the long dense pale yellow pubescence which occurs on
the back of the head and round under the chin ; this pale yellow pubescence
is long for about one-third the way up the back of the head, but after that
becomes shorter (though still long) and extends as almost a single-line bristly
festoon quite up to the vertex, but is all the way well set back from the eyes
by the intervening broad orange eyemargin, though on the eyemargin itself
some shortish inconspicuous yellow pubescence exists close to the bristly
fringe ; near the vertex this festoon widens out into three or four bristles
wide and the bristles on the front part usually curve a little forwards at their

646

ASIL1D.E

tips towards the upper eye-angles, but the postvertical channel is bare and
causes an interruption ; the hairs of the fringe on the upper half of the head
are really bristles as they are stout and strong, but they are hardly long
enough or curve over enough to call them a festoon ; actual back of the head
all orange and bearing some pale pubescence on its upper part ; frons bare on
the middle and all above the ocelli, but some small yellow bristles occur
on the sides level with the ocelli, and soon after the lower ocellus some
stronger yellow bristles occur on the sides in about three in-egular rows, and
these bristles slope very much forwards and continue until level with the
upper part of the antennae, but the wide middle part of the frons between the
ocelli and the antennae is bare, and the somewhat diamond-shaped depression
extending across just above the antennae is black; ocellar space not much
elevated, bearing a few small orange bristles of which occasionally the upper
pair are black. Proboscis long, shining black, with the basal half on the
underside reddish and with some short weak obscurely yellowish pubescence
about the tip and some long pale yellow hairs beneath near the base ; palpi
short (not a quarter the length of the proboscis), thin, and brownish orange, and
bearing mixed black and orange rather porrected bristly hairs. Collar
brownish orange, with abundant yellow pubescence and with about four incon¬
spicuous yellow bristles on the upper part. Antennae (fig. 340) with the two
basal joints reddish orange but with the third joint black ; basal joint bearing
short adpressed bristles which are mainly orange on the upper part but more
or less black beneath ; second joint with only very short inconspicuous orange
bristles ; third joint elongate strap-shaped but attenuated towards its tip,
four or five times longer than broad ; style black, thin but not hair-like, about
half as long as the third joint and turned outwards.

Thorax brownish orange with faint slightly browner broad nearly coal¬
escing stripes on the hinder two-thirds, but with the middle stripe continued
as a split blackish brown stripe right up to the front part and widened there ;
the brownish orange line which splits the middle stripe is continued faintly
quite through to the hindmargin ; back part of the humeri usually bright
chestnut. Pubescence composed of minute bristles all over the disc except on
the narrow brownish orange middle line, and these bristles are black on the
disc but yellow on the sides and turn to rather longer thinner hair-like
pubescence on the humeri and just above the wing-base and on the base of
the postalar calli. Bristles not very long or strong but very conspicuous,
because there are no long bristly hairs near them and because they are bright
whitish yellow in contrast to the brownish orange ground colour ; usually two
(2-3) prmsutural, three or four supra-alar almost intra-alar, three or more (3-5)
postalar, and from four to six (often not symmetrical) dorso-central which are
all well after the suture. Pleurae with the ground colour obscured by reddish
orange dust ; prothorax and part of the space below (near the front coxae)
with abundant rather long pale yellow pubescence ; mesopleurse with whitish
hairs about the hind top corner and some indistinct black bristly hairs about
the front top corner and down the hindmargin mixed with some whitish
yellow hairs ; sternopleurae with several black hairs on the upper back part ;
pteropleurre with some long yellow bristly hairs on the middle of the upper
part ; metapleurae with a fan of about six long bristly hairs or bristles and
numerous shorter hairs, varying in colour from all black to sometimes all
yellow or sometimes partly black and partly yellow ; hypopleune with an
imperfect fan composed of about four long bristly hairs (of which the top one
or two may be yellow). Scutellum brownish black, but in some lights obscured
by reddish orange dust, and bearing numerous short black bristles except down
a rather broad middle stripe, and with about four (2-6) upturned curved
yellow marginal bristles which are rather long but not stout or strong;
metanotum shining black, with the humps at its sides brownish orange and
bearing at their lower back part some very dense brush-like rather short black
bristly pubescence.

Abdomen long, not quite so broad as the thorax but one and a half times
as long as the head and thorax together, with the three basal segments dull
deep black and the next four bright orange or occasionally reddish orange
with blackish reflections on the sides when seen from above; eighth segment
not visible dorsally ; second segment with elongate dull whitish (in some

2. ASILUS (sensu strictissimo)

647

lights glistening) quite bare hind corners ; third segment often with a dark
orange rather narrow bare hindmargin which becomes rather whitish at the
extreme hind corners, and sometimes with the extreme front corners reddish.
Pubescence mainly minute and formed of tiny bristles which follow the
ground colour and which give a glistening appearance to the orange segments ;
basal segment with a rather large tuft of hairs on each side which is rather
long and yellow on the lower part but shorter and black at the extreme front
corner ; second segment with a tuft of hairs on about the middle of each
sidemargin, which is usually nearly all black but with the innermost hairs
(those towards the disc) yellowish (at least at their tips) and with these longer
hairs curled back, but sometimes the yellow hairs predominate ; third segment
with a shorter tuft of black hairs on each sidemargin ; fourth segment with
short black bristles on the extreme sidemargins and these bristles becoming
rather longer close to and at the hindmarginal corners ; all the other
pubescence is minute and even the fringes at or near the hindmargins are
scarcely perceptible ; the hindmarginal hems

segments only. Belly reddish brown or darker
but rather
being visib
second anc

are bare on the four basal
on the three basal segments,
paler on the fourth and orange on the last four, the eighth segment
e ventrally even though short ; hindmarginal hems bare, but the
third (and to a small extent the fourth) segments with some
outspread longish pale hairs, though not on the middle part, as on the middle
part of the second segment there are a few short inconspicuous black bristles,
while on the third segment there are still more numerous similar bristles
Avhich grow longer against the bare hindmarginal hem, and on the fourth
segment these little black bristles occupy most of the disc but leave some of
the longer pale hairs and some (about four) rather long bristly yellow hairs
towards each side of the hindmargin ; fifth segment with all tiny black bristles
except for numerous inconspicuous yellow bristly hairs which occur near the
hind corners or all along the hindmargin ; sixth, seventh, and eighth segments
with tiny all yellow bristles which form slight fringes along the hindmargins ;
ventral hindmargins of the fifth and sixth segments a little dropped.
Genitalia comparatively small ; claspers long, tapering towards the tip but
with a rounded tip, and (when seen from above) dilated about the middle part
so that when closed they include a short ovate basal space (from which the
narrow pubescent brown middle piece stands up) and after the swelling a
smaller narrower ovate space, but the basal ovate space has more shelving
margins ; the claspers are reddish brown and bear short pale yellow
pubescence which becomes rather bristly beneath the tip ; under lamellae
reddish brown, rather small, upturned between the basal part of the claspers,
and bearing bristly yellow pubescence ; basal under plate brownish black with
some short golden hairs, and all the middle part when seen from below
reddish brown.

Legs brownish red, with a blackish tinge on the femora, and the tibiae
brownish orange with a blackish tinge outside the hind pair and sometimes a
blackish tinge inside the middle pair, and the tarsi dull orange with occasionally
the upper side of the basal joint of the hind pair darkened ; coxae dusted
brownish orange. Pubescence on the front coxae abundant, long, drooping and
yellow on all the front part, with the hairs of stout texture ; and on the middle
coxae similar but the stout yellow hairs more confined to the apical part, while
just before them on the outside are a few shorter hairs (which may be either
orange or black) and outside on the disc nearer the base are two long yelloAV
bristles, and on quite the back part are a few stout black bristles ; the hind
coxae bear round the tip a few black bristles and one orange one, and a feAv long
bristly black hairs outside amongst Avhich is a longer stouter orange bristle or
tAvo on the middle of the disc ; trochanters all polished chestnut, bare except
for a little yelloAV pubescence on the front of the middle pair, and some
minute golden hairs and about three long orange bristles on the dusted hind
part of the hind pair. Bristles on the front femora consisting of three orange
postero-dorsal placed Avell apart on about the apical half, and a row of about
four stout and five or six Aveak (hair-like) black bristles on the underside ;
front tibiae with three long postero-ventral, of which the uppermost is near
the middle, and about five short yellow dorsal which require the help of a
feAv irregular rather antero-dorsal small yellow bristles to complete the upper

648

asilim;

end of the row, and with a little long pubescence beneath, and the apical circlet
yellow ; front tarsi with the usual bristles all strong and yellow, but with
the plantar ones black and with those at the end of the fifth joint hardly
divergent ; middle femora with two anterior bristles (one before and one
after the middle), about four antero-ventral near the middle, about ten very
small bristles beneath, and one or two inconspicuous orange postero-dorsal
subapical, while the minute pubescence is adpressed and mainly black but is
golden on the upper part ; middle tibiae with only short orange bristles, two
antero-dorsal, three postero-dorsal, four or five antero-ventral, and two or
three postero-ventral, and with the apical circlet short ; middle tarsi with black
plantar bristles beneath each joint besides the longer orange bristles, and with
the minute adpressed pubescence orange but becoming slightly longer and
more erect on the underside ; hind femora with about three (3-5) antero-
dorsal bristles of which one or two rather near the base may be either black or
orange, one just after the middle black or orange, and one or two nearer the
tip orange with the last one longer, rather numerous antero-ventral bristles,
about four ventral, and the usual subapical ; hind tibiae with one bristle near
the base just antero-dorsal, two quite antero-dorsal (one at the middle and one
at three-quarters), four or five antero-ventral of which two or three are after the
middle, one just postero-dorsal at one-third the length, and with the apical
circlet very short on the upper side ; hind tarsi with a few black plantar
bristles, and with black or orange bristles at the tips of the joints. Pul villi
long and almost oblong, dull orange ; empodium represented by a long orange
bristle ; anterior claws very long and thin, nearly straight for two-thirds of their
length but then sharply curved, orange about the base but becoming black
on at least the apical half, hind claws more evenly curved.

Wings with a brownish yellow tinge and with conspicuous brownish
kernels to all the submarginal and posterior cells, of which the one in the
first posterior cell forms a long unequal stripe • discal cell with a small
brownish isolated spot near the end of the cell ; axillary cell with a rather
large spot which extends to the wingmargin but not to the anal vein ; fork of
the cubital vein not so much bell-shaped as usual because the branches run
nearly parallel and do not conspicuously diverge at the wingmargin ; third
veinlet from the discal cell curving round into the upper branch of the postical
vein. Squamae (alar) small, brownish orange, with a long single fringe on the
outer part, but with a dense brush-like outspread brownish yellow pubescence
on the broad lower margin ; thoracal squamae quite absent, though a peculiar
brilliantly shining knob is visible on each side near where the base of each
should be. Halteres orange, with blackish knobs.

$ . Very much like the male. Thorax sometimes with the stripes rather darker
and the pale line dividing the middle stripe more conspicuous.

Abdomen tapering from the fourth to the seventh segment (inclusive), but
those segments not decreasing in length ; eighth segment very short and
(being shining black) appearing to form part of the ovipositor and bearing
numerous short rigid black bristles, though sometimes with a narrow greyish
hindmargin ; sometimes the tufts on the sides of the second segment are all
black haired. Belly with erect short stiff black hairs on the apical half of the
seventh segment, and with the short stiff black hairs on the sixth and fifth
and even fourth segments more conspicuous than in the male. Ovipositor
shining black (or with lurid red reflections), forming a long sharp triangle
nearly twice as long as its base is broad and distinctly longer than the seventh
abdominal segment, not at all compressed and bearing no apical circlet of
bristles but with very short erect sparse black hairs ; terminal lamellae very
short and bearing short pale pubescence. Sometimes the sides of the orange
part of the abdomen show blackish reflections (when viewed from above) as
in the male.

Legs with rather more numerous bristles ; front femora with four or five
postero-dorsal, and seven or eight black ventral bristles on the basal
half, while the postero-ventral long bristles or hairs seem to be longer and
stronger • posterior femora with more numerous (about 14) black bristles
beneath in two irregular rows which do not nearly extend to the tip.

Length about 24 mm.

3. RHADIURGUS

649

This species is one of our largest and handsomest British flies, and lias
no ally in Europe except the Mediterranean A. barbarus.

A. crabroniformis is much more common in the southern part of
England than is commonly imagined. It may seem strange but it is
nevertheless true that so large and conspicuous an insect is not easily
seen ; on commons or pastures it flits from bare patch to bare patch
without waiting to be closely approached and harmonises very much
with the ground upon which it rests. I have records from Cornwall
(The Lizard and St Ives), Devonshire (Plymouth, Holne, and Tor Cross),
Dorset (Canford Common, Swanage), Hampshire (Lyndhurst, Bourne¬
mouth, and Freshwater in the Isle of Wight), Sussex (Eastbourne, Lewes,
etc.), Suffolk (Newmarket, where it used to occur in a pasture which is now
part of my garden,* Fritton, Tostock, Assington Thicks, and Bentley
Woods), Berkshire (Tubney), Oxfordshire (Shotover, etc.), the neighborhood
of Bristol, and according to B. Cooke the Cheshire coast, while in many
of these localities it is comparatively common. It preys on remarkably
large insects, as I saw it feeding on Sericomyia borealis and on a very
large Sarcophaga carnaria on Canford Common in August 1904. My
dates make it out to be a rather late species as they extend from July
18 to September 30. It is recorded from all Europe and the greater
part of Asia, while Walker (probably incorrectly) recorded it from
Australia (List. Dipt. Brit. Mus. Suppl. 680) though a specimen from Bigot’s
collection is labelled “ New Holland.”

3. RHADIURGUS.

Rliadiurgus Loew, Linn. Ent., iv., 133 (1849).

Greyish black flies of rather small size, distinguished from
all other European Asilince by the shining black face.

Face shining black, with whitish eyemargins and with whitish tomentum on
the facial knob ; facial knob large and well defined ; face-beard bristly ; postocular
festoon well developed, but the stout bristles not long and not much bent forwards
at the tip ; frons at the vertical part rather deeply sunk between the eyes and the
ocellar knob correspondingly elevated, moderately wide but not widening out at
all at the upper eye-angles. Antennal style long and rather thin.

Thorax with the ordinary short pubescence all well distinguished from the long
bristles ; dorso-central rows of bristles ending anteriorly abruptly just in front of the
suture ; metapleural and hypopleural fans fairly distinct. Scutellum clothed with
inconspicuous soft upturned pubescence, and with from two to four upturned
marginal bristles.

Abdomen rather flat, unusually bare and without any bristles against the hind-
margins except a few indistinct ones near the sides of the basal segment ; eighth
segment of the male concealed dorsally, but short and simple ventrally, concolorous
with the preceding segment. Genitalia of the male long but not knobbed ; claspers
with a large strong tooth on the inner side ; penis most unusually long ; ovipositor
short, blunt, and conical or rather depressed, but in no way laterally compressed,
ending in a pair of ovate lamelke and without any terminal circlet of spines ; eighth
abdominal segment of the female depressed and appearing to form the base of the
ovipositor.

Wings normal. Alar squamae with only moderate fringes.

Legs moderate in shape and length, black with the tibiae and tarsi partly
dull red.

A specimen was seen on September 3, 190S, after a lapse of about twenty-eight years.

650

ASILID.E

This genus was suggested by Loew in 1849 for a single North European
species and consequently the limits of the generic characters are rather
uncertain. The conical, by no means laterally compressed, ovipositor and
the absence of any hindmarginal bristles on the abdominal segments seem
to ally it to Pamponerus or Asilus, but its small size and dark coloring
differentiate it strongly from them; the shining black face distinguishes
it from any other European species of the Asilince, while Phttonicus,
Dysmachus, Eutolmus, and Machirrms of the British genera all possess
obvious hindmarginal bristles on at least the sides of the abdominal
segments, and if any doubt should arise about Neoitamus that genus may
be known by the mainly bright orange tibiae and bare dark thoracic stripes,
while Epitriptus has conspicuous irregular orange markings on the legs
and is a yellowish grey species ; Neoitamus and Epitriptus are easily dis¬
tinguished in the female sex by the compressed ovipositor.

Synonymy. — Although two or more species have been described since its
establishment as belonging to this genus I am unable to give any further
particulars about it, and no suggestion has ever been made for its submergence
into any of the allied- genera (or subgenera). R. leucopogon Williston from North
America cannot possibly (according to its description) belong to it, but there is
a reported South Asiatic species.

1. R. variabilis Zetterstedt. Face shining black. Legs black, with
the tibiae and tarsi partly dull red.

A rather small blackish species, with the face and frons
shining black and the legs partly dull reddish.

d. Face shining black on the bare upper third, but with distinct yellowish
white tomentum on the upper two-thirds of the rather well defined eye-
margins, and in some lights with comparatively sparse whitish tomentum
extending over the face-knob ; face-knob of medium size but well elevated
and bearing the face-beard which is mainly black but whitish below on the
middle part only, as the black bristly hairs extend down outside the whitish
hairs and along the sides of the mouth ; chin and jowl beards long and snowy
white ; back of the head with rather long whitish sparse pubescence and with
a postocular festoon on the upper third of about ten (8-12) stout black bristles,
which dip away from the vertex, and of which only a few bend over forwards
at the tip ; frons moderately shining black, but with a little ferruginous or
grey dust about the sides, deeply sunk between the eyes and with the ocellar
knob correspondingly elevated, hardly widening out at the upper eye-angles ;
bristles on the ocellar knob and on the sides of the frons black, moderate in
length and rather thin. Proboscis shining black, nearly horizontal, and bearing
the usual short pale pubescence at the tip and the usual long hairs beneath
on the basal half ; palpi short, black, and bearing black bristles. Antennae
normal in shape ; two basal joints with the usual short black bristles (longest
on the underside of the basal joint) ; style with an obvious short basal joint,
not quite so long as the third joint and scarcely placed at an angle to it.

Thorax dark ashy grey ; middle stripe distinct, rather broadened anteriorly
but contracted after the suture until almost reduced to a point or two points
about half-way between the suture and the hindmargin or continued narrowly
thence to the hindmargin, and this middle stripe is split by a narrow dark
grey line ; side stripes composed of three somewhat variable spots, of which
ordinarily the front one (level with the humeri) is small and sometimes indis¬
tinct, the next one large and occurring just in front of the suture and with its
lower end extending inwards, and the third one (immediately after the suture)
outwardly nearly as large as the previous one but not extending half-way to the
hindmargin ; after that and on the inner side of the last pair of spots are the usual

3. RHADIURGUS

651

two elongated dark spots which almost extend to the hindmargin ; humeral
stripes short but distinct. Pubescence short and black, slightly longer after
the suture when mixed with the long bristles (especially towards the hind-
margin) but even then only about half as long as the bristles ; a little thin-
haired whitish pubescence occurs all along the sides from the humeri over
the postalar calli and also along the hindmargin. Bristles black ; two strong
prsesutural with sometimes an additional small one in advance ; two strong
supra-alar and sometimes one weak one lower down ; one very strong post¬
alar, or two with the upper one weak, or even three with the third one weak ;
about five (4-6) dorso-central postsutural (of which the two or three hindmost
may be rather weak) and one or two prsesutural quite near the suture but
with no sign of others as the dorso-central rows then cease abruptly anteriorly.
Pleurae covered with ashy grey dust, sometimes rather brownish on the upper
part of the mesopleurae ; prothorax and the space under it clothed with long
not dense whitish pubescence ; mesopleurae with slight short whitish but
inconspicuous pubescence along the top part, while similar pubescence occurs
on the upper part of the sternopleurae and on the pteropleurae ; metapleurae
with scarcely any pubescence except the fan of about four (4-6) rather strong
and about four weak hair-like bristles of which the strong ones may be all
black or only the middle ones black and the rest yellow ; hypopleurae with
one strong black bristle at the top of a fan-like row of about three weak
yellow ones. Scutellum ashy grey, bearing rather abundant not short though
not very conspicuous soft whitish pubescence (though sometimes a few of the
hairs near the base are black) which is rather sloped forwards and with two
or three or four rather strong upturned black marginal bristles ; metanotum
rather dusted whitish but almost shining black on the middle, with the side
humps covered with whitish grey tomentum and with a little blackish
pubescence on their lower part.

Abdomen black, slightly shining, but with grey hindmargins of segments ;
when viewed from in front it has a blackish or brownish black appearance
with distinct light grey bare hinclmarginal hems. Pubescence short depressed
and black on the middle of the disc, but pale down the sides and with the pale
hairs extending somewhat on to the disc near the hind corners of the segments ;
the short black pubescence scarcely forms fringes against the bare hind-
margins, but the basal segment bears longer, more erect, and more conspicuous
pubescence which is bent over the hindmargin like a fringe, while about two
(0-3) of the hairs near the sides of the hindmargin may form bristles, though
none of the subsequent segments show any trace of side-bristles. Belly
blackish grey, bearing delicate rather long pale pubescence on the three basal
segments and some shorter more depressed pale pubescence on the fourth
segment, but on the remaining segments the pubescence is short, depressed,
black, and bristly except for inconspicuous pale fringes on the hindmargins ;
eighth segment short, and of the same colour as the seventh, with a straight
but slightly dropped hindmargin. Genitalia long but not large, shining black ;
claspers (when seen sideways) appearing long but narrow and somewhat bent
downwards at the blunt end, but Avhen seen from above the inner margin of
each clasper has a very large dentation so that a short sharp tooth stands out
and nearly divides the opening between the claspers into a long ovate basal
open space with broad margins which slope down inwards and a large
a most circular end opening (when the long sickle-shaped points of the
claspers just touch), and this end circular space is much broader than, though
not so long as, the oval basal space ; lower lamellae moderately broad at
the base but soon narrowing into a rather long bare prong which has a
ferruginous tip ; these under lamellae have a few long black bristly hairs
on their underside ; the claspers have (usually) black pubescence at their
base and on their outer side but whitish pubescence on the inside and about
the tip ; the middle prong of the penis is thread-like and exceedingly long.

Legs black, with the tibiae and tarsi partly dull dark red ; front coxae
covered with greyish white dust and bearing anteriorly rather abundant
drooping long whitish pubescence ; posterior coxae less grey and bearing less
abundant pale pubescence ; front tibiae usually brownish red at just the base,
but often inconspicuously so ; posterior tibiae dull red, with only the tip
rather indeterminately black ; all tarsi with the basal joint dull red except at

652

ASILIDiE

the tip, and the other joints reddish at the base ; sometimes the dull reddish
coloring of the legs tends towards brown on the front side of the posterior
tibiae. Pubescence almost all whitish but the ubiquitous minute adpressed
pubescence nearly all blackish with pale grey hairs intermixed so that the
ground colour is not affected unless by the reddish felt which occurs on the
inner side of the hind tibiae and the apical half of the front tibiae ; front
femora with some long pubescence beneath which is black on the apical part
but whitish and thinner haired on the basal half, and the middle femora with
slight pubescence near the base, while the front tibiae bear a delicate one-
rowed ciliation beneath. Bristles all black ; front femora with only about
three postero-dorsal after the middle ; front tibiae with the usual long postero-
ventral, the short dorsal, and two short antero-dorsal near the base ; middle
femora with one rather strong antero-dorsal at two-thirds of the length and
one at one-third besides sometimes a third one near the latter, two postero-
dorsal close to the tip, about six irregular antero-ventral, and four weak
postero-ventral near the middle ; middle tibiae with two strong antero-dorsal,
two or three small postero-dorsal (the two lower ones being nearly level with
the two antero-dorsal), four postero-ventral and two or three antero-ventral
on the apical half ; hind trochanters with one or two spines ; hind femora
with about six antero-dorsal (almost anterior), about seven antero-ventral
(mostly small), and about three postero-ventral (one after the middle and
fairly strong) ; hind tibiae with about three (2-4) antero-dorsal (if three, one
near base, one near middle, and one at three-quarters • if four, the other one
is at about one-third the length), two (or one) postero-dorsal (if one only near
the middle), and three antero-ventral after the middle ; the strong bristles are
all black in every specimen I have examined, but Loew states that there are
rare exceptions. Pulvilli brownish orange ; claws black, but brown at the
base.

Wings with a greyish brown gloom (except perhaps at the base and nearly
up to the middle of the foremargin) which includes all the veins and wing-
margin, but the wings are rather orange about the base of the anal vein ;
wing-membrane very conspicuously ribbed especially in the marginal cell.
Squamae (alar) dull glassy, with the margin brownish orange but pale yellow
underneath, and with fairly abundant whitish yellow fringes ; thoracal pair
only represented by a bare brownish frenum. Halteres yellowish brown or
brown.

$ . Very much like the male. Face-beard frequently all black, and always with
the pale hairs much reduced in number.

Thorax as in the male. Scutellum with the short pubescence sometimes
all black.

Abdomen with the grey hindmargins narrower, whiter, and more sharply
defined ; pubescence on the sides all black except for a few pale hairs on the
basal segment and still fewer on the second segment and possibly a very few
on the third, but the hindmarginal fringe on the basal segment tending to
form about four bristles near each side which range from all whitish to all
black, and the extreme sides of the other hindmargins have indications of
two or three small bristles of which those on the second and third segments
may be whitish. Belly with the pubescence on the last few segments all
black, and with some long black bristly hairs beneath the eighth segment
( = basal part of the ovipositor). Ovipositor shining black, with the flattened
eighth abdominal segment appearing to form its basal part, short, conical,
and depressed, but not in the least compressed, bearing black hairs, and
ending in a pair of unusually long free lamellae.

Legs with only one middle postero-dorsal bristle on the hind tibiae.

Wings, etc., as in the male.

Length about 12 mm.

This species has no close ally in Europe, and may be distinguished
from all the other Asilince by the shining black bare parts of the face and
frons. Zetterstedt probably gave the species its name from (what he then
thought) the variability of the colour of the face-beard, but he seems to

4. PAMPONERUS

653

have subsequently learned that the face-beard of the male is never wholly
white, and in fact the species varies but very little. An unusually large
female taken at Nethy Bridge on July 4, 1905, has two black bristles on
the hypopleurse, and the front coxae with one black bristly hair mixed in
the white pubescence.

R. variabilis has been taken in considerable numbers by Colonel
Yerbury in North Scotland ; he first took it at Forres in Elgin in 1899,
and at Nethy Bridge in Inverness in 1900, but has since taken it freely
at Nairn and Brodie; his dates range from June 18 to August 20, and he
and Mr C. G. Lamb have told me that it is common on stones on bare
ground. It is recorded from all Northern Europe and Asia, but when it
occurs as far south as North Germany it appears to prefer mountain
districts.

4. PAMPONERUS.

Pamponerus Loew, Linn. Ent., iv., 135 (1849).

Large dark colored flies, with considerable soft rather long
straggly pubescence but with only weak bristles on the thorax
and practically none on the abdomen. Wings darkened on the
outer half.

Head with the facial knob unusually large and the face-beard extending almost
up to the antennae ; festoon extensive and rather bent over forwards on the upper
part.

Thorax with only short pubescence on the front part. Bristles more numerous
than usual, there being three or four praesutural, three to five supra-alar with
apparently some small intra-alar, numerous postalar (about six besides smaller
bristly hairs), and numerous not very distinct dorso-central which scarcely extend
anterior to the suture ; metapleural and hypopleural fans almost hair-like.
Scutellum with only a few weak marginal bristles,

Abdomen more hairy than in Rhadiurgus or Asilus, and with practically no prse-
hindmarginal bristles as even the two or three bristly hairs near the sides can hardly
be called bristles; eighth segment almost invisible both dorsally and ventrally.
Genitalia of the male of moderate size ; claspers deeply dentate after the middle so
as to leave comparatively narrow short forceps ; ovipositor conical, short, not in the
least laterally compressed nor with any terminal circlet of spines.

Legs black, with the tibiae reddish orange ; femora not thickened ; tarsi with the
joints of normal length. Pubescence not at all scarce; bristles absent on the front
femora but unusually numerous on the posterior legs.

Wings with about the basal half strongly contrasted in colour with the dark
apical half ; upper branch of the cubital fork only slightly upturned at its end
(tig. 353). Squamae (alar) with thick margins on which is an abundant rather long
fringe.

This genus may be known by the peculiarly contrasted coloring of the
wings, by the absence of bristles but the presence of soft outstanding
pubescence on the abdomen, by the abundant bristles on the femora, and
by the face-beard being continued almost up to the antennae ; the black
femora and the bright orange-red tibiae also afford useful characters.

Pamponerus was originally founded upon the single European species
P. germanicus, and as far as the Palaearctic region is concerned that is still
the only known species, as P. helveticus of Mik is hardly more than a
local variety. I think that Philonicus areolaris Bigot from Celebes belongs
to Pamponerus, while the little known Asilus armatipes Macq. from North

654

ASI LID/E

China should form a new genus intermediate between Pamponerus and
Polyphonius. Two or three species of Pamponerus have been recorded
from South Asia.

1. P. germanicus Linne. Wings pale on nearly the basal half but
conspicuously darker on the rest. Tibise and tarsi mainly bright orange.

A very distinct large fly-

d . Blackish brown with indistinct greyish yellow markings on the thorax. Face
moderately narrow at its upper part but gradually widening downwards until
it is quite twice as wTide at the mouth ; frons with the usual slight dilatation
above the antennae but soon contracting to the same width as at the antennae
and widening but very little round the upper eye-angles ; face blackish on all
the middle part but with minute orange tomentum under the face-beard, and
covered with brownish orange tomentum on all the (otherwise) bare sides, and
even the bare space just under the antennae rather orange dusted when seen
sidewaiys ; knob very large and rounded, occupying fully three-quarters of the
face (when seen sideways), shelving back to the lower mouth-edge and leaving
about the upper fifth of the face quite free and bare ; face-beard occupying the
whole of the face-knob, long and rather drooping, composed of black bristly
hairs on the upper part (just the uppermost hairs being rather shorter than
the others) and rather thinner yellow bristly hairs on the lower part quite
away to the lower mouth-angle, but the hairs quite close to the lower mouth-
angle are shorter and very thin, and sometimes the black bristly haii-s of the
upper part extend a little way down outside the yellow hairs ; jowls small ;
chin and lower third of the back of the head clothed with long coarse yellow
hairs, and the pubescence on the lower part of the back of the head extending
close up to the eyes ; about the middle of the back of the head at some
distance from the eyes a postocular row of strong but not very long black
bristles commences which extends up to the vertex but is widely separated
by the postvertical channel from the corresponding row on the other side ;
these bristles form the festoon and (at any rate the upper ones) are rather
bent over forwards at their tips, and about the middle part of the head some thin
yellow pubescence occurs between these black bristles and the eyes, but
otherwise the space on the upper part between the bristles and the eyes is
bare and greyish yellow ; longer dense yellow pubescence exists behind the
festoon, while near the vertex some of these hairs are strongly bent forwards ;
frons blackish and shining on the raised ocellar space and on the depressed
middle part just below the ocelli, and the raised ocellar space bearing numerous
long thin black bristly hairs which radiate rather forwards but of which the
anterior hairs are rather the shorter ; sides of the frons (below the ocellar
space) bearing greyish yellow tomentum and some black bristly hairs
which soon become more numerous (about four wide) and longer as they
extend down towards the antennae, and these hairs are bent forwards. Proboscis
black, with the usual short orange brown pubescence about the tip and long
pale hairs beneath on about the basal half ; palpi upturned and rather short,
bearing some rather sparse long pale hairs. Antennae rather long and thin,
dull black or with the two basal joints sometimes reddish brown; basal joint
slightly longer than the second, cylindrical, bearing a little grey dust, and
with long black bristly hairs beneath but short ones above ; second joint
rather cup-shaped, and bearing shorter black bristly hairs ; third joint almost
as long as the two basal ones together, strap-shaped but rather tapering, quite
bare ; style about two-thirds as long (or as long) as the third joint, distinctly
two-jointed, the basal joint being short but the second joint long rather thin
and pointed.

Thorax greyish yellow with (when viewed rather sideways) three broad
brownish black stripes ; middle stripe considerably widened out anteriorly
and indistinctly split all down its length by a greyish line, but not reaching
the hindmargin ; side stripes long ovate, beginning about half-way between
the front and the suture and continued to about midway between the suture

4. PAMPONERUS

655

and the hindmargin (but almost interrupted at the suture), and followed
by the usual rather more dorsal awl-shaped blackish patches which point
backwards but do not reach the hindmargin ; humeral stripes distinct
though short. Pubescence black not scarce nor very short, about equal and
rather sloping backwards from the front part to behind the suture, but after
that rather longer and more erect as it mixes with the longer bristles,
while there is as usual a little thin pale pubescence about the front part of
the humeri and on the sides, and more especially just before and on the
front part of the postalar calli. Bristles composed of about four praesutural ;
(3-5, of which sometimes 1-2 smaller ones are more forward and wide apart) ;
three long strong and two smaller supra-alar, besides two or three almost
intra-alar continued in a sort of row towards the lower part of the disc ;
numerous postalar (about six, besides smaller bristly hairs) ; several dorso-
central which are not very strongly distinguished from the long bristly hairs
near them, but with about five (5-8) postsutural (not extended back to near
the hindmargin) and about two rather indistinct praesutural close to the suture
are fairly distinct. Pleurae yellowish grey on the upper part of the meso-
pleuroe but rather dark ashy grey on the rest ; pubescence long and yellowish
on the prothorax and on the space below it, on the upper and back parts
of the mesopleurae, extensively on the upper part of the sternopleurse, and
less conspicuously on the upper part of the pteropleurae, while the metapleurae
bear a fan of about six almost hairlike bristles and numerous shorter
hairs, and the hypopleurae bear a fan composed of about four long thin
straggly hairs and several shorter ones. Scutellum blackish grey, but
shimmering lighter grey in some lights, with sparse not short black pubes¬
cence on the disc and sometimes two or three longer hairs, and about four
(2-4) weak upturned black marginal bristles- metanotum grey, but rather
shining blackish on the middle part, and witn some slight brownish yellow
pubescence on the humps at the hind corners.

Abdomen shining black, with a slight bluish tinge ; the bare hind-
marginal hem of the second and third segments (and sometimes of the fourth)
shimmering greyish white at the sides (and in some lights narrowly all
across), while the base of the second segment is obscurely greyish in
some lights, and the whole sidemargin from the base to the end of the
fifth segment is greyish. Pubescence on the disc short black depressed and
bristly, but on the three basal segments long silky scattered outstanding and
reddish orange, and this latter pubescence extends to the sides of the fourth
and fifth segments and nowhere shows any approximation to bristles
even though it forms fringes against the bare hindmarginal hems and is
rather longer and stiffer at the sides of the basal segment, unless the two or
three strong orange hairs near the sides of the hindmargins of the fourth and
fifth segments can be deemed strong enough to be called bristles. Belly dull
greyish black, with long pendent orange pubescence on the five basal segments
which is more conspicuous on the dropped (when seen sideways) hind-
margins of the fourth and fifth segments ; the pubescence on the sixth and
seventh segments is black and stiffer and almost forms tufts at the hind-
margins, especially on the seventh segment, and these black hairs are rather
sloped towards the genitalia, but a few tawny hairs occur on the disc of the
sixth segment, while on the fifth segment some of the dorsal black pubes¬
cence becomes rather longer towards the sides and extends over ventrally ;
the hindmargin of the sixth segment is also dropped like that of the two
preceding segments, but that of the seventh segment is straight and quite
normal ; eighth segment so short as to be indistinct both dorsally and ventrally.
Genitalia comparatively small, shining black ; claspers (when seen sideways)
long, equal, and sloping straight downwards until they gradually shelve oft' to
the lower angle, and this angle is prolonged and curved inwards as described
when seen from above ; the claspers bear moderately long stiff’ black
pubescence, with a few orange hairs about the tip ; when seen from above,
each clasper has at about two-thirds of its length a strong inward projection
so that ordinarily these projections meet and enclose a large oval space, while
the claspers open out after the projections and enclose a smaller rounded
space which is closed at the tip by the incurved and ordinarily overlapping
narrow ends ; all round this circular end enclosure is a moderately long not

ASILIM

very conspicuous tawny pubescence, and in the larger oval enclosure the
broad flat oblong middle piece arises and bears only short slight pubescence ;
lower lamellae rather small, broad at the base, but quickly narrowing to a
point and curving up between the claspers and bearing moderate black
pubescence ; there is no basal plate and apparently no eighth abdominal
segment.

Legs black and orange, the tibiae being bright orange except for the
rather sharply defined black tip ; tarsi orange on all the basal joint, on more
than half the second joint, and on less than half the third joint, while the
last two joints are brown at the base. Pubescence comparatively slight ; all
the coxae grey, and the front pair with dense long greyish yellow pubescence in
front, the middle pair with similar pubescence on the apical half in front,
and the hind pair with a little long straggling pubescence ; front femora
with fairly abundant black pubescence beneath (rigid and rather dense near
the base) and rather scarce very thin haired orange pubescence behind ;
middle femora with moderate black pubescence beneath on the basal half ;
hind femora in all the English specimens I have seen with only short
pale pubescence behind, but with a little' longer pale pubescence in continental
specimens ; front tibiae with a few long orange hairs beneath. Bristles
usually all black ; none on the front femora unless one postero-ventral one
near the tip be strong enough to notice ; front tibiae with six dorsal bristles
extending over the whole length, six postero-dorsal (the one near the base
strong), and three or four thin (almost hair-like) postero-ventral, and with
the usual terminal circlet ; front tarsi with the usual bristles ; middle coxae
■with usually one strong black bristle in front and often several about the tip ;
middle femora with about eight rather crowded bristles in front, about five
antero-ventral, one slightly postero-dorsal just after the middle, and about
two postero-dorsal near the tip ; middle tibiae with about five postero-dorsal
bristles in a row (four near the middle and one nearer the tip), about five
rather irregular postero-ventral, and about two almost ventral after the
middle, and the terminal circlet and tarsal bristles as usual ; hind trochanters
with about four bristles which are inconspicuous when orange but conspicuous
when black ; hind femora with about seven small anterior bristles extending
over nearly the whole length, about ten antero-ventral, and about ten small
postero-ventral ; hind tibiae with about four (4-7) slightly postero-dorsal bristles,
one slightly antero-dorsal near the base and another at about three-quarters
the length, two antero-dorsal near the middle but wide apart (and sometimes
three of which the lower two are after the middle), two or three antero-ventral
of which the upper one is near the middle, three (3-4) very small ventral of
which one is after the middle and the other two (or three) near the tip ;
hind tarsi with the usual bristles but with a few of the anterior bristles
of the terminal circlets sometimes orange. Pulvilli broad oblong, dull orange ;
empodium represented by an orange bristle which is much shorter than the
pulvilli. Claws black but brown at the base, hardly curved on the basal half.

Wings milky white at the base or at least on the whole of the axillary cell
and alula, but with rather more than the outer half blackish brown, and
the two colours separated almost straight across the wing, but in immature
specimens the contrast is not so great as the base is less milky and the tip
less darkened ; mediastinal and subcostal veins and often the stem of the
postical yellowish, but the other veins blackish, though the hindmarginal
ambient vein is white • upper branch of the cubital fork only slightly upturned
at its end ; alula and its marginal vein white and with only a minute fringe.
Squamae (alar) dull orange, with thick orange margins on which is an
abundant rather long dull orange fringe except near the alar end ; thoracal
pair only represented by a bare orange membrane. Halteres orauge.

Very much like the male. Abdomen with the tawny pubescence more
extended and more conspicuous, and with large triangular yellowish grey hind
corners to the segments ; seventh segment but little shorter than the sixth ;
eighth segment concealed ; ovipositor not in the least compressed, about as
long as the sixth abdominal segment, with its basal part shining black above
but below with an equally large greyish black ventral plate ( = eighth ventral
segment?), and after that with two or three short joints and a short blunt

5. DYSMACHUS

657

terminal joint ; the ventral plate bears some moderate black bristly pubes¬
cence near its end but thinner shorter and partly pale pubescence near its
base ; the end joint with very short brownish orange pubescence.

Legs with the black pubescence beneath the front femora more crowded
and most bristly close to the base.

Wings with the basal part less milky white.

Length about 16 mm.

This species is easily distinguished, from any other European species of
the Asilince by the hairy pubescence and peculiarly colored wings, unless
the var. hclveticus Mik should prove to be distinct ; that variety has the
abdomen steel blue and the bristles on the bind tibiae mainly orange, and
in the only specimen I have seen the praesutural bristles were yellow and
the thoracic middle stripe was not split ; English specimens may vary a
little in the exact number of bristles on the femora and tibiae but not
much otherwise, though in a small female the face-beard and some of
the antero-dorsal bristles about the middle of the hind femora are mainly
black ; continental specimens show the black pubescence near the base
of the underside of the front femora more like a clump of bristles, and
also always seem to show longer pale pubescence behind the hind femora
especially towards the base, while the middle femora seem to have longer
and stronger bristles on the underside.

P. germcmicus appears to be dying out in England, as recent captures
are very few, though it used to occur in old collections. I found eight
specimens on the sand-hills at Barmouth on June 10 and 11, 1887,
and Colonel Yerbury took five specimens near there on June 27, 1902 —
I believe the exact 1887 locality was built over in 1902 — and he has
also taken a few specimens since at Porthcawl in Glamorgan, and Mr
P. H. Grimshaw has recorded it from Irvine Moor in Ayrshire on the
authority of Mr A. Adie Dalglish. My specimens were immature, but
Colonel Yerbury’s specimens (taken about sixteen days later) were quite
mature, while on July 20, 1888, I was unable to find a single specimen
(P. albiccps having taken its place); I am therefore of opinion that it
occurs for only a short period during the latter half of June and the
beginning of July; one of Colonel Yerbury’s specimens was preying upon
a red Aphodius. Curtis recorded it from Devonshire.

5. DYSMACHUS.

Dysmachus Loew, Dipt. Sud-Afrik., 143 (1860).

Grey rather bristly flies of medium or rather small size.

Head sometimes (as in our British species) unusually pubescent. Face with a
rounded produced face-knob which does not extend to the upper third of the face, and
consequently the face-beard (which is composed of long and abundant bristles and
hairs) leaves about the upper third of the face bare. Festoon composed of irregular
long bristles or bristly hairs, of which at least some are rather curved forward.
Antennas normal, the third joint being of the usual elongate oval form (fig. 356) though
sometimes only very narrowly ovate but never so linear as in Protophanes (fig. 355).

Thorax with dorso-central bristles (or dense bristly pubescence on the middle
line) extended to the front part, or at least the dorso-central bristles continued
conspicuously much in advance of the suture, while sometimes the long bristly
pubescence on the middle line is extended conspicuously and mane-like right up to
the front, and in such cases the dorso-central bristles are almost merged into this
bristly pubescence. Bristles (macrochaetoe) consisting of three or more praesutural
(including a more or less strong anterior one), about six (rarely only two) supra-alar

2 T

658

ASILID7E

(partly almost in a clump and partly extending down the light grey interstice),
about four (4-5 or rarely only 2) postalar, and numerous (up to 18) dorso-central ;
pteropleurae bristly or pubescent ; small prsealar callus ( v . fig. 388) frequently
bristly ; metapleural fan composed of few bristles (about 5) or more numerous
bristly hairs (about 10)- hypopleural fan with about two long bristles or bristly
hairs besides some long hairs and pubescence, while some (1-3) bristles on the hind
coxae continue on in the same line as the two previous fans. Scutellum showing
great variation in the marginal bristles, as there may be numerous marginal hairs
of which a few (4-10) may be termed bristles or (D. spinifer) there may be two con¬
spicuously strong bristles ; metanotum always with some short bristly hairs or
pubescence about its lower outer corners.

Abdomen in our British species unusually short and conical (especially in the
female), but not so much so in the generality of species • distinctly bristly, and with
more or less entire rows of pale prsehind marginal bristles on the segments ; eighth
ventral segment of the male neither widened, nor produced in any way, nor with a
pencil-like tuft of bristles, but frequently with a wide fringe of rather stiff hairs.
Genitalia hardly widened but sometimes very elongate (very short in our British
species) ; claspers and lower lamellae varying in shape, and both providing impor¬
tant specific distinctions ; ovipositor (fig. 357) conspicuously laterally compressed
and with the eighth ventral segment prolonged so that the ovipositor is elongate-
triangular or peculiarly sabre-shaped when viewed sideways ; terminal lamellae
wedged in beneath the point of the upper piece as in Eutolmus.

Legs black, or at most with the base of the tibiae inconspicuously rufescent, and
with the recumbent short pubescence somewhat obscuring them ; pubescence com¬
paratively small in amount ; bristles perhaps rather more numerous than usual,
though usually absent beneath the front femora.

Wings with a normal venation ; small cross-vein almost or quite punctiform.
Alar squamae strong on the basal part and with a thick margin.

Loew originally included Dysmachus in Macquart’s genus Lophonotus,
and distinguished it from other Asilince through the character of the
bristles on the middle stripe of the thorax extending to the front part ;
the distinctive generic character was founded upon the absence of a facial
knob in Lophonotus and its presence in Dysmachus. Subsequent discoveries
proved that the character of the bristles on the front part of the thorax
was not so good a distinction as had been originally believed, and in 1871
Loew (Beschr. eur. Dipt., ii., 142) wrote, “It is not quite easy to give a
“ sharp boundary line between the particolored-legged species of Dysmachus
“ and Eutolmus. As all true species of Dysmachus agree with the species
“ of Eutolmus in the position of the terminal lamellae of the ovipositor, the
“ distinction of the two genera lies entirely in the difference of the bristling
“ and pubescence on the disc of the thorax. In the typical species of
“ Dysmachus the middle stripe of the thorax is beset with long hairs up to
“ the front, and the bristles also extend to near the fore part ; in the
“ typical species of Eutolmus the pubescence on the middle stripe of the
“ thorax is short and the bristles are restricted to the hinder half of the
“ disc. Outside these typical species however there is a whole row of
intermediates upon the location of which there may well be uncertainty.
“ These intermediates consist partly of those in which the pubescence is
“ only very sparse or only short while the bristles extend far forward, or
“ partly of those in which the pubescence has a notable length or great
“ density while the bristles extend only to about the middle of the disc.
“ If the two genera are distinguished merely by the difference in the
“ pubescence of the thorax, the boundary line between them is not only
“ difficult to find but it separates the species in a manner but little
“ corresponding to their mutual affinities. Altogether a rather natural

5. DYSMACHUS

659

“ division can be attained if these middle forms be brought into the genus
“ Eutolmus, with the exception of those whose near affinity to species of
“ Dysmachus is so unmistakable that their generic separation would be
“ unnatural.” This distinction is very unsatisfactory, and has led Hendel
(Wien. Ent. Zeit., xviii., Ill) to the reactionary opinion that nearly all
Loew’s genera formed out of Asilus are untenable; I cannot however
agree with this opinion, though I admit that there exist occasional species
which may be difficult to locate with absolute certainty.

Taking the three genera, Dysmachus, Eutolmus, and Machimus, it
cannot add to the ease of naming a specimen if all be included in
one genus, because the difficulties will still have to be surmounted. On
the other hand when both sexes of a species are known a very large
number can be at once allocated and only a very few left in doubt
between two genera (one genus being always eliminated and one-third
of the difficulty overcome) ; for instance a female Machimus can at once
be distinguished from the other two genera by its free anal lamellae, while
a male Machimus cannot be confounded with Dysmachus because of the
produced eighth ventral segment; a female may be difficult to allocate
between Dysmachus and Eutolmus, and a male with a produced eighth
ventral segment may be a Machimus or a Eutolmus, while one with a
simple eighth ventral segment may be a Eutolmus or a Dysmachus. In
most cases a Dysmachus may be distinguished in either sex from a
Eutolmus (apart from the anterior bristling or strong hairs of the thorax)
by its smaller size and by its black legs with at most only the base of
the tibise reddish, and consequently a large species with a good deal of
reddish colour about the legs must be a Eutolmus.

Dysmachus consists of about thirty Palsearctic species, of which the
great majority have been well distinguished, but only two are known
to extend to Northern Europe and at present only one has been found in
Britain. One or two species are said to occur in South America, but such
records must remain doubtful until the distribution of the genus has been
worked out by someone competent to recognise its characters.

1. D. trigonus Meigen. Light grey with darker markings. Thorax
with long bristles on the middle line quite to the front part. Legs
slightly reddish at the knees. Genitalia short ( 6 ), sabre-shaped ( ? ).

A very bristly species, with numerous very conspicuous
white bristles on the abdomen.

cj . Face moderately wide and gradually widening downwards until it is nearly
twice as wide at the mouth as near the antennm ; above the antennae the
frons widens out very slightly but soon becomes slightly narrower again and
remains so up to the vertex ; face covered with whitish grey dust, which is
however less dense on the facial knob, and which may have a faint yellowish
tinge ; the upper third of the face (when measured from the uppermost
margin of the mouth) and also about the side thirds are bare, but the broad
sides of the mouth make the face appear to be longer and nearly the two-
thirds of those mouth-sides next to the eyes are bare ; facial knob rather large
and rounded but not very prominent ; face-beard covering the whole knob, long,
drooping, and abundant, mainly white or yellowish white or even pale orange
but with black bristly hairs down its outer edges (though not at the topmost
part), and the bristly hairs on all (or more than the lower half of) the sides of
the mouth exclusively black ; the black hairs on the prominent part of the

660

ASILIDiE

face-knob are less drooping than the whitish ones ; jowls rather broad ; chin
and jowl-beards dense, whitish or yellowish white or pale orange, and extend¬
ing half-way up the back of the head ; postocular margins slightly inflated
and covered with greyish white dust, while behind them the postocular
festoon begins at about the middle of the head because the whitish beard-like
pubescence of the lower part merges there into long brownish yellow bristly
hairs which are curved a little forwards and downwards and which may
extend almost to the upper eye-angles, but more commonly the upper bristles
are black and shorter and more curved forward, or one or two smaller black
bristles occur close to the eyes near the top ; the postvertical interval is
occupied by a long dense fawn yellow or pale yellow pubescence which
extends considerably and even almost to the top ocelli ; frons yellowish grey
at the sides but darker (though not blackish) on the middle part, and with
several almost erect not short black rather bristly hairs on the sides in about
two irregular rows, while on the lower part some thinner less erect whitish
yellow hairs occur between the black hairs and the eyes ; ocellar space not
much elevated, blackish grey, and bearing numerous fairly long erect black
bristly hairs ; collar greyish, and bearing fairly abundant brownish yellow
pubescence on the upper part, in which are about two stronger but incon¬
spicuous bristles. Proboscis shining black, with short brownish orange
pubescence about its tip, and long pale hairs on its underside from the base to
beyond the middle ; palpi very short and small, bearing some yellowish hairs.
Antennae (fig. 356) dull brownish black ; basal joint cylindrical, hardly longer
than the second, and bearing numerous brownish yellow bristly hairs, and
usually (but by no means always) with the long stiff forwards-directed bristly
hairs on the underside black; second joint beginning more slender than the
first, but distinctly cup-shaped and bearing very short yellowish hairs on the
apical half ; third joint strap-shaped but rather attenuated at its tip, or
slightly widened about the middle, about as long as the two basal joints
together; style shorter than the third antennal joint, with a short almost
transverse basal joint and a minute almost hair-like tip, but otherwise equally
and moderately thin.

Thorax whitish grey, sometimes with a tinge of yellow, and (when seen
from above) with the usual dark stripes almost confluent so that a blackish
brown or brown disc is surrounded by whitish grey stripes but the dark disc
has some patches of light grey in it ; middle stripe broad, blackish brown or
brown and not much widened forwards, and with its middle dividing line
indistinct or even darker and denoted by the abundant bristling on it ; side
stripes complete (i.e., the larger piece above the suture apparently connected
with the smaller piece after it) though not nearly extended to the front
or hind margin, and slightly shining in some lights; an anterior darkened
patch is blackish and (when seen from above) is distinctly pushed in between
the middle stripe and the front part of the side stripes ( vide var. below), so
that it is divided from the latter by a rather bowed greyish white line ; on
each side of the middle stripe is a light grey space in front of the side stripes,
and by tilting sideways the side stripes can be seen to be divided by the
grey suture, but then the prsesutural markings appear to be united ; the dark
stripes leave each sidemargin entirely and conspicuously whitish grey and
appearing like a stripe extending from the front to the hindmargin, and the
dark stripes widen out to the hindmargin and the adjoining sidemargins ; the
side stripes seem when seen from behind to lengthen out to quite the fore-
margin but only to extend back to about midway between the suture and the
hindmargin, after which they are followed by the small narrow awl-shaped
dark spots, and the side stripes are separated rather widely from the middle
one by pale yellowish grey dusted stripes. Pubescence and bristles not
always easy to distinguish apart, but fine pale pubescence occurs on the humeri
and the adjacent sides, above the wing-base, on the postalar calli, and (usually)
abundantly and unusually long on the hind part of the disc, while short
scattered very inconspicuous rather depressed yellow hairs occur all over the
disc in amongst the longer black bristly pubescence ; the black bristly
pubescence (as distinct from the regular bristles) is long, dense, and rather
mane-like down the front part of the middle line and continues (though
shorter and less abundant) between the dorso-central bristles right through

5. DYSMACHUS

661

to the hinclmargin, but becomes more widely spread and more dense and less
distinguished from the dorso-central bristles as it approaches the hindmargin,
and shorter sparser black bristly hairs occur over the rest of the disc but are
shortest and sparsest on the dark side stripes. Bristles usually all yellowish
about the sides but black on the dorso-central rows ; praesutural three or
more long and yellowish with sometimes one or two smaller black ones more
towards the disc ; supra-alar about six long and yellowish ; postalar about
four very long and yellowish ; dorso-central numerous, usually black, and not
always easily distinguished amidst the long bristly pubescence but certainly
extending forwards to half-way between the suture and the front and becom¬
ing weak and dying out well before the hindmargin ; several of the bristles on
the dorso-central rows may be yellow in a most irregular manner, and in
varieties mentioned later on some supra-alar and postalar bristles may be
black, and the usually abundant pale pubescence on the hind part of the
thorax may disappear. Pleurae not very densely covered with yellowish grey
dust and with all the pubescence or bristly hairs yellowish ; prothorax and
the space below with fairly abundant short pubescence ; meso pleurae with
a tuft of long pale pubescence on the upper part ; sternopleurae with rather
sparse pubescence on the upper part ; pteropleurae with a large tuft on the
upper hind corner ; metapleurse with numerous rather long fine hairs and
with a fan of about ten long hairs of which some of the lowermost are extra
long ; hypopleurae with a continuing fan composed of about two long hairs,
which are sometimes so strong as to be absolute bristles but at other
times hardly stronger than the others, and about three other long hairs near
which are two or three others not in the row. Scutellum bearing rather
abundant and rather long delicate yellowish white (occasionally partly black)
pubescence on the disc, and with numerous comparatively weak upturned
marginal hairs of which some (4-10) may be called bristles ; metanotum almost
covered with yellowish grey dust, and with brownish yellow pubescence on
the hind part of the side humps.

Abdomen comparatively short conical, greyish white in the pale forms but
yellowish grey in others, with (when seen from behind) a dorsal row of large
broad rather well-defined blackish grey triangular spots, the broad base of
each of these spots lying against the foremargin of each segment and broaden¬
ing out band-like there on the front segments but less so on the hind segments,
and consequently the hindmargin of each segment is light yellowish grey
or pale ashy grey to a rather narrow extent (about half) about the middle
but more so outwards until nearly all the sidemargins are light greyish ; the
four basal segments have broad bare hindmarginal hems (indistinct on the
third and fourth segments when the abdomen is short and turned up at the
end). Pubescence (as distinguished from bristles) longer, more erect, and
more ubiquitous than usual, extending over all the sides and especially
abundant and long across the praehindmarginal crest of the basal segment
but hardly to be considered bristly except for two or three of the longest
hairs towards the sides • pubescence yellowish white or almost white or with
a faint tinge of brownish yellow, very short on the dark triangles and on the
basal half of the second segment and on most of the disc, but indistinctly
black on the middle dorsal line of the sixth and seventh (and sometimes fifth
or even fourth) segments. Bristles numerous, white and conspicuous all
across the prsehindmarginal line of each of the second to fifth segments as rows
(except on just the dorsal line) of about fourteen long but not stout radiating
bristles, while hindmarginal rows of similar bristles occur towards the sides
of the sixth and seventh segments but do not extend so much on to the dorsal
part ; eighth segment short and without any hindmarginal ciliation. Belly
light grey, bearing long pendent whitish not at all dense pubescence.
Genitalia rather shining black and unusually small, bearing all over rather
coarse pale pubescence ; claspers small and simple, with the inner curve so
gradual that the arms of the forceps enclose scarcely any space, and when
seen sideways appearing almost bluntly rounded at their tips ; lower
lamellae short, and with a much longer chestnut middle piece between
them.

Legs almost entirely black though the posterior femora appear greyish
black through the abundant minute recumbent pale pubescence ; base

662

ASILIM

of tlie tibiae always to a small extent (so small as to be easily overlooked)
reddish brown. Pubescence (as distinguished from bristles unless included
under bristles) on the front coxae abundant coarse drooping long and whitish,
on the middle coxae similar but limited to the apical half, and on the hind
coxae only moderate, while a short depressed pale pubescence occurs all over
the legs though less depressed longer and yellower on the front femora, and
some long pubescence occurs on the back and underpart of the front femora,
moderately beneath the middle femora and sparsely beneath all the tibiae.
Bristles on the front femora limited to a row of (about six) long black
bristly hairs beneath, and a few subapical ones of which four or hve are
small orange antero-dorsal and three insignificant black postero-dorsal ; on
the front tibiae one or two small orange or black slightly antero-dorsal near
the base, about five black postero-dorsal on the apical three-fifths Avith
frequently a slight row of (3-4) of rather shorter black bristles just posterior
to them, about six ( = more than usual) long orange postero-ventral in an
irregular row on the apical three-fifths, and the usual apical circlet of orange
bristles (unless two small dorsal ones be black) ; on the front tarsi the bristles
all strong and yellow except a few black plantar and one or two others on the
third and fourth joints ; on the middle femora three or four long antero-dorsal
(almost anterior), about five rather smaller antero-ventral on the basal three-
fifths, a few small prseapical of which one postero-dorsal is conspicuous, and
eight to ten rather long postero-ventral (almost ventral) thin hairs of which
the last two or three may merge into the prseapical postero-dorsal bristles
and be black ; on the middle tibise are numerous mainly yellowish bristles in
rows, there being about five usually pale dorsal (none near the base), three
antero-dorsal (the uppermost a long one at the middle), about three antero-
ventral after the middle, five postero-dorsal (nearly posterior), and about ten
long thin postero-ventral hairs of which two are extra long and sometimes
blackish or all may be blackish ; on the middle tarsi are long and con¬
spicuous bristles, mostly yellowish white but one or two black ones occur in
the apical circlets of the third and fourth (or even first and second) joints
and one posterior one on the third joint ; on the hind femora are five to seven
yellowish black anterior bristles of which the last two become rather
antero-dorsal, five (or more) yellowish antero-ventral, six or seven almost
hair-like postero-ventral, and a prseapical circlet of about six yellowish
bristles ; on the hind tibise are two dorsal after the middle and one almost in
the same row near the base (or even one or two more in the same row)
which are sometimes all black, four or five antero-dorsal, one long postero-
dorsal near the middle with sometimes others (not quite in the same row)
before and after it, about four antero-ventral not extending to the base, a
ciliation of partly blackish thin ventral hairs, -and the all yellowish apical
circlet ; on the hind tarsi the bristles are mostly yellowish, but usually each
of the four basal joints has one apical antero-ventral black, and the third
and fourth (or even second) joints one postero-ventral black. Pulvilli elongate
oblong, brownish orange ; claws long and dull black, but dull reddish orange
about the base.

Wings hyaline, but rather brownish orange about the base and in old
specimens with a distinct brownish yellow suffusion and then with the veins
(except about the base) darkened, but without any trace of the peculiar greyish
“ gloom ” which occurs in so many species about the tip and hindmargin ;
cubital fork-cell proportionately rather short and broad Avith a Avide bell¬
mouthed opening. Squamae (alar) broAvnish white on the muscular basal part
but whitish or yellow on the disc and on the thick margin ; fringes whitish,
rather long and abundant, but ceasing at the angle. Halteres brownish
orange.

$ . Very much like the male except for the conspicuous ovipositor.

Face-beard sometimes Avith more black hairs on especially the upper part.

Thorax with the anterior prsesutural bristles more frequently black.

Abdomen still more conical. Ovipositor (fig. 357) black, strongly compressed,
and of a very characteristic broad triangular sabre-shaped figure which is pro¬
duced so that the upper margin is rather concave but the under margin
strongly convex ; the basal upper piece bearing dense minute bristles about

5. DYSMACHUS

663

its end (making it appear punctate), while the second piece is more than a
third the length of the first and also bears dense minute bristles ; the terminal
lamellae are inserted like a wedge between the two end points of the outer
upper piece, but the lower one of these two points is so long and narrow as to
be easily overlooked ; the large under piece is as long as the upper pieces and
bears very dense short bristles on its end part ; pubescence rather long and
pale beneath near the base, and rather abundant short and pale beneath the
terminal lamellae.

Length about 13 mm.

This species varies very much in the colour of the pubescence and
bristles, and in the amount of reddish colour at the base of the tibiae,
while I believe it has a tendency to develop into local races. A male
taken by Colonel Yerbury at Christchurch on July 4, 1897, looks very
distinct, as it is larger and has a longer straighter abdomen and I suppose
tbo straightened-out abdomen causes the hindmargins of the second to
fifth segments to be widely bare and when seen from behind to appear
more blackish grey and in no light conspicuously light grey ; this specimen
(which is probably over-mature) has other peculiarities, the basal joint of
the antennae being not longer than the second, and the junctions of the
basal and second joints and conspicuously of the second and third joints
being ferruginous, while the basal joint has long stiff black bristles
beneath and only very slight yellow bristles dorsally, the bristly middle
line of the thorax is darker than the sides of the middle stripe, and the
side stripes extend further forwards without being disturbed by the
humeral stripes, so that there is no light grey space in front of the side
stripes, the innermost (towards the disc) praesutural, supra-alar, and
postalar bristles are black, the seventh abdominal segment has no hind-
marginal bristles, the claspers seem to be broader in proportion to their
length, the postero-ventral hairs on the front femora are so strong as to
be practically bristles, the postero-ventral hairs on the middle femora are
almost all black, the hind tarsi have no black bristles on the apical
circlets of the joints, the wings are conspicuously orange about the base,
and the base of the costa bears some obvious pale hairs, while the
squamae and their margins are orange; another male taken by me at
Felixstowe in Suffolk is peculiar, as it has scarcely any pale hairs on the
hind part of the disc of the thorax or on the disc of the scutellum, while
the black hairs on the face-beard and the black bristles on the underside
of the basal joint of the antennae are more numerous, and several of the
supra-alar and postalar bristles are black ; a male taken at Southbourne
(which is in the same district as Christchurch) on August 10, 1904, has a
strong tendency towards the Felixstowe specimen but appears very
different from the Christchurch specimen. My description has been
mainly made from a number of specimens taken at Barmouth (in which
the pale bristles and hairs are unusually whitish) ; continental specimens
practically agree, but may differ a little in the bristles on the legs.
D. trifjonus belongs to a small group of about five very closely allied
species which have the thoracic middle line with conspicuous mane-like
bristles almost up to the front, no bristles beneath the front femora, the
male genitalia short and simple, and the female ovipositor sabre-shaped,
but none of the other species are likely to occur in Britain as they are only
known from Spain. Its squat figure and numerous conspicuous white
bristles distinguish it at once from any other British species of the Asilincc .

664

ASILID.E

D. trigonus is common and widely distributed over Britain in suitable
localities ; it seems to prefer scrubby ground on sandy sea-coasts, but also
occurs freely on similar ground inland. I have numerous English records
from Penzance to Malvern, while Colonel Yerbury has taken it at
Kingussie in Inverness and it is recorded from Irvine Moor and Troon in
Ayrshire ; my dates range from May 23 to August 29. Mr Pt. C. Bradley
caught a specimen at Barmouth preying on a Philonicus albiceps. It is
recorded from almost all Europe, but Loew has granted specific rank to
some Spanish forms which I can hardly distinguish.

Synonymy. — There can be no doubt about this species being the Asilus
( Lophonotus) cristatus of Walker’s Ins. Brit. Dipt., vol. i., p. 50, as it is the only
British species in which the thorax is “bristly to the front,” but it cannot be
recognised with certainty from Walker’s description.

6. EUTOLMUS.

Eutolmus Loew, Linn. Ent., iii., 459 (1848).

Dark grey flies of rather large or medium (not small) size,
which have a strong outstanding face-beard on the lower two-
thirds of the face.

Face covered with greyish or yellowish dust ; face-beard strong and outstanding
but leaving the upper third of the face bare ; bristles on the lower part of the sides
of the frons comparatively strong; postocular festoon usually regular and hardly
bent forward.

Thorax with only short bristles on the fore part even on the middle line and
with dorso-central bristles extending from the back part up as far as the suture and
sometimes rather beyond but never to the fore part ; the usual bristles are about
three (1-3) praesutural of which the anterior one may be fairly strong, about three
(2-4) supra-alar almost in a row, two or three postalar with sometimes some
additional small ones, about four dorso-central postsutural and sometimes (but not
always) three or four smaller prsesutural ones rather close together but not extending
half-way to the front ; metapleural fan not very strong though composed of
numerous bristly hairs. Scutellum with about six (4-6) upturned marginal bristles ;
metanotum with a tuft at each hind corner.

Abdomen elongate, with ashy grey or greyish yellow (rarely black) reflections ;
liindmargins of the segments bearing rather weak though obvious bristles towards
the sides of the four or five basal segments. Genitalia of the male rather small,
seldom swollen but yet not compressed ; claspers always simple, with at most only
a small more or less semicircular excision on the inner margin, and not indented
about the middle so as to form a forceps ; eighth ventral segment of the male some¬
times produced at the middle of its liindmargin like a trowel or prong, but often
quite simple ; ovipositor moderately long and strongly compressed, bearing at its
end a pair of lamellae which are not elongate or stylate but which are always
rhomboidal or oval or elliptical and more or less wedged in between the points of the
upper piece of the ovipositor (fig. 358).

Legs black, rather obscured by short close pubescence, and in many species the
tibia: (and in some even the femora and tarsi) more or less reddish ; front femora
sometimes spinose beneath.

Wings normal. Squamae with rather long fringes.

Loew when founding this genus thought that both sexes could he
easily distinguished from Dysmachus by the dorso-central bristles as well
as the bristles or bristly pubescence on the middle line dying out before
the front part of the disc, but he subsequently discovered that there were
several species of Dysmachus in which these bristles died out in a similar

6. EUTOLMUS

665

manner, and consequently he ultimately admitted that the distinctness of
the two genera was difficult to maintain, but (as has been noted under
Dysmachus) he gave the best characters he could find ; no difficulty can
arise between our British species, because D. Irigonus exhibits the thoracic
distinction very conspicuously when compared with E. rufibarbis. In
general it may be accepted that any doubtful species which is large, or has
the legs with more reddish coloring than just the base of the tibiae is a
Eutolmus, and if a male has no projection from the middle of the hind-
margin of the eighth ventral segment it must be either a Eutolmus or a
Dysmachus but not a Machimus ; the females of Machimus are easily
distinguished by the free anal lamellae, but it must be admitted that
there are a certain number of cases in which it is difficult to assign a
male to Dysmachus or Eutolmus, or to Eutolmus or Machimus, and a female
to Dysmachus or Eutolmus. The distinctions are dealt with in more detail
under the description of the genus Dysmachus.

Our British species of Eutolmus belongs to the group in which there
are no strong bristles beneath the front femora. Bather more than
twenty European species of the genus are well distinguished and eight or
ten others are more or less imperfectly known ; the genus is otherwise
only doubtfully recorded from North America.

1. E. rufibarbis Meigen. Legs wholly blackish and with almost all
their bristles black.

A large fly which resembles P. albiceps and M. rusticus.

d . Face moderately broad, gradually widening down to the mouth ; frons rather
abruptly arched out above the antennae but soon contracting to a narrower
width than the face, deeply sunk between the eyes on the upper part ; face
densely covered with dull yellow dust ; facial knob fairly large and well
defined, and the face-beard covering the lower two-thirds of the face but
leaving the upper third and the sides widely bare of pubescence ; hairs on
the middle part of the face-beard and along the sides of the mouth orange, but
those on the upper part and along the sides down to the upper angle of the
mouth black, and the black hairs down the sides are shorter and less con¬
spicuous than the orange hairs on the middle part of the face-beard, while the
upper hairs hardly droop but the others droop more and more as they
approach the mouth ; chin- and jowl-beards quite distinct from the face-beard,
being closer, thinner-haired and denser, all orange and extending (though
becoming sparser) up the back of the head ; on the upper part of the back of
the head the pubescence behind the black postocular festoon becomes slight
and is pale yellowish grey ; hindmargin of the eyes looped back a little at
about a quarter from the lowest part and with an apparently bare rather
wide pale greyish yellow postocular rim which becomes gradually wider on
the upper part and really bears a soft yellow pubescence ; postocular
festoon composed of about five well defined rather strong black bristles
on the upper quarter of the head, of which the uppermost are rather
bent forwards, while the festoon is continued downwards by about five
less strong and rather orange bristles which are less conspicuous and rather
bent downwards ; the uppermost black bristle of the festoon is level with the
top corner of the eye, and the actual postvertical channel is bare ; postocular
space with a slightly blackish elongate streak near the upper corner of each
eye ; irons covered with greyish or rather brownish yellow dust, but only
sparsely on the ocellar knob and on the middle part below ; several rather
irregular moderate bristly hairs occur on the widened sides of the frons
between the lower ocellus and the antennae, and about eight slightly longer
bristly hairs occur on the ocellar knob ; collar yellowish brown and bearing

666

ASILID.E

fine brownish yellow pubescence and two brownish orange inconspicuous
bristles on the upper part. Proboscis normal, with the long hairs beneath
the basal half orange ; palpi moderately long and thin, and bearing numerous
porrect orange hairs. Antennae dull black, but with the base of the third
joint narrowly and obscurely ferruginous, and the two basal joints slightly
obscured by greyish dust; basal joint with short blackish yellow hairs and
beneath with longer black bristly hairs ; second joint with shorter black
bristly hairs ; basal joint slightly longer than the second ; second joint only
slightly cup-shaped on its apical half ; third joint long and strap-shaped,
quite as long (without the style) as the two basal joints together, very
slightly tapering on the apical quarter ; style hardly as long as the third
joint, at its base nearly as thick as the tip of the third joint and continuing
to taper slightly to its tip, but with its own basal joint short though slightly
longer than broad.

Thorax yellowish ashy grey ; middle stripe blackish with deep black outer
margins, or (when viewed from behind) blackish with a broad dark greyish
brown middle part, broadening anteriorly but tapering posteriorly until it
ends in a point just before the hindmargin, or (when viewed from behind
quite horizontally) the end part and in fact the whole middle stripe may be
very obscure ; the true middle line is yellowish and very narrow, and exists
on the front part only ; side stripes broad, hardly so dark as the middle stripe
but faintly shining, restricted to the usual length and scarcely interrupted at
the suture, while the usual awl-shaped spots which follow not extending to the
hindmargin ; humeral stripes indicated by faint dark patches well in advance
of the side-stripes. Pubescence (as distinguished from bristles) on the disc
short, bristly, and black, not dense but extending over (though sparse on) the
side-stripes, and becoming longer and thinner haired after the suture but not
in the least confused with the dorso-central bristles, while fine-haired mainly
black pubescence occurs on the humeri and on the sides after the suture, but
becomes whitish yellow on the postalar calli and sparsely so across near the
hindmargin. Bristles strong, some black and some orange or yellow ; prse-
sutural three, long and strong, all black or probably varying in colour, and
one placed well forward ; supra-alar three in a row along the side of the
side-stripes, varying irregularly in colour ; postalar two, yellow ; dorso-central
all black, about four being postsutural and well distinguished on the ashy grey
stripes, and about four praesutural smaller and closer together and dying out
anteriorly at about one-third the distance between the suture and the front.
Pleurae ashy grey, with practically all the pubescence and bristles yellow;
pubescence normal on the prothorax and the space beneath ; mesopleurse
with thin hairs on the upper part and longer hairs (with perhaps one or two
black ones intermixed) down the hindmargin ; s ter no pleurae with rather
sparse and long hairs on the upper part ; pteropleurae with a tuft of hairs on
the back part ; metapleurce with fine-haired pubescence and with the usual
fan represented by about six (or more) very long bristly hairs which are
hardly in a row ; hypopleurae with very inconspicuous pale pubescence and
with a continuing fan composed of several very long thin hairs. Scutellum
ashy grey, bearing thin-haired upturned yellowish pubescence and about two
long and three or four shorter upturned marginal bristles which are irregular
in colour ; metanotum greyish black, but rather densely covered with greyish
yellow dust on the sides, and bearing abundant brownish yellow pubescence
on the lower part of the lateral humps.

