ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



439 



Head, anterior aspect : The head width is about IVs 

 times the head height. Face below antenna a fifth the 

 head width or less and distinctly widened below. Face 

 with a number of long, coarse, bristly hairs beginning 

 beneath the antenna and situated chiefly laterally. 

 Down the middle of the face, beginning a little lower 

 than the hairs, are 2 or 3 rows of quite stout, pale 

 bristles; these bristles forming a medial triangular 

 patch of considerably longer and even stouter elements 

 situated on the lower third of the face. Subepistoma 

 rather large, oblique, concave, and laterally with some 

 pile. Face cover consists of pubescence. Front slightly 

 widened, small in extent, depressed and pollinose with 

 a dense appressed tuft of coarse pile laterally. Vertex 

 distinctly narrowed but little excavated. Ocellarium 

 small, of medium height but steep with 1 or 2 minute 

 hairs, some pollen and behind the ocelli a pair of short, 

 rather stout bristles curved forward. 



Thorax : The mesonotum is moderately convex, more 

 abrupt anteriorly, pollinose but with very little pile. 

 There is some minute, acrostical pubescence and ante- 

 riorly only some minute acrostical setae. Dorsocentral 

 hairs seem to be almost but not quite absent. They are 

 very fine; behind the suture on each side is a row of 9 

 slightly longer, yet still fine, short hairs. Lateral bris- 

 tles well developed, long and stout, consisting of 2 noto- 

 pleural, 1 supraalar, 1 on postalar callosity. Scutellum 

 gently convex, densely pollinose with some minute basal 

 hairs and no bristles. Humerus with scattered long 

 hairs anteriorly. Metanotal callosity pollinose only. 

 Pronotimi with a few, stout bristles. Kemainder of 

 propleuron with scattered, fine hairs. ^\^iole pleuron 

 densely covered with pale pollen, sometimes golden in 

 color. Posterior mesopleuron with 2 bristles ; posterior 

 basalare with 3 bristles; pteropleuron with 1 bristle; 

 metapleuron with 4 or 5 longer bristles. Prostemimi 

 fully dissociated. Postmetacoxal area completely chi- 

 tinized behind the coxa. Lateral metasternimi with 

 some pile. 



Legs : The hind legs are a little elongate, all the fe- 

 mora distinctly stout, perhaps a little swollen. Bristles 

 are everywhere stout, only moderately long, and re- 

 duced in number on the femora. The legs bear rather 

 numerous, subappressed, sharp setae; these are com- 

 pletely wanting on the ventral surface of the hind fe- 

 mur and posterior surface of other femora. Hind fe- 

 mur a little narrowed towards the base; the bristles 

 consist of 3 lateral elements and 1 spikelike, dorsomedial 

 subapical bi-istle but curiously, none on the outside of 

 the subapex. Hind tibia with a basal and a postmedian 

 dorsolateral bristle, 3 dorsomedial along the middle, 2 

 ventrolateral beyond the middle, and 1 ventromedial 

 bristle on the basal half. Apex with 6 ventral and 1 

 dorsolateral bristle. Hind basitarsus stout, a little 

 longer than the next three segments, which are quite 

 short. Middle femur with a basal and distal anterior 

 bristle and a stout, posterior apical bristle. Middle tibia 



with 2 dorsolateral bristles beyond the middle, a basal 

 anteroventral, 2 posteroventral on the basal half and 

 2 quite prominent, ventral bristles on the distal half. 

 Anterior femur with 4 weak anterior bristles, 1 stout 

 median posterodorsal and 2 or 3 weak ventral bristles; 

 its tibia has 1 conspicuous, basal posteroventral and 

 beyond this 2 quite stout, long, posteroventral bristles. 

 Anterior basitarsus no longer than the next two seg- 

 ments. Claws imusually stout, moderately sharp, bent 

 chiefly from the middle. Pulvilli quite large, tnmcate ; 

 the empodium strongly swollen at base. 



Wings: The wings are generally tinged with brown 

 or yellow. The marginal cell is closed and stalked; 

 anterior branch of third vein sinuous. Second submar- 

 ginal cell rather wide at base but arched. Second pos- 

 terior cell considerably but gradually widened anteri- 

 orly beyond the discal cell. First posterior cell open 

 maximally; medial crossvein quite long, drawn back- 

 ward; the upper anterior intercalary vein tends to be 

 shortened. Fourth posterior cell closed, usually with a 

 rather short stalk. Posterior crossvein wanting, with 

 the end veins of the second basal cell often fused. Anal 

 cell closed and stalked. Wing densely villose. Alula 

 prominent ; ambient vein complete. 



Abdomen : The abdomen is elongate and often some- 

 what clavate or club-shaped. Pile is fine, appressed, 

 setate. Sides of first tergite with 5 quite stout bristles 

 and some slender, bristly hairs. Sides of second tergite 

 behind with a few, bristly hairs. Males with eight ter- 

 gites, the eighth tergite short, about a third the length 

 of the seventh, and the seventh tergite half as long as 

 the sixth or slightly longer. Female with eight tergites, 

 the eighth somewhat shorter than the seventh. Male 

 terminalia not rotate, the epandriiun cleft into superior 

 forceps, the halves rather closely adjacent basally, di- 

 vergent posteriorly, enclosing the broad, spatulate proc- 

 tiger. Laterally the forceps are broad, conspicuous, 

 obtuse and basally convex. Hypandrium short, very 

 densely beset with stiff, posteriorly directed bristles. 

 Gonopod comparatively small but with a moderately 

 long, distal process. Penis guide curved upward, ex- 

 posed and ending a little beyond the proctiger. Female 

 with the ovipositor consisting of a short, dorsally tri- 

 angular protrusion, undivided in the middle but per- 

 haps creased. The ventral portion extends barely be- 

 yond it. 



Distribution: Ethiopian: Michotamia cothumata 

 Bigot (1875). 



Oriental: Michotamia aiwlis Macquaxt (1838); an- 

 nulata de Meijere (1911); annulata Bigot (1878); 

 compedita Wiedemann (1828) ; minor de Meijere 

 (1911); fraeacuta Wulp (1898); triangulum Wulp 

 (1872). 



Australian : Michotamia aurata Fabricius ( 1794) ; 

 scitula Walker (1860) ; vulpina Bigot (1875). 



Country unknown: Michotamia setitarsata Schiner 

 (1867). 



