BY R. J. TILLYARD. 459 



creeks and rivers, also of lagoons. It is very fond of sitting 

 on the upright stems of reeds standing in the water ; when 

 approached, it moves round the stem to the side opposite the 

 intruder, and sits very close, so that it is almost impossible 

 to see it or to knock it off. The females are seldom met with. 

 Form B is the usual form of female. Form A being exceed 

 ingly rare. I have taken Form A only in one colony, on 

 Duck Creek, Auburn, near Sydney. 



This insect is the Australian representative of the species 

 described by de Selys* from Ceylon and Java, under the 

 name Agriocnemis pygmcea Rambur. It seems doubtful, 

 however, whether Rambur's original type was the same 

 species as that of de Selys. The following are the chief 

 differences between .4 . hyocinthus and the species described by 

 de Selys: — A. hyacinthus (f is slightly larger (hindwing, 10-5, 

 as against 9-5 mm.) ; it possesses only five postnodals in hind- 

 wing (de Selys' insect six, or rarely seven) ; it has segments 

 9-10 and apical third and sides of 8 red, as against 8-10 

 orange in de Selys' insect ; and, most important of all, the 

 superior appendages, though of similar form, are distinct in 

 possessing a much larger inferior lobe, while there are only 

 three small teeth or points in a line on the inferior append- 

 ages. Also in the 9 (Form B), the colouration is brick-red, 

 while that of de Selys' insect is orange. The orange and 

 bronze 9 of de Selys' insect seems to correspond to Form A 

 of the 9 of A. hyacinthus, but is very distinct from it in 

 colouration. 



Types: cf 9, Form A, and 9 Form B, Coll. Tillyard. 



28. Agriocnemis rubricauda, n.sp. (Plate xlvii., fig. 8.). 



cf. Total letigth, 20-5 mm.; abdomen, 17; hindwing, 9-5 

 mm. 



Wings very short and delicate, neuration fine, brownish ; 

 pterostigma, 0-5 mm. ; pale brownish on all four wings ; post- 



*Bull. Acad. Roy. de Belgique, xliii., 1877, p.52. 