Abdomen (when seen from above) brownish yellow, or (when seen side¬
ways) yellowish on the disc of the second, third, and fourth segments but
yellowish ashy grey on the rest, or (when seen from behind) blackish brown
with conspicuous rather broad bare hindmarginal hems and sidemargins.
Pubescence mainly composed of short adpressed rather conspicuous yellowish
hairs (though Loew stated that small patches of black hairs sometimes occur
down the dorsal line, and that such patches when seen from in front are
darker and sometimes even cause an indistinct dark dorsal stripe) ; rather
long outstanding yellowish pubescence occurs on the sides of the two basal
segments, and prsehindmarginal rows of bristly hairs and bristles occur on
the segments, the one on the basal segment being composed of hair-like
bristles across the middle but of five or six long thin bristles towards each

6. EUTOLMUS

667

side while the one on the second segment is similar, but the one on the third
segment has fewer and less conspicuous bristles towards the sides, and these
bristles become less and less defined on the subsequent segments until on the
rather short seventh segment only inconspicuous bristly hairs occur oi which
however some on the middle part are black ; eighth segment very short and
bearino- 0n the middle part (which is all that is visible) some short black
bristly hairs; sidemargins of the dorsal part arching over and partly en¬
closing the belly. Belly dark ashy grey, bearing long thm-haired pendent
not at all dense pale pubescence: hmdmargms of the sixth and seventh
segments dropped but straight ; eighth segment shining black and produced
into a long rather narrow process which is quite as long as or longer than the
seventh segment, and which is rather densely clothed with bristly hairs ot
which a few strong ones are black but most (especially near the tip) are
tawny and conspicuous. Genitalia shining black, comparatively small but
with long claspers and with rather rigid but not at all dense and by no means
short pale brownish yellow pubescence almost all over,, while a few rather
longer black hairs occur about the middle of the upper side of the claspers ;
claspers when seen sideways long, straight, and narrow, about five times
as long as broad, with the upper angle of the tip rounded oft but the lower
an<de slightly dropped, and when seen from above shelving oft inwardly
without any notable dentation and enclosing a long pointed ovate space ;
lower lamellae curving up and hardly more than half as long as the claspers
Legs black, rather shining, without any trace of reddish or orange, but the
coxae covered with ashy grey dust, and the femora and tibiae rather obscure .
by depressed short orange pubescence; anterior femora rather thickened
Pubescence (as distinguished from bristles or bristly hairs) mainly short and
depressed and almost entirely pale brownish yellow all over and so con¬
spicuous as to give the legs a greyish black appearance, but the front coxae
have abundant rather coarse drooping yellow pubescence on all the tront
part and the femora long outstanding yellowish pubescence postenoily and
ventrally, while some long sparse black postero-dorsal pubescence occurs
on the front femora ; front tibiae with a long mainly blackish ciliation beneath
and a rather long yellowish postero-ventral ciliation, both these dilations
being rather sparse, but quite as long as the two long postero-ventral
bristles ; middle tibiae with a mixed (but mainly yellow) ciliation beneath ;
a tiny depressed felt-like reddish orange pubescence covers most ot the
inner side of the front and hind tibiae and the underside of the basal
ioint of the front and hind tarsi. Bristles practically all black ; front
femora with only two or three small subapical bristles as none oi the
postero-dorsal hairs are strong enough to be called bristles ; front tibiae
with one rather small dorsal and one or two smaller slightly anteio-
dorsal bristles close together near the base, about four more small
dorsal bristles at or after the middle, two others slightly postero-dorsal,
and two long postero-ventral near the middle with a shorter one near the tip ,
middle femora with two anterior bristles (one at one-third and the other at
two-thirds), one antero-ventral about the middle preceded by about three
longish hairs, and about three subapical (one small antero- and two rather
larger postero-dorsal); middle tibiae with two rather small dorsal bust es
(one at and one after the middle), two larger antero-ventral nearly level with
the dorsal two, four posterior of which the uppermost (at one-third) and the
lowermost (at two-thirds) are longer than the other two, one rather long
postero-ventral after the middle with a long black hair at the middle, and tv o
or three rather long thin white anterior hairs; hmd femora with three or
four antero-dorsal bristles (equidistant and not near the base or tip) three
antero-ventral (two rather small ones near the middle and one a little lower
down), one inconspicuous ventral near the middle, and three or four subapical
(one or two small antero- and two longer postero-dorsal); hmd tibiae with
two slightly postero-dorsal bristles (one at a quarter and one at a halt) o
which the lower and stronger one is orange, one dorsal near the base, two or

three rather antero-dorsal (one near one-third and the other near two-thirds

with sometimes a smaller one at the middle), and two antero-ventral (one at
a half and one at three-quarters); all the tibiae and the tour basal joints ot
all the tarsi with the usual apical circlets of strong black bristles, ruivilli

668

ASILIDiE

brownish, long and narrowly oblong, empodium represented by an orange
bristle ; claws long and blackish, but brown about the base.

Wings subhyaline with a yellowish tinge and with an obvious extensive
greyish gloom about the tip and hindmargin, and this gloominess has a fairly
distinct boundary as it occupies all the wing-tip back to the base of the
cubital fork and extends stripe-like much more towards the wing-base in the
submarginal and marginal cells, and while occupying most of the posterior
cells leaves the veinmargins of the second to fifth of those cells hyaline,
while the axillary cell is also considerably gloomed ; veins brown, but the
mediastinal and subcostal veins and the stem of the postical yellowish brown.
Squamae (alar) pale yellow with an orange margin and with a rather long
whitish or pale yellow fringe on the lower margin. Halteres dull orange or
yellow.

9 . Very much like the male except for the ovipositor. The pale hairs of the
face-beard yellow to reddish orange ; chin- and jowl-beards and the
pubescence extending up the back of the head yellow or orange ; top bristle
of the postocular festoon orange ; collar with more numerous but indistinct
orange bristles on its upper part.

Thorax with the middle stripe narrowly reaching the hindmargin.
Bristles (except the postalar) sometimes all black. Scutellar bristles longer
and stronger and all black.

Abdomen (when seen from above) yellowish grey, or (when seen from
behind) dull black with conspicuous well defined rather broad pale hind-
margins of segments and the sidemargins broadly of the same colour • this
coloring is remarkably distinct, but the tint of the pale coloring may range
from pale yellowish to brownish yellow ; the short pale pubescence which
occurs all over the abdomen may also vary to a similar extent in colour, but
the hindmarginal bristles are more conspicuous than in the male ; eighth
abdominal segment merged into the ovipositor. Ovipositor (fig. 358) shining
black, remarkably deep, about as long as the two previous segments of the
abdomen together, straight along its upper margin and slightly convex but
undulating beneath because there is a slight concave curve near the middle ;
when seen from above the basal part is moderately compressed, but more
than the end half is so much compressed as to appear linear ; the second
upper piece is unusually large, being distinctly more than half as long as the
first and bounded against that in an S-like line, coarsely rugose on the upper
apical third but finely rugose on the rest, sharply excised at the end so that
the end lamellae are wedged in between its upper and lower points ; end
lamellae rather large, rhombic rather than ovate, sparsely but coarsely
punctate, pointed at the end, and bearing moderately long ciliation ; the
large under-piece extending quite to the base of tlie lamellae and deeply
wrinkled on the apical third ; pubescence of the ovipositor short and sparse,
but some rather long sparse pale yellowish or black hairs occur near the base
of the under-piece and on the upper sides of the second upper-piece.

Legs with the bristles as in the male but in addition the middle femora
sometimes bear three anterior and two antero-ventral bristles ; middle tibiae
sometimes with three anterior bristles after the middle ; hind femora with
rather more numerous subapical bristles ; hind tibiae with three antero-dorsal
bristles.

Length about 15 mm.

This species belongs to the group in which no bristles occur in either
sex on the underside of the front femora, and to that section of the group
in which the legs are entirely black ; it is the only one of the genus known
to occur in Britain and as the generic characters are rather indefinite it
may be confounded with Philonicus albiceps and Machimus rusticus. From
P. albiceps the male may be at once known by the prolongation of the
eighth ventral segment, and the female by the absence of any circlet of
spines at the end of the ovipositor; P. albiceps is also a much lighter grey

7. MACHIMUS

669

species with far more numerous white bristles on the thorax and legs,
short inconspicuous fine ciliation beneath the front tibise, and only two
long white bristles on the scutellum. M. rusticus has the tibia}
rufescent at just the base, and has also far more numerous white bristles
on the thorax, scutellum, and legs, and also more abundant long pale
pubescence on the back part of the thorax, while in the female the end
lamellce of the ovipositor stand out clear and free from the apex of the
upper piece of the ovipositor (fig. 359).

E. rufibarbis appears to be rare in Britain, though the old collections
of the British Museum and the late J. C. Dale contain several specimens.
I caught a female at Wey bridge in Surrey on June 29, 1872, and Colonel
Yerbury and Mr C. J. Wainwright have since taken about four specimens
in the New Forest; Colonel Yerbury and Mr J. E. Collin caught a male
and two females at Tangham Forest in Suffolk at the end of August, 1907 ;
one of Mr Dale’s specimens was labelled “Coombe Wood, August 18,
“ 1817,” and Mr J. E. Mason has recorded it from Mumby Chapel in
Lincolnshire. My dates extend from June 24 to August 29. It is
recorded from Middle and North Europe.

Synonymy. — This species stood under the name of A.forcipatus in the collections
of the British Museum and Mr J. C. Dale, and also under the name of A. fimbriatus
in the British Museum.

7. MACHIMUS.

Machimus Loew, Linn. Ent., iv., 1 (1849).

Rather large flies of blackish or brownish grey colour.
Males with a process from the eighth ventral segment.

Face rather broad (except in M. atricapillus and its close allies) ; face-beard long
and rather strong, but leaving at least the top quarter and the side thirds of the
face bare ; postocular festoon present, though the bristles may be few in number
and only slightly bent forwards at their tips ; frons with small bristles or hairs at
the sides ; collar with some stout bristles on the upper part. Antennae normal ;
basal joint with long bristles beneath, but the second joint with only short bristles ;
third joint elongate narrow elliptical, and terminated by a long thin jointed style.

Thorax with very short bristles rather than pubescence all over the disc, includ¬
ing all over the stripes. Bristles ; two strong praesutural (with often a smaller third
one), two or three supra-alar, two or more postalar, about four (3-6) well defined
dorso-central postsutural and sometimes about three somewhat indistinct prae¬
sutural extending not more than half-way between the suture and the front of the
thorax. Pleurae with no special pubescence, but the metapleural fan composed of
long and distinct bristles or even fine hairs and the hypopleural fan also distinct.
Scutellum pubescent, and bearing (2-8) strong upturned marginal bristles or bristly
hairs.

Abdomen with moderately strong but conspicuously contrasted hindmarginal
bristles (sometimes reduced to one) near (but not extending far away from) the sides,
which however become very few or die out after the fifth segment ; eighth ventral
segment produced at the middle of the hindmargin into a more or less trowel¬
like prolongation (which is pronged in M. atricapillus') on which the pubescence
usually becomes long and bristly, and this valuable generic character (though not
always very conspicuously developed) is very obvious in our two British species.
Genitalia of the male of moderate size, neither compressed nor swollen ; claspers
usually simple ; ovipositor pointed triangular, sometimes rather elongate but never
linear, distinctly compressed laterally, and with two rather long free almost style¬
like lamelke at the tip (fig. 359) but with no circlet of short spines.

Legs rather stout (though not much so in M. atricapillus ) ; femora more or less

ASILIM

r.vo

thickened, and the front pair with more or less long and dense pubescence ; legs
sometimes entirely black, or sometimes reddish on just the base of or on the whole
of the tibiae or even on part of the femora. Bristles strong on the posterior femora
and on all the tibiae and tarsi, and in some species also beneath the front femora
(though sometimes in the female only), but in our two British species without any
bristles beneath the front femora in either sex.

Wings normal. Alar squamae with long conspicuous dense fringes.

This genus is most closely allied to Eutolmus, and in some cases the
males cannot be generically distinguished ; in fact it requires the know¬
ledge of both sexes to locate a species with certainty in this genus. Any
species in which the male has a produced hindmargin of the eighth ventral
segment and the female has free anal lamellae is a Machimus ; but if the
male only be known it must be searched for in Machimus or in those
species of Eutolmus in which the eighth ventral segment is produced ;
while if the female only be known it may be distinguished at once from
Eutolmus and Dysmachus by the free anal lamellae, from Ncoitamus and
Paritamus by the less sharply defined orange colour on the tibiae, the
normally formed and less elongate ovipositor, the greyer colour, the
presence of bristles on the thoracic stripes, and the shorter simpler
postocular festoon, and (as far as British genera are concerned) from
Epitriptus by its larger size and darker coloring; these and other dis¬
tinctions are mentioned under the descriptions of the allied genera.

Machimus contains about twenty-five Palaearctic species of which only
two are known to occur in Britain, and in fact only these two are known
with certainty to occur north of Central Europe. The genus is hardly
known outside the Palaearctic region.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Legs black, with only the extreme base of the tibiae reddish.

Bristles mostly whitish. 1 rusticus.

2 (1) Legs considerably reddish. Bristles mostly blackish.

2 atricapillus.

1. M. rusticus Meigen. Legs black, with only the extreme base of the
tibiae reddish. Strong bristles on the thorax, scutellum, and legs nearly all
whitish.

A large greyish species, resembling E. rufibarbis and
P. albiceps.

£ . Dark asliy grey with an admixture of yellowish. Face rather broad, with the
ground colour greyish yellow, but dull golden on the bare parts ; facial knob
large ; face-beard rather large, but leaving about the upper quarter and the
side thirds of the face bare, composed of long bright pale yellow or orange
hairs on its lower two-thirds but with the equally long black hairs of the
upper third extending down outside the pale hairs to a little beyond the
most prominent part of the knob, while a straggling black hair or two may
occur still further down; chin, jowls, and back of the head with abundant
long yellow or pale yellow hairs ; a few black bristly hairs (sometimes rather
thin) against the upper eye-angle represent the remnants of the usual festoon,
and are slightly curved forwards at their tips, and an irregular row of stout
bristly hairs extends from them down the back of the eyes, and these bristly
hairs are usually inconspicuously yellow but are sometimes black, though all

7. MACHIMUS

671

the other hairs on the back of the head, even to those just behind the vertex,
are yellow and fine and long ; bristles about the ocelli rather long and black,
but those at the sides of the brownish yellow frons shorter and arranged in
two irregular rows, and the uppermost ones black but the others usually soon
becoming almost all pale yellow ; frons on its middle part bare and blackish ;
collar yellowish, bearing pale pubescence and about two (2-6) strong though
inconspicuous yellow bristles on its upper part which (when numerous) form
a strong chevaux cle f rise . Proboscis shining black, with short obscure
pubescence round its tip and very long yellow hairs beneath near its base ;
palpi with long nearly all yellow hairs. Antenme dark brown, but the two
basal joints rather obscured by grey dust; basal joint with short sparse
depressed pale yellow hairs above and numerous long bristly hairs beneath
which may be all yellow but which are usually partly black ; second joint
with only short pubescence which is mostly pale with black hairs intermixed
or viceversd; third joint about as long as the two basal ones together, and
bearing a few short black bristles above soon after the base ; style set at an
angle with the third joint, and from about half to two-thirds its length.

Thorax yellowish grey with the usual dark stripes; the blackish brown
middle stripe very distinct, widening anteriorly, and with an evident (though
sometimes faint) grey middle line which may be anteriorly as broad as the
dark sides of the stripe, and the sides of the middle stripe may have still
blacker outer margins, but posteriorly the middle stripe contracts rather
suddenly into a narrow dark brown line at about midway between the suture
and the scutellum ; side-stripes most perceptible when viewed from behind
when they contrast with the yellowish grey stripes, and these yellowish grey
stripes almost coalesce soon after the suture ; humeral stripes only visible
at their front end as small dark brown spots ; humeral space covered with
whitish grey dust which extends over, and to just below and behind, the
humeral knob ; in fresh specimens the side stripes are very indistinct, but in
older specimens they become more distinct through being rubbed and then
they sometimes have darker margins on their inner side; when seen from
above the side-stripes usually appear broad (though sometimes very vague),
beginning about half-way between the front and the suture and extending
(in some lights) broadly but vaguely to the hindmargin. Pubescence on
the disc short, all black, and not very bristly but becoming longer
and thinner-haired towards the hind part, while pale yellowish thin¬
haired pubescence occurs on the humeri, just before the wing-base,
between the wings and the scutellum, and on all the postsutural part of
the disc. Bristles conspicuous; praesutural two strong and yellow and a
smaller remote black anterior one ; supra-alar three, all yellow ; postalar two
long and yellow - dorso-central about four postsutural rather strong and
yellow but only distinct through the black spots from which they rise as
otherwise they are liable to be mixed up with the surrounding long
pubescence, while any praesutural are small and black and hardly distinguish¬
able from the neighboring bristly hairs. Pleurae yellowish grey, with pale
pubescence on the prothorax and the space beneath it, on the upper part of the
mesopleurae, and sparsely on the upper part of the sternopleurae and ptero-
pleurae, while the metapleural fan is composed of rather dense very long and
rather strong (but not bristly) hairs and the hypopleural fan of four or five
similar long hairs. Scutellum bearing rather short dense whitish yellow
pubescence, and with several (4-8) long conspicuously pale yellow marginal
bristles which are erect or rather curved forwards ; metanotum light grey,
and bearing some short pale pubescence on the side humps.

Abdomen (when seen from above) grey with dark reflections along the
sides, or (when seen from behind) greyish black or greyish brown, with pale
yellowish grey or whitish grey hindmargins of segments and sidemargins, and
(in certain lights) with a slightly darkened dorsal stripe ; the pale hind-
margins are narrow about the middle but curve up towards the broad whitish
or yellowish grey sidemargins ; when seen from in front the abdomen appears
to be all yellowish grey down to the blackish genitalia ; pubescence on the
disc short and all pale except for sometimes some black hairs about the
middle of the hindmargin of the last segment ; basal segment with

hindmarginal

fringe

of pale hairs which become almost long bristles

a prse-
at the

672

ASILIDiE

sides ; second segment with moderate thin pale pubescence on the side-
margins and with praehindmarginal pale bristles very sharply defined and
rather numerous towards the sides though not very strong, and the subse¬
quent segments with similar bristles which however become reduced to one or
two near each side of the sixth segment and to one small one on the seventh,
though a praehindmarginal fringe of short pale bristles runs across the disc
of these segments and exists though less perceptible on the basal segments ;
eighth segment very short dorsally and almost concolorous with the seventh.
Belly grey, with long thin straggling pendent almost sparse pale yellow hairs
on the four basal segments, but with shorter pubescence on the next three
segments (which according to Loew have sometimes a few black hairs inter¬
mixed near the tip) • the five basal segments are almost level but the sixth
and seventh are slightly dropped at the hindmargin ; the eighth segment is
rather darker and bears pale pubescence all over, while its hindmargin is
widened out into a blunt triangular grey projection which has a very broad
base and which bears a long terminal pale yellow or orange ciliation.
Genitalia shining black, moderate in size and clothed all over with coarse
pale yellow pubescence in which sometimes some black hairs are intermixed
on the upper side ; claspers simple, shining black, arched on their upper
side, long but stout being hardly three times as long as their deepest
part (the middle), and clothed all over with rather abundant pale pubescence,
with their upper margin curving over inwards to the rounded hind¬
margin, and the hindmargin with its lower angle rather drawn back ;
claspers beset on their inner side at the tip with very short bristly orange
pubescence, and the two arms (when they touch at their tips) enclosing on the
upper side a simple long narrow oval space without any dentation about the
middle ; lower lamellae about half as long as the upper pair, and bearing
strong orange hairs but no apical bristles ; middle piece broad and spoon-like,
faintly indented at the tip ; prongs of the penis short but of equal length.

Legs shining black, but obscured all over by dense almost adpressed short
pale pubescence which gives them a greyish black appearance ; extreme base
of the tibiae always distinctly even if inconspicuously reddish ; anterior coxae
yellowish grey, with dense long yellow drooping pubescence, but the hind
coxae with much less and shorter pubescence. Femora all rather thickened,
and all with abundant long pale yellow pubescence even about the tip of
the front pair ; anterior tibiae with abundant long mainly postero-ventral and
ventral pale yellow pubescence, which is much longer than the postero-
ventral bristles ; hind tibiae with very sparse shorter antero- and postero-
ventral pubescence ; basal joint of the front tarsi with long pale posterior
pubescence. Front femora with a few (1-4) postero-dorsal bristles neither
near the base nor extending to the tip, and a few small subapical ; front
tibiae with one rather small black dorsal bristle and one antero-dorsal
near it (both near the base), a row of about six small black postero-dorsal
(almost dorsal) of which none are on the basal third, the usual three long
yellow postero-ventral, and a not very strong apical circlet of which the
ventral bristles are black ; front tarsi with a pair of long yellow
bristles (one anterior and one posterior) at the tip of each of the four
basal joints and one posterior near the base of the basal joint, and also
with a pair of shorter more forwards-directed curved black bristles at
the tip of those joints (one antero-ventral and one postero-ventral). Middle
femora with three strong anterior bristles wide apart, and sometimes with two
small ventral near the base, and with two or three subapical postero-dorsal ;
middle tibiae with two inconspicuous antero-dorsal bristles (one at and one
after the middle), three small black or yellow postero-dorsal, three strong
black ventral (one near the middle, one at three-quarters, and the other near
the tip), and three weaker postero-ventral after the middle ; middle tarsi
with bristles similar to those on the front pair but with one yellow anterior
bristle in addition near the base of the basal joint. Hind femora with about
six (4-6) antero-dorsal bristles in a long row, two or three subapical postero-
dorsal, about four (4-6) antero-ventral not near the base or tip, and one or
two ventral near the middle ; hind tibiae with three strong yellow antero-
dorsal bristles (the one near the base being the smallest, the second just before
and the third a little after the middle), one postero-dorsal just before the

7. MACHIMUS

673

middle and a small one near the base, and two strong antero-ventral close
together at about three-quarters the length ; hind tarsi with the yellow
apical bristles on the four basal joints shorter than in the anterior pairs, and
with only a long anterior bristle near the base of the basal joint. Pulvilli
long, dull orange ; claws long, black but obscurely reddish at the base.

Wings slightly brownish, with dark brown veins and extensive faint grey
“ gloom ” at the tip and hindmargin, and with this tint filling all the
cubital fork-cell (except just the base) and reaching much further back as a
small stripe in the marginal and submarginal cells, and entirely enclosing the
veins near the wing-tip (leaving other veins with a hyaline margin), but
continuing uninterruptedly along the wingmargin ; the closed fourth posterior
cell with a large grey kernel and the fifth and sixth with small kernels, while
even the discal cell sometimes was a dull grey tip. Squamae pale yellow
with a dark orange margin and with a long conspicuous dense whitish fringe
along the lower part. Halteres dull dark orange.

$ . Extremely like the male. Postocular festoon composed of about three strong
black bristles.

Abdomen with a rather more brownish tint to the yellowish grey colour,
the pale hindmargins less conspicuous but the pale bristles there rather more
numerous, and the grey sidemargins narrower except as triangles on the hind
corners of segments ; pubescence on the disc short and all pale except near
the hindmargin of the sixth segment and on nearly all the disc of the seventh,
and any stronger bristles on the seventh segment black. Belly with some long
pendent hairs on the basal segments, and often with more or less numerous
black hairs on the apical segments. Ovipositor (fig. 359) shining black,
strongly compressed laterally, obviously shorter than the two preceding
abdominal segments together, and (when seen sideways) of pointed elongate
triangular shape ; pubescence very sparse, black but with a few pale hairs
on the sides, and with some longer hairs beneath not far from the base which
are black with a few pale hairs intermixed or vice versd ; the second upper
piece of the ovipositor not half so long as the first and impunctate, but with
an inconspicuous circlet of thin pale hairs not far from its end ; the small
lamellae entirely free and coarsely punctate (especially above).

Legs with the long pale pubescence sparser than in the male and much
shorter on the tibiae, but otherwise similar except that the black bristles on
the middle tibiae may be reduced in number.

Length about 16 mm.

This species varies considerably in size, and as usual the small specimens
are darker than the large ones ; a small male from Lewes has the postocular
festoon composed of about ten stiff black and no yellow bristles, while
the small bristles on the sides of the frons are all black, the collar has
about six strong yellow spines, the bristles on the middle of the disc of the
thorax are black, and the scutellar bristles only four in number, and
not very much upturned, the tip of the process from the underside of the
eighth abdominal segment bears three or four black bristly hairs, while
the claspers are hardly so thick and have a few black hairs above near
the tip. If attention be given to the almost entirely black legs and the
great predominance of pale bristles (especially on the scutellum and legs)
no confusion can arise between this and any other known European species
of Machimus. Eutolmus rufibarbis is very similar but may be distinguished
by the absence of any rufescent base to the tibiae, by the bristles on the
thorax, scutellum, and especially the legs being nearly all black, by the
much longer fine pubescence on the front tibiae, which moreover extends
to the basal joint of the tarsi, and by the short pubescence on the hind
part of the thorax being mainly black, while the female of E. rufibarbis
has the end lamellae of the ovipositor wedged into an excision in the

2 u

674

ASILIM

end upper-piece (fig. 358). Philonicas albiceps might possibly be confused
with M. rusticus, but the female of P. albiceps may be at once dis¬
tinguished by the terminal circlet of spines to the ovipositor, and the
male by the absence of any process at the end of the eighth ventral
segment and the absence of long pubescence on the anterior legs, while
P. albiceps in both sexes is a much lighter grey insect and has only
two long white marginal bristles on the scutellum.

M. rusticus is known to me as British from only a very few specimens.
Mr J. H. A. Jenner took a small male in the Coombe, Lewes, on August
9, 1886 ; Mr H. W. Andrews took a pair in cop. at Freshwater in the Isle
of Wight on August 13, 1903: two males were in the Bev. 0. Pickard
Cambridge’s collection which were probably taken on the coast of Dorset
or Hants; Mr Charbonnier has sent me a record from Henbury in
Gloucestershire, and I have seen a female in the Entomological Club
collection.

Synonymy. — I have very little faith in any old British records of this species ;
for instance I found three supposed representatives in C. W. Dale’s collection at
Oxford which proved to be one M. atricapillus and two Dysmachus trigonus.

2. M. atricapillus Fallen. Femora and tibiae with reddish stripes.
Eighth ventral segment of the male produced into a two-horned lobe.
Bristles on the thorax, scutellum, and legs nearly all blackish.

A moderate-sized brownish grey species with blackish
brown thoracic stripes, which is easily distinguished from any
other British species of Asilince (except E. cingulatus) by the
colour of the legs, and from almost all known species by the
two-horned process from the ventral margin of the eighth
abdominal segment of the male.

8. Face narrow but widening downwards, greyish yellow with the middle of the
space between the upper end of the facial knob and the antennse blackish but
not shining black ; facial knob large, strongly arched, and bearing a strong
face-beard which leaves the upper and outer thirds of the face bare but which
extends outwards at its lower part in a line towards the jowls; face-beard
composed of long strong black hairs with numerous whitish hairs on the
middle of the lower part (though Loew states that sometimes these are
missing) ; jowls, chin, and lower part of the back of the head bearing abundant
long whitish pubescence, and the upper third of the back of the head with the
postocular festoon (rather irregular on its upper part) of about sixteen strong
black bristles of which most are slightly curved forwards at the tip and
which are strongest on the upper part just before the gap caused by the
vertical channel, and this festoon is continued a little way downwards about
the middle of the head by about four similar but yellow bristles ; a few short
thin yellow hairs occur between the festoon and the eyes, and some long thin
yellow hairs behind it at the vertex ; the bristly hairs about the ocelli
and those on the sides of the blackish orange or grey frons are black and
rather long, but the vertex is bare between the eyes and above the ocelli and
is all orange or yellowish grey in some lights or blackish with sparse golden
dust in other lights ; frons blackish and bare on the depressed middle part ;
collar yellowish grey, with fine pale yellow pubescence and about four
rather strong black bristles on the upper part. Proboscis shining black, with
short obscure pubescence round the tip and very long pale pubescence
beneath the basal half ; palpi thin and black, with long black and whitish (or

7. MACHIMUS

675

all black) hairs. Antennae brownish black ; two basal joints rather obscured
by grey dust ; basal joint with numerous rather short yellow dorsal bristles
and with fewer much longer black bristles beneath ; second joint with more
equal but shorter black bristles ; third joint about as long as the two basal
ones together ; style about as long as the third joint and hardly set at an
angle to it.

Thorax yellowish grey, with the blackish brown middle stripe widening
anteriorly but steadily contracting after the suture until it becomes rather
narrow when it reaches the hindmargin, and the middle stripe has on its
broad anterior part a more or less distinct narrow dividing grey middle line ;
side-stripes normal (best defined when seen sideways), being interrupted at
the suture and extended about half-way from the suture to the hindmargin
and then followed by the usual triangular dark spots ; humeral stripes (when
seen from in front) sloping inwards on to the disc in front of and inside the
front part of the side-stripes, while a slight stripe runs down outside the front
part of the side-stripes. Pubescence (as distinguished from strong bristles)
represented by small black not dense bristles all over the disc among which
sometimes a very few pale ones are intermixed on the anterior part of the
middle stripe, though rather short thin pale hairs occur on the humeri, above
the wing base, on the ridge of the postalar calli, and across the hindmargin.
Bristles mostly black ; praesutural two very strong, with sometimes a smaller
third one well anterior ; supra-alar two very strong, placed on the yellowish
grey ground colour ; postalar two strong, with sometimes one or two weaker
ones near ; dorso-central about nine (7-9), of which about six (4-6) are
postsutural and about three (2-5) praesutural, but the praesutural ones quickly
merge into the short black bristles of the disc though two or three smaller
ones may continue to indicate the dorso-central rows ; the dorso-central bristles
are rather conspicuous owing to their being placed on the yellowish grey
stripes just outside the middle stripe. Pleurae yellowish grey with (in some
lights) a dark stripe down just behind the middle of the mesopleurae, and with
two dark spots in front ; pubescence mostly pale yellow, long and rather con¬
spicuous on the protliorax and the space between that and the front coxae,
rather long on the upper and back parts of the mesopleurae (sometimes
partially or even wholly black), rather slight on the upper part of the sterno-
pleurae (where I have seen one rather strong black bristly hair in one specimen), a
little on the back part of the pteropleurae (where one rather small black bristly
hair occurred in the specimen just mentioned); metapleurae with numerous
pale hairs, and a fan of about eight (3-8) long bristly hairs which are usually
yellow but sometimes dark orange or even occasionally mostly black ;
hypopleurae with some long pale hairs on the middle part, and a fan of about
eight long pale bristly hairs of which the lower four may be weaker than the
others. Scutellum grey, bearing rather abundant upright (or slightly
forwards-bent) greyish white pubescence in which a few black hairs some¬
times occur, and with (normally) four long black widely divergent upturned
subapical marginal bristles which are slightly bent forwards, but the number
and symmetry of these bristles vary so much that they may be three or five
in number and consequently more on one side than on the other, but the two
nearest the tip are always placed well apart ; metanotum greyish black, bare
on the middle but with numerous pale or sometimes black hairs on the back
part of the side humps.

Abdomen when seen from behind very dark but when seen sideways
brownish grey, with conspicuous whitish or yellowish grey hindmargins which
occupy from a sixth to a quarter of the second to fifth segments, and with
similar shimmer on just the sidemargins which widens out a little at the
base and end of each segment and which covers the basal segment and the
base of the second segment ; eighth segment very short dorsally.
Pubescence short black depressed and bristly on the disc of all the
segments, but long less bristly and whitish on the sides of the two
basal segments and the base of the third, and some short pale incon¬
spicuous depressed pubescence also occurs on about the front third of the
fourth to sixth segments' basal segment with a long depressed black
fringe on its hindmargin and with about five long yellow bristly hairs mixed
in the fringe on each side ; second segment with a slight row of shorter

676

ASILID.B

bristly prashindmarginal hairs and with about two of this row towards each
side (but not near the sidemargin) forming long yellow bristles; third
segment with a similar fringe but with the yellow bristles weaker and with
some of the smaller bristles nearer the middle of the hindmargin also yellow ;
fourth segment with a small black better defined fringe and with about four
yellow bristles on each side which are smaller than those on the third
segment : fifth segment with a fringe similar to that on the fourth but with
fewer yellow bristles ; and sometimes the yellow bristles are altogether
missing on the fourth and subsequent segments ; these fringes on the second
to fifth segments are placed well away from the actual hindmargin so that
the broad hindmarginal hems are quite bare. Belly ashy grey, with a blackish
splash on each segment from the third onwards ; when viewed sideways the
line of the belly is level for the four basal segments, but the next three
segments have their hindmargins tilted so that they project beyond the base
of the next segment and each of these segments has distinct sloping black
hairs which become longer and more conspicuous at the hindmargins of the
sixth and seventh segments, while even the third and fourth segments have a
few' short inconspicuous sloping black bristly hairs on their discs ; the seg¬
ments from the fourth onwards diminish in length ; pubescence long
straggly thin-haired and whitish from the base to the fifth and sixth or
even seventh segments, but bristly and black even before the lobe on the
eighth segment ; eighth segment with its hindmargin produced into a con¬
spicuous process which lias a deep curved emargination at its end so that it
has two conspicuous horns or sharp outer angles wrhich bear long black bristly
pubescence, and the surface of this lobe which is nearest the belly is shining
black and bare but rather rough. Genitalia (fig. 360) comparatively small,
shining black ; claspers (wdien seen sideways) long, rather narrow, and nearly
straight, with the upper end angle produced and pointed, but (vdien seen from
above) showing a large dentation about the middle so that they enclose
two long scarcely separated ovate spaces from the basal one of wThich the
small upturned almost linear (with rounded tip) pubescent inner lamellae
usually protrude ; the claspers bear pale pubescence on the basal half outside
and also to a certain extent on the apical half of the inside, but the hairs on
the rest are mostly black though wdth pale hairs intermingled ; lower lamellae
about half as long as the claspers, shining black but dusted about the tip
and usually bright orange-red at quite the tip, and bearing on the outside
some mixed black and yellow moderate bristles and about three (3-6) strong
black bristles, but wdien seen from beneath the lower lamellae tend to
approximate at their ends and partially enclose a heart-shaped space in
which are some bright shining orange-red processes ; basal ventral plate of
the genitalia dusted and bearing numerous moderate black bristles.

Legs black and reddish orange ; femora black with reddish streaks of
varying extent and distinctness, as a well-marked specimen has the front
femora reddish orange on the upper and postero-dorsal surfaces and on a
ring near the tip, and the posterior femora wdth similar but less definite
markings, wdiile an obscurely marked specimen may have the reddish
markings so much darkened that only the praeapical ring can be distinctly
traced ; the front tibiae may be reddish orange with the tip and an anterior
streak (widened at the tip) blackish, the middle tibiae with similar but less
definite markings and the blackish anterior streak disconnected with the
black tip, and the hind tibiae with still less definite markings and the anterior
streak obscure, or the anterior tibiae may have the dark streaks larger and
more complete while the hind tibiae may have the basal two-thirds indistinctly
black ; the tarsi are usually reddish orange with the tip of the basal joint
darkened and each subsequent joint more blackened at and near the tip until
the last joint is practically all black, or the tarsi may be blacker on especially
the basal joint of the bind pair and on the tips of the other basal joints.
Bubescence (as distinguished from long or strong bristles) mainly pale
yellow ; long and whitish on the anterior coxae, but most abundant on the
front pair ; very long beneath the front femora and with a few black hairs
near the tip, and moderately long posteriorly but minute and adpressed
anteriorly ; also very long but blackish or greyish beneath the front tibiae
but mainly minute and adpressed elsewhere and varying in colour except

7. MACH I M US

677

for some black bristly antero-dorsal Lairs and the orange felt-like pubescence
on the apical two-thirds of the inner side ; front tarsi with minute black bristly
hairs and with some orange felt-like pubescence on the soles ; pubescence
on the middle femora long and sparse beneath but minute pale and depressed
elsewhere except for some black bristly hairs about the tip, on the middle
tibiae much sparser than on the front pair and with the, minute bristles
mainly black on the dorsal part but forming a dense short sloping pubescence
on the underside; pubescence behind and beneath the hind femora slight
and pale, but minute depressed pale hairs occur on the other parts, and the
hind tibiae bear mixed minute depressed bristles and have orange felt-like
pubescence all down the inner side, and this felt-like pubescence extends
to the sole of the basal joint of the tarsi with a slight trace on the second
joint. Bristles black (with rare exceptions); front femora with three or
four postero-dorsal on the apical half ; front tibiae with one rather strong
dorsal close to the base and one small antero-dorsal close to it, about seven
(3-7) often unequal slightly postero-dorsal, about three (2-4) long postero-
ventral of which the uppermost one (just before the middle) is the longest,
and the usual apical circlet of about six bristles ; front tarsi with the usual
circlet of six bristles at the tip of each of the four basal joints and with
the usual long posterior bristle near the base of the basal joint, besides the
plantar bristles ; middle femora with one strong anterior just after the
middle and sometimes with another one near the base, three or four smaller
antero-ventral in a sort of row near the middle, and the usual subapical
bristles ; middle tibiae with two small antero-dorsal (one near and one after
the middle), two thinner postero-dorsal near the antero-dorsal, about three
longer and more hair-like postero-ventral, and two long antero-ventral of
which one is just after the middle and the other at about three-quarters the
length ; middle tarsi with bristles similar to those on the front pair but
with a strong anterior as well as posterior one near the base ; hind trochanters
with about two (2-4) posterior bristles ; hind femora with two postero-dorsal
near the tip, five or six anterior or antero-dorsal almost equally separated
(excluding the rather isolated subapical one), about seven (5-7) slightly antero-
ventral extending over nearly the whole length, one rather strong postero-
ventral (dark orange or black) just after the middle with a smaller incon¬
spicuous one a little before it and two inconspicuous yellow ones near the
base ; hind tibiae with one quite dorsal near the base, three slightly
antero-dorsal near the middle (the middle one small or absent), one postero-
dorsal at the middle, two antero-ventral at about three-quarters the length,
and the usual apical circlet ; hind tarsi with the usual apical circlets to
the four basal joints, a strong anterior bristle near the base of the basal
joint, and the plantar bristles. Pulvilli long, brownish orange ; claws long
and rather thin, especially curved near the tip.

Wings hyaline with blackish brown veins and with an extensive brownish
grey “gloom” at the tip and hindraargin ; this “gloom” fills the second sub¬
marginal cell and forms broad stripes in the first submarginal and in the
marginal cell where it extends back about as far as opposite the base of the
discal cell, and it also occupies the wing-tip, the third posterior cell except close
to the veins, and the whole of the hind margin, while it forms large kernels in
the closed fourth posterior and anal cells and a narrow stripe in the discal
cell. Squamae brownish yellow ; alar pair with rather long abundant
outspread whitish fringes, but the thoracal pair practically absent. Halteres
brownish, with the top of the knob rather orange.

9 . Very similar to the male except for the ovipositor.

Thorax with the metapleural and hypopleural fans more distinct.

Abdomen rather broader and more pointed, when seen from behind more
greyish black with large black dorsal spots on the second to sixth segments ;
pubescence very slight on the sides of the third segment and the yellow
bristles towards the sides of the prse hind marginal fringes not extending
beyond the fifth segment. Belly with soft long white pubescence on the four
basal segments, but with more rigid erect black bristly hairs on the next
three and to a small extent on the hindmargin of the fourth segment.
Ovipositor elongate triangular (when seen sideways) and apparently formed

678

ASILIDiE

in conjunction with the eighth abdominal segment as both are shining black
and very much compressed, rather longer than the two preceding segments
together ; upper end piece not half so long as the basal piece, and both
bearing very sparse pale hairs • end lamellm elongate and almost oblong, quite
free and bearing more numerous pale hairs.

Legs with the bristles slightly more numerous, there being usually three
antero-ventral on the hind tibiae, and about six antero-ventral on the hind
femora.

Length about 12 mm.

This species may be easily distinguished from all known species (unless
M. calceatus Meig. be distinct) by the peculiar two-horned process from the
eighth ventral segment of the male ; Loew in 1849 dealt exhaustively
with all the varieties which he could distinguish and gave details of their
local distribution over Europe, and doubtfully came to the opinion that
M. calceatus might be distinguished by its more yellowish grey colour and
its paler face-beard and general pubescence. Loew also stated that in
dark specimens a large amount of the usual pale pubescence on the legs
and especially of the femora becomes black, but I have observed but little
variation in our British specimens except in size and in the coloration of
the legs as mentioned in the foregoing description and in the two extreme
forms mentioned which were taken at the same place and time (Chippenham
Fen, August 22, 1892). It is not likely to be confounded with the only
other British species of the genus, as M. rusticus is larger and has far more
numerous pale bristles on the body and legs, while the legs have only
the extreme base of the tibiae reddish, and in the male the process from
the eighth ventral segment is much more simple. Epitriptus cingulatus is
more likely to be mistaken for it because of the somewhat similar coloring
of the legs, but may be distinguished by its smaller size, yellower appear¬
ance, more pale haired frons, and simple eighth ventral segment of the
male.

M. atricapillus is one of the commonest species of the Asilince in the
southern half of England as I have met with it in numerous localities
from Cornwall to the Midlands, but the most northerly records I know are
the Forest of Dean, Painswick, Stokenchurch, Tarrington, Wyre Forest,
Sutton Coldfield, and Dolgelly (in all of which localities I believe it
is uncommon), while it is fairly common in Cambridgeshire. Colonel
Yerbury once took a female in the New Forest preying upon a male
Chrysops ccecutiens. My records extend from June 7 to September 30.
It is common over all North and Central Europe, and is not uncommon
in the Alps, but that seems to be almost its southern limit.

8. NEOITAMUS.

Ncoitarrms Osten Sacken, Cat. Dipt. N. Amer., ed. ii., 82 (1878).

Itamus Loew, Linn. Ent., iv., 84 (1849), nec Schmidt-G-oebel (1846).

Blackish grey flies of moderate or rather large size, which
have the tibite conspicuously clear orange without any striping,
banding, or even dusting. Ovipositor very long.

Head with the usual pubescence and bristles ; face unusually narrow ; facial
knob occupying the lower part of the face so that the long and strong face-beard

8. NEOITAMUS

679

leaves nearly the upper half or third and the sides of the face bare ; ocellar bristles
rather well defined ; postocular festoon long and extended, but with its bristles
rather thin and erect until the upper quarter where they bend forwards on their top
half almost rectangularly (fig. 362). Antennae
with the basal joint thin and twice as long as
the almost globular second joint, and the two
basal joints bearing long bristles (especially on
the underside) ; third joint tapering so much
that it ends as thin as (and seems to merge into)
the base of the style ; style long and thin.

Thorax rather unusually blackish grey, because
the strongly marked dorsal stripes are blacker
than usual and are quite bare of pubescence ;

otherwise fairly long and growing
posteriorly until it becomes almost
the dorso-central bristles. Bristles
and numerous, four or five praesu-
five irregular supra-alar, about five

pubescence
still longer
as

long,

tural, about

(3-5) postalar, and about twelve dorso-central
(becoming weak posteriorly and not extending
anteriorly more than half-way between the suture
and the front) ; metapleural and hypopleural fans
composed of numerous long bristly hairs. Scu-
tellum with about four (2 or 4) strong marginal
bristles.

Abdomen long, rather narrow, and dark colored, with large genitalia ; eighth
segment in the male not much shorter than the seventh. Pubescence rather long
and conspicuous, becoming of a bristly nature towards the sides of the prsehind-
marginal fringes on the second, third, and fourth segments, where a few (about

long

as

strong,

Fio. 362. — Neoilamus cyanurus $ . x 13.

four) of the long hairs become stout and strong. Genitalia of the male

large

and

ovipositor laterally compressed and appearing to be
and seventh abdominal segments seem to form part

complicated, shining black
very long because the sixth
of it.

Legs black, but with the tibiae (except at the tip) bright orange and not obscured
by any close short pubescence nor by any striping or banding ; tarsi often also more
or less orange about the base. Bristles normal ; front femora without any bristles
on the underside.

Wings normal ; cubital fork with a decided bell-mouthed opening. Squamae
(alar) with only a moderate marginal fringe which is neither so dense nor '
usual.

long as

The generic characters now given apply only to Section A of Loew’s
genus Itamus, as I believe that there are sufficient reasons for giving
generic (or subgeneric) rank to the species in his Section B for which I
here propose the name Paritavius.

This genus as now restricted may be distinguished from any Asilhuc
known to me by the remarkable ovipositor and by the bare thoracic
stripes. The ovipositor is very much laterally compressed and is very
long, as it appears to include the sixth and seventh abdominal segments
so that the ordinary abdomen seems to be reduced to five segments.
Other notable characters exist in the narrow face, the rectangularly bent
postocular festoon, the tapering third antennal joint, the numerous thoracic
bristles, the complicated male genitalia, and the bright orange coloring of
the tibiae. Paritamiis has the face less narrow and only its upper quarter
bare, the postocular festoon less bent forward, the third antennal joint not
more tapering than usual, the thoracic stripes considerably covered by the
tiny thoracic bristles, the male genitalia conspicuously swollen, and the
ovipositor normally formed so that the abdomen has the usual seven
segments, irrespective of the ovipositor.

680

ASILIM

Neoitamus contains only three well-known European species, but those
three are widely distributed and will probably all be found in England ;
two doubtful species have been recorded from Greece, and two or three
occur in China and Japan; the genus undoubtedly occurs also in Algeria
and has been recorded from North America, South Asia, and New Zealand.

Synonymy. — The genus Itamus was founded by Loew in 1846 as a subgenus of
Asilus, but the name having been preoccupied three years earlier in the Coleoptera
by Schmidt-Goebel, Osten Sacken proposed the name Neoitamus in order to pre¬
serve the old name as much as possible.

Table of Species.

1 (2)

2 (1)

Bristles of the legs nearly all black.

Sixth and seventh abdominal segments in the male steel-blue.
Tarsi orange at only the extreme base.

1 cyanurus.

Bristles of the legs to a large extent yellow.

Sixth and seventh abdominal segments in the male black. Tarsi
considerably orange at the base.

2 cothurnatus.

N. socius is most allied to N. cyanurus but has the tarsi more orange about the
base and has the male genital claspers shorter and more triangular.

1. N. cyanurus Loew. Bristles of the legs nearly all black ; tarsi with
only the extreme base orange. Abdomen of the male shining blue on the
sixth and seventh segments, while in the female those segments appear
to form a part of the ovipositor. Male claspers elongate oblong.

A rather large dark elongate species.

J. Face unusually narrow near the antennae but widening downwards until it
becomes nearly three times as wide at the mouth, while the frons above the
antennae is nearly twice as wide as the narrow part of the face but contracts
again slightly towards the vertex ; face covered with dense pale yellow
tomentum on the part above the face-beard but with less tomentum on the
bare sides, and with the blackish ground colour showing up considerably on the
facial knob ; facial knob (fig. 362) of medium size, occupying only the lower half
of the face, and bearing the long strong face-beard, of which the upper part
is black and the lower part yellow or orange but with the black hairs extend¬
ing partially downwards outside the yellow ones and continuing in almost a
single line to the jowls ; the face-beard leaves nearly the upper half and the
side thirds of the face bare ; chin- and jowl-beards moderately long and silky
whitish, but this pubescence becoming scarcer and dying out about half-way
up the back of the head, though a short inconspicuous whitish pubescence
remains close to the eyes on about the middle third of the greyish yellow
eyemargin ; the black festoon begins at about a quarter the way up the
back of the head and continues as a row of rather thin black bristles all
round the upper three-quarters of the head without absolute interruption at
the vertex, though the strongest bristles occur near the upper eye-angles and
the space behind the vertex bears less strong bristles ; the festoon bristles are
nearly erect until the upper quarter of the eyes, after which they begin to
have their tips bent over forwards and this bending over increases so much
that at the upper eye-angles their top half is bent forwards at right angles
to the lower half j upper part of the actual back of the head grey, with some
shorter black bristles near the festoon but otherwise bare. Frons covered
with not very dense yellowish grey dust which leaves the middle depression
between the ocelli and the antennae almost black, deeply sunk between

8. NEOITAMUS

681

the eyes above (but not much below) the ocelli ; sides below the ocelli
with fairly numerous moderate black bristly hairs ; ocellar knob with several
longer black bristly hairs of which the upper four turn outwards but the rest
(as well as the hairs on the sides of the frons) slope forwards ; collar grey,
with a row of about eight to ten bristles which may be either blackish orange
or black. Proboscis black with the usual long pale hairs beneath on the
basal part, but with very slight pubescence at the tip ; palpi short, thin, and
black, with long blackish (or sometimes pale near the base) hairs directed
forwards and with one extra long curved one at the tip. Antennae greyish
black ; basal joint thin and cylindrical, twice as long as the short almost
globular second joint, and both these joints bear black bristly hairs (longest
on the underside); third joint long, thin, and tapering so that it is not easy
to detect where the joint ends and the style begins, about as long as the two
basal joints together ; style jointed with the basal joint short, about equal in
thickness with the tip of the third joint and continuing so for about the
length of the third joint but then ending in a tiny point.

Thorax ashy grey ; middle stripe deep black but conspicuously split by
an ashy grey middle line, and broadened anteriorly but contracted posteriorly
until it ends in two (still well separated) blunt points about mid-way
between the suture and the hindmargin, though in some lights these
two points appear to coalesce and continue as a narrow indistinct
greyish black stripe to the hindmargin ; side-stripes sharply defined, and
each forming a large elongate ovate stripe of which the greater part is before
the suture, and when seen from in front the grey suture separates that part
from the smaller part below the suture : the front end of the side-stripes
turn rather outwards to a point near where the humeral stripes ought to
occur; after the ends of the side-stripes narrow awl-shaped rather small
dark spots extend towards but do not reach the hindmargin ; humeral
stripes hardly extended. Pubescence black, fairly long and slightly bent
backwards, comparatively sparse or certainly nowhere abundant, quite absent
on all the dark stripes and only occurring as a single line on each side of the
narrow grey middle line ; the pubescence is longer and less bent backwards
towards the hind part of the thorax when mixed with the long bristles, and
in fact it becomes almost as long as the hindmost bristles ; humeri with only
rather long thin pale yellow hairs, but no further trace of pale hairs occurs
along the sides except perhaps the short pubescence on the extreme outer side
of the postalar calli. Bristles ; four or five long strong praesutural and about
two weaker more anterior ones ; about five long and strong supra-alar ; about
four long and strong postalar ; about twelve dorso-central (there being no
apparent interruption at the suture) neither extending back near to the hind¬
margin nor forwards to the front third of the thorax, but these bristles become
shorter and weaker towards the liindmarginal end of the rows and merge
before the hindmargin into the general bristly pubescence. Pleurae ashy
grey, but the lower front part of the sternopleurae blackish ; protliorax and
the space below it with not dense greyish white pubescence ; mesopleura?
with a few normally black hairs near the upper and hindmargins and about the
lower hind part, but many of these hairs may be pale ; sternopleurae with
more numerous though inconspicuous pale thin hairs on all the upper part ;
pteropleurae with some stronger almost bristly dark orange hairs on the back
part and with some longish thin pale hairs ; metapleurae with a dense fan of
about twelve long dull yellow bristly hairs, near which are some almost equally
long thin yellow hairs ; hypopleurae with a fan of about four still stronger
dull yellow bristly hairs and several equally long yellow thin hairs. Scutellum
ashy grey, with numerous erect thin hardly short yellow hairs on the disc,
amongst which a rather stronger black hair or two may sometimes occur, and
with about four strong upturned black marginal bristles ; metanotum greyish
black, but lighter grey at the sides.

Abdomen narrow, black with (when seen from behind) a rather obscure
greyish liindmarginal hem to each of the first five segments and with this greyish
coloring widening out at the hind corners and extending along the sides ;
abdomen very gradually tapering and the seventh segment still slightly
narrower, while the sixth and seventh segments are shining steel blue.
Pubescence comparatively long and conspicuous, chiefly fawn yellow or

682

ASILIM

yellowish white and tending to form bands across the second and third
segments (more especially the second) a little before each hindmargin ; it
is long and outspread at the sides of the two basal segments, and also to a
less degree at the sides of the third, and is faintly traceable at the
sides of the fourth, and a short black pubescence extends broadly down
the middle of the sixth and seventh and more narrowly on the fourth and
fifth segments ; close against the bare hindmarginal hems of the three
basal segments are fringes of yellow depressed hairs which become longer
and include towards each side of the row on the basal segment about
six (4-6) long bristly hairs intermingled with the thinner hairs, on the second
segment about four such bristly hairs, on the third segment about four, on
the fourth segment about two which are rather more distinct because there
are only shorter yellowr hairs near, and against the remaining hindmargins
three or four weak bristly hairs near each side ; eighth segment distinct and
not much shorter than the seventh. Belly dark ashy grey, with scattered
long yellowish white or fawn yellow pubescence which becomes more black
haired on the rather swollen shining black eighth segment. Genitalia not
very large nor very much swollen, shining black and black haired except on
the bare ferruginous under parts, the hairs becoming rather rigid near the
inner ends and apical halves of the claspers ; claspers (when seen sideways)
moderately stout and long, being nearly three times as long as deep, but when
seen from above their inner margin is almost straight and their upper
surface is considerably excavated before the middle, they are more widened
out above than below so that the lower angles at the tip may touch while
the upper angles are somewhat separated, and consequently the claspers
(seen from above) enclose a long narrow ovate space which is not quite closed
at the tip ; lower lamellae short and black, with a pair of large crescent¬
shaped ferruginous bare lamellae inside them and between those is the long
prong-like bare ferruginous middle organ.

Legs black and orange ; the orange colour being limited to all the tibiae
except the tip, and frequently even the underside of the tip rather
brown, while in dark specimens the whole underside of the tibiae is said
to be dark brown (though I have not seen it so), though sometimes
the base of the tarsi is narrowly orange ; coxae covered with light
grey dust, and with abundant drooping long whitish or fawn yellow
pubescence on the front part of the front pair, and with similar but
less abundant pubescence on the outer side of the posterior pairs ; femora
shining blue black. Pubescence of the legs altogether very slight, there
being scarcely any long pubescence except that hereafter mentioned in
connection with the bristles, while the usual short depressed pubescence
is mostly pale, but is black on the upper side of the front femora, on
most of the middle femora, and on the front of the hind femora, and dense
felt-like orange pubescence occurs on the apical two-thirds of the anterior
side of the front tibiae, on the apical half of the posterior side of the hind
tibiae, and beneath the basal joint of the hind tarsi; the ordinary short pale
pubescence behind the hind femora is abundant and not so short as usual
but still not nearly so long as in continental specimens mentioned later on.
Bristles almost all black ; front femora with one or two anterior subapical
and with about six long bristly hairs beneath on the basal two-thirds, postero-
dorsal bristles absent ; front tibiae with three or four long postero-ventral
bristly hairs, about three (2-5) rather small slightly antero-dorsal bristles and
one rather longer dorsal near the base, and a few long fine hairs beneath ;
middle femora with a few bristly hairs beneath similar to those on the front
pair or with from three to five stouter bristly hairs there, two or three strong
anterior bristles, three or four strong antero-ventral not after the middle, and
one curved postero-dorsal near the tip ; middle tibiae with two or three
antero-dorsal bristles near the middle, two small postero-dorsal near the
middle, and about three (3-5) long almost hair-like postero-ventral and two
stouter antero-ventral after the middle ; hind femora with about five long
rather weak bristles beneath and one specially long thin hair near the middle,
three or four antero-ventral before the middle, three or four anterior near
and before the middle (the one near the middle being orange or sometimes
all of them blackish orange), one rather long antero-dorsal near the tip, and

8. NEOITAMUS

683

one postero-dorsal near the last but blackish orange and less conspicuous ;
hind tibiae with three rather strong antero-dorsal (one being near the base,
one at one-third, and one at two-thirds the length) and sometimes one or two
smaller bristles in between, about three (3-5) almost equidistant nearly
postero-dorsal, and two antero-ventral after the middle ; the usual circlets of
bristles occur at the tip of all the tibiae and each tarsal joint, and the other
usual tarsal bristles are present. Pulvilli long, blackish brown ; claws dull
black, but brown at the base.

Wings hyaline with an indistinct greyish “ gloom over all the tip and
the hindmargin, which includes all the veins and the wingmargin there but
whose inner limit is indefinite ; wing-veins blackish brown. Squamae
brownish yellow, but clearer yellow at and near the margin, and with a
moderate pale yellow marginal fringe which is neither so dense nor so long
as in many Asilince ; thoracal squamae only represented by a bare membrane.
Ilalteres ranging from dull yellow to yellowish brown.

? . Very similar to the male except in the very distinct ovipositor. Abdomen
with the sixth and seventh segments deep black, very much compressed, and
apparently forming part of the ovipositor, the remainder of the ovipositor
being similar and about as long as the seventh segment ; end piece of the
upper part about a quarter the length of the basal piece, with a terminal pair
of neither specially long nor specially small lamellae. Bristles beneath and in
front of the middle femora rather stronger and slightly more numerous.

Length about 13 mm.

This species may be distinguised in the male sex from all except N.
socius by the shining steel blue sixth and seventh abdominal segments.
N. socius has quite distinct genitalia, the elaspers being shorter and when
seen sideways elongate triangular rather than oblong, while there are no
ferruginous processes against the lower lamellae, and the genitalia are
altogether more knobbed and more black haired on both themselves and
on the sixth and seventh abdominal segments ; the face knob is smaller,
the narrow dividing line down the thorax less distinct, and (most easy of
all to notice) the tarsi are distinctly more reddish orange at the base ;
N. socius is almost certain to occur in Britain but has not been detected
at present, though this is not surprising as it was not distinguished from
N. cyanurus until 1871, even though it is common over North and Middle
Europe. N. cothurnatus is easily distinguished by its more abundant
yellow pubescence and its longer mainly yellow bristles on the legs, by
the paler base of the tarsi, and by the distinct genitalia and black sixth
and seventh abdominal segments of the male. N. cyanurus varies a good
deal in size, and I think that our British specimens average a larger size
than those from the continent, but I have not noticed any other important
variation in British specimens ; I have observed however that continental
specimens from Eger and Marienbad have much longer pale pubescence
beneath the hind femora on especially the basal part, while the elaspers
seem to be more pointed and the penis shorter, the metapleural and
hypopleural fans and pubescence entirely yellow, and the halteres pale
yellow. The sharply defined yellow coloring on the tibiae will distinguish
N. cyanurus from the British species of any other genus.

N. cyanurus is sometimes abundant in woods, and I remember seeing
it in considerable numbers in Daren tli Wood in Kent on June 18, 1868,
when specimens were sitting motionless on the ends of leafless twigs until
Tortrix viridana flew past, when they would swoop down from their coign
of vantage and bring their prey back to the twigs for consumption ; they
however did not hesitate to pounce upon fair-sized Gcomctrce. I have

684

AS 1 LILLE

other English records from Devonshire (Plymouth, Dunsford), Hampshire
(Lyndhurst), Sussex, Kent (St Mary Cray), Surrey (Wey bridge) Suffolk
(Bently Woods, Ipswich), Oxfordshire (near Oxford), Herefordshire, and
Sherwood Forest, whilst it has occurred in Wales at Dolgelly and
Barmouth, and in Scotland at Forres and Spey Bridge. My dates range
from June 1 to August 7, but I think it is mainly a June species. It is
recorded from all North and Middle Europe and even from Italy.

Synonymy. — The reasons given by Loew in 1849 for the suppression of any
earlier name for this species seem to me to be perfectly good. It is the A. cestivus
of Walker’s Ins. Brit. Dipt., and a specimen in the Hope Museum at Oxford was
labelled “ cestivus Schra.” It is also probably the Asilus tipuloides of Moses Harris
(1782), which had been identified by Stephens as Asilus forcipatus L., but the colour
of the legs would at once distinguish it from that, besides the fact that Dysmachus
forcipula Zell, (which is probably A. forcipatus L.) is not known as a British
species. It is however not at all impossible that N. eyanurus was included under
Linne’s A. forcipatus when in Syst. Nat., Ed. x., p. 605, he said ‘‘Varietas major
Tibiis ferrugineis.”

2. N. cothurnatus Meigen. Bristles of the legs to a large extent
yellow; tarsi obviously orange at the base. Abdomen of the male with
the seventh and eighth segments black without any steel blue reflection,
and in the female with these segments appearing to form part of the ovi¬
positor. Male claspers short and stout.

Very similar to the preceding species.

3 . Face narrow near the antennae but widening downwards until it becomes
nearly twice as wide at the mouth, covered with greyish white tomentum
which may have a faint yellowish tinge on all the bare parts ; facial knob
rather large, occupying almost the lower two-thirds of the face ; face-beard
dense and long, not quite extending to the chin-beard, black on the upper
part and with a single row of black hairs extending down its outside for
about its upper two-thirds, leaving the upper third of the face and the fairly
wide sides quite bare; chin- and jowl-beards white or pale yellowish; back
of the head light grey, but with a large blackish patch near each upper eye-
angle, and with the pubescence on the lower half pale yellowish or whitish
and that on the upper part all black even right across the back of the vertex ;
the black bristly haired postocular festoon beginning (in several rows) below
the middle of the head but becoming longer and stronger near the upper
eye-angles and having its bristly hairs there remarkably bent over forwards
at the tip at fully a right angle from the base ; frons partly covered
with yellowish grey dust and with black hairs on the sides which are
nearly as long but not so strong as those on the ocellar prominence, and
sometimes with a very few pale hairs close to the antennae ; the upper hairs
on the ocellar prominence not turning upwards ; middle part of the frons
bare and less obscured by dust ; collar blackish grey, with a little thin pale
pubescence and a row of about ten rather inconspicuous black bristles across
its upper part. Proboscis shining black, considerably sloped downwards, with
short pale pubescence about its tip and with long whitish pubescence beneath
its basal half ; palpi short and black, with some black and some whitish
bristly pubescence and at the tip with a few extra long porrect black
bristly hairs. Antennae black ; basal joint rather long, nearly twice as long
as the second joint, and the two basal joints bearing long black bristly hairs
beneath and rather short black ones above; second joint less globular than
in A. eyanurus ; third joint tapering almost enough to make its tip as narrow
as the base of the style; style nearly as long as the third joint and with a
very short basal joint.

Thorax pale yellowish grey ; middle stripe dark brownish black and split

8. NEOITAMUS

685

by a faint narrow grey • dMdtag
sSetsfriPweUdefinned and almost

narronf^wl-shaped continuin^spot^Mchd^oes note^end to

humeral stripes short but som ' l 1 front part 0f these side-stripes
corner of the ^^“^^^ddle^teipe Pubescence black, rather sparse

sometimes confluent with the mi t 1 quite bare except

but unusually long but the blackish str pes ana p f i a rQW of hairs

°U SLTOfSe these rows extend to the fore-
on each side of the miacue oiviui » , inconspicuous thin

margin but are bent back on quite . above the

haired pale pubescence exists £ P^ostolar c^Ui. Bristles almost

wing-base, and to a very smaU e t ■ t dorso_central bristles extend rather
as in N. cyanurus, but the ioi s 1 "inwards t]ie foremost bristles being
more distinctly botl. Awards i and the sut”re and the front.

pfenr^tshypeyw^he lower middle part of the mesopleu^ and the
lower part o'f \e sternopleurae ^hahs on th°e

££

p£eence buTwfth a fan of about

aS,d fboutTi?(4V|)bngupt™S^ black marginal bristles ; metanotum ashy
Jey, ‘with Sne pale P«bescenee on the distinctly

• SSSf venkatr Pubescence

^p*2rss“ussrs

«iS MV5? bSS

segments, e ^ the” rather bristly pubescence on the short seventh
short and black and the. ram J irlrlitirm +G +he hairy pubescence

and eighth segments mainly ’ blado Se hindLrgins towards tie sides, a
some long tawny bristles occur “ ‘J , from four to six

small clump near each hind «, o£ ‘f >£ SXee segments, being

are noticeable on the six th segment Be y >alk bristl|s cl„se

sparse pendent tawny l>!*e«™'- *t . seTenth 'and eighth segments

^“§ack°fbr|V hairs.

Kir ftTbngTnTapKtly broadly rounded at

from above with an angle

on its. inner side) near lower angle protrudes almost like a

.there is an e®“^°%a^ with stout black bristles, while outside

andbe/ow this is a‘large pit-like

686

AS I LID,®

more than the basal half of the first joint and on the base of the second joint
of the anterior tarsi, and usually on the base of the first joint of the hind
tarsi. Pubescence on the coxae (which are covered with whitish grey dust)
pale yellowish, long, and abundant on the front pair, but less noticeable on
the middle pair, and only slight on the hind pair ; front femora with some
long pale pubescence behind, and with the usual short pubescence which is
black above but tawny in front and behind, and with about six irregular thin
tawny posterior bristles extending from near the middle to near the tip,
about six rather long black hairs beneath on the basal half, a row of about
ten antero-ventral rather short erect inconspicuous black hairs extending the
whole length, and an inconspicuous subapical circlet of small mainly orange
bristles ; front tibiae with one black dorsal bristle near the base (the
longest dorsal bristle on the front tibiae), four small black postero-dorsal
bristles not far from the middle, about the usual four long thin tawny postero-
ventral and a few thin longisli black hairs beneath, while the short dense
decumbent pubescence is orange anteriorly but mainly black dorsally, and the
apical circlet has two long orange anterior and one ventral spurs, while two or
three shorter bristles near the upperside and some near the underside are black
but others are orange • front tarsi with two postero-dorsal bristles and the long
anterior bristles of the circlets on the basal joint orange but the rest black,
and the usual bristle near the base sometimes orange ; middle femora with
about four strong orange anterior bristles not near the tip or base, about four
(3-5) rather less strong black antero-ventral, the last one (the one nearest the
tip) being longer than the rest, some fairly long but sparse almost postero-
ventral tawny pubescence, one or two orange postero-dorsal subapical and
two or three smaller anterior ones ; middle tibiae with one black dorsal
(slightly postero-dorsal) bristle before the middle, two long orange antero-
dorsal well apart but near the middle and one small one nearer the base,
three strong black antero-ventral from the middle to near the tip, about five
long thin orange postero-ventral, and the apical circlet mainly orange but
with one rather long black spur beneath ; middle tarsi with the apical circlets
black dorsally, but with one long anterior and one long posterior bristle
orange on the three basal joints ; hind femora from quite the base with
rather abundant long yellow postero-ventral pubescence in which are about
four (2-4) remarkably long hairs, the short dense bristly pubescence mainly
black dorsally but elsewhere almost all yellow, subapical circlet all black
except one orange anterior bristle, al tout five obscurely blackish orange
anterior bristles, and about seven black antero-ventral (almost ventral) not
extended to near the tip ; hind tibire with one long black dorsal bristle near
the base, two black antero-clorsal (one at one-third and one at two-thirds),
one long thin black postero-dorsal at one-third the length with one smaller
one just after the middle and one small one near the base, two black
antero-ventral after the middle, and the apical circlet all black ; the tiny
bristles on the posterior tibiae nearly all black except that the hind tibiae bear
(on all except the base) obvious ventral and postero-ventral orange felt ; hind
tarsi with similar orange felt on the basal joint, but with the circlets of bristles
all black. Bristles all mentioned above in the description of the pubescence.
Pulvilli elongate oblong, dull orange ; claws long and dull black but reddish
brown at the base.

Wings pellucid, but with a distinct brownish grey “gloom” about the tip
and hindmargin which includes the whole of the wing-tip and a fair amount
of the front and hind margins, the inner margin of this “ gloom ” is fairly
definite, and there is a vague but obvious gloomy kernel in the fourth and
fifth posterior cells and a faint streak in the discal cell ; veins blackish
brown. Squamae (alar) brownish orange with a moderate dull pale yellow
fringe which is very short except near the angle. Halteres brownish orange.

9 . Very similar to the male except for the extremely different genitalia.

The black postocular festoon mainly limited to the upper part of the head.

Scutellum with the marginal bristles varying in colour, sometimes some
being black and some whitish.

Abdomen with the sixth and seventh segments shining black, rather
compressed, and taking part in forming the base of the very compressed

9 EPITRIPTUS

687

ovipositor ; ovipositor very narrow and long, and the part following on from
the sixth and seventh abdominal segments nearly as long as those two
segments together, and therefore the ovipositor as formed from the sixth
segment onwards quite as long as the third, fourth, and fifth segments
together ; the end lamellae longer than usual ; pubescence of the ovipositor
very sparse but comparatively long and to a large extent black.

Legs with the pubescence on the upper part of the femora all short, but
longer beneath and behind, and practically all pale ; in fact the pubescence
is all yellow or tawny but the bristles are mainly black ; tarsi rather blacker
than in the male.

Length about 13 mm.

This species is easily distinguished from N. cyanurus by the less
shining (not steel blue) sixth and seventh abdominal segments, by the
shorter more clubbed genitalia of the male, and by the longer and much more
extensive yellow pubescence and bristles on the legs, while perhaps the
handiest distinction of all lies in the rather conspicuous orange base of
the anterior tarsi, but before depending upon this character specimens
should be compared with N. socius.

N. cotliurnatus was caught by Mr W. Holland at Stow Wood near
Oxford on June 10, 1895, and was taken by him again at Tubney Wood in
Berkshire on June 2, 1901; on the first occasion he took one male, and
upon the second occasion one of each sex, and upon one occasion he took
also a male of N. cyanurus in the same wood ; it is probably not uncommon
in the Oxfordshire and Berkshire woods if the right time and place can be
found, but subsequent searches have so far produced only N. cyanurus.
It was reputed as British by Walker in his List of Diptera in the British
Museum, i., 467 (1849), and is recorded from Middle Europe up to Sweden
and Finland.

9. EPITRIPTUS.

Epitriptus Loew, Linn. Ent., iv., 108 (1849).

Yellowish ashy grey or greyish yellow species of moderate
or almost small size (for Asilince). Legs ringed or streaked
with orange.

Face not specially narrow - facial knob well developed and bearing a coarse-
haired or bristly face-beard, which leaves the upper and outer thirds of the face
bare ; festoon varying from being practically absent (E. inconstans) to being well
defined and composed of rather short stout bristles which are scarcely curved
forwards (E. cingulatus). Antennoe normal ; third joint hardly tapering to a point ;
style normal.

Thorax with the usual short bristly pubescence all over the disc (including the
dark stripes), which is (though longer towards the hind part) veiy distinct from the
large bristles. Bristles consisting of two strong prsesutural with a weaker one more
forward, one (or two) supra-alar, two postalar, about six dorso-central of which
about four (4-6) are postsutural and one or two praesutural, the last dorso-central
being about as strong as the others; metapleural and hypopleural fans distinct,
but usually rather hair-like ; in noting the bristles it may be observed that
commonly there is only one strong supra-alar and sometimes only one strong post¬
alar. Scutellum with from two to four upturned marginal bristles.

Abdomen with bristles at the sides just before the hindmargins of the segments,
and these bristles are often reduced to two isolated ones on each side of each
segment, but sometimes (E. cingulatus ) there are several rather strong hairs of
which two or three on each side are just strong enough to be termed bristles ;
eighth ventral segment of the male with a straight hindmargin. Genitalia of the

688

ASILID/E

male comparatively small, rather pointed at the tip ; claspers usually quite simple
and seldom with any projection on even the inner margin ; ovipositor compressed,
pointed, and triangular, with the terminal lamellae quite free.

