68 Transactions. — Zoology. 



bend of the fourth longitudinal vein, and at about half its 

 length from the margin of the wing. Legs black. Length, 

 6-8 mm. 



Hab. Throughout New Zealand. Introduced. 



Very variable in the colouring of the abdomen. The face 

 is generally yellow in the female, but often white in the male. 

 The front and vertex are usually black, but there is a distinct 

 variety in which they are reddish-brown. 



The statement that the introduced house-fly has displaced 

 the native blow-flies, which have practically disappeared, ■•'- is 

 quite erroneous. I doubt whether they compete in any way. 



Musca taitensis. 



Musca taitensis, Macquart, Dipt. Exot., part v., p. 310, pi. 20, 



fig. 8 (1843) ; Hutton, Cat. Dipt. N.Z., p. 61. 



" Face and front black, the sides with whitish down. 

 Palpi and antennae black. Thorax black, with white bands. 

 Abdomen marked with black and yellow in the female. 

 Wings slightly brownish, halteres yellowish. Legs black. 

 Length, 5 mm. " (Macquart). 



Hab. Auckland (Dr. Sinclair); Tahiti (Paris Museum). 



Dr. Sinclair's specimens were identified by Mr. Walker. 

 I do not know the species. The brownish wings would seem 

 to show that it is not correctly placed in Musca. 



Genus Muscina, Desvoidy (1830). 



Epistome not prominent ; antennae not reaching the 

 abdomen ; the third joint at least three times the length of 

 the second ; the arista plumose. Eyes bare. Fourth longi- 

 tudinal vein convex after the bend ; first posterior cell widely 

 open. 



Muscina stabulans. 



Musca stabulans, Meigen, Diptera, v., 75, 42, pi. 43, fig. 35. 



Frontal band black, face and sides of the front silvery ; 

 antennae piceous, the base of the third joint ferruginous. 

 Palpi ferruginous. Thorax grey, with four black bands ; the 

 tip of the scutellum ferruginous. Legs ferruginous, the bases 

 of the femora and the tarsi blackish. Length, 7-8 mm. 



Hab. Auckland (Reise der " Novara," 1859) ; Whangarei 

 and Christchurch (F. W. H.). 



More common in the North than in the South. 



Genus Stomoxys, Geoffroy (1764). 



Proboscis slender, elongated. Front broad in both sexes. 

 Third joint of the antennae three times the length of the 



* Trans. N.Z. Insf., vo). xxviii., p. 5. 



