HEEMETIA. 3S 



Hermetia ; the colour of the style is yellowish-white, that of the rest of the antennae 

 reddish-brown. Thorax dark brown ; shining on the sides, less so on the dorsum, on 

 account of a dense short pubescence ; the latter dark brown, with the exception of two 

 rufous stripes, which are interrupted anteriorly and coalesce posteriorly into a square 

 of rufous pile between the suture and the scutellum ; a fringe of rufous hairs along 

 the mesopleural suture. Abdomen elongate, gradually, but moderately, expanding 

 from the base to the tip, very convex, dark brown, with opalescent reflections ; in some 

 places a microscopic appressed pubescence is visible, which does not materially affect 

 the ground-colour ; on the sides of the three basal segments the pubescence looks reddish 

 in a certain light, on the middle of the apical segments it is greyer in tint ; a transverse, 

 yellow, pellucid spot on the incisure between the first and second segments, not reaching 

 the lateral margins; venter yellow, pellucid at the base, the remainder dark brown, 

 shining. Halteres brownish-yellow. Coxae and femora brown ; tibiae and tarsi 

 yellowish-brown ; knees and base of the tibiae brownish-yellow ; the hind tibiae darker. 

 Wings with a decided yellowish tinge, more saturate yellow along the costa. 



A single male. 



N.B. — This species is different in shape from an ordinary Hermetia, for instance 

 H. illucens; the thorax is more convex, but narrower; the abdomen comparatively 

 longer, and much more convex, especially on its distal half. The comparatively shorter 

 antennae, with their short and narrow style, also contribute to give H. formica a peculiar 

 appearance. The name was suggested by its resemblance to the winged male of a large 

 ant, e. g. Formica herculeana. 



The eyes (revived on wet sand) are of a uniform dark brownish-bronze colour. 



8. Hermetia pterocausta, sp. n. (Tab. I. fig. 5.) 



Brown ; abdomen without pellucid spot ; wings yellowish, the apex brown ; legs yellow, the greater part of the 



femora brown. 

 Length 14-15 millim. 



Hah. Panama. Bugaba {Champion). 



Head brown, with paler yellowish spots on the middle of the face, above the antennae 

 (near the orbits), on the frontal bump, and on both sides of the vertex ; pale yellowish- 

 golden hairs on both sides of the face, and some few also on the yellowish spot on each 

 side of the front ; the rest of the front and vertex with a short, black, erect pubescence. 

 Antennae black, reddish-brown at the base. Thorax dark brown ; two more or less distinct 

 stripes of reddish-golden hairs in the middle of the mesonotum ; similar hairs on each 

 side of the mesonotum, above the dorso-pleural suture and in front of the scutellum ; 

 a fringe of reddish hair on the pleurae ; humeral and post-alar callosities, also the tip 

 of the scutellum, yellowish-brown. Halteres yellowish. Abdomen uniformly dark 

 brown, moderately shining, with a trace of golden pubescence on the hind margin of 

 the second segment ; in shape comparatively broad, with parallel sides, and moderately 



biol. CENTE.-AMEK., Dipt., August 1886. f 