Legs ringed or streaked with orange markings, and with a peculiar greyish brown
appearance caused by abundant depressed short pale pubescence, but in one
European species the legs have a blackish grey appearance with only the base of the
tibiae brownish. Pubescence moderate ; bristles rather few in number, but the
postero-ventral bristles on the tibiae stronger than usual ; hind tibiae with only one
postero-dorsal bristle.*

Wings normal. Squamae (alar) with a dense moderately long fringe which does
not extend below the angle.

This genus is closely allied to Tolmerus, but the species may be dis¬
tinguished by their pale yellowish grey appearance and by their orange
striped or ringed legs. Ncoitamus and Pctritamus have the tibiae sharply
bright orange except at the tip. The female of Macliimus atricapillus
may easily be confounded with E. cingulatus but should be distinguished
by its darker colour and entirely black haired frons, while the males of
the genus Machimus are easily distinguished by the produced or setose
hindmargin of the eighth ventral segment.

Epitriptus is composed of about fifteen Paltearctic and two or three
American species; only about six European species are well distin¬
guished, and our E. cingulatus is the only one known to occur north of
Central Europe.

1. E. cingulatus Fabricius. Tibiae with black and reddish orange
bands. Small species.

The smallest species of the British Asilince ; easily distin¬
guished from all others except Macliimus atricapillus by the
colour of the legs.

$ . Dull yellow or yellowish grey. Face moderate in width, hardly one and a
half times as wide at the mouth as near the antennm, and the frons
considerably arched out above the antennae but contracting again towards the
vertex until it is as narrow there as the upper part of the face ; face and
frons all densely covered with dull golden (or on frons dull orange) tomentum
except on just the depressed middle part between the ocelli and the
antennm ; face-knob moderately large, occupying the lower two-thirds of
the face, and bearing the face-beard which is more or less black on the upper
part and sides but yellowish on the middle and lower parts, but a little before
the mouth the side black hairs diminish in number, and usually merge into
the yellow hairs, though only black hairs occur along the sides of the mouth ;
nearly the upper third and the sides of the face are quite bare ; after the hairs
on the sides of the mouth comes a gap before the whitish or yellowish white
chin- and jowl-beards, and the latter extends half-way up the back of the
head ; postocular festoon composed of about eight (5-8) stout but not long
and hardly curved-forwards black bristles near the upper eye-angle, which
when numerous are irregularly placed and more crowded than a postocular
row of about eight thinner yellow bristly hairs extending down to the middle
of the head ; the black bristles of the festoons usually do not meet behind the
vertex unless through bristles set further back on the back of the head, and
these intermediate bristles may be either orange or black ; back of the head
all covered with similar dull golden tomentum and with a few rather long-
yellow hairs behind the upper part of the festoon ; frons with several rather
long radiating stiff black hairs on the ocellar prominence, and with some

* If my specimen of E. arthriticus be correctly named I think it must be placed in some other genus, as
it does not agree with the other species of Epitriptus in either the coloring or bristling of the legs.

9. EPITRTPTUS

689

hairs down the sides which are more or less black on the upper part but
quickly become yellow and which form about two irregular rows ; collar
dull golden, bearing abundant long pale pubescence and about two stout
black or orange bristles on the upper part. Proboscis black as usual, and
bearing the usual pubescence ; palpi thin, black, and bearing porrect black
bristly hairs with sometimes some pale hairs intermixed. Antennae dull
brownish black ; second joint cup-shaped on only its apical half, twice as long
as its broadest part ; basal joint bearing short mainly yellow bristly hairs
above and longer stouter black ones beneath ; second joint with similar but
much shorter hairs ; third joint elongate very narrow ovate ; style rather
more than half as long as the third joint and not placed at an angle to it, not
very thin (except at just the tip) but much thinner than the end of the third
antennal joint, and its basal joint very short.

Thorax dull yellow or yellowish grey, with the distinct middle stripe dark
brown and split all the way down by a narrow rather inconspicuous yellowish
grey line ; the broad middle stripe widening but little anteriorly and contract¬
ing posteriorly to a point near the hindmargin ; side-stripes (when viewed
sideways) comparatively small but distinct and with the yellowish grey suture
conspicuously separating the larger fore part from the smaller hind part,
while the usual awl-shaped dark spots follow but do not extend to the hind-
margin ; humeral stripes continued narrowly downwards outside the front part
of the side-stripes. Pubescence sparse, black and bristly on all the disc (even
on the dark stripes), but pale and hair-like on the humeri and mixed with the
black bristly hairs near the humeri and all along the sides and across near
the hindmargin. Bristles black ; two long and strong prsesutural and one
weaker one more forward ; one long and strong (very rarely a second) supra-
alar ; two long and strong postalar ; about six (4-6) strong equidistant post-
sutural dorso-central and about two (1-4) prsesutural, and the hindmost of
these dorso-central bristles practically as strong and long as any, so that the
pubescence (which is rather longer on the hind than on the fore part of the
disc) is scarcely half as long as the bristles. Pleurae of the same dull golden
colour as the thorax, bearing fairly conspicuous pale pubescence on the
prothorax (rather dense) and on the space below, on the upper and hinder
portions of the mesopleurse (sparsely), on the upper back part of the
sternopleurae (sparsely), on the upper back corner of the pteropleurse, on the
metapleurae, on the back part of the humps at the sides of the metanotum,
and slightly on the hypopleurse, while the metapleural fan of long hairs is
distinct but only the lowest two or three hairs are at all strong, and the
hypopleural fan has only the uppermost bristle strong, long, and orange,
with the lower three or four hairs still long and yellow but only thin.
Scutellum of the same dull greyish yellow colour, bearing short upturned (or
even forwards-bent) yellow pubescence on the disc amongst which some black
hairs often occur about the middle, and with two or four or sometimes, three
unequal strong black (or rarely lurid reddish) upturned marginal bristles ;
metanotum rather shining greyish black, with the side-humps pale yellowish
grey and bearing fine pubescence.

Abdomen in some lights gilded brown with pale golden hindmarginal
hems, but when viewed from behind more yellowish brown with faint traces
of three dark interrupted stripes or rows of spots, of which the dorsal row is the
most evident. Pubescence on the disc short, depressed, and almost all yellow,
but black to a small extent down the middle of the disc (especially about the
base of the segments and partly on the middle part of the longer hindmarginal
fringes) ; pubescence long, yellow, and outstanding on the sides of the pufted-
out crest on the basal segment, and also to a moderate extent at the sides of
the second segment, and slightly so at the sides of the third, while the side-
margins of the next four segments bear more bristly black short pubescence ;
scarcely any of the long hairs near the hindmargin of the basal segment can be
called bristles, but one or two of those near each side of the second segment
are practically bristles and three or four other hairs are rather strong, while
the third segment has one or two rather distinct bristles and about two other
weaker bristles near each side ; fourth segment with bristles almost similar
to those on the third but one or two of the strong bristly hindmarginal hairs
near each side are sometimes black ; similar but less strong bristles occur on

690

ASILIDiE

the fifth and sixth segments : eighth segment dorsally very short or even
concealed beneath the seventh. Belly greyish yellow dappled with darker
grey, bearing long pale pendent pubescence on the three basal segments and
shorter more bristly black pubescence on the next four with some inconspicuous
shorter pale hairs near the sides ; fifth and sixth or sixth and seventh segments
with the ventral hindmargins rather dropped but straight ; eighth segment
very short and with a straight hindmargin. Genitalia rather small and narrow,
brownish red or more chestnut brown or blackish brown with the claspers
sometimes blackish brown ; claspers altogether simple, narrow, pointed and
gently bent downwards at the tip, about four times as long as broad, enclosing
an elongate ovate depression, and bearing pale pubescence ; on the underside
is a comparatively large basal plate ; under lamellae rather short and stout,
rounded at the end and bearing rather rigid comparatively long pale
pubescence.

Legs black and reddish orange, rather stout; front femora orange-red
(sometimes rather darkened) but black beneath and anteriorly and just
beneath the tip ; middle femora more widely black but with nearly all the
hind part obscurely reddish and with a reddish orange ring near the tip ;
hind femora blackish brown (sometimes partly obscurely dark reddish) with
an orange ring near the tip ; front tibiae reddish orange with the apical eighth
black and with a rather incomplete broad black band about the middle, but
this band may be obsolete posteriorly and continues anteriorly until it unites
with the black tip ; middle tibiae similar to the front pair but with the black
markings rather more defined and extended ; hind tibiae slightly dilated a
little before the middle, brownish orange but slightly darkened at the tip
and broadly so on the middle part ; anterior tarsi with the basal joint orange
except at just the tip, as well as the second joint on its basal half, the third
joint on its bisal third, and the other two joints on only their necks; hind
tarsi darker, the basal joint except at its tip and the next four joints with
only their necks brownish orange ; coxae clothed with greyish yellow dust,
the front pair bearing anteriorly abundant drooping, and the posterior pairs
less abundant, pale yellow coarse pubescence. Pubescence of the femora
and tibiae almost wholly composed of abundant unusually long depressed
short hairs, i.e., the usual minute pubescence is so long and abundant as
to become conspicuous enough to dull the ground colour, but still longer
outstanding pale pubescence occurs beneath the anterior femora (sometimes
a little black towards the tip of the front pair) and to a moderate extent
beneath the basal half of the hind femora, while some long ciliation beneath
the anterior tibiae is noted below in the description of the bristles ; the short
bristly pubescence (not the real bristles) on the tarsi is often black except
sometimes on the hind tarsi and beneath (and sometimes dorsally slightly about
the base of) the basal joint of the anterior tarsi. Bristles practically all
black ; front femora with three or four (sometimes hair-like) postero-dorsal of
which none are near the base or tip, and one antero-dorsal praeapical ; front
tibiae with the usual long postero-ventral (conspicuously strong and black),
one dorsal and one slightly antero-dorsal near the base, about five small
slightly postero-dorsal of which none are near the tip, and a fine ventral
ciliation of about eight long hairs which are shorter than the postero-ventral
bristly hairs ; front tarsi with the usual postero-ventral bristle close to the
base rather unusually long ; middle femora with one anterior bristle after the
middle and sometimes one nearer the base, one or two antero-ventral bristles
near the middle, two postero-dorsal near the tip, and one antero-dorsal and
two postero-dorsal praeapical ; middle tibiae with two antero-dorsal (one at
half and one at three-quarters the length), two shorter postero-dorsal near
them and two long antero-ventral also near, two long postero-ventral
(one at and one after the middle), and about four longish hairs and
several short ones forming a ventral ciliation ; hind femora with three
anterior bristles (one, often orange, at a quarter, one at three-eighths, and one
at half the length), merging into two antero-dorsal (one at three-quarters the
length and one close to the tip), and two postero-dorsal near the two antero-
dorsal, five antero-ventral (the last one being the longest), and one long
postero-ventral (often orange) near the middle ; hind tibiae with one long
postero-dorsal bristle at or just before the middle, one antero-dorsal near it

9. EPITRIPTUS

G91

and one near the base and sometimes one at about three-quarters, three
antero-ventral after the middle and about three shorter hairs before the
middle. Pulvilli elongate oblong, brownish yellow ; claws dull black.

Wings hyaline with a somewhat greyish tint and with very extensive
brownish grey “gloom” all about the tip and hindmargin, even to occupying
almost all the axillary cell down to the anal angle, but leaving the margins of
the branches of the postical fork and all the veins enclosing the fourth
posterior cell hyaline, and with a dark fold all along the middle of the upper
basal cell. Squamae (alar) brownish yellow, with yellow or orange margins
which bear a dense rather long yellowish white fringe not extending down¬
wards beyond the angle. Halteres dull yellowish brown.

?. Very much like the male except for the ovipositor. Palpi almost always
Avith some pale hairs ; antennae with the third joint stouter. Thorax with
the middle stripe less split and extending at about half its width to the hind-
margin. Abdomen with the pubescence and bristles or bristly hairs shorter
and less obvious ; ovipositor formed for more than half its length out of the
shining black eighth abdominal segment so that it forms a long flat-sided
triangle which ends in the small elongate free lamellae and bears very few
short hairs ; pubescence on the last abdominal segments including many more
black hairs.

Length about 1 1 mm.

This species is rather variable in regard to the distinctness and extent
of the black or blackish markings on the femora and tibiae, and Loew
states that the East European specimens are larger and bear longer denser
pubescence on the legs which gives them a stouter appearance. The
nearest British species in coloring is Machimus atricapillus from which it
is distinguished by its smaller size, sandier colour, and to a large extent
pale haired frons. Neoitamus may be distinguished by the sharply defined
shining yellow coloring on the legs.

E. cingulatus is fairly common and widely distributed in Britain, as I
have records from Cornwall (Penzance, The Lizard, and Boscastle), Devon¬
shire (Lynton, Torcross, Dartmoor), Dorset (Purbeck), Somerset (Taunton),
Gloucestershire, Hampshire (New Forest, Freshwater), Sussex, Surrey,
Middlesex, Suffolk (Southwold, Orford), Norfolk (Hunstanton), Worcester¬
shire (Malvern Hills), Merioneth (Aberdovey), Nairn, Elgin (Forres,
Culbin Sandhills), Aberdeen. My dates extend from July 11 to
September 9. It is recorded from all Europe except the extreme North
and perhaps the extreme South, though it extends a long way through
Italy and to Constantinople.

Synonymy. — I have no doubt but that this was the Asilus maculosus of Moses
Harris (1782) as he said the legs “are spotted, or clouded like tortoise-shell,” and I
do not think that character would apply to any other British species ; as however
his description and figure are otherwise hopelessly unrecognisable I cannot adopt
his name ; Stephens attempted to recognise Antipalus varipes in Harris’ description
but I do not think the size (four lines) would allow that, and moreover I have
never seen a British specimen of A. varipes. An exceedingly small male of
Neoitamus cyanurus was placed under E. cingulatus in C. W. Dale’s collection at
Oxford. Two males from Lozoncz in Hungary which represented this species in
Kowarz’s collection have the femora all blackish except about the tip, and the frons
wholly black haired.

692

ASILID.E

LAPHRINiE.

% Fig. 363. — Laphria marginata <3 . X 6.

Marginal cell closed but not blunt at its end (fig. 363). Third antennal
joint without a terminal arista (fig. 368).

Face usually bearing pubescence or bristles all over even to the eyemargins and
the base of the antennae. Eyes flattened on the front part in both sexes and with
the facets on that part very much enlarged. Antennae normally with no style or
arista, but sometimes with a rudimentary or short and blunt style.

Thorax usually densely or moderately pubescent and often without distinct
bristles.

Abdomen often without bristles or even bristly hairs.

Legs often without strong bristles or with small and indistinct bristles hidden
in dense pubescence ; the usual apical circlets of bristles on the tibiae and on the
four basal joints of the tarsi often small and inconspicuous.

Wings with the marginal cell pointed and distinctly closed through the radial
vein joining the long subcostal at an almost equal angle, i.e., the radial does not
turn up rather abruptly and join the end. of the comparatively short subcostal
vein as in fig. 343 ; first posterior cell often very long and narrow, and not
unfrequently narrowed or even closed before the wingmargin ■ fourth posterior and
anal cells closed in all known Palaearctic species. Squamae with only slight fringes.

It will be observed that almost all the characters are indefinite and that
in fact only the diagnostic characters are definite, while even these are not
very precise. Originally the characters of

“ Marginal cell closed. Antenme without a style or arista ”

were supposed to differentiate all Lajolirince, but it now usually admitted
that certain genera such as Laphystia and its allies may have the
marginal cell closed close to the foremargin of the wing, i.e., the point
of junction so close to the end of the subcostal vein that it is difficult in
some cases to determine whether there is a junction or not, and yet

LAPHRINiE

693

these genera belong to the Dasypogonince ; this difficulty may however
be surmounted by recognising that in all these cases it is the sub¬
costal vein which is shorter than in normal Laphrince and the radial vein
curves up so abruptly at its end that the marginal cell is thereby closed and
the end of the cell is blunt instead of pointed ; if therefore an Asilid be
found which has no antennal style or arista but in which the marginal
cell is bluntly closed or almost closed through the sudden upturning of
the radial vein that species should be sought for in the Dasypogonince.
The character of “ Antennae without a style or arista ” is not quite accurate,
as although there may never be an arista yet sometimes there is a
rudimentary or short and blunt style, but in practice this character never
causes any doubt as to whether a species belongs to the Laphrince or
Asilince.

The Laphrince form a fairly homogeneous group in themselves,
but still some species of Dasypogonince and even Asilince appear as
if they naturally belonged to them ; until however some more natural
classification is defined we must accept the present status of the subfamily.
They are usually stout oblong flies clothed with dense coarse pubescence
and with only indistinct chsetotactic bristles, but in many cases the
pubescence is much reduced in amount or may even be absent, while at
least some chsetotactic bristles may be developed.

Only two species of Laphrince are known to occur in Britain, and of
these the grand L. flava was only discovered in the Northern Highlands
of Scotland as recently as 1873, while the other species is apparently
limited to the south of England.

Table of the Palcearctie Genera of Laphrince.

The genera of Laphrince have never been sufficiently contrasted and
consequently the following table may be imperfect.

1 (2) Cross-veins closing the discal cell and the fourth posterior cell

practically in a continuous line (fig. 364).

Fio. 364. — Atomosia rufipes ? . X 10.

Discal cross-vein near the middle of the discal cell ; first posterior
cell comparatively broad at its middle part. Small flies.

Atomosia.

A genus containing a large number of species from North and
South America, and Southern Asia, but with only one Palsearctic
species recently described from South Russia.

694

AS I LI DIE

2 (1) Cross-veins closing the discal cell and the fourth posterior cell by

no means in a continuous line (figs. 365-367).

Discal cross-vein before the middle of the discal cell ; first
posterior cell often long and narrow. Often large flies.

3 (4) Ambient vein absent, and the posterior long- veins hardly reaching

the wingmargin.

Face arched and produced but without any knob; ocellar knob
and upper part of festoon with remarkably long strong bristles.
Thorax with numerous long strong bristles on the sides and hind part.
Abdomen conical, short haired but with remarkable bristles at the middle
of the sidemargin of each segment. F emora bearing bristles but scarcely
thickened. First posterior cell contracted or closed. Asilus-\\kQ flies.

Dasythrix.

One species from South Russia, two from Egypt, and one or two
others from Eastern Asia.

4 (3) Ambient vein entire, and the other veins reaching the wing-margin.

5 (6) Submarginal cells three, owing to the upper branch of the cubital

fork being connected with the radial vein (figs. 365, 366).

First posterior cell always long and narrow, sometimes closed in
the male. POGONOSOMA.

Two closely allied South European and two Asiatic species.

6 (5) Submarginal cells two only (fig. 367).

7 (8) Yeinlet closing the fourth posterior cell almost parallel with the

wingmargin (fig. 367).

10. LAPHRIA

695

Proboscis remarkably long, bristly dorsally ; palpi long, densely
bristly. Thorax with only sparse short bristles in place of pubescence
on the disc, but with numerous lateral bristles. Hind femora more
or less club-shaped and not spinose beneath, but the legs with scattered
strong bristles and very little pubescence. First posterior and discal
cells long and narrow. Large Dasyjwgon-like flies.

* Lamyra.

8 (7) Veinlet closing tho fourth posterior cell by no means parallel

with the wingmargin.

9 (12) Antennae rather short, the third joint club-shaped.

First posterior cell usually closed.

10 (11) Pubescence rather slight and suberect.

Face produced on the lower part ; bristles on the back of the head
all weak and not forming a festoon. Scutellum densely bristly haired
about the margin. Femora and tibiae almost without bristles.

Andrenosoma.

11 (10) Pubescence conspicuously coarse and adpressed on the thorax,

abdomen, and legs.

Face without any prominence or bristles though with dense
pubescence. Thorax with supra-alar and postalar bristles ; scutellum
with dense marginal bristles.

Ctenota.

12 (9) Antennae rather long, the third joint not club-shaped.

First posterior cell usually open.

10. Laphria.

There is an inclination at the present time to divide
Laphria as follows.

1 (2) Thorax woolly haired and quite without bristles.

Proboscis short and thick. Dasyllis.

2 (1) Thorax with inconspicuous dorsal pubescence and

with traces of lateral bristles. Proboscis pro¬
minent and only moderately thick. Laphria.

This division would place Laphria Jlava and its allies in
Dasyllis, but L. marginata and its allies in Laphria. Loew
however with a full knowledge of the European species,
formed the genus Dasyllis for L. hcemorrhea Fabr. and some
well-known American species, with which he united some
doubtfully congeneric African ones, in which the first posterior
cell is closed.

10. LAPHRIA.

Laphria Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 270 (1803).

Moderately large to very large robust flies of blackish
or reddish colour, often densely clothed with bright and hand¬
some pubescence.

Head broad but short ; face on the upper part level with the eyes but produced
into a distinct facial knob, and the pubescence on this knob usually of a more

* Not truly Palsearctic, though included in Kertesz’s Katalog.

696

ASILID/E

Fig. 30S. — Laphria flo.va ,
$. X 26.

bristly nature than that surrounding it ; the whole of the face from the antennse to
the jowls and from eye to eye clothed with long dense pubescence in the hairier

species of the genus ( L.flava , etc.), but in the barer species
the flat upper part of the face may be almost bare ; jowls
and lower part of the back of the head clothed with dense
pubescence, and though in the larger species the pubescence
on the upper part may resolve itself into a postocular fringe
it hardly forms a festoon, while in the hairier species it
merges into the long dense pubescence ; vertex considerably
sunk between the eyes so that the latter bulge out consider¬
ably; frontal orbits bearing abundant long pubescence ; ocellar
triangle elevated, with a pair of remarkably long diverging
bristly hairs standing out from between the ocelli. Proboscis
rather longer than the head, porrected horizontally or rather
drooping ; palpi small. Eyes in both sexes flattened on the
front part and with the facets there very much enlarged.
Antennse (fig. 368) approximated at the base, hardly longer
than the head ; basal joint cylindrical, much longer than the
rather short second one ; third joint slender and strap¬
shaped, but slightly widened about the middle and without
any tei'minal style.

Thorax rather arched, oval, usually covered with dense
pubescence, in which case bristles are very indistinct, but
when the pubescence is short or almost absent prsesutural,
supra-alar, and sometimes postalar bristles become distinct ; metapleural pubescence
ranging from a long dense conspicuous tuft to a fan of rather numerous long bristly
hairs. Scutellum with some long upturned marginal hairs ; metanotum bare, almost
concealed under the scutellum.

Abdomen sometimes broad and ovate, but more commonly elongate oblong in
the smaller barer species, never at all conical ; pubescence sometimes long and dense,
but even when short and comparatively sparse forming bands of light colored hairs ;
bristles absent ; the ground colour of the abdomen is conspicuously reddish in
some of the small bare species, and such species seem to mimic (or be mimicked by)
some of the similarly colored species of Xylota. Genitalia of the male usually large
and somewhat bent down (v. Snodgrass, Psyche, 1902, 399. but I cannot imagine
why Snodgrass considered the genitalia inverted, as the claspers or upper lamellae
are in their usual dorsal position), but of the female ending in a short pointed
ovipositor.

Legs strong ; femora thickened, and the hind pair longest ; tibiae curved.
Pubescence usually long and abundant all over the femora and tibiae and then as a
rule all bristles absent or at any rate very inconspicuous, but in the barer species
the pubescence is much less abundant and then distinct bristles occur on the
tibiae and occasionally even on the posterior femora ; the circlets of bristles at the
tip of the tibiae and of the four basal joints of the tarsi are usually inconspicuous,
and are sometimes replaced at the end of the hind tibiae by a short blunt spur which
may occur as a male character only.

Wings often but not always broad and long ; marginal cell closed and petiolate

equal curve ; discal cross-vein

meeting at an

first posterior cell wide open, fourth bluntly

with the subcostal and radial veins
before the middle of the discal cell
closed and petiolate, others open ; anal cell closed ; small cross-vein distinctly
present. Wing-membrane very much rippled, minutely pubescent. Squamae (alar)
small and without (or with only a slight) fringe ; thoracal pair absent.

The metamorphoses of L. flava have been observed by Dr D. Sharp at
Nethy Bridge; he found the larvae living in the burrows of large wood¬
feeding Coleopterous larvae, where he believes they act as scavengers by
promptly devouring any recently deceased larvae. The perfect insects, like
all Asilidce, are predaceous upon other insects.

Synonymy. — When Loew founded the genus Dasyllis he was well acquainted
with both the American and European species of Laphria , and consequently he
could not have intended his new genus to include the densely haired L.flava , etc.

10. LAPHRIA

697

Table of Species.

1 (2) Very large handsome species, clothed with long dense pubescence.

1 flava.

2 (1) Moderate-sized dull species, clothed with short inconspicuous

pubescence. 2 marginata.

1. L. flava Linn4. Black; densely clothed with mainly yellowish
hairs amongst which black hairs are intermixed on the head, front part of
the thorax, and femora, but not on the seutellum or abdomen. Hind tibiae
of the male with a short stout spur.

One of our largest and most distinct flies.

d. Face and frons obscurely shining black though bearing very little dust, and
the eyes almost equally separated from the vertex to the mouth ; face-knob
comparatively small, rounded, and bearing a few rather porrect stiff hairs,
while the surrounding pubescence on the face is yellowish, more drooping,
and more abundant ; the yellow hairs near the antennae are also shorter and
are more porrect at their base but droop towards the tip, and several incon¬
spicuous black hairs occur quite close to the antennae ; all the hairs on the
upper part of the face are of completely different texture from those in L.
marginata and its allies ; chin- and jowl-beards outstanding and sometimes
all whitish grey, or at other times the rather small jowls may bear blackish
pubescence close against the eyes ; back of the head considerably puffed out
from the eyes, and bearing on its lower part dense outstanding obscurely
greyish yellow or greyish white pubescence (black close against the eye-
margin); upper half of the back of the head clothed with dense black
pubescence which becomes shorter as it approaches the vertex (unless rusty
about the upper eye-angles), and this pubescence forms a dense postocular
frill, but hardly a festoon because there is no sign of bristles ; close against
the hindmargin of the eyes is a slight shimmering greyish band ; frons
bearing thin rusty hairs on the upper part, but abundant longer stiffer black
hairs on the lower part near the eyes ; ocellar knob very little elevated, and
bearing a few very long hairs of which the two middlemost are extra long
and thin and almost invariably orange — I have once seen one hair black ;
collar clothed with blackish rather rigid pubescence. Proboscis long and
rather thin, black, rather drooping, and bearing short obscure pubescence
about its tip and unusually long and abundant yellowish white pubescence
beneath on its basal half ; palpi very short and small, but bearing long porrect
black hairs. Eyes conspicuously flattened in front, and the facets on that flat
part remarkably enlarged. Antennae (fig. 368) black ; basal joint cylindrical,
three times as long as broad, and bearing abundant mostly dark orange hairs
which are longest on the underside ; second joint short, hardly cup-shaped,
only a little longer than broad, and bearing short mostly black bristly hairs ;
third joint dull and bare, nearly half as long again as the two basal joints
together, strap-shaped but rather narrowed towards the base.

Thorax shining black, clothed with dense suberect pubescence which at
first glance appears to be blackish on about the front third because numerous
black hairs occur on that part, but mixed with them are still more numerous
but less conspicuous slightly shorter thin brownish orange hairs, though when
seen sideways the pale hairs may appear to predominate ; the black hairs
disappear about the middle part and the brownish yellow hairs become more
dense, while on the hind half the hairs are distinctly longer and all pale
yellow and are so dense that they obscure the ground colour, and at the hind-
margin they rather overhang the seutellum : all the hairs are black about the
humeri and from there back to the wing-base. Bristles practically absent,
but there may be indications of them in the strength of some hairs which
occur in the usual places for prsesutural and supra-alar bristles. Pleurae
mainly clothed with dense black pubescence, but some of the long hairs at

698

ASILIDiE

the lower hind corner of the mesopleurae are yellowish, and the large tuft
(hardly a fan) on the metapleurae is formed of very long and conspicuous
orange hairs with sometimes some of the front line of hairs black. Scutellum
shining black, bearing shorter sparser less erect pale pubescence on the disc
and about twenty iong radiating almost upright yellow marginal hairs;
metanotum almost shining black, quite bare.

Abdomen shining black, but the last three or four segments dulled by
abundant pubescence ; pubescence on the basal two or three segments rather
pale yellow, almost erect, and not quite abundant enough to hide the ground
colour, but on the last four or three segments denser and more orange or
even handsomely reddish orange and (through being less erect) hiding
the ground colour ; there is no trace of bristles or black hairs. Belly
glistening black, bearing long sparse greyish yellow pubescence. Genitalia
very large, shining black, and rather bent downwards ; claspers very large
and long, three times as long as their base is broad, and (when seen sideways)
extending downwards on their end half with a large sickle-shaped margin and
Avith the tip sloping upwards to a slightly acute angle, but Avhen seen from
above the basal half of each clasper is gently excised inwards and a long ovate
interval is left between the tAvo ; the basal under-piece is large and swollen,
curves up between the margins of the sickle-shaped claspers, and bears at
its end a tuft of rather short yellow pubescence ; the rest of the under¬
piece and the claspers hear rather long black pubescence.

Legs shining black, clothed with exceedingly abundant long pubescence ;
femora all considerably dilated, but the hind pair slender about the base and
becoming most dilated at about three-quarters of their length ; anterior tibiai
with about four strong though short dark reddish spurs on the underside ;
hind tibiae strong, curved, slightly flattened, and AATith a short blunt apical
spur on the underside. Pubescence on the front coxae and beneath the base
of the front femora yelloAvish or greyish Avhite, but on almost all the rest of
the front femora abundant and black Avith however some of the pubescence on
the underside grey and some of the hairs extra long ; front tibiae Avith shorter
denser orange red or light broAvn or brownish yelloAV pubescence, and
with longer rather less dense outstanding postero-ventral greyish yellow
pubescence, and some black dorsal pubescence intermixed Avith Avhich are
some inconspicuous black bristly hairs, Avhile in addition the apical half is
covered antero-ventrally Avith short reddish orange felt-like pubescence ; front
tarsi Avith similar reddish orange felt-like pubescence on the underside, and
Avith a pair (one antero- and one postero-ventral) of strong drooping reddish
bristles on each joint and one similar posterior bristle near the base of the
basal joint, Avhilst some still longer almost erect thinner black or orange
bristly hairs occur on the upper side and at the tip ; middle femora Avith
pubescence similar to that on the front pair ; middle tibiae with still longer
pubescence, the anterior or antero-dorsal pubescence being longest of all
though some postero-ventral is almost as long, pale brownish yelloAV except
on the underside Avhere it is black or at least dark, with about six very long thin
hairs standing out from the long dense pubescence on the underside ; middle
tarsi with bristles almost as on the front pair, but with an anterior bristle
near the base of the basal joint ; hind femora with dense long black posterior
pubescence Avhich sometimes becomes rusty, but Avith the anterior pubescence
composed of long broAvnish yelloAV and denser shorter black hairs with three
or four short but strong antero-ventral bristles after the middle Avhich are
almost hidden in the longer dense pubescence; hind tibiae with very long and
abundant outstanding pubescence which is apparently broAAmish yellow but
Aidiich may be considerably black on the underside and on the apical half or
more, and in which about six reddish orange antero-dorsal bristles can be
traced on the basal half, while some rather inconspicuous reddish orange felt¬
like pubescence covers the hinder side of the tibiae and the underside of the
tarsi. Pulvilli large and oblong with broad blunt tips, brownish yelloAV ;
claAvs black, but broAvnish yelloAV at the base.

Wings strongly tinged Avith broAvn all about the veins, but paler on the
basal part though blackish at quite the base ; costa with some inconspicuous
short reddish orange felt on the basal part and in fact the whole costal margin
bearing some minute reddish felt ; cubital fork not uncommonly Avith a slight

10. LAPHRIA

699

recurrent veinlet near the base of the upper branch. Squamae (alar) very-
small and blackish, with practically no fringe. Halteres dull orange or
yellow.

9 . Rather like the male, but the abdomen broader and rounder and the general
pubescence more equally greyish yellow or greyish orange.

Head with much more black pubescence, the face-beard being mainly
black though the tips of the hairs may be rusty and several long hairs on the
lower part are brownish yellow, or it may be said that the porrect hairs are
almost all black but the long drooping hairs pale, while the eyemargins on
the upper half of the face are narrowly brownish yellow and bear brownish
yellow hairs ; chin- and jowl-beards ali black, as well as almost all the hairs
on the back of the head and on the frons, but the two very long hairs on the
ocellar space remain yellow (or rarely one of them black). Proboscis with
blackish or rusty black pubescence beneath its basal half. Antennae with
nearly all the hairs on the basal joints black except two long ones beneath
the tip of the basal joint.

Thorax almost as in the male.

Abdomen broader, rounder, and with the pubescence more equal both in
colour and in texture, that on the segments after the second or third being
neither so long nor so dense. Belly with thin erect hardly scarce black hairs
and a few rusty ones near the base, while beneath the sixth segment the
hairs are longer and stronger. Ovipositor (including the seventh and eighth
abdominal segments) small, shining black, elongate triangular and bent down¬
wards, and composed of three segments of which each is narrower than the
preceding one, while the last one ends in almost a point at which there is
porrected brownish yellow pubescence, and the two basal segments ( = seventh
and eighth abdominal segments) with sparse black hairs on their sides.

Legs with more extensive black pubescence, especially on the front coxae ;
hind tibiae without the short blunt spur but with an orange bristle-like spur.

Wings almost as in the male, but in all the British specimens I have seen
the upper branch of the cubital fork throws back a recurrent veinlet of
varying length from near its base, and in one case this recurrent veinlet is
connected by an adventitious cross-vein with the stem of the cubital cell so
that a small quadrangular cell is formed. Halteres darker.

Length about 18 mm. (16 to 20 mm.).

This species does not vary much in British specimens except in size
and in the variation of the colour of the pubescence from pale greyish
yellow to ruddy orange. At one time the European species was thought to
be very variable, but it is now believed that several closely allied species
exist. I find however that continental specimens of the true L. flava vary
in having no black hairs on the jowls against the eyes or on the lower
part of the back of the head while the short pale hairs on the front half
of the thorax may be so obscurely brownish yellow as to be almost
imperceptible even when seen sideways, the male genitalia may bear a few
stray yellow hairs, the pubescence behind the anterior femora may be pale
and that beneath the front tibiae may be all reddish orange, the longer
bristles on the front tarsi may be yellowish, the middle tibiae may have
entirely pale yellow pubescence even beneath the tip, and the hind femora
may have scarcely any black pubescence. A Sicilian male has all the
pubescence on the femora black except a few long straggly antero-dorsal
hairs on the hind pair, and all the pubescence on the hind tibire black,
and even (which is still more remarkable) the drooping side bristles on
the tarsi all black. L. gibbosa and L ephippium are two allied species
which may possibly occur in the Scotch Highlands.

L. flava. was first taken in Britain by Mr W. A. Vice at Strathdon in
Aberdeenshire in August 1873; the next record was of two specimens

700

ASILID.E

taken near Banchory in Kincardine in September 1889 ; Colonel Yerbury
took a specimen at Aviemore in Inverness in 1898 and another in 1899,
and then took two specimens at Nethy Bridge in 1900, while in 1904 and
1905 he found it not uncommon at Kb thy Bridge, and Brodie, though
the females were scarce, and a male in the Royal Scottish Museum was
taken at Rothiemurchus in 1905. In 1906 Messrs Sharp and Lamb found
it at Nethy Bridge and discovered the larvae, which live in the burrows of
large wood-feeding Longicorn Coleopterous larvae in Scotch Firs ( Pinus
sylvestris), where they act as scavengers, as they will not attack living
larvae nor do they care for rotten larvae but they immediately suck the
juices of a recently dead specimen. Colonel Yerbury took a male as early
as June 18 and the species continues until September.

Synonymy. — For a hundred years the two Linnean species, L. flava and L.
gibbosa, and for eighty years the Fabrician L. ephippium , were well known European
species, and, although it was known that very little structural distinction could be
found between the three, the remarkably distinct arrangement of coloring in the
pubescence and the absence of intermediate forms prevented there being any
doubt as to their distinctness. In 1861, however, Gerstaecker named three new
forms which also showed a striking structural similarity to L. flava , and since then
other forms have been detected which have been described as new species ;
Portschinsky in 1877 came to the conclusion that all these forms were only varieties
of L. flava, but I have studied representatives of L. hecate and L. auriflua of
Gerstaecker and several specimens of what I believe to be L. varia of Loew, and I am
not inclined to unite them with L. flava while I certainly would leave L. gibbosa
and L. ephippium as distinct species. In all these species, and in these only, the
hind tibiae of the male are provided with a short but distinct stout spur.

2. L. marginata Linne. Black, but the abdomen tinged with golden
pubescence. The porrect face-beard black. Thorax with a whitish
shimmering spot on each side on the humeri. (Fig. 363.)

A very distinct fly in which the black colour has a tendency
towards violet.

$. Face covered with dense orange to yellowish white decumbent coarse
pubescence all across the middle part though near the eyes the pubescence
has a whitish shimmer, but the upper part of the face close to the antenme is
rather puffed out and bears inconspicuous long nearly erect black hairs, while
the rounded face-knob (which occupies nearly the lower half of the face) bears
a face-beard composed of numerous outstanding black bristly hairs ; both the
yellow pubescence and the black face-beard extend from eye to eye ; shorter
and finer black hairs extend along the sides of the mouth, and all the lower
part of the face and the sides of the mouth are black with microscopical
specks of grey dust ; face moderately broad and only slightly curved out to
the mouth-sides ; jowls very small, but bearing abundant yellow pubescence
which extends nearly half-way up the back of the head ; back of the head
with a whitish postocular margin near by up to the rounded upper eye-angles,
behind which the head is clothed on more than the upper half with dense
long strong black hairs except on the broad bare shining black postvertical
channel, but these black hairs are too numerous and too widely extended to
form a festoon even though the foremost hairs all have their tips obviously
bent over forwards. Frons wider than the face, shining black but greyish in
the channels which extend forwards and outwards from the sides of the
elevated ocellar prominence to the eyemargins at almost the level of the
antennae, while the ocellar prominence (which is placed below the middle of
the frons) bears numerous short black hairs and two extra long outstanding
ones between the ocelli, and the black postocular hairs continue (though

10. LAPHRIA

701

shorter) all round the upper eye-angles and then form a barely-more-than-
double-rowed rather longer ciliation down the orbits, but otherwise the frons
is bare • collar with a dense rather rigid black fringe but without bristles.
Proboscis long, thin, horizontal, and with the usual pubescence ; palpi very
short and linear, bearing rather long porrect black Pairs. Eyes with the
facets on the comparatively small flattened front part very much larger than,
and rather abruptly contrasted with, the small facets. Antennae dull black ;

basal joint long and cylindrical, about six times longer than broad and three

times longer than the second joint, bearing long but not dense black bristly
hairs and about two extra long strong black hairs on the underside near the
tip • second joint rather cup-shaped, bearing shorter black bristly hairs ;
third joint bare (or with a tiny dorsal bristle at about a quarter from the
base) ’usually longer than the two basal joints together and beginning hardly
so broad as the tip of the second joint but gradually increasing to almost
double that width and then again gradually decreasing, or sometimes rather
more club-shaped and then only as long as the two basal joints together.

Thorax blue-black, moderately shining and with an elongate sloping
shimmering whitish spot (hardly visible in some lights) on the upper half of
each humeral knob ; pubescence composed of rather sparse decumbent
brownish yellow or grey hairs and some longer sparser more erect (though
still sloping) black hairs, but the humeri bear only rather more dense black
hairs ; amongst this pubescence are indications of four or five praesutural
bristles, about five (5-6) supra-alar, about three postalar, and about four
very weak postsutural dorso-central. Pleurae in most lights shimmering
greyish white almost all over ; prothorax with only a few black hairs near
the lower margin, but the space below it rather conspicuously white-haired ;
mesopleurae with rather sparse black pubescence all over and at least one
rather strong black bristle near the middle of the hindmargin ; sternopleurae
with faint traces of pale pubescence ; metapleurae with numerous extra long
hairs which represent (but hardly form) the fan of mixed black and orange
curled hairs, of which none are at all bristle-like; hypopleuroe with only
faint traces of pale pubescence. Scutellum bearing short brownish yellow
pubescence on its disc similar to that on the thorax but rather less recumbent,
and about eight long upturned orange or blackish marginal hairs (hardly
bristles) ; metanotum quite bare, hidden by the overhanging scutellum except
cit th.6 sicIgs.

Abdomen shining blue black, with rather short but conspicuous tawny
recumbent pubescence which in some lights is apparently (though not really)
absent from the large basal corners of the second to fourth segments (the basal
segment being very short and inconspicuous with a little pale pubescence
near its sides), and this tawny pubescence grows longer and denser at the
sides of the basal segments and at the hind corners of. each segment and
appears to form broad lunules which curve up and unite broadly on the
middle of the disc ; a few tiny black almost bristly hairs occur on the middle
of the disc of the seventh segment and about three orange bristly hairs can
be found amongst the tawny pubescence near each front corner of the second
segment, and about three more on the third segment in a row near the middle
of each side, and two similar bristles on each of the next two segments, while
the sixth and seventh segments bear an indistinct similar bristle on each side ;
eighth segment very short and only just visible dorsally. Belly glistening
black, very sparsely and finely punctate, with each punctuation producing a
rather long thin grey hair ; hindmargins of segments rather widely but
obscurely orange. Genitalia shining black, rather more than half the width
of and about as long as the last abdominal segment, but when viewed side¬
ways apparently much larger through being composed of one large solid
swollen underpart which extends back beneath the last abdominal segment,
and this swollen underpart slopes upwards so as to nearly reach the tip of the
upper lamellae and bears numerous short stiff black hairs and near the tip a
few longer black bristly hairs, while after them on the small elongate apical
pieces are a few shorter pale hairs ; upper lamellae (when viewed from above)
separated at the base but soon touching and bearing similar short stiff black
hairs and on the upper side near the tip denser longer stouter bristly hairs.

Legs black ; femora stout and shining ; hind femora considerably club-

702

ASILIDiE

shaped, more so than in most of the allied species ; hind tibiae curved ; front
coxae shimmering whitish grey and bearing anteriorly abundant whitish
yellow pubescence ; middle coxae similar, but with less pubescence, and the
hind coxae with but little pubescence. Pubescence varying in strength and
density, black and fairly abundant on the upper side of all the femora, but
longer, finer, and pale yellow or whitish grey behind and beneath the anterior
pairs, while usually all the pubescence on the hind femora is black except
sometimes some yellow pubescence beneath ; all the tibiae have fine short
usually rather conspicuous yellowish or whitish grey pubescence except on
the apical half of the hind pair (where it is black) and have a ciliation of long-
thin black hairs beneath the front and hind pairs and an orange or yellowish
ciliation beneath the middle pair ; pubescence on the tarsi short, almost
bristly, and nearly all black ; front tibiae on the inside ( = front) and the soles
of the basal joints of all the tarsi clothed with orange felt-like pubescence;
some bristles and long hairs of a bristly nature occur in addition to the above
pubescence, but the only bristles on the femora are one more or less indistinct
antero-dorsal on the middle pair after the middle and a trace of one or two
postero-dorsal near it, and one orange or black antero-ventral on the hind
pair at about three-quarters of the length with traces of some dorsal bristles
rather near it ; the front tibiae bear the usual few long postero-ventral hair¬
like bristles, about five small black dorsal, and about four weaker but longer
postero-dorsal ; middle tibiae with about four (2-4) long antero-dorsal not far
from the middle, about eight weaker postero-dorsal along the whole length,
and three rather long almost hair-like anterior bristles (of which one or two
may be orange), and two long hair-like antero-ventral (one at a third and one
at three-quarters) with a small intermediate yellow one and two orange spurs
beneath the tip ; hind tibiae with about four moderately strong nearly
equidistant curved antero-dorsal but no other distinct bristles, though about
two antero-ventral hairs stand out rather distinct from the other pubescence ;
the circlets of bristles at the tip of all the tibiae are absent or indefinite
though three or four bristly hairs occur there, and the usual bristles on the
tarsi and the circlets at the ends of the joints are rather weak, but some of
the stronger bristles forming the underpart of the circlets are orange.

Wings almost hyaline on the basal two-fifths, but after that with an
obvious blackish brown tinge in which are usually subhyaline kernels in the
posterior cells ; costal vein beset with short whitish or yellowish hairs from
the base to near the humeral cross-vein ; subcostal vein and the stems of the
principal veins yellowish brown ; anal cell closed just before the wingmargin.
Squamae (alar) small, obscurely yellowish to blackish orange with a pale
yellow to brownish orange margin on which is only a very slight fringe.
Halteres canary yellow to dark lurid reddish.

9. Very much like the male. Eyes flattened and with much enlarged facets
on the front part as in the male.

Abdomen with the tawny or yellow pubescence usually conspicuous
towards the sides of the hinclmargins of the segments, and the last segment
with considerably extended black dorsal pubescence ; ovipositor small and
(unless exserted) triangular and bearing some long porrect black bristly
hairs on its underside.

Legs with the long black hairs and bristles on the anterior (especially the
middle) tibiae more distinct, and the hind tibiae with about seven distinct
antero-dorsal and four small postero-dorsal bristles ; hind femora less clavate.

Wings so much less hyaline about the base that they become more equally
tinged with blackish brown ; costa with no whitish or even pale hairs about
its base.

Length about 11 mm. but varying from 10 mm. to 12 mm.

This species seems to vary but little in British specimens except in
size and in the tawny or pale grey pubescence, hut some rather distinct races
may exist in Europe in which the basal antennal joint is only three times
as long as the second, or the short pubescence on the thorax, scutellum,
and three basal abdominal segments may be whitish, etc. Loew also

10. LAPHRIA

703

stated that the lower half of the face-beard is sometimes brownish yellow,
and that some of the hairs on the underside of the basal joint of the
antennae may be also brownish yellow, while apparently continental speci¬
mens have the last segments of the abdomen with more extended black
pubescence. There is no Asilid in Britain at all allied to this species,
but some European species of Laphria are rather near it and I am unable
to satisfactorily distinguish L. dioctriceformis.

L. marginata is not uncommon in large woods in the southern half of
England. My records are from Hampshire (New Forest), Sussex (Plashett
and Abbott’s Woods), Kent (Darenth), Essex (Leigh), Suffolk, Berkshire
(Tubney Wood), Herefordshire (Stoke Wood, etc.), and Nottinghamshire
(Treswell Wood), from June 14 to August 18; B. Cooke recorded
(Naturalist, v., 134) a pair from the Cheshire coast. A female in the
Hope Museum at Oxford is labelled as having been bred from the refuse
of a hornet’s ( Vespa crabro ) nest. It is recorded from almost all Europe.

704

ASILIDiE

DASYPOGONIN^.

Marginal cell open (fig. 369), or rarely just closed through the radial
vein curving up so suddenly as to cause the marginal cell to end bluntly
(fig. 385). Pulvilli and claws normal, or if abnormal then the alula and
hind angle of the wing fully developed. Antennae with a style, but (in
Palaearctic species) without an arista.

Palpi two-jointed. Antennae with a terminal style, which may be two-jointed
but which never approximates to an arista (except in Damalis).

Thorax ranging from having bristles and very little pubescence ( Dioctria , etc.)
to being coarsely pubescent and without bristles ( Isopogon) ; metapleurae some¬
times quite bare ( Stenopogon , etc.), sometimes with a large dense tuft of long
pubescence ( Gyrtopogon , etc.), or sometimes with a fan of bristles near the hind margin
( Lasiopogon ) ; when the metapleurae are bare the alar squamae are provided with a
long tufted fringe which may act as a substitute shelter to the metathoracic stigma.

Abdomen normally elongate with almost parallel sides and without conspicuous
pubescence, but occasionally stout and densely pubescent. Genitalia of the male
of very diverse types, one form ( Dioctria ) having a large dorsal plate which covers
the lamellae while another form (Lasiopogon) has large lateral lamellae which form
forceps as in the Asilince.

Legs provided with bristles and with terminal circlets on the tibiae and four
basal joints of the tarsi, but the bristles seldom very powerful ; front tibiae often
provided with a powerful curved thorn or claw at the tip. Claws and pulvilli
normal or when abnormal then the alula and hind angle of the wing well developed.

Wings with the subcostal vein comparatively short and consequently with the
radial vein ending simple in the costa, but in a small group of genera the radial vein
is bent up rather suddenly and reaches the subcostal vein at or very close to its
end so that in such cases the marginal cell has a blunt end and may be just closed ;
discal cross-vein varying in position but never far from the middle of the discal
cell, usually upright but occasionally (Microstylmn) very sloping ; discal cell long,
emitting three veinlets from its end, though sometimes ( Microstylmn ) the upper two
veinlets start close together from the top corner so that the upper one curves out
into the first posterior cell, and the third veinlet may be sufficiently recurrent to
run back parallel with the wingmargin until it meets the upper branch of the
postical vein well befoi’e the wingmargin, while the upper veinlet sometimes meets
the lower branch of the cubital fork before the wingmargin and thereby closes the
first posterior cell ; small cross-vein sometimes absent but in such cases the upper
branch of the postical vein only j ust touching the lower margin of the discal cell ;

DASYPOGONIN/E

705

anal cell ranging from being closed at a fair distance from the wingmargin to being
well open, though of course considerably contracted towards the wingmargin. Alula
and hind angle of the wing usually well developed, and distinctly so in those cases
in which the claws are abnormally long and the pulvilli absent. Squamae (alar) fairly
large, sometimes provided with a long tuft in the fringe near the fold which seems to
act as a substitute for the metapleural fan (*S Tenopogon, etc.) ; thoracal pair absent.

The character of “ marginal cell open ” was for a very long period the
only one used for distinguishing the Dasypogonince from the rest of the
Asilidce. In recent times however two or three different attempts have
been made to distinguish the Leptogastrince (which will be dealt with
further on), and it has been urged that it may be better to include in the
Dasypogonince a few species (which had previously been included in the
Laphrince) in which the marginal cell is ^closed at the wingmargin through
the more or less abrupt up-turning of the radial vein at its end, and the
blunt ending of the marginal cell caused thereby; perhaps the most
distinctive character of the Dasypogonince lies in the comparative shortness
of the subcostal vein, so that in this subfamily it is only through an effort
(so to say) that the radial vein occasionally succeeds in uniting itself to the
subcostal vein, while in the Asilince and Laphrince the subcostal vein is
so long that the radial cannot help ending in it. I would also call
attention to the usual absence of any pubescence (or at any rate bristles)
from the hypopleune as compared with the continuance there of the meta¬
pleural fan in the Asilince, while possibly some unexamined characters
remain to be investigated in the development of the prothoracic collar.

The boundary line between the Dasypogonince and Leptogastrince is not
yet definitely settled. I have laid stress on the character of the claws
and pulvilli because it cannot cause any doubt in our British species, but
it may not be satisfactory in all cases, as in Stcnobasis the pulvilli are
obsolete on the posterior tarsi but almost normally developed on the front
tarsi; the characters of the elongated body, very long hind legs, and
rather clubbed hind femora seem to be insufficient as a distinction, while
I am unable to follow Williston’s character of one-jointed palpi in
Leptogastrince as a distinction from the Dasypogonince with two-jointed
palpi ; any character derived from the development or degradation of the
alula and hind angle of the wing seems to be undecisive but yet may be
worth further investigation. Perhaps the extremely limited chsetotaxy
of the Leptogastrince may afford a distinction, but then Dioctria and allied
genera come very close.

The Dasypogonince are usually elongate rather bare species, and (in at
any rate the forms near Dioctria) are weaker and more sluggish than
the Asilince. They include some very large flies, though only rarely
reaching the size of the largest Asilince or Laphrince, and on the other
hand they include the smallest species of the whole family. The chief
prey of Dioctria is Iehneumonidce, though they capture insects of various
other orders, and the predatory habits of the family have been dealt
with in considerable detail by Prof. Poulton in his article on “Predaceous

2 Y

706

ASILID/E

Insects and their Prey” (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1907, pp. 323-409);
many interesting particulars are given in that paper, and it is to be hoped
that it will lead to more observations upon not only the prey of these flies
but upon the method by which the victims appear to he instantaneously
killed by some unknown poison injected from the proboscis of the Asilid.
The courtship of some species is interesting, as apparently the male takes
his life in his hands when tendering his addresses to the female, unless the
latter is occupied with prey. Prof. Poulton says : — “ In one case both sexes
“ were resting on a leaf, the female absorbing the juices of a small $
“ Ichneumonid, Pimpla ( Itioplectis ) pomorum, which was soon sucked dry.
“ She then deliberately withdrew her proboscis from the victim and
“ dropping it upon the leaf faced round upon her suitor in a menacing
“ manner. The male, as if realising the danger, at once became far more
“ cautious and wary in courtship.” Cases have been noticed in which the
female has been captured while devouring the male of her own kind, and
in one case a female was observed preying upon another female of the
same species. Both sexes are almost equally predatory, but I do not
think that any case has been recorded of a male preying upon a female of
the same species, though this may be partly accounted for by the female
being the more powerful. I can scarcely credit the report that the males
of some species of predatory flies have been seen to present captures to the
females in order to distract their attention during the time of the amatory
advances of their suitors.*

Arrangement. — The Dasypogonince do not place themselves readily in
any sequence from the Laplirince to the Leptogastrince and Empidce, though
the latter part of the way may be fairly obvious as the small hump¬
backed species like Holopogon seem to tend towards such Empidce as Hybos,
while the dying out of the alula in Stichopogon, Dioctria, etc., points the
way to Leptogastrince and Empidce. On the other hand the general shape
of the body and the strong bristles round the hinder part of the thoracic
dorsum in Stenopogon, etc., seem to show affinity to the Asilince, while
Pycnopogon may be considered to connect with the Laphrince because of
its villosity, or Hoplistomerus, etc., because of the closed marginal cell.

Table of the Palcearctic Genera of Dasypogonince.

1 (10) Front tibiae with a terminal claw (fig. 370).

Fig. 370. — Dasypogon teutonus J. (Front leg.)

Alulae fairly well developed.

* It appears to be conclusively proved that the males of some species of Empidce do supply a victim
(sometimes living) to the female in order to keep her engaged during the period of pairing (y. Ent. Month.
Mag., 1907, p. 229, and 1908, p. 181).

DASYPOGONIN.F

707

2 (3) Thorax hairy but without strong bristles. Abdomen compara¬

tively short and plump.

Legs short and thick. Moderate-sized species.

11. ISOPOGON.

3 (2) Thorax with strong bristles, there being at least a praesutural and

a supra-alar. Abdomen elongate, more or less slender.

Legs long and not very robust.

4 (7) Face-beard limited to the mouthmargin and usually composed of

very few bristles, but occasionally with slight short pubescence
above it (fig. 371).

N.B. — This character may be misleading in some species of
Saropogon until experience has rendered it intelligible, but with
practice it becomes a very convenient distinction.

Fig. 371. — Saropogon comosus <J. x 12.

Fig. 372 .—Dasypogon teutonus <$. x 12.

5 (6) Scutellum with marginal bristles. Collar moderate in length and

bearing bristles.

Species more stoutly built and more bristly than in Cenopogon.
Face-beard composed of several bristles. Metapleural fan of bristles
well developed. Femora without bristles on the underside.

Saropogon.

6 (5) Scutellum without any bristles. Collar elongate and without

bristles.

Species very elongate and bare. Face-beard composed of two
bristles.

N.B. — I do not unite this genus with Laparus , because I believe a
number of allied genera will be formed out of the species now placed in
that genus.

Cenopogon.

7 (4) Face-beard dense and extending up to at least the middle of the

face (fig. 372).

708

AS I LI M

8 (9) Fourth posterior cell closed (fig. 373) ; wing-membrane ribbed.

Scutellum with four or more strong marginal bristles. Bristles on
the collar strong, but the ocellar bristles weak ; metapleural fan strong.
Squamae with a rather long fringe on the lower part.

Selidopogon.

9 (8) Fourth posterior cell open (fig. 374) ; wing-membrane wrinkled.

10 (1)
11 (12)

Scutellum (in European species) without any marginal bristles.
Dorso-central bristles near the scutellum present though small ; ocellar
bristles strong ; metapleural fan weak and accompanied with
pubescence. Femora with small bristles. Squamae rather large, with
a neat short even fringe.

Dasypogon.

Front tibiae without a terminal claw.

Second posterior cell (6a) pushed up almost entirely into the lower
outer part of the first posterior (fig. 375).

Third veinlet from the discal cell very recurrent so that it runs
back for a long distance almost parallel with the wingmargin and
closes the fourth posterior cell, with the result that the amount of
wingmargin occupied by the third posterior cell is nearly three times
as much as that occupied by the second ; small cross-vein almost or
quite absent. Style absent. Thoracic bristles numerous. Alulye
large. Large flies.

N.B. — The genus Megapollyon of Walker may be distinct ; Walker

DASYP0G0NIN7E

709

says it is distinguished by its “ stouter body, thicker mystax, shorter
“ wings and some other peculiarities.” The “ other peculiarities ” may
include a peculiar plate-like process at the end of the middle tibia),
which occurs in some very large species.

Microstylum.

12 (11) Second posterior cell almost level with the upper part of the

discal cell (fig. 376).

Third veinlet from the discal cell (even when closing the fourth
posterior cell) not long and parallel with the wingmargin.

13 (16) Metapleurse quite bare. First posterior cell closed or obviously

contracted towards the wingmargin (rarely only slightly so).

Thorax with numerous bristles extending from the prsesutural
down the sides and across the hindmargin. Head usually narrower
than the thorax and inclined to be spherical ; face narrow and
becoming still narrower on its upper part, with a prominent almost
keel-shaped knob. Alulae large. Alar squamae bearing a tuft of long
hairs. Large or rather large flies.

14 (15) First posterior cell open (fig. 376).

Fia. 376. — Stenopogon xanthotrichus <$. x 6.

Fourth posterior cell either open or closed. Similar to Scleropogon
(sensu meo ), but the third antennal joint longer and its style shorter.
Hypopleurae quite bare.

Stenopogon.

15 (14) First posterior cell closed (fig. 377).

Fourth, posterior cell closed. Similar to Stenopogon, but the third
antennal joint shorter and its style longer.

SCLEROPOGON.

N.B. 1. — The figure given here is taken from the (probable)
original type of Dasypogon heteroneurns Macquart, and differs from
Loew’s description of Scleropogon in having the second posterior cell
closed as well as the first and fourth.

N.B. 2. — Coquillett (Pr. Ent. Soc. Wash., vi., 179, 1904) states that
Scleropogon has the hypopleurae pubescent and bristly ; if that be the

710

ASILIM

case the genus may be not Palaearctic, and those species from the
Palaearctic region which have been included in it may be relegated to
a section of Stenopogon.

16 (13) Metapleurae conspicuously pubescent or bristly.

17 (26) First posterior cell closed (fig. 378) or very much contracted.

Face broad, without any prominent knob or bristly face-beard.
Nc obvious dorsal bristles on the thorax or scutellum except some
rather indistinct praesutural, supra-alar, and postalar ; metapleural
fan strongly developed. Alulae large.

18 (25) Claws and pulvilli normal ( conf '. fig. 382).

Fourth posterior cell bluntly closed.

19 (24) Hind femora not spinose beneath.

20 (21) Marginal cell fairly wide open.

Eadial vein more or less curved up¬
wards. Scutellum without marginal bristles.

Style blunt.

N.B. 1. — It is often difficult to deter¬
mine where the subcostal vein ends.

Fig. 380 .—Perasis sareptana <J .
(After Hermann.)

N.B. 2. — Several more genera could be formed out of Triclis , if the
antennal characters given as distinctive of the two next genera be con¬
sidered of generic value.

Triclis.

21 (20) Marginal cell closed or only very slightly open (fig. 379).

Eadial vein rather abruptly curved upwards. Style with a short
bristle at its end.

22 (23) Scutellum with two strong marginal bristles.

Style bent outwards, two-jointed, with a fine bristly tip; basal
antennal joint with an evident knob on the underside (fig. 380).

Perasis.

DASYPOGONINAl

711

23 (22) Scutellum without any marginal bristles.

Style short, blunt, and cylindrical, with a very short bristle at its
upper angle (fig. 381). Hind femora thickened; hind tibiae ending in
a hooked thorn.

Strobilothrix.

24 (19) Hind femora strongly thickened, and beset with spines on the
underside. Marginal cell obviously closed.

Pubescence very short. Face knob absent. Third antennal joint
narrow and bare.

Hoplistomerus.

25 (18) Claws elongate ; pulvilli absent.

Ambient vein absent.

SlSYRNODYTES.

26 (17) First posterior cell wide open.

27 (32) Claws elongate ; pulvilli almost or quite absent.

Fio. SS\.— Strobilothrix albipila 9- (After Becker.)

Fig. 382. — Dioctria Baumhaueri <$ . (Right front tarsus.)

Fig. 383. — Crobilocerus
megilliformis 9- X 22.

28 (29) Antennae very wide apart at the base.

Thorax with bristles extending like a mane up
Fourth posterior cell open. AstY-us-like Hies.

to the front.
Anarolius.

29 (28) Antennae close together at the base.

30 (31) Thorax with bristles extending like a mane up to the front.

Pubescence slight. Fourth posterior cell closed at the wingmargin.

PtHADINUS.

31 (30) Thorax without mane-like bristles.

Pubescence similar to that of Isopogon, but with traces of prae-
sutural, supra-alar, and postalar bristles ; _ metapleural tuft large.
Head very broad and short. Femora without bristles. Fourth
posterior cell open. Stout bee-like flies.

Acnephalum.

32 (27) Claws and pulvilli normal (fig. 382).

33 (38) Abdomen short and robust.

Alulae distinctly developed though not large. Face without any
distinct knob. Thick hairy flies of bee-like appearance and of medium
size.

34 (35) Antennae ending in a tuft of bristly hairs
style.

(fig. 383) in place of a
Crobilocerus.

712

ASILIDJE

35 (34) Antennae ending in a pointed two-jointed style (fig. 384).

36 (37) Pubescence rather long and dense on the thorax, abdomen, and

legs, with a tendency to form lateral tufts on the abdomen.

Prsesutural, supra-alar, and postalar bristles existing though
indistinct, also slight marginal bristles on the scutellum ; metapleural
tuft very large and long. Femora with long dense pubescence but no
bristles. Fourth posterior cell either open or closed.

Pycnopogon.

37 (36) Pubescence shorter and less dense, and without any tendency to

form lateral tufts on the abdomen. Amphisbetetus.

38 (33) Abdomen moderately or decidedly long, and always rather

slender.

39 (54) Alulie distinctly developed though sometimes small (fig. 385)

(conf. Eriopogon).

40 (41) Fourth posterior cell bluntly closed (fig. 385) (v. notes below).

Fig. 384. — Pycnopogon
fasciculatus $. x 22.

Antennae with the basal joint provided with a more or less com¬
pact knob on its underside; style bent downwards, two-jointed. Face
broad and evenly pubescent without a knob. Proboscis horizontally
porrect. Scutellum arched in normal fashion, pubescent but without
any distinct marginal bristles.

N.B. 1 .- — Ancylorrhynclms sometimes has the fourth posterior cell
closed, but may easily be known by its recurved proboscis ; Scylaticus
also often has this cell closed, but may be distinguished by the bare
upper part of the face and by the bare flat disc of the scutellum round
which are strong marginal bristles.

N.B. 2. — Laphyctis has its face-beard limited to the mouthmargin
(as in Saropogon). Laphystia sexviacvlata Herm. (nec. Say) appears to
be a Triclis.

Laphystia.

41 (40) Fourth posterior cell wide open or only moderately contracted

(v. notes under preceding genus).

42 (45) Face with a distinct knob. Palpi long.

Rather densely pubescent flies ; dorso-central bristles absent or
indistinct; metapleurse with a long dense tuft of pubescence (rather
like a fan in C. lateralis). Face-knob extended up to the antennae.
Alulae small but obvious.

N.B. — Cyrtopogon tenuibarbus has no face-knob.

DASYPOGONINiE

713

43 (44) Antennae (fig. 386) not elongate ; style less than half the length

of the third joint and usually pointed (hut not in G. fulvicornis).

Cyrtopogon.

44 (43) Antennse (fig. 387) elongate ; style short, spatulate, and rounded

at the tip. Hystrichopogon.

Fio. 387. — Hystrichopogon hirticeps <$.

(After Hermann.)

45 (42) Face without a distinct knob (unless in some species of

Scylaticus).

46 (49) Face-beard bristly against the mouthmargin but fine-haired above.

Bristles on the thorax (including two or three pairs of prse-
scutellar) numerous and strong ; humeral bristles (2-4) small but
distinct ; ocellar bristles (usually six) unusually strong ; pleurae with¬
out any tuft of pubescence on the small praealar callus * (v. fig. 399) at the
top of the mesopleural suture and lying immediately behind the top
hind corner of the mesopleurae. Antennae with the two basal joints
almost equal in length. Alulae well developed. Fair-sized flies.

47 (48) Thorax strongly humped anteriorly so that it is far above the level

of the head. Antennae with a long strong forwards-pointed
bristle beneath the second joint (fig. 388) ; style unusually
long and pointed, with a short basal joint but with the second
joint about (or more than) half as long as the third antennal
joint. Heteropogon.

48 (47) Thorax moderately humped anteriorly so that it is not much

above the level of the head. Antennae with only normal
bristly hairs on the second joint (fig. 389); style much shorter
than the third antennal joint.

Face, thorax, and abdomen narrower than in Ileteroporjon.

Anisopogon.

* Tegula of Berlese.

714

ASILIM

49 (46) Face-beard of equal texture and without bristles, limited to about
the lower half of the face.

Humeral and ocellar bristles weak and inconspicuous. Style very
short and blunt, or absent. Pleurae usually with a conspicuous tuft of

Fia. 388. — Heteropogon scoparius .

x 14.

Fig. 389. — Anisopogon glabellus.
(After Hermann.)

Fig. 390.— Habropogon
exquisitus <J. x 22.

pubescence on the small prsealar callus (fig. 391), but sometimes with
only slight pubescence or even none. Figure cylindrical.

50 (53) Proboscis quite straight, sloping forwards. Antennae with the

second joint about as long as the basal one (fig. 390).

Bristles numerous but not very strong.

51 (52) Basal joint of the anterior tarsi hardly (if at all) longer than the

second joint.

Tuft of pubescence on the small praealar callus (fig. 391) long
and conspicuous. Palpi long and long-haired. Prothoracic collar
conspicuous. Legs hardly bristly. Flies bearing a considerable
amount of pubescence.

Habropogon.

Fig. 391. — Habropogon exquisitus £. x 13.

52 (51) Basal joint of the anterior tarsi quite twice as long as the second
joint.

Pubescence on the small praealar callus (v. fig. 399) slight or absent.
Fourth posterior cell contracted or even just closed. Flies bearing
very little pubescence.

SCYLATICUS.

DASYP0G0NIN7E

715

53 (50) Proboscis incurved (fig. 392).

Pubescence and bristles moderate ; pubescence on the small prae-
alar callus (v. fig. 391) long, dense, and conspicuous. Prothorax very-
much developed, forming a dorsal collar in front of the thorax.
Antennae with the second joint much shorter than the basal one, and

Fig. 392. — Ancylorrhynchus glaucius <$. x 14.

the third joint long and strap-shaped with scarcely any style. Legs
moderately thin and with only inconspicuous bristles as in Dioctria.
Fourth posterior cell contracted towards the wingmargin.
iV.B. — The peculiar proboscis is eminently characteristic.

Ancylorrhynchus.

54 (39) Alulae obsolete (fig. 393) (conf. Eriopogori).

55 (58) Face with a distinct knob.

Flies rather bare of pubescence, but with numerous bristles
(including the dorso-central rows). Palpi small, hardly hairy.
Antennal style jointed.

56 (57) Face-knob not extending up to the antennae, and consequently

the upper part of the face bare.

Antennal style short, about one-third the length of the third joint.
Metapleurae with a row of bristly hairs (almost bristles).

12. Lasiopogon.

57 (56) Face-knob and face-beard extending up to the antennae.

Antennal style long and thin, quite two-thirds the length of the third
joint. Metapleurae bearing a tuft of long silky hairs. EUPALAMUS.

58 (55) Face without any distinct knob, but evenly arched for its whole

length.

59 (60) Small cross-vein absent (fig. 393).

Face-beard limited to the upper mouthmargin. Frons triangular.
Style thin and pointed, indistinctly jointed. Bristles few but strong,

716

ASILIM

60 (59)

one praesutural, few supra-alar and postalar (often only one), ocellar
and postvertical distinct ; small subalar callus bare ; metapleural
fan distinct. Scutellum without any marginal bristles.

Stichopogon.

Small cross-vein present (fig. 394).

61 (66) Style thick and blunt, usually distinctly jointed.

Thorax only moderately humped anteriorly. Small praealar callus
bare.

62 (63) Second joint of the style much longer than the first.

Ocellar bristles obvious. Face with only a long bristly mouth-
beard. Antennae with the small cylindrical basal joint longer than
the second ; third joint also long and cylindrical. Pleurae dusted all
over.

Ceraturgus.

63 (62) Second joint of the style not longer than the first, or the style

not truly jointed (fig. 395).

Pig. 395. — Dioctria Eeinhardi <$ .
X 22.

Fig. 396. — Pseudoholopogon chalcogaster $ .
X 33.

Ocellar bristles indistinct. Postalar calli (usually) and the
scutellum without distinct bristles.

64 (65) Terminal portion of the style without a dorsal spine.

Antennae with the cylindrical basal joint distinctly longer than the
second. Face-beard limited to the upper mouthmargin. Bristles on
the thorax limited to one or two praesutural and about two supra-alar,
though three rows of tiny dorsal bristles are traceable ; metapleural
fan distinct. Alar squamae with short fringes. Hind femora and
tibiae with some furry pubescence.

13. Dioctria.

65 (64) Second joint of the style with a dorsal spine (fig. 396).

DASYPOGONIN.E

717

Antennae with the two basal joints almost equal in length. Face
bearing long bristly hairs all over, and the frons bearing long softer
hairs. Hind tibiae very clavate.

PSEUDOHOLOPOGON.

66 (61) Style thin and pointed, indistinctly jointed.

Thorax strongly humped anteriorly. Small flies.

67 (68) Flies clothed with long dense silky or woolly pubescence on the

face, frons, pleurae, legs, etc., but without any bristles.

Hind tibiae hardly clavate. Metapleural tuft large and dense, and
the mesopleural pubescence extending over the small praealar callus.
Alulae not quite absent.

Eriopogon.

68 (67) Flies without long or dense pubescence, but with some bristles.

Hind tibiae conspicuously stout and clavate. Metapleural fan
composed of long bristly hairs, and the small praealar callus bare.
Alulae absent.

69 (70) Face-beard not dense but extending up to the antennae, very soft-

haired.

Holopogon.

70 (69) Face-beard barely extending up to the middle of the face.

A pair of ocellar bristles conspicuous.

Oligopogon.

The British Genera of Dasypogonince
are only three in number, and may be easily distinguished as follows : —

1 (2) Front tibiae with a peculiar curved claw at the tip (v. fig. 370).

Thorax and scutellum without bristles.

11 Isopogon.

2 (1) Front tibiae without any peculiar claw at the tip.

3 (4) Thorax and scutellum with numerous bristles and hairs.

12 Lasiopogon.

4 (3) Thorax with only one (rarely 2-3) praesutural and 2-4 supra-alar

bristles; scutellum without any bristles. 13 Dioctria.

Dioctria is composed of a number (6) of almost bare species, which
have the face-beard restricted to the slightly produced neighborhood of the
mouth, the frons and ocellar prominence almost bare, the antennae placed
on a prominence and with the basal joint long and cylindrical, the thorax
with one (rarely two or three) praesutural and (usually) about four supra-alar
bristles but with no bristles on the postalar calli or scutellum, the abdomen
almost bare except for a short row of long bristly hindmarginal hairs
towards the sides of the basal segment, the hind femora and tibiae with a
peculiar furry or felt-like pubescence, and the wings with the anal cell open.

Isopogon has only one British species which is easily known in the
male sex by the remarkably long thin basal joint of tiie hind tarsi, and
both sexes have the face-beard occupying almost all the arched face, the
frons and the ocellar prominence conspicuously hairy, the antennae on no
prominence and with the two basal joints equally short and cup-shaped, the

718

ASILID.E

thorax and scutellum with abundant pubescence but with no bristles, the
abdomen with no bristles or even bristly hairs, the hind femora and tibiae
without any furry pubescence, and the wings with the anal cell closed.

