146 AA^ A ceo UNT OF BRITISH FLIES. 



yellow, brownish beneath ; palpi yellow ; antennae shorter than the 

 body ; brown, yellowish at base, l^egs long, yellow ; tarsi brownish- 

 black, with black hairs. Wings grayish. Length 2 J- to 3^ lin. 

 Walker mentions a variety with testaceous bands on the antennae. 

 The other five British species are all fairly common. M. centralis, 

 Mg., angulata, y[g.=vittaia, Macq., and stigma, are described in 

 Curtis's 'British Entomology' (637, 3), (637, 2) and (637, 6). 1837. 

 M. phalerata, Mg. (Verb. d. Zool. Bot. Ges., xiii., 683, 13.) 

 M. lutea, Mg. (Meigen, System. Beschr., i., 223, i.) 

 M. 7naculata^ Mg., is also described by Curtis (B. E., 637, 4), but 

 is placed amongst the reputed species by Verrall. 



Section 6. — Bolitophilirtce. 



This section again only includes one genus, so we may combine 

 the characters of genus and section together. 



Body slender. Head small. Ii^yes round and prominent. Ocelli 

 three, nearly in a straight line. Labium short and broad. Proboscis 

 short. Palpi 4-jointed, cylindrical ; first, second and third joints 

 short, fourth long and slender. Antennae i6-jointed, slender, seti- 

 form, shorter than body ; apex attenuated, but not segmented ; 

 pubescent in $, longer than ? ; in the latter they are bare. Thorax 

 long. Abdomen long and attenuated ; nine segments, last segment 

 small, cylindrical in $ ; fusciform in ? ; eighth and ninth segments 

 very small. Legs long, very slender ; tibic^ with no spines or spurs. 

 Wings minutely hairy ; third longitudinal forked, upper branch nearly 

 at right angles, joining second vein near its tip ; fourth longitudinal 

 vein emitting a transverse veinlet which joins the third, forked imme- 

 diately after this ; sixth and seventh do not reach the border. 

 Areolets fourteen. These gnats appear almost all the year, and are 

 found in shady and damp places ; they are often met with in winter, 

 especially on mild days, even when snow is on the ground. Walker 

 says they " are allied to Di.xa and Trichocera," but the neuration is 

 entirely distinct from both. 



,. E) ;•.> x/ •/ M i Macrocera, Kit., Mg. 



(7ENUS Bolitopliila, Mg. = • ,^ , ' ^ 



( Messala, Curt. 



There are four species in the genus, two of which are found in 

 England and two in Russia. 



B. cinerea, Mg. 



This is a grayish-black gnat, with testaceous palpi. Pectus also 

 testaceous, and so are the antennae at the base. 1-egs yellowish, 

 tibiie and tarsi blackish. Wings with a small gray spot on the costa 



