Empididae. 139 



Geographical distribution: — Northern and middle Europe down 

 into France; towards the north to northernmost Scandinavia, and in 

 Finland; it seems to be most common in the north, 



29. E. opaca Meig. 



1804. Meig. Klass. eur. zweifl. Ins. I, 226, 17. — 1858. Zett. Dipt. 

 Scand. XII, 4608, nota.— 1862. Schin. F. A. I, 105. — 1903. Kat. palåarkt. 

 Dipt. II, 241. 



Male. Eyes not quite touching, and only for a short space, 

 frontal triangle and epistoma greyish brown, the lower margin of the 

 latter black, shining. Occiput grey, with black bristles, downwards 

 with yellowish hairs. Labrum about twice as long as the head is 

 high; palpi brown, with brownish, at the apex with black hairs. An- 

 tennæ long, longer than the head, black; first joint twice as long as 

 the second, the third elongated; the two first with longish, black 

 hairs. Thorax light brown, with four dark brown stripes, the two 

 median abbreviated behind, the lateral abbreviated in front. The 

 dorsocentral bristles of medium length, pluriserial, longer, somewhat 

 strong and uniserial behind; the acrostichal bristles shorter, biserial; 

 all black. Further a humeral bristle, three or four notopleural, a supraalar 

 and a postalar bristle, all strong, black; besides there are short 

 bristles on the humeri, small hairs in the anterior part of the præsu- 

 tural depression and generally a second, weak postalar bristle, but 

 there is no posthurneral bristle. Scutellum with six black marginal 

 bristles. Pleura brownish, meta- and propleura with black bristles 

 and below with sonie yellowish hairs. The spiracles yellowish. Ab- 

 domen black, somewhat shining, and with a slight bluish tint; the 

 first segment, the front part of the second and the sixth and seventh 

 segments grey pruinose, the sixth with a black, not pruinose triangle 

 at the front margin; also the side margins of the segments somewhat 

 pruinose. Venter greyish. Abdomen is clothed with short, black 

 hairs; there are strong bristles on the sides at the hind margins of 

 the segments; the second segment has longish, yellow hairs on the 

 sides. Exterior genitalia not large, somewhat knob-like, but the eighth 

 ventral segment large, forming an arched plate; the lower lamellæ 

 are broad, directed upwards, with a straightly cut upper margin; 

 they are curved towards each other with the hind margins; the 

 upper lamellæ protrude between and above the lower, they have 

 likewise an almost straight upper margin and a somewhat pointed 

 apex, pointing backwards. Penis is thick, red, curved upwards and 

 forwards, and with a median furrow. The genitalia are black, some- 

 what shining, with short hairs. Legs ferruginous; coxæ densely 