Lasiopogon has also only one British species, which has the face-beard
long strong and almost radiating on a large facial knob which occupies quite
the lower two-thirds of the face, the frons widening towards the vertex and
bearing numerous thin bristly hairs, the antennae almost as in Isopogon ,
the thorax and scutellum bristly rather than hairy, the abdomen
pubescent but without bristles, the genitalia resembling those of the
Asilmce, the hind femora and tibiae without any furry pubescence, and the
wings with the anal cell closed at the wingmargin.

11. ISOPOGON.

Isopogon Loew, Linn. Ent., ii., 492 (1847).

Meclium-sized hairy but bristle-less species of fairly stout
build, which have the thorax very much arched.

Head very broad and short and by no means high, appearing depressed because
of the highly arched hump-backed thorax ; face wide, almost equal in width, and
so inconsiderably produced that it has no distinct facial knob ; face-beard covering
nearly all the face, and its hairs almost equally long and strong though less dense
on the upper part ; frons shorter than broad, scarcely widened though much sunk on
the upper part, without any antennal prominence but with the ocellar knob strongly
elevated, and bearing long dense bristly hairs on the orbits and on the ocellar knob.
Proboscis sloping forwards ; palpi short. Antennae approximated at the base ; the
two basal joints equally short, cup-shaped, and bearing long bristly pubescence •
third joint elongate, narrow but slightly conical, with a long two-jointed apical
style which bears a minute bristle at its tip ; basal joint of the style short but
distinct, and the style altogether quite half as long as the third joint.

Thorax short and very highly arched, hump-backed, densely hairy on all the disc
(/. brevirostris ), or appearing almost bare anteriorly because of the shortness of the
pubescence (/. vitripennis), but with no trace of bristles ; pleurae almost bare except
for tomentum, but with a rather long soft silky pubescence on the upper part of the
mesopleurae and a tuft of long silky hairs on the metapleurae. Scutellum appearing
depressed because of the hump-backed thorax, bearing slight but not at all bristly
submarginal pubescence.

Abdomen cylindrical, in the female pointed at the tip and with the segments
after the fifth forming a projecting flat ovipositor ; pubescence short and adpressed,
almost scabrous. Genitalia of the male small.

Legs rather long though strong ; femora fairly thick, especially the hind pair •
front tibiae with a small curved apical claw occurring on the underside but twisted
a little posteriorly ; hind tarsi normal, or (/. brevirostris ) remarkably elongate and
compressed to a knife-like edge in the male. Pulvilli and claws normal.

Wings small at the base, almost wedge-shaped in outline ; first posterior cell not
* contracted towards the wingmargin, fourth widely open, and the third more open
than the second or fourth ; fork of the cubital vein hardly bell-mouthed, longer
than its stem (measuring from the discal cross-vein); discal cross-vein after the
middle of the discal cell ; anal cell closed. Alar squamae narrow ; thoracal pair
practically absent.

This genus appears to prefer hilly or mountain districts or at any rate
dry localities. It is allied to Lasiopogon in shape and venation but is very
easily distinguished by the presence of the hook at the tip of the front
tibicB, by the absence of any bristles on the thorax or scutellum, and by
the genitalia. The metamorphoses are unknown.

11. ISOPOGON

719

Isopogon is a small genus of probably only two Paleearctic species as I.
syriacus Schin. is described as having bristles on the thorax ; one of these
is common over most of Europe, while the other is rare or but little
known.

Synonymy. — The first name applied to this genus was that of Leptarthrus by-
Stephens in his Catalogue of British Insects (1829), but that was emphatically a
mere catalogue name, no distinctive characters whatever having been given except the
one conveyed in the word itself. Loew in 1847 declined to admit Stephens’ name
on the ground that it was founded on a sexual character which applied to one
species only and substituted for it the name of Isopogon ; I cannot trace that even
this single sexual character was ever described by Stephens, or else I would use his
name because I consider Loew’s action to have been very arbitrary ; Stephens in his
Illustrations (Vol. VII. Suppl., PI. xlv., 1846), when figuring Dasypogon diadema,
gave an adjoining figure which represents the hind tarsus of the male of his
Leptarthrus , but I cannot trace that lie ever gave the slightest indication of what
that figure was supposed to represent, so that no additional authority is given there
for the name. Loew in his turn committed a grave error in failing to notice the
curved thorn at the tip of the front tibiae, but his genus is otherwise well defined ;
the result of this error was the formation of the genera Aphamartania Schin.
(1866), and Pygostolus Lw. (1866), which latter name being preoccupied was renamed
JVicocles by Jaennicke in 1867 ; it is possible that those genera may not be absolute
synonyms ( Nicocles has a clubbed abdomen and an open anal cell, while
Aphamartania has bristles round the scutellum and a contracted first posterior
cell), but they were founded under the impression that Isopogon had no hook at the
end of the front tibhe. It is very remarkable that Scliiner and others accepted and
described the genus without detecting this error, but Brauer first called attention to
it in 1883 and then considered that Isopogon Lw. must sink under Aphamartania
Schin. because Loew had been in error in one character ( !), and that both names
were superseded by the catalogue name of Leptarthrus Steph., while Bezzi in Kertesz’s
Katalog. der Palaearctischen Dipteren, II., 113 (1903) followed Brauer.

1. I. brevirostris Meigen. Hind tarsi of the male with the basal joint
very long and thin. Thorax with fairly long pubescence even to the front
part.

The only British species of the Dasypogonince which is
entirely without bristles on any part of the thorax.

$ . Black ; face moderately produced and arched, dusted grey except on a shining
middle space just below the antennae ; face-beard Jblack with the tips of
the hairs often bleached, hairs rather dense, equally long, drooping on the
lower part, and extending all over the face except quite close to (and on the
sides near) the antennae ; chin- and jowl-beards silky white and merging into
similar pubescence on the lower part of the back of the head, and the whole
of the rest of the back of the head away from the eyes with similar but longer
pubescence ; postocular margin broadly but rather indefinitely greyish white,
with sometimes some short black hairs close to the eyes on the lower part :
frons shorter than broad, deeply sunk between the eyes, shining black and
very little dusted, bearing long conspicuous black hairs on the orbits and still
longer black hairs on the ocellar prominence ; the sunk vertical space extends
quite bare down the middle of the back of the head ; collar small, black but
rendered dull by dust, and bearing greyish white silky pubescence. Proboscis
black, rather shining, sloping forwards, and bearing short slight pubescence
about the tip but longer more abundant greyish white hairs beneath the basal
half ; palpi short, greyish black, and bearing long greyish white hairs.
Antennae black ; two basal joints short cup-shaped and about equal in length,
both bearing black bristly hairs but those on the underside of the basal joint
long and occasionally to a large extent silky white ; third joint long and
narrow, quite bare, very slightly tapering and nearly twice as long as the two

720

ASILIM

basal joints together ; style long and two-jointed, bent at an angle to the
third joint, basal joint very short but the second joint brown, minutely
downy, narrow and quite half as long as the third antennal joint, and with a
very short apical arista.

Thorax so highly arched that both the head and scutellum are much
below it in profile, shining black on all the upper side, distinctly punctate but
with most of the humeral knobs and a pair of approximated narrow stripes
(just outside the middle stripe) on the anterior two-tliirds of the disc im-
punctate and consequently more shining, while a small patch of grey tomentum
occurs just above each wing-base; pubescence on the disc long and dense,
rather sloping and usually black on the front two-tliirds (where it is strong
but not bristly), and longer still, more sloping, more silky, and whitish on the
hind third, but the colour varies a little as some silky white pubescence some¬
times occurs on the humeri and along the sides of the front part while stray
whitish hairs may occur among the dense black pubescence, or on the other
hand the whitish (or yellowish) pubescence may be reduced to less than the
hind third and may have stray black hairs intermixed ; pleurae mainly covered
with pale grey tomentum, but the lower front part of the mesopleurae rather
bare and shining and the upper part bearing a patch of silky whitish
pubescence, and the metapleurae with a rather large tuft of long crinkled
silky white or greyish white hairs which hardly form a fan. Scutellum over¬
hung by the liindrnargin of the thorax, shining black and almost bare on the
disc but with long upturned silky whitish submarginal pubescence. There
is no trace of any praesutural or supra-alar bristles, nor in fact anything which
can be called a bristle, on any part of the thorax or scutellum.

Abdomen longitudinally arched, cylindrical (the sidemargins being curved
over towards the belly), rather pointed and shining black though obviously
punctate ; basal segment very short and almost concealed ; _ second segment
with its front corners sharply angled and with a girdle at its hindmargins ;
eighth segment short but distinct, nearly half the length of the seventh.

Pubescence rendered conspicuous by the shimmer of the
rather short closely aclpressed whitish hairs which appear
to be brushed inwards from the sides and downwards down
the middle, but the pubescence is longer and more erect
about the sides of the second and part of the third segments
and is short erect and rigidly outstanding along the sides
of the fifth, sixth, and seventh segments, but hindmarginal
bristles or even strong hairs are entirely absent. Genitalia
with a pair of small side lamellae which arch over and conceal
the end, while the lower lamellae are shining black, short,
and rounded at the end, and the last ventral segment bears
a remarkable tuft of erect black bristles.

Legs black, but the front femora reddish at the under¬
side of the tip, the front tibiae often obscurely reddish at
the base, the middle tibiae dull orange or reddish on the
basal half and the hind tibiae on nearly the basal two-thirds,
and the hind tarsi dull dirty yellow in immature specimens
but blackish in mature specimens, while a silvery sheen
occurs on the apical half of the hind tibiae and on the
basal joint of the hind tarsi; femora strong, the hind pair
strongest ; anterior tibiae and tarsi normal ; hind tibiae very

Fin. 397. _ Tsopogon much dilated soon after the base and continuing so to the

irevirostris S- ‘ x io. tip though most dilated about the middle ; hind tarsi with

(Left hind leg.) the basal joint remarkably long and thin being compressed
after a rather cylindrical base to a knife-like upper
edge and about three times as long as the other four joints together (fig.
397), while a silvery sheen caused by minute depressed white pubescence
occurs on the posterior apical half of the hind tibiae and on the anterior
side of the basal joint of the hind tarsi. Coxae grey-dusted and bearing
long silky whitish pubescence, and on the anterior pairs a few curved
black bristly hairs about the tip ; femora with dense dorsal and anterior
black bristly hairs, but beneath and behind with longer conspicuous
thin silky whitish hairs, of which the longest occur on the basal half

11. ISOPOGON

721

of the underside of the posterior femora ; hind femora with numerous
comparatively short black bristly hairs beneath about the tip even on
the apical half ; front tibiae with about ten short black dorsal bristles,
six or eight conspicuous strong black postero-ventral bristles on the apical
half, and some long hairs on the underside, besides a short curved apical
thorn almost on the underside but twisted back ; middle tibiae with about
eight black dorsal bristles, three long black antero-dorsal bristly hairs, three
or four long thin black hairs beneath, several long white antero- and postero-
ventral hairs and some short white postero-dorsal and posterior bristly hairs,
and several black apical bristles of which some short ones on the underside
are rather crowded ; hind tibiae with about eight black (sometimes yellow)
postero-dorsal bristles on the whole length, three or four antero-dorsal of
which the lowest one (or sometimes all) may be white, and a rather dense
rigid black pubescence beneath the dilating part which is followed by
a shorter dense equal whitish ciliation all down to the tip ; the usual tiny
bristles on the basal half of the hind tibiae are rather sparse and black, but
those on the apical half are depressed whitish and more numerous so that
they cause posteriorly and beneath a silvery sheen ; anterior tarsi with the
usual circlets of black bristles, but the usual strong posterior bristle near the
base is replaced by several less conspicuous bristles and two anterior bristles
after the middle of the basal joint ; middle tarsi with two anterior bristles
on the basal joint not close to the base and no posterior bristle instead of the
usual single anterior and posterior bristle*; hind tarsi with only very minute
black bristles at the tips of the last four joints, the basal joint having
abundant minute shimmering white pubescence and about six small black
plantar bristles on the cylindrical base ; the second, third, and fourth joints
of the hind tarsi about equally short (being as short as broad), and the fifth
joint slightly dilated and rather long ovate, while the second and third joints
bear a slight dorsal continuance of the shimmering white pubescence.
Pulvilli brownish orange ; claws black.

Wings faintly brownish and with the wing-tip sometimes conspicuously
brownish in mature specimens, or quite hyaline in juvenile specimens. Alar
squamae very narrow, brownish with a broad pale yellow or whitish margin
and a fairly abundant whitish fringe. Halteres large, orange or yellow with
the stem brown.

The following description of the female is made from a specimen
taken at Loch Maree on June 7, 1884, because it agrees well with
continental types and descriptions, but the more common British form is
mentioned later on.

7 . Not much like the male, as it is a broader insect with stouter legs, simple
hind tarsi, and usually less hyaline wings. Head with the pale pubescence
less pure white and with no black hairs near the liindmargin of the eyes ;
frons considerably dusted about the sides. Palpi with long thin pale greyish
hairs ; Antennas with the third joint apparently a little longer.

Thorax with considerable greyish yellow pubescence anteriorly and
laterally but with that on the disc mainly black.

Abdomen with the adherent pale pubescence slightly longer, less whitish,
and brushed more towards the tip ; the longer pubescence about the sides
near the base less whitish ; hind corners of the third, fourth, and fifth
segments with rather distinct patches of light grey dust, of which traces exist
on the second segment. Belly with no trace of any black bristles on the
last segment. Ovipositor shining black and compressed, with a pair of ovate
terminal lamelke which are orange on the underside and which bear rather
long outstanding pale pubescence.

Legs black, with the front tibiae distinctly reddish at the base, and the
middle tibiae for more than the basal half, and the hind tibiae for more than

* Almost all the Asilidce have one strong posterior bristle near the base of the front tarsi, one anterior
and one posterior near the base of the middle tarsi, and one anterior near the base of the hind tarsi;
these bristles being probably used by all six legs in grasping prey, but the remarkable development of the
basal joint of the hind tarsi in the male of this species has apparently caused additional and different bristles
to be used on the anterior tarsi.

2 z

722

ASILIDiE

the basal two-thirds ; front tibiae with short furry reddish orange pubescence
in front on the apical half ; anterior femora with a few thin pale hairs inter¬
mixed dorsally near the base ; hind femora with almost all the bristles and
hairs pale even about or under the tip ; hind tibiae almost normal in shape,
being only very slightly twisted and moderately dilated, and with mostly pale
bristles and hairs except the strong black bristles on the apical third • hind
tarsi almost normal in shape, the basal joint being shining black, not com¬
pressed, hardly dilated, and not quite so long as the other four joints together,
while the bristles and hairs on the basal joint are all black except the
minute pubescence and about two anterior bristles near the middle, though a
few minute dorsal bristles on the second joint are yellow. All the soft
pubescence of the legs has a yellowish tinge.

Wings more brownish than in the male, and the wing-tip not at all
darkened.

The more common British form differs as follows : —

Head with all its pubescence (face-beard, frons, ocellar prominence, and
basal joints of antennae) light greyish yellow, or the middle hairs of the face-
beard rich orange at the base, or the face-beard entirely reddish orange.
Thorax with all its pubescence light brownish or greyish yellow, or some¬
times with the base of the hairs on the back part orange. Legs with the
front tibiae sometimes hardly reddish at the base, and with all the bristles
and hairs yellow or orange except the spurs on the anterior tibiae and most
of the hairs and bristles on the anterior tarsi. Wings more strongly tinged
with brown from the base to the discal cross-vein but not on the costal and
subcostal cells.

Length about 9 mm.

This species has no close ally in Europe as the only other one in the
genus is I. vitrijoennis Meig., which has the hind tarsi of the male simple,
the face-beard much weaker, and the pubescence on the anterior half of
the thorax very short. Aphamartania syriaca Schin. must belong to some
other genus as it has strong thoracic bristles.

I. brevirostris cannot be considered a common British species, though I
have records from Devonshire (Ivy bridge and Holne), Sussex (near Lewes),
Kent (Darenth and Dover), Cambridgeshire (near Newmarket), Bucks
(Wormsley), Gloucestershire (Selsley and Painswick), Herefordshire (t. Dr
J. H. Wood), Westmoreland (Rydal Water), Merioneth (Dolgelly and
Barmouth), and various Scotch localities (Arran, Aberfoyle, Rannoch,
Loch Maree, etc.), from May 26 to July 15. These localities seem to
confirm Schiner’s statement that it is fairly common in mountain districts
but rare in the lowlands. Curtis recorded it “in plenty on Newmarket
“ Heath, in a place commonly called the Devil’s Dyke, and the middle of
“ August I found several pair settling upon the plants that grow in
profusion in the North-Foreland meadow, Dover.” A female in the Hope
Museum at Oxford is labelled “Devils Ditch 2/7/33 very sluggish in a
“ dull afternoon. Males very scarce in comparison to females and found
“ in the grass ; ” this is probably one of Curtis’s original specimens. It is
recorded from North and Middle Europe.

Synonymy. — The generic synonymy is dealt with under the genus, and the only
point worth mentioning here is that the female appears to have been an unsur-
mountable stumbling block to Bigot, inasmuch as he described two females of the
pale haired race as Dasypogon caudatus (1881) and four others as Cyrtopogon ?
rujitibiale ! while he had another as his sole exponent of the female of Lasiopogon
Macquarti, and still another under his Dioctria atricapilla. It is very prob¬
able that the record of I. hottentottus as British (Pascoe, Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond.,
1880, iii.) was made in mistake for the pale haired form of this species.

12. LASIOPOGON

723

12. LASIOPOGON.

Lasiopogon Loew, Linn. Ent., ii., 508 (1847).

Middle-sized moderately elongate rather bristly flies of
blackish grey or dark yellowish grey colour with greyish white
hindmargins to the abdominal segments.

Head not wider than the thorax and not very short ; face narrowest near the
antennae but distinctly widening downwards ; face-knob large, occupying fully the
lower two-thirds of the face and clothed all over with a long strong-haired outstand¬
ing or rather drooping face-beard which leaves only the upper part of the face and
just the sides bare ; a brilliantly shining bare black space separates the side-cheeks
from the jowls ; lower part of the back of the head wide even if not truly inflated
and bearing abundant long silky pubescence, but the upper part shallower and
bearing a rather abundant postocular festoon of long black bristles which extend
well round the upper eye-angles and are sharply bent over forwards soon after their
base ; when seen from above the upper part of the back of the head behind the
festoon bears a few rather long thin suberect hairs ; frons broad, narrowest near the
antennae but widening upwards (because of the widening orbits and the rounded-otf
upper eye-angles) until it is twice as wide at the vertex, and it is impressed with
three rather deep parallel longitudinal furrows, of which the outer ones extend
from the occiput to the antennae and the middle one begins just in front of the
lowest ocellus ; the orbits and the spaces between the furrows bear numerous thin
black bristles, but the upper middle part of the frons and the middle furrow are
bare ; ocellar knob not much elevated but bearing some long bristly hairs ; collar
only slightly prominent, pubescent but without bristles. Proboscis prominent
and sloping downwards, without much pubescence 'about the tip but with long
pubescence beneath near the base ; palpi short and narrow, apparently one-jointed
and bare or with only very slight porrected bristly hairs. Eyes very much flattened
on the front part, and the facets there considerably enlarged. Antennae approxi¬
mated at the base ; the two basal joints short and bearing rather long thin bristles ;
second joint stouter and a little shorter than the basal one ; third joint strap-shaped,
of medium length, longer than the basal two together, and with' a fairly long style
(quite a third the length of the third joint) which has a minute pointed bristle at
its end; one or two rather depressed but not very minute bristles occur on the
dorsum of the third antennal joint between the middle and the tip in all the species
I have seen.

Thorax very flatly arched, moderately bristly. Bristles consisting of about three
(2-4 or even 5) prsesutural, about three (3-6) supra-alar, and one or two postalar,
while the dorso-central rows are evidenced by about five rather well defined post-
sutural and about five less well defined praesutural bristles, but these latter ones die
out on the front quarter of the disc ; in addition to these bristles short bristly hairs
occur almost all oyer the disc, though rather sparsely on the back part. Pleurae with
a slight row of bristles near the hindmargin of the mesopleurae, and with a long row
(hardly a fan) of about ten (7-10) long strong bristly hairs near the hindmargin of
the metapleurae, while the upper part of the sternopleurae bears a little thin
pubescence ; hypopleurae quite bare of pubescence or bristles. Scutellum flat and
almost bare on the disc, but with about ten long thin upturned marginal bristles
and several shorter thin hairs.

Abdomen flatly cylindrical, moderately hairy but without bristles, black with
conspicuous pale grey bands across the hindmargins of the segments ; segments
gradually decreasing in length after the second one. Genitalia shining, m the male
rather large and with the eighth abdominal segment forming the dorsal base as it is
considerably produced on each side into a somewhat triangular lobe ; claspers large,
resembling those of the Asilince , and bearing bi’istly hairs ; in the female the genitalia
after or under the flattened eighth segment are small and concealed but show an
obvious incomplete terminal circlet of about sixteen stout short bristles.

Legs rather long, with the hind femora rather the longest ; basal joint of the
anterior tarsi only a little longer than the next, and of the hind tarsi not twice as

724

ASILID.E

long ; coxae dull anteriorly and outside but brilliantly shining and bare beneath ;
femora usually (but not always) only pubescent except for some antero-dorsal bristles
on the hind pair, but the tibiae and tarsi with bristles and pubescence. Front
coxae with moderately long soft thin pubescence anteriorly ; posterior coxae with
similar but less pubescence on the outer part and with some longer thin bristly
hairs in front about the tip ; trochanters shining and bearing only slight pubescence;
front femora with abundant long pubescence all over the hind part even to almost
the upper and under sides, but antero-dorsally and anteriorly with short dense
inconspicuous depressed pubescence ; middle femora with similar clothing but with
the long pubescence more restricted towards the underside ; hind femora with a row
of about seven anterior or antero-dorsal bristles and some smaller subapical ones ;
front tibiae bristly and pubescent, with the usual long postero-ventral bristly hairs
and the usual few extra long thin hairs beneath, and with a terminal circlet of about
eight bristles ; middle tibiae with three rows of (2-4) long bristles besides long-
pubescence, and with a terminal circlet ; hind tibiae with a few dorsal, antero-dorsal,
and antero-ventral bristles, but otherwise with only the terminal circlet and a
ciliation of pubescence on the basal half posteriorly ; all tarsi with a circlet of four-
long strong bristles at the tip of each of the four basal joints and without any
conspicuous anterior or posterior bristle near the base of any basal joint, but the
last joint with a pair of long thin divergent bristles as long as the joint which
extend across the claws and with a single long thin bristle above the bristle-like
empodium besides other weaker lateral bristly hairs. All these bristles and
pubescence are in addition to the dense short depressed bristly clothing which
occurs all over the legs, and many of the generic characters now given may be of
only specific value. Pulvilli long and narrow ; empodium only a rather long thin
bristle ; claws long, not much curved until near the tip.

Wings shorter than the abdomen ; cubital fork distinctly bell-mouthed ; posterior
cells all widely open, and the first one not at all contracted towards the wingmargin ;
third posterior cell more widely open than the second or fourth because the third
veinlet from the discal cell slopes downwards ; discal cross-vein before the middle of
the discal cell ; anal cell closed close to the wingmargin ; wing-membrane minutely
pubescent, uneven but not ribbed or wrinkled. Alar squamae small and narrow
with a rather thick margin and a rather short fairly equal fringe ; thoracal squamae
absent.

This genus is easily distinguished from the other British genera of
Dasypogonince by the general bristliness of its thorax and scutellum (as
compared with pubescence only in Isopogon and very sparse bristles in
Dioctria ) ; furthermore it is distinguished from Isopogon by the absence of
any curved terminal thorn on the front tibise and by the less humped
thorax. From the other European genera it may be distinguished by the
obvious facial knob with its large projecting beard, the much widened
frons on the upper part, and the peculiar genitalia of the male which
resemble those of the Asilince ; many minor characters are of value, such
as the higher head, the less bulging eyes, the rather cylindrical abdomen
with its conspicuous light grey bands, and the closed anal cell. The only
allied European genus with a prominent facial knob is Cyrtopogon.

Lcisiopogon is composed of only a few very closely allied species which
occur all over Europe and in North America. The metamorphoses are
unknown, but the perfect insects sit on stones, dry paths, tree trunks, or
similar substances, and although attempts have been made to distinguish
mountain species from those of the plains I have received our British
L. cinctus from most varied localities.

Synonymy. — Loew in 1874 proposed the name Daidopogon for this genus on the
ground that Ladopoyon had been preoccupied, but that generic name had not
been used in Zoology.

1. L. cinctus Fabricius. Abdomen blackish, with light grey bands;

12. LASIOPOGON

725

genital claspers of the male long, with a blunt end which is rounded at
its lower angle.

A rather small dark-colored Asilid with greyish white
bands on the hindmargins of the abdominal segments, and
with the thoracic bristles more abundant than in any other
British species of the Dasypogonince.

d' . Face and frons dusted brownish ; face with a yellowish brown shimmer ;
facial knob large and wide, with the face-beard extending all over it so that
only just the upper part and the sides of the face are left bare ; face-beard
black with occasionally a few rusty or greyish yellow hairs intermixed on
the lower part, and the hairs nearly all equal in length and density and
standing out so stiffly that they only slightly droop ; chin- and jowl-beards
dense, long, and silky whitish, while similar pubescence extends up the lower
half of the back of the head ; this lower half of the back of the head is greyish
white and is rather wide because the eyes are somewhat narrowed thereabouts,
but the upper half is more light brownish grey and bears an abundant
irregular (three or four bristles wide) festoon of black bristles, which at
their tips are strongly curved forwards over the eyes and which extend round
the upper eye-angles on to the broad upper part of the orbits until level with
the upper ocelli ; frons widening rapidly upwards from the antenme (because
of the widening of the orbits) until it becomes about twice as wide at the
vertex as at the antennae, and the orbits bearing numerous moderately long
black hairs (sloping forwards), while the two raised parts between the three
channels bear numerous similar hairs (but bent rather backwards), and the
moderately elevated ocellar knob bears about ten rather longer outstanding
black hairs ; the middle postvertical channel down the back of the head is
bare, but a few black bristly hairs occur on the upper part of the actual back
of the head ; collar pale greyish brown, bearing short but not sparse
pubescence on the upper part and longer thin pale pubescence on the sides
and lower part. Proboscis shining black, sloping, with the usual very slight
pubescence about the tip and long pale pubescence beneath on the basal half ;
palpi thin, rigid, short (being hardly one-third the length of the proboscis),
black, and almost bare except for two or three comparatively long porrect
pale hairs near (but not at) the tip. Antennae entirely greyish black ; two
basal joints short, but the second joint shorter and stouter than the basal one,
while both joints bear porrected black bristles (rather more obvious on the
underside) ; third joint strap-shaped, slightly longer than the two basal joints
together ; style bare, rather thick, about one-third the length of the third
joint, and bearing a tiny apical bristle.

Thorax ranging in colour from yellowish brown to dark grey, not at all
shining, and with the raised extreme back point of the humeri chestnut ;
sometimes with a rather narrow blackish middle line and two blackish side
stripes (not nearly reaching to the front but bending outwards at their front
ends towards the humeri) ; the side stripes may or may not be interrupted at
the suture, and extend to the hindmargin, while the middle line may only
reach to the suture, and there are indications of dark stripes still more towards
the sides just before and just after the suture ; or the thorax may have two
closely approximated dark brown stripes which do not extend to the hind-
margin and a pair of fainter side stripes which become broader on their front
part (which is not near the front of the disc) and curve towards the humeri ;
or the thorax may appear to be blackish brown with two pale greyish brown
stripes which are rather wide apart but converge after the suture so that they
form one broad grey middle stripe, and then (taking the dark colour as the
ground colour) the other side stripes can be traced. Pubescence (as distinct
from long bristles) composed of numerous small black bristles on most parts
(including the humeral knobs) but not on the front part of the stripes on each
side of the middle line nor on the broad dark outer side stripes except on
their front part and near the humeri. Bristles consisting of usually two

726

ASILIDvE

(2-4 or even 5) praesutural, about three (3-6, but only 3 strong) supra-alar, one
strong (1-2 or rarely 3) postalar, and the dorso-central rows which include about
five fairly strong but yet rather hair-like postsutural bristles (of which the
prsescutellar pair are not stronger than the others), and about five less strong
praesutural which die out anteriorly long before the front part of the disc.
Pleurae covered all over with pale greyish brown dust ; mesopleurae with
about five black bristly hairs in a row on the upper part of the hindmargin
and some minute pale grey or blackish bristly pubescence on the upper part ;
prothorax with some soft pale pubescence ; sternopleurae with some soft pale
pubescence on the upper part ; metapleurae with a fan of about six (6-9) long
strong though thin conspicuous black bristles of which the bottom one may
be yellowish ; hypopleurae quite bare. Scutellum yellowish grey, flattened
or almost depressed and practically bare on the disc, but with about ten long
upturned black marginal bristly hairs and some shorter thin hairs ; metano-
tum dark ashy grey, quite bare even on the lateral humps.

Abdomen shining deep black or brownish black, slightly obscured by the
pale brownish yellow pubescence, and with each bare narrow hindmarginal
hem greyish white, but these greyish white bands are widened on to the disc
(especially when seen sideways) by whitish grey dust, and this colour extends
forward about the sides and covers the hinder corners of the segments and
extends more or less on the sidemargins up to the foremargins of the
segments, so that when seen sideways the entire sidemargins may be ashy
grey, though in some specimens the grey colour does not extend much on the
sides but leaves most of each segment shining brownish black. Pubescence
mainly or entirely greyish yellow or greyish white, rather long on the sides of
the three basal segments, and distinctly long about the hind corners of the
basal segment where a few of the hairs on the hindmargin are almost strong
and stout enough to be called bristles ; the pubescence on the sides of the
remaining segments is shorter and not always all greyish yellow, as some hairs
may be black at the sides and usually a good deal of the short depressed
pubescence on the disc is black on especially the sixth and seventh segments
or even on the fifth or fourth segments, though usually the pale pubescence
forms a slight fringe at the hindmargins and occasionally occurs all over the
abdomen from the base to the genitalia. Belly blackish brown to yellowish
grey (according to the light) with obvious pale hindmargins to the segments,
and bearing sparse rather thin pendent brownish yellow pubescence.
Genitalia shining black ; the eighth abdominal segment forms a dorsal base
and is produced on each side into a broad rounded triangle which leaves
the small intermediate part with a slightly arched or slightly undulating
hindmargin, and these triangles bear numerous black bristly hairs and also
bear on their inner sides a rather long fringe of dull black or rusty black
stiff hairs which point towards the tip ; claspers large and long, being about
twice as long as broad, arched but equal in width, and bluntly rounded on
the lower angle at the end but almost rectangular at their upper angle where
they meet for most of their width ; these claspers bear obvious suberect black
bristly pubescence, but at the tip where they meet the pubescence is often
rusty ; seen from beneath the claspers enclose an ovate (hardly longer than
broad) space of which the sides slope down inwards, and after this ovate space
a long slight shallow emargination can be traced rather before their tips,
and the pubescence at their tips is sometimes rather more reddish brown.

Legs rather deep black, though in immature specimens the anterior tibiae
and tarsi may be obscurely reddish black, and greyish dust may obscure the
ground colour ; coxae on the underside bare and brilliantly shining.
Pubescence (as distinguished from bristles) on the front femora rather
abundant and rather long except anteriorly, greyish white or sometimes
yellowish or even orange but black towards the tip, and even some of the
short adpressed pubescence is pale posteriorly but black elsewhere ; the
front tibiae bear a fair amount of black pubescence on the underside, but their
other clothing is described under the bristles ; middle femora with similar
pubescence to that on the front pair but more restricted to the underside, and
the middle tibiae also with similar black pubescence to that on the front
pair ; hind femora also with greyish white pubescence beneath or rather
postero-ventrally, and the hind tibiae with only a slight but fairly long ciliation

12. LASIOPOGON

727

on the basal half ; the front tibiae have a brownish furry covering on the
anterior (inner) two-tliirds, while the hind tibiae bear on that part a clothing
of very dense very short black bristles. Bristles all black, practically absent
on the front femora though a few postero-dorsal hairs after the middle are
strong; front tibiae with about eight inconspicuous dorsal bristles extending
over nearly all the length, about four well separated long posterior bristles
on the middle half, and about three long postero-ventral bristly hairs, besides
the apical circlet of bristles ; front tarsi with each of the four basal joints
bearing an apical circlet of four long bristles but no others except the short
plantar ones, while the last joint has a thin bristle above each claw as long as
the joint itself in addition to other weaker and shorter lateral bristly hairs ;
middle femora sometimes (but not always) with two erect short antero-
dorsal bristles soon after the middle ; middle tibiae with about three strong
antero-dorsal, three weak postero-dorsal or almost dorsal after the middle,
and three long postero-ventral at and after the middle, in addition to the
apical circlet, but the distinction between bristles and long hairs is very
slight ; middle tarsi with bristles similar to those on the front pair ; hind
femora with about six (5-10) widely separated anterior bristles of which the
end ones become antero-dorsal, and with some small subapical (including
two antero-dorsal) ; hind tibiae with three strong antero-dorsal bristles, about
four weaker postero-dorsal (almost dorsal), and three antero-ventral on the
apical half, in addition to the apical circlet ; hind tarsi with bristles similar
to those on the other pairs. Pulvilli yellowish white ; claws black, but dull
dark reddish on the basal half.

Wings with an equal though slight blackish grey tinge, and with the veins
strongly blackish or very dark brown even to the base, but with no trace of
clouding on the cross-veins. Squamae (alar) dull yellow with thick paler dull
yellow margins on which is a slight pale yellow fringe. Halteres pale or dull
orange, with the knob sometimes blackened at the tip.

9 . Very much like the male. Abdomen with the grey liindmargins less defined
anteriorly and the basal segment nearly all grey ; eighth segment shining
black and flattened but with a fringe of pale pubescence across its hind part ;
pubescence erect, black, and rigid all about the sides and sidemargins of the
fifth, sixth, and seventh segments, but not on the eighth. Ovipositor with
two curved rows (hardly forming a circlet) of about seven stout blunt bristles
in each row.

Length about 9 mm.

This species has no ally in Britain, but two or three very closely
allied species occur on the continent and I believe the distinctions which
have been given at present to be very unsatisfactory ; I cannot place
any value upon characters founded on the colour and markings on the
thorax, or the colour of the pubescence on the abdomen and femora, or even
on the face-beard, as British specimens of L. cinctus seem to me to include
sufficient variations for all of the described species. I possess a specimen
from Kowarz (labelled “ Saualp ”) under the name of L. Macqiiarti (which I
presume represents the L. montanus of Schiner) and six specimens (which
I believe to belong to one species) from Bigot under the name of L. Bcllardii
in which the claspers are almost hatchet-shaped (the base forming the
short side) with the upper side extending up to a point which is the
only place at which they ordinarily meet, while the lower side ends in a
bluntly rounded angle, and the distance from the sharp angle to the
rounded angle is more than that from the latter to the base, so that the
clasper is hardly longer than deep; the pubescence on the femora and
tibiae is longer and denser than in L. cinctus, but the hind femora bear
less obvious bristles and especially conspicuous pale pubescence; the front
femora may be slightly stouter; the abdomen has rather long pale

728

ASILIM

pubescence at the sides to the end of the seventh segment, and has nearly
all the short pubescence on the disc pale ; the cross-veins are rather clouded,
and Bigot’s specimens vary very much in size. A species taken by
Colonel Yerbury at Cintra on February 16 and March 1, and at Collares
on February 6, 1896, has the claspers brownish orange or shining dark
chestnut and shaped almost as in L. Bellardii but bearing much shorter
bristly pubescence and with the lower angle sharper, the abdomen with
pale pubescence even to the underside of the claspers, and with the grey
bands broad, the metapleural fan nearly all pale, the front femora with
obvious postero-dorsal bristles,, and all the tibiae with more numerous
bristles which are not at all concealed (as in L. Bellardii) by any long
pubescence. It is possible that this latter species is the true L. Macquarti
of Perris, but that species should have a parti-colored face-beard and is so
little known that it may possibly even belong to some other genus.
Even the characters derived from the genitalia must be accepted with
caution, as I possess one male of L. cinctus (out of several from
Mr Nicholas Cooke) in which the claspers seem to be shorter and
consequently broader in proportion, and in that specimen a few pale brown
hairs occur in the face-beard ; I believe also that the claspers in all the
species of Lasiopogon are sometimes more or less reddish, possibly through
immaturity. I note that Loew (Berl. ent. Zeitschr., xviii., 369) referred to
L. Bellardii as a valid species, but I do not think that he ever mentioned
L. montanas or L. Macquarti, and I also note that a form without clouded
cross-veins was referred by Schiner to L. cinctus but by Strobl to
L. montanus var. immaculatus.

L. cinctus sometimes occurs in considerable numbers in the spring in
the New Forest; Colonel Yerbury has taken it at Oxshott in Surrey
and at Porthcawl in Glamorgan, while in 1870 the late Mr Nicholas Cooke
sent me a number from Southport in Lancashire and the Cheshire coast.
It has occurred from May 11 to June 13. Colonel Yerbury noticed that a
number of specimens at Oxshott on May 20, 1900, were feeding on small
Tipulidce, while some at Porthcawl preyed on Pachyrrhina histrio.

Synonymy. — This species stood in old British Collections under its synonym of
L. cinctellus Meig.

13. DIOCTRIA.

Dioctria Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 270 (1803).

Slender almost bare (never at all woolly haired) flies of
medium or rather large size and usually of blackish brown or
shining black colour ; easily known by the narrow cylin¬
drical abdomen and the long broad wings.

Head short and rather broad, standing well away from the thorax because of the
produced large prothorax and elongated collar and neck. Face and frons nearly
parallel-sided, the face being slightly narrowest about its middle, and the frons
slightly wider than the face and sometimes gradually widening upwards or some¬
times slightly narrowing almost up to the ocelli and then arching out to the
occiput ; face without a knob unless the varying amount of production of the
lower part can be considered one, bare above the rather thin but long face- or

13. DIOCTRIA

729

mouth-beard which droops over the mouth ; sides of the mouth bare ; jowls very-
small and bare ; frons deeply sunk between the eyes, usually shining black and
bare, but in some species bristly on the orbits down to or almost beyond the
antennae ; ocellar knob strongly elevated and bearing short fine pubescence ; back of
the head nearly flat and bearing numerous long hairs which are rather thm and
almost shaggy or at any rate less bristly on the lower part, but which usually become
strong and bristly as they ascend the head and sometimes even form a festoon of
bristles against the upper part of the eyes, with the points of the hairs or bristles
bent forwards ; collar sometimes bearing some bristly hairs which are however
sometimes slight and restricted to the front or side parts. Proboscis produced
horizontally and bearing beneath its base a few long thin hairs ; palpi more or less
elongate and thin, and (when long) bearing long projecting bristles. Antennae
longer than the head, placed on a more or less raised antennal prominence ; basal
joint elongate cylindrical ; second joint shorter and more cup-shaped ; the two basal
joints bearing bristly pubescence ; third joint longest, and often with a few small
bristles on its upper margin just before the middle ; style obvious, rather long,
stout, and blunt (fig. 398).

Thorax oval, usually bearing dense tomentum in stripes or patches on which
there is a slight pubescence but sometimes entirely shining, sometimes clothed all

Fig. 398. — Dioctria Reinhardi £ . x 22. Fig. 399. — Dioctria rvfipes £,. x 12.

over with short dense bristly pubescence and occasionally with a few longer bristly
hairs, and with a few lateral bristles which are sometimes very indistinct (especially
when the pubescence is more abundant than usual) ; the dorso-central bristles are
absent but there are three rows of tiny bristles on the disc and some tiny bristles on
the front part which spread outwards towards the humeri, while others may occur on
the sides above the dorso-pleural suture ; the bristles consist of one (or rarely two)
praesutural and a row of about four (2-4) supra-alar ; about three small bristles may
occur on the front margin of the postalar calli but are often so small as to. be easily
overlooked ; pleurae usually (not in D. Reinhardi) with peculiar slanting shimmering
stripes of pale (silvery or golden) tomentum, of which the most conspicuous one
runs down the front margin of the mesopleurce and sternopleurae, while another one
runs down the hindmargin of the mesopleurae on to the space under the pteropleurae,
and the upper and hind margins of the mesopleurae (and sometimes the front margin
broadly of the sternopleurae) bear fine pubescence, but otherwise the pleurae are
mainly without distinct pubescence or bristles except for the metapleural fan of
long bristles or bristly hairs and other pubescence on the metapleurae ; prothorax
bristly or pubescent. Scutellum flattened on the disc, and bearing tomentum and
pubescence similar to but less than that on the disc of the thoi’ax, and sometimes
with a slight marginal fringe but with no marginal bristles.

Abdomen elongated, narrowly cylindrical, almost without pubescence and with¬
out any bristles except for the long bristly ciliation on the hindmargin of the. basal
segment at especially its hind corners. Genitalia small, rather curved back in the
male under a termino-clorsal plate, but in the female almost concealed under the
truncate end segment.

730

ASILIDiE

Legs usually slender (not in I). atricapilla) and with, few conspicuous bristles
and only slight pubescence, though some bristles may be long and thin ; femora
usually rather thickened ; basal joint of the hind tarsi always rather stout and
sometimes conspicuously dilated. Pubescence on the anterior coxae rather long,
pale, and somewhat silky, but without any bristles ; anterior femora with a very few
long hairs beneath but hardly with bristles except some small subapical ones ; front
tibiae with about two (2-4) thin bristles beneath near the middle (but these bristles
varying in length and often very thin and inconspicuous), and about four (3-6)
postero-ventral bristles extending over nearly the whole length, and a few (3-4) very
small inconspicuous dorsal or slightly postero-dorsal ones ; middle femora sometimes
with a few anterior longer hairs or small bristles near the base, but more commonly
writh only sparse soft pubescence ; middle tibiae with two or more long antero-dorsal
bristles and four or five postero-dorsal, and about four (2-4) ventral ; hind femora
with only a few antero-dorsal and postero-dorsal bristles near the base ; hind tibiae
with a few (2-6) dorsal bristles (very minute in D. atricapilla , etc.), and usually a
few (0-3) anterior, and sometimes some thin postero-ventral hairs which may easily
be overlooked ; all the femora have some short subapical bristles, and the hind
femora and tibiae bear on their postero-ventral surface an exceedingly fine brush-like
or furry pubescence which is rather conspicuous, and which in this felt-like form is
almost peculiar to Dioctria among the British Dasypogonince, and this furry
pubescence extends beneath the basal joint of the hind tarsi ; all the tibiae have a
terminal circlet of spines, and each of the four basal joints of the tarsi has a similar
circlet of six strong bristles, but the front tibiae have no terminal claw as in
Isopogon. Pulvilli large, extending almost to the end of the long claws.

Wings (fig. 400) proportionately long and broad ; small cross- vein present and
placed rather near the base of the discal cell ; all five posterior cells open, the

Pig. 400. — Dioctria Baumhaueri. x 10.

first, second, and sometimes fourth being almost equally so, but the fourth some¬
times a little contracted ; anal cell not closed, but steadily narrowing until it is
nearly closed at the wingmargin ; wing-membrane wrinkled. _ Squamae (alar) small,
with a thick margin on which there is a fringe ; thoracal pair bare, hardly more
than the frenum. Halteres with rather large knobs.

This genus is distinguished by the absence of a front tibial claw, the
practical absence of any face-knob and the limitation of the face-beard to
the upper mouthmargin, the distinct stout antennal style, and the limited
chsetotaxy and absence of villosity. The best specific characters lie in
the shape of the antennal prominence, the length of the antennte, the
constitution of the face-beard, the stripes of tomentum on the pleurse, the
presence and distribution or entire absence of tomentum on the disc of
the thorax, and the form of the hind legs, but little value can be attached
to the colour of the face and legs and not much to the colour of the wings
and humeri.

Dioctria is a rather large Palsearctic genus, nearly forty species being
known from that region, while seven (which I doubt being congeneric) are
recorded from North America, three from South America (including
perhaps our D. celandica), one (doubtful) from New Guinea, one from
Guadaloupe, and two or three from the Cape of Good Hope. D. lugubris
of Jaennicke from Cuba has bristles on the hind margin of the thorax,

13. DIOCTRIA

731

while D. tasmanica of Walker is only Brachyrrhopala maculineuris of
Macquart. The Palaearctic species belong mainly to Middle Europe, but
nearly twenty extend to the Mediterranean, of which only two or three
occur in North Africa, though two endemic species also occur there. The
British species are rather sluggish, and usually occur in long grass or on
low shrubs ; I have records of only two of our six species north of the
Midlands {D. Reinhardi and 1). rufipes), though 1). Reinhardi seems to be
commoner in the North of Scotland than in England. The metamorphoses
are but little known, but the larvae of two or three species have been found
in moist earth connected with vegetable matter. The perfect insects prey
upon Ichneumonidee, but have been noticed to capture other Hymenoptera
and also Diptera or even Lepidoptera.

Synonymy. — I doubt whether the North American species referred to this genus
strictly belong to it, as two or three in Bigot’s collection (including D. nitida
Willist.) have the basal joint of the antennae scarcely (if at all) longer than the
second, the style less elongate, the frons more shallow and less shining black and
with long hairs all along the orbits, and as a strong chaetotactic distinction the
thorax bears no distinct bristles but has a longer more ubiquitous pubescence, while
indications of a serration beneath the femora somewhat justified Bigot in having
placed them under Echthodopa in his collection. The European species were very
much mixed up in Bigot’s collection, and his (probable) type of D. Bigoti A. Costa
from Sardinia may be only D. bicincta with the abdominal bands rather unusually
wide and distinct.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Femora entirely black (conf. D. Baumhaueri). Wings blackish in

the male, brownish in the female. Eace-beard black and
thoracic pubescence blackish in the male. Stoutly built species.

1 atricapilla.

2 (1) Femora (at least anterior) wholly or partly conspicuously yellow.

Face-beard yellowish in both sexes.

3 (4) Wings much darkened. Legs nearly all orange. Thoracic

pubescence black in both sexes. Large species.

2 celandica.

4 (3) Wings not obviously darkened.

5 (6) Front pleural “ shimmer stripe ” absent. Legs broadly orange at

the base (3 ) or all orange ( ? ). Face-beard pale and abundant
(about 50 hairs). Thoracic pubescence black in the male.
Ptather large species. 3 Reinhardi.

6 (5) Front pleural “shimmer stripe” complete and conspicuous.

Thoracic pubescence pale in both sexes.

7 (10) Coxae and tarsi mainly black.

8 (9) Anterior femora with no blackish markings. Thorax hardly

striped. 4 rufipes.

9 (8) Anterior femora with at least a blackish dorsal streak. Thorax

inconspicuously striped. Slender species. 5 Baumhaueri.
10 (7) Coxae and anterior tarsi almost wholly yellow. Thorax clothed

with yellow tomentum, but with conspicuous brilliantly
shining black stripes. Very slender species. 6 linearis •

732

ASILIM

D. atricapilla ought not to be mistaken for D. Baumhaueri, as it is a
stout strongly built species with conspicuously dark wings while D.
Baumhaueri is a slightly built species with almost hyaline wings. D.
Reinhardi is easily recognised in the male by its peculiarly colored femora,
while the conspicuous absence of the shimmering pale stripe down
the front of the pleurae and the abundant face-beard distinguish it from
all other species. D. rufipes has the front femora without any black
dorsal marking and has the frontal prominence larger than in any other
species, while D. Baumhaueri has the front femora with at least a blackish
dorsal streak.

1. D. atricapilla Meigen. Legs black except on the reddish knees.
Wings indeterminately blackish on the basal half in the male, but
brownish in the female.

The most stoutly built species in the genus.

$ . Moderately shining black. Face shimmering dull brown, but shining black
immediately under the antennae, very slightly produced at the upper mouth-
edge, and bearing there the face-beard which is in almost a single row of
about ten long black bristly hairs with sometimes a few additional small
hairs ; sides of the mouth shining black and bare ; chin- and jowl-beards rusty
black ; back of the head almost flat and with a narrow bare greyish brown
postocular rim (shimmering white in some lights on the lower half) which is
flush with the eyes except slightly on the wider lower part ; behind this rim
are abundant long black bristly hairs, which are rather thin and crowded on
the lower part but gradually become stouter and scarcer (though still
numerous) as they ascend towards the top of the head, where they stand
further back from the eyes ; some tiny black hairs occur close to the
top corners of the eyes ; frons shining black, deeply sunk between the eyes,
and with a few inconspicuous short black hairs on the orbits ; ocellar knob
very much elevated and bearing a few minute black bristles on the upper and
hind part ; antennal prominence neither large nor prominent though wide
and fairly high, shining black, and bearing numerous black bristly hairs on
the sides ; collar shining black, and bearing inconspicuous black hairs.
Proboscis long and shining black, with the dorsal tuft near the end composed
of unusually long brown hairs and numerous tiny ones, while the long hairs
beneath near the base are also dark ; palpi shining black, not half so long as
the proboscis, and bearing about the tip long projecting black bristly hairs, but
with shorter thin brownish hairs about the base. Antennae shining black on
the two basal joints ; basal joint more than one and a half times as long as
the second, and bearing more numerous and longer black bristly hairs ; third
joint dull black, as long as the basal two together, and bearing at its tip a
stout minutely pubescent style which is nearly half as long as the third joint.

Thorax black, wuth only the points of the humeri just above the pro-
thoracic stigmata orange, densely punctate and consequently rather dull, but
the slightly raised middle stripe bears two less punctate (though finely trans¬
versely striate) lines and the large humeral spaces are shining and almost
impunctate. Pubescence all over the disc (except on the polished parts)
composed of very short rusty black hairs. Bristles limited to the usual prse-
sutural one and several supra-alar, the postalar calli being without distinct
bristles. Pleurm polished shining black, with the usual “shimmer stripes” of
tomentum complete and usually brownish orange but the hypopleural stripe
rather vague and undefined ; mesopleurm with black (or partly brownish
yellow) pubescence about the front corner and down the stripe on its
back part, and the stern opleurse with similar pubescence on the front
point ; metapleurse with rather numerous thin black hairs, but with the usual
fan rather weak as it may range from only two long bristly hairs up to about

13. DIOCTBIA

733

six weaker hairs. Scutellum rough but almost bare ; metanotum consider¬
ably dusted with brownish orange at the sides.

Abdomen almost unicolorous black, but the intersegmental membranes

siVl°pW r,fPnratKr , obvi?us]y ycllow and m connection with them the
sides of the hmdmargins are often somewhat indistinctly orange • the
abdomen bears minute black bristly pubescence all over but the’basal
segment bears in addition several short black bristles on the sides and a row

sfdeb°Bellv whT fh^b ^ pkck bristl-es ^lonS tlle ^ndmargin near each
side Belly with the brownish orange incisures shining through rather

widely, while when seen from below the actual sidemargins appear rather
brownish orange. Genitalia ordinarily with a shining black broad upper
wbnpThlCh+n Pf?du?ed at eachond corner into a broad subtriangular process
Shorter ’SaSA ^ oran*e-red P"* J ^t<=ral Famell^

Legs stout and strong, moderately short, shining black with the knees
r°Mbth °rfngn ; iat t¥ tiP and tLe trochanters wholly chest-

ronsDicumi s lv cbl?^ P7 { a Cd t0 thfv tlp i basal ioint of the hind tarsi not
conspicuously dilated Pubescence on the anterior coxae dense, rusty black

b?^k °an^ <auitTblwpbe ^?nor basal part of the middle pair is brilliantly
black and quite bare, hind coxae with shorter inconspicuous pubescence-

antenor femora with a few long hairs beneath close to the base : the furry
1 ubescence beneath the hind femora is very dense and extensive consnicu

nSlVe’twhTft ?td WiS V fey. 'ong thin whitish hairs intermixed

buLs darker Tw iPf bene(lftl1 ,the bmd ‘4'® K> also dense and extensive
£~P1S ,)er t,an. tbat on tbe femora. Bristles rather few in number •

do“ al bristie near }?^SP1CU0US P^apical ones ; front tibiae with one small
c oisa bristle near the base, one or more (1-3) inconspicuous slightly antero-

dorsal, one or two very tiny anterior after the middle, four strong posterior
abou two (2-4) very thin rather long postero-ventral hairs and the usual
apical circlet, front tarsi with the usual circlets of bristles and with the
tiny dorsal bristles rusty black ; middle tibiae with two antero-dorsal bristles
(one at and one after the middle), two antero-ventral (one at a third and one
at three-quarters) four posterior, and three rather long equidistant postero-
S esides the apical circlet; hind tibia, with about two small anterior
bristles (one sometimes accompanied by a still smaller one, just before the
middle, and the other (a stronger one) at about three-quarters), and four small
dorsa besides the apical circlet; posterior tarsi with the usual bristles
Pulvilh and empodium orange ; claws conspicuously orange on the basal half
Wings proportionately short, being distinctly shorter than the abdomen
ab tl^sfd Wltb blackish though with the basal half much blacker than the
^S,’but the boundary between the blackish base and the rather washed out
outer and hind margins not well defined; third posterior cell wider at the
wing- margin than the second or fourth, as the fourth (though varying much)
is usually a little narrowed : stem of the cubital vein shorter (SSSfvS^S
much m amount) than the fork ; anal cell also varying from weU oSn to (m
one female) practica ly closed. Alar squamae blackfsh or Srty orange or

IrtZ’f™*1 at -tblC-k /ellow 011 wbich is a long dense brown or

yellow fringe which is however less dense near the aluhe ■ "thoracal pair onlv
indicated by a brownish orange line. Halteres yellow to brownish yellow. 7

oiMnle vebow^blS ^ *£? faf? shimmering brightly with beautiful golden
«nJll f? i dost and the shining black portion just under the antennae
small ; face-beaul of the same colour as the face ; chin- and i owl-beards pale

E bairs on the back of the head within orange Ce

I alpi with brownish orange hairs.

Jhe dens.e short depressed pubescence so brownish yellow
that it somewhat conceals the black ground colour and gives the Nvhole
dorsum a rather greyish brown appearance, but with three brownish ashv

bn?'bnvPCf] d°Wn Jhe midd-e> of wbich the two outer °nes are the broadest
but .have their outer margins not well defined and the two intermediate

shining black ones are bare and impunctate ; the usual shining black side

SParfo fSidl-SiinCti P°sta\ar calli often rather chestnut; prjesutural and
alar bristles brownish orange; pleurae with the shimmering stripes

supra-

734

ASILID.E

paler and sometimes almost wliite so that they become even more conspicuous
than in the male, and the pubescence on the stripes yellow or pale yellow ;
metapleural fan yellow.

Abdomen with the intersegmental membranes usually more distinct
than in the male, but the orange on the actual hindmargins very slight and
limited to near the sides ; abdomen slightly widening after the third segment,
but curving back to the eighth segment which is narrower than the third ;
the very short pubescence black, but brownish yellow and depressed on the
ovipositor, while the bristles on the sides of the hindmargin of the basal
segment are brownish yellow.

Legs with the pubescence on the coxae pale or brownish yellow, but all
bristles dark orange ; furry pubescence beneath the hind femora and tibiae
pale yellow ; tiny bristles on the tarsi more brownish orange.

Wings much lighter colored than in the male, though occasionally the
contrast between the basal half and the rest is almost as obvious.

Length about 10-5 mm.

This species varies in British specimens only as mentioned above, but
Loew recorded a variety of the female with remarkably pale legs, and I
found a similar specimen in Bigot’s collection which (amongst many other
distinctions) has the anterior legs orange or brownish red, and I think
that such a variety has not been recorded since Loew’s description in
1847. It has no very close European ally.

D. atricapilla is not recorded from many districts, but is common in
a few localities in the southern half of England, such as the New Forest
and other parts of Hampshire; I have other records from Kent
(Colonel Yerbury says it is common at Gravesend), Suffolk (Mr C. Morley
records it from Tostock and Wortham), Gloucester (Painswick, and Mr

C. J. Wainwright says it is common in a very local area at Selsley), and
Worcestershire (Worcester, Wyre Forest, and Malvern). It is recorded
from all Europe. Loew stated that the male appears considerably earlier
than the female, but my records only give a very immature male on
May 29 with both sexes fully mature from June 11 to July 15.

Synonymy. — Loew’s synonymy of 1847 appears to be accepted, except that

D. fuscipes has since been recognised as a distinct species which is common in Sicily.
Bigot's collection contained a number of correctly determined specimens with which
one female Isopogon brevirostris was associated, and in addition ten specimens (of
which six purported to be males and four females) stood under the name of
D. nigripes Meig. all of which were females of D. atricapilla , while there was one
old specimen labelled D. Falleni.

2. D. celandica Linne. Wings very much darkened in both sexes.
Legs orange, but the tarsi and the tip of the tibiae black.

A large handsome fly with long legs and wings.

J. Shining black. Face hardly widening from the antennae to the mouth,
shining black across just beneath the antennae and down the middle, but
with the sides and lower part covered with shimmering _ pale yellow
tomentum ; face rather produced on the lower third and bearing there the
long drooping face-beard, which is composed of nearly twenty yellow hairs
and usually some encircling shorter inconspicuous black ones ; jowls bare and
shining black ; back of the head shining black and bearing long coarse black
pubescence which develops after the middle into strong bristles which are
conspicuous and of which many have the tips bent forward, but these bristles
die out on the upper part ; frons wider than the face and hardly widening
upwards, considerably sunk between the eyes, shining black and almost

13. DIOCTRIA

735

bare, ocellar knob considerably elevated and bearing only very short black
bristles, antennal prominence rather large and bearing stiff black pubescence ;
collar shining black and bearing only inconspicuous black bristly pubescence,
but with some conspicuous longer stiff' black hairs on the side projections.
Proboscis horizontally porrect, long, black, and bearing the usual tuft of short
pale pubescence above near the tip and some thin straggly pale hairs beneath
near the base ; palpi black, nearly half the length "of the proboscis, and
bearing long porrect black bristles, but the basal joint with a few long black
pendent hairs. Antennae upraised, about as long as the height of the head :
basal joint elongate cylindrical, about twice as long as the second, and
bearing numerous black bristly hairs ; second joint with fewer and shorter
bristles; third joint slightly shorter than the two basal joints together and
diverging widely from them, dull brownish black, and bearing some short
inconspicuous (or one or two moderately long) black dorsal bristles just before
the middle ; style about a third or a quarter the length of the third joint and
almost as stout.

Thorax shining black with (in very good specimens) traces of two widely
separated greyish brown dusted stripes ; pubescence very short, black and
inconspicuous on the disc, but rather longer and more obvious about the
sides ; bristles consisting of one strong (usually) blackish orange praesutural
and several (2-6) strong (though not all equally strong) supra-alar, but no
noticeable postalar. Pleurae with the shimmering stripes distinct and usually
light grey but sometimes almost golden ; mesopleurae with some longisli hairs
on the grey stripe down the back part, and slightly pubescent on the upper
oart; pteropleurae slightly pubescent on the back part; metapleurae with
onger rather sparse but obvious pubescence and with a fan of about six (4-8)
ong yellowish bristly hairs. Scutellum with a slight black marginal fringe.

Abdomen unicolorous shining black, but with the tip of the genitalia
brownish red ; seventh segment hardly widened, and the eighth about half
the length of the seventh. Pubescence minute but rather dense, black with
some short rusty hairs about the basal corners and with a ciliation of about six
longer yellowish bristly hairs along the sides of the hindmargin of the basal
segment. Genitalia with a shining black bent down dorsal plate which
bears moderately long yellowish pubescence and has each end corner
produced into a short prong, while between these prongs are a pair of short
blunt lamellae ; lower lamellae elongate, brownish orange at the end, and
bearing rather long yellowish pubescence ; inner lamellae orange.

Legs orange ; coxae usually blackish, but the anterior pairs obscured by
dense grey dust and long pale yellowish pubescence; hind trochanters
blackish ; tibiae blackened (or in immature specimens browned) for about the
apical sixth of the front pair, fifth of the middle pair, and two-fifths of the
hind pair ; tarsi black, with the base of each joint very narrowly reddish orange ;
hind tibiae slightly dilated at the tip ; basal joint of the hind tarsi hardly
dilated ; all the femora with sparse long pale hairs beneath near the base.
Bristles all orange, even those at the tips of the tarsal joints; femora with
inconspicuous subapical bristles, of which two or three of the hindmost on
the anterior legs curve forwards at their tips; middle femora with several
inconspicuous though stout anterior bristles on the basal three-quarters, and
two or three short posterior ones after the middle ; hind femora with four or
five similar anterior bristles on the basal third ; front tibiae with indications
of a dorsal row of about five bristles (basal one fairly conspicuous), four or
five postero-dorsal, and two strong postero-ventral near the middle with
another rather before the tip ; middle tibiae with two to four incon¬
spicuous dorsal bristles, two to five anterior (of which two are conspicuous),
two antero-ventral, four to six posterior, and two postero-ventral near the
middle ; hind tibiae with about five antero- dorsal bristles, about six small
dorsal, and some exceedingly thin longish postero-ventral hairs intermixed in
the furry pubescence. Pulvilli and empodium orange ; claws conspicuously
orange on the basal half.

Wings blackened and in certain lights with a violet purplish lustre, rather
washed out towards the hindmargin and darkest about the foremargin, but not
uncommonly the blackening is most developed about the veins so that the
cells have light kernels and the wings a somewhat reticulated appearance ;

736

ASILIM

stem of tlie cubital vein about as long as the fork ; third posterior cell more
widely open than the second or fourth, though the fourth is not appreciably
narrowed • wing-membrane rumpled. Alar squamae pale brownish, with a
thick blackish brown margin on which is a very short pale fringe. Halteres
orange or brownish orange with the base of the stem blackish.

$ . Very similar to the male. Face-beard composed of fewer hairs and without
any encircling short black hairs.

Thorax with the grey stripes slightly more obvious.

Abdomen usually more flattened and slightly widened after the third
segment but narrowed on the eighth segment and ovipositor, and the eighth
segment has rather long ciliation on its hindmargin and tawny pubescence
beneath ; occasionally moderately large but a inconspicuous lurid red spot
occurs on each side on the hinder half of the fourth segment.

Wings more frequently with the reticulated appearance caused by the
cells having less darkened kernels, but with the foremarginal parts blackish.

Length about 14 mm.

This species is readily known by its comparatively large size, its long
violet-blackened wings, and its orange legs. The only closely allied
European species is the very rare D. Mcycri from Podolia (of which only
two females are known) but that has the middle of the abdomen bright
red, the hind legs mainly black, and the face-beard black. D. cdandica
varies only in the intensity of the coloring of the wings and in the
darkening of the tibiae, as stated in the description above, but this amount
of variation caused two specimens with very light colored wings to be
labelled D. umbellatarum in Bigot’s collection.

D. celandica can hardly be considered a common insect, though it
occurs in numerous localities in the southern half of England. It is
certainly not at all uncommon in the New Forest, and I have records
from Devonshire, Hampshire, Kent, Herts, Suffolk, Hereford, Leicester,
Notts, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Merioneth, and Glamorgan, upon dates
ranging from May 23 to July 8. Some specimens taken by Colonel Yerbury
at Porthcawl had the wings very darkly colored. It is recorded from
all Europe except the South-west, and it is possible that it occurs in
Guadaloupe and Brazil ( I) . vicina Macq.).

Synonymy. — Sylvicola lugvbris of Moses Harris in liis Expos. Brit. Ins., T. xlviii.,
f. i. (1782) is almost certainly a synonym.

3. D. Reinhardi Meigen. Mesopleime without an anterior shimmering
pale stripe. Legs of the female yellow, but those of the male with the
femora black except at the base.

A rather fine species, remarkable for the very different
coloring of the femora in the sexes.

J . Shining black. Face shining black on nearly the upper half, but with the
lower part (in good specimens) covered with greyish or yellowish white
tomentum, slightly produced near the top of the mouth and bearing there the
dense yellow or whitish yellow face-beard which is composed of abundant
(50-60) coarse hairs but which nevertheless does not extend to the sides ;
mouth -margin laterally and the small jowls shining black ; the small chin-tuft
varying from all black to mixed black and yellow hairs ; back of the head
almost flat or even slightly excavated, shining black but with a bare greyish
eyemargin on the lower part, and bearing numerous moderately long black
bristly hairs on the lower part and a few stout black bristles just before the

13. DIOCTRIA

737

middle which have their tips curving over forwards, while still higher up
other black bristles occur which extend to the upper corners of the eyes • frons
deeply sunk between the eyes, shining black and practically bare ; ocellar
knob considerably elevated ; antennal prominence small in area but sharply
denned and with two or three tiny bristles on the points which bear the
antennae but otherwise bare and shining black ; collar shining black, bare
above but with a few black bristly hairs at the sides and beneath. Proboscis
sinning black with a dark orange projected pointed tip, before which is a
Hinge ot dark orange pubescence, and with a few longer pale yellow hairs
beneath near the base ; palpi black, half as long as the proboscis, and bearing
numerous brownish orange bristly hairs. Antennae shining black but slightly
dusted on the two basal joints • basal joint hardly one and a half times as
long as the second and the third joint about as long as the two basal ones
together ; the two basal joints bearing short sparse black bristles : style
thick, minutely pubescent. ’ *

1 borax shining black, with two dark grey dusted lines which run down iust
outside the brightly polished impunctate middle stripe and sometimes with a
third line down the middle of that stripe, but these lines do not reach to
tiie hmd part ; the middle stripe is bare and impunctate except on the
punctate bristly middle line and the broad humeral spaces are also brightly
polished and impunctate, but most of the rest of the disc bears minute black
uistles oi hairs. Lristles fairly distinct and dark lurid orange ; praesutural
sometimes two, supra-alar four or five, but any on the postalar calli very
short. Pleurai polished and bare except on a dusted band of greyish
white tomentum which runs across the top part of the mesopleurai and
curves slightly downwards at each end but not at all across the front part
ot the sternopleurae, while another brownish grey dust stripe extends down
the back part of the hypopleuras ; the mesopleurai band bears slight
pubescence which is most obvious on the back part, the prothorax bears slight
short inconspicuous dark orange pubescence, and the metapleurse bear short
hne pale pubescence and the usual fan of about six long outstanding yellow'
bristly hairs. Scutellum curiously roughened.

Abdomen unicolorous black (unless the intersegmental membranes show
up narrowly yellowish), usually contracting slightly from each end to about
the third and fourth segments ; pubescence very minute and black, but a few
yellow hairs occur towards the sides of the liindmargins of the basal segment
(jremtalia inconspicuous, but with a bare polished black dorsal plate which
bears rusty pubescence on its sidemargins, and with more noticeable
pubescence beneath.

Legs stout and strong with the posterior femora distinctly clavate, black
but pale yellow at the tip of the coxae, on the trochanters, and on the base of
the femora to about a quarter of the front pair, a third of the middle pair, and
nearly halt of the lund pair, while the extreme tip of the femora is brownish
orange and the basal quarter (or more posteriorly) of the tibiae is orange ;
hind tibiae rather dilated at the tip ; basal joint of the hind tarsi obviously
though inconspicuously dilated. Pubescence and bristles normal ; front coxae
with dense drooping orange pubescence, and the middle coxae with a little on
• ^ ii V6r Par^i front femora with one posterior bristle just before the
middle, two or three inconspicuous anterior ones near the base and one
postero-vential after the middle ; front tibiae with four or five inconspicuous
dorsal bristles, three or four posterior, and a minute furry golden or
blackish pubescence on the apical half of the inside and on the soles
ot the tarsi ; middle femora with only inconspicuous bristles (one postero-
ventrai just after the middle being noticeable), and with one or two
long thin pale hairs beneath near the base ; middle tibiae with the usual
bristles, two posterior being long; hind femora with long pale sparse
pubescence about the base and the usual bristles wdiicli consist of an anterior
row of about eight and a few postero-dorsal on the basal half; hind tibiae
with two or three inconspicuous antero-ventral bristles, three or four dorsal
(two near the base), and three small and one long (at three-quarters the
length) anteiior ; hind femora and tibice with the usual furry pubescence
brownish and not very conspicuous ; all the tibiae and the joints of the tarsi
with the usual apical circlets of bristles ; all bristles on the legs even to the

3 A

738

ASILIM

apical circlets on tlie joints of the tarsi dull orange, but some of those on the
femora and tibiae so dark as to appear almost black. Pulvilli broad and pale
yellow ; empodium orange ; claws bright orange on the basal half.

Wings of a greyish brown tinge, but brownish yellow on the base and
foremargin and about the postical vein ; third posterior cell narrower at the
wingmargin than the second or fourth ; anal cell well open. Alar squamae
dirty orange, with a thick yellow or orange margin on which is a moderately
long pale yellow fringe except near the alulae ; thoracal squamae represented
by a pale yellow line. Halteres canary yellow.

$ . Very distinct looking from the male, because of the much paler legs and more
distinctly striped thorax. Face nearly all pale greyish yellow or (in some
lights) shimmering silvery except just under the antennae ; face-beard smaller
(about 30 hairs) ; cliin-beard orange or yellow • bristles on the back of the
head orange.

Thorax with three distinct approximated greyish yellow lines (middle one
narrowest), and with obvious minute depressed yellow pubescence except in
front and on the two polished black impunctate intermediate lines ; all the
bristles obviously orange : points of the humeri and postalar calli rather
shining dark chestnut. Pleurae with the band of pale tomentum along the
top of the mesopleurae sometimes more extended downwards at each end (and
in some very large specimens from Kingussie a resumption of the front line
appears on the front part of the produced point of the sternopleurae).
Scutellum almost as in the male.

Abdomen broader, especially after the third segment, and bearing rather
sparse minute light grey pubescence which is visible because of its colour.

Legs orange, with the base of the femora paler yellow, but black or
brownish black on the tarsi and on rather more or less than the apical half of
the tibice. Pubescence on the blackish parts minute but obvious because all
yellow ; long hairs on the femora almost absent.

Wings paler, and the veins about the base and front part yellowish.
Squamae yellower, with bright orange or yellow margins and long pale yellow
fringes. Halteres whitish yellow or orange.

Length about 11 mm. to 14 mm.

This species may be distinguished from all our British ones by the
absence (or at least wide interruption) of the pale shimmering stripe
across the front of the pleurae and by the abundant face-beard, while the
size and the peculiar coloring of the femora of the male at once distinguish
that sex ; the female may also be distinguished from D. celandica by its
much lighter colored wings and its less elongate abdomen, and from I).
Baumhaueri and I). linearis by its much larger size and its stronger
stouter build. It varies considerably in size though always a large
species, and (in addition to variations already mentioned) two females
taken by Colonel Yerbury at Kingussie on July 26, 1898, are worthy of
special note ; they are very large and have the front pleural shimmering
stripe continued (after a long gap) on the lower front part of the sterno-
pleurte, the femora are dark orange red with the apical half of the posterior
pairs inclined to be blackish and with a deeper black stripe above on the
apical half, the squamae and halteres brownish orange, while one of the
specimens has three praesutural bristles; I am quite satisfied however that
they are only very large forms of IK Beinhardi.

D. Beinhardi is not common in England, though apparently
common in North Scotland; in England I have records from only the
neighborhood of Bristol (according to Slnickard when describing his
D. Meigenii), the New Forest, Frant in Sussex or Kent, Colchester in
Essex, and Herefordshire, and I do not think it is at all abundant in
any of these localities, but Colonel Yerbury found it common in cornfields

13. DIOCTRIA

739

at Netliy Bridge in Inverness-shire, and also took it at Kingussie,
Inverness, Forres, Elgin, and the Culbin Sandhills. Dr J. H. Wood on
one occasion observed a male following another male step for step but
a few inches behind it, just as if it were on a love chase. It is recorded
from all Central and Northern Europe.

