46 [February, 



September, by sweeping under spruces in Stoke Wood. Mr. Verrall 

 tells me that nothing appears to have been heard of the insect f<jr the 

 last 50 years. Without entering into minute detail, the following 

 points should, I think, l)e sufficient for its identifieation. The male is 

 all black, except for the yeUow legs, and can be satisfactorily dis- 

 tinguished from its congeners by certain bristle characters on the legs, 

 as given in the table below. The female has a pale washed-out look, 

 especially when fresh. The thorax is dull grey, which throws the 

 bristles into relief as three narrow dark lines ; the abdomen is variable, 

 usually the first two or even the first three segments are pale yellowish, 

 sometimes the first segment only, or in one specimen the im.der-parts 

 of the first two, the remaining segments are pale brown, frequently 

 with paler indications on the sides and pale segmental divisions ; and 

 the halteres are dusky yellow (in the male they are black). 



Table of Certain Bristles on the Legs of Male British Agathomyi.k 



The critical bristles are a bristle on the front tibiae near the tip 

 on its outer aspect ; one on the upper- side of the mid tibire, usually in 

 the upper-third ; and one or more bristles close to the lower edge of 

 the outer aspect of the middle metatarsi. 



FORE TIBI.«. mid TIBI.E. MIDDLE METATARSI. 



Antennntfi, Zett. .. Bri.stle present JJristle present One bristle close to base. 



Collin i, Verr Bristle rather weak . . . Absent One at extreme base. 



Viduella, Zett Absent Weak, at junction of Absent. 



upper and middle 

 thirds. 



Bored In, 7^ett Present Absent Two, one close to base, 



the other just before 

 middle. 



Elegantula, Fall. ...Bristle weak Absent Two atjextreme base. 



Zeifcrsiedtt, Zett.... Rather farther from Jnstbelow junction of Three, two""at the ex- 

 the tip than usual. upper and middle treme base and one in 

 thirds. (In my sin- the middle, 

 gle male a 2nd and 

 smaller bristle is 

 present on the right 

 tibia> above the other). 



There may be a temptation at first sight to place elefjanfula imder 

 CalUmyia on accoimt of the liriglitly coloured abdomen and the 

 scarcely lengthened 3rd joint of the antennae, but the presence of 

 bristles on the middle metatarsi and the bare 3rd wing vein show 

 conclusively that it is an AgatJwmyia. 



