1902.] 



57 



with soft brown hairs ; B. punctipennis, Mcq. (1835), may possibly bo 

 the female of my species, but anyhow his name cannot stand, as it 

 had been used for another species by Wiedemann in 1824 ; B. nervosus, 

 Mg., which Rondani included among those species with the middle 

 tibiae bristly down their whole length outside, cannot be my species, 

 as "Rondani says the hooked process of nitidus is present at the base 

 of the male hind femora, while Meigen's original description will not 

 apply at all to the species I have described. 



Sph^rocera. eximia, n. sp., <$ ? . 

 Margin of scutellum denticulate. Discal (fourth longitudinal) 

 vein curved upwards towards the radial at its end. Legs simple ; 

 front tibia? bearing above at the tip a small spine lying nearly flat. 



Head of S. pusilla type ; the cheeks and the space between the antennae often 

 of a reddish colour. 



Thorax and scutellum with a quantity of flat white points, each placed upon a 

 minute black wart ; there are no bare lines on the thorax, and the ground colour is 

 more shining black than in S. pusilla, because it is not finely punctate. Scutellum 

 with 14 — 16 stout teeth (which are occasionally reddish-brown), each tooth con- 

 sisting of a stout elongated wart with a flat white point at its tip. 



Abdomen ovate with almost equal segments, punctate and shining black, with 

 duller incisures and often whitish side margins. Venter with pale yellowish-white 

 membraneous side margins ; the shining black ventral plates bear a scattered pale 

 pubescence, and their hind margins are pale ; in the male the hind margin of the 

 fourth plate has a square piece cut. out to accommodate the genitalia. 



Legs black, with the coxse, trochanters (more or less), and the knees pale 

 (when immature the legs may be entirely reddish-brown), all clothed with a 



quantity of the . flat white points ; 

 front tibiae above at the tip with a 

 short spine lying nearly flat, and hind 

 tibiae underneath with two short apical 

 spurs, the one towards in front being 

 the shorter ; basal joint of the hind 

 feet not much dilated, and hardly 

 equal in length to the next two joints. 

 Wings (fig. 2) clear, with pale yellowish nervures. Haltercs pale. 

 Length, 2 mm. 



I have seen three males and two females of this species, taken at 

 Chippenham Fen near here, 31.1.98, 2G. 12.93, and 27 5.95, and in 

 the paddock behind Mr. Verrall's house at Newmarket, 15.5.97 

 and 15.5.01. 



This species may possibly be only Meigen's Borborus hyalipennis, 

 as he described it as having " die vierte Langsader stark vorwarts 



Fig. 



,„„,„„„>>*" 



S. eximia, 6 , wing. 



