4 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Exaireta spiniger. 



Xylophagus spiniger, Weidemann, Ausser - Europ. Zweif. 

 Ins., ii., p. 618 (1830) ; Hutton, Cat. Dipt. N.Z., p. 35; 

 Hudson, Man. N.Z. Ent., p. 56, pi. vi., fig. 5. Beris 

 servillei, Macquart, Dipt. Exot., i., p. 176, pi. 21, fig. 1 

 (1838). 



General colour black, the abdomen with violet reflections. 

 Eases of the femora white, the tarsi yellowish. Wings with 

 the outer half blackish, except a clear spot near the base of 

 the submarginal cell. Length, $ 9-10 mm., ? 13-15 mm. ; 

 of the wing, $ 7-8 mm., $ 11-12 mm. 



Hob. Auckland (Colonel Bolton) ; Whangarei and Wel- 

 lington (F. W.H.). 



Weidemann gives Australia as the habitat of this species, 

 while Macquart says that the habitat is unknown. In the 

 "Voyage of the 'Novara'" both Sydney and Auckland are 

 given. Schiner made it the type of his genus Exaireta. 



Exaireta apicalis. 



Beris apicalis, White, Voy. "Erebus" and "Terror," pi. 7, 

 fig. 17 ; Cat. Dipt, in Brit. Mus., p. 126. Diphys a apicalis, 

 Walker, Cat'. Dipt. Brit. Mus., p. 1151 (1849); Hutton, 

 Cat. Dipt. N.Z., p. 34. Exaireta analis, Nowicki, Mem. d. 

 Krakauer k.-k. Akad. d. Wisseu., band ii., p. 11 (1875); 

 Hutton, Cat. Dipt. N.Z., p. 36. 



Thorax dark reddish-brown, sometimes slightly asneous, 

 and with short golden hairs ; the humeral callus tawny or 

 rufous ; scutellum tawny, abdomen tawny, the tip purplish- 

 black. Wings ochraceous, with a transverse brown band 

 from the costa to the discal cell ; branch of the third longi- 

 tudinal vein margined with duskv. The intercalarv vein from 

 the discal cell does not reach the margin. Length, 7-8 mm. ; 

 wing, 6-7 mm. 



Hab. Bay of Islands (Sir J. Hooker) ; Auckland (Captain 

 Broun) ; Wellington (Hudson) ; Otago (E. W. H.). 



There are five distinct joints in the flagellum of the an- 

 tennae, of which the first and fourth are much longer than the 

 others. Probably the fourth is made up of several. 



Exaireta straznitzkii. 



E. straznitzkii, Nowicki, Mem. Krakauer Akad. Wissen., ii., 

 p. 14 (1875) ; Hutton, Cat. Dipt. N.Z., p. 36. 

 Thorax dark-red, with black lines (not very distinct) ; 

 the humeral callus tawny. Abdomen purplish, the tip not 

 darker than the rest. Wings ochraceous, with an oblique 

 brown mark from the submarginal cell to the discal ; the 



