Makshall. — 0)1 New ZealaJid Diptera. 811 



clear running streams that they always inhabit. It appears 

 to be carnivorous in the larval state, living on various small 

 crustaceans and rotifers that abound -in these streams. Be- 

 fore pupating the larva fixes itself by glutinous threads to 

 the underside of a leaf. From the anterior part of the body 

 two long-branched filaments project, which are stated by 

 Hudson to have a respiratory function. A cocoon is formed 

 before pupation of membranous or gelatinous material, which 

 is afterwards eaten almost entirely. The pupa hatches into 

 the imago beneath the surface of the water. 

 Genus Simulium, Latreille. 



Body small, gibbose, with a tomentum. Head small. Palpi 

 four-jointed ; first joint small, second and third longer, fourth 

 long and composed of numerous small annuli, longer in the 

 female than in the male. Antennae eleven-jointed, narrowed 

 to the tip, a little longer than the head; first and second joints 

 remotely connected, remainder closely connected, transverse, 

 end joint conical. Wings large ; first, second, and third dark, 

 remainder of the veins pale. Legs stout, compressed, un- 

 armed ; hind metatarsus incrassate in the male, lengthened, in 

 the female hardly incrassate ; male's generally black, female's 

 cinereous. Eyes contiguous in the male, remote in the female. 

 Labrum in female lanceolate ; labium linear, bidentate at tip. 

 Lingua very long, divided, apical part hairy on the outer sur- 

 face. Also the antennas are more remote than in the male. 



The above is the fullest diagnosis in any of the works at 

 my disposal. As the genus is such an old-established one I 

 hesitate to add any characters from my own specimens. As 

 in S. furiosiim (Skuse), from Australia, our species has antennae 

 with 2 + 8 joints. 

 Simulium. australiense (Schiner, " Reise der Novara," Dipt. 



ii., p. 15). 



Blackish-brown, thorax dusted lighter; yellow round the 

 corners of the shoulders ; base of femora, tibiye, and tarsi 

 yellowish. Wings hyaline ; costal vein intense black, not 

 nearly reaching the apex of the wing, the other veins brownish; 

 discoidal vein thick as far as the cross-vein, then very faint, 

 the forks with a short petiole ; postical and anal veins faint. 



In the above description the discoidal vein is the third 

 longitudinal, postical and anal veins are the fourth and fifth 

 longitudinal veins. 



This species is abundant on the banks of streams and lakes 

 throughout the colony from sea-level to 3,000ft. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIV. 

 Pig. 1. Simulium australiense. Female. 

 Fig. 2. Larva. 

 Fig. 3. Pupa. 



