44 



Gi:.\us 

 ATYLOTUS, Osten Sacken. 



Atylotus fulvus, Mg. 



Plate 1 8. 



The general ochreous colour of the bod}- will .ser\e to distinguish 

 this species, which is one of the rarer of our British horse-flies. 

 Rubbed specimens, however, look darker owing to the disappearance 

 of the short silky golden hairs, which co\ er the body and produce 

 the characteristic hue, and in the specimen figured in the plate these 

 hairs are unfortunately wanting on the abdomen. 



The only British specimens of A . /n/vus that the IMuseum possesses 

 are a male, from Lyndhurst, New Forest. Hants, June 24th, 1897, 

 and five females, from the same locality and L)-ndhurst Road, 

 June 29th and Jul)' 8th, 1897 {Liciit. -Colonel Yerhury) ; Beau- 

 lieu, Hants, July 15th, 1898 {Miss Gertrude Ricardo) ; and Kenmare, 

 Co. Kerry, Ireland, June 30th, 1901 {Lieut.- Colonel Verditrj). The 

 length of the male is 14' mm. ; that of the five females varies from 

 14I: to iSj mm. The eyes of the male are usually without bands; 

 those of the female are described by Brauer {loc. cit., p. 170J as " pale 

 olive-green, with an oblique fine dark line and shot with several 

 almost black round spots." In the male of this as of the following 

 species an area in the upper half of the eye, running from the inner 

 nearl)- to the outer margin, is composed of much larger facets than 

 the remainder. 



Writing of A. fulviis Colonel Yerbur\- sa\s that it is "a rare 

 species," and that he has met with it " onl_\- in the New Forest, and at 

 Glengariff and Kenmare in Ireland." 



The Continental series of this species in the Museum collection 

 includes examples from Hungary,Switzerland, and Spain. According 

 to Brauer it is generally distributed throughout Central and Southern 

 Europe, and is also found in Scandinavia, Russia, and Asia Minor. 