Synonymy. — Meigen first described this publicly as D. Reinhardi Wied. in 1820,
but Wiedemann had in 1818 referred to a “ D . Reinhardi mihi,” which he said Meigen
had described long before as a new species under that name, though probably only
in correspondence. Meigen described the male only under this name, but three
pages previous described the female as D.cothurnata and D. umbellatarum ; it is
possible that strong priority-mongers might claim the name of D. cothurnata as that
appears on p. 244 before D. umbellatarum , but I prefer to accept Wiedemann’s
name. It is strange that even in 1847 Loew thought lie possessed or had seen both
sexes of both I). Reinhardi and 1). cothurnata , and Walker in 1851 fell into the
error of keeping them distinct, while Zettersteclt also thought that he possessed
both sexes of both species. Shuckard in 1841 described the female very badly as a
new species, D. Meigenii , but Walker pointed out the synonymy. One female was
in Bigot’s collection as D. umbellatarum Meig. but his two supposed males under
that name were both pale winged females of D. oelandica.

4. D. rufipes DeGreer. Anterior legs mainly orange, but hind legs
black except at the knees.

Distinguished by the large pubescent antennal prominence.

S . Black, moderately shining. Face pale golden or dull pale yellow or almost
silvery, but shining black under the antennae, though the golden dust extends
sparingly outside this shining black part up to the base of the antennae ; face-
beard concentrated on the middle part of the slightly produced lower third of
the face, and composed of about twenty long pale hairs which extend equally
upwards and outwards so that they are not ranged in a single line along the
upper mouth-edge and so that they leave wide spaces between them and the
eyes ; sides of the mouth shining black ; chin-beard whitish yellow and com¬
posed of soft thin hairs similar to those on the lower part of the back of
the head ; back of the head shining black with a bare shimmering whitish
eye-collar which does not extend above the lower two-thirds, while behind this
bare collar on the loAver part of the head are rather thin though abundant
long pale hairs which diminish in number as they ascend and form behind
the upper half of the head a postocular row of about a dozen blackish orange
bristles which are curved forwards at their tips, but on the top of the head
the bristles and hairs retreat considerably back from the eyes ; still more out
towards the back of the head are some thin straight orange hairs ; close
against the upper eye-angle are some tiny yellow hairs which are difficult to
see ; frons rather deeply sunk, shining black, and bearing on the orbits some
minute dark orange hairs which are also difficult to see ; antennal promin¬
ence broad and unusually high, shining black, and with abundant rather long
black pubescence on its sides ; ocellar knob sharply raised but with only
exceedingly minute pubescence^ collar shining black with a few yellowish
hairs and bristly hairs. Proboscis shining black, with the usual hairs near the
tip on the upper side rather long and pale, but those beneath near the base
long and whitish ; palpi shining black, about one-third the length of the
proboscis, and with long projecting yellow bristles on the end part but with
the usual thin whitish hairs beneath near the base. Antenme shining black
on the two basal joints; basal joint nearly twice as long as the second and
bearing abundant black bristly hairs which on the underside are rather long ;
second joint also with short black bristly hairs; third joint dull brownish
black, hardly as long as the basal two together, and bearing several small
dorsal bristles near its base ; style hardly a quarter the length of the third
joint.

Thorax shining black, but rather obscured by the orange pubescence which

740

ASILIM

is longer than usual and not much depressed ; this pubescence is scattered all
over the disc except on the lines and spaces mentioned later on, but is most
conspicuous on the two distinct stripes of greyish orange dust (which spread
out rather V-like above the suture) and on the trace of a narrow middle
line, but is almost absent on the two intermediate shining black stripes
and also to a certain extent on the usual spaces in front near the humeri
and on a roundish space about where an intra-alar bristle would occur.
Bristles conspicuous and orange ; one praesutural, three strong and about
three small supra-alar, but none worth noting on the postalar calli.
Pleurae (fig. 399) shining black, with the “ shimmer stripes entire and
sharply defined and covered with rather coarse pale yellow tomentum ; the
front stripe is broad but the stripe on the back part of the mesopleurae is
narrow, and the back part of the hypopleurae bears similar but less dense
and less conspicuous tomentum ; pubescence moderately long and whitish
yellow on the front part of the sternopleurae, less long and yellower on the
stripe along the top of the mesopleurae, but again moderately long on the
narrower stripe down its back part ; metapleurae with very fine pale
pubescence and with only a moderately strong fan, which is composed of
about five long thin bristles ; hypopleurae with no distinct pubescence ; all
the parts of the pleurae below the prothorax and in front of the front
“ shimmer stripe ” bear long straggling pale hairs. Scutellum roughened,
and bearing sparse orange pubescence similar to that on the thorax but with¬
out any noteworthy marginal fringe ; metanotum with a little greyish yellow
dust at the sides.

Abdomen apparently unicolorous shining black, but the intersegmental
membranes usually pale and the hindmargins sometimes inclined to be
narrowly reddish orange, especially at the sides of the fourth segment, while
sometimes the hind corner of the third segment and the front corner of the
fourth segment are decidedly reddish orange, and the hindmargin of the
seventh segment may be orange. Pubescence on most parts extremely short
and pale yellow, but not very short at the sides of the basal segment and
towards the hind corners of the next two segments, while about nine long
yellow bristly hairs occur on each side along the hindmargin of the basal
segment. Genitalia with the shining black dorsal plate not very large
but with its end corners produced to moderately long points, while between
these points two broadly ovate blackish lamellae exist which extend out about
as far as the points, and two ventral plates arise from the sides of the base
and extend out below the dorsal plate and bear at their ends a pair of long
dentate claspers ; beneath are some long narrow brownish orange lamellae
and a considerable amount of long dull orange pubescence.

Legs, except the hind pair, mainly orange ; anterior pairs occasionally
almost brownish red with the knees paler, and in dark colored specimens
sometimes with blackish reflections about the tip of the femora, and the
underside of the middle femora may have a broad blackish streak on the
apical half ; tibia} dark brown at just the tip, and the tarsi dark brown
except on the base of the first joint and on the connecting necks between the
other joints ; hind legs shining black or brownish black, with the extreme
base and tip of the femora and the base of the tibiae narrowly orange ; tip of
the hind tibiae only moderately dilated ; basal joint of the hind tarsi
moderately dilated. Anterior coxae densely covered with greyish white dust
except on the shining black basal front part, and bearing on all the grey part
rather long hardly depressed greyish white pubescence • the small hind coxae
bear little dust and little pubescence ; all the femora with a few long thin
pale hairs beneath about the base ; front tibiae with one dorsal bristle near
the base, two or three thin postero-ventral, and three to five posterior ;
middle tibia} with the usual bristles, of which two anterior and two postero-
ventral are rather long ; hind femora with the usual bristles obvious about
the basal half, but with the greyish white furry pubescence beneath and
behind not so dense as usual and hardly so long or so dense as that on the
tibiae ; hind tibiae (besides the furry pubescence) with one rather strong
antero-dorsal bristle at two-thirds of the length and a smaller one at about
one-third, and with four or five small dorsal bristles of which however the
one close to the base is rather strong ; all the bristles on the legs are orange.

13. DIOCTRIA

741

Pulvilli orange; claws orange at the base but gradually becoming black
towards the tip.

Wings with a slight brownish grey tinge, but more brownish yellow about
the base and foremargin ; third posterior cell wider open than the second or
fourth, and the fourth usually rather narrowed. Squama} (alar) dirty yellow
with a thick yellow margin, but with the pale yellow marginal fringe very
thin on the alar end. Halteres clear yellow to brownish orange.

? . Very much like the male. Face a little broader.

Thorax more shining, because the short pale yellow pubescence is still
shorter and therefore conceals the ground colour less, but the grey stripes are
narrower and more sharply defined and consequently the oblique divergence
of their anterior part (when seen from in front) is more marked ; humeri and
postalar calli rather brownish.

Abdomen after the third segment a little wider, and the pale incisures a
little more pronounced, while inconspicuous lurid reddish markings may occur
about the sides of the second, third, and fourth segments.

Legs with very few long thin hairs about the base of the femora.

Length about 11-5 mm.

This species varies but little, except that the anterior legs may be
sometimes darker reddish than usual and then blackish reflections or
even stripes may occur on the femora. The prominence upon which the
antennte are placed is larger and more pubescent than in any species known
to me, while the orange anterior and black hind legs distinguish it very
easily from all other British species. I think it should not be confounded
with any European species except D. liturata Loew and D. mcridionalis
Bezzi (of which the latter is possibly only a southern race of D. rufipes),
but both of these have the anterior femora with some blackish markings.

D. rufipes is the commonest British species in the genus and I have
records from Devonshire to Inverness. It has occurred occasionally in my
garden here and also in the garden at Denmark Hill, London, when I lived
there. My dates range from May 16 to July 21. It is recorded from
nearly all Europe.

Synonymy. — Sylvicola cursor of Moses Harris in bis Expos. Brit. Ins., T. xlviii.,
f. 2 (1782) is almost certainly a synonym of D. rufipes. DeGeer’s name dates from
1782 (or possibly 1776), but there was an Asilus rufipes of Fabricius described in 1775
from America which is now known as Promcichus rufipes ; I leave both names
because there can be no possible confusion between the European Dioctria rufipes
DeG. and the North American Promachus rufipes Fabr.

5. D. Baumhaueri Meigen. Thorax with indistinctly shining lines.
Anterior femora black on the upper side, and hind legs mainly black.

A small dark legged species.

d. Black, moderately shining. Face covered with greyish white or pale golden
or even pale orange dust which leaves only a small middle space beneath
the antenna} shining black ; the face is only very slightly produced at just
the upper mouth-edge, where a single row of about ten long whitish bristly
hairs curving downwards forms the face-beard, but this face-beard does
not nearly extend outwards to the eyes; sides of the mouth shining black ;
chin-beard whitish, rather long, and extending on to the shimmering
whitish lower part of the back of the head, but soon after the middle of the
back of the head this shimmering part dies out and the pubescence grows
sparser, while about eight stronger brownish yellow hairs (hardly curved
forwards at their tips) form a postocular row, the absolute back of the head is
shining black and the whitish pubescence extends a little on the lower part,

742

ASILID^E

but on the upper part between the neck and the vertex are numerous long
stronger brownish yellow hairs ; frons shining black, wider than the face but
hardly widening on its upper part, deeply sunk and apparently bare ; ocellar
space very much elevated and bearing some very minute brownish yellow
bristles behind and above • antennal prominence broad but rather slight, and
bearing some short blackish bristly hairs on its sides ; collar shining black
and bearing an inconspicuous circlet of about eight longer thin pale yellow
hairs on the upper part, while behind these are some sparse shorter yellow
hairs, and much more numerous hairs on the sides, in addition to some whitish
longer hairs below on the prothorax. Proboscis shining black, with the bush of
hairs above near the tip long, rather dense, and obscurely whitish, while those
beneath near the base are few in number ; palpi shining black, hardly half as
long as the proboscis, and bearing on the end part numerous long porrected
brownish white bristly hairs. Antennae (fig 398) black, moderately dulled on
the two basal joints by brownish orange dust ; basal joint barely one and a
half times as long as the second joint, and bearing some short depressed
black bristles on its upper part and a few longer more erect ones beneath :
second joint more cup-shaped and with the bristles beneath shorter ; third
joint barely as long as the two basal joints together, and with only indications
of tiny dorsal bristles before the middle ; style almost as thick as the third
joint and more than a quarter its length.

Thorax mainly covered with brownish yellow tomentum and pubescence,
but with two rather narrow moderately shining black stripes down the disc,
which are separated by more than their own width, and which die out
considerably before the hindmargin, while broader blackish side lines begin
considerably before the suture and extend almost to the hindmargin, but
these side lines are less defined and bear a few short yellow hairs like those
on the dusted part of the disc ; the dorsopleural suture and the greater part
of the humeral plates are shining black (leaving the upper part rather dusted),
but the raised point at the back part of the humeri is shining chestnut.
Bristles ; one pnesutural and three' supra-alar, strong, distinct, and brownish
orange. Pleurae shining black, but the “ shimmer stripes ” and the coarse
tomentum cover the greater part of them ; the front shimmer stripe is glisten¬
ing pale yellow all along the top margin of the mesopleurae and broadly down
the front of that and of the sternopleurae, and apparently continues all
across the front coxae (where it bears rather abundant rather long whitish
pubescence) ; the stripe on the back part of the mesopleurae is narrow and
less conspicuous but becomes more conspicuous on the small patch just after
the lower hind corner of the mesopleurae and down the back part of the
sternopleurae ; metapleurae all dulled by brownish yellow dust, bearing on
their back part thin pale yellow pubescence and a fan of about four long
thin whitish bristly hairs ; hypopleurae all dulled by brownish yellow
tomentum ; the tomentum on most of the pleurae is very coarse (especially on
the front part) but scarcely amounts to pubescence (unless on the hind and
upper margins of the mesopleurae). Scutellum with but little dust though
with rather sparse short yellow hairs and consequently more shining black,
and with no distinct marginal fringe ; metanotum dulled by not dense
brownish orange dust.

Abdomen practically unicolorous black and shining though not brilliant,
but sometimes the extreme hind corners of the third and fourth segments are
indistinctly orange ; a very short sparse adherent yellow pubescence is scattered
all over except on a ring at the base of each of the second to fifth segments,
and the hindmargin of the basal segment bears at each side a row of about
five long whitish 1 >ristly hairs. Genitalia with the shining black dorsal plate
bearing sparse short yellow pubescence and with each lower end corner
produced into an almost pointed short projection, so that the pair of rather
thick ovate shining black lamellae between these projections extend out a
little farther and bear very short Avhite hairs ; side ventral plates long
and triangular, ending in a pair of shining brownish orange processes,
while beneath are some more long brownish orange lamellae and some long
not at all dense dull orange hairs.

Legs orange and black ; upper part of the anterior femora broadly black ;
apical third of the anterior tibiae indeterminately blackish and this colour

13. DIOCTRIA

743

extending vaguely upwards on the inner ( = front) side almost to the base:
anterior tarsi black or dark brown with, the necks of the joints orange and
with rather conspicuous orange bristles and pubescence ; hind legs black, but
orange on the trochanters, the base of the femora (more or less distinctly), the
apical third (or less) of the femora except on the upper side, and the extreme
base of the tibiai ; hind tarsi with the basal joint, and the hind tibim at
just the tip, considerably dilated. Anterior coxae densely cpvered with
pale greyish yellow tomentum and anteriorly with ‘long drooping
whitish yellow pubescence ; hind coxae with less dust, and with only slight
short pale pubescence about the tip ; anterior femora with a few long thin
pale hairs beneath near the base; front tibiae with about three widely
separated very thin long pale postero-ventral hairs, and with three stronger
also widely separated orange posterior bristles (and a small one near the base),
but with the usual dorsal bristles very small and inconspicuous ; middle tibiae
with the usual bristles, but the two postero-ventral (one at and one after the
middle) long, and the two antero-dorsal (one at one-third from the base and
the other at two-thirds) aviso long; hind femora with one strong though
rather short orange anterior bristle not far from the base which usually
stands out rather distinct from the others, and with a few long pale hairs
among the furry pubescence beneath ; the furry pubescence whitish and so
long that it is hardly of a furry nature, while that on the tibiae is more
brownish yellow ; hind tibiae with one orange antero-dorsal bristle at one-
third of its length and one at two-thirds, and about five dorsal bristles
almost equally separated (the last one being apical) ; the close short bristly
pubescence on the hind tibiae and above the hind tarsi is black, but all the
longer bristles on the legs are orange. Pulvilli dark orange ; claws dark
orange at the base.

Wings (fig. 400) slightly greyish, with usually the base and the costal and
upper basal cells tinged with brown which may also enclose the stem of the
postical vein; fourth posterior cell slightly narrowed at the tip. Alar
squamae dirty brownish yellow with a yellow margin, on the lower portion of
which is a very short whitish yellow fringe. Halteres varying from pale
yellow to canary yeiloAv, or even to a brownish orange stem and a brown knob.

?• Very similar to the male. Face-beard not quite so much in a single row;
the shimmering white postocular portion of the back of the head extending
further up but less defined.

Abdomen usually more distinctly reddish orange at the hind corners
of the third to sixth segments and narrowly along the hindmargins for a
short distance, though the two last segments usually have the hindmargins
narrowly orange all across, of which the preceding segments have traces.

Legs inclined to be paler, the black streak on the upper side of the
anterior femora being usually rather narrower and the under portion more
clearly orange ; middle tibiae sometimes hardly blackened anteriorly ; hind
femora rather more orange, a broad black ring occupying rather more than
their middle third and extending dorsally almost to the tip, while the basal
third is yellow rather than orange ; hind tibiae with nearly the basal third
indeterminately reddish orange ; minute pubescence on the hind tarsi pale.
Hind femora with two or three anterior bristles on the basal half.

Wings perhaps a shade more hyaline. Squamae clearer yellow.

Length ( d ) about 9 mm., or ( $ ) about 9 mm. to 1 1 mm.

This species varies considerably in the amount and intensity of the
blackish coloring of the legs, which is however never reduced to such a
small amount (even in immature specimens) as to render its distinction
from D. hycilipennis * at all difficult; the palest forms have the upper side
of the anterior femora streaked with black, and the hind femora broadly
black about the middle and on the upper side almost to the tip, while the
basal joint of the front tarsi has scarcely more than its narrow neck

* Lundbeck (Dipt. Danica, Part IT., 25) has proved that Meigen’s D. flavipes is a synonym of A.
hyalipennis of Fabricius, as had been pointed out by Loew sixty years previously.

744

ASILID.E

orange; on the other hand very dark legged forms occur, a male taken
by Colonel Yerbury at Torcross in Devonshire on August 9, 1903, being
rather large and long with the legs mainly black, only the trochanters
and just the base of the femora being orange, the apical sixth of the
underside of the anterior femora and the actual knee joints and the
extreme base of the tibiae dark reddish orange, the hind knees only
narrowly and obscurely reddish orange beneath, the hind trochanters
with only the joints reddish orange, and the extreme base of the hind
femora obscurely yellowish, while the wings in this specimen are more
strongly tinged with brown, the ha] teres are canary yellow, and the third
posterior cell of the wings is the widest open. The true B. hyalipennis (of
which B. Baumhaueri may be a western race) has the anterior femora
entirely pale orange (or with only a small dorsal streak near the tip) and
the basal half of the basal joint of the front tarsi orange, but has no known
structural distinction. Our B. linearis is easily distinguished by the
brightly shining black lines on the thorax, the yellower legs (especially on
the tarsi), and the tendency to orange markings on the abdomen.

B. Baumhaueri is fairly common in the southern half of England, as I
have numerous records from Cornwall (Penzance) to Suffolk (Newmarket
and Orford), Norfolk (West Eunton), Wiltshire (Savernake), Warwick¬
shire (Sutton Coldfield), probably Notts (Sherwood Forest), probably
Worcestershire (Wyre Forest), and Cheshire {t. B. Cooke). The specimens
taken in the south-west of England appear to have the blackest legs, and
I have already specially mentioned a male from Torcross in the extreme
south of Devonshire, while I had noticed this peculiarity in specimens
from Penzance, and Colonel Yerbury had done the same in some taken at
Christchurch ; some specimens however from Orford in Suffolk
are small and have the legs remarkably blackish. It is not very
uncommon in my garden at Newmarket and has even occurred on my
study window. My records extend from June 5 to August 9. Mr
G. C. Bignell once caught it preying upon the Ichneumon Phygadeuon
galaetinus. Out of England it is known to occur in Western Germany,
France, and Belgium, its place being taken over the rest of Europe from
middle-Scandinavia to Dalmatia and Hungary by B. hyalipennis ; other
more eastern records for B. Baumhaueri I somewhat distrust as I doubt
their correct identification ; Lundbeck however has found B. hyalipennis
only in Denmark, while van der Wulp recorded both species as common
in Holland.

Synonymy. — We are no nearer deciding upon the specific distinctness of D.
Baumhaueri from D. hyalipennis than we were when Loew wrote in 1847 ; he then
admitted that he could find no structural difference between the two, but that the
colour characters would always distinguish them, and as far as he could trace the two
forms never occurred together ; he stated that Zeller had taken 68 specimens of
D.jlavipes ( — hyalipennis) and not one D. Baumhaueri, while he himself took over
100 specimens near Posen and in Silesia amongst which there was not one D.
Baumhaueri ; on the other hand he received D. Baumhaueri commonly from Western
Germany without any D.jlavipes (= hyalipennis), and a long series from Winnertz
in Crefield (Prussia) were all D. Baumhaueri. Zetterstedt also recorded having
examined over a hundred Scandinavian specimens of D. jfavipes {= hyalipennis)
which were constant in the colour of the legs, and he apparently never saw D.
Baumhaueri, and it is in accordance with this distribution that all our specimens
in England are 1). Baumhaueri. As the two species or forms are common
and well known I have retained the name D. Baumhaueri for the British one,

13. DIOCTRI A

745

though any union of the two would necessitate the use of the older name D.
hyalipennis. A specimen from the Westwood collection which is now included in
the Hope Museum at Oxford is labelled “ lateralis/’ Sylvicola informis of Moses
Harris in Expos. Brit. Ins., T. xlviii., f. 3 (1782) is probably this species but the
figure and description make any identification far from certain.

6. D. linearis Meigen. Thorax black with brilliantly shining stripes.
Legs including coxae and tarsi mainly yellow.

The smallest and slenderest British species, easily known
by the diagnostic characters. (Fig. 369.)

d . Black, mainly brilliantly shining. Face all covered with dense silvery white
tomentum which may bear a trace of yellow on at least the upper part, but
with a shining black small middle patch (scarcely one-third the width of the
face) just under the antennae, though the tomentum when seen from below is
velvety brown ; face scarcely produced even at the upper mouth-edge but
with a gently rounded prominence on which is placed the face-beard, which
forms a clump of about twenty long rather drooping white bristly hairs ;
sides of the mouth shining black; chin-beard whitish, rather slight but
extending more conspicuously on to the lower part of the back of the head ;
back of the head almost flat but the lower half slightly puffed out in profile
and with a rather broad and conspicuous glistening white postocular space
which extends to rather above the middle and then ceases without narrow¬
ing to a point, and bearing on the upper half eight to ten pale yellow
postocular hairs which are neither strong nor bristly ; the back of the head
is shining black behind and above the shimmering white margin and bears
numerous fairly long brownish yellow hairs amongst which a pair of post¬
vertical hairs (hardly bristles) may be detected ; frons brilliantly shining
black, quite bare, deeply sunk as usual, and with the ocellar space highly
elevated and bearing minute pale pubescence behind and above; antennal
prominence narrow but fairly high and sharply defined and with very slight
pubescence on its sides ; collar brilliantly shining black with sparse erect
pale hairs on its sides. Proboscis shining black, with the usual dorsal pubes¬
cence near the tip brownish yellow but that beneath near the base very slight
and greyish white ; palpi black, very short, being only about a quarter the
length of the proboscis, and bearing towards the tip porrect greyish white
bristly hairs. Antennae rather long ; the two basal joints black but appear¬
ing dull and brownish from minute brown tomentum, and bearing very slight
brownish yellow or almost black bristly pubescence which is rather longer
and more obvious on the underside ; basal joint long and thin, about twice
as long as the second joint ; second joint but little cup-shaped ; third joint
hardly so long as the two basal ones together, dull brownish black, and
bearing a few small dorsal bristles before the middle ; style thick but com¬
paratively short, about a quarter the length of the third joint.

Thorax brilliantly shining black and impunctate except where densely
covered with brownish yellow tomentum and pubescence ; the middle stripe
brilliantly shining but divided by a narrow line of tomentum and dying out
at about two-thirds down the disc ; side stripes broad but less regular,
beginning broad in front close to the middle stripe but quickly diverging
and extending almost to the hindmargin though interrupted by a cross-band
of tomentum at about half-way between their front and the suture, becoming
rather contracted after the suture, and then bending outwards a little over
the dark chestnut postalar calli ; the brownish yellow tomentum is conspicu¬
ous on all the rest of the disc, and wherever that is present there is a rather
sparse short similarly colored pubescence. Bristles ; one praesutural distinct ;
one distinct supra-alar followed by two or three weaker ones, and the
pubescence from them to the postalar calli rather strong. Pleurae brilliantly
shining black and impunctate except on the “shimmer stripes”; front stripe
beginning rather narrow at the hind upper corner of the mesopleurae but
soon widening and extending down the front margin and becoming wide and

746

ASILIDiE

conspicuous all down the front margin of the sternopleurae, being rather
yellowish on its upper part but silvery white (in most lights) on its lower
part and especially on the sternopleurse ; the stripe down the hindmargin of
the mesopleurse is sharply defined though rather narrow, but widens out on
the space below ; back part of the liypopleurae covered with dense pale grey
tomentum ; metapleurae with rather dense but less conspicuous brownish
yellow tomentum and with some slight brownish yellow pubescence and an
indistinct fan of about four long pale yellow hairs ; pleurae without any
pubescence except that mentioned above, and a few slight hairs on the stripe
down the hindmargin of the mesopleurse ; prothoracic stigma brown but with
a bright chestnut raised point above its hind end. Scutellum dusted on the
disc but shining black about the margin, and with scarcely any definite pale
marginal pubescence ; metanotum dulled by yellowish grey tomentum.

Abdomen brightly shining black with reddish orange bands or side spots
about the ends of the third, fourth, and fifth segments ; the first marking is
mainly on each basal corner of the fourth segment but includes just the hind
corners of the third, and may extend as a band across the basal third of the
fourth segment and narrowly on the hindmargin of the third ; then the hind¬
margin of the fourth segment may be rather broadly i-eddish orange and the
base of the fifth quite as broadly or even more so at the sides, while the hind¬
margin of the fifth segment may be as broadly reddish, and the last three
hindmargins may be rather narrowly and inconspicuously orange, and the
genitalia have reddish orange markings and underside ; sometimes even the
basal corners of the second and third segments are obscurely reddish, while
sometimes the reddish orange markings may be reduced to orange spots at the
front corners of the fourth (and end of third) segment and not extended
dorsally, and less so at the next incisure but vaguely more on the hind¬
margin. Pubescence sparse and inconspicuous, but about five long pale
bristly hairs occur along each side of the hindmargin of the basal segment,
and a few thin pale hairs on the sides of the basal segment, and some sparse
pubescence down the sides which is longest on the hind halves of the second
and third segments, while the fifth to seventh segments bear some depressed
dorsal pubescence. Belly with the reddish orange bands and side spots large
and conspicuous. Genitalia with a brightly shining black dorsal plate
which bears some reddish markings (which may form a pair of rounded
spots) and has the extreme hindmargin reddish and also has its end corners
produced into dark reddish points, which are longer than the intermediate
pair of rounded pubescent brown lamellae • each lateral plate has a sub¬
quadrate shining black polished basal portion which extends onwards as a
large blunt triangular reddish orange clasper, and these claspers meet below ;
other lamellae are bright reddish orange, and the pubescence all about the
claspers is long and yellow.

Legs yellow ; posterior knees narrowly black ; anterior tarsi with the tip
of each joint usually brownish, and the last joint blackish except at its base,
and the soles of the darkened parts more obviously darkened ; hind femora
usually with a broad blackish band (or upper streak, the underside being
scarcely darkened) on more than the middle third, and even this leaving
sometimes an indefinite dorsal orange line, or in pale specimens the hind
femora may be only faintly brownish about the middle ; hind tibiae usually
only rather vaguely orange at the base and soon growing blackish until more
than the apical half is quite black, but sometimes in pale specimens the tip
only remains brownish ; hind tarsi usually blackish dorsally with the base
of each joint reddish orange, and with all the underside of the basal joint
orange and of the other joints only light brown ; just the tip of the hind
tibiae distinctly dilated, and the basal joint of the hind tarsi stout but not
conspicuously dilated ; anterior coxse glossed with silvery sheen (when seen
from in front), and the front pair bearing rather long drooping white
pubescence, of which there is a smaller amount on the middle coxae ; hind
coxae practically bare ; middle coxae blackened at the extreme base. Bristles
on the legs slight, being hardly more than strong hairs ; front tibiae with
four or five small inconspicuous dorsal hairs, three long thin postero-ventral
hairs, and three long bristly posterior hairs ; middle tibiae with two long
bristly hairs in front, four behind, and three postero-ventral ; hind tibiae with

13. DIOCTRI A

747

five rather small dorsal bristly hairs and two anterior (one at a third from
the base small, and the other at two-thirds much longer) ; hind femora with
one or two anterior bristles before the middle which are short but rather
strong ; several long thin hairs occur beneath the basal half of the middle
femora, and a few beneath the other femora ; the furry pubescence on the
hind femora and tibiae pale yellow. Pulvilli orange ; claws orange with just
the tip black.

Wings very slightly greyish or rarely brownish, but yellowish at the base
and on the subcostal vein. Alar squamae pale yellow with a slight pale
yellow marginal fringe. Halteres yellow.

$. Very much like the male. Head with the postocular silvery band extending
a little more upwards.

Thorax with the middle line of tomentum rather broader.

Abdomen varying in the amount of the orange markings, which are
frequently limited to triangular lateral spots, though sometimes the terminal
segments have broader orange hindmargins. Genitalia orange and orange
haired beneath.

Legs inclined to be less darkened, so that the hind femora and tibiae may
have only indistinct brownish markings and the tarsi be hardly darkened
dorsally, though sometimes the legs are as dark as in the male.

Wings sometimes a little brownish.

Length about 9-5 mm.

This species is not really closely allied to any other and can be readily
recognised if care be taken to observe the brilliantly shining thoracic
stripes and markings, and the yellow coxae and yellowish anterior tarsi.
It varies considerably in the amount of reddish orange markings on the
abdomen and slightly in the darkening of the hind legs and all the tarsi.

D. linearis is not at all uncommon in the New Forest, but otherwise I
have only seen it from several localities in Sussex and Kent, though I
have records from Somerset, Leicestershire (Market Bosworth), Hereford¬
shire, and Notts, and Mr C. Morley says it is not uncommon locally
in Suffolk, at Assington Thicks. My captures have all been made between
June 11 and July 11, though I believe I have seen specimens which
were taken in August. It is recorded from South Sweden through all
Central to South Europe.

Synonymy. — All the English references to D. flavipes may without doubt be
referred to D. linearis , as it is almost certain that the true D. hyalipennis
( = flavipes) does not occur so far west except in its (possible) form D. Baumhaneri.
Walker’s description of his D. flavipes also obviously applies only to D. linearis.
A few specimens of D. linearis occurred in Bigot’s collection mixed up with I),
flavipes , but other specimens under the name of D. linearis were correctly identified.

748

ASILIDfft

LEPTOGASTRIN^.

Marginal cell open. Claws remarkably elongate, but the pulvilli
absent. Alula and hind-angle of the wing absent.

Very elongate slender flies, which have the hind legs especi¬
ally long and the hind femora and tibiae more or less clavate.
Pubescence and bristles almost absent, there being only one
prsesutural and one # supra-alar bristle on the thorax.

The character of the open marginal cell distinguishes this subfamily
from all the other Asilidce except the Dasypogonince , but from them it has
not yet been sharply differentiated. No doubts can arise about our
British species, and I have dealt at some length with the distinctive
characters of the Leptogastrince in my remarks upon the characters of the
Dasypogonince on p. 705. The almost total absence of pubescence and
the extreme degradation of the alula and hind-angle of the wing seem to
point the way from the Asilidce to the Empiclce.

Face narrow near the antennae but widening downwards, bare except for a
mouth-beard composed of a few bristly hairs which overhang the mouth ; frons
narrow near the antennae but widening upwards. Palpi one-jointed. Antennae
(fig. 402) with the third joint narrowly elongate oval and with a long rather thick
terminal style , which is not so long as the third antennal joint.

Thorax almost bare of bristles except for one strong praesutural bristle and one
strong bristle which I believe represents the last of the supra-alar bristles,* though

* In a female L. guttiventris taken at Orford in Suffolk on July 10, 1908, two supra-alar bristles placed close
together occur on one side only.

14. LEPTOGASTER

749

from its position Osten Sacken called it an intra-alar bristle ; faint traces exist of
dorso-central bristles and of the metapleural fan.

Abdomen very elongate and very slender, almost without pubescence or bristles
except as usual along the sides of the liindmargin of the basal segment. Genitalia
of the male rather well developed • ovipositor ending bluntly.

Legs long and rather thin, the hind pair longest, and the hind femora and
tibiae more or less clavate. Pubescence absent, and any bristles very inconspicuous ;
there are however a few subapical bristles on the posterior femora and the usual
postero-ventral bristly hairs on the anterior tibiae, besides the usual terminal tibial
spurs and the usual circlet at the tip of each tarsal joint except the last. Claws
remarkably long (fig. 404) and not much curved ; pulvilli absent or minute, but the
empodium developed like a strong but shorter middle claw.

Wings with a venation distinguished by the long and narrow cubital fork-cell
and posterior cells, and by the almost parallel-sided open anal cell ; the shape of the
discal cell is also peculiar because the upper veinlet is emitted long before the end
of the cell, and consequently the second posterior cell is unusually long and pointed at
its base ; small cross-vein absent or present, even in different individuals of the same
species. Squamae small and bare.

The Lcptogastrince as now restricted bear a similar relationship to the
rest of the Asilidce as the Systropince do to the Bombylidce, but with more
numerous connecting forms. The two last characters given in the
diagnosis must be taken together in order to separate the subfamily from
the rest of the Dasypogonince, many of the latter having very elongate
claws and abortive pulvilli but at the same time the alula well (or fairly
well) developed, while others have the alula and hind-angle obsolete but
the claws and pulvilli normal. In cases of doubt the Lcptogastrince can
be further distinguished by the rather long antennal style, the limited
chsetotaxy (almost but not quite paralleled in Stcnobasis, etc.), and the
peculiarly pointed base of the long narrow second posterior cell.

Lcptogastcr is the only Palsearctic genus of this subfamily.

14. LEPTOGASTER.

Lcptogastcr Meigen, Illig. Mag., ii., 269 (1803).

Exceedingly lanky almost bare flies of moderate size and of
greyish yellow or blackish grey colour, with short wings and
very much elongated hind legs.

Head widely transverse, wider than the thorax ; face and frons narrow near the
antennae but the face considerably widening downwards and the frons upwards ; no
facial knob, but the front moutli-edge slightly produced and bearing a thin mouth-
beard ; chin and jowls almost bare ; lower part of the back of the
head with a thin postocular ciliation, but the upper part with a
row of strong postocular bristles ( = the festoon) ; frons triangular,
sunk between the eyes and practically bare, but with faint traces
of bristles on the orbits ; ocelli on a bare elevated knob ; collar
short and bare. Proboscis fairly long, extending out horizontally ;
palpi short and thin, one-jointed. Eyes curved on the inner margin
so that they become rather approximate near the antennaj. An-
tennm (fig. 402) closely approximate at the base, not so long 40., _Ie lo asler
(without the style) as the head ; two basal joints almost equally c^iindrica <$!' x
short, and bearing minute bristles ; third joint elongate, long-oval
but tapering almost to a point, twice- as long as the two basal joints together,
compressed laterally, and bearing a moderately thick (i.e., too thick to be aristiform)

750

ASILTD.E

Fig. 403. — Leptogaster cylinclrica 3 . x 14.

terminal style which is half as long as the third antennal joint and may bear a
minute hair-like terminal bristle.

Thorax (fig. 403) somewhat globular and almost bare, there being only two strong

bristles present of which one is praesutural and
the other supra-alar though the latter one is
placed so far out on the disc as to appear to
be intra-alar ; some minute easily overlooked
bristles however occur which indicate other
Asilid bristles, as sometimes a thin one exists
on the postalar calli and two rows of very
minute dorso-central bristles can be traced after
the suture, while some minute pale hairs occur
near the prsesutural bristle; pleurae covered
with dense tomentum which develops into fine
short pubescence on the front part of the
mesopleurse and on the upper front corner of
the sternopleurse ; metapleurse with very faint
minute hairs which indicate the usual tuft or
fan. Scutellum small, bearing minute marginal
pubescence ; metanotum small, concealed beneath the scutellum.

Abdomen very long and thin, rather dangling downwards, slightly widened at
the end in the male, bearing very minute pubescence but with a ciliation (almost
bristly) along the sides of the hindmargin of the basal segment ; basal segment short,
second very long and with the spiracular dots far from the base (about one-third
down the segment), next five segments long, but the eighth segment very short.
Genitalia of the male rather knobbed and complex, those of the female truncate
or at any rate short.

Legs long and thin (especially the hind pair), the hind femora distinctly,
and the hind tibiae somewhat, clavate ; the
legs are almost unarmed, but the the femora
have some subapical bristles, the anterior
tibiae have about four postero-ventral incon¬
spicuous bristly hairs, the hind tibiae have
three or four irregular inconspicuous bristles
about the middle, and all the tibiae have
long thin spurs ; tarsi with strong bristles
about the tip of each of the four basal
joints and Avitli numerous plantar bristles. Pulvilli absent, but the claAvs remark¬
ably long and gently curved, with the empodium showing betAveen them as a strong
sharp bristle (fig. 404).

Wings small, much shorter than the abdomen ; marginal cell Avide open ; cubital
fork long and rather narroAv ; second posterior cell unusually long as it commences
in a point considerably before the end of the discal cell, and in consequence the
upper margin of the discal cell is divided into three (often nearly equal) spaces ; all
five posterior cells widely open ; anal cell long and rather narrow, almost parallel¬
sided but slightly narroAvest soon after the postical fork so that it ends rather Avidely
open ; discal cell emitting the usual three simple veinlets (fig. 406), or apparently
four (fig. 405) Avhen the small cross-vein is absent ; hind angle of the Aving com¬
pletely sloped aAvay, and the alulae practically absent, though the Avings have a
long fringe where the latter should be ; wing-membrane slightly rippled all over.
Alar squamae small and without fringes ; thoracal pair practically absent. Halteres
Avith an unusually long stem.

Fig. 404. — Leptogaster cylindrica $ .

front tarsus.) x 45.

(Right

This genus is easily distinguished from any other Palrearctic one by
the elongate slender form combined with the remarkably long claws and
abortive pulvilli.

Leptogaster is a genus of about seventy species from all parts of the
world except perhaps New Zealand, and of these about sixteen occur in
Europe ; the distinctive characters of some of the species are not well
defined. According to specimens in Bigot’s collection L. fuscipennis Gay
from Chili has nothing to do with the genus, as they have the pulvilli

14. LEPTOGASTER

751

fully developed and the fourth posterior and anal cells closed. The
metamorphoses are only imperfectly known, but the larva of L. cylindrica
has been found in field earth.

The flies usually occur in dry meadows, where they rest on grass
stems. They are slow and laborious flyers.

Synonymy. — Leptogaster was established by Meigen in 1 803 upon quite adequate
characters ; Gonypes of Latreille appeared a year later in Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat.,

xxiv., 191.

Table of Species.

1 (2) Hind femora with longitudinal dark stripes. Abdomen with an

entire dark dorsal stripe. Small cross-vein absent.

1 cylindrica.

2 (1) Hind femora with a subapical dark band. Abdomen with incon¬

spicuous pale bands. Small cross-vein almost always present.

2 guttiventris.

1. L. cylindrica DeGeer. Abdomen with an entire dark dorsal stripe
and with no bands paler than the ground colour. Hind femora with
dark stripes ; hind tibise with the apical third black. Upper branch of
the fork of the postical vein forming a part of the lower margin of the
discal cell, and consequently no small cross-vein present. (Fig. 405.)

A remarkably slender fly, which is very distinct from all
other British species except the next one.

3 . Face (including the sides of the mouth) densely covered with yellow or pale
yellow tomentum ; face-beard yellowish white, small but not so small as in
L. guttiventris, composed of about thirty hairs ; frons yellowish grey ; back
of the head (especially towards the sides and below) ashy greyish yellow,
and bearing a little yellowish pubescence on the lower third, while higher up
a postocular row of stout brownish yellow bristles ( = the festoon) extends on
to the interocular depression and almost meets the row on the opposite side, and
some shorter thin pale hairs occur between and in front of these bristles on the
upper quarter of the eyes. Proboscis shining black ; palpi obvious, black, and
bearing four or five tiny whitish bristles. Eyes with the front facets enlarged
and green in life, but the small hind and lower facets more bronzy green.
Antennae brownish black ■ second joint orange or ferruginous, and both the
basal joints bearing bristles ; third joint long and narrowly oval with a fairly
long point ; style thick but not pubescent, not quite so long as the third joint.

Thorax brownish ashy grey, though when viewed from behind the back
part and the scutellum are lighter ashy grey ; the usual three stripes are darker
brown, and the middle one is sometimes split by a paler line ; the side stripes
are shortened anteriorly, and all three stripes are pointed posteriorly and end
well before the hindmargin ; praesutural bristle sometimes black and some¬
times yellowish.

Abdomen lanky (but not so much as in L. guttiventris ), ashy grey with
(when seen from above) a narrow clear darker brown uninterrupted dorsal
stripe, or (when seen from behind) with a broader less regular and less defined
dorsal stripe ; pubescence inconspicuous, short greyish white, most distinct
about the sides and especially (being longer) beneath the eighth and the
neighboring part of the seventh segments. Belly unicolorous yellowish
ashy grey, with a very short soft pale pubescence. Genitalia forming a
moderate knob ; lateral lamellae shining black, long, and bearing obvious pale
yellow pubescence, each with an indistinct short basal segment and produced

752

AS I LI M

at its end into a long prong which curves round and finally ends in a strong
overlapping rather upturned hook ; the inner margin of this incurved part is
fringed with long pale yellow hairs ; beneath are two shorter but broad basal
plates, between which is a broad shining dark chestnut rounded middle piece
which curves up between the lateral lamellae and bears slight pale pubescence ;
above at the base is a polished black bare basal plate immediately after the
eighth abdominal segment followed by two contiguous ei’ect oblong smaller
lamellae which are chestnut behind but darker in front and which bear fairly
dense whitish or brownish yellow pubescence ; penis reddish brown.

Legs dirty brownish yellow ; coxae grey, front pair bearing a few thin
pale hairs at the tip in front ; hind femora with a more or less distinct
longitudinal darkened streak on the apical half, both in front and behind
while a similar but lighter brown antero-dorsal streak usually occurs on the
middle femora, and sometimes a still less distinct streak on the front femora •
anterior femora with a black spot in front at the extreme tip, and the hind
femora with a similar spot in front and behind ; anterior tibiae black at the
tip, and the middle tibiae usually blackish all down the underside, while the
hind tibiae have two blackish streaks which run together and make the apical
third all black ; tarsi usually all black after the tip of the basal joint, but in
pale specimens the base of the second or even third joint is yellowish ;
anterior tibiae with two or three slight postero-ventral bristles ; hind tibiae
with two slight pale antero-ventral bristles, and one small anterior and one
small dorsal one just below the middle ; apical circlets of all tibiae mainly
consisting of a few rather long pale bristles on the underside ; posterior
femora with some inconspicuous yellow subapical bristles.

Wings (fig. 405) proportionately short (sometimes very short), hyaline or
with a slight greyish tinge but ochreous about the extreme base ; cubital fork
of moderate length but varying slightly, rather more than half the length of
the first submarginal cell, and with its stem usually less than half the length of
the fork and usually considerably longer than the stem of the second posterior
cell though not always so especially in small specimens ; fourth posterior cell

Fig. 405. — Leptogastir cylindrica 4. X 13.

very little widened to the wingmargin ; discal cross-vein placed a little
beyond the basal third of the discal cell ; small cross-vein absent, and conse¬
quently the upper branch of the postical fork forming part of the lower
margin of the discal cell for a short distance ; anal cell well open and in fact
narrowest at about half-way between the base of the postical fork and the
wingmargin. Squamae (alar) small, and without any fringes ; thoracal pair
little more than a pale yellow stripe. Halteres with very long brownish
yellow stalks and a rather darker knob.

$ . Extremely like the male. Ovipositor (when viewed laterally) appearing to
form a blunt and short truncate last abdominal segment, about half the
length of the previous segment; abdomen not at all knobbed at the end but
slightly compressed so that a dorsal ridge is visible.

Length 9 mm. to 13 mm.

This species varies in the length of the wings, and in the extent and
intensity of the dark markings on the legs, but may usually be distin¬
guished from L. gutliventris by the absence of the small cross-vein, by the

14. LEPTOG ASTER

753

stripe-like dark markings on the hind femora, by the black tips to all and
especially the hind tibiae, and by the entire dark dorsal stripe on the
abdomen being uninterrupted by paler bands. A rather small male
(Wicken, June 21, 1906) has the face gilded or rather dark orange but
greyish silvery white below the face-beard ; face- beard composed of about
twenty white hairs; frons brown; postocular bristles yellowish to their
very tips, very obvious and long though rather wide apart, and the bristles
lower down the back of the head about as long but thinner and whiter.

L. cylindrica is not uncommon in Britain, but owing to its being usually
confounded with L. guttiventris the only records I can give with certainty
are from Devon, Somerset, Dorset, and thence to Kent, and up to Cam¬
bridgeshire (Wicken), Norfolk, Bucks (Stokenchurch), and Notts (South
Leverton), but it occurs in numerous localities over all that area, while
I have also seen it from Glamorgan (Porthcawl); I have notes of its
occurrence in Worcestershire (Wyre Forest), Leicestershire (Blaby),
Herefordshire (West Hide), and Cheshire (Delamere Forest), but I cannot
be certain whether those specimens belong to this or the next species.
I am also in doubt as to its period of occurrence, but can speak of it
with certainty from June 5 to August 10, while I have a doubtful record
of August 24. It may often be found on long grass near woods. It is
recorded from Western and Northern Europe and extends to Eastern
Siberia.

2. L. guttiventris Zetterstedt. Abdomen with inconspicuous pale
bands. Hind femora with an incomplete dark subapical band; hind
tibiae with a vague dark ring before the tip. Upper branch of the fork
of the postical vein almost always connected with the cliscal cell by the
small cross-vein. (Fig. 401.)

Very closely resembling the previous species but even more
lanky.

d . Very much like L. cylindrica. Face narrower and whiter, and the sides of
the mouth whiter ; face-beard very small, composed of about eight white
hairs ; frons darker ashy grey, hardly orange ; postocular bristles less evident
and more hair-like, but the two or three top ones rather stout and inclined
to be black. Antennae with the style microscopically pubescent.

Thorax of a more brownish yellow tint, with the dark stripes more distinct
and the middle one more obviously split on the front part; humeri and
postalar calli rather ferruginous ; hind part of the disc bearing minute dark
bristles which are by no means confined to the dorso-central rows.

Abdomen longer and thinner, with an obscure pale band before the hind-
margin of each segment, and these bands becoming rather ferruginous on
the second, third, and fourth segments ; the actual sidemargins rather
ferruginous near tne hind corners of the segments, though more noticeably
so on the basal segments than on the others ; the darkened dorsal stripe
indistinct and interrupted by the paler bands, and becoming vague and widened
out just before each band. Genitalia smaller, the lateral lamellae having a
small almost quadrate shining orange basal segment, followed by a longer
simple falcate second segment which is dark orange at its base but soon
becomes black and bears under its basal half a long pale fringe ; hooks inter¬
crossing ; beneath are two lateral basal subquadrate shining pale chestnut
lamella} and a triangular intermediate one ; the upright small lamellae near
. the base on the upper side are oblong, shining brown, and bear pale
pubescence.

3 B

754

ASILIDvE

Legs with an obscure dark band before the tip of the hind femora (in
contrast with the darkened streak of L. cylindrical ; anterior tibiae hardly
darkened at the tip ( vide var. of female), and hind tibiae with a broad vague
dark ring (especially on the underside) after the middle which leaves the tip
not much darkened ; tarsi more distinctly pale on the base of the second,
third, and fourth joints.

Wings (fig. 406) with the small cross-vein present in all the British

Fig. 406. — Leptogaster guttiventris 3- x 10.

specimens I have seen, though it is sometimes absent in continental specimens ;
cubital fork usually rather longer than in L. cylindrica.

9 . Abdomen with the pale bands less obvious than in the male and not at all
ferruginous, so that there appears to be simply a rather dark band across
each segment just after its middle ; abdomen not at all compressed about the
tip and the last segment not truncate.

Legs with the tarsi having little more than the tips of the four basal joints
and the whole of the last joint dark. A female taken at Nethy Bridge on
June 24, 1905, has the anterior femora rather darkened anteriorly and about
the tip, the hind femora almost blackish anteriorly and with an unusually
deep black ring a little before the tip and with the extreme tip black, the
anterior tibiae with a dark stripe anteriorly down the whole length, the hind
tibiae black with the base yellowish white and the tip brownish yeilow, the
tarsi with only the basal joint except its tip whitish yellow and just the base
of the second joint orange.

Length 9 mm. to 13 mm.

This species has been contrasted with its close ally, L. cylindrica, but
there are other allied species in South and Central Europe. A female taken
at Orford on July 10, 1908, has two supra-alar bristles on one side of the
thorax placed so close together that they are obviously abnormal.

L. guttiventris has been overlooked as a British species, because of its
great similarity to L. cylindrica, but may be not uncommon. I caught a
female at St Mary Cray in Kent as long ago as June 19, 1869, and have
since met with it at Barton Mills and near Orford in Suffolk, while Colonel
Yerbury has taken it in the New Forest (Kingwood, Brockenhurst, and
Lyndhurst) and in Scotland at Golspie and Nethy Bridge; Mr C. J.
Wainwright has taken it at Selsley in Gloucestershire, and Dr J. H. Wood
at The Dowards in Herefordshire, but in all these cases it was not dis¬
tinguished from L. cylindrica at the time of capture. My records extend
from June 6 to Aiumst 14 or even a little later. It is recorded from

O

North and Central Europe.

SPECIES IN HORTO MEO

755

SPECIES IN HORTO MEO.

My garden has been considerably enlarged since the publication of
the volume on British S yrphidce and now includes about five acres of
garden and meadow and also a small artificial pond, while “ the banks ”
have been mainly removed. The species marked * have occurred on my
study window.

1 Sargus cuprarius. Not uncommon on shrubs.

2 S. nubeculosus. Of occasional occurrence.

3 Chloromyia formosa. Not uncommon.

*4 Microchrysa polita. Common.

5 M. flavicornis. At one time common in a very limited area.

6 Beris chalybeata. Very uncommon, but I have a record of a male on

June 3, 1895.

7 Chrysops relicta. A female was caught on July 9, 1904, on a leaf of a

bulrush (Ti/pha) in the pond. Fortunately Tabanidce do not seem to like
the close neighborhood of towns.

8 Bombylius discolor. Some years ago this was not uncommon in the

early spring, but I have not seen one for many years.

9 B. major. Less common than it used to be, but still almost certain to occur

on a suitable spring day.

*10 Thereva nobilitata. Occasionally occurring on leaves in bright sunshine.

11 T. plebeia. Also occasionally occurring, and apparently not uncommon in
Cambridgeshire.

*12 Scenopinus fenestralis. Occasionally occurring on windows, and on one
occasion on Asparagus.

13 Dioctria rufipes. Not uncommon on leaves, ready to pounce on any
victim.

*14 D. Baumhaueri. Stray specimens occur in most summers, and a specimen
was taken on my study window as long ago as July 20, 1885.

15 Asilus crabroniformis. I can hardly claim this fine species as a true
inhabitant of my garden , though it was not uncommon about 1880 within
thirty yards of my house on what soon became part of my lawn but was
then a cow-pastured paddock. I had not seen it for at least twenty-five
years, but this year (1908) a specimen was again seen after a strong gale.

I can therefore claim only about ten per cent, of the British species
included in this volume, or if the garden-loving Sargince be omitted only
about seven per cent.

756

REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES

REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES.

STR ATI0MYID.3I! .

1 Nemotelus brevirostris Meig. All British writers since the clays of Stephens have

included this species as British, but -without any attempt to test its identi¬
fication. All the specimens I have seen so named belong to A7, notatus Zett.,
which is a fairly common British species.

2 Oxycera leonina Panz. Curtis in 1833 (Brit. Ent., 441) gave the following record :

“A female taken at Pinny by Mr Morris,” and J. C. Dale in 1842 (Ann. Mag.
Nat. Hist., viii., 432) wrote “I have a pair , both from Charmouth ; the $ I
“ took.” There is however no specimen in the collection bequeathed to the
Oxford Museum by C. W. Dale, and it is impossible to know now what
species Curtis and Dale had before them. 0. leonina may well occur in
England as it is not uncommon in the Netherlands ; it is rather near 0.
terminata but has some yellow markings about the sides of the thorax and at
the base of the abdomen, and has the femora mainly black.

3 0. muscaria Fabr. Meigen unfortunately stated that his 0. pygmcea was a

synonym of 0. muscaria, and consequently our British authors like many
others recorded 0. muscaria when they meant to record 0. pygmcea. The
true 0. muscaria Fabr. was described from Italy and is probably the same as
0. flavipes Loew, which is known from Dalmatia and Italy. Duncan’s 0.
muscaria must have been 0. formosa, as was also probably Walker’s in his
List Dipt. Brit. Mus., i., 527 (but not in his Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 22), and these
errors were also caused by Meigen ’s incorrect synonymy. The true 0. muscaria
Fabr. is unlikely to occur in Britain.

4 0. Fallenii Staeg. Recorded by Walker in 1851 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 21) as “Rare.

“ In Mr Haliday’s collection. (I.).” Through the kindness of Mr G. H.
Carpenter I have seen this specimen, and it is a true 0. Fallenii , but from
its general appearance and its pin I am strongly of opinion that it was a
continental specimen sent to Haliday by Loew, especially as the latter wTas
at that time writing about this and the allied species. It is also improbable
that Haliday would have left such a specimen without any record of locality
and date. 0. Fallenii is a possible British species, but is more likely to
occur in the Scotch Highlands than in Ireland.

5 Odontomyia microl eon L. Walker in 1851 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 17) said “Rare.

“ In Mr E. Brown’s collection. (E.).” The collection of Edwin Brown (whom I
remember meeting at an Entomological Club meeting in London) was
acquired by Dr P. B. Mason, and consequently the specimen mentioned
by Brunetti was undoubtedly the same. 0. microleon probably occurs in
Britain, but I do not consider its claims strong enough to include it at present.

6 0. hydrodromia Meig. Walker in 1851 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 18) said “Rare. In

“ Mr Stephens’ collection. (E.).” I have seen the (probably) original specimen
referred to by Walker, and consider it to be only 0. viridula, var. subvittata.
The true 0. hydrodromia of Meigen has never been recorded since its
description, and its habitat is unknown, but it is a perfectly distinct species
which may not even be European.

STRATIOMYIM

757

7 O.felina Panz. Included by Stephens in his Catalogue in 1829, as having been

taken to his knowledge Avitliin twenty-five miles of St Paul’s. Duncan in
1837 (Mag. Zool. Bot., i., 153) described it and said “ Has been found in several
“ parts of the country, but appears to be uncommon. ‘Cardew Mire,’ T. C.
“ Heysham, Esq.” ; his description might Avell apply to the true O.felina , and
I have seen a female of true 0. felina from the Dublin Museum which is
reputed to be British and was part of Haliday’s collection and so labelled by
him, but it is on a foreign pin and probably came from LoeAv at the same
time as Oxycera Fallenii. It is not at all improbable that the true O.felina
may be found in Britain, and possibly even be not uncommon. Some
specimens named O.felina in the old collection of the British Museum are
only 0. viridida but include one 0. angulata.

8 0. hydrolean L. Stephens included this species in his Catalogue (1829) because

the older British entomologists had recorded it, and he marked it as having
occurred to his knoA\dedge within twenty-five miles of St Paul’s, but in bis
synonymy he identified the female as Str. angulata Panz. and the male as
Str. hydroleon Panz. Duncan in 1837 (Mag. Zool. Bot., i., 153) said “Not so
“ plentiful as the following (0. viridida ), but occurring iioav and then on
“ banks and in meadows. ‘ Cardew Mire,’ C. T. Heysham , Esq.” “ In ponds,
“ Holy wood” : Killarney, etc. “A. II. Holiday , Esq.” ; Duncan’s species Avas
probably neither 0. angulata nor O. felina and certainly not a variety of 0.
viridida, and therefore may have been the true 0. hydroleon. Walker in
1851 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 19) said “Very rare. In the British Museum. (E.).”
A female in the British Museum labelled “ Berkshire, J. C. Dale ” may belong
to this species, but has the basal abdominal spots small and the band-like
black markings on the second and third segments caused by triangular side-
spots which slope back almost to the sides and has smaller spots on the
fourth segment Avhich have the inner points cut oft ; in other words the black
base of the third and fourth segment Avidens out though not quite to the
sides and is not much band-like.

9 0. hydropota Meig. This species Avas recorded by Stephens in 1829 (Syst. Cat.

Brit. Ins., ii., 277) as having been taken to his knowledge within twenty-five
miles of St Paul’s ; Duncan also included it in 1837, but his description
almost certainly refers to 0. angulata. Walker in 1851 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 18)
said “ Rare. In the British Museum. (E.),” but his description might apply to
O.felina. Brunetti in 1889 (Entom., xxii., 131) said “among some specimens
“ from his collection kindly lent me by Mr C. Dale for examination, I found
“ a specimen undoubtedly of this species. I have it from France and
“ Bohemia, it being rather common on the Continent.” I have included these
last words in my quotation because they make me doubtful as to what
species Brunetti had before him, 0. hydropota being very little knoAvn on the
Continent, and I could not recognise any such specimen in the Dale collection
at Oxford. The British Museum specimens under the labels of 0. hydropota
and O.felina are 0. angulata.

10 0. connexa Walk. Walker in Ins. Brit. Dipt., vol. i., 17 (1851) said “Aery rare,
“ in Mr Stephens’ collection. (E.) ” but in vol. iii., xi., he added “ probably not
“ European.” I have seen the specimen and made the folloAving notes upon
it : 0. connexa $ . Basal joint of the antennae three times as long as the
second, obscurely reddish ; third joint not twice as long as the basal one ;
head yellow including a broad collar, frons AArith a large black ocellar spot
which is diamond shaped but has the points rounded, and Avith a pair of
conspicuous sloping black spots near the middle which just reach the eyes ;

758

REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES

face under tlie antennae black almost to the sides and the black colour slightly-
projecting down towards the mouth at the middle, and each side of the mouth
with a tiny black spot; thorax with the sides broadly yellow all round,
including the postalar calli and the broad margin of the scutellum ; abdominal
side-spots small but connected triangles, and the tip with a narrow pale equal
cross-band ; legs black, but yellow on the tip of the femora, on the basal half
of the anterior tibiae and basal third of the hind tibiae, and on the basal joint
of all the tarsi except its tip ; cubital vein not forked, and the anterior veins
dark brown. It is probably a North American species, which seems to be
closely allied to 0. occipitalis Johnson from Pennsylvania and Virginia.

11 Stratiomys riparia Meig. Duncan (1837) said “Once taken near Duddingston ;

“ likewise found in the vicinity of London, and in other parts of England.”
Walker (1851) said “Rare. In Mr Saunders’s collection. (E.).” I believe that
both Duncan and Walker referred to specimens which belong to a common
variety of S. furcata, and moreover I am of opinion that Meigen’s species
is only the same, as nobody in recent times seems to have clearly distin¬
guished it.

12 Actina nitens Latr. Walker in his List Dipt. Brit. Mus., i., 126 (1848) recorded

this species from England, giving Stratiomys similis Forst. as a synonym, but
in the same List, v., 14 (1854) he gave Actina similis Forster as a good species
(possibly intended to include A. nitens , as he omitted that species altogether)
and added “ It is mentioned as British erroneously in the first ‘ Catalogue of
“ Diptera’ ; ” this is absurd because Forster’s S. similis was described from a
British specimen, but it has not been clearly made out what species Forster
intended, and the absence of A. nitens from Britain makes it almost certain
that Forster had some other species before him (possibly B. geniculata).

LEPTIDJE.

13 Leptis inutilis Walk. Originally described by Walker in his List Dipt. Brit.

Mus., i., 213 (1848) as Rhagio inutilis “England. From Mr Walker’s
“ collection.” Both sexes were described, but it has remained unrecognisable
ever since. Walker again described it in rather different words in his Ins.
Brit. Dipt., i., 67 (1851) as “Rare. In the British Museum,” but close search
has been unsuccessfully made for the specimens. I am unable to give any
suggestion about it as its small size seems to prevent its being a very pale
variety of L. tringaria.

14 L. strigosa Meig. If this be a good species it is distinguished from L. scolopacea

by being very much paler, but most of the British specimens which I have seen
under this name were only small dark specimens of L. scolopacea similar to
those I have noticed in my description ; a specimen in the old collection of
the British Museum is however only L. tringaria. Walker’s description (Ins.
Brit. Dipt., i., 66) probably referred to small dark specimens of L. scolopacea,
but in List Dipt. Brit. Mus., i., 210 he gave Sylvicola derelictus Harris as a
synonym probably because Stephens had done so in 1829 ; S. derelictus Harris
must however be a synonym of L. tringaria. Vice recorded L. strigosa
(Scottish Naturalist, vii., 11) in 1883 as having occurred at Strathnaver in
Sutherland.

15 L. vitripennis Meig. Walker in his List Dipt. Brit. Mus., i., 211 (1848) gave

“ England ” as a locality for this species, but I have never seen a British

LEPTIDJE

759

specimen. I have a note that this was supposed to be the Leptis gracilis of
Curtis’ Guide, Ed. ii., 243, but Curtis himself stated that his Leptis gracilis
was the same as Leptis diadema ( = Chrysopilus aureus).

16 Z. conspicua Meig. I included this species in my List of British Diptera (1888)

upon a wrongly identified specimen of L. tringaria, and the Rev. W. J.
Wingate recorded it as common at Hesleden in Durham, but his specimens
were L. nigriventris Lw. It was reputed as long ago as Curtis’ Guide (Ed. ii.),
243 (1837), but the true L. conspicua is very distinct from anything that I
have seen in British collections. A specimen labelled conspicua in the old
collection at the British Museum is Z. tringaria var. vanellus.

17 Z. immacidata Meig. Stephens recorded this in 1829 (Syst. Cat., ii., 270) as

having occurred near London, and gave reconditus Harris (Expos. Brit. Ins.,
101, t. 31, f. 3) as a synonym, but I consider S. reconditus Harris to represent
the var. vanellus of Z. tringaria , and Curtis in Brit. Ent., 705 (1838) had
already come to that conclusion. A specimen labelled immacidata in the old
collection in the British Museum is only Z. tringaria with yellow stripes on
the thorax. There may have been some confusion among the older authors
between this species and Symphoromyia immacidata Meig.

18 Chrysopilus helvolus Meig. Stephens in Syst. Cat., ii., 269 (1829) gave Leptis

helveola as having occurred near London. Curtis in Brit. Ent., 713 (1838)
said “June, Hampstead Heath: males beginning of August, ditches,
“ Sandwich,” but I think he quoted from Donovan. All the British specimens
that I have seen under this name are only C. cristatus Fabr.

19 C.flaveolus Meig. was recorded as British by Stephens and Curtis at the same

time as the preceding species, and Curtis said “End of May, Nettle Abbey ;
“ end of June in woods, Dorset ; and the females in marshes at Horning,” but
I think he again quoted from Donovan. Specimens so labelled in the old
collection of the British Museum are all C. cristatus Fabr.

20 C. auratus Fabr. The common British species has always up to the present

time been believed to be true C. auratus , but is in my opinion a distinct
species which I have described as C. cristatus Fabr. It is not at all unlikely
that the true C. auratus may also occur in Britain but I have never seen
any satisfactory British specimens.

21 C. atratus Fabr. Until recent times this species has also been considered to be

only a synonym of C. auratus , and as such has been recorded in our British
Lists. The true C. atratus Fabr. is now believed to be an allied but distinct
South European species, which is probably the same as C. siculus Lw.

22 Symjihoromyia melcena Meig. was included in Stephens’ Catalogue (p. 270, 1829)

as having occurred near London, and Walker in 1836 (Entom. Mag., iii., 180)
said “ May, in woods near London. The male probably belongs to the genus
“ Spania , Meigen. The disposition of the nervures of the wings varies very
“much.” In 1851 Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 71) said “Rare (E.S.).” I
think it probable that Walker’s record in 1836 referred to Ptiolina obscura ,
but his record of 1851 to Symphoromyia immacidata. I have never seen an
undoubted British specimen, but there was a record in The Naturalist of April
1880 by Benjamin Cooke of a specimen taken at Whaley Bridge in Cheshire,
which however I have but little doubt referred to Ptiolina obscura. The
Pt. melcena of the Entomological Club was represented by Ptiolina obscura.
Nevertheless I think S. melcena is likely to occur in Britain.

760

REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES

TABANIDJE.

23 Thei'ioplectes tarandinus L. Included in Stephens’ Catalogue and Curtis’ Guide,

but Duncan in Mag. Zool. Bot., i., p. 365 (1837) said “It has been long
“included in our British Catalogues, but we have never seen any particular
“ locality cited for it. It is most likely to occur in the North of Scotland.”
Seventy years have elapsed and there has not been the slightest confirmation
of its occurrence in Britain.

24 T. aterrimus Meig. Probably only recorded under its synonym of T. signatus

Meig., and then through a mistaken idea that T. signatus was a synonym of
T. micans Meig. Walker’s T. signatus Wdm. (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 39) probably
referred to T. tropicus L. var bisignatus Jaenn.

25 T. borealis Meig. I have dealt with this at some length under T. montanus

Meig. (p. 366).

26 Atylotus anthracinus Meig. is a species limited to South Europe and North

Africa, and consequently Walker’s T. anthracinus (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 37)
must refer to some other species ; he said “ Rare. In the collection of the
“ Entomological Club (E.),” but I have been unable to trace any such
specimen ; I cannot distinguish Walker’s description from specimens of
T. autumnalis.

27 A. gigas Herbst. The synonym, T. albipes Fabr., was included in Curtis’ Guide,

Ed. ii., 243.

28 A. nemoralis Meig. is a South European and North African species, which was

included in Curtis’ Guide, Ed. ii., 243.

29 A. vittatus Fabr. is also confined to the same district as the preceding species,

but Duncan in Mag. Zool. Bot., i., 364 (1837) said that Mr Babington stated
that he had found a specimen in Monkswood, Hunts, on June 17, 1828.
Duncan’s description (as I believe was often the case) appears to be a hashed
up translation of Meigen’s. It was also included by Captain Blomer in a list
of insects captured at Bridgend, Glamorganshire, in 1832 (Ent. Mag., i., 317).

30 Tabanus grcecus Fabr. This species was included in Curtis’ Guide, Ed. ii., 243,

but subsequently omitted as British until I reintroduced it on insufficient
grounds in 1886 (Entom. Mon. Mag., xxii., 200).

BOMBYLIDiE.

31 Phthiria fulva Latr. was recorded as British by Westwood in his Introduction

to the Modern Classification of Insects in a foot-note on p. 131 of his Generic
Synopsis. I know nothing about it. Walker tried to recognise Olivier’s
M. gibbosa under our P. pulicaria, but subsequent writers have failed unless
Meigen revived Olivier’s name for Geron gibbosus, which may account for his
suppressing his own older name of hybridus.

32 Systcechus ctenopterus Mikan. This species was included in Stephens’ Catalogue

(1829), and Curtis in British Entomology, 613 (1836) said “July Dover,
“ Devon Mr J. Cocks, and near Perth ” ; as however he quoted his description
from Meigen in inverted commas it may be presumed that he did not
personally know the species ; his first locality is elaborated elsewhere into
“Dover, July 1826 Mr Ingpen.” Walker’s B. ctenopterus (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i.,

BOMBYLIM

7G1

82) is almost certainly B. canescens, as lie omitted that comparatively common
British species, and said “black hairs ... on each side of the epistoma.”
The other records probably also refer to B. canescens or possibly to B. minor ,
as I have noted in the synonymical note on p. 505.

33 S. sulphur eus Mikan has only got into the British list through Loew’s (Neue

Beitrage, ii., 37) mistake in believing that Walker’s B. ctenopterm was a true
Systoechus , and instead of being S. ctenopterm was the allied species S.
sulphureus.

34 Anastcechus nitidulus Fabr. was included in Curtis’ Guide (Ed. ii.), 244, but as he

himself admitted (Brit. Ent., 613) under a mistake.

35 Bombylim pictus Panz. Recorded by Stephens and Curtis, and repeated by

Duncan (Mag. Zool. Bot., ii. 208) in 1838 on the authority of Stephens.

36 B. medius L. Naturally recorded by all old authors in mistake for B. discolor.

It differs from B. discolor in having no black pubescence about the end of the
abdomen, and is a possible British species.

37 B. venosus Mikan. Walker in his List of Diptera, i., 284 (1849) included this as

a synonym of B. minor ; it is however much more closely allied to B.
canescens and (as it is common in Germany) may occur in Britain. Stephens
recorded it doubtfully in his Catalogue (1829).

38 B. cruciatus Fabr. Stephens and Curtis included as British B. posticus Fabr.

which is a synonym of B. cruciatus Fabr., in mistake probably for B. posticus
Meig. which is a synonym of B. fugax Wied. B. cruciatus is a very distinct
South European species.

39 B. fugax Wied. Stephens and Curtis included B. posticus Fabr. as British as

mentioned under the previous species, but undoubtedly in mistake for B.
posticus Meig. which is a synonym of B. fugax Wied. I myself reintroduced
it as British from a specimen in the late Dr P. B. Mason’s collection, but I am
now inclined to believe that that specimen was only a very large B. canescens,
as at that time I had no knowledge to what size B. canescens could extend.
The specimen was acquired by Dr Mason from Mr Benjamin Cooke, and was
probably taken by him in Lancashire. B. fugax is not an unlikely species
to occur in Britain.

40 B. cinerascens Mikan. Stephens,' Curtis, and Duncan all gave this species as

British, but probably in mistake for B. canescens. I have however called
attention to a possible British specimen in my synonymical note under
B. minor (p. 505).

41 Ploas virescens Fabr. Included by Stephens, and Duncan said (Mag. Zool. Lot.,

ii., 212, 1838) “Specimens in the British Museum are said to have occurred in
“ this country.”

42 Lomatia Belzebid Fabr. Included by Stephens and Curtis ; M alker (Ins. Brit.

Dipt., i., 79) said “Very rare ; has been found near Bristol ? (E.).”

43 L. lateralis Meig. Also included by Stephens and Curtis ; W alker (l.c.) said

“Very rare in Britain; has been found near Bristol? In the British
“Museum,” and a specimen exists in the British Museum which bears a label
“ Swansea ”(h Colonel Yerbury). A specimen exists in C. AY . Dales collection
at Oxford which is noted “ Millard, Bristol,” and in Dale’s note-book is added
“Devon? Dr “Leach? in Brit. Mus.” These persistent references are

762

REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES

interesting because the sancl-hills on the Welsh or Somerset coasts (where
Pamponerus germanicus still survives) are possible localities for a Lomatia.
I have noted under Anthrax circumdatus that a specimen of that species
stood in the Hope Museum at Oxford under the label of Anthrax Belzebub.

44 Exoprosopa Jacchus Fabr. Walker said (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 78), “Very rare. In

“ the British Museum (E.),” and included Pandora Fb., Megcera Hms., italiea
Rsi., and picta Wdm. as synonyms, but E. italiea Meig. is a distinct species
and has a variety Megcera Meig.

45 E. Pandora Fabr. Stephens and Curtis included this species in their Catalogues.

and Stephens subsequently figured it (Illustrations of British Entomology,
Suppl. 27, T. xlvi., fig. 4, 1846) and said “ Taken near Dover, in July.” Walker
included it in Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 77 (1851) as a synonym of E. Jacchus. In
1869 (Entomologist, iv., 215) Newman again introduced “ Anthrax Pandora, a
“ new British Dipteron of the Family Anthracidce ,” and stated that the
Entomological Club cabinet contained some specimens from the south-west
of England which had been standing under the name of Anthrax fenestratus.
In Dale’s note-book (now in the Hope Museum at Oxford) a reference is
given to “ Dr Cocks, Devon.”

46 Argyramceba anthrax Schrank. Some of the very ancient British authors such

as Stewart and Turton recorded Anthrax morio Fabr. as British, Fabricius’
species being a synonym of A. anthrax Schrank.

47 A. binotata Meig. I include this species because I possess a specimen from the

late W. W. Saunders’ collection, which was said to have been captured at
Barmouth, but I conclude that a similar mistake has occurred about this
specimen as with Saropogon jugulum Lw. (No. 76).

48 Anthrax morio L. Anthrax semiatra Meig. which is a synonym of A. morio

L. was recorded by the very ancient British authors, and Newman re¬
introduced it in 1869 (Entom., iv., 215) as new to Britain on the strength of
a pair “ pierced with English pins ” which had been presented to the
Entomological Club collection. Newman added that full descriptions would
appear in the “ Year-Book,” but I have not collated that work.

