346 GNATS OH MOSQUITOES — CHAPTER XIII 



3. PSOROPHORA SCINTILLANS (Walker). 



Sabethes scintillans, Walker (" Jouru, Proc. Liun. Soc." III. [1859], p. 77). 



Wings unspotted. Tarsal joints with basal white bands. 

 Thorax dark brown, with a median and two lateral snowy lines. 

 Abdomen black, segments with or without snowy apical patches. 

 Proboscis curved as in Megarhina. 



This species was originally described as Sabethes by Walker, but is 

 certainly a Psorophora. 



Head black, clothed with small flat white scales, black erect ones and 

 numerous black bristles. Palpi of <? five jointed, nearly twice as long 

 as the proboscis, dark metallic purple and blue. 



Thorax black, with dusky brown curved hair-hke scales in the middle 

 and flat white spindle-shaped ones at the sides. Abdomen black, with 

 broA\ai scales with bright violet-blue reflections, first two segments 

 velvety brown, the apical one tinged with metallic green, sometimes 

 with white apical lateral patches. Legs black, with dense long dusky 

 scales with purple and brassy, &c., reflections, apices of hind femora 

 white, tarsi not so densely scaled as the femora and tibiae, except the first 

 jomts of the hind legs. Wings dusky yellowish-brown. Ungues of 

 the 2 equal, very stout with an accessory claw beneath. Length. — 

 6-5 to 8 mm. <? ; 7 to 9 l^ma. ? . 



Habitat. — Amazon Region. 



G-enus VIII. MUCIDUS, Theobald (Monog. I, p. 268). 



This new genus has been established by Mr. Theobald, for 

 the accommodation of the curious group of species allied to Psoro- 

 phora, the peculiarities of which were first pointed out in the 

 First Edition of this Handbook (p. 181), one which was partially 

 described under the suggested name of Ps. Scataphagoides. They 

 are large hirsute insects which look much more like dung flies 

 than they resemble ordinary gnats. The wings, and, in fact, the 

 entire insect is in all of them elaborately brindled and banded 

 with intermixed fulvous, dark brown and white scales, the tufts 

 of scales on the legs lending a curious dentate appearance to 

 their margins. In all of them, too, the internal fringe of the wing 

 is made up of brilliantly contrasted dark and light lengths. They 

 appear to be confined to the Old World and Australia, just as 

 Psorophora is, so far as we at present know, purely x\merican. 



Mr. Theobald defines the genus as follows : — 



" Head clothed with narrow curved, forked, upright, and long, twisted 

 scales. 



" Thorax with narrow curved scales and long twisted, apicaUy ex- 

 panded scales, as in the head. 



