Miller. — The Diptera Fauna of New Zealand. 309 



hairs ; 1st and 2nd antenna! joints black with a brownish or greyish 

 tome nt urn ; the 2nd joint elongate, reaching toward the facial prominence ; 

 outline of face as in fasciatum ; mouth-parts withdrawn, black but tawny 

 apically. 



Thorax and scutellum shiny bronzy-black, sparsely clothed with delicate 

 silvery and brown hairs ; the ptero- and sterno-pleurae rather brownish. 

 Wings faintly tinged with brown, iridescent, the stigma somewhat brownish; 

 articulation ochreous. As Hutton has pointed out, the venation agrees 

 with that of fasciatum ; halteres ochreous. Legs ochreous, but the posterior 

 pair much darker though brownish at the joints ; coxae black. 



Abdomen dark blue, rather shiny, immaculate ; elongate, broad in the 

 middle and narrowing basally and apically. 



$. Length, 6 mm. 



Holotype : Hutton's collection, Canterbury Museum. 



Habitat. — Christchurch (Hutton) . 



Genus Platycheirus St. Far. et Serv. (1828). 



The species of this genus are elongate and narrow ; in colour black, 

 blue, or metallic, with no yellow markings but sometimes hoary spots on 

 the abdomen ; antennae situated well above middle height of head ; face 

 more or less vertical and produced to prominence about middle of head, 

 thence receding to oral margin below ; orbito-facial groove present ; eyes 

 bare, holoptic in the male ; anterior tarsi broadened in the female, the legs 

 of the male peculiarly haired. 



Table of Species. 



(a.) Thorax shiny blue-black ; face deep blue ; 3rd antennal joint black 

 with a greyish reflection ; abdomen blue-black with indistinct 

 greyish areas on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th segments . . . . lignudus n. sp. 



(6.) Thorax bronzy- black ; face black ; 3rd antennal joint orange-red; 

 abdomen blue-black without greyish areas except in some 

 lights at anterior angles of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th segments of S ■ . clarkei n. sp. 



(c.) Thorax black ; face pale yellow with a black stripe ; abdomen 



black with oblique white spots ; halte res emerald -green .. atkinsoni xx. sp. 



P. lignudus n. sp. (Plate XL VIII, fig. 5.) 



A shiny blue-black narrow-bodied fly with indistinct greyish areas on 

 the abdomen. 



$. Eyes bare, dichoptic ; vertex and front shiny deep blue with a 

 dense vestiture of black hairs ; lunular area black. Antennae (fig. 44) 

 situated high up on head ; black and rather elongate, with a greyish reflec- 

 tion due to pubescence, which is minute on 1st ami 2nd joints ; 3rd joint 

 elongate oval ; arista black and pubescent. Face shiny blue-black clothed 

 with scattered grey hairs and a greyish tomentum above orbito-facial groove ; 

 outline shown in fig. 42 ; oral margin shiny blue-black and sparsely clothed 

 with erect greyish hairs ; cheeks blue-black, silvery in some lights, and 

 clothed with grey hairs ; occiput blue-black with a silvery reflection and a 

 dense vestiture of grey hairs along orbits and behind vertex ; mouth-parts 

 blue-black to brownish. 



Thorax and scutellum shiny blue-black, clothed with a dense vestiture 

 of greyish-brown hairs. Legs brownish-black but tawny at apex of femora 

 and base of tibiae, the former clothed with delicate hairs, the latter and 

 the tarsi covered with very short, golden to brownish, stiff hairs ; anterior 



