ON THE OCCURRENCE OF CEPHENOMYIA RUFIBARBIS 155 



ON THE OCCURRENCE IN ROSS-SHIRE OF 

 CEPHENOMYIA RUFIBARBIS, A NEW 

 BRITISH BOT-FLY PARASITIC ON THE RED 



DEER. 



By PERCY H. GRIMSHAW, F.E.S. 



AMONG some Diptera collected by my friend Mr.L.W. Hinx- 

 man in Ross-shire in the months of June and July 1894, 

 and kindly handed over to me for my collection, are two 

 specimens of a species of Bot-Fly (Cephenomyia rufibarbis 

 (Meigen), which is not only new to Britain, but is of addi- 

 tional interest owing to its being parasitic upon the Red 

 Deer (Cervus elaphiis, Linn.). The specimens (both females) 

 were captured in Strath Carron, close to the loch of that 

 name, and only a few feet above high-water mark. 



As I believe this particular species has never been 

 described in any English work, I have thought it desirable 

 to give a short description of the mature insect, pointing out 

 how it differs from the other members of the family to 

 which it belongs, together with a few words on its life-history, 

 which may be of special interest to sportsmen. Full accounts 

 of the species and its life-history may be found in F. Brauer's 

 papers on the (Estridce in the " Verhandlungen der k. k. zool.- 

 bot. Gesellschaft in Wien," and in the same author's 

 " Monographic der CEstriden." It is from these accounts, 

 and from Schiner's description in the " Fauna Austriaca" 

 that my remarks are chiefly compiled (see Bibliography). 



The (Estridcs, or Bot-Flies, are now represented in Britain 

 by nine species, belonging to the five genera GastropJiilus, 

 Hypodenna, Oestrus, Pharyngomyia, and Cephenomyia. The 

 genus Ccp/ienoinyia, of which the species just discovered is 

 the only British representative, may be roughly characterised 

 as follows Large, black, hairy flies, partly clothed with hairs 

 of a lighter shade ; head as broad as the thorax antennae 

 inserted in a cavity in the face, which is not completely 

 divided by a ridge as in Hypoderma, the ridge being quite 

 rudimentary and only faintly visible on the upper part ot 

 the face between the antennas ; lower part of the face quite 

 hollow, with no trace of shield ; first and second joints of 



