Empididae. 111 



Robertianum, as already mentioned by Meigen; Zetterstedt records it 

 from Geranium sylvaticum. 



Geographical distribution: — Europe down into Italy; towards 

 the north to middle Sweden, and in Finland. 



14, E. rufiventris Meig. 



1838. Meig. Syst. Beschr. VII, 86, 65. — 1862. Schin. F. A. I, 108. — 

 1903. Kat. palåarkt. Dipt. II, 243. — Empis ventralis: 1842. Zett. Dipt. 

 Scand. I, 381, 15. 



Male. Eyes contiguous; epistoma brownish black. Occiput grey, 

 with black or brownish hairs. Labrum long and thin, more than 

 twice as long as the head is high, blackish brown; palpi black, with 

 some hairs at the apex. Antennæ as long as the head, black, the 

 two first joints with short hairs. Thorax grey, slightly shining, with 

 faint traces of three darker stripes. The dorsocentral bristles some- 

 what long, biserial, longer and uniserial behind; acrostichal bristles 

 shorter, biserial ; all black. Further a humeral bristle, a posthumeral, 

 three notopleural, a supraalar and a postalar bristle, all black; be- 

 sides there are some few other hairs. Scutellura with four black 

 marginal bristles, the middle ones strong. Pleura grey, metapleura 

 with long, black bristles. Abdomen black or greyish black, somewhat 

 shining, more or less testaceous at the base and on the sides, here 

 often almost in the whole length; Agenter generally quite testaceous. 

 Abdomen is clothed with short, brownish hairs which are longer at 

 the sides in front; the hairs at the hind margin of the first, short 

 segment are blackish; venter sparingiy haired with some few long 

 hairs at the hind margins of the segments. Exterior genitalia of 

 medium size, somewhat resembling those in pennipes; the lower 

 lamellæ directed more or less upwards, somewhat broad, obliquely 

 cut at the end and therefore somewhat pointed; the upper lamellæ 

 hook-shaped and curved somewhat downwards. Penis thread-like, 

 curved simply upwards, with a somewhat large ventral lamella at 

 the base. The eighth ventral segment arched, with long, blackish 

 brown hairs at the hind margin, and similar hairs at the lower margin 

 of the lower lamellæ, the upper lamellæ short-haired. Legs brownish 

 black or brown; coxæ greyish pruinose; hind metatarsi slightly 

 thickened. Middle femora with short hairs above, long, bristly hairs 

 below in the basal half; hind femora with long, but somewhat fine 

 hairs below and with some bristly hairs on the anterior and posterior 

 side in the basal half; besides there is a very dense and short pube- 

 scence on the ventral side of the posterior femora; front tibiæ with 

 somewhat short hairs above and a dense, erect pubescence below; 