49 A. maurus L. It is probable that Linne’s description of this species included

A. fenestratus, and Haliday (Stett. ent. Zeit., xii., 138) recorded that the
specimen in Linne’s collection belonged to that species. It is therefore
only natural that some of the old English writers should have recorded
A. maurus as British. Newman however in 1869 (Entom., iv., 215) deliberately
introduced A. bifasciata Meig. (which is a synonym of the true A. maurus)
upon the strength of a specimen (apparently without history) in the
Entomological Club collection.

50 A. hottentottus L. Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 78) recorded this species as

“ Rare. (E.I.) ” ; there is however no doubt that his species was the compara¬
tively common A. Paniscus (even though he gave A. circumdata as a synonym).
Several eai’lier English authors recorded A. hottentotta as British, but
probably always in mistake for A. Paniscus, though I still think that a large
clear-winged Anthrax occurs in Britain.

51 A. flavus Meig. Bezzi has sunk this as a synonym of A. hottentottus L., but

until definite descriptions have been given of the species belonging to this
group it may be well to keep records separate. A. flava was recorded by
Stephens in his Catalogue, and Curtis in 1824 (Brit. Ent., 9) described it as
British, but almost certainly in mistake for A. circumdatus as at any rate
Curtis’s species had a banded abdomen.

TH EREV I DiE — SCEN O PI NIDJE

763

52 A. venustus Meig. is a distinct species from South-west Europe, which Walker

gave as a synonym of A. hottentotta (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., i., 260).

53 A. fasciatus Meig. is a little known South European species which was also

included under the synonyms of the supposed British A. hottentotta by
Walker (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., 260). It was also included by Stephens
amongst his synonyms of A. circumdata.

54 A. Ahbadon Fabr. Sainouelle (I., 3, 1833, according to Stephens) included this

species as British under the name of A. Abaddon , and Walker included its
synonym, A. concinna Meig., under his synonyms of the supposed British
A. hottentotta (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., 260).

55 A. leueostoma Meig. This is also a South European species which was included

by Walker (List. Dipt. Brit. Mus., 260) under his synonyms of A. hottentotta.

THEREVIDiE.

56 Thereva flavilabris Meig. This species, which has not been clearly recognised

since its description, was recorded as British in Stephens’ Catalogue. Seven
specimens under this name in the old collection of the British Museum are
females of T. nobilitata , and along with them is one female of T. plebeia.

57 T. taeniata Meig. This is now considered to be a variety of T. arcuata Lw.,

but was recorded in Stephens’ Catalogue and was represented in his collec¬
tion in the British Museum by females of T. plebeia L. Walker also recorded
it as British (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., p. 221).

58 T. funebris Meig. is another unrecognised species which from its name might

be T. ursina Wahlb. (T. circumscripta Lw.) ; Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 75)
recorded it as “ Bare. In Mr Stephens’s collection,” and his description except
for “ brown femora” might apply to almost any species of Thereva in which
the male has yellowish pubescence.

59 T. albipennis Meig. is another unrecognised species which was included in

Stephens’ Catalogue. Meigen’s species may be the same as T. didyma Lw.,
but Zetterstedt’s T. albipennis is more likely to be a synonym of T. margimda
Meig., a not improbable British species.

60 T. cincta Meig. This is now believed to be a synonym of T. nobilitata Fabr.,

and Walker’s description (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 75, T. ii., fig. 11) probably applies
to that species. In the old collection at the British Museum T. cincta is
represented by a number of males of T. nobilitata intermixed with some
specimens of T. plebeia. In the Entomological Club collection the specimens
under T. cincta are all T. plebeia, but the T. plebeia of that collection is
mainly represented by males of T. nobilitata with I believe one or two males of
T. circumscripta intermixed. In Dale’s collection I think the specimens under
T. cincta are four females of T. nobilitata and two of T. plebeia.

61 T. fuscipennis Meig. This species was recorded by Benjamin Cooke in 1878

(Entom. Mo. Mag., xv., 19) in mistake for Psilocephala ardea Fabr. If my
knowledge of T. fuscipennis be correct, it is a Psilocephala in which the
female is very much like P. ardea but with the veins on the base and fore
part of the wing conspicuously blacker, and of which the male is quite
distinct.

SCENOPINID.E.

62 Scenopinus glabrifrons Meig. This species was erroneously introduced by me,

as explained on page 600.

764

REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES

ASILIDiE.

63 Antipalus varipes Meig. This species was included by Stephens in his Catalogue

as having been taken by himself within twenty-five miles of London, but
he was in doubt whether he had correctly identified it; he also gave as a
synonym As. macidosus Harr. Ex. 64, pi. xvii., F. 6, but my interpretation of
Harris' species is that it is almost certainly Epitriptus cingvlatus ; on
the other hand the specimens under the name of A. varies in Stephens’
collection in the British Museum are two immature Machimus atricapillus.
In the Entomological Club collection A. varipes is represented by Neoitamus
cyanurus. Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 56) described A. varipes and said “Not
rare (E.).” In C. W. Dale’s collection A. varipes was represented by three
normal specimens of Dysmachus trigonus , one very immature specimen, and
one Epitriptus cingvlatus.

64 Dysmachvs cristatus Meig. Stephens doubtfully included this species as having

occurred near London, and Horn that time onwards it has been considered
to be British; Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 50) said “Not rare (E.).” There
is not the slightest doubt that all British records refer to the common
Dysmachus trigonus Meig. The true D. cristatus is at present only known
from Spain.

65 D. forcipatus L. The old British authors all included this as British, and I

have endeavoured to find out what species was intended by Stephens and
Walker. Stephens gave it as one of the species occurring within twenty-five
miles of St Paul’s and as having been taken by himself, but the specimens
in his collection appear to have been Eutolmus rufibarbis ; he also included
as a synonym “ds. tipvloides Harr.,” but Harris’ species must be quite distinct
because of the colour of the legs and was very probably Neoitamus cyanurus.
It is not improbable that the form of Asilus forcipatus mentioned by Linne
in Syst. Nat., Ed. x., p. 606, when he said “ Varietas major Tibiis ferrugineis ”
may be N. cyanurus. Linne’s A. forcipatus itself was described as having
“ Pedes nigri,” and is now commonly believed to be Dysmachus pinpes Meig.,
which is a probable though at present unidentified British species. Walker
in saying (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 52) “Generally distributed. (E.I.)” probably
also referred to E. rufibarbis , which seems to have been a commoner insect
in Britain in Stephens’ time. I cannot help believing that the A. forcipatus
recorded by B. Cooke (Naturalist, v., 134) as “ common on the Cheshire coast”
must refer to P. albiceps.

66 D. forcipula Zell. Walker doubtfully included this in his synonyms of the

supposed British D. forcipatus L. (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 52). The name is now
sunk as a synonym of D. picipes Meig.

67 D. bifurcus Loew. Walker in 1849 (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., 468) recorded this

as British, but made no reference to it in 1851. He gave as doubtful
synonyms A. picipes Meig. and A. varius Gurtl.

68 Machimus annulipes Brulle. Under the name of A. basalis Lw. (a synonym of

M. annulipes ) Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 51) described a species concerning
which he said “Very rare. In Mr Stephens’ collection.” I have some note
which associates this species of Walker’s with Eutolmus sinuatus Lw. ;
and another note referring to Stephens’ specimen in the British Museum
which intimates that it was a very small female of Machimus rusticus, but
some details taken do not agree with that species. These details are :

Face-beard not crowded, black above and orange below ; face whitish
yellow, hardly wider at the mouth than at the antennae ; festoon apparently

ASILID.E

765

all yellow. Thoracic stripes blackish brown and all rather coalescing ; all
the short pubescence very short, but the bristles long and very distinct ; four
very distinct black dorso-central bristles after the suture, but all the others
very distinctly yellow except two strong black praesutural ; scutellum with
two not stout long obscure yellow bristles. Abdominal incisures almost as
in P. albiceps ; ovipositor very much compressed. Basal half of the tibia?
or all the anterior tibia? obscurely reddish ; basal joint of the front tarsi almost
brown ; front femora with no pubescence, but with about four rather small
yellow spines beneath on the basal half ; all tibial and tarsal bristles whitish,
except one long anterior and one long posterior on the hind tarsal joints, and
also the bristles towards the upper side on the front tarsi, and two antero-
ventral spurs on the front tibia?.

G9 M. colubrinus Meig. A . fimbriatus Meig. is now somewhat doubtfully considered
to be a synonym of this, but some species has been recorded as British under
that name. Walker (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 52) described it and said “Bare. In
“ the collection of the Entomological Club. (E.).” I am informed that this
specimen cannot now be found, but the exponents in the British Museum
collection are a male and a female of E. rufibarbis and two females of
P. albiceps. Vice in 1883 (Scottish Naturalist, vii., 11) recorded A. fimbriatus
as occurring near Montrose. M. colubrinus is a South European species.

70 Paritamus geniculatus Meig. Walker (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., i., 468, 1849)

recorded this species from England, but two years later made no reference to
it in his Ins. Brit. Dipt. It is a very probable British species.

71 Andrenosoma atrurn L. The old English authors, Stewart and Turton, seem to

have considered this species to have been British.

72 Laphria gibbosa L. Same as the previous species.

73 L. gilva L. Same as the previous species.

74 Isopogon hottentottus Fabr. Pascoe in the Proceedings of the Entomological

Society of London, 1880, iii., recorded this as British, but I can only suppose
that he possessed a specimen of the pale-haired form of /. brevirostris.

75 Selidopogon diadema Fabr. This fine species has often been recorded as British,

and with such circumstantial details as to make it probable that it has
occurred on our western coasts, but I have never seen an undoubted British
specimen. Mr B. C. Bradley told me that he once saw but failed to
catch a large blackish Asilid at Barmouth. I believe it was first recorded
by Samouelle under the synonym of D. punctatus Fabr. ; then Curtis (Brit.
Ent., 153, 1827) recorded it and said “Specimens of this fine insect have been
“ taken I believe near Bristol, in sandy situations in June and July, and are
“ in the cabinets of the British Museum and Mr Stephens.” Two years later
Stephens included it in his Catalogue as having merely been seen by him
and in 1846 (Illustr. Brit. Entom. Suppl., 25) he figured and described it,
and said “Found, but very rarely, in June, near Swansea, in Glamorganshire.”
Walker in 1849 (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., 302) noted an English specimen as
being in the British Museum, and in 1S51 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 57) said “Very
“rare; has been found near Bristol. In the British Museum. (E.). "

76 Saropogon j ugulum Lw. I possess a pair of this species from the late W. W.

Saunders’ collection, which were said to have been caught at Barmouth.
I have however but little doubt that they came from Greece, as the species
is only known to occur there and in Asia Minor and North Africa.

766

REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES

77 Dioctria fuscipes Macq. Walker (misled by Loew) included this as a synonym

of D . fuscipennis Fall., which is a synonym of D. atricapilla Meig., but it is
now known to be a distinct common Sicilian species.

78 D. gagates Meig. Walker (List Dipt. Brit. Mus., 300) recorded an English

specimen of this species as being in the British Museum, while D. semihyalina
Meig., which is a synonym, was recorded by Stephens (Syst. Cat. Brit. Ins.,
ii., 259) as having been taken by himself within twenty-five miles of London,
but from his associating it with only D. atricapilla in a proposed new generic
division it is almost certain that he had only the female of that species. D.
gagates is an exclusively Portuguese species.

79 D.flavipes Meig. All British authors have included this as a somewhat common

British species, but always in mistake for D. linearis Fabr. The true
D. Jlavipes Meig. ( = hyalipennis Fabr.) may be only a form of D.
Bawnhaueri Meig. as has been noted under that species, but does not seem
to extend so far west as England.

80 D. bicincta Meig. is a Central and South European species of which D. annulata

Meig. is a synonym. Stephens (Syst. Cat. Brit. Ins., ii., 259) recorded
D. annulata ? as having been taken by himself within twenty-five miles of
London, but his species was probably D. linearis Fabr.

81 D. lateralis Meig. Stephens included this species in his Catalogue as having

been taken by himself within twenty-five miles of London, and gave Sy.
informis Harr., Ex. 159, pi. xlviii., F. 3, as a synonym. I have very little
doubt but that Harris’ and Stephens’ species was D. Bawnhaueri. Walker
in 1854 (List. Dipt. Brit. Mus., v., 385) noted two specimens in the British
Museum from Stephens’ collection. A specimen of D. Baumhaueri in the
Hope Museum at Oxford which came from Westwood’s collection bears a
label u lateralis.”

82 Leptogaster fusca Meig. Stephens included this species in his Catalogue as

having been seen by him. I think it is very possible that L. fusca Meig.
may be distinct from L. cylindrica DeG., but Stephens was probably in error
in identifying it as British.

83 L. pumila Macq. This is a possible synonym of the previous species, but was

recorded by Stephens (Entomologist, i., 201) as having been taken by him at
Harrietsham in Kent in 1840.

EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES

767

EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES
INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME.

Not many species have been positively identified as common to the two
continents, but several are so closely allied that subsequent examination
of good series of specimens may prove some of them to be synonyms.

1 Pachygaster orbitalis Wahlbg. From Aldrich's remarks (Cat. N.-Amer.

Dipt., 192) it seems extremely probable that Loew had this species before
him when describing the female of his P. pulclier from Columbia.

2 Nemotelus nigrinus Fall. Yan der Wulp stated (Tijdschr. Ent., x., 127) that

he had seen this species from Wisconsin, but Melander considered that he
had mistaken X. unicolor Loew for it. It is however most probable that
X. unicolor and even X. niger Bigot from Chili are synonyms of one very
widely spread species.

3 Sargus cuprarius L. This species is recorded as not rare in Canada and the

United States. It is a very possible colonist from Europe.

4 S. nubeculosus Zett. The record (Johnson, Ent. News, vii., 94) of this species

from New Jersey must be doubtful until the specific distinctness of
Zetterstedt’s species is assured. Melander (Canad. Ent., xxxvi., 19) has
stated that all North American specimens under this name are only
S. cuprarius.

5 S. viridis Say. This species is common in North America, and is possibly

the same as a single male which was stated to have been taken at Cassel, and
which was described by Loew in 1855 under the name of S. frontalis ; some
mistake may have occurred as Loew’s species has not been again recorded
from Europe. Myiochrysa ccerulea Bigot is a synonym of S. viriclis.

6 Microclirysa polita L. Apparently common at Quebec and Montreal. In

all probability another colonist from Europe.

7 Beris Morrisii Dale. Recorded by van der Wulp (Tijdschr. Ent., xxiv., 153) as

having occurred at Quebec.

8 Xylomyia varia Meig. is very closely allied to X. pallipes Loew.

9 Xylophagus ater Fabr. According to a female in Bigot’s collection (labelled

“Washington”) X. reflectens Walk, is very closely allied though not quite
conspecific, and a supposed male of the same species is still more distinct
through the frons being more grey on even the front part and the wings very
much more clouded.

10 X. cinctus DeG. A female in Bigot’s collection under the name of X. abdomin-

cdis Loew appears to be this species.

1 1 Ccenomyia ferruginea Latr. Say’s C. pallida from the Atlantic States, and

Sicus crucis Fabr. from the West Indies, are now accepted as synonyms of the
European species.

12 Atherix Ibis Fabr. According to Walker the American A. variegata is very

closely allied.

13 Haematopota crassicornis Wahlbg. The very characters used by Osten

Sacken to distinguish his II. americana from II. pluvialis tend to prove that
the American species must be almost or quite identical with II. crassicornis.

14 Tabanus distinguendus Verr. More study is still required to differentiate

this from T. affinis Kirby, which occurs from Canada northwards.

768

EUROPEAN AND NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES

15 T. bromius L. Van der Wulp recorded this species from North America, but

Osten Sacken did not notice it and Aldrich has not included it in his
Catalogue.

16 T. flavipes Wied. is an Arctic species occurring in Eastern Siberia and North

America.

17 Chrysops nigripes Zett. is another Arctic species recorded from North

Europe and from Sitka or Alaska.

18 C. sepulcralis Fabr. Kirby doubtfully recorded this species as North

American in Faun. Bor. Amer. Ins., 314, but Osten Sacken considered the
identification very uncertain.

19 Anastoechus nitidulus Fabr. has a very wide range through South Europe,

Siberia, and Japan, and is believed to be the same as A. barbatus O. Sack,
which occurs widely in the United States.

20 Bombylius major L. This species certainly occurs in California and Japan,

and is now considered indistinguishable from B.fratellus Wied. which occurs
generally over the United States.

21 Ploas macroglossa Duf. A number of specimens in Bigot’s collection under

this name may include more than one species, but I am unable to distinguish
them from the single type specimen of P. mauritanica Bigot, or from the
single specimen which I believe to be the original type of P. pictipermis Macq.
from Carolina.

22 Exoprosopa capucina Fabr. This common European species is now believed

to be identical with E. dorcadion O. Sack, from the Western States, and
possibly with E. California ? Walk. It was at one time suspected of being the
same as E. sima O. Sack, from Nevada, but Aldrich in his Catalogue (1905)
has retained that as a distinct species.

23 Argyramceba varia Fabr. Coquillett has recorded this species from

California.

24 Anthrax morio L. This well known European species is now considered the

the same as A. morioides Say and probably the same as Ilemipenthes
seminigra Lw.

25 A. Paniscus Rossi and A. hottentottus L. belong to a group of very closely

allied species, and some of the American forms seem to be indistinguishable
from some European forms, at any rate from existing descriptions.
A. molitor Loew is said to differ from A. flavus only in having yellow
hairs round the margin of the scutellum, but unfortunately A. flavus Meig.
still remains insufficiently described.

26 Scenopinus fenestralis L. This species is apparently common in North

America, and was described by Say under the name of S. pcdlipes.

27 S. glabrifrons Meig. Loew in Sillim. Journ. N. Ser., xxxvii., identified this

species from South-west Europe and from North America.

28 Pamponerus germanicus L. This species has not been recorded from

North America, but there were several specimens (3 (J 3 $ ) in Bigot’s
collection to which a label of “Am. boreal. ” was attached.

29 Laphria gilva L. This well known European species has been recorded from

Canada and Colorado.

30 L. flavescens Macq. is an unrecognised species allied to L. flava of which

Macquart professed to recognise two male specimens, one from Carolina and
the other from the Pyrenees. The types are probably in the Paris Museum
and the species must remain undetermined until they are examined.

ADDENDA

ET

CORRIGENDA

Page Line

12. . 36. The discal cross-vein is placed near the middle of the discal cell in Spania

(fig. 208).

37. Fig. 64 for “ Nielson ” read “ Nielsen.”

70. Last. Pachygaster atra occurred at Bridgend in Glamorgan on August 6, 1908.

79. P. Leachii was not uncommon near Orford in Suffolk about July 11, 1908.

82.

101.

107.

111.

118.

119.

135.

163.

166.

2. An examination of Meigen’s original genus Clitellaria proves it to have
been an absolute synonym of Ephippium, and consequently the name
A doxomyia should be adopted for the genus indicated here.

Ovycera tenuicornis synonymy. Villeneuve has just (December 1908)
imagined that he had found a new genus and species, Vanoyia scutellala,
in this fairly well-known fly, which was described from France by his
own compatriot (Macquart) more than seventy years ago.

O.vycera pulcliella. A male which was taken by Colonel Yerbury at
Bridgend in Glamorgan on August 8, 1908, had the eyes in life dark
blue-green on the upper two-thirds but bronze-green on the lower third,
with a dark purple intermediate band.

O. trilineata. A male which was taken by Colonel Yerbury at Dartford in
Kent had the eyes in life bright blue-green on the upper facets but
yellowish green on the lower facets, with an orange intermediate band.

Nemotelvs pantherinus. I have a record from Tarrington as early as
May 13.

34. The words “ large white spot ” scarcely apply to the female.

Odontomyia liyrina. The eyes of the male range from this description to
reddish coppery with an indigo-blue band which is margined with
yellowish green.

Last 2. It is possible that the larvae of Sargus are carnivorous and feed on the
larvae of other insects which occur in any rotting matter.

An examination of a large number of specimens of the “ Sargus flavipes
group which were taken by Colonel Yerbury in Glamorgan about the end
of August, 1908, has not tended to clear up the species ; some of the large
males answer to my idea of S. rufipes, but all the large females show at
least a tendency towards a dark splash on the front femora, while the
small males (and perhaps one female) come under my 5. niticlus, the
medium sized specimens being true S. flavipes ; the natural conclusion is
that S. rufipes and 6'. nitidus (mihi) are only forms of the widely spread and

3 c

769

770 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA

Page Line

192.

202.

247. 25.

258. 48.
266.

286.

316.

331, 1
340. J

347.

variable species, £. flavipes, and it is very probable that this is the true
solution of the difficulty. S. nitidus of Meigen is (according to the
supposed type at Paris) only a small specimen of S. irulatus. In August,
1908, I closely studied the Scandinavian type collections and saw
S. nigripes and S. minimus of Zetterstedt, and found that I had misinter¬
preted those species, N. nigripes being a member of the S. flavipes group
and in my opinion identical with my S. nitidus (nec Meigen), while S.
minimus may represent a composite species of which the Smol female and
the Wadstena male may be immature specimens of S. nubeculosus while
the Wadstena female may belong to another species, none of the speci¬
mens appearing to be identical with my S. minimus. The Scandinavian
representatives of S. rufipes mainly agreed exactly with the females as
understood by me and I still think that Wahlberg did not know the
male of his species ; other female specimens of S. rufipes occurred under
labels of S. flavipes , or at least under “ vars ” of that species. S. nitidus
Zett. belonged to a form near my interpretation, but is nearer the male
of S. flavipes than that of S. nigripes. Fallen recognised the true male
of S. flavipes but probably mixed up S. rufipes with it. My S. minimus
(nec Zett.) still remains an unsatisfactory species.

Microchrysa polita was taken by Colonel Yerbury at Margam in Glamorgan
on August 24, 1908.

Berts vallata occurred at Ringwood as early as May 28.

Omit the first “ was.”

The fourth figure should be 8.

Leptis scolopacea. Colonel Yerbury caught this species at Port Talbot in
Glamorgan on August 4, 1908.

Fig. 189 should have been a reproduction of fig. 171 on page 242.

Ptiolina atra. Mr James J. F. X. King has informed me that he and Mr
Malloch took several specimens of this species on May 30, 1908, at
Bonhill.

Hcematopota crassicornis occurs on the East coast, a female having been
taken near Butley in Suffolk on June 28, 1908, at which time 11. italica
could not be found.

11. Bigoti. Two females were caught by Mr J. E. Collin amongst reeds in

the Butley River near Chillesford Decoy in Suffolk
on July 12, 1908, at a time when H. pluvialis was
not uncommon, while I believe a female taken
by Colonel Yerbury at Walton on-Naze on June
11, 1908, and a female at Dartford in Kent on
July 19, 1908, belong to this species. The eyes
appear to have the bands different from the
other species ; I give a figure (fig. 407) from one
Fig- 4°7- of the females taken on July 12, 1908, and the

following description has been drawn up from the other female taken
on that day :

Eyes with any pubescence hardly visible ; in life with four narrow
yellowish green bands (the uppermost one greenest, while the others are
nearly yellow) and five blackish purple bands which are broader than the
yellowish green bands ; the middle band broad and continuous though
narrowed to a rather narrow neck at the middle, but ending very broad
against both front and hind margins of the eye. All the bands (both
light and dark) run out entire to the hindmargin (but the upper and
lower green ones barely so), but the second and fourth dark bands widen

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA

771

Page Line

there a little while the third slightly contracts but so that it extends
broadly from the hindmargin to the middle of the eyes before the
contracted neck, though the middle of this space may have a faint
reddish dot (at the place where the band is almost interrupted in fig.
407) ; the two middle pale bands are very narrow (and even the other two
rather narrow) at their front ends ; the apical dark space is rather
tridentate on its lower margin. Specimens of II. plurialis taken in a
wood or on fairly dry ground close by on the same day all had the
middle band well interrupted as in fig. 223, and had the pale bands wider
than the dark bands. One of these specimens of II. Bigoti has the basal
antennal joint dull reddish. The whitish spot on the thorax immediately
after the suture is more conspicuous in II. Bigoti than in the other
species.

360. Therioplectes tropicus. A large number (38) of female specimens of a

Therioplecles which were taken by Colonel Yerbury at Crymlyn Bog in
Glamorgan on July 24, 1908, do not agree at all well with the specimens
I have described, but are I believe more truly representative of the
species as known on the continent They are smaller and less squarely
built than my original specimens ; all have a tuft of long black hairs at
the back of the vertex (whereby they are undoubtedly distinct from
T. montanus ), and have the frons with rather long black hairs as in
T. tropicus, with the exception of one specimen which has shorter and
more numerous yellow hairs ( ? black hairs abraded) ; the palpi have a
dirty yellow ground colour as in T. tropicus ; they are nearly allied to the
species I have described as T. solstitialis but are less red orange. If
these specimens are true T. tropicus it seems impossible that T.
bisignatus can be a variety, but the absence of undoubted males renders
it very difficult to limit the species. When these specimens occurred in
abundance one specimen of T. distinguendus also occurred but was
easily distinguished.

366. T. montanus. Amidst the swarms of biting flies observed by Colonel

Yerbury at Crymlyn Bog on July 24, 1908, were three females of this
species, and a note was made that the eyes were “ blue-green with three
“ dark orange bands, middle one at lower level of lower callus, upper at
“ lower level of upper callus, and third band just above antennae.”

384.

403.

431.

436. 8.

Atglotus fulvus. One female (with another one seen) occurred at Crymlyn
Bog on July 24, 1908.

Tabanus autumnalis occurred at Walton on Naze as early as June 6, 1908.

Chrysops quadrata was common at Crymlyn Bog on July 24, 1908, in
company with C. ccecutiens and many other Tabanidce.

C. melanopleura Wahlb. is in my opinion a good species. I have examined
Wahlberg’s original specimens.

453.

Fig. C. read Pterodontia. The “ Fig.” seven lines from the bottom is 260.

460.

Acrocera globulus. Colonel Yerbury caught a female at Dartford in Kent
on July 5, 1908, and Mr Donisthorpe took it in Sherwood Forest.

f 3 from ) r
536' l bottom./'''

Belzebul instead of L. Belzebub.

539. 6. The reference “Vet. Acad. Handl.” is incorrect, and I cannot trace the

correct reference.

595,

596,

597,

A reconsideration of the venation of Scenopinidce has brought me to the
conclusion that the discal cell is wholly formed by the discal vein, and
that consequently the discal vein has its normal two branches, while the
postical vein is reduced to its lower branch and a stump of its upper
branch (as in many Cystidcc).

ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA

772

Page Line

f 8 from ^ P. dorsiger Wied. and P. scaurus Walk, are according to Colonel Yerbury
" \bottom. J probably synonyms and belong to the genus Eutolmus.

658. 10. For D. spinifer read D. spiniger Zell., which is a synonym of D. fusci-

pennis Meig.

678. 11. M. atricapillus. Some males taken by Colonel Yerbury at the The Mumbles

in Glamorgan, on September 1-6, 1908, have hardly any horns to the
ventral process.

695. 36. hcemorrhoa for hcemorrhea.

711. 1.® ^rom 1 Acnephalum should in my opinion be emended to Acnephalltjm.

IbottomJ J 1

Note. — The contention that Meigen’s genera of 1800 should be revived and claim priority
is on a par with the discovery of certain Chicagoan historians that the annulment
of one of the marriages of King Henry VIII. was invalid, and that consequently
King Edward VII. is not the King of England. Meigen himself and his contem¬
poraries (including Latreille, who often referred to the work) did not accept the
genera as legally established. If any attempt be made now to substitute Hermione
for Oxycera, Erinna for Xylopliagus, Chrysozona for Hcematopota, etc. , an absolutely
flawless case must be made out, and these cases are full of flaws. Irrespective of
the refusal of the supposed author’s refusal to recognise the work, there remains the
fact that none of the genera were founded in accordance with binomial law ; a claim
is now made that they can be identified through Meigen's paper of 1803, but I have
on pages 247 and 285 thrown considerable doubt upon the priority value of that
paper. Coquillett’s paper in The Canadian Entomologist of December 1908 is
“ special pleading ” of an aggravated form.

INDEX

References to British Genera and Species are given in ordinary type but with the page
in heavy type such as : —

Acuocera Meiy . 457

globulus Panz . 458

References to other existing Genera and Species are given in ordinary type but with the
page in italics such as : —

Actina Meiy . 198

nitens Latr . 199

Synonyms are given in italics such as : —

ClIRYSOMYIA Macq . 106

cyaneiventris Zett . 194

Tage

Acanthomera Wiecl.

Heydenii Wied . 10, 230

ACANTHOMERID/E ... 16,

230

Characters of Larva 33,34,35

Acantiiomyia Schin . 198

Acnepiiallum Macq . 711

Acrocera Meiy. 433, 45 4 > 435,

457

albipes Meiy . 481

borealis Ze'tt . 450, 401

globulus Panz. 18, 447 , 440
453, 454, 455, 457, 458

laeta Gerst . 450, 451

orbiculus Fabr . 450, 451

sanguinea Meiy. ...453, 454

tumida Erichs . 450, 481

A CHOC ERIDFE . 449

Characters of Larva . 34

ACROPTERA . 41 , 43, 29

Characters of Larva ..33, 34
Actina Meiy ....198, 199, 214

chalybea Meiy . 199

hyaliniventris A. Costa.. 216

nitens Latr . 199, 758

similis Forst . 758

Addenda & Corrigenda... 769

Adoxomyia Kert . 82, 769

cinerascens Lw . 82

Aiatmus Lio . 627

ponticus Biyot . 627

Alliocera Saund. ...129, 14s

graeca Saund . 129

773

Page

Allognosta 0. Sack . 197

Ambient vein . 14

Amictus Wied. 479, 509, 512

auripilus Biyot . 479

pictus Lio . 511, 512

Amphisbetetus Herm . 712

Anabarrhynchus Macq. 544
Anacanthaspis v. Bod. ...24I

Anarolius Lw . 711

Anastcechus 0. Sack . 437

barbatus O. Sack . 768

nitidulus Fabr. 493, 761, 768
Ancylorrhynchus Latr.

712, 715

glaucius Rossi . 715

Andrenosoma Rond . 695

atrum L . 765

Anisopogon Herm . 713

glabellus v. Rod . 714

Anisotamia Macq . 508

ruficornis Macq . 508

Antennae, Development of 45

A NT IIR A C1DZE . 44

Anthracin.e . 432, 515

Table of Genera . 516

Anthrax Scop . 517, 518

(sensu stricto) . 519

Abbadon Fabr . 763

Belzebub . 536

bifasciata Meiy . 762

cingulatus Meiy. ...521, 531
circumdatus Meiy. 515, 521,

533

Page

Anthrax

claripennis Koio. . . .530, 533

concinna Meiy . 763

fasciatus Meiy . 763

fenestralis Kiinck. 520, 525

fenestratus Fall . 521

flavus Meiy. . . .530, 536, 762,

70S

gallus Lio . 524

halteralis Kow . 530

hispanus Lw . 524

hottentottus L. 530,762, 768

leucostoma Meiy . 763

maurus L . 762

molitor Lw . 768

morio L . 520, 762, 70S

morioides Say . 768

mutilus Lio . 524

ornata Curt . 525

Pandora Fabr . 762

Paniscus Rossi ....517, 521,
768, 526

perspicillaris Lw. ..520, 524

semialra Meiy . 762

trifasciatus Meiy . 475

venustus Meiy . 763

Antipalus Lw . 630

varipes Meiy . 691, 764

Antiphrisson Lw . 629

Antonia Lw . 508

Aochletus 0. Sack . 87

Aphamartania Schin . 719

syriaca Schin . 722

774

INDEX

Page

Aphceb antes Imo . 479, 507

Apiocera Westw.

moerens Westw . 25, 612

APIOCERIDA5 . 25, 612

Apoclea Macq . 62S

femoralis Wied . 628

Apogon Perris . 258

Apolysis j Lw . 484

humilis Lw . 484

Argyramoeba Schin . 517

anthrax Schrank ...520, 762

binotata Meig . 762

morio Fahr . 762

sinucita Meig . 517

trifasciata Meig.

metamorphoses of ....475

varia Fabr . 768

Arthropeas Lw . 241

Aschiza

Larva v. Cyclorrhapha

ASILIDdi . 26, 614

Arrangement of . 618

Characters of Larva . 38

Table of Subfamilies. ...621

Type of Venation . 619

AsiLiNiE . 618, 621, 623

Table of British Species 634

Table of Genera . 626

Asiltts L. ( sensu latiore)...625
Asilus L. ( sensu lato ) 629, 641
Asilus L. ( sensu strictis-

simo ) ... . 629, 644

cestivus Schrank . 684

armatipes Macq . 653

barbarus L . 645

basalis Lie . „ . 764

crabroniformis L. 7, 20, 615,
617, 619, 621, 634, 645

cristatus Walk . 664

delector Harris . 6 40

fimbriatus Meig. ...669, 765

forcipatus L . 669, 684

geniculatus Meig . 765

maculosus Harris... 691, 764

maurus L . 645

rufipes . 741

tipuloides Harris... 684, ''94

varipes Meig . 764

Aspiloptera Kiinck. ...520
Astomella Duf. 447, 452, 454

apiformis Westic . 456

bombiformis Westw. ...456

curviventris l)uf. . 456

Lindenii Erichs. 453, 454,

456

larva of . 37

maculata Macq . 456

Astrophanes 0. Sack. ...479

ATHKRICERA . 1, 2

Atherix Meig . 242, 283

crassipes Meig . 294

femoralis Lw . 288

grisea Meig . 319

Ibis Fabr. ...242, 767, 286

immaculatus Meig . 285

maculatus Meig . 285

marginata Fabr. ...241, 289
melcena Meig. 286, 300, 314

Page

Atherix

nebulosa Macq . 294

picta Lie . 28S

pilosa Meig . 286

unicolor Curt. 3001 314, 319
variegata Walk. ...288, 767

Atojiosia Macq . 693

rufipes Macq . 693

Atrichops Verr . 242, 291

crassipes Meig. ...242, 291
Atyeotus v. Tab anus 325, 380

Baryphora Lie . 543, 544

speciosa Lw . 544

BE 1111) AH . 44

Bering . 62, 196

Characters of Larva . 35

Table of Genera . 197

Type of Venation . 57

Beris Latr . 198

annulifera Bigot . 213

chalybeata Forst. 52, 196,

209

clavipes L . 202

fiavipes Macq . 210, 213

fuscipes Meig . 205, 207

geniculata Curt . 203

javana Macq . 214

Morrisii Date... 63, 196, 767,

211

niqra Meig. ...206, 209, 211

nigripes Meig . 211

obscura Meig . 210

pallipes Lw . 213

Servillei Macq . 11 4

sexdentata Fabr . 199

tibialis Meig . 216

vallata Forst . 57, 200

Bibio Geofir.

anglicus Verr . 4

marginata Fabr . 285

marginata Rossi . 546

Paniscus Rossi . 531

BOMBYLID/E . 21, 474

Arrangement of . 477

Characters of Larva .... 37

Metamorphoses . 475

Table of Subfamilies ...481

Type of Venation . 479

BOMBYLIMORPHA ... 40
Characters of Larva .... 34

Bombylin^ . ^51,483

Table of Genera . 483

Bombylius L . 487, 491

australis Lw . 499

basilinea Lw . 499

canescens Mikan . 500

breeding habits of ... 502
cinerascens Mikan 493, 761
consanguineus Macq. ...499

cruciatus Fabr . 761

ctenopterus Mikan.. 503, 505
discolor Mikan ... 479 , 487,
492, 493

fimbriatus Meig . 499

fratellus Wied. ...499, 768
fugax Wied. 493, 502, 761
fulvescens Meig. ...493,505

Page

Bombylius

fulvus Meig . 503

major L. 7, 21, 474, 486,
491, 768, 497

medius L . 496, 761

minor L . 503

larva and pupa of . 37

pictus Panz . 761

posticus Meig . 505, 761

pumilus Niels.

= minor L. larva of... 37

variabilis Lw . 502

venosus Mikan 493, 501, 761

vulpinus Meig . 505

Bot Flv . IS

BRACHYCERA . 1, 6

Acroptera . 29

Dermatina . 22, 590

Energopoda . 24, 610

Eremocha:ta . 14, 48

Hypocera . 30

Microphona . 27

Tromoptera . 20, 470

Families, Arrange¬
ment of . 40

distinguished by

Venation . 12

Short table of . 11

Larva . 10

Characters of. . 33

Metamorphoses . 30

Superfamilies and
Families, Table

of . 14

Brachyopa Meig.

bicolor Fall. . 585

Brachyrrhopala Macq.
maculineuris Macq. ...731

Cmnomyia Latr . 259

C.enophanomyia Bezzi ...543
Callimyia Meig.

amoena Meig., larva . . . 38

Callistoma Macq . 516

CECIDOMYID.E . 3

Cexopogon v.d. Wulp ....707

Ceraturgus Wied . 716

Cerdistus Lie . 634

Chalcochiton Lie . 479

Characters, Development

of . 44

CHI ROM YZ I DAE . 44

Chironomus Meig . 3

Chlorisops Brau . 200

Chloromyia Dune. ...164, 187

formosa Scop . 187, 188

melampogon Zell . 189

speciosa Macq . 189

viridis Sag . 187

Chlorosia Rond . 188

Chorisops Rond. 19S, 199, 213

tibialis Meig . 214

larva of . 35

Chrysochroma Willist. ...166
CHRYSOMYIA Macq. 166, 187

eganeiventris Zett . 194

flavicornis Meig . 194

pallipes Meig . 194

INDEX

775

I’ago

ClIRYSONOTOMYIA Hunter 166
C II RY SO NOTVS Lw. 164,165,166

OllR YSOPILA Macq . 301

Chkysofilinje . 242, 295

Chrysopilus Macq.... 2 42, 300

atratus Fabr . 305, 759

auratus Fabr . 30 4 , 759

aureus Meig . 306

cristatus Fabr . 301

erythrophthalmus Lw. 305

flaveolus Meig . 759

helvolus Meig . 759

holosericeus Scop . 306

ruoerens Lw . 305

siculus Lw . 305, 759

spleudidus Meig . 308

Chrysops Meig . 325, 422

csecutiens L . 326, 422,

423, 424

maura Siebke . 439

raelanopleura Walilbg. 436,

t / 1

nigripes Zett . . 768

parallelogramma Zell. 439

picta Meig . 431

quadrata Meig . 429

relicta Meig . 431

rufipes Meig . 43 7, 439

sepulcralis Fabr. 424, 768,

436

ClONOPHORA Egg. ... . 544

CLITELLARIA Meig. ...82, 769
cinerascens Lw . 82

Clitellarin.e . . 60, 80

Characters of Larva . 35

Table of Genera . 81

Type of Venation . 56

Clorisoma Rond . 188

Clothing, Development of 46

Codionus Rond . 419, 507

Ccenomyia Latr . 241

ferruginea Scop. ...7, 241,
259, 767

pallida Say . 76’7

ClENOM Y ID A3 . 44

ClENOMYINiE . Y'/l , 259

C(E NO P II A NO MV I A Bezzi ...543

Cienura Bigot . 259

Colax Wied. . 440 , 441

Comptosia Macq . 419

Coxonedys Herm . 507

Corethra Meig . 247

Corrigenda & Addenda ...769

Corsomyza Wied . 478

Craspedia Macq. ...623, 624

Crobilocerus Lw . 711

megilliformis Lw . 711

Ctenophora Meig.

flaveolata Fabr . 4

Ctenota Lw . 695

CYCLOCERA . 40

CYCLORRHAPHA . 1

Aschiza, Characters of

Larva . 38

Athericera . 1, 2

Cyllenia Latr. 479, 509, 510,

512

maculata Latr . 512

Page

CYRTID/E . 19, 449, 447

Characters of Larva ..34, 37
Table of Subfamilies

and Genera . 454

Types of Venation 449-454

Cyrtin.e . 454, 457

0YRT1TES . 449

Cyhtophorus Bigot . 479

Cyrtopogon Lw . 713

lateralis Fall . 712

maculipennis Macq. ...713

rufitibiale Bigot . 722

tenuibarbus Lw . 712

Cyrtosia Perris . 484

margin ata Perris . 484

Cyrtus Latr . 432, 434

pusillus Macq . 431

Dasyllis Lie . 693, 696

Dasypogon Meig . 708

cauddtus Bigot . 722

heteroneurus Macq . 709

punctatus Fabr. . 765

teuton us L. ...706, 707, 70S
D asypogoninje. ...618, 622,

704

Arrangement of . 706

Table of Genera . 706

Dasythrix Lw . 694

DaulOPOGON Lw . 724

DERMATINA 22, 41, 42, 590

Diagonal vein . 443, 444

Dialixeura Rond. ...543,582

anilis L . 543, 582

Dicrotrypana Bigot

flavopilosa Bigot . 440

Dioctria Meig. 716, 717, 728

annulata Meig . 766

atricapilla Meig . 732

Baumhaueri Meig. 621, 711,
716, 732, 741
bicincta Meig. 730, 731, 766

Bigoti A. Costa . 731

cothurnata Meig . 739

Falleni Meig . 734

flavipes Meig. 743, 747, 766
fuscipes Macq. ...734, 7 66

fuscipennis Fall. . 766

gagates Meig . 766

hyalipennis Fabr. 743, 766

lateralis Meig . 745, 766

linearis Fabr . 704, 745

liturata Lw . 741

lugubris Jaenn . 730

Meigenii Shuck . 739

meridionalis Bezzi . 741

Me\eri Now . 736

nigripes Meig . 734

nitida Willist . 731

celandica L . 734

Rein hard i Meig. ...716,729,
732 736

rufipes DeG. 729, 732, 739

semihyalina Meig . 766

tasmanica Walk . 731

umbellatarum Meig. ...739

vicina Macq . 736

Difalta 0. Sack . 419

Page

DlPHYSA Macq . 214

Dischistus Lw . 4S7

minimus Schrank . 487

Dolichomyia Wied . 513

DOLICHOPODID7E ... 28
Characters of Larva ... 34
Doi.icnorus Latr.

popularis Wied . 28

ungulatus L . 8

Dysmachus Lw. 631, 665, 657

bifurcus Lw . 764

cristatus Meig . 764

forcipatus L . 684, 104

forcipula Zell . 684, 764

picipes Meig . 764

spiniger Zell . 658

trigonus Meig. 631, 635, 659
varius Gurtl. . 764

Eccoptopus Lw . 630

erythrogastrus Lw . 629

Echthistus Lw . 630

cognatus Lw . 630

Eciithodopa Lw . 731

Eclimus Lw. ...479, 509, 511

auripilus Bigot . 419

Quedenfeldti Engel. ...510

venosus Bigot . 510

EM PI DTE . 27

Characters of Larva ... 34

Empidideicus Beck . 484

carthaginiensis Beck. ...484
Empis L.

lutea Meig . 9

subulata Panz . 252

tessellata Fabr . 8

trigramma Meig . 27

ENERG0P0DA...£ML 43,

610

Arrangement of . 611

EnICONEURA Macq . 510

fuscipennis Macq . 511

Epacmus 0. Sack. ...479, 506

Epiiippiomyia Bezzi . S3

Epiiippium Latr . 81, 83

thraocicum Fabr. 52, 81, 84

Epitriftus Lw . 633, 687

arthriticus Zell. . 688

cingulatus Fabr. ...635, 688

EREMOCHjETA . 14, 4L

42, 48

Arrangement of . 49

Eremochaetous, Meaning

of . 14

Eremomydas Semen . 609

Eriopogox Lw . 717

Euloxchus Gerst . 402

smaragdinus Gerst . 401

Eupalamus Jaenn. . . 715

Europeax and North

American Species. ..767
EuRYTION Jaenn.

paradoxus Jaenn. 314, 319
Eutolmus Lw. ... 632,658,664:

dorsiger Wied . 771

rufibarbis Meig. ...632, 634 «
673, 665

scaurus Walk . 771

776

INDEX

Page

Eutolmus

sinuatus Lid . 764

ExAIRETA Sc.hin ... . 214

luteipennis I’hil. . 214

spinigera Wied . 214

Exapata Macq . 544

anthracoides Macq . 544

EXOCHOSTOMA Macq . 128

caloceps Bigot . 134

nitula Macq . 134

ExODONTHA Bond . 198

Exoprosopa Macq . 517

californiae Walk . 768

capucina Fabr . 768

dorcadion 0. Sack . 768

italica Rsi . 762

Jacchus Fabr . 517, 762

megaera Hms . 762

Minos Meig . 517

Pallasii Wied . 517

Pandora Fabr . 762

picta Wied . 762

sima O. Sack . 768

stupida Rossi . 517

EXOPTATA Coquill. . 450

Fallenia Meig . 445

fasciata Fabr . 445

Festoon, Meaning of . 614

Gad Fly . 18

Geosargus Bezzi . 166

Geron Meig . 479, 434 . 435

gibbosus Meig . 435, 760

hybridus Meig . 760

Glabellula Bezzi . 433

arctica Zett . 433

GoNYPES Latr . 751

Habropogon Lw . 714

exquisitus Meig . 714

H.ematopota Meig. ...325, 328
americana 0. Sack. 341, 767

Bigoti Gob . 770 , 346

crassicornis Wahlb . 767,

770, 337

elongata Oliv . 346

grandis Macq . 346

hirsuta Curt . 337, 341

italica Meig . 341

longicornis Macq. 345, 346

nigricornis Gob . 346

pluvialis L . 325, 331

variegata Fabr . 346

Heligmoneura Bigot . 633

Hemipenthes Lw. ...517, 520

seminigra Lw . 768

Henica Macq . 479, 516

Heniconeura v. Enj.

CONEURA

HE NOP ID rE . 449

Henops Meig . . 449

gibbosus L . 468

limbatus Meig . 468

marginatus Meig . . .466, 468

pallipes Latr . 468

Hermoneura Meig. 442, 446
exotica Wied . 442

Page

Hermoneura

obscura Meig . 443

metamorphoses of..... 44%

H ERMONEURIN/E . 445

IIP TBRODACTYLA . 40

Characters of Larva ... 34

Heteropogon Lw . 713

scoparius Lie . 714

Heterostylum Macq . 478

Heterotropus Lid . 436

Hexatoma Meig . 324

pellucens Fabr . 6, 325

HexoDONTA Rond . 198

Hilarimorpiia Schin. 243, 295

singu laris Egg . 243

Hirmoneura Meig . 442

IIirtea Scop . 129, 148

longicornis Scop . I48

Holopogox Lid . 717

Holops Phil . 452

nigrapex Big . 451

HOM(EO D ACTY LA . . 40, 42
Characters of Larva ... 33
Hoplistomerus Macq. ...711
IlOPLODONTA Rond. 128, 130

Hoplomyia Zell . 148

Horse Fly . 18, 321

Horto meo, Species in. ..755
Hyae anthrax 0. Sack. ...519

HybotinxE . 611, 618

Hyperalonia Rond . 516

ferrea Walk . 516

HYPOCERA . 41, 43, 30

Hystrichopogon Herm. ...713
hirticeps Herm . 713

IBTSIA Rond . 285

Isopogon Lw. ...707, 717, 718

brevirostris Meig . 719

hottentottus Fabr. 722, 765

syriacus Schin . 718

vitripennis Meig . 722

IT AM US Lid . . . 680

LaGOCHII.US Lv) . 479

Lampromyia Macq . 241

argentata Bigot . 258

funebris Duf. . 240, 257

pallida Macq . 257

sericea l Vest w . 257, 258

Lamyra Lid . 695

vorax Lid . 694

Laparus Lid . 707

Laphria Meig . 695

larva, sp. ? . 38

auriflua Gerst . 700

dioctriaeformis Meig. ...703

ephippium Fabr . 700

flava L . 8, 621, 696, 697

flavescens Macq . 768

gibbosa L . 700, 765

gilva L . 765, 768

haemorrhoa Fabr . 695

Hecate Gerst . 700

marginata L . 692, 700

varia Lw . 700

Laphrin^e . 61S, 621, 692

Table of Genera . 693

Page

Laphyctis Lid . 712

Laphystia Lid . 712

sabulicola Lw . 621, 712

sexmaculata Herm . 712

Lasia Wied . 450

flavitarsis Wied . 451

Lasiopa B/ ulle . 82

villosa Fabr . 82

Lasiopogon Lw. 715, 717, 718

723

Bellardii Jaenn. ..

' 7#7

cinctellus Meig .

. 728

cinctus Fabr .

. 724

Macquarti Perris...

.722, 727

montanus Schin. ..

. 727

var. immaculatus

Strobl .

. 728

Lasioprosofa Macq.

. 478

Legnotomyia Bezzi...

479, 486

trichorrhoea Lw. . .

. 486

Lepidophora Westw. 509, 510,

511

Leptarthrus Steph.

. 719

LEPTIDjE . 17, 54, 232

Arrangement of . 235

Characters of Larva 33, 34,

36

Table of Subfamilies

and Genera . 240

Type of Venation . 238

Leptin^e . 241, 260

Leptis Fabr . 241, 261

larva, young . 36

annulata l)eG . 279

bicolor Fabr . 262

Cavannae Bezzi . 266

cingulata Lw . 276

conspicua Meig. ...275,278,

759

diadema Fabr . 759

ephippium Zett . 276

florentina Lw . 275

Goebelii Strobl . 275

gracilis Curt . 759

heloeola S'eph . 759

immaculata Meig . 759

inutilis Walk. . . 758

latipennis Lid . 266

lineola Fabr . 280

maculipennis Lw . 266

monticola Egg . 282

nigra Meig . 262

nigriventris Lw. ...272, 274,

275, 276

notata Meig . 14, 266

obscura Fall . 309, 313

punctata Lid . 275

scolopacea L. 5,16,232,234,
241 , 260, 261, 263

strigosa Meig . 266, 758

striola Meig . 276

tonsa Lid . 275

tringaria L . 269

synonyms of . 276

vanellus Fabr. 272, 276, 759

vermileo Schrank . 276

vitripennis Meig . 758

Leptog aster Meig . 749

INDEX

777

rage

Leptog aster

cylindrica DeG. 749,750, 751

fusca Meig . 766

fuscipennis Gay . 750

guttiventris Zett. 632, 74S,

753

pumila Macq . 766

LeP TOGAS TRIN.E.. .618, 622,

Pago

Musca

cupraria L . IS 4

gibbosa Oliv . 760

hypoleon L . 113

indie us Harris . 186

pantherina L . 11S

parvulus Harris . 194

similis Forst . 206

748

Leptomydas Gerst . 609

lusitanicus Meig . 609

LePTYNOMA Westw . .'58

sericea Westw . 258

Ligyra Newm . 479

Litorriiynchus Macq. ...479

Lomatia Meig . 508

Belzebul Fabr. ...536, 767

lateralis Meig . 508, 761

sabaea Fabr . 536

Lomatinje . 478, 481, 506

Table of Genera . 507

Lonchoptera Meig.

lutea Panz . 29

tristis Meig . 29

LONCHOPTERID7E 10, 43,

29

Characters of Larva 33, 34
Lophonotus Macq. ... 641 , 65S
Lordotus Lw . 478

Machimus Lw. 633, 659, 665,

669

annulipes BrulU . 764

atricapillus Fall. 632, 635,

674

calceatus Meig . 678

colubrinus Meig . 765

rusticus Meig. 632, 635, 764,

670

Macrocera Panz.

centralis Meig . 4

M acroceromys Bigot . 220

Macrocondyla Bond. ...479
Megalybus Phil. ...447, 432

crassus Phil . 431

tristis Phil . 431, 432

Megapollyon Walk . 70S

Megascelus Phil. ...596, 605

nigricornis Phil . 606

Metamorphoses . 30

Microchrysa Lw. ...164, 190

cyaneiventris Zett . 194

flavicornis Meig . 193

polita L . 767, 191

MICROPHONA...47, 43, 27
Characters of Larva
(under Orthogenya) 34

Microstyeum Macq . 709

flaviventris Macq . 70S

MID AID HZ v. Mydaiiee
Mitrodetus Gerst.

dentitarsis Macq . 60 4

Mulio Latr. . 516

Musca L.

chalybata Forst . 210

cicur Harris . 190

clavipes L. . . 202, 203

cristata Fabr . 306

tardigradus Harris . 108

uliginosa L . 121

vallata Forst . 202

vermileo Schrank ...258, 262

vilreus Harris . 192

MYDAID/E . 24, 41, 603

Characters of Larva ...37

Table of Genera . 608

Type of Venation . 607

Mydas Fabr.

rufipes Westw . 609

sardous A. Costa . 609

vittatus Wied . 607

MyiOCHRYSA Bond . 1S8

ccerulea Bigot . 188, 767

Nemestrina Latr. ...442, 445

albofasciata Wied . 445

Perezii Duf. . 8, 19, 449

NEMESTRINID7E ...19, 440
Characters of Larva 34, 37
Table of Subfamilies

and Genera . 445

Type of Venation . 448

Nemestrininx: . 445

NEMOCERA . 1,2, 3

Characters of Larva... 6, 33

Nemo ruts Bond . 326

vitripennis Meig . 326

Nemotelus Geoffr. ...82, 113
brevirostris Meig. ...125, 756

cinctus DeG . 246, 247

frontalis Olio . 77, 126

niger Bigot . 126, 767

nigrinus Fall. 51, 115, 767

125

notatus Zett . 115, 122

pantherinus L . 116

uliginosus L. ...56, 82, 114 ,
115, 119

larva of . 35

unicolor Lw . 126, 767

vermileo DeG . 258

Neoexaireta 0. Sack, ...214
Neoitamus Or Sack, 633, 678
cothurnatus Meig. 635, 684
cyanurus Lw. 617, 635, 679,
764, 680

geniculatus Meig . 765

socius Lie . 6S0, 683

Neorachygaster Austen 66

Nicocles Jaenn . 719

North American and
European Species ...767

NOTACANTHA . 40

Characters of Larva ... 33

Odontomyia Meig. ... 128 , 129
Table of Subgenera 128
angulata Panz . 137

Page

Odontomyia

argentata Fabr. ...130, 131
atrata ...134, 137, I46
bimaculata Meig . 146

caloceps Bigot . 134

connexa Walk . 7

felina Panz. ...130, 139, 757

Heydenii Jaenn . I46

hydrodromia Meig . 756

hydroleon L. 131, 139, 75}

hydrophila Lw . 139

hydropota Meig. 139, 140,

757

inter rupta Lw . 146

jejuna Schrank . 146

latifasciata Macq . 140

micro leon L . 130, 756

occipitalis Johns . 758

ornata Meig.... 128, 130, 140

ruficornis Zett . 140

subvittata Meig . 146

tigrina Fabr . 769, 134

viridula Fabr . 128, 143

Oligodranes Lw . 485

Oi.igopogon Lw . 717

Ommatius Wied . 625, 634

chinensis Fabr . 633

Omphaeophora Beck . 243

oculata Beck . 243

Oncodes Latr _ 452, 455, 461

apicalis Meig . 462

basalis Walk . 453

benacensis Pok . 462

etruscus Griff. . 463

formosus Lw . 463

fumatus Erichs . 462

gibbosus L....449, 455, 462,

463

guttatus A. Costa . 462

marginatus Meig . 468

nigripes Zett . 463

pallipes Latr . 452, 466

pubescens Latr . 463

varius Latr . 462

zonatus Erichs. 462,463,468

Oncodocera Macq. . 508

OPLACHAXTHA Bond. ■■■200_

Opsebius A. Costa . 455

inflatus Lw . 455

Opseog YMNUS a . Costa ...130

OBTHOCEBA . 40

OBTHOGE NY A . 40

Characters of Larva ... 34

OltTHORRHAPHA . 1

Brachycera V.

BRACHYCERA
Nemocera v. NEMO¬
CERA

Oxycera Meig . 82, 86

affinis Curt . 93, 95

arnoena Lie . 106

analis Meig. . . 89

collar is Brun . 113

Crotchi 0. Sack . 100

dives Lw . 109

Fallenii Stceg....S7, 10S, 756

flavipes Lw . 97, 756

formosa Meig . 88, 95

778

INDEX

XYCERA

Page

hypoleon L .

. 113

leonina Panz. 89,

104, 756

locuples Lw .

. 110

longicornis Dale ..

. 100

maculata Zett .

. 106

Meigenii Steer/. .

. 87

Morrisii Curt. ...82, 89, 101
muscaria Fabr. 93, 97, 756
nigripes Verr. ...60, 80, 93

pardalina Meig . 95, 104

proximo, Lie . 113

pulchella Meig. ...9, 87, 88,
769, 107

pygmaea Meig . 91

rara Scop . 108

tenuicornis Macq. ...88, 97

terminata Meig . 102

terminate i Walk. ...101, 10 4
trilineata L....119, 769, 111

Pachygaster Meig . 65

argentifer Jaenn . 76

atra Meig. ...56, 60, 64, 69

Leach ii Curt . 77

meromelas Duf. . 73, 76

minutissima Zett . 66

orbitalis Walilb. ...767, 73

puparium of . 35

pallipennis Macq . 79

pini Perris . 68

pulcher Lw . 767

robustus Jaenn . 73

rufitarsis Macq . 66

tarsalis Zett . 71

puparium of . 75

tenellus Jaenn . 68

unicolor Jaenn . 68

Pachygastrine: ...60, 64
Characters of Larva ... 35

Type of Venation . 56

Pachyrrhiza Phil. . 544

Pachystomus Lair. 245, 247

Pairing Habits . 706

Pamponerus Lie . 630, 653

areolaris Bigot . 636, 653

germanicus L. ...630,634,
768, 654

helveticus Mik. ...653, 657

Pangonia Latr . 325

maculata Fabr . 326

Pangonine: . 325, 422

Panopine . 454, 456

Pantarbes 0. Sack . 47 S

Pantophthalmus Thumb. 231
Paracrocera Mik ...455, 458

Paritamus Verr . 633, 679

geniculatus Meig . 765

Perasis Herm . 710

sareptana Herm . 710

Perrisia Bond.

veronicae Vallot . 3 \

Perissocerus Gerst . 60S '

Peritta Beck . 82

Philodicus Liu . 627

javanus Wied . 627 \

Philonicus Lw. 626, 629, 636

Page

Philonicus

albiceps Meig. 25, 614, 623,
629, 634, 636

areolaris Bigot . 636

dorsiger Wied . 636, 771

elutus Liu . 640

scaurus Walk . 636, 771

Philopota Wied. ...453,454

conica Wied . 453

murina Liu . 456

Philopotine . 454i 456

Phora Latr.

urbana Meig . 30

PHORID/E . 10, 43, 30

Phthiria Meig. 479, 436, 487

canescens Lw . 490

convergens Lw . 490

fulva Latr . 760

pulicaria Mikan . 435, 488

Phycus Walk . 542, 544

canescens Walk . 544

P HYSEG ASTER Macq . 456

maculata Macq . 456

PIPUNCULIDiE
Characters of Larva ... 39
Pipunculus Latr.
juvator Perkins, larva of 39
Koebelii Perkins,

puparium of . 39

PLATYGENYA . 40

Characters of Larva ... 33
PLATYPEZID7E
Characters of Larva ... 38

Platypygine . 473

Platypygus Lw . 479, 434

chrysanthemi Liu . 434

Plesiocera Macq . 507

Ploas Latr . 435, 437

macroglossa Duf. . 768

mauritanica Bigot . 768

pictipennis Macq . 768

virescens Fabr. ...485, 761

Pogonosoma Bond. . 694

maroccanum Fabr . 694

Polyphonius Lw. ...624, 628

Polys arc a Schin . 623

POLY TOMA . 40

Characters of Larva ... 34

Pot AMID A Meig . 83, 199

Prsefurca, Meaning of . 14

PBOCEPHALA . 40

Characters of Larva ... 34
Proctacanthus Macq. . . . 628

longus Wied. . 627

Promachus Liu . 626

leoninus Liu . 624, 026

rufipes Fabr . 741

Prorachthes Lw. ...479, 507

Protophanes Lw . 631

punctipennis Meig . 631

PsAMMORYCTER Blanch. 258
PSAMMORYCTE RINA, 258
PSELLIDOTUS Bond. 128, 130
Pseudoholopogon Slrobl 717

chalcogastrus Duf. . 716

Psi ATHOL ASIUS Beck . 486

bombyliformis Beck. 485, 486
Psilocephala Zett. . . .544, 586

Page

Psilocephala

ardea Fabr . 544 , 586

fuscipennis Meig. . . .589, 763

Ptecticus Lw . 164

tenebrifer Walk . 164

Pterodontia Gray ...452, 455,

456, 457

analis Westw. 452, 453, 455
Virmondii Erichs. 452, 453

Pteropexus Macq . 452

bicolor Macq . 451

Ptiolina Zett . 243, 308

atra Zett . 309, 314

grisea Strobl . 314

lapidaria Noiu . 319

melcena Walk. 300, 313, 759

nigra Zett . 313, 316

nigrina Wahlbg . 313

nigripes Zett . 319

nitida Wahlbg . 313, 319

obscura Fall. 233, 243, 286,
309, 759, 310

paradoxa Jaenn . 314

unicolor Curt . 300, 314

Wodzizkii Frfld. . . . 314, 319

Pycnomalla Gerst . 81

Pycnopogon Lw . 712

fasciculatus Lw . 712

Pygostolus Lw . 719

Reputed British Species... 756
Rhabdophaga Westw.

salicis Schrank . 5

Rhabdopselaphus Bigot... 47 8
Rhachicerus Walk. 219, 240
fulvicornis Sn. v. Voll. 4,240

Rhadinus Lw . 711

Rhadiurgus Lw. ...630, 649
leucopogon Willist. ...650
variabilis Zett. ...635, 650

BHAGIO Fabr . 258, 262

atratus Fabr . 306

cinctus Fabr . 285

diadema Fabr. . 262, 285

Heysliami Curt . 269

Ibis Fabr . 285

inutilis Walk . 758

nebulosa Fabr . 294

notatus Meig . 269

scolopacea L . 258, 262

syrphoides Panz. ...247,255

tringaria L . 258, 262

vermileo L . 258, 262

Rhopalia Macq . 609

Rhynchocephalus Fisch. 445

Tauscheri Fisch . 445

Rhyphus Latr.

punctatus Fabr. ...4, 5, 234
Rueppellia Wied . 543

Sargine . 62, 162

Characters of Larva ... 35

Table of Genera . 164

Type of Venation . 56

Sargus Fabr . 164

albibarbus Liu. 175, 178, 171
angustifrons Lw. ...172, 176
azureus Lw. . 190

INDEX

779

Page

Saugus

bipunctatus Scop. 166, 168
ceriferus Jaenn. ...172,176

ehrysis Lw . 176

cceruleicollis Meig . 175

cuprarius L....62, 162, 167,
767, 183

flavipes Meig . 769, 172

frontalis Lw . 1S7, 767

gracilis Lw . IS 4

infuscatus Meig . 186

iridatus Scop. 7, 56, 61, 184

minimus Zett . 769

minimus Verr. 769, 770, 178

nigripes Zett . 769

nitidus Meig . 769

nilidus Verr . 769, 180

nubeculosus Zett. 767, 182

pallipes Lie . 176

pallipes Meig . 194

Reaumuri Meig . 171

robustus Lw . 1S4

rufipes Wahlb.172, 769, 770,

177

sapphirinus Walk . 187

tuberculatus Lie . 176

viridis Sag . 187, 767

Saropogon Lw . 707

comosus Lie . 707

jugulum Lw . 765

Scatophaga Meig . 585

SCENOPINIDiE . 23, 593

Characters of Larva ... 37

Metamorphoses . 594

Type of Venation . 595

Scenopinus Latr . 596

fenestralis L. 23, 593, 595,
768, 597

glabrifrons Meig. 600, 763

76S

niger DeG . 600

pallipes Sag . 768

Scinax Lw . 479

Sceeropogon Lw . 709

heteroneurus Macq. ...709

Scylaticus Lie . 712, 714

Selidopogon Rond . 70S

diadema Fa hr . 708, 765

Sericosoma Macq .

...47S

Sexual ornamentation . . .

...47

Sicus

crucis Fabr .

...767

Silvxus Meig .

...326

vituli Fabr .

...326

Simulium Latr.

ornatum Meig .

... 4

SlSYRNODYTES Lw .

...711

Solva Walk . 219,220

Span i a Meig . 243, 316

atra Stceg . 309

nigra Meig . 243, 317

Species in horto meo . 755

Spongostylum Macq . 517

Stenobasis Macq. ...705, 749

Stenopogon Lw . 709

xanthotrichus Brulli ...709

Stichopogon Lw . 716

albofasciatus Meig . 715

Page

Stilpnog aster Lw . 633

Stomylomyia Bigot . 479

leonina Bigot . 479

STRA TIOM YIA Macq . 14S

STRAT I OM Y I D/E ...15, 51

Arrangement of . 55

Characters of Larva 34, 35
Table of Subfamilies... 59

Types of Venation . 56

Str atioji yin;E ...61,12,7
Characters of Larva ... 35

Table of Genera . 128

Type of Venation . 56

Stratiomys GeoJfr....l29, 146
Table of Subgenera... 129

larva, head of . 35

angulata Panz . 757

Chamaeleon L . 149

ephippium Fabr . 86

furcata Fabr. 7,56, 147, 155

larva . 35

hgdroleon Panz . 757

longicornis Scop . 158

marginatus Fabr . 119

microleon L . 83

potamida Meig. 15, 51, 61,
127, 152

riparia Meig . 158, 758

sexdentata Fabr. ...199, 210

similis Forst . 758

splendens . 154

strigata Fabr . 148

unguicornis Beck . 148

Stratiotomyia . 14s

Strobilothrix Beck . 711

albipila Beck. . 711

Styrex Scop . 306

holosericeus Scop . 306

SUBULA Meig . 320, 246

S UB ULOMYIA Willist . 220

Syllegomydas Beck . 609

cinctus Macq. ...23, 603, 609

Sylvicola Harris . 262

SYLVICOL/E Harris . 262

cursor Harris . 741

derelic tus Harris . 758

inf or mis Harris ...745, 766

lugubris Harris . 736

melancholia Harris . 289

reconditus Harris . 759

unicus Harris . 576

Symmictus Lw . 448

Symphoromyia Frfld. ...242,

295

crassicornis Panz. 296, 297

grisea Meig . 297

immaculata Meig. 17, 242.

296, 759, 299

melaena Meig . 297, 759

unicolor Curt . 300

SYRPHIILE

Characters of Larva ... 93
Syrphus

globosus Fabr . 481

globulus Panz. . 481

orbiculus Fabr . 481

Syst<echus Lw . 438 j

ctenopterus Mikan 493, 760 j

Page

Syst(echus

sulphureus Mikan 486, 493,

761

Systropinae.. .47s, 481, 513

Systropus Wied . 479,514

chilensis Phil . 513

foenoides Westw . 513

TABANIDjE . IS, 320

Arrangement of . 322

Characters of Larva 33, 34,

37

Table of Subfamilies

and Genera . 324

Type of Venation . 323

TabaninjE . 324, 327

Tabanus L. ( sensu lato)...325,

347

Tabanus L. ( sensu stricto)325,

391

metamorphoses of ...312
Table of Subgenera 325,

350

affinis Kirby . 376, 767

albipes Fabr . 760

alpinus Schrank . 384

anthracinus Meig . 760

apricus Meig . 360

aterrimus Meig. ...355, 760

atricornis Meig . 4 H

austriacus Fabr . 355

autumnalis L. ...7, 54, 325,
393, 401

bisignatus Jaenn . 358

borealis Meig. 352, 359, 365

366

bovinus L . 393

bromius L. 323,393, 768, 406

cinerarius Wied . 495

cognatus Lie . 420

cordiger Meig . 393, 413

distinguendus Verr. ...348,
352, 767, 371

ferus Scop . 3S4

flavipes Wied. . 768

fulvicornis Meig . 366

fulvus Meig . 325, 381

gigas Herbst . 760

glaucescens Schin . 495

glaucopis Meig. ...393, 417
glaucus Meig. 393, 413, 404

grsecus Fabr . 760

intermedins Egg . 499

lateralis . 360

latistriatus Brau . 388

lunulatus . 41~

luridus Fall . 352, 367

maculicornis Zett. 17, 327,
393, 410

micans Meig . 352

Mikii Brau . 405

montanus Meig. ...352,393,
771, 361

Muhlfeldi Brau . 377

nemorahs Meig . 760

nigricornis Zett. ...360,365
nigrifacies Gob . 391

7 SO

INDEX

Page

Tabanus

nubilosus Harris ...429, 2/36

paganus Fabr . 403

perplexus Verr . 399

plebeius Fall . 381

quatuornotatus Meig. 349,

420

Rousselii Macq . 388

ruralis Zett . 391

rusticus L . 384

sanguisorba Harris . 384

signatus Meig . 360, 760

solstitialis Meig. ...352, 377

spodopterus Meig . 460

sudeticus Zell . 397

var. perplexus Verr. 399

tarandinus L . 760

tergestinus Egg . 405

tropicus L. ...352, 770, 355
var. bisignatus Jaenn.

358

vittatus Fabr . 760

Tabuda Walk . 544

TAN Y STOMA . 40

Characters of Larva ... 33

Tegula ( t . Berlese) . 713

TheREUA Agas . 540, 546

Thereva Lair . 543, 544

albilabris Meig . 556

albipennis Zett . 763

annulata Fabr. 9, 541 , 579

arcuata Lvo . 552

var. inornata Verr. 552,
556

binotata Lw . 575

bipunctata Meig . 572

var. canescens Zett. 575

caesia Meig . . 578

canescens Zett . 575

cincta Meig . 563, 763

circumscripta Lw. 763, 568

didyma Lw . 763

flavilabris Meig. ...556, 763

frontalis Schumm . 571

fulva Meig . 548

funebris Meig . 763

fuscipennis Meig. 589, 763

inornata Verr . 552, 556

lugens Lie . 568

Page

Thereva

lugubris Fabr . 56S

lunulata Zett . 576

marginata Rossi . 546

marginula Meig. . . .546, 548,

576, 763

nobilitata Fabr. ...7,10,22,
538, 543, 545, 557

larva of . 38, 538

oculata Egg . 561

plebeia L . 563

rufipes Macq . 585

subfasciata Schumm. ...551

taeniata Meig . 763

ursina Wahlbg . 571

THEREVIDiE. . 22, 537

Characters of Larva ... 37

Table of Genera . 542

Type of Venation . 541

Therioplectes Zell. v.

Tabanus . 325, 350

Thevenetimyia Bigot . 509,

510

T el ipso M YZ A Wied. . 512

TilYREODONTA Rond. 129, 148
Tiiyridantiirax 0. Sack. 518
fenestralis Kunck . 520

Tipula L.

culiciformis I)eCJ . 247

varipennis Meig . 5

Toljierus Lw. , . 634, 688

Tomomyza Wied. 479, 509, 512

europaea Lw . 479, 512

leonina Bigot . 479

Touch-hairs . 236

Toxophora Meig. ...479,509,

511

maculata Rossi . 509, 511

ToXOPHORINiE . 432, 509

Table of Genera . 510

Triclis Lw . 710

olivaceus Lie . 710

Triplasius Lie . 435

Triftotricha Lw . 257

Tritoneura Schin . 479

TROMOPTERA 20, 41, 470

Arrangement of . 473

TyOLINA Walk . 314

tristis Walk . 314

Page

Usia Lair . 478, 435

Venation, Development of 44

Vermileo Macq . 241

DeGeerii Macq. ...257,258
Vermileoninje ...240,256
Villa Lioy . 520

Xestomyza Wied. ...542,544
chrysanthemi Fabr. 542, 544

Xylomyia Rond . ^6,219

americana Wied . 223

caffra Bigot . 227

calopodata Bigot . 227

citripes Du f. . 229

maculata Meig. 53, 57, 218,
220, 221

puparium of . 36

marginata Meig. 63,217 ,221
nigritibialis Macq. ... . . .227

pallipes Lie . 227, 767

rufiventris Bigot . 227

tenthredinoides Wulp. 223

trinotata Bigot . 223

varia Meig. . 767, 227

varicolor Bigot . 227

Xylomyina . 63, 217

Characters of Larva ... 35

Type of Venation . 57

XY LOP HAG IDAS . 43

Characters of Larva ... 34
Xylophagin.® ...218, 240,

244

Xylophagus Meig. ...240, 245

larva of . 36

abdominalis Lw. . . .235, 767
ater Meig. 4, 218, 244, 767,

247

cinetus DeG. 24O, 247, 767,

252

compeditus Meig . 252

reflectens Walk. ...251, 767

sp. ? . 247,255

Xylota Meig.
sylvarum L.

larva and puparium... 39

XYSTROPUS Agas . 514

SYSTEMATIC LIST

OF THE

PAUEARCTIC

DIPTERA BRACHYCERA

STRATIOMYIDiE

LEPTID.E

TABANIDT

NEMESTRINID.E

CYRTIDiE

bombylidt:

THEREVIDiE
SCENOPIN1D.E
MY DA IDT
ASILID.E

BY

G. H. VERRALL

FELLOW OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

LONDON:

PUBLISHED BY GURNEY & JACKSON, 10 PATERNOSTER ROW
(Successors to Mr VAN VOORS1)

I9°9

PREFACE

The publication of Kertesz’s “ Katalog der Palaarktischen Dipteren,”
Band II. 1903, has rendered it unnecessary to give detailed bibliographical
references to the species included in this List.

