Syrphus. 337 



and the hairs rather long and dense. Eyes bare. Antennæ black, 

 third joint short ovate ; arista as long as the antennæ. Thorax black, 

 duUish, with somewhat long, black, anteriorly more brownish hairs. 

 Scutellum black, slightly brownish on the disc, with black hairs; also 

 the hairs below the margin black. Pleura black-haired. Abdomen 

 narrow, parallel-sided, duU black, a little shining at apex; there are 

 two pairs of somewhat small, yellow spots; the first pair he on third 

 segment near the front margin, they are transversely oval, well 

 separated in the middle ; the second pair are similar but smaller, both 

 pairs are isolated from the side margin. The hairs are all black. 

 Venter blackish with similar spots as on dorsum, but somewhat in- 

 definite; the hairs long, blackish, a little paler at the front margin of 

 third segment. Genitalia relatively large, bluish, shining, with black 

 hairs. Legs mainly blackish, the apex of femora and about the basal 

 half of tibiæ obscurely reddish; the hairs all dark, only on the hind 

 femora intermingled with yellow hairs. Wings somewhat brownish 

 tinged. Squamulæ smoky with a yellow, not dense fringe. Balteres 

 yellow, the peduncle darker. 



Female. I do not know the female ; according to the descriptions 

 it has the epistoma orange at the sides so that there is a very broad, 

 black middle line; the hairs pale; frons broad, all shining black, with 

 long, black hairs, above the antennæ may be some pale hairs. Thorax 

 and scutellum shining, with all brownish yellow pubescence. Abdomen 

 shining, with three pairs of yellow spots, the basal spots most widely 

 separated; the basal spots go widely over the side margin, the second 

 pair scarcely or just going over the margin, the third pair generally 

 going quite over it. Legs paler than in the male. Wings more 

 hyaline. 



Length 7,6 mm. 



This species is easily known as it is the darkest of all species, 

 and the only having so dark a scutellum, and in the male a completely 

 black epistoma and only two pairs of abdominal spots; it is in the 

 male rather similar to Melmigyna quadrimaculata as noted under this 

 species, but it is distinguished by the bare eyes, and besides it has 

 the head and the thorax with scutellum and pleura quite black-haired ; 

 also is it smaller. — Verrall describes the abdomen of the male with 

 pale hairs on the spots and on second segment where the spots might 

 be; my specimen has a completely black-haired abdomen. 



S. barhifrons is very rare in Denmark, only one specimen, a male, 

 has been taken at Tisvilde on ^^/é 1911 (Kryger); it was taken on 

 flowers of Salix. 



Geographical distribution : — Northern and middle Europe, pro- 



22 



