1899] g^ 



Small species ( ^ , under 5 mm. (2'3 lines) ; ? , to extremity of ovipositor, 

 6 mm. (2 75 lines) in length) ; abdomen reddish-yellow at the base 

 beneath ; clieeks yellow, the anterior margin narrowly, the posterior 

 border broadly black .fulvirentris, Mg, 



3. Front and scutellum black nigrifrons, Macq. 



Front, except a black median triangle (and margins of the eyes also in L. 



sylvatica, Mg.), and scutellum red 4. 



4. Face with shining black median stripe; arista almost bare; smaller and 



slenderer species (5'5 mm. (2.5 lines) to (in the ? ) 6Q mm. (S^S lines) 



in length) sylvatica, Mg. 



Face without black median stripe; arista shortly, but distinctly plumose ; 

 larger and robuster species ((5 mm. (3 lines) to (in the ?) 8-3 mm. (4 



lines) in length albiseia, Schrk. 



(syn. ichneiimonea, F,, — Mg., Schin. — ? Linn.), 

 One of the largest, though apparently not the commonest, of our British species 

 of Loxocera is L. aristata. Pz. Owing to its size, the elongated abdomen of the ? , 

 laterally compressed towards the tip, is more noticeable in this thar. in the other 

 species. The Museum possesses specimens from Loch Kannoch, Perthshire, June 

 22nd — July 4tli, and Nethy Bridge, Inverness-shire, August 13th {Yerbiiry) ; from 

 Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, August 11th to 17th {Bradley) ; and from Lynd- 

 hurst Road, New Forest, August 7th, and Tarrington, Herefordshire, August 14th 

 ( Yerhury) . 



Loxocera fuloiventris, Mg., on the other hand, is the smallest, as well as appar- 

 ently one of the rarest of our native species. In the $ , owing to the great length of 

 the third joint, the antennae are longer than, or at least as long as, the head and 

 thorax together. At present this species, which was introduced as British by Mr 

 G. H. Verrall in 1894, on the strength of a ? captured in 1892 by the Rev. E. N. 

 Bloomfield at Guestling, near Hastings ((/. Ent. Mo. Mag., 1894, pp. 76, 145), is 

 represented in the Museum collection by only two examples — a <J from Ledbury, 

 Herefordshire, August 17th, 1897, and a $ from Tarrington, in the same county, 

 August 12th, 1897 — both taken and presented by Lieut. -Col. Yerbury. The species 

 seems to be scarce on the Continent also ; it was described by Meigen " from Baum- 

 hauer's collection," without the mention of any locality'; Macquart (" Dipteres," II, 

 p. 374) writes " From Germany ? ;" while Schiner (" Fauna Austriaca Uiptera," II, 

 p. 197) remarks : — " Very rare ; I took it on a single occasion, probably in the 

 mountain region {Hoehgehirge)." 



Loxocera nigrifrons is included in Verrall's " List " in italics, as requiring con- 

 firmation, and Mr. Verrall informs me that its insertion was due to a record in this 

 Journal by Mr. C. W. Dale (Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xx, 1884, p. 214), who states that 

 specimens were "Taken by Mr. J. C. Dale at Lyndhuret, on June 1st, 1831, and 

 July 7th, 1837." Mr. C. W. Dale attributes the species to Meigen, and gives 

 " hortoniensis, Curt. Guide," as a synonym ; Verrall follows Dale in quoting Meigen 

 as the author of the species, but adds, in parenthesis, " ? Mcq." As a matter of 

 fact, Loxocera nigrifrons was described by Macquart ("Dipteres," II, p. 374), and 

 not by Meigen at all, while hortoniensis is clearly a misprint for hantoniensis {cf. 

 Curtis, " A Guide to an Arrangement of British Insects," 1837, p. 269 — where the 

 name is attributed to Dale). Through the courtesy of Mr. C. W. Dale, I have 