An endeavour has however been made to arrange the species in
systematic order, and although this is probably far from being accurate
yet it may draw the attention of students to allied species and thereby
facilitate nomenclature. An attempt has sometimes been made to indicate
groups of species by means of dotted lines, and the number of dots roughly
indicates the distinctness of the groups.

Many changes in synonymy have been introduced, but in no case
without good reason.

DIPTERA ORTHORRHAPHA.

BRACH YCERA.

EREMOCH.ETA.

STRATIOMYIDAi

PACHYGASTRINJE.

PACHYGASTER Meig.

VAPPO Latr.

NEOPACIIYGASTER A list.
minutissima Zett. . . Eur. centr.et sept.

tenella Jaenn.
pini Perris
var. unicolor Jaenn.

atra Panz.

pachygaster Fall.
tarsalis Zett. .

meromelas Duf. pt.
robusta Jaenn.
argentifer Jaenn. 6 .
orbitalis Wahlb.
meromelas Puf. pt.
argentifer Jaenn. ? .
Leachii Curt,
pallipennis Macq.
flavipes O.G. Costa

. Eur.

. Eur. centr. et sept.

. Eur. centr.et sept.
. Eur.

ALLIOPHLEPS Beck.

elliptica Beck . . .1. Canariae.

CLITELLARINJE.

PYCNOMALLA Gerst.

splendens Fahr. . . Eur. mer.,Af. sept.

flavipes Macq. (nec Fabr. )
rufitarsis Macq.
annulata Macq.

*auriflua Erichs. . . Africa sept.

EPHIPPIUM Latr.

CLITELLARIA Meig. (1803)

EPHIPPIOM VIA Bezzi
POT AM ID A Kert.

thoracicum Latr. . . Eur. centr. et mer.

ephippium Fabr.
inda Schrank

bilineatum Fabr.
bivittatum Wied.
angustum Macq.
spinithorax Macq.
tenebricum Walk,
spinigerum Dolesch.

ADOXOMYIA Kert.

CLITELLARIA Meig.
Dahlii Meig. .
Sarudnyi Pleske
obscuripennis Lie.
ruficornis Lw.
cinerascens Liv.
*flavipes Fabr.
*Portschinsk'i Pleske
: Kabylina Bigot

NEMOTELUS Oeo£

proboscideus Lw. .
longirostris Wied. .

? algericus Jaenn.
gadensis Schin.
pilosus Lie.
fuscinervis Lw.

? punctatus Meig. (
punctatus Fabr.

lasiops Lw.
anchora Lie. .

siculus Jaenn.
pulcher Lw. .
aemulus Lw. .
modestus Lie.
cingulatus Duf.
angulatus Duf.
annulatus Lw.
obscuripes Lw.
serbicus Strobl
lateralis Duf.

. Japonia,Asiamer.
Arch. Indicus.

(1830)

. Eur. mer.

. Persia
. Turkestan
. Turkestan, Persia
. Ross, asiat., Persia
. Africa sept.

. Transcaucasia
. Africa sept.

. Eur.mer. ,Af.sept.
. Africa sept.

. Hispania
. Yunquera
. Eur. mer.

; Fabr.)

. Africa sept.

. Sicilia, Afr. sept.

. Eur. mer.

. Hispania
. Hispania
. I. Naxos.

. Hispania

. Corfu
. Serbia

. Hispan., Afr. sept.

* The species marked with an asterisk are insufficiently described, or are doubtfully
distinct, or are placed in doubtful systematic order.

3 D

3

4

EREMOCHiETA

latiusculus Liv.

cothurnatus Bigot
Cardinalii Bezzi
limbatus Egg.
Carthaginis Beck. .

argentifer Lw.
Lomnickii Mik,

? ceros us Gimm.

*maculiventris Bigot
brevirostris Meig. .
globuliceps Lw.

uliginosus Lw. (1840)
brachystomus Lw.
punctiventris Beck.
notatus Zett. .
brevirostris Walk.
var. ventralis Zett.
atriceps Lw.
fraternus Lav.
dentatus Beck.
gracilis Lw.
rufiventris, Portsch.
albifacies Beck.
nigrifrons Lw.
insularis Beck.
tomentosus Beck. .
signatus Frio.

Zichyi Kert. .
varius Lw.
uliginosus L. .
muticus Fabr.
var. bifasciatus Meig.
var. pica Lw.
pantherinus L.
marginatus Fabr.
marginellus Gmel.
uliginosus Panz.
muticus Schrank.

? nigritus Meig.
bipunctatus Lw.
nigroaeneus Verb. .
crenatus Egg.
luteicornis Egg.
candidus Beck.
plagiatus Schin.

pullus Lw.

ventralis Meig.
*marinus Beck.
niloticus Oliv.

fasciatus Oliv.
leucorrhynchus Costa
leucocephalus Beck.
oasis Beck.

nigrinus Fall,
nigritus Panz.

? frontalis Oliv.

? unicolor Lie
? niger Bigot

LASIOPA BrulU,

. Hispan., Afr.sept.

. Italia
. Eur. mer.

. Algeria

. Grsecia, Asia min.
. Eur. centr. et or.

. Sicilia

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Eur. mer., As. min.
. iEgyptus
. Eur.

(nec Meig.).

. Hispan., Gall. mer.
. Eur. centr.

. Africa sept.

. Asia min. Creta
. Armenia
. /Egyptus
. Sicilia
. I. Canarise
. Algeria

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Sibiria
. Corfu

. Eur., Africa sept.

. Eur., Africa sept.

. Asia min.

. I. Norderney
. Eur. mer.

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Algeria

. Eur.centr.etmer.,
Af. sept.

. Hispania

. Africa sepc.

. iEgyptus
. iEgyptus

. Sardinia

. Algeria

. Eur., Amer. sept.

CLITELLARIA Meig. pt. (1822)
CYCLOGASTER Macq.
INERMYIA Bigot

Peleteria BrulU
villosa Fabr. .

Balius Walk.
caucasica Pleske
Koenigi Lichtw.
tenuirostris Lw.

Mannii Mik .

rufitarsis Strobl.
calva Meig.

PER ITT A Beck.
melichlora Beck.

OX ACER A Meig.
HERMIONE Kert.
VANOYIA Villen.
tricolor Lw.
atra Lw.
rufifrons Lw. .
melanodactyla Lw.
pygmaea Meig.

muscaria Wlk.
nigripes V err.

? affinis Bale
nana Lie.
formosa Meig.

? nigricornis Oliv.
muscaria Panz. (nec
semula Lav.
analis Meig. .
marginata Lw.

* nigra Macq.
amoena Lw. .

? formosa var. Macq.
pardalina Schin (185

* engadinica Jaenn.

. Grascia

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Caucasus

. Eur. mer.

. Eur.mer.,As.min ,
Africa sept.

. Hispania.

. Eur.centr.etmer.,
Africa sept.

. Algeria

. Turkestan
. Turkestan
. Turkestan
. Turkestan
. Eur., Asia min.

. Scotia

. Turkestan
. Eur.

Fabr.)

. Turkestan
. Eur.

. Italia
. Gallia

. Eur. centr. et sept.

5) (nec Meig. )

. Alpes

trilineata L. .
pantherina L. pt.
grceca Pontop.
var. hypoleon L.
var. proximo Lw.
var. collaris Brun.
fasciventris Lw.
bipunctata Lw.
hybrida Lw. .
nigriventris Lw.
notata Lw.

. Eur.

. Turkestan
. Turkestan
. Turcomania
. Turkestan
. Turkestan

Meigenii Stag.

hypoleon Fabr.
fraterna Lw. .

Fallenii Stag.

hypoleon Fall.
hirticeps Lav. .
-octomaculata Jarosch.
locuples Lw. .
dives Liv.

? hypoleon Schrank
varipes Lw.

var. ? Bolivari Strobl

. Eur. (nec Anglia)

. Turkestan
. Eur. centr. et sept.

. Turkestan
. Rossia
. Alpes
. Eur. centr.

. Lusitania

pulchella Meig. . . Eur.

? rara Scop.

? tardigrada Harris
maculata Meig.
hypoleon Meig. (1804)

muscaria Fabr. . . Eur. centr. et mer.

flavipes Lw.

STRATIOMYIM

o

Ranzonii Schin. . . Eur. mer.

calceata Lw. . . . Austria

pardalina Meig. . . Eur. centr. et occ.

formosa Macq.

inacu lata Zett. (nec Oliv. nec Meig.)
grata Lw. . . . Graecia

Morrisii Curt. . . Anglia

lirabata Lie. . . . Eur. centr. et. mer.

tenuicornis Macq. . . Eur. occ., I.

longicornis Dale Canar.

terminata Walk. pt. (nec Meig.)
scutellata Villen.

annulata Beck. . . Tunisia

leonina Panz. . . . Eur. (nec Anglia)

terminata Meig. . . Eur. centr.

STRATIOMYINJE.

STRATIOMYS Geoffr.

HOPLOMYIA Zell.

THYREODONTA Rond.

Alliocera Saun .
graeca, Saund.
clavicornis Egg.

Hirtea Scop.
longicornis Scop. .
strigata FaJbr.
tenebricus Harris
villosa Meig.
nubeculosa Meig.
thoracica Fabr.
var. pallida Lv\

Pleskei T Vagn.

Anubis Wied.

? flavifrons Macq.
apicalis Walk.

*japonica v.d. Wulp
Stratiomys Geoffr
pyrrhocera Lie.

Eur.

mer.

Eur., Asia min.,
Transcaucasia

Turkestan
Rossia or et mer.,
Af. sept., Persia
China sept.
Japonia

Asia min., Persia.

erythrocera Pleske pt. (1S99)

Herzi Pleske
Portschinskii Pleske
pyrrhocera Pleske pt.
erythrocera Egg. .
sublunata Lie.
concinna Meig.

Beckeri Pleske
armeniaca Bigot
rubricornis Bezzi .

Transcaucasia
. Transcaucasia
(1899)

. Eur. mer., As. min.
. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Eur. centr. et mer.

Caucas., Tran sea.
Italia

furcata Fabr.

? singularis Harris
strigata Meig. (1804)
panthaleon Fall.
var. riparia Meig.
equestris 6 Pleske (1901)

Eur., Africa sept.,
Sibiria

brevicornis Portscli.
Roborowskii Pleske
Sarudnyi Pleske
Zarudnyi Pleske
lambessiana Bigot .
*llavolimbata A. Costa
serica Pleske .
ventralis Lie.

Koslowi Pleske
Sintenisi Pleske
sinensis Pleske

Asia centr.
China sept.
Persia

Algeria
Africa sept.
China sept.
Sibiria
China centr.
Rossia sept.
China sept.

equestris Meig.
tomentosa Schrank
hirtuosa Meig.
cypria Pleske .

Ahngeri Pleske
nobilis Lw.

lugubris Lie. .
Beresowskii Pleske
*segnis Beck. .
potamida Meig.

Eur.centr.et mer.,
Transbaikal

Cyprus

Transcaspia
Turkestan

Sibiria
China sept.
Tunisia

Eur.centr. et sept.

chamceleon Meig. (1S01)
cenisi3 Meig. . . . Eur.centr.et mer.,

Afric. sept. , Asia
min. et centr.

Potanini Pleske . . China sept.

Kosnakowi Pleske . . Mt. Altai

hispanica Pleske . . Hispania

chamaeleon L. . . Eur. Sibiria,

? spatula Scop. Transcaspia.

sellata Sulz.
nigrodentala Meig.
var. rhcctica Jaenti.
var. caucasica Pleske
monst. unguicornis Beck.

flaviventri' Lie.
validicornis Lie.

paludosa Siebke
laevifrons Lw.
bochariensis Pleske
Przewalskii Pleske .
Wagneri Pleske
rossica Ginim.

Eur mer.,Af. sept.
Eur. sept., Sibiria,
Mt. Altai
Sibiria
Asia centr.

Asia centr.

Mt. Altai
Rossia, Caucas.

Barca Walk .
ODONTOMYIA Meig.
EXOCHOSTOMA Macq.
OPSEOGYMNCS 0. Costa
PSELLIDOTUS Rond.
EULALIA Kert.

Odoxtomyia.
tigrina Fabr. .
nigrita Fall.
var. signata Jaenn.
flavissima Rossi
decora Meig.
semiviolacea Brulle
var infuscata Meig.
periscelis Lw.
annulata Meig.

septemguttata Meig.
discolor Lw. .
pictifrons Lw.
ornata Meig. .

furcata Meig. (1804)
signaticornis Lw. .
*megacephala Oliv.
limbata Meig.
paciffca Meig.
flavesignata A. Costa
var. cephalonica Strobl
hydroleon L. .
rulpina Pan:,
angulata M>ig. (ISO 4)
var. alpina Jaenn.

China sept., Jap.

Eur.

Eur. mer. , As. min .

Eur. centr.
Eur.centr.et mer.,
Africa sept.

As. min. .Hispania

Sibiria

Eur.

Asia min.
.Egyptus
Eur.mer. , Af.sept.

Eur. (nec Anglia ?)

6

EREMOCHiETA

angulata Panz. . . Eur.

mycroleon Harris
hydropota Macq. (nec Meig.)
brevicornis Lw.
ruficomis Zett.
hydroleon Walk.

hydropota Meig. . . Eur. centr.

latifasciata Macq.

hydrophila Lie. . . Eur.mer.,As.min.

felina Panz. . . . Eur. centr.

marginata Fabr.
hydropota Walk, (nec Meig.)
personata Liv. . . Eur. mer.

"staurophora Schin. . China, Japonia

*byzantina Strobl . . Eur. mer.

argentata Fabr. . . Eur., Sibiria

? anilis Schrank
paludosa Schumm.

? nitida Macq.
argentula Gimm.

microleon L. . . . Eur. centr. et sept.

nigriceps Bigot

*nigripes Macq. . . Syria

Hoplobonta Bond.

viridula Fabr. . . Eur., Asia min.,

canina Panz. Africa sept.

dentata Meig.

? liolosericea Oliv.

? lunata Oliv.

? lunulata Macq.

var. jejuna Schrank

var. subvittata Meig.

var. bimaculata Meig.

var. interrupta Lie. (nec Oliv.)

var. Heydenii Jaenn.

SARGINiE.

PTECTICUS Lw.

MACROSARGUS Bigot
PEDICELLA Bigot

aurifer Walk. . . China, Borneo

luridus Walk,
insignis Macq.

tenebrifer Walk. . . China, Japon.

illucens Schin.

SARGUS Fabr.

CHRYSONOTUS LlV.

CHRYSOCHROMA Willist.

CH RYSONOTOMYIA Hunter
GEOS ARGUS Bezzi

niphonensis Bigot . . Japonia

bipunctatus Scop. .

Beaumuri Meig.
viridiceps Macq.
rufipes Wahlb.

flavipes var /3 Zett.
flavipes Meig.
nitidus Zett.
pallipes Lw. (laps.)
albibarbus Lw.

? angmtifrons Lw.

? ceriferus Jaenn.
flavipes Beck. (1897)

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. China sept.

. Eur. sept.

. Eur. centr.etsept.
. Eur. centr. et mer.

"tuberculatus Lw. . . Nubia

chrysis Lw. . . . Nubia

*nigripes Zett. . . Eur. sept.

nitidus Verr. (nec Meig.)
^minimus Verr. (nec Zett.) Anglia

*minimus Zett.

nitidus Zett. (1842)
cuprarius L. .
violaceus Scop,
politus Schrank
cceruleicollis Meig.
nubeculosus Zett. .
iridatus Scop,
indicus Harris
ccerulescens Vill.
auratus Meig. (1804)
cuprarius Fall. pt.
infuscatus Meig.
nitidus Meig.
robustus Lxo.
gracilis Lw.
viridis Say

? front alls Lie.
nigribarbis Bigot
ccerulea Bigot

. Eur. sept.

. Eur., Amer. sept.

. Eur.

. Eur.

. Eur.cen.,Am. sept.

CHLOROMYIA Duncan

CHRYSOMYIA Macq.

MYIOCHRYSA Bond.

formosa Scop. . . Eur. , Africa sept.

cupraria Scop,
flavogeniculata DeG.
cicur Harris
aurata Fabr.
xanthoptera Meig.
azurea Lw.

speciosa Macq. . . Eur. centr. ,et mer.

melampogon Zell.

MICROCHRYSA Lw.

CLORISOMA Bond.

CHLOROSIA Bond.

polita L. Eur. , Amer. sept.

aurata DeG.
vitrea Harr,
splendens Meig.
cyanea Fabr.

flavicornis Meig. . . Eur. centr.etsept.

? parvula Harris
pallipes Meig.

cyaneiventris Zett. . Eur. sept.

BERINiE.

ALLOGNOSTA 0. Sack.

METOPONIA Liv. (nec Macq.)
vagans Lw. . . . Eur. centr.etsept.

BERIS Latr.

OPLACA NTH A Bond.

HEXACANTUA Lioy.

OCT AC ANT HA Lioy.
vallata F orst. . . Eur.

? rex Poda
clavipes Meig. (1804)
nigritarsis Latr.

STRATIOMYIDjE— leptim

7

clavipes L.
nigra Geoffr.
nigroptera Fourcr.
chalybeata Forst. .
sexclentata Fabr.
a(ra Meig. (1804)
obscura Meig.
nigra Meig.
flacipes Macq.
Morrisii Dale
pal/ipes Lid.
fuscipes Meig.
geniculata Curt,
fuscipes Beck.

? similis Forst.

ACTINA Meig.
nitens Latr. .

chalgbea Meig. (1804)
scutellata Meig.
femoralis Meig.
nigripes Meig.
flavofemorata Meig.
hirsuta Macq.

. Eur.

. Eur.centr. et sept.

. Eur. , Amer. sept.

. Eur. centr. et sept.
. Eur. centr. etsept.

. Eur. (nec Anglia)

CHORISOPS Rond.

EX A I RET A Schin.
XEOEXAIRETA 0. Sack,

tibialis Meig. . . . Eur. centr. occid.

hyaliniventris A. Costa et raer.

ACANTHOMYIA Schin.

HEXODONTA Rond.

dubia Zett. . . . Eur. (nec Anglia)

XYLOMYINiE.

XYLOMYIA Rond,

SUBULA Meig.

1 SOLV A Walk,

? MACROCEROMYS Bigot
SUBULOMYIA Willisi.

marginata Meig.

varia Macq.
nigritibialis Macq.
varicolor Bigot
var. ? caffra Bigot
cabrerae Beck,
varia Meig.
atra Lair,
maculata Latr.
citripes Duf.

trinotata Bigot
maculata Meig.

. Eur.centr.et occid.
. I. Canariae

. I. Canariae
. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Caucasus
. Eur. centr. et sept.

LEPTID^.

XYLOPHAGINAi!.
XYLOPHAGUS Meig.

PACHYSTOMUS Latr.'

ERINNA Kert.

ater Meig. . . . Eur.

compeditus Meig.
cinctus DeG. . . . Eur.

subulatus Panz.
syrplioides Panz.
ater var. /3 Fall.

RHACHICERUS Walk.

AXTIDOXION Voll.
tristis Lid. . . . Hispania

CCENOMYINiE.
ARTHROPEAS Lid.
sibirica Lid. . . . Sibiria.

tessella Motsch.

ANACANTPIASPIS v. Rod.
bifasciata v. Rod, . . Sibiria

CCENOMYIA Latr.

SICUS Fabr.

ferruginea Scop. . . Eur. (nec Anglia).

crucis Fabr. Amer. sept.

? testace.a Fabr.
olens Herbst.

? australis Gmel.
errans Fabr.
bidentata Fabr.
bispinosa Fabr.
macroleon Panz.
unguiculata Panz.
bicolor Fabr.

grandis Schrank
major Schrank
palatina Schrank
unicolor Meig.
aurea Meig.
pallida Say
cinereibarbis Bigot

VERMILEONINiE.

VERM I LEO Macq.

PSAMMORYCTER Blanch.
apogox Duf. (nec Lacord.)

DeGeerii Macq.

vermileo L. . . . Eur.mer.,I.Canar.

cylindraceus O.G. Costa
Dufourii Perr.
var. nigriventris Strobl.

LAM PROM YIA Macq.

LEPTYNO.VA Westw.

eylindrica Fabr. . . Hispan.,Afr. sept.

funebris Duf.

canariensis Macq. . .1. Canariae
pallida Macq. . . Africa sept.

Mikii March.

LEPTINiE.

ATHERIX Meig.

IBISIA Rond.

PELECHOIDOCERA Bigot
Ibis Fabr. . . . Eur.,Sibir.,Japon.

melancholia Harris
Titanus Fabr.
maculata Meig.

? trifasciata v. Ros.
var. femoralis Lid.

8

EREMOCH.ETA

picta Inc.
marginata Fabr.
Apfelbecki Strobl .
*flavipes Fabr.
chrysopus Gmel.

. Ross. sept., Sibiria
. Eur.

. Bosnia
. Eur. centr.

*sordidipennis Villen.
*balcanica Strobl .
cingulata Lie.
*scapulifera Biqot .
fuscipennis Meig. .

. Gallia mer.
. Bosnia
. Alpes
. Japonia
. Eur. centr.

ATRICHOPS Verr.

crassipes Meig. . . Eur. centr. occid.

? ccelebs Harris et mer.

nebulosa Mcq. (nec F.)

LEPTIS Fabr.

RE AG 10 Fabr.
SYLVICOLA Harris
scolopacea L.

? maculata Scop.

? inquinala Scop,
solitaria Harris
? guttata Oliv.

? bifasciata v. Ros.
"strigosa Meig.
maculipennis Lie. .
latipennis Lie.

Cava nine Bezzi

. Eur.

. Ross. mer., As. min.
. Eur. centr.

. Italia

maculata I)eG. . . Eur. (nec Anglia)

annulata Meig. (1804)
nigrofasciata Meig.
distigma Meig.
bimaculata Gob.
var. obscura Strobl

immaculata Meig. . . Eur.centr. et sept.

stigmatica Zett.

chrysostigma Lw. . . Eur. mer.

‘ flavimedia Coquill. . Japonia
vitripennis Meig. . . Eur. centr. et mer.

tringaria Panz.
stigma Schumm.

"annulata Bigot (nec ZieC.) Japonia

"flavicornis Macq. .
notata Meig. .

Heyshami Curt.
sordida Lie. .

var. pilosa Lw.
subpilosa Beck.

nigra Meig. .

fuscipes ( Chrysopila )
lineola Fabr. .
monachus Harris
albifrons Meig.
var. monticola Egg.
cinerascens v. Rod.
funebris Meig.
*algerica Beck.
chrysopiliformis Bezzi

. Gallia
. Eur.

. Eur. mer. et or.,
Asia min.

. Alpes

. Eur. mer.

Bigot
. Eur.

. Sardinia
. Eur. mer.
. Algeria
. Italia

CHRYSOPILINZE.

OMPHALOPHORA Beck.
oculata Beck. . . . Sibiria

annulata DeG. . . Eur.centr. et sept.

conjungens Ruthe
tringaria L. . . . Eur.

scolopacea var. DeG.
vermileo Schrank
solivaga Harris
derelicta Harris
monotropus Harris
var. vanellus Fabr.

? rufa Scop,
reconditus Harris
simplex Meig.
ephippium Zett.
striola Meig.
var. punctata Lie.

Gcebelii Strobl
pilosa (laps, cal.)

Strobl

Pandellei Gob.

Perezii Gob.

Perrisii Gob.

Cartereaui Gob.
var. nigriventris Lw.
conspicua Wingate
tonsa Lie. . . . Hispania

grsecula Lw. . . . Eur. mer.

florentina Lw. . . Eur mer.

conspicua Schin. (pt. )

conspicua Meig. . . Eur. centr. et mer.

var. alpina Lw.

Janotai Now.

Marchalii Pierre

CHRYSOPILUS Macq.
HELIOMYIA Dolescll.

? STYREX Scop.
nubecula Fall.

? sylvestris O F. Mull.

? bicolor Fabr.

? oculatus Fabr.
auricollis Meig.
binotatus Lw.
alpieola Pok. .
luteolus Fall.
pullus Lie.

? bicolor Meig.
laetus Zett.

var. ? nigricauda Beling
*pullatus Coquill. .

aureus Meig. .

diadema Fabr. (nec L. )
cinereus Zett.
piceus Walk.
var. meridionalis Bezzi
pallipes Lw. .
obscuripennis Lw
pretiosus Lw. .
dives Lw.
intermedius Bezzi
splendidus Meig.

? nigritus Fabr.
chlorophthalmus Lw.
obscuribarbus Lw.

Eur. (necAnglia)

Grsecia

Alpes

Eur. (nec Anglia)
Eur centr. et mer.

Eur. (nec Anglia)

Japonia

Eur.

Asia min.

Transcaspia

Naxos

Sibiria, Japonia
Italia

Eur. centr. et mer.

Rhodus,Asia min.

LEPTIM

TABANID.E

9

auratus Fabr.

? holosericeus Scop,
atratus (Fabr. ?) Meig.
tomentoms Fabr.
cristatus Fabr.

? secretus Harris
solitaneous Harris
? cingulatus Donov.
auratus Walk.
maerens Lie. .
erythrophthalmus Lw. .

? hyalipennis v. llos.
siculus Lw.

? atratus Fabr.
palparis Lie. .
latifrons Bezzi

Eur.

Eur. occid.

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr. et mer.

Italia

Corfu

Italia

PTIOLINA Zett.

EURYTION Jaenn.

paradoxa Jaenn. . . Eur.centr.et occid.

lapidaria Now.

gnsea Slrobl (nec it
nitida Wahlbg.
*nigripes Zett.
obscura Fall. .
tristis Walk.
Wodzizkii Frauenf.
Wodzickii Schin.

atra (Stag.) Zett. .

nigra Zett.
nigrina Wahlbg.
nigra Zett. pt.

*</■)

. Eur. sept.

. Eur.centr. et sept.
. Eur.centr. et sept.

. Eur. centr. et
sept., Sibiria
. Eur. sept.

helvolus Meiq.
flaveolus Meig.

? Genius Panz.

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Eur. centr. et mer.

*calamodytes Schin. . Eur. centr.
*phragmitophila Schin. . Eur. centr.

fulva Beck. . . . Sibiria

SYMPHOllOMYIA Frauenf.

crassicornis Panz. .

griseola Fall.
melaena Meig.

pilosa Meig.
grisea Meig. .
immaculata Meig. .
unicolor Curt.

. Eur.

. Eur. centr.

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Eur. centr. et occ.

pelliticornis Beck. . . Italia

SPANIA Meig.

nigra Meig. . . . Eur. centr. et sept.

Fallenii Hal.

HILARIMORPHA Schin.
singularis Egg. . . Eur. centr.

tristis Egg. . . . Eur. centr.

TABANID^.

TABANINiE.

TAB AN US L.

HEXATOMA Meig. (nec Lair.)

HEPTATOMA Meig. (1803)
pellucens Fabr. . . Eur.centr. et sept.

albipes Schrank
biniaculata Meig.

ILEMATOPOTA Mei
CHRYSOZONA Kert.
pluvialis L.
equorum, Fabr.
liyetomantis Schrank
subcylindrica Pand.
*lusitanica Gu&r. .
tristis Bigot .

*pallens Lw. .

Bigoti Gobert .

italica Meig. .
elongata Oliv.
gymnonota BrulU
tenuicornis Macq.
longicornis Macq.
grandis Macq.
nigricornis Gobert
* variegata Fabr.
crassicornis Wahlbg.

americana O. Sack.
*globulifera Schumm.
*obscurata Bigot
obscura Bigot (nec L
*rufipennis Bigot .

. Eur. , Africa sept. ,
Japonia

. Lusitania
. Japonia
. Turkestan
. Gallia, Anglia,
Servia
. Eur.

. Eur.mer.,Af.sept.
. Eur. centr. et sept.

Amer. sept.

. Eur. centr.

. Japonia

Theiuoplectes Zell.

AGELANIUS Bond.
micans Meig. .
austriacus Fabr. (nec
niger Donov.
signatus Panz.
aterrimus Meig.
signatus Meig.
austriacus Meig. pt.
var. auripilus Meig.
at Mops Ljungh
var. lugubris Zett.
nigerrimus Zett.
Heydenianus Jaenn.
lapponicus Wahlb. .

? fusciutus DeG.

? borealis Fabr.
albomaculatus Zett.
tarandinus L.
*aequitinctus Beck.
Astur Erichs. .

spilopterus Lw.
tataricus Portsch.

flavipes Wied.
borealis Meig. pt. Lw.

montanus Meig.
flaviceps Zett.
tropicus Lw.
brevis Lw.

. Eur. centr. et mer.
Wied.)

. Eur. (nec Angl a

. Eur. mer. et centr.,
Sibiria

. Eur. bor. , Sibiria
. Sibiria
. Sibiria

. Asia centr., Mt.
Altai

. Sibir., Amer. sept.
. Eur.centr.et sept.,
Sibiria

. Eur.centr.et sept.
Sibiria

. Sibiria

10

EREMOCHiETA

tropicus L. pt. Panz.
paganus Fabr.

? bimaculatus Mac
luridus Lw. pt.
signatus Schin. pt.
var ? bisignatus Jaenn.
borealis Jaenn.
*pulchriventris Portsch.
iuridus Fall. .

borealis var. a et e Zett.
depressus Walk.
Muhlfeldi Brau.

Eur. centr.et sept.,
Sibiria

grcecus Macq. pt. (nec Fabr.)

Mongolia

Eur. centr. et sept.

Asia min., Sibiria

distinguendus V err.
tropicus Harris
? ajjinis Kirby
solstitialis Pand.
Muhlfeldi Lundb.
solstitialis Meig.
sanguisorba Harris
tropicus Lew. pt.

Erberi Brau. .
decorus Lie. .
cyanops Brau.
*trichocerus Bigot .
lateralis Meig.

pilosus Lw.
nigricornis Zett.
alpinus Zett.
luridus Schin. pt.
engadinensis Jaenn.
punctifrons Wahlbg.
confinis Zett. .
pusillus Egg. (nec Macq.)
acuminatus Lw.
macularis Fabr.
*fulvicornis Meig. .
*batnensis Bigot

Atylotus 0. Sack.
BRACHYTOMUS A. Costa
ater Rossi
morio Fabr.
nigrita Meig. 1804 (nec
fuscatus Macq.
algirus Macq.

? transiens Walk.
anthracinus Meig. .
obscurus Lw.
atropos Jaenn.
corsicanus Pand.
alexandrinus Wied.

carbonatus Macq.
umbrinus Meig.
istriensis Meig.
maculipennis BrulU
Swiridowi Portsch. .

Eur. Amer. sept. ?

Eur.

Eur. raer.

Syria, Creta

Syria

Marocco

Eur. centr. et mer.
Eur.centr. et sept.

Eur. sept., Sibiria
Eur. sept. , Sibiria
Eur. centr. et mer.
Eur.mer.etor.,Sib.
Africa sept.

Italia

Algeria

Eur.centr. et mer. ,
Africa sept.
Fabr.)

Eur. mer.,Af. sept.

Eur.mer.,Af.sept.,

Syria

Eur.mer., Af.sept.,
Asia min.

Caucasus

Eatoni Ric.
hirticeps Lw. .
*calopsis Bigot
tomentosus Macq. .

apiarius Jaenn.
*expollicatus Pand.

villosus Macq.
*fezianus Bigot
rupium Brau.

* Letourneuxi Bigot

. Algeria
. Japonia
. Algeria

. Eur. mer. , Algeria

. Gallia
. Algeria
. Africa sept.

. Eur. centr.

. Algeria

gigas Herbst. .
albipes Fabr.
ignotus Rossi
grossus Thunb.
ursus A. Costa
tricolor Zell. .
carabaghensis Portsch. .
barbarus Coqueb. .
taurinus Meig.
maroccanus Fabr.
auricinctus Macq.
auripunctatus Macq.

? tibialis Macq.
angusticornis Lie. .
plebejus Fall.

sublunaticornis Zett.

? cetliereus Bigot
agricola Wied.
*mitidgensis Macq.
rusticus L.

? Rousselii Macq.
fulvus Meig. .

? ferus Scop,
alpinus Schrank ? Walk
var. rufipes Meig.
ruralis Zett.

? siccus Walk.
*aurotestaceus Walk.
*chinensis Thunb. .
latistriatus Brau. .

nigrifacies Gobert
lunatus Fabr. .

lunulatus Meig. pt.
anthophilus Lw.

Wideri Jaenn.
*alazinus Bigot
bifarius Lie. .

quadrifarius Lw.
quatuornotatus Meig.

quadrinotatus Gobert
nemoralis Meig.
glaucopis Meig. pt.
atricornis Meig. pt.
vittatus Fabr.
sabuletorum Lw. .
*Abazus Bigot
*cameronensis Bigot
*canipalpis Bigot .

Eur. centr.et mer.,
Asia min.

Eur. mer., As. min.
Rossia

Eur.mer. , Af. sept.

Algeria

Japonia

Eur. centr. et sept.

Afric. sept. , China
Algeria

Eur. centr.et mer. ,
Africa sept.
Eur. Africa sept.

China sept.

China, Cap. B.S.
Eur.

Eur. mer., Af.sept.,
Asia min.

Caucasus
Eur. centr. et mer.,
Af.sept.,AS'min-
Turkestan
Eur. centr. et mer.

Eur. mer. , Algeria

Eur. mer., Af.sept.
Turkestan
Persia ? Caucasus?
I. Madeira
Persia

TabanusL. (sens. O.Sack.)

apricus Meig. .
tropicus Meig. pt.

? infuscatus Lw.
Confucius Macq.

? Hoang Macq.
*arabicus Macq.
graecus Fabr. .
ferrugineus Meig.
segmentarius BrulU
infusus Walk.

? propinquus Palm,
*polyzonatus Bigot
paradoxus Jaenn. .

spodopterus Meig. .
Eggeri Schin
intermedius Egger

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. China sept.

. Arabia

. Eur.centr. et mer.,
Asia min.

. Persia

. Eur. centr.et mer.,
Caucas.

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Eur. mer., Algyp-
tus, Asia min.

TABANID/E

11

Yao Macq.

? trigonus Coquill.
sudeticus Zell.

var. ? perplexus Verr.
bovinus L.
trigeminus Coquill.
tenebrosus Coquill, (nec
Walk) ....
humilis Coquill.
bromius L.

maculatus UeG.
nemoralis Meig. pt.
scalar is Meig.
atricornis Meig. pt.
bronicus Gimm.
connexus Walk,
connexans Ric.
glaucus Meig.

glaucescens Schin.
clausicella Macq. .
tergestinus Egger .

glaucus Meig. pt.

Mikii Brau. .

grcecus Meig. pt.
maculicornis Zett. .
borealis pt. Meig.
nemoralis Meig. pt.
glaucus Walk,
nigricans Egger
glaucescens 9 Schin.
unicinctus Lie.
*obsolescens Panel.
spectabilis Lie.

lateralis BrulU (nec
Meig. )

? albivitlatus Macq.
rectus Lw.

ornatus Jaenn.
*yokoamensis Bigot
polygonus Walk.
autumnalis L.
bovinus Harris
barbarus Thunb.
algiricus Thunb,
*signatipennis Portsch.
regularis Jaenn.
biguttatus Wied. .
cilipes Macq.
cerberus Walk,
noctis Walk.

China sept.,
Japonia
Eur.

Eur., Caffraria
Japonia

Japonia

Japonia

Eur.

Eur. centr. , Anglia

China sept.

Eur. centr. et mer.

Eur. centr. , Dania

Eur. centr. etsept.

iEgyptus

Grsecia

Eur. centr. et mer.
Asia min.

. Eur. mer.

. Japonia
. Bagdad
. ,® Eur.mer.or. et occ.

Af. sept. , Syria
( nec Coqueb.)

Mongolia
Eur. centr.
Arabia, Africa or.
et Cap. B.S.

tripunctifer Walk.

nigrita Fabr. . . . Eur. mer., Af.

carbonarius Meig. sept. , Asia min.

gagates Lw.

glaucopis Meig. . . Eur.

ferrugineus Meig. (1804)
lunulatus Meig.
chlorophthalmus Meig.
flavicans Zell.
var. cognatus Lw.
var. castellanus Strobl

cordiger Meig. . . Eur. centr. et mer.,

atricornis Meig. Af.sept.,As.min.

latifrons Zett.
vicinus Egger (nec Macq.)
megacephalus Jaenn.

Braueri Jaenn.

albifacies Lw. . . .Egyptus

pulverifer Walk.
unifasciatus Lw.

*exclusus Band.
haematopotoides Jaenn. .
Gerkei Brau. .
lama Portsch.

Sufis Jaenn. .

alboveit rails Neiost.
^albicans Macq.
pulchellus Lw. • .
Pyrrhus Walk.

* niveipalpis Bigot
chrysurus Lw.

Buddha Portsch. .
taeniola Pal-Beauv.

? Sagittarius Macq.

? macrops Walk.

? rubicundus Walk (nec
? socius Walk.

? tibialis Walk.

? variatus Walk.

? longitudinalis Lw.

? dorsivitta Walk.

? secedens Walk.

? serratus Lw.

? virgatus Aust.

Mesopotamia
Eur. centr.et mer.,
Af.sept.,As. min.
Gallia
Eur. centr.

Ross mer. ,Caucas.

Mongolia

Africa sept, et or.

Arabia, Senegal
Af. sept. , As. min.
Japonia, Ind. or.
Pers. sept. Caucas.
Japonia
Mongolia
Africa

Macq. )

*agrestis Wied.
*dorsomacu!atus Macq.
*infestans Macq. .
*japonicus Bigot .
*pyrrhoceras Bigot
*rufidens Bigot
*ispahanicus Kert.
aspahanicus Rond.

■Egyptus

Algeria

Algeria

Japonia

Japonia

Japonia

Persia sept.

PANGONINJE.

SILVIUS Meig.

algirus Meig. . . . Eur. mer. , Algeria

? italicus Fabr.
appendiculatus Macq.

;<bicolor Biqot . . Africa sept.

? algirus Meig. 9
vituli Fabr.

? alpinus Scop,
decisus Walk.
alpinus Drap.

liirtus Lw.
dorsalis Coquill.
ochraceus Lie.
irritans Ric. .
*maroccanus Bigot
*barbatus Bigot

CHRYSOPS Meig.
hamata Lw. .

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Eur. centr.

. Japonia
. Asia min.

. Afghanistan
. Marocco
. Pedemont

. Asia min.

dissecta Lw. .
valida Lw.

suavis Lw.
japonica Wied.

aterrima Kirby
parallelogramma Zell,
bipunctata Motscli.

. Sibiria
. Sibiria

. Sibiria, Japonia
. Japonia, Amur

. Eur.centr. etsept.,
Sibiria

EREMOCH.il a

!■=»

C-JCXSTa Zr. .
V-SUri t-L- C £■! .

ti friccpt L>r£ ps
IipfKxuca L t.
dnioota Zr.

. Russia

. Ear. centr. et sept.
. Ear. sepE

. - . 7 7 pVa • A . : -

. sepE. Ahvka
. Lapponia
. Sibiria

napes M- *1. . . . Ear. net A~g.:a

ntpmkrmiis pi. ’ Meh.

^Meacharfi Mik . . Elyria

: a saraca M-iitj. . . Ear.

pieta Meig.

Hda-xfos rar. 1/j y. Isa
#fpx-~rni i- Z- 77. : I;;;

’ aara . . . Hispeoia

re&exa Mfim. . . . Ear.

r-zcsiitnt Poms. 'oec L.
rii.tiTa M- i:. Iris
i vs an p seura E -j. . Ear. sett

»>H rj Z<#.

aearfjeas L. . . . Ear.. Sibirsa

bi-rP rii L.

atiiririami Step.
mPAlj&i H-irrLt
ridroato F-Jkr.
rar. «fr> HomoEa Strati
"iudeas Zr. . . . Asia min.

eooaesa Lr. .

ZaKra Miig. -

A. ■_ ;./ - a

Marm-jeuia R<ymti .

- maEmaria Stop,
jfmastrmtm Air.
KiiTrirtnirii Lr.
Ef-xJw ci i'r.
AurunZa:s Eae* *.

~ i— . '-7: . . .

p^npieSlarii Lr.
pmmriaia Irtf.
fi'Iiiiiii Znr.

1 • : A :

ffmuu Ei::t

. Gallia
. Ear. mer.

. Africa, sept.

. Ear. cent?, et
mer.. Asia mm.

. Hispeaia ?

. Zar.centr.emer..
Algeria. Syria

. 5jria, GaZia?

. Qacai.

NEMORIL5 £ *d.

a£Jf«Eli Kritekr.
singula ris AL' .j. . . Ear. mer.

* aEprr.-A AC i'.j. . . Ear. centr. et mer.

Ramztymii Sriim.

Faiioitii Kriyrkb.

PANGONIA Lair.

TAST-JUSs*. AP io.
PBIL'.LICES Ci.
TIDES A ITaS.
r jctv4 l laZi.

It A 7 . MLSZCXJ. Re nd.
S 2IZCSZCRA Rr,. i.

oa :al s:a El aec Romiij Ear. mer. .AEsepL
pr-Ji-: p~i.ua Fair,
iaeandformu LbG:\ L/i'r.
raripenmii Lair.

granaiensis b - .

escalers Sir’El
' basaRs Haci.
narieguta Ea r.

? mantlaia Roam

. Hispania
. Elispania
. Algeria
. Ear. mer.

falvipes Lr. .
pyritosa Lr. .

. Asia min.

. Ear. centr. et mer .
Asia mm.

■bscurata Lr.

. Rhodus, Asia min.

fnmkLa Lr.
dimiciata Lr.
remisixiea Mew.
*RuppeDfi Jar: . .
amnis Lr.
oava Marti.

marginata Far -.

? wuxmritama L.
luaut* fata Fabr.
maaritamira Mryj.
rtli.alaia BrmUt
fanrrru Maeq.
aierrima I/mf.

mir-an^ M*ig. .

. Hispania
. Hispania
. Hispania
. Nubia
. Hispania
. Gallia

. Ear mer. Af sep-E
Asia min.

. Enr. mer.
nee Fair.)

. Hispania

. Caucasus

haaiirUata 0,ir.
omaia APia.
griseipennis L *.

^oroensis hi: rt

aperoa Lr.
*Hgris hi : ' -
^fascia ta La: r.

. LosZania

. Persia et Caucas.
. Scio, .Egyptus

NT E M E STRI N I DJE

N'z:

.VEMEaTRIXA Fa r.

JjfllZS'.HTZj. Rrynti.

Giirii d i<ti.
Cascifre os L'vyS.
PerezS loaf. .
rmtpes 0 i r. .

lateen, it iyd.
orioa Lb-d r.
rmScxrrnis Mary.
exsAsnaaL

. irao.soaspia
. -EgTpPas. EripoEs

. Tunisia
. H-spania
. -Z gypsa- . syra

. Turkestan
. Africa sept.

. Syria

franca trix Lr.

innotara Lr. i
'afcresoacea Lirktr.
rubrirentri? Lr.
keta Lr.

o bfccori penn i - Pyrtirh
crincta Maep£. .
atra Oirr.

nwra Rti.
^s<rypoiaca in^i.
striata Lirhtr.
triperatana Lirhtr. .
eapiio Zr.
marginata Zr.

. Turkestan

. Turkestan
. Transcaspia
. Transcaspia
. Armenia
. .Arabia
. .Egyptus

. Eur.mer. .Af.sepE
. Tripolis
. Tripolis
. Transcaspia
. Transcaspia

NEM £5 T PJN1P E— C Y RTI D

dedecor Lr. .
cinerea Lick:v. (nee Oiir .)
erlstalis L*r. .
innotata Lv. ...
reticulata Lair.

La.trri.hii Fitch.
signata Lvkrv.
canaanrbca Licit*.
bombiformis Portsck.
ruticaudis Licktir. .
amoena Lickiv.
melaleuea Lv.
nas-o Lv.

nigrifemorata Li-k ; v.
davipes L irk ; v.
fascia ta [Oiir. j

graeea Lick tv.
caucasica bitch.

Adamti Fitch,
anal it Olir.
albofasciata HUM
anthophorina Porttch. .
simplex Lv. .
mollis Lv.

Turcoman is
Thibet
Turcoman ia
Turkestan
Eur. mer.. Africa
sept.. Syria
Syria
S} ria
Caucasus
Mesopotamia
Turkestan
Transcaspi.i
Turcoman:;*
Transcaspia
Turcomans
Africa sept.
Gnecia

Eur. mer.. Africa
sept.. Syria

Caucasus

Transcaspia

Turkestan

Bol: ran S ~ •
*cdnerea Oiir.

. Hispar.ia. Gmv
. Arabia

Hermann! Lick v. . . Algeria

hirta Licktv. ... Turkestan
nigroTiiiosa I n . Htspan . .

pestsaca Licit v. . . Persia

RHYNCHOC E PHALUS Ft) .

Tauscberi Fitch. . . Rossia mer.

tavrirws ITW.

latirentris Porttrk. . Persia

E ALLEN I A M,ip.

fascists fair. . . Enr.Bfr.vV.Sfpt.

EIRKOXEITtlXA.

SYMMICTIS Lv.

M'J»nr?J.VJ Bipot

costatus Lv. . . . Hispar.ia. Africa

* ftro} ». .< >.< Fir •; sept. . Caffrar a

HERMON EURA Mtip.

fa fust .v v ;.'r: s fw..;

ohscura M i ip.
villosula L .

CVRTID JE.

PHI L OPO TIN iE.
PHILOPOTA irw.

OLICOSEIZA Bipot

murina Lv. .

. Eur. centr.

. Transcaspia

. Eur.

Grseeia. Asia mm.

Eur. mer.

Eur. mer..
Algeria

PAb'OPIK-E
ASTOMELLA Buf.

PHTSEGASTER Macq.
curviventris Bhif. .
claricornis Latr.
marpinata Latr.
a urea Fricht.

Lindenii Erichs.

1 "axe Hi r. d. Lind, (nec
ir,7jy/ii Klup)

Macquarti A. Costa
prandtpennis A. Cotta
? prarit Fricht.
apiformit 1 Vtstv.
bombiformis HV.\fr.
macula ta Macq.

CYRTINJE.

PTERODONTIA O. B. Gray
Waxelii Klup . . . Rossia mer.

CYRTUS Latr.
gibbus Fabr. .

? acephalns 1 'ill.
dentatus Macq.
pusillus Macq.

OPSEBIUS A. Costa

PITl tOG ASTER Lv.

inflatus Lv. .
forraosus Lv.

*perspieillatus A. Costa,
pepo Lv.

ACROCERA Mtip.

PARACROCERA Mik

aibipts Mi >p.

? orbicuiut Fabr.
z pubescent Liitr.
tumid a Fricht.
borealis Zett.
‘beta Gerst. .

‘nigrifemorata Meip.

= sanpuitua Mtip. (/.

Fall

s

Eur. mer. .Af. sept

Algeria

Gallia

llispania
Gallia mer.
Italia
Hispania

sanguinea Mt i .

z plobmJut var
trigramma Lv.
trigrammoides Pel.
stelviana JV1.

■» Brautri Pok.

Tar. punctata Pok.

ON CODES Latr.

HE SOPS Meip.
varms Latr. .

fu lipinotut Fricht.
*guttatus A. Costa .

z benacentit Pok.
•fumatus Fricht. .
‘apical is Meip.
gibbosus /.. .

leucomelat Mi ip.
marpinatus Curt,
cinpulatus Fricht.
nigripcs Zett.

*etru$cus Grif.

marpinatus var. ? (?rj
Bonatus Fricht.
pihb<*sut Pans,
paliipet Macq.
pallipes Latr. .
pibbosus Meio. (1$04)
marpinatus )feip.
Umbatus Mtip.
formosus Lv. .

. Sardinia

. Eur. mer.

Grif.)

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Eur. centr.

. Alpes

Eur. (nee Anglia)

Italia

Bavaria
Eur. centr.

Eur. centr. et sept.

Eur. sept.
f.

. Eur. (nee Anglia)

. Eur. centr. et ooc.

. Transcaspia

14

TROMOPTERA

TROMOPTERA.

BOMBYLIDiE.

BOMBYLINiE.

GLABELLULA Bezzi
PLATYGASTER Zett. (nec Latr.)
SPHjEROGASTER Zett. (nec Dej.)

GLABELLA Lie. (nec Swains.)
arctica Zett. . . . Eur. sept. , Sibiria

*femorata Lw. . . Rossia asiat.

EMPIDIDEICUS Beck.
cartliaginiensis Beck. . Algeria

anus Beck.
unicolor Lie. .
crinipes Beck.
raanca Lw.
sicula Egger .

florea Lw. (nec Fabr.
lata Lie.
notata Lie.
calva Lie.
bicolor Macq. .

CYRTOSIA Perris
opaca Lw.
nitens Lie.

*pallipes A. Costa .
*meridionalis Ilond.
pusilla Lw.
cinerascens Lw.
marginata Perris .

"occidental is Rond.
obscuripes Lw.

PLATYPYGUS Lw.

POPS I A A. Costa
chrysanthemi Lie. .
lativentris Lie.
melinoproctus Lw. .
bellus Lw.
pumilio Lie. .
*ridibundus A. Costa
melleus Lw. .
maculiventris Lae. .

APOLYSIS Lw.
eremophila Lw.
*andalusiaca .

Cgrtosia Strobl

OLIGODRANES Lw.
fumipennis Lie.
obscuripennis Lw. .
modestus Lw.

GERON Meig.

. Sicilia

. Sicilia, I. Canarise,
Africa sept.

. Sardinia
. I. Melita
. Transcaspia
. Rossia asiat.

. Gallia mer. , I.

Canarise
. Italia sept.

. Graecia

. Graecia, Rhodus
. Transcaspia
. Transcaspia
. Rossia mer.

. Transcaspia
. Italia mer.

. Eur . mer. , A5gy pt.
. Persia sept.

. Eur.or.,Ross.asiat.
. Hispania

. Graecia, Asia min.
. Graecia, Asia min.
. Transcaspia

angustifrons Beck. .
aenea Rossi

florea Mg. ( 1 S04)(necE.)
accola Beck. .
putilla Beck. .
incisa Wied. .

major Macq.
aurata Fabr. .

tceniolata A. Costa
Loewi Beck. .

? grata Lie.
punctipennis Lw. .
vagans Beck. .
versicolor Fabr.

hyalipennis Macq.
pusilla Meig. .

Novakii Strobl
pusilla Macq. (nec
forcipata BrulU
ignorata Beck.
carmelitensis Beck.
pallescens Beck.

TRIPLASIUS Lw.
bivittatus Lw.

PLOAS Latr.

COXOPHORUS Meig.
valida Lw.
alpicola Villen.
virescens Fabr.
maura Mikan
hirticornis Latr.
lurida Meig.
lata Buf.
fuliginosa Meig.
grisea Fabr. .

atrata Latr.
decipiens Lw.
fuscipennis Macq. .
fuminervis Buf.
glaucescens Lw.
flavescens Meig.
luctuosa Lie. .

pictipennis Macq. .
macroglossa Buf.
mauritanica Bigot
bivittata Lie. .
bella Beck.

gibbosus (Oliv. ?) Meig. . Eur. mer., Africa,
hybridus Meig. Syria

Olivierii Macq.

? capensis Walk.
var. halteralis Meig.

USIA Latr.

VOLUCELLA Fabr. (nec Geoffr.)
florea Fabr. . . . Eur. mer. ,Af. sept.

cuprea Macq.
gagathea Bigot

atrata Fabr. . . . Eur. mer., Af. sept.

vicina Macq.

? florea Scliin. (nec Fabr.)
vestita Macq. . . . Algeria

claripennis Macq. . . Algeria

. Algeria
. Transcaspia
. Armenia
. Sicilia

. Eur.mer ,As. min.

. Rhodus, Asia min.
. Transcaspia
. Asia min.

. iEgyptus,As.min.,
Syria

. Tunisia, Sibiria
. Eur.mer., As. min.,
Africa sept.

. Tunisia
. Gallia, Austria
. Hispania, Af.sept.

. Eur. mer., Af.sept.

. Hispania

. Graecia, Asia min.
. Tunisia

. Eur. mer., Af.sept.

. Eur. mer.

. Dalmatia, Corfu
iff-)

. Graecia

. Syria, Africa sept.
. Syria

. Hispania, Tunisia
. Tunisia, Cap. B.S.

. Graecia
. Alpes

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Hispania, Af.sept.
. Eur. mer.

. Transcaspia
. Eur.mer., Af.sept.
. Hispania
. Eur. mer. et or.

. Eur. mer.

. Turkestan

. Eur. mer., Algeria,
A mer. sept.

. Graecia, Asia min.
. Tunisia

BOMBYLIDiE

15

bombyliformis Lw.

adunca 9 Lw. (1871)
adunca Lw.
simplex Lie. .
pusilla Lie.
nobilis Lie.

. Turkestan

. Turkestan
. Asia min.

. Dalmatia
. Caucasus

LEGNOTOMYIA Bezzi
LEGNOTVS Lw. (nec Schiodte)
trichorrhoea Lie. . . Syria

PS I AT HOL ASIU S Beck.
bombylifoimis Beck. . Tunisia

PHTH I It I A Meig.
pulicaria Mikan
nigra Meig.
pygmcea babr.
campestris Fall,
gibbosa Walk.

*fulva Meig. .
convergens Lw.

Zimmermanni 9 Now.
minuta Fabr. .

Zimmermanni 6 Noic.
atriceps Lie. .
caneseens Lw.

pulicaria (pt.) Zett.
vagans Lw.
quadrinotata Lw. .
umbripennis Lw. .
*notata Bigot
conspicua Lw.
scutellaris Meig.

Gsedii Meig. .
maculata Meig.
punctata Meig.
subnitens Lie.
rustica Lie.

Simonyi Beck.

Eur., Tunisia

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr. et mer.

Eur. centr. et mer.

Rossia mer.

Eur. centr. et sept.

Ross mer. ,As.min.
Transcaspia
Eur. mer.

Corsica
Asia min.
Hispania

Eur.centr.et mer.,
Tunisia

Asia min.

Asia min.

I. Canariae

IIETEROTROPUS Lw.
albidipennis Lw. . . Transcaspia

SYSTCECHUS Lw.
setosus Lw. . . . Rossia

ctenopterus Mikan . Eur. centr. et mer.
minor Meig.
var. aurulentus Meig.
var. convergens Lw.

*sul|>hureus Mikan . Eur. (nec Anglia),
fulv us Meig. Tunisia

minimus F.( necSchra nk)
var. dalmatinus Lw.
ctenopterus var ? Strobl

leucoph seus Meig. .
var. lucidus Lie.
var. gallicus Villen.
gradatus Meig.

quadratus Lw. (l.c. )
autumnalis Wied. .
microcephalus Lie.
laevifrons Lw.
acuticornis Macq. .
*sericeus Meig.
nubilus Meig. (1804)

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Hispania

. Ross.mer., Algeria
. Sicilia
. Sibiria
. zEgyptus
. Eur. centr. et mer.

retrogradus Beck. .
trisignatus Portsch.
*albicans Macq.

exalbidus Meig.
latifrons Macq.

. Aigyptus
. Caucasus
. Algeria

. Hispania, Tunisia
. I. Canariae

ANASTCECHUS 0. Sack.

nitidulus Fabr.
diadema Meig.
caudatus Meig.
barbatus 0. Sack.
hircanus Wied.

stramineus Meig. .

Eur.centr.et mer.,
Japonia, Sibiria,
Amer. sept.

Eur. centr. mer. et
or., Asia occ.
Eur. mer. ,Af. sept.

BOMBYLIUS L.

“late (fruppe " Lw.
lugubris Lw. .
ater Scop.

*barbula Wied.
floccosus Lw. .
ambustus Wied.

dispar Meig.
fuscus Fabr. .
boghariensis Lucas
alveolus Beck.
maculipennis Macq.
*nigropenicillatus Bigot .

Eur. mer., Syria
Eur. centr. et mer.,
Asia sept, et
centr., Afr.sept.
Rossia mer.

Syria

Eur. or. centr. et
mer. , Ross .asiat.
Eur.mer.,Af.sept.
Algeria

Africa sept.

Asia min.

analis Fabr. . . , Eur.mer.,Af., Syria

? nigrita Cgrillo
discoideus Fabr.
thoracicus Fabr.
suffusus Walk.

dorsalis Lw. (nec Oliv.) . Transcaspia
pericaustus Lw. . . Turkestan

punctatus Fabr. (nec BeCl.) Eur. mer., Africa
subluna Walk.

“ 2te Gruppe" Lie.
pictus Panz. .

planicornis Fabr.
callipterus Lie.
mobilis Lie. .

. Eur. centr.et mer.,
Asia min.

. Sibiria
. Transcaspia

discolor Mikan . . Eur.centr.et mer.,

medius Scop, (nec L.) As.min.,Af.sept.

concolor Zell, (nec Mikan )
medius L. Eur. (nec Anglia),

punctatus DeG. Africa sept.

concolor Mikan

major Samou.
discolor Macq.
var. dalmalinus Strobl.

pictipennis Lw.

medius var. Strobl
seminiger Beck.
punctipennis Lw. .
alboraicans Lie.
pallipes Lw. .

? intermedins Walk,
con/rater Lw.

. Eur mer.,Af.sept.

. Tunisia
. Graecia, Asia
. Asia min.

. Eur. mer., Af. sept.

16

TROMOPTERA

“ 3te Gruppe " Lio.

major L. . . . Eur. , Africa sept. ,

variegatus DeG. Japonia, Amer.

sinuatus Mikan sept.

fratelkus Wied.
vicinus Macq.
var. consanguineus Macq.
var. australis Lw.

basilinea Lie. . . . Sicilia, Tunisia

collaris Beck. . . . Tunisia

fimbriatus Meig.
dimidiatus Meig.
var. expletus Lw.
ventralis Lie. .
debilis Lw.

. Eur.centr.etmer.,
Asia min.

. Corsica
. Syria

torquatus Lw. . . Eur. mer.

undatus Meig. (nec Mikan)
undatus Mikan . . Eur.centr.etmer.

var. diagonalis Meig.

*mus Bigot . . . Corsica

? Biroi Beck.

“ 4te Gruppe " Lw.
venosus Mikan
holosericeus Meig.
minor Zell, (nec L.)
^axillaris Macq.
rhodius Lw.
canescens Mikan .
minor Curt,
ctenopterus Walk.
variabilis Lw.

“ 5te Gruppe " Lie.
* pallens Meig.
*fuliginosus Wied. .
polypogon Lw.

“ 6te Gruppe " Lw.
nubilus Mikan
pilirostris Lw.
semifuscus Meig. .
senilis Jaenn.
cincinnatus Beck,
nigripes Strobl (nec

“ 8te Gruppe ” Lw.
senex Meig. .

deses Meig.
separatus Beck.

Biroi Beck.

? = mus Bigot

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Eur. centr.

. Rhodus

. Eur. centr. et occ.

. Eur. centr. et mer.

. Hispania
. Eur. mer.
. Syria

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Sardinia
. Eur. centr.

Macq.)

. Hispan., Lusitania

. Africa sept.

. Tunisia

“ 9te Gruppe'' Lw.
atriceps Lw. .

“ 10te Gruppe" Lw.
cruciatus Fabr.
leucopogon Meig.
posticus Fabr.
leucopygus Macq. .
quadrifarius Lw. .

. Japonia, Am.sept.

. Eur. mer., Tunisia

. Africa sept.

. Rossia mer.

fugax Wied. .

Eur. centr. et mer.

micans Meig. (nec

Algeria

Fabr.)

posticus Meig. (nec Fabr.)

vulpinus Meiq.

’ trich urus Wied.

Rossia mer.

*numida Macq.

Africa sept.

cinerascens Mikan .

Eur. centr.

fanillaceus Meiq.

argentifrons Lw.

Hispania

Transcaspia

similis Lw.

oceanus Beck.

I. Canariae

gracilipes Beck.

Algeria

tephroleucus Lw. .

Persia

*fumosus Duf.

Hispania

"lusitanicus Meig. . ,

Lusitania

fulvescens Meig.

Eur centr.etmer.

longirostris Meig.

Africa sept.

pumilus Meig.

Eur. mer.. As. min.

versicolor Fabr.

Af. sept.
Marocco

*Olivierii Macq.

Bagdad

citrinus Lw. .

Gallia mer.

*flavipes Wied.

/Egyptus

minor L.

Eur.

venosus Meig. (nec Mikan)

dilutus Meig.
subcinctus Meig.
albibarbis Zett.
pumilus Zett.

*cinerarius Wied. .

Rossia mer.

androgynus Lw.

Syria ?

flavescens Palm

Dalmatia

striatifrons Beck. .

Africa sept.

modestus Lw.

Eur. mer. et or.

*apicalis Meig.

Eur. mer.

*niveus Meig.

Eur. mer.

candidus Lw. .

Persia

hololeucus Lw.

Transcaspia

*obliquus Brulle

Graecia

"pallicrus Brulld .

Graecia

*vertebralis Duf. .

Hispania

* vagans Meig.

Africa sept.

*agilis Oliv. .

Gallia

*brevirostris Oliv. .

Gallia

*cinereus Oliv.

Gallia

*dorsalis Oliv.

Gallia

*gibbosus Oliv.

Gallia

*mauritanus Oliv. .

Africa sept.

'Tnaurus Oliv.

Gallia

*morio Oliv. .

Gallia

*capillatus Palm .

Dalmatia

*megacephalus Portsch.

Persia

* sen ex Rond, (nec Meig.)

Caucasus

*pallidulus Walk. .

jEgyptus

DISCHISTUS Lw.

BOMBYL ISOM A Rond.
minimus Schrank .
flavus Meig.
sulphureus Fabr. (nec
imitator Lw. .
simulator Lie.
nigriceps Lie. .
multisetosus Lw. .

Eur. centr.

Mikan)

. Asia min.

Syria

, Eur. mer. et or.
. Hispania

BOMBYLIM

17

flavibarbus Lw.
croaticus Lvert.
unicolor Lw. .
exiraius Beck.
barbula Lw. .
breviusculus Lw.
melanocephalus Fabr.

argyropygus Macq.
lutescens Lw.

*algirus Macq.
*singularis Macq.

llhodus, Tunisia
Croatia

Sicilia, Algeria
Tunisia
Gallia mer.

Eur. mer., As. min.
Eur. mer., Syria,
Africa sept.
Syria

Algeria

Algeria

LOMATINiE.

PRORACHTHES Lw.

Ledereri Lie. . . . Asia min.

CONONEDYS llerm.
stenura Lw. .
erythraspis Herm. .

APHCEBANTUS Lw.
Escheri Bezzi

PLESIOCERA Macq.
algira Macq. .

CODIONUS llond.
*chlorizans Bond. .

ANISOTAMIA Macq.

=? OXCODOCEBA Macq.
ruficornis Macq.

LOMATIA Meig.

STYGIA Meig.
superba Lw. .
gratiosa Lie. .
fasciculata Lie.
grajugena Lw.

Erinnys Lw. .

Alecto Lac.

Lachcsis Egger
Belzebul Fabr.
lateralis Meig.

Belzebul Pnz. (nec
Atropos Egger
obscuripennis Lie. .
Rogenhoferi Noxo. .
sabsea Fabr.
infernalis Schin.
Tisiphone Lie.
polyzona JjW.

ILecate Lid. (1869)
tibialis Lie.
bella Lad.
inornata Lw. .
fuscipennis Portsch.

* Hecate Meig.

TOXOPHORIN.®.

Turkestan

Graecia

Algeria
. Algeria
. Persia

. iEgyptus

. Asia min.

. Hispania
. Asia min.

. Graecia
. Eur. mer.

. Asia min.

. Eur. centr.

. Eur.mer.,Af.sept.

. Eur.(necAnglia?),
F.) Tunisia
. Dalmatia
. Hispania
. Eur. centr.

. Eur. mer. .Tunisia
. Rossia mer., Syria
. Hispania, Tunisia
. Rhodus, Asia
(nec Meig.?)

. Transcaspia
. Transcaspia
. /Egypt us
. Sibiria
. Ralia

ANTONIA Lw.

DIMORPHOPHOHA Walk.

TOXOPHORA Meig.

IlENICONE ORA Macq.
maculata Rossi
? fasciculata VilL

epargyra Herm.
*t'uscipennis Macq.

ECLIMUS Lw.

THE VENETIM VIA Bigot
EPJ BATES 0. Sack.
gracilis Lie. .

? venosus Bigot
hirtus Lad.
perspicillaris Lie. .
*Quedenfeldti Engel

AMICTUS Wied.

THL1PS0MYZA Wied.
TRUQUIA llond.
THLYPSOG ASTER Bond.
scutellaris Lid.
insignis Lid. .
nobilis Lw.
latifrons Lid. .
variegatus Waltl .
strigilatus Lid.

pictus Lw.
setosus Lw.
zinamominus Beck.
validus Lw. .

compressus Wied. (fig.
*insularis Rond.
*compressus U7«<7.(deser
nec fig.) (? Fabr.)
tener Beck.

*castaneus Macq. .
*heteropterus Macq.
oblongus Fabr.
pulchellus Macq. .

CYLLENIA Lair.
maculata Latr.

? rmtica Rossi
obsoleta Lid. .
marginata Lad.
globiceps Lw.

‘laevis Bigot .

TOMOMYZA Wied.

STOMYLOMYIA Bigot
europaea Lw. .

? leonina Bigot
tenella Lw.
fornicata Lw.

Eur.mer.,Af.sept.
et Cap. B.S.,
Asia min.

Asia min.
Eur.mer.?,Af.sept.

Asia min.

Acarnania

Archipelagus

Algeria

suavissima Lw.

syrphoides ITalA'.
Fedtschenkoi Lw. .

. iEgyptus
Turkestan

Asia min.
Turkestan
Turkestan
Transcaspia
Hispania, Af.sept.
Rhodus, Af. sept.,
Asia min.
Corfu, Africa sept.
Asia min.

Algeria

Asia min., Cyprus
nec descr.)
Archipelagus

Hispania, Algeria
Algeria

Algeria
Algeria
Africa sept.
Algeria

Eur. mer.

Asia min.
Asia min.
Turkestan
Tunisia

Hungaria, Rho¬
dus, Asia min.
Hispania
Syria

SYSTROPIN-SC.
SYSTROPUS Wied.

CEPHENES Lair.

Barbiellinii Bezzi .
polistoides Westw. .

China

China

chinensis Bezzi

China

18

TROMOPTERA

ANTHRACINJE.

CALLISTOMA Macq.

fascipennis Macq. . . Graecia, Creta,As.

min., Af. sept.

soror Lw. . . . Turkestan
desertorum Lw. . . Turkestan

MULIO Latr.

CYTHEREA Fabr.

CHALCOCHITON Lw.

GLOSS 1ST A Rond.

LOGCOCERIUS Rond.

tauricus Beck.

. Asia min.

obscurus Fabr.

. Eur. mer. ,

Asia

min. , Af. sept.

trifarius Beck,

. Algeria

infuscatus Meig.

. Gallia mer.,
Hispania

"cinereus Fabr.

. Marocco

delicatus Beck.

. Tunisia

maroccanus Beck. .

. Africa sept.

nucleorum Beck, .

. Syria

argyrocephalus Macq.

. Africa sept.

farinosus Lw.

. Transcaspia

dispar Lie.

. Transcaspia

barbarus. Sack

. Tunisia

fenestratus Lw.

. Transcaspia

fenestrulatus Lw. .

. Transcaspia

alexandrinus Beck. .

. Egyptus

transeaspius Beck. .

. Transcaspia

carmelitensis Beck,

. Syria, Asia min.

aureus Fabr. .

. Eur. mer. ,

Asia

? punctipennis Macq. min., Af. sept,
claripennis Beck. . . Transcaspia

persicanus Beck. . . Persia

"brevirostris Oliv. . . Gallia

albifrons Lw. . . . Transcaspia

fratellus Beck. . . Transcaspia

argentifrons Macq. . Africa sept,

lugubris Lw. . . . Transcaspia

? aberrans (Cyllenia) Walk. (1852)
holosericeus Fabr. . . Eur.mer.,Af.sept.

semiargenteus Macq.
aberrans ( Cyllenia ) Walk. (1849)
semiargyreus Strobl . Hispania
Pallasii Lie. . . . Eur. mer.

holosericeus Wied. (nec Fabr.)

melaleucus Lie. . . Transcaspia

melanoleucus Beck.
syriacus Lie. . . Syria

Pallasii Now. (nec Lie.)
speciosus Lw. . . Asia min.

frontalis Wied. . . Egyptus, Turke¬

stan, Asia min.

HYPERALONIA Rond.

VELOCIA Coquill.

ferrea Walk. . . . Eur. centr. et or. ,

Rhodus

Tantalus Fabr. . . Japonia

cceruleipennis Dolesch.

Gebleri Lae. . . . Japonia

Helena Lw. . . . iEgyptus

gloriosa Walk.

'\similis Coquill. . . Japonia

EXOPROSOPA Macq.

TRIE ARIA Muls.
ARGYROSPILA Rond.
HETERALONIA Rond.
DEFILIPPIA Lioy
EXOPTATA Coquill.
*anus Wied. .
*decrepita Wied. .
*vetula Wied.

Minos Meig. .

Germari Wied.
semialba Wied.
senilis Klug
albivenlris Macq,
semiflavida Beck. .
Minois Lw.

*squamea Muls.
dedecor Lie. .
stupida Rossi .

Rhadamanthus Meig.
chalcoides Wied,
var. Iris Lie.
’Tnucorea King
"Letho Wied.

*Latona Wied.

rutila Wied. .
Daubei Guer.
Miegii iJiif.
interrupta Muls.
hilaris Eversm.
Tamerlan Portscli. .

"griseipennis Macq.
*antiea Walk,

*volitans Wied.
normalis Lie.
algira Fabr. . .

pygmalion Macq. (nec
Fabr. )
sicula Macq.
archimedea Bigot
singularis Macq. pt.

? var. suavipennis Mai
fallaciosa Lw.
rivulosa {Klug) Beck.
bagdadensis Macq.
*tephroleuca Lw. .

bagdadensis var. Beck.
singularis Macq.
*Oiivierii Macq.
*nigrifera Walk.
nubeculosa Lw.
latiuscula Lie.
occlusa Lw.
completa Lw. .
melanoptera Wied.
delineata Beck.
suffusa Klug .
conturbata Lw.
*disrupta Walk.
Pygmalion Fabr. .

varinervis Macq.
rivularis Meig.

sabcea Meig. (nec F.)
argyrocephala Macq.
munda Lie.

rivularis var. Griff.

/Egyptus
jEgyptus
Aigyptus
Eur. mer. , Africa
sept.

Tunisia
Rhodus, Asia
Gallia
Turkestan
Eur. centr. et mer.

Graecia

Syria

Egyptus

Egyptus

Eur. mer., Sibiria,
Transcaspia

Asia media

Egyptus

Arabia

Egyptus, Graecia

Eur. mer., Africa
sept.

Transcaspia
Egyptus
Mesopotamia
Africa sept.

Arabia, Egyptus

Arabia

Egyptus

Turkestan

Transcaspia

Transcaspia

Transcaspia

Transcaspia

Tunisia

Africa sept.

