Hutton. — On the Diptera brachycera of New Zealand. 5 



intercalary vein from the discal cell very short. Length, 

 8-11 mm. ; wing, 7-8 mm. 



Hab. Auckland (Captain Broun). 



Exaireta opposita. 



Actina oj^osita, Walker, Cat. Dipt. Brit. Mus., part v., 

 Supp., p. 13 (1851); Hutton, Cat. Dipt. N.Z., p. 35. 

 Thorax metallic bluish-green (cerugineous). Abdomen 

 tawny, each segment margined behind with fuscous, the tip 

 dark. Intercalary vein short, not reaching half-way to the 

 margin ; branch of the third longitudinal slightly sinuated. 

 Length, 7 mm. ; wing, 7 mm. 



Hab. Auckland (Colonel Bolton and Captain Broun) ; 

 Otago (F. W. H.). 



Exaireta alpina, sp. nov. 



Vertex black, the front silvery ; antenna? piceous, the base 

 of the flagellum pale ; palpi and proboscis pale-yellow, 

 except the last joint of the palpi, which is dark-brown. 

 Thorax metallic greenish-blue, with a little golden down ; 

 base of the scutellum the same, its apex and spines brown. 

 Abdomen tawny, the posterior margin of each segment with 

 green metallic reflections. Sixth segment with a longitudinal 

 dark band with green reflections ; seventh and eighth segments 

 almost entirely dark. Legs tawny, the middle and hind tarsi 

 paler, the fore tarsi fuscous. Wings pale-brownish, darker 

 near the fore border; no dark band; costa brown, veins 

 tawny ; intercalary vein reaching the margin. Halteres pale- 

 tawnv. Length, 10 mm. ; wing, 9 mm. 



Hab. Mount Arthur, 3,600 ft. (Hudson). 



The flagellum apparently consists of eight distinct joints, 

 but the last is longer than the others, and is probably formed 

 by three closely united joints. The abdomen in the female is 

 slightly oval and rather broader than the thorax. The male 

 is unknown. 



Genus Bekis, Linneeus (1809). 



Third joint of the antenna? long-fusiform, with eight rings ; 

 the palpi long. Eyes contiguous in the male. Scutellum 

 with spines. Abdomen rather broad. Wing with four pos- 

 terior cells, there being no intercalary vein from the discal 

 cell. 



In the New Zealand species the third joint of the antennae 

 is linear, and the eyes are not always contiguous in the male. 



Key to the Species. 

 Thorax dull blackish-brown . . . . . . B. violacea. 



Thorax shining greenish-blue . . . . . . B. micans. 



Thorax dull-green or bronzy-green . . . . B. substituta. 



Thorax shinirg bronzy .. .. .. .. B. cuprea. 



