DIPTEEA. 



;is 



2. Taracticus nigrimystaceus, sp. n. (Tab. V. fig. 23, $ .) 



c? 2 • Black. Antenna? black ; third joint nearly three times the length of the first two together, with a 

 small bristle on the upper margin near the distal third. Face and front covered with yellowish- white 

 tomentum or dust ; face distinctly convex on the lower part, projecting in profile, and clothed with long 

 black hairs to near the middle, somewhat intermixed with white ones on the sides. Occiput white- 

 dusted on the sides and clothed with white hair. Mesonotum covered with light brownish-yellow dust, 

 leaving two median, narrowly separated, stripes and two rounded, subcontiguous spots on each side dark 

 brown ; there are two bristles near the outer end of the suture and one on each post- alar callus ; other- 

 wise, the mesonotum is clothed with very sparse, long, slender hairs. Abdomen elongate, with the sides 

 nearly parallel, the median segments not twice as long as broad ; shining, metallic black, punctulate, 

 covered with short, sparse, black hairs, except on the smooth, narrow, hind margin of the segments ; all 

 the segments with a small, transverse, yellowish-white, opaque spot on each lateral hind margin. Legs 

 black, the knees very narrowly reddish; bristles and the short pile of the inner side of the tibiae and tarsi 

 yellow ; underside of the hind femora with the usual long bristles. Wings tinged with yellowish, 

 slightly infuscated distally. Length 10-13 millim. 



Hab. Mexico, Xucumanatlan in Guerrero 7000 feet (H. H. Smith). 

 Two specimens. 



3. Taracticus nigripes, sp. (var. 1) n. 



tf $ . Very much like T. similis, but with the legs wholly black, except very narrowly at the knees. Length 

 8-11 millim. 



Hab. Mexico, Xucumanatlan, Omilteme, and Chilpancingo in Guerrero (H. H. 

 Smith). 



Numerous specimens. The abdomen is much more elongated and narrow in the 

 male than in the female. The colour of the face is yellowish in some examples, in 

 others white, and that of the mesonotum appears to vary. Two specimens from 

 Chilpancingo have the wings quite dark anteriorly, but I cannot separate them 

 otherwise ; another, from Amula, is very much smaller, measuring only 4 millimetres 

 in length. 



4. Taracticus vitripennis. 



Ceraturgus vitripennis, Bellardi, Saggio etc. ii. p. 60 \ 

 Hab. Mexico, Chilpancingo in Guerrero (H. H. Smith), Cuautla l . 



A single male specimen from Chilpancingo undoubtedly belongs to this species, 

 though Bellardi omitted important characters in his description, and wholly overlooked 

 the anterior tibial spur, which, though small, is apparent. The peculiar structure of 

 the antenna?, as described by him, will render the species easily recognizable. It must 

 be closely allied to T. nigripes, Macq. 



In the earlier part of this work T. vitripennis (Bellardi) was placed by Osten Sacken 

 amongst the unidentified species of Ceraturgus (antea, p. 167). 



biol. centr.-amer., Dipt., September 1901. 2 s 