Rossia mer.
Arabia

Eur. mer., Africa
sept.

Eur. mer., Africa
sept.

Sicilia

BOMBYLIDiE

19

dispar Lw.

rivularis var. Griff.
*Busiris Jaenn

/Eacus Mftig. .

Uvula Wied.
hornhyciform is La f.
lutea Macq.
Telamon Lxv. .

Rhodus

yEgyptus

Eur. mer., Africa
sept.

Archipelagus

Eur. mer., Africa
sept.

Jacchus Fabr.
italica Rossi
? Pandora Fabr.

Jocclius Fabr. (laps, cal.)

? Megcera {Fabr.) Lw. (laps, cal.)
picla Meig.

Maenas Lav. . . . “Grusien”

italica Meig. (nec Rossi) Hispania, Bavaria
var. Megcera Meig. (t. typ.)

(nec Fabr.)
baccha Lw.

Cleomene Egger

Eur. mer.
Eur.centr.etsept. ,
Africa sept.

Eur., Amer. sept.

eapucina Fabr.
caloptera Wied.

Pandora Macq. (nec Fabr.)

? culi/ornice Walk,
dorcadion O. Sack.
serpentata Lw. . . .Egyptus

grandis Wied.
fasciata Duf. (nec Mg. )
turcomana Portsch.
Pallasii Wied.
rhymnica Eversm.
Jjionysii Bigot
melaena Lw. .
arenacea Beck.
adelpha Beck.

/Egina Wied. .

Bovei Macq.
bovis Beck. (laps, cal.)
*Herzi Portsch.
flavofasciata Macq.
*monacha King
*ferruginea King .

*Truquii Rond.
Mayeti Bigot .
*lugubris Macq.
vespertilio Wied. .

Megerlei Meig.
vesperugo A. Costa
*phaeoptera Meig. .
*noctilio King
*consanguinea Macq.
pectoralis Lie.

zona Bigot
chalybaea v. Rod. .

p

*campicola Eversm.

Eur. mer., Asia,
Africa sept.

Eur. raer., Arabia,
Transcaspia

Persia sept.
Sahara
Tunisia
^Egyptus

Corea
China sept.
Syria
Syria

Cyprus
Tunisia
Arabia
Eur. mer.

Tunisia
Eur. centr.
Syria
^Egyptus
Graecia, Cyprus

Sicilia

Syria

Rossia mer. ,
Transcaspia

SPONGOSTYLUM

pallipes Lw. .
Havipes v. Rod.
Ocyale Wied. .

Macq.

. Asia min.
. Asia min.
• -Egyptus

*Hippolyta Wied. .

*irrorella King

ARGYRAMCEBA Schin.
SPOGOSTYLUM Willist.
COQUILLETTIA Willist.
ANTHRAX (sens. Bezzi)
etrusca Fabr. .
satyrus Rossi (nec F. )
ruing inipennis Macq. (descr,
forniosa Duf.
hetrusca Auet.
nivea Rossi
var. Lioyi Griff.
lepida Herm. .
anthracina Beck. .
dedecor Herm.

Isis Meig.

var. pilosula Strobl.
niphas Herm.
subnotata U7E(nec Mg.)
binotata Meig.

subnotata Meig.

*muscaria King (nec IE.)
trinotata Duf.
tripunetata Wied. .

difficilis Meig.
lucida Beck. .

*appendiculata Macq.
(1849).

*appendiculata Macq.

(1855 nec 1849) .
trifasciata Meig.
capilulata Muls.
cethiops Laboulb.
leucogaster Meig. .
varia Fabr.

.Egyptus
Syria, ^Egyptus

Eur. mer., Africa
sept., Persia
nec fig.)

Italia

Asia min.
iEgyptus
Asia min.

Eur. centr. et mer. ,
./Egyptus
Transcaspia
iEgyptus
Eur. centr.

^Egyptus, Syria
Hispania
Eur. mer.

-'Egyptus

Algeria

China sept.

Eur. centr. et mer.

trimaculata Beck. .
dentata Beck. .
virgo Egger .

var. pedemontana Griff.
velox Lw.
aethiops Fabr.

punctata Meig.

*stictica King
distigma Wied.

argyropyga Dolesch.
tripunetata v.cl. Wulp.
sabulonis Beck.
inaura ta King
anthrax Schrank .
mono Scop. (L. pt.)
sinuata Meig.

Corsica

Eur. (nec Anglia),
California
I. Canariae
Tunisia
Italia, Gallia

Graecia, Italia
Eur. (nec Anglia)

Syria

Japonia

Algeria

Syria

Eur. (nec Anglia)

polystigma Sack.
heteropyga Sack.
maculosa Sack.

. Povos.

. Graecia
. Pamir

ANTHRAX Scop.

Thyridanthuax 0. Sack.
polyphemus Meig. . . Eur. mer.
*varipennis Macq. . . Algeria

3 E

20

TROMOPTERA

fenestratus Fall. . . Eur.

nigrita Fabr. pt.
maurus Meig.
variegatus Wied.
ornatus Curt.
perspicillaris Lw.
gallus Lw.

fenestratus var. Griff.
hispanus Liu. .
mutilus Lw. .
indigenus Beck.

*plagiatus Walk.
incanus Klug.

?testaceus Macq.
obliteratus Liu.
stigmula King.
griseolus Klug.
elegans Meig. .

? variegatus Jaenn. (nec Wied.)
nebulosus Duf. . . Hispania

occipitalis Liu.
nubilus Liu.

misellus Lw. . . . Graecia,

pelagus

subarcuatus Lw. . . Turkestan

nitidifaseiatus Portsch. . Asia centr.

Eur. mer., Tunisia
Gallia mer.,
Tunisia

Hispania, Af. sept.
Rhodus
I. Canariae
/Egyptus
Africa sept.

Graecia

Syria, /Egyptus
Syria

Eur. mer. , Af. sept.

Archi-

Anthrax Scop.

HEMIPENTHES Lw.

morio L. pt. .
semiater Meig.
morioides Sag
seminiqer Liu.
lotus Lw.
vagans Lw.
*punctulatus Macq.

punctatus Macq.
*marginalis Meig. .
*aegyptia us Macq.
syphax Fabr. .
Massinissa Wied. .
afer Fabr.

fimbriatus Meig.
abruptus Lw.

unctus Lw.
melanchlaenus Liu. .

afer var. Griff.
inconspicuus Lw. .
maurus L.
denigratus L.
hirsulus Fillers
Dcemon Panz.
bifasciatus Meig.
uncinus Lw. .
hamiferus Lw.
praecisus Lw. .
velutinus Meig.

? morio Fillers pt.
? holosericeus Meig.
bicinctus Meig.
nycthemera Meig.

? maurus Meig.
*arabicus Macq.
■‘triuscarius Wied. .

? afer Fabr.
*minutus Macq.

. Eur. (nec Anglia),
Amer. sept.

. Rhodus, Asia min.

. Eur. mer. , As. min.

. Gallia

. Lusitania
. iEgyptus
. Africa sept.

. Nubia

. Eur (nec Anglia),
Africa sept.

. I. Canariae, Caf-
fraria

. Rhodus, Asia min.
. Rhodus, Asia min.

. /Egyptus
. Eur. (nec Anglia),
Sibiria

. Ross, sept., Sibiria
. Sibiria
Sibiria

. Eur. centr. et mer., I
Tunisia

(1804)

. Arabia
. Rossia mer.

. Algeria

occultus Meig.
punctum Lw.

brunnipennis Macq.
(Beck?)

Petrorossia Bezzi
hesperus Rossi
albipectus Walk.
longitarsis Beck.
angustoculatus Beck.

Hyaeanthrax 0. Sack.
ASPILOPTERA Kiinck.
VILLA Lioy
hottentottus L.

flavus Meig.

Paniscus Rossi
cingulatus Meig. pt.
bimaculatus Macq.
hottentottus Walk.

"can us Meig. .
*bicingulatus Macq.
distinctus Meig.
circumdatus Meig. .
hottentottus Schell.

? modestus Meig.
flavus Curt,
cingulatus Walk.
"limbatus Coquill. .
venustus Meig.
dolosus Jaenn.
turbidus Lw.
halteralis Kow.

circumdatus Meig. pt.
cingulatus Zett. pt.
fasciatus Meig.
cingulatus Meig.
claripennis Kow.
*stceehades Jaenn.
*faseiventris Macq.
stenozonus Lw.
quinquefasciatus Meig.

Ixion var. Griff.
blandus Lw. .

*perfectus Beck.

Ixion Fabr.

Abbadon Fabr.

Abaddon Meig.
concinnus Meig.
leucostoma Meig. .
melanurus Lw.
euzonus Liu. .
ni triceps Macq.
*margaritiferus Duf.
"macrops Portsch. .
niphobletus Lw.
cingulum Meig.
senecio Liu.

*squamifer Jaenn. .
pygarga Lw. .
humilis Ruth6
mucidns Zell.
albulus Lw.

humilis var. Griff,
senecio var. Beck.

Eur. centr. et
mer., Sibiria
Italia, Graecia

I. Canariae

Eur. mer. , Afr.
sept.

Africa sept.
/Egyptus

Eur. (nec Anglia?)
Eur.

Gallia mer.
Naxos

Hispania, Gallia
Eur.

J aponia

Hispania, Gallia
mer ?

Eur. (nec Anglia)

Eur. mer.

Eur.

Eur. centr.

Gallia mer.

Algeria

Makri

Eur.centr. et. mei\

Makri, Sibiria,
Asia min.
Tunisia

Eur. centr. et mer.
Eur. mer.

Eur. mer.

. Hispania mer.

Hispania mer.

. I. Canariae
. Hispania
. Armenia
. Asia min.

. Lusitania
. Corfu, /Egvptus
. Hispania, Gallia
Asia min.

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Rhodus, Makri

BO MBY LI DE— T H ERE VI DE

21

micrargyrus Walk.
•‘niloticus Jaenn. .

* unicingulatus Macq .
ventruosus Lie.
ovatus Lie.
brunnescens Lie.

clarissimus Lie.

cgprignus llond.
unicolor Reck.
nigrifrons Macq.
*Iongipennis Macq.

• Egyptus
. Abyssinia
. I. Scio
. Sicilia
. Rossia asiat.

. Syria

. Cyprus, Syria, As.
min.

. .Egyptus
. I. Canariae
. Mesopotamia

*rufipes Macq. . . Africa

albif tides Macq.

’tangerinus Bigot . . Marocco

Circe King . . . Syria, Egyptus

*erythrostomus Rond. . Persia sept.

insequalis Beck. . . Tunisia

"stenogaster A. Costa . Sardinia

*scutellatus Meig. . Bavaria

*suffusus Walk.(nec. King) .Egyptus
*nomas Eversm. . ■ Kirghisia

*persicus Macq. . . Persia

THEREVID^.

PHYCUS Walk.

SALES!' I A A. Costa
dispar Meig. .
fuseipennis A. Costa
tristis v. Rod.

XESTOMYZA Wied.

CIONOPHORA Egger
chrysanthemi Fa hr.
rhagioniformis Duf.
heli'inthemi Duf. (laps.
*Kollari Egger
tuberculata Beck. .
costalis Wied.

culiciformis Duf. .
calyciformis Schin.

BARYPHORA Lie.

? TABL'D A Walk.

? PACHYRRHIZA Phil.
speciosa Lie. .
DIALINEURA Rond.
anilis L. .
flavipes Fabr.
sordida Panz.

? albicans Macq.
rufipes Macq.

PSILOCEPHALA Zett.
eximia Meig. .
laticornis Lie.
quadripunctata Lie
melaleuca Lie.
formosa Lie. .
melanostoma Lie.
imberbis Fall.
mendicula Lie.

*albata Coquill.
ardea Fabr. .
ruslica Panz.
plebeia Schrank
con finis Fall,
ruficaudis Meig.
fuseipennis Cooke
fuseipennis Meig. .
nigripennis Ruthe .
lapponica Zett.

. Eur. mer.
. Eur. mer.

Hispania,Af.sept.

cal.)

Dalmatia

Tunisia

Marocco

Hispania

nuda Lie.

Archipclagus

Eur.

Eur. (nec Anglia)

Eur. centr.

Turkestan

Eur. centr. et mer.

Turkestan

Egyptus

Eur.centr. etsept.

Sibiria

Japonia

Eur.

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr. etsept.

nana Wo l last.
Frauenfeldi Lie.
nigrifrons Beck.

THEREVA Latr.
EXAPATA Macq.

flavescens Lie.
lutescens Lie.
subfasciata Schumm.
*flavilabris Meig. .
fulva Meig.
*anthracoides Macq.
nobilitata Fabr.
hirta DeG.
nobilis Gmel.
plebeia Fall.

? cincta Meig.
var. oculata Egger
arcuata Lie. .

? tceniata Meig.

* albilabris Meig. .
tristis Lie.

*subtilis Lie. .
tuberculata Lie.
plebeia L.

monos Harris
fasciata DeG.
strigata Fabr.
lugubris Fabr.
rustica Full,
lugens Lie.

*funebris Meig.

lugubris Meig. (1804)
did) ma Lie. .

? albipennis Meig.
circumscripta Lie. .

? frontalis Schumm. (
ursina Wahlb.
occulta Beck.
spinulosa Lie.
*claripennis Lie.
*binotata Lie.
bipunctata Meig.
unicus Harris
var. canescens Zett.

, *nervosa Lie. .

. Egyptus

. I. Madeira
. Egyptus
. Egyptus

Asia min.

Rossia mer.

Eur. centr.

Eur centr.

Eur. centr. et mer.

Sicilia

Eur.

Eur.

Eur. centr.
Italia mer.
Sicilia
Eur. mer.
Eur.

. Eur. centr.

(nec Fabr.)

. Eur. centr.

. Eur.centr. etsept.
nec Wied.)

. I. Canalise
. Eur. mer.

. Asia min.

. Sicilia

. Eur.centr.etsept.,
Africa sept.

. Rossia, Sibiria

22

DERMATINA

marginula Meig.

? marginata Rossi
albipennis Zett.
fuscinervis Zett.
lanata Zett. .

vetula Zett.
poeciloptera Lw.

*spiloptera Wied. .
*punctipennis Wied.
*pallipes Lie. .
*macularis Wied. .
*thoracica Macq. .
apicalis Wied.

bivittata Lw.
am oen a Kow. .
sybarita Lw. .
annulata Fabr.

anilis Fabr.
poecilopa Lw.

hebes Lw.

*citrina Beck.
*bisignata 0. G. Costa
*ruficornis Gimm. .
*bicinctella A. Costa
*nuba Wied. .

. Eur. centr.et sept.

. Eur. sept.

. Eur. sept.

. Sicilia, Hispania,
Tunisia
. Africa sept.

. Rossia mer.

. Rossia mer.

. lEgyptus
. yEgyptus
. Eur. yen tr. et mer.

. Eur. centr.

. Calabria
. Eur.

. Rossia mer.

. .Egyptus
. Italia mer.

. Rossia
. Sardinia
. yEgyptus

prsecox Egger . . Eur. centr.

lunulata Zett. .
frontata Beck.

"'caesia Meig. .

"alpina Egger
valida Schin. (nec Lw.)
aurata Lie.

var. auricincta Egger
*obtecta Lw. .

*valida Lw.
microcephala Lw.
*brevicornis Lie.
nigripes Lw. .

rustica Lw.
superba Egger
atripes Lw.

*Rondanii Jaenn.

Eur. sept.

I. Canariae
Bavaria
Eur. centr.

Eur. mer. , As. min.

Sicilia
Eur. centr.

Eur. centr.

Eur. mer.

Eur. centr. ,Sibiria

Eur. centr.
Rossia, Sibiria
Helvetia

CiENOPHANOMYIA Bezzi
C.ENOPHANES Lw.

insignis Lw. . . . Cyprus, As. min. ,

appendiculata v. Rod. Persia sept.

RUEPPELLIA Wied.

*semiflava Wied. . . yEgyptus

SCENOPINUS Lair.

ATRICHIA Schrank
CONA Schell.
hypselura Meig.
ASTOMA Liog
fenestralis L.

tardus L. {t. Hal.)
spoliatus Scop,
saltitans Scop,
senilis Fabr.
fasciatus Schrank
pallipes Sag
sulcicollis Meig.
domesticus Meig.
rufitarsis Meig.
furcinervis Zett.
graminicola Zett.
opaculus Lw. .
brevicornis Lie.
varipes Lw.

DERMATINA.

SCENOPINIDy^.

. Eur., Amer. sept.

. Rossia mer.
. Rossia mer.
. Rossia mer.

niger DeG.
fenestralis (pt) Fabr.
rugosus Fabr.
tarsatus Panz.
ater Fall,
nigripes Meig.
fasciatus Walk, (nec
lesinensis Strobl
glabrifrons Meig. .
halteratus Meig.
orlnta Meig.
vitripennis Meig.
Icevifrons Lie.
nitidulus Lw. .
albicinctus Rossi .

Zelleri Lw.
clausus Lw. .
limpidipennis Lie. .
lueidus Beck. .
niveus Beck. .

. Eur.centr. et sept.

Schrank)

. Dalmatia
. Eur. mer., Am.
sept.

. Transcaspia
. Eur. mer.

. Transcaspia
. Persia sept.

. /Egyptus
. Tunisia

MYDAID/E.

LEPTOMYDAS Gerst.

lusitanicus Meig. .

fulvioentris Buf.
*lineatus Otic.
*maeulatus Walk. .
*sardous A. Costa .

. Hispania, Corsica,
Af. sept.

. yEgyptus
. Arabia
. Sardinia

EREMOMYDAS Semen.

*chan Semen. . . ■ Transcaspia
*emir Semen. . . . Transcaspia

SYLLEGOMYDAS Beck.

*vittatus Wied. . . Africa sept.

algiricus Gerst. . . Africa sept.

vittatus Macq. (nec I Vied. )
claripennis Beck. . . Tunisia

cinctus Macq. . . Algeria

RHOPALIA Macq.

Spinolse Macq. . . .Egyptus
^Olivieri Macq. . . yEgyptus

PERISSOCERUS Gerst.
*cylindrieornis Portscli. . Transcaspia
"transcaspieus Portscli. . Transcaspia

ENERGOPODA — ASILID/E

23

ENERGOPODA.

ASILIDiE.

ASILIN.®.

PROMACHUS Lw.

TRUPANEA Macq.
canus Wied. .
leoninus Lw. .
leontochlaenus Lw.

viridiventris Macq.
mustela Lw. .
microlabis Lw.
maculatus Fabr.
rectangularis Lw. .

? cine tip es Walk.
Rueppellii Lw.

cinicolor Walk.
*anicius Walk,
yesoniens Bigot
ater Coquill.
testaceipes Macq. .
pallipennis Macq. .
pictus Meig. .

consanguineus Macq.
latitarsatus Macq. .
vexator Beck.

*cypricus Rond.
laciniosus Beck.

. Rossia mer.

. Grsecia, Asia min.

. Rossia mer.,
Transcaspia
. China sept.

. Syria
. Syria

. Eur.mer.etor.,As.
. Egyptus, Arabia

. Egyptus

. China sept.,
Japonia

. China sept.

. China sept.

. Eur. centr. mer.
et or.

. I. Canariae
. I. Canariae
. 1. Canariae

. I. Cyprus
. Tunisia

"guineensis Wied. .

ALCIMUS Lw.
*ludens Wied.
*albopilosus Macq.
?

*ponticus Bigot

. I. Canariae

. Egyptus
. China sept.

. Persia

PHILODICUS Lw.

speetabilis Lie. . • Turkestan

PROCTACANTHUS Macq.

AC A NTIIODELPHIA Bigot

gigas Eversm.

* niveus Macq.
*minor Portsch.
*Shah Rond. .

Rossia mer.
Arabia
Asia media
Persia sept.

trivialis Lw. .
approximata Beck.
helvipes Lw. .
*aberrans Scliin.

p

* vegeta Wied.
POLYPHONIUS Lw.
laevigatus Lw.

PHILONICUS Lie.
albiceps Meig.

? delector Harris
canescens Meig.
alhibarbus Zell,
nudus Lie.
elutus Lw.

albiceps var. Pand.

ANTIPHRISSON Lie.
trifarius Lie. .

adpressus Lw.
angustifrons Lw.
elachypteryx Lie.
fuligineus Lw.

*aberrans Scliin.
*sareptanus Liclitw.
*Thalhammeri Liclitw.
*testaceicornis Macq.

( Proctacanlhus )

ASILUS L.
barbarus L. .
crabroniformis L. .

algirus Schrank (nec L.
*lueidus Wied.

ECCOPTOPUS Lie.

CCELOPVS Beck.
longitarsis Macq. .
erythrogastrus Lie.
lucidus Beck,
nitulus Beck. (laps, cal,

RHADIURGUS Lw.
variabilis Zetl.

Transcas., Algeria
Tunisia

Transcas., Algeria
^Egyptus

/Egyptus

Graecia, Corfu,
Rhodus

Eur., Sibiria,
Japonia

Gallia mer. , Sicilia

Eur. mer. , Asia
min. , Tunisia
Asia min.

Asia min.

Rossia mer.
Rossia mer.
Hispania
Rossia mer.

Eur. mer.

China sept.

Eur. mer. , Af. sept.
Eur., Africa sept.

Caucasus, Persia

Persia

Hispania, Tunisia

)

Eur. centr.et sept.

CiKiriO

POLYSARCA Scliin.
ungulata Wied.
neptis Lw.

*violacea Scliin.

. Rossia mer.

. Transcaspia
. Rossia

APOCLEA Macq.
*algira Fabr. .
conicera Lw. .
*illustris Schin.
femoralis Wied.
micracantha Lie.
helva Wied. .
pallida Macq.
fuscana Macq.

. Africa sept
. /Egyptus
. /Egyptus
. /Egyptus
. .Egyptus
. Egyptus

PAMPONERUS Lw.
germanicus L.
niger DeG.
tibialis Fabr.
var. Iielveticus Mik

GEN.?

armatipes Macq. .
ECHTHISTUS Lie.
rufinervis Wied.

? flavescens Macq.
cognatus Lie. .

rufi nereis Meig. pt.

. Eur.

. China sept.

. Eur. centr.
. Eur. mer.

24

ENERGOPODA

ANTIPALUS Lw.
varipes Meig. .

rufinervis Meig. pt.
xanthopygus Rathe
macrurus Rathe
aurijluus Zell,
tenax Zell,
flabellifer Panel.
Krueperi Lw.
truncatus Lw.

. Eur. (nec Anglia)

. Graecia
. Asia min.

bilobus Lw.
stenogastrus Lw. .
bifurcus Lw. .

? varius Meig.
'hiulcus Panel.
cochleatns Lw.
trilobus Strohl
dasyproctus Lw.
*fuscocinereus Macq.
basalis Lw.

. Rossia mer.
. Turkestan
. Eur. centr.

. Gallia mer.

. Eur. mer.

. Bosnia
. Corfu
. Algeria
. Eur. centr.

PROTOPHANES Lw.
punctipennis Meig.

? harhatus Scop,
punctatus Meig (1804
atticus Lw.

crassicauda Lw.
tenuicornis Lw.

nubecula Lw. .

" varians Meig.

varius Lw.

"fuscidus Wieel.

DYSMACHUS Lw.
cristatus Meig.
*albisetosus Macq.
*albiseta Beck.
acutus Lie.

*spurius Lw. .

cristatus var. Strohl.
trigonus Meig.
albipilus Meig.
pullus Meig.
hispidus Zell.
dasynotus Lw.

setiger Lw.
albiciliatus Lw.
fuscipennis Meig. .

spiniger Zell.
*appendiculatus Schin
pauper Beck. .

atripes Lie.
pieipes Meig.

? forcipatus L.
cinereus DeG. pt.
forcipula Zell,
mixtus Lw.
tricuspis Lie. .

praemorsus Lie.

tridens Egg.
harpax Villen,
falcu laris Band.

? parvulus Meig.
stylifer Lw.
femoratellus Lw. .
cephalenus Lw.
macropterus Lw. .
bimucronatus Lw. .
hamulatus Lie.

rot a Ians Pand.
verticillatus Beck. .

. Eur. centr. et mer.

(nec Fabr.)

. Graecia, Rossia
mer.

. Eur. centr. et or.

. Archipelagus,
Asia min.

. Asia min.

. Eur. centr.

. Rossia mer.

. Hispania, Algeria
. Algeria
. Tunisia
. Hispania
. Hispania

. Eur.

. Hispania

. Asia min.

. iEgyptus
. Eur. centr. et mer. ,
Asia min.

. Asia min.

. Algeria

. Hispania
. Eur. (nec Anglia)

. Archipelagus,
Asia min.

. Eur centr.

. Gallia

. Eur. centr.
. Hispania
. Corfu
. jEgyptus
. Eur centr.

. Gallia mer.

. Tunisia

EUTOLMUS Lw.

mollis Lw.
corsicus Schin.

vermicularis Panel.
graecus Lw.
polypogon Lie.
Sedakoffii Lw.
pictipes Lw. .
calopus Lw. .
immaculatus Lw. .
lusitanicus Lw.
*tephraeus Meig.
sinuatus Lw. .
periscelis Lw.
■flavopilosus Macq.
*haematoscelis Gerst.
*stratiotes Gerst. .
Kiesenwetteri Lw. .

involvilis Panel.
apiculatus Lw.
rufibarbis Meig.
forcipatus var. maj i
melampodius Zell,
glaucus Zett.
*limbipennis Macq.
*Misao Macq.
facialis Lw.
"'scutellaris Coquill.

excisus Lw.
decipiens Meig.
variegatus Meig.
multicolor Schin.
mordax Lw. .
parrieidg. Lw. .
hyalopterus Lie.
"brevistylus Coquill.

leucacanthus Lw. .
implacidus Lw.

dorsiger Wieel.

? scaurus Walk.

MACHIMUS Lw.
cribratus Lw. .
concinnus Lw.

dactyliferus Strohl.

chrysitis Meig.

femoralis Zell.
subdolus Lw. .
fortis Lie.
stenolabes Lw.

. Creta

. Corsica, Sardinia

. Graecia
. Asia min.

. Sibiria
. Eur. centr.

. Rhodus, Asia min.
. Turkestan
. Lusitania
. Lusitania
. Eur. centr.

. Rossia
. Algeria
. Graecia
. Graecia
. Gallia mer.

. Asia min.

. Eur.

i- Fall.

. China sept.

. China sept.

. Asia min.

. Japonia

. Asia min.

. Hispania

. Rhodus
. Asia min.

. Hispania
. Japonia

. Hispania
. Turkestan

. Africa sept.

. Sicilia, Tunisia
. Hispania, Gallia
mer.

. Hispania

. Eur.centr. et mer.

. Hispania
. Italia
. Graecia

ASILIDiE

25

annulipes Brulle
basalis Lw.

Eur. centr. et mer.

Eur. mer.

Costa

Asia min.

Eur. centr., Tunisia
Eur. centr. occ. et
mer.

Grsecia

Eur.

eolubrinus Meig.

Jimbriatus Meig.

'{ cappuccinus A
gratiosus Lw. .
gonatistes Zell.
rusticus Meig.
obscurus Meig.
genualis Zell.

*eerdo Gerst. .
atricapillus Fall,
opacus Meig.
rufimanus Meig.
plebeius Meig.
subulatus Lw.
bicornis Zell.
calceatus Meig.

atricapillus var.?
madeirensis Schin.
pilipes Meig. ■
hispanus Lw.
armatus Jaenn. (nec Macq.)
lacinulatus Lw. ■ • Eur. centr.

dactyliferus Strobl
oophorus Lw.

Eur. centr.

I. Madeira
Italia, Hispania,
Gallia mer.

Hispania

Hispania

pallipes Meig.
fulvipes Meig.
omissa Meig.
Schineri Egg.
striatipes Lw.
eulabes Lw. .
albicans Lw. .
•arabica Macq.

dasypygus Lw.

flaviscopula Panel.
minusculus Bezzi .
elegans Lw. .

setibarbus Lw.

? nigripes Macq.
thoracicus Lie.
lugens Lw.
caligmosus Meig. .

apicatus Lie.
intermedius Zett. .

? domitor Meig.
cyanopus Lw.
modestus Lw.

?

*ermineus Beck. . ■ ■

HELIGMONEURA Bigot

MOCHTHERUS Lie.

NEOMOCimiERUS 0. Sack.

illustris Schin. . • Syria

Goliath Schin. . ■ Syria, Tunisia

brunnipes Fabr. . . Eur. mer., Africa

castanipes Meig.

Sicilia

Italia centr.

Asia min.

Eur.mer.,Rhodus,
As. min., Tunisia
Asia min.

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr.

Scandinavia

Eur. centr.

Asia min.

Goedli Lw.
ochriventris Lw.

flavicornis Rathe .

Olivierii Macq.
flavipes Meig.

*sicula Macq.
*malacias Gerst.
munda Lw.

? ana t is Macq. (nec
lepida Lw.
longitudinalis Lw. .

sept.

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr. et mer.
Turkestan
Asia min.

Arabia

Turkestan

Turkestan

Transcaspia
I. Canarise
Aigyptus
Gallia

farinosa Lw. .
tridentata Lv.

?

*pallens Wied.

*fuscifemorata Macq.

*aegyptia Macq.

*bicolor Oliv. .

STILPNOGASTER Lw.
semulus Meig. . • Eur. centr. et sept.

nigricans Macq.
stabilis Zell.
var. setiventris Zett.

NEOITAMUS 0. Sack.

IT AM OS Lw.

cyanurus Lw. . . • Eur.

? forcipatus var. L.

? cestivus Schrank (nec Scop.)
tipuloides Harris (nec L.)

? niger I)eG.

tibialis Fail, (nec Fabr.)

? tabidus Meig.

*cyaneocinctus Band.
socius Lw.

cestivus Meig. pt.
cothurnatus Meig. .

cestivus Zett. pt.
flavimvstaceus Macq.
angusticornis Lw. .

*virgatipes Coquill.

*impudicus Gerst. .
univittatus Lw.
maculifemora Macq.

. Syria
. Hispania

. Eur. centr. et mer.,
Japonia

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Sicilia
. Graecia
. Archipelagus
Fabr.)

. Hispania
. Aigyptus

Eur. mer.

Eur. centr. et sept.

Eur.centr.et sept.

Algeria

Japonia

Japonia

Graecia

Sibiria

China sept.

Graecia

Eur.

*dasymallus Gerst.

EPITRIPTUS Lw.
cingulatus Fabr. .
maculosus Harris
annulatus Macq. (nec babr.)
striatus Meig. pt.
micans Meig. . • • Gallia_

el kantarae Beck. . • ^Jinislf

*Osiris Wied. . . • ^gyptus

setosulus Zell. . . Em. centr.

inconstans Meig. (t. Panel.)
striatus Macq . (nec Fabr.)
nanus Lw.
dimidiatus Macq. ■

major Beck. .

*syriacus Schin.
inconstans Meig. . ■

culiciformisW. (nec F.)

*bipariitus Macq. .

cervinus Lw. .
senex Meig. ■
arthriticus Zell.

I. Canariae

Tunisia

Syria

Eur. mer. Af sept.,
I.Canar.,As.min.
Algeria
Aigvptus
Lusitania
Eur. centr.

26

ENERGOPODA

*auripilus Meiy.

Eur. centr.

emarginatus Iav. .

Italia

antennatus Beck. .

I. Canariae

mixtus Beck. .

I. Canariae

nigrifemoratus Macq.

I. Canariae

schistaceus Beck. .

I. Canariae

"maximus Schin. .

Hispania

PARITAMUS Verr.

geniculatus Meiy. .

Eur.centr.et sept.

globifer Strobl

Hispania

acanthodes Lw.

Asia min.

macrophthalmus Lw.

Sibiria

TOLMERUS Lw.

longimanus Lw.

Rhodus, Asia min .

*naxius Macq.

Archipelagus

ravus Liv.

Asia min.

tessellatusZac.fnec-Brw/te) Asia min.

poecilogaster Lw. .

Eur. centr. et mer.

*novarensis Schin. .

I. Madeira

fuscus Macq.

I. Canariae

pyragra Zell. .

Eur. centr.

atripes Lw.

Eur. centr. et mer.,
Japonia

lesinensis Palm

Dalmatia

*diagonalis Panel. .

Corsica

CERDISTUS Lw.

*Mannii Schin.

Asia min.

Zelleri Schin. .

Eur. mer.

*lativentris Jiand. .

Hispania

erythrurus Meiy. .
tenuis Macq.
var. albispinus Palm
var. niyripes Strobl
var. dalmatinus Strobl

Eur. mer.

denticulatus Lw.

Rhodus, Asia

melanopus Meiy. .
alpinus Meiy.

?

'■'elegans Biyot

Alpes, Hispania

Tunisia

OMMATIUS Wied.

chinensis Fabr. . . China sept., Corea,

Japonia

flavescens Fabr.
fulvidus Wied.

Garnotii Gu4r.
coryphe Walk,
androcles Walk,
pennus Walk,
fuscanipennis Macq.

( Proctacanthus )
inextricatus Walk,
concinnens v.d. Wulp.

AS I LIN/E incertce sedis.

*Tangeri Boisd. . . Algeria

*tin<ritanus Boisd. . . Algeria

*melanotrichus BrulU . Graecia
"tessellatus BrulU . . Graecia

*litoralis Contar. . . Italia sept.

*platytarsatus Contar. . Italia sept.

*sabulosus Contar.

. Italia sept.

*maurus L.

. Mauritania

*hirtipes Macq.

. Algeria

"periscelis Macq. .

. Algeria

*pumilus Macq.

. Gallia

*punctatus Macq. .

. Gallia

*graeilipes Meiy.

. Eur. centr.

*marginatus Meiy. .

. Eur. centr.

*parvulus Meiy.

. Eur. centr.

*versicolor Meiy. .

. Lusitania

*filiformis Oliv.

. Gallia

*enitens Walk.

. Arabia

*cinerarius Wied. .

. Rossia mer

LAPHRINJE

ATOMOSIA Macq.
virescens Lw. .
DASYTHRIX Lw.

NUSA Walk.

HALICTOSOMA Bond.
brachyptera Lav.

?stenura Lw.

? brachyptera Lw. var.
ramicosa Lw. .
puella Rond. .
ruficornis v.d. Wulp

POGONOSOMA Rond.
maroccanum Fabr.

hyalinipenne A. Costa
minus Lie.
unicolor Lw. .
lugens Lw.

LAMYRA Lw.
vorax Lw.
nohiliti Walk.

ANDRENOSOMA Rond.

ELJEOTOMA A. Costa
atrum L.

prostratum Scop,
violaceum Fabr.
var. ? niyripennis Meiy
albibarbis Meiy.
erythrurum Lw.
adustiventre A. Costa
trigoniferum Herm.
serratum Herm.
pusillum Herm.

CTENOTA Lw.
molitrix Lw. .

Rossia mer.

/Egyptus

Rossia mer.

Persia sept.
Biskra, Aden.

Eur.mer. ,Af.sept.

Gallia

Transcaspia

Transcaspia

.Egyptus

Eur. (nec Anglia)

Eur.centr.et mer. ,
Sibiria,As.min.

Asia centr.

Asia min.

Graecia

. Transcaspia

LAPHRIA Meiy.
flava L. . . . . Eur.

ferox Scop,
conopsoules Scop,
pedemontana Fabr.
ephippium Panz. (nec Fabr.)
var. escorialensis Strobl
varia Lie. . . . Eur. centr.

flava var. Portsch.
limbipennis Sti'obl . Bosnia
caspica Herm. . . Rossia mer.

*vulpina Meiy. . . Eur. centr.

rufa v. Rod. . . . Japonia

Hecate Gerst. . . Graecia

flava var. Portsch.

ASILID/E

27

auriflua Gerst.

flava var. Portscli.
ephippium Fabr. .

? dorsalis I>eG.
flava var. Portscli.
gibbosa L.

bombylius DeG.

* anthrax Meig.
:tbomboides Macq. .
erapyrea Gerst.

. Graecia

. Eur. (nec Anglia)

. Eur. centr. et sept.

. Eur. centr.

. Algeria
. Graecia

aurea Fabr. .

lutea Meig.
dizonias Lao. .

. Eur. centr. et mer.
. Asia min.

ignea Meig. . . . Eur. centr. et sept.

gilva Meig. 1804 (nec L.)

giiva L . Eur. centr. et

rufa DeG. sept. Amer., sept.

bilineata Walk,
abdominalis Walk.
dimidiata Lw. (nec Macq.) Asia min.

fimbriata Meig. . . Eur. centr. et mer.

fulva Meig. . . . Eur. centr. et mer.

prohoscidea Lw.
aurifera Schin. (1. c.)

Galathei A. Costa . . Italia mer.

var. minor A . Costa
Ursula Lw. . . . Rossia

*nitidula F. . . . Italia

*chrysocephala Meig. . Alpes occ.

marginata L. . . . Eur.

nigra Scop,
femorata Meig.
podagrica Meig.
fulgida Meig.
dioctricvformis Meig.
aeneiventris A. Costa . Italia mer.

fuliginosa Pam. . . Eur.centr.etmer. ,

auribarbis Meig. Asia min.

cincta Meig. (nec F.)

"Rueppellii Wied. . . /Egyptus

rufipes Fall. . . . Eur. centr. et sept,

lapponica Zett. . . Eur. sept. Sibiria

rufipes Zett. pt. (1832)

*tibialis Meig. . . Eur. centr.

venatrix Lw. .

? ?

*dispar Coquill.
*Mitsukurii Coquill.
'meridionalis Muls.
‘coaretata Duf.
'scutellata Macq. .
limhata Macq.

. Sicilia

. Japonia
. Japonia
. Corsica
. Hi span ia
. Gallia

DASYPOGONIN.®.

ISOPOGON Lw.
leptarthrus Stepli. (nom. cat.)

? A PH A MA R TA SI A Sell i n .

? PYGOSTOLVS Lac.

? SICOCLES Jaenn.

brevirostris Meig. . . Eur. occ. centr. et

mer.

armillatus Fall,
longitarsis Fall,
apiculis v. Llos.

rufitibialis ( Cyrtopogon ?) Bigot
caudatus (Dasypogon) Bigot
vitripennis Meig. . . Eur. (nec Anglia ?)

? lwttentottus Fabr.
hyalipennis Meig. (nec Fabr.)
elatus Meig.

syriacus Schin. . . Syria

CENOPOGON v.d. Wulp
? LAP A RUS Lac.

volcatus Walk. . . China sept.

liypsaon Walk,
bifidus v.d. Wulp.
cerco Walk.

SAROPOGON Lw.
melampygus Lw. .
confluens Lao.
clausus Beck. .
Lamperti Beck.
Vosseleri Beck.
longicornis Macq. .

. Syria, Arabia
. Syria
. Algeria
. Algeria
. Algeria
. /Egyptus

obscuripennis Macq
notatus Lio. .
luctuosus Meig.
nigripennis 0. G
var. ticinensis Bo
laticinctus Beck.
pollinosus Lie.
alternatus Lao.
axillaris Lw. .
comosus Lw. .
flavicinctus Meig.

*senex Duf. .
aberrans Lw. .
micropterus Lao.
jugulum Lio. .

Ehrenbergii Lw.
atricolor Lao. .
pittoproctus Lw.
geniculatus Lao.
leucocephalus Meig.

var. hispanicus Sin
frontalis Lio. .
platynotus Lao.
sodalis Lie.

var. setulosus Lw.
scutellaris Meig.
obesulus Lie. .
fucatus Lao. .
eucerus Lw. .
dasynotus Lw.
s

distinctus Beck.
vestitus Wied.
aegvptius Macq.
aurifrons Macq.
Olivieri Macq.

. . Africa sept.

. Graecia
. Eur. mer.

Costa

:zi . Italia
. Tunisia

. Asia min. , Tunisia
. Transcaspia
. Italia, Sardinia
. Corsica
. Lusitania, His-
pania
. Hispania
. Hispania
. Graecia

. Graecia, A f. sept. ,
Asia min.

. Syria
. Rhodus
. Transcaspia
. Rossia mer.

. Gallia mer., His¬
pania

. Hispania, Algeria
. Asia min.

. Hispania

. Hispania
. Hispania
. Hispania
. Asia min.

. Turkestan

. Algeria
. /Egyptus
. /Egyptus, Algeria
. Algeria
. .Egyptus

28

ENERGOPODA

perlatus A. Cos/a .
Aufipes Gimm.
varians Bigot .

SELI DOPOGON Rond.

CHEILOPOGON Rond.
diadema Fabr.
punctatus Fabr.
bohemicus Preyssl,
analis Fabr.
nervosus Meig.
liburnicus Meig.
umbrosus BrulU
sicanus A. Costa
Tnelanopterus Lie.

diadema var. Strobl
octonotatus Lw.
"variabilis BrulU .
"cylindricus Fabr. .
fasciatus Meig.
punctatus (pt. ) Zell,
diadema var. Strobl
crassus Macq.
atratus Fabr.

Gougeleti Bigot
*01cesci Bigot

DASYPOGON Meig.
teutonus L. .

tenthredoides Scop.
egregius Lie. .
rubidus Herm.
japonicus Bigot
pekinensis Bigot
subauratus Walk. .

MICROSTYLUM Macq.

MEGAPOLLYON Walk.
dux Wied.
sinense Macq.
shalumus Walk,
spectrum var. Walk.
^spectrum Wied. .
flaviventre Macq. .

STENOPOGON Lw.

GONIOSCELIS Schin.
coracinus Lw.
bicolor Bigot .
milvus Lie.
harpax Lw.
elongatus Meig.

Loewii Schin.
tristis Meig. .
callosus Wied.

macilentus Lie.

Roederii Bezzi
sabaudus Fabr.
occultus Lie. .
xanthotrichus BrulU
grcecus Lie.
pyrrhus Lw. .
xanthomelas Lie. .
nigriventris Lw.
mollis Lw.
lsevigatus Lw.
melanostolus Lie. .

Sardinia
Rossia mer.
Tunisia

Eur. centr. et mer. ,
Asia min.

Hispania

Rossia mer.

Eur. mer. et or.
Eur. centr. et mer.

Africa sept.
Africa sept.
Marocco
Marocco

Eur centr. et mer.

Transcaspia
“ Issyk-Kul”
Japonia
China sept.

China sept.

China sept.

China sept.
China sept.

Eur. centr. et mer.
Eur. mer.

Rhodus
Rossia mer.
Eur.centr.et mer.,
Asia min.

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr. mer. et
or.

Hungaria
Italia
Eur. mer.

Eur. centr.

Graecia

Turkestan
Asia min.

Asia min.

Asia min.

Asia min.

Asia min.

tanygastrus Lie.
cervinus Lw. .
semitestaceus Lw. .
denudalus Lie.
costatus Lie. .

var. escorialensis Strobl

Hispania
Hispania, Af. sept.
Rossia mer.
Hispania
Hispania, Af. sept.

fulvus Meig. .

. Hispania

ochripes Lw. .

. Hispania

var. escalerce Strobl

brevipennis Meig. .

. Lusitania

junceus Meig.

. Gallia mer., His¬

ochreatus Lie.

pania

. Graecia, Asia min.

*antar Schin. .

. Asia min.

*strategus Gerst. .

. Graecia

*Wo]fii Mile .

. Caucasus

*schisticolor Gerst. .

. Graecia

*arabicus Macq.

. Arabia

*Csikii Strobl .

. Sibiria

*Kolenati Gimm. .

. Caucasus

*pyrrhomus Wied. .

. Rossia mer.

Scheno Walk .

. Tnnisia

SCLEROPOGON Lw.

rufipilus Lie. .

. Caucasus

Sciron Lie.

. Transcaspia

Theseus Lie. .

. Transcaspia

porcus Lie.

. Turkestan

avus Lie.

. Persia sept.

superbus Portsch. .

. Persia sept.

heteroneurus Macq.

. Algeria

Scheno Walk.

. Tunisia

TRICLIS Lie.

CORMANSIS Walk.

GASTRICHEL1US Rond.

hsemorrhoidalis Fabr. . Eur.mer.,Af.sept.
nubeculipennis A. Costa

olivaceus Lie.

Italia

ornatus Schin.

Hispania, Af.sept.

*Pallasii Wied.

Ross.mer.,As.min.

*oetodecimnotatus A. .
Costa

Sicilia

PERASIS Herm.

sareptana Herm. .

Sarepta

violacea Beck.

Algeria

postica Beck.

Algeria

STROBILOTHRIX Beck,

albipila Beck. .

Algeria

HOPLISTOMERUS Macq.

auriventris Lie.

iEgyptus

SISYRNODYTES Lw.

brevis Macq. .
floccus Lie.
contrarius Walk,

Africa sept.

"nilicola Rond.

ASgyptus

ANAROLIUS Lw.

jubatus Lw. .

Asia min.

fronto Lie.

Transcaspia

RHADINUS Lie.

megalonyx Lw.

iEgyptus

ungulinus Lie.

yEgyptus

ASILIDE

29

ACNEPHALLUM Macq.

Olivierii Macq. . • Archipelagus,

Rossia mer.

AMPHISBETETUS Herm.

favillaceus Lie.
affinis Herm. .
leucomallus Lie.
CROBILOCERUS Lie
raegilliformis Lie. .

PYCNOPOGON Lie.
fascieulatus Lie.
pallidipennis Brulle
apiformis Lie.
apiformis Macq.
mixtus Lie.
anthophorinus Lie.
lanigerus Duf.
melanostomus Lie.
leucostomus Licit he.
cinctus Lichtie.

. Eur.mer.,As.min.
. Africa sept.

. Turkestan

. Eur.mer.,As.min.

. Eur. mer.

. Grsecia, Asia min.

. Algeria
. Asia min.

. Asia min.

. Hispania
. Persia sept.

. Armenia
. Turkestan

HYSTRICHOPOGON Herm.
hirticeps Herm. . • Asia centr.

CYRTOPOGON Lie.

EUARMOSTUS Walk.

ruficornis Fabr. . . Eur. centr. et mer.

maeulipennis Macq. . Eur. centr.

flavimanus ? Men/,
monticola Schumm.
litura Zell.

flavimanus Meig. . . Eur. centr. et sept.

var. niqrimanus J aenn. Eur. centr.
fulvicorriis Macq. . . Eur. centr. et mer.

interruptus Meig.

? erythroceros Schumm.
oclirocerus Duf.
var. variicornis Bezzi
luteicornis Zetl.
pulchripes Lie.
centralis Lie. .
lateralis Fall. .

fimbria t ns Meig.
filicornis Lie. .
*pictipennis Coquill.
lapponicus Zett.
*culminum Bigot .

montanus Bigot (nec Lu
annulatus Herm.
quadripunctatus Herm.

Eur. sept.

Sibiria

Ross, sept., Sibiria
Eur.centr. et sept.

Turkestan
Japonia
Eur. sept.

Alpes

e.)

Turkestan

Turkestan

Meyer-Durii Mik . . Alpes

quadrizonatns Lie.
oculiferus Bigot

tenuibarbus Lie. . • Hispania

EUPALAMUS Jaenn.

longibarbus Lie. . . Alpes

alpestris Jaenn.

LASIOPOGON Lie.

DAVLOPOGOX Lie.

cinctus Fabr. . . • Eur.

hirtellus Fall,
cinctellus Meig.

montanus Schin. . ■ Eur. centr.

Macquarti Schin. (nec Perris)
Bellanlii Jaenn.
var. immaculatus Strobl

*Macquarti Perris .
pilosetlus Lie.

? hirtellus Meig. (nec /•
tarsalis Lie. .

STICHOPOGON Lie.

PHILAMMOSIVS Rond.
scaliger Lie. .
congener Ijic.
barbistrellus Lie. .
spinimanus Pok.
septemcinctus Beck.
tener Lie. . •

? elegantulus 3 Meig.
Frauenfehli Egg.
inaequalis Lie.

elegantulus 9 Meig.
riparius Lie. .
albellus Lie. .
albofasciatus Meig.
nigrifrons Lie.
Schineri Koch
arenivagus Koeh
? Dziedzickii Schnabl

P

canariensis Beck. .
candidus Beek.(necMacq
*aequicinctus A. Costa
*ripicola Duf.
*pygmseus Macq. .
inconstans Wied. .
chrysostoma Schin.

? lucidiventris Beck.

LAPHYSTIA Lie.
Erberi Schin. .
hispanica Strobl
carnea Herm.

latiuscula Lie.
sabulicola Lie.

metallescens Herm.
*brevipennis Meig.
selenis Herm.

HETEROPOGON Lie
aureus Beck. .
elegans Beck. .
pyrinus Herm.
flavibarbatus Beck.
manicatus Meig.

scoparius Lie.

Manni Lie.
ornatipes Lie.
maurus Macq.
succinctus Lie.
lugubris Herm.

ANISOPOGON {Lie.)
erinaceus Lie.

Waltlii Meig. .

Gallia mer.
Eur. centr.
all.)

Ephesus

Eur. centr. et mer.

/Egyptus

Eur. centr.

Tirolia
I. Canariae
Eur. centr. et mer.,
/Egyptus

Eur. centr.

. Hispania
. .Egyptus
. Eur. centr.et mer.

. I. Canariae
,) Africa sept.

. Sardinia
. Hispania
. Algeria

. Egyptus, Arabia
. Eur. mer. , Egyp¬
tus, Asia min.

. Corfu
. Hispania
. Asia centr.

. Turkestan
. Eur.centr.et mer.,
Asia min.

. Asia centr.

. Hispania
. Gobi

. Tunisia
. Tunisia
. “Ascabad”

. Algeria

. Gallia mer., His¬
pania

. Asia min.

. Asia min.

. Eur. mer.

. Algeria

. Grsecia, Asia min.
. Asia centr.

Herm.

. Hispania
. Hispania

30

ENERGOPODA

rubigipennis Macq.
glabellus v. Rod. .
punctiferus Bigot
( Stichopogon )

. Algeria

. Corfu, Asia min.
. Mauritania

ANCYLORRHYNCHUS Latr.

XIPHOCERA Macq.
ENCHOCERA Blanch.
OPEGIorERA Rond.
ELASMOCERA Bond.
glaucius Rossi
pictus Wied.
brussensis Schin. .
gummigutta Beck. .
variegatus Wied. .
limbatus Fabr.
Laufferi Strobl
*longicornis Schin.

. Eur. mer.

. Asia min.

. Algeria
. Sibiria

. Hispania,Af.sept.
. Hispania
. Sicilia

SCYLATICUS Lw.
semizonatus Beck. . . Sahara

SP Turcia europ.

HABROPOGON Lie.

DACTYLISCVS Bond,
exquisitus Meig.
appendiculatus Schin,
latifrons Lw. .
longiventris Lw.
rubriventris Macq. .
rutilus Meig. .
pertusus Beck.

Gujoti Herm,
striatus Fabr.

>

"albibarbis Macq. .
*Doriaa Rond.

. Eur. mer., Algeria
. Eur. mer.

. Turkestan
. Grascia, Asia min.

. Africa sept.

. Hispania
. I. Canarise
. Sinai
. Africa sept.

. Eur. centr. et or.

. Persia sept.

CERATURGUS Wied.
nubilus Meig. . . Lusitania

dispar Lw. . . . Amur

brevis Schin. . . Hispania

PSEUDOHOLOPOGON Strobl
ehalcogastrus I)uf. . Hispania

DIOCTRIA Meig.

METHYLLA Hans.
oelandica L. .
lugubris Harris
var. limbata Lu\
Meyeri Bow. .

. Eur. centr. et.
sept., Amer. mer?

. Podolia

Reinhardi Meig. . . Eur., centr. et

cothurnata Meig. sept. , Sibiria

umbellatarum Meig.

Meigenii Shuck,

lugens Lw. . . . Transcaspia

atricapilla Meig. . . Eur.

nigripes Meig.
fuscipennis Fall,
geniculata Meig.

Falleni Meig.
atrata Meig.
var. rufimana Lw.
fuscipes Gimm. (nec Macq,)

Kowarzi Friv.
claripennis Villen. .
fuscipes Macq.
me/anopa Egger
melanopogon Schin.
oedipus Lw.

Harcyniae Lw.
gagates Meig.

semihyalina Meig.
speculifrons Meig. .
var. gagatoides Strobl

Hungaria

Gallia

Italia

Archipelagus
Eur. centr.
Lusitania

Lusitania

pollinosa Lw. .
rufipes DeG. (nec Fabr.)
cursor Harris
pratensis Oliv.
frontalis Fabr.
flavipes var. Fall.
meridionalis Bezzi .
liturata Lie. .
dispar Lie.
aurifrons Meig.

flavipennis Meig.
*orhrifacies Beck. .
Baumhaueri Meig. .

informis Harris
hyalipennis Fabr. .
flavipes Meig.
varipes Meig.
frontalis Meig. (nec Fabr.)
anomala Macq.
rufipes Zell. pt.
linearis Fabr. .
cingulata Zett.
flavipes Walk.
lseta Lw.
humeralis Zell.

*maculata Wied, .
calceata Meig.

var. nigriventris Strobl
rufithorax Lw.
rufa Strobl
*concinna A. Costa
*Wiedemanni Meig.

Hispania

Eur.

Italia

Eur. centr.
Turkestan
Eur. centr.

Tunisia

Eur. centr. et occ.

Eur. (nec Anglia),
Tunisia

Eur.

Eur. centr. et mer.
Eur. centr.

Rossia mer.

Eur. centr.

Eur. centr.
Hispania
Sardinia
Gallia mer.

gracilis Meig. .
hyalipennis Meig. (1830)
bicincta Meig.
annulata Meig.
infuscata Meig.

Bigoti A. Costa
*flavicincta v. Rod.
lateralis Meig.
hcemorrhoidalis Meig.

(nec Fabr.)
longicornis Meig. .
frontalis Panz. (nec Fabr.)
lateralis (pt.) Meig. (1804)
valida Lw. . . . Syria

Eur. centr. et mer.,
Africa sept.
Eur. centr. et mer.

Hispania
Eur. centr. et mer. ,
Africa sept.

Eur. centr.

lata Lw. .

arthritica Lw.
nigribarba Lw. .

?

"caesia Wied. .

. Eur. centr.

. Transcaspia
. Eur. mer. et or.

. Tauria

ASILID^E — SPECIES EXPURGATE

31

ERIOPOGOX Lw.

laniger Meig. .

Hispania, Africa

sept.

jubatus Beck. .

Algeria

HOLOPOGOX Lw.

CERATURGVS Rond, (nec ll’/ed.)

dimidiatus Meig.

Eur. centr.

fuscipennis Meig.

timidus Lw. .

Italia

albosetosus Schin. .

Asia min.

*auribarbis Meig. .

Eur. centr.

*brunnipes Meig. .

Eur. centr.

nigripennis Meig. .

Eur. centr.

venustus Rossi

Eur. centr. et mer.

minutus Fabr.

Iris Meig.

siculus Macq. .

Italia

fumipennis Meig. .

Eur.centr. et mer.

albipilus Meig.

nigrifacies Bezzi

Italia

fumipennis Bezzi (nec Meig.)

melaleucus Meig. .

Gallia mer.

clavipes Lad. .

Eur. centr.

laniger Zell, (nec Meig.)

claviger Lw. (laps, cal.)

*priscus Meig.

Eur centr.

imbecillus Lw.

Turkestan

*flavescens Jaenn. .

Gallia mer.

binotatus Lw.

Hispania

claripennis Lw.

Hispania

Heydenii Lw.

Hispania

var. castellanus Strobl

*melas Duf. .

Hispania

rugiventris Strobl .

Hispania

digrammus Lw.

Rossia mer.

nobilis Lid.

Graecia

*nitidus Macq.

Algeria

*pusillus Macq.

Algeria

*pusio Macq. .

Algeria

OLIGOPOGOX Lw.
hybotinus Lw. . . lihodus

DASYPOGOXINjE incertce sedis
DASYPOGON Meig.

*arcuatus Fair.

? Fabricii Meig.
*ruficauda Fabr. .
*longus Macq.
“tenuis Macq.
*nigriventris Du/. .

. Italia

. Marocco
. iEgyptus
. Algeria
. Hispania

LEPTOGASTRINiE.
LEPTOGASTER Meig.

GONVPES Lair.

pubiceps Lid. . . . Graecia

*Pallasii Wied. . . Rossia raer.

*variegata Lid. . . Gallia

nitida Macq. (nec Wied. )

;ibasilaris Coquill. . . Japonia

"nitida Wied.

palparis Lid. .
subtilis Lao.
helvola Lxd.
hispanica Meig.

nigricornis Lid.
fumipennis Lw.
guttiventris Zett.
cylindrica Meig.
? pallipes v. Ros
gracilis Lid. .

linearis Beck. .
pubicornis Lad.
latistriata Beck.
cylindrica DeG.
tipuloides Fabr.
livida Geoffr.
*fusca Meig. .

? pusilla Jaenn.

? pumila Macq.
*dorsalis Dahlb.
pedunculata Lw.

cylindrica DeG.
straminea Beck.

. .Egyptus

. Turcia
. Italia
. Turkestan

. . Eur.centr.etraer.,

Tunisia
. . Graecia

. Eur.centr. etsept.

(nec DeG.)

. Turcia, Graecia,
Asia min.

. Tunisia
. . Hungaria

. . Tunisia

. Eur.

Eur.centr. et mer. ?

. . Eur. sept.

. Eur. mer.

var. Strobl
. . Algeria

SPECIES EXPURGAT7E.

Patria incerta, haud palaearctica, aut descriptio turpissima.

STRATIOMYIDiE.

PACIiYGASTER Meig.
alpina Lioy = Oxycera sp? Italia

NEMOTELUS Geoffr.
paludosus Meig. . . ?

STRATIOMYS Geoffr.

ruficornis Macq. . . Mesopotamia

rufipennis Macq. . . China sept.

ODONTOMYIA Meig.
confusa Rossi . . Italia

connexa Walk. . . ?

fuscipennis Macq. . . ?

halterata Schrank . . Austria

hydrodromia Meig. . ?

SARGUS Fabr.
sulphureus Meig. . . ?

LEPTIDJE.

LEPTIS Fabr.

inutilis Walk. . . . Anglia

cinereofaseiata Schumm. Eur. centr.
tristis i Schumm. . . Eur. centr.

tenella Mots'-h. . . Gallia

? SYM PHOROM Y I A Frfld.
nebulosa Fabr. . . Eur. centr.

32

SPECIES EXPURGATE

TABANIDJE.

HiEMATOPOTA Meig.

arctica 0. F. Mull .

TABANUS L.

. Eur. sept.

TABANUS

testaceus Forsk.

. Arabia.

bifasciatus Fourcr.

. Eur.

intersectus Fourcr.

. Eur.

rufus Scop.

. Eur. centr.

hirsutus Fill. .

. Eur.

nigrifer Walk.

. Arabia

pallescens Walk. .

. Arabia

politus Walk. .

. Arabia

terminalis Walk.

. Arabia

CHRYSOPS Meig.

caeculus 0. F. Mull

. Eur. sept.

PANGONIA Latr.

annulata Bigot

. Eur. mer. ?

var iegata J\Iacq.{ nec Fa hr.) Eur. mer. ?

picta Macq. .

. Eur. mer. ?

semiviridis Ric.

?

subfasciata Walk. .

. Somali

zonata Walk. .

. Somali

CYRTIDiE.

ONCODES Latr.

limbatus Bigot (nec Meig. ) Tunisia

BOMBYLIDJE.

BOMBYLIUS L.

Sicilia
Italia mer.
Italia mer.
Gallia
.) Eur.

Sicilia

melanopygus Bigot
apulus Cyrillo .
marginatus Cyrillo .
angulatus Macq.
minimus M< < cq . (nec Fabr.
nigripes Macq.
puinilus Macq. {nec Meig.) Eur. mer.
cinereus Meig. (nec Olio.) Eur. centr.
floralis Meig. . . . Eur. mer. ?

nanus Meig.

pygmaias Macq. . . Gallia mer.

pusillus Meig. . . Eur. mer. ?

minimus Meig. (nec Fabr.)
pusio Meig. . . . ?

vagabundus Meig. .
elongatus Rossi
exiguus Walk.
miscens Walk.
nivifrons Walk.

Italia centr.
Arabia
Arabia ?
Asia min.

SYSTCECHUS Lie.
canus Macq. .
fasciculatus Macq. .

Africa sept. ?

DISCHISTUS Lie.

heterocerus Macq. .

Africa sept. ?

? ECLIMUS Lie.

venosus Bigot

Eur. mer. ?

MULIO Latr.

leucoproctus Wied.

Africa sept. ?

EXOPROSOPA Macq.

paupera Walk.

Somali

ANTHRAX Scop.

affinis Eversm.

Rossia

obscurus Weber

Helvetia

scrutatus Meig.

Eur. centr.

THERE VIDAE.

THEREVA Latr.

cinifera Meig.

>

Olivierii Macq.

Mesopotamia

nitida Macq. .

Gallia

SCENOPINIDiE.

SCENOPINUS Latr.

scutellatus Macq. .

Africa

MYDAID^l.

? LEPTOMYDAS Oerst.

rufipes Wes tie.

Sicilia ?

ASILID-iE.

ASILUS L.

deformis Walk.

Somali

tibialis Wied. (nec Fabr. ,

nec Fall.) .

Rossia

tibialis Gimm(nec Fabr.)

Rossia mer.

EUTOLMUS Lie.

mivatus Walk.

Somali

HELIGMONEURA Bigot

mellea Macq. .

Eur ?

DASYTHRIX Lie.

heteroneura Macq.

Arabia? Brazilia

LAPHRIA Meig.

flavescens Macq. .

M. Pyrenaei ?

Carolina

varipes Bigot .

Eur. mer. ?

SAROPOGON Lie.

castaneicornis Macq.

Eur. mer. ?

DAMALIS Fabr.

cinctipes Walk.

Arabia

INDEX OF LIST

A canth odelph ia ....

Acanthomyia .

Acnephallum .

Acrocera .

Actina .

Adoxomyia .

A (/ela n ius .

Alciraus .

A lli'tcera .

Alliophleps .

Allognosta .

Amictus .

Amphisbetetus
Anacanthaspis ....

Anarolius .

Anastoeehus .

Ancylorrhynchus .

Andrenomyia .

Andrenosoina .

Anisopogon .

Anisotamia .

Anthracin/E .

Anthrax .

Antidoxion .

Antipalus .

Antiphrisson .

Antonia .

A phamartania ...

Aphoebantus .

Apoclea .

A pop on .

Apolysis .

Argyramoeba .

Argyrospila .

Arthropeas .

AS1LID.E .

Asilinaj .

Asilus .

Aspiloptera .

Astoma .

Astomella .

Atherix .

Atoraosia .

Atrichia .

Atrichops .

Atylotus .

Baryphora .

Bering .

Bens .

BOMBYLIDdE ...

Bombyliwe .

Bomhylisoma .

Bombylius .

BRACHYCERA
Bracliytomus .

Ccenophanes .

Caeenophanomyia

Callistoma .

Cenopogon .

%

Page
...28
....7
...29
...13
... 7
... 3
... 9
...23
... 5
... 3
... 6
...17
...29
... 7
...28
...15
...30
...12
...26
...29
...17
...18
...19
... 7
...24
...23
...17
...27
...17
...23
... 7
...14
...19
...18
.... 7
...23
...23
...23
....20
....22
....13
.... 7
....26

. 8
.10

.21
. 6
. 6
.14
.14
.16
.15
. 3
.10

.22

.22

.18

.27

Ce phenes .

Ceraturgns .

Ceraturgus .

Cerdistus .

Chalcochiton ....

Cheilopogon .

Chloromyia .

Chlorosia .

Chorisops .

Chrysochroma ....

Chrysomyia .

Chrysonotomyia

Chrysonotus .

CHRYSOPiLIJwE...

Chrysopilus .

Chrysops .

Chrysozona .

Cionophora .

< litellaria .

Cliteli.arix.e . . .

Clorisosna .

Codionus .

Ceelopus .

Coenorayia .

CcENOMYINiE .

Cona .

Cononedys .

Conopliorus .

Goquillettia .

Corizoneura .

Cormansis .

Crobiloeerus ...

Ctenota .

Cyclogaster .

Cyllenia .

CYRTIDiE .

Cyrtinje .

Cyrtopogon .

Cyrtosia .

Cyrtus .

Cytherea .

Dactyliscus .

Damalis .

Dasypogon .

Dasypogoxix.e

Dasythnx .

Dan lop agon .

Defilligia .

DERM ATI N A

Dialineura .

Diatomineura . .
Dicrotrypana ..
Dimorphophora

Dioctria .

Dischistus .

Dysmachus .

Eccoptopus .

Echthistus .

Eclimus .

I’a^e

...17
...30
...31
...26
...18
...28
... 6
... 6

6

6

6

Eleeoloma .

Elasmocera .

Empidideicus .

Enchocera .

ENERGOPODA

Ephippiomyia .

Ephippium .

Epihates .

Epitriptus .

EREMOCH/ETA

Eremomydas .

Erinna .

.. 6
.. 8
.. 8
..11
... 9
...21
3, 4
... 3
... 6*
...17
...23

Eriopogon . .
Euarmostus..

Eulalia .

Eupalamus ..

Eurytion .

Eutolmus .

Exaireta .

Exapata .

Exochostoma
Exoprosopa .
Exoptata ....

17

14

.19

.12

.28

29
.26
• 4
.17
.13
.13
.29
.14 i
.13
.18

.30
.32 |
.28 |
.27 I
.26 '
.29
AS 1
.22 |
.21
.12
.13
.17
.30
.16 !
.24

23

23

17

Fallenia .

Fidena .

Gastrichelkis . . .

Geosargus .

Geron .

Glabella .

Glabdlula .

Glossista .

Gonioscelis .

Gonypes .

Habropogon . . .
Haematopota ...

Hcemophila .

Halictosoma .

Heligmoneura...

Heliomyia .

Hemipenthes . . .
lleniconeura . . .

JJenops .

Heptatoma .

Uermione .

Hernioneura . . .
Hermoneurinve

Heteralonia .

Heteropogon ...
Heterotropus ...

Ilexacantha .

Hexatoma .

Ilexodonta .

Hilarimorpha . .

Hirtea .

Holopogon .

Hoplistomerus

Hoplodnnta .

Hoplomyia .

Hyalanthrax ...

Page
...26
...30
...14
...30
...23
... 3
.. 3
...17
...25
... 3
...22
... 7
...31
...29

29

9

24

21

5

18

IS

13

i :

2S

6

14

14

14

18

,2S

.31

.30

. 9
.12
.26
.25
. S
.20
.17
.13
. 9
■ 4
.13
.13
AS
.29
.15
. 6
. 9
. 7
. 9
. 5
.31
.28
. 6

20

33

34

INDEX OF LIST

Hyperalonia .

Hi/pselura .

Hystrichopogon .

Ibisia .

Page

. 18

. 22

. 29

lnermyia .

. 4

Isopogon .

. 27

Itamus .

. 25

Lampromvia .

. 7

Lamyra .

. 26

Laparus .

9,7

Laphria .

. 26

Laphrinve .

. 26

Laphystia .

. 29

Lasiopa .

. 4

Lasiopogon .

. 29

Legnotorayia .

. 15

Legnotus .

Leptarthrus .

. 27

LEPTIDiE .

. 7

Leptinje .

. 7

Leptis .

. 8

Leptogaster .

. 31

Leptogastrin.® .

. 31

Leptomydas .

. 22

Leptynoma .

. 7

Logcocerius .

. IS

Loinatia .

. 17

LOMATINiE .

. 17

Machimus .

. 24

Macro 'eromys .

. 7

Macrosarqus .

. 6

Megapollyon .

. 2S

Metoponia .

Methylla .

. SO

Microchrysa .

. 6

Microstylura .

. 28

Mochtlierus .

. 25

Mulio .

. 18

MYDAID7E .

Myiochrysa .

. 6

Nemestrina .

. 12

NEM ESTR I N I D/E

. 12

Nemestrixix/e .

. 12

Nemorius .

. 12

Nemotelus .

. 3

Neoexaireta .

. 7

Neoitamus .

. 25

Neomochtherus .

Neopachygaster .

. 3

Nicocles .

. 27

Nusq .

. 26

Octacantlia .

. 6

Odontomyia .

. 5

Oligodranes .

. 14

Oligoneura .

. 13

Oligopogon .

. 31

Oramatius .

. 26

Oraphalophora .

. 8

Oncodes .

. 13

Oncodocera .

. 17

Opegiocera .

. 30

Oplacantha .

. 6

Opsebius .

. 13

Opseogymnus .

. 5

Oxycera .

. 4

Pachygaster .

. 3

Pachygastrin/e .

Page

. 3

Pachyrrhiza .

. 21

Pachystomus .

Paraponerus .

. 23

Pangonia .

. 12

Paxgoxinje .

. 11

Panopix® .

. 13

Paracrocera .

. 13

Parasymmictus .

. 13

Paritamus .

. 26

Pedicella .

Pelechoidocera .

. 7

Perasis .

. 28

Perissocerus .

22

Peritta .

. 4

Petrorossia .

. 20

Philammosius .

. 29

Philodicus .

. 23

Phil diche .

. 12

Philonicus .

. 23

Philopota .

. 13

PhILOPOTIX/E .

. 13

Phthiria .

. 15

Phycus .

. 21

Physegaster .

. 13

Pithogaster .

. 13

Platygaster .

. U

Platypygus .

. 14

Plesiocera .

. 17

Ploas .

. 14

Pogonosoma .

. 26

Polyphonius .

. 23

Polysarca .

. 23

Popsia .

. n

Potamida .

. 3

Proctacanthus .

. 23

Promachus .

. 23

Prorachthes .

. 17

Protophanes .

. 24

Psammorycter .

. 7

P sell idol us .

. 5

Pseudoholopogon ....

. 30

Psiatholasius .

. 15

Psilocephala .

. 21

Ptecticus .

. 6

Pterodontia .

. 13

Ptiolina .

. 9

Pycnomalla .

. 3

Pycnopogon .

. 29

Pygostolus .

27

Rhachicerus .

Rhadinus .

. 28

Rhadiurgus .

. 23

Rhagio .

. 8

Rhopalia .

. 22

Rhynchocephalus .

. 13

Rueppellia .

. 22

Salentia .

. 21

Sargin/e .

. 6

Sargus .

. 6

Saroposron .

. 27

SCENOPINID.E .

. 22

Scenopinus .

. 22

Scleropogon .

. 28

Scylaticus .

. 30

Selidopogon .

. 28

Sicus .

Page

. 7

Silvius .

. 11

Sisvrnodytes .

. 28

Solva .

Spania .

. 9

Splicerogaster .

. 14

Spogoslylum .

. 19

Spongostylum .

. 19

Stenopogon .

. 28

Stichopogon .

. 29

Stilpnogaster .

. 95

Stomylumyia .

. 17

STRXTIOM YI DTE ..

. 3

Stratiomyix.e .

. 5

Stratiomys .

. 5

Strobilothrix .

. 25

St yc/ ia .

. 17

Sty rex .

. 8

Suhula .

. 7

Subulomyia .

. 7

Syllegoraydas .

. 22

Sylvicola .

. 8

Symmictus .

. 13

Symphoromyia .

. 9

Systoeehus .

. 15

Systropix/e .

. 17

Systropus .

TABANID/E .

. 17

. 9

Tabaxix^e .

. 9

Tabanus .

. 9

Tabanus {sens, str .) ..

. 10

Tabuda .

. 21

Tacina .

. 12

Tanyglossa .

. 12

Thereva .

. 21

THERE VI1YE .

. 21

Therioplectes .

. 9

Thevenetimyia .

. 17

Thlipsomyza .

. 17

Thlypsogaster .

. 17

Thyreodonta .

Thyridanthrax .

. 19

Tolmerus .

. 26

Tomomyza .

. 17

Toxophora .

. 17

Toxophorixr; .

. 17

Triclis .

. 28

Trinaria .

. IS

Triplasius .

. 14

TROMOPTERA .

. 14

Trupanea .

. 23

Truquia .

. 17

Usia .

. 14

Vanoyia Villen .

. 4

Vappo .

. 3

Velocia .

. IS

Vermileo .

. 7

Vermileonix/e .

. 7

Villa .

. 20

Volucella .

. U

Xestomyza .

. 21

Xiphocera .

. 30

Xylorayia .

. 7

Xylomyin/e .

. 7

Xylophagix.e .

. 7

Xylophagus .

. 7

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