192 STR AXIOM YID.E 



joints obscurely darkened above ; all tibiae slightly dilated on the apical half. 

 Pubescence all very inconspicuous and nearly all pale yellow. Pulvilli dirty 

 pale yellow ; claws blackish. 



AVings very slightly smoky, with the stigma sharply defined though only 

 yellowish ; veins about the base brownish orange, and the outer veins not so 

 faint as in the other species of the genus ; discal vein exceedingly faint up 

 to the discal cell. Squamse (alar) rather small, obscure glassy, with darkened 

 margins wliich bear a short dark fringe ; thoracal squamae forming an ovate 

 disc which is blackish with a slight tinge of orange, and which bears blackish 

 or greyish-black pubescence all over though most conspicuously so on the 

 marginal fringe. Halteres large, orange. 



9 . (Similar to the male in general appearance. Frons fully two-fifths the width 

 of the head, brilliant green and practically bare but moderately punctate ; 

 frons and face very slightly narrowing from the vertex to the mouth, and 

 while the pubescence on the frons is very sparse that on the face is distinct 

 and pale though short and inconspicuous ; near the vertex there is a depressed 

 elongate triangular space extending from the ocelli about 

 half-way down the frons and continued as a narrow 

 middle furrow as far as the antennae ; back of the head 

 all pufl^ed out, rather narrowly on the lower part but 

 Ijecoming wide on the ui)per part, and forming a brilliant 

 green eye-collar which roands off on to the frons. Eyes 

 smaller and the facets all equal. Antennae (fig. 143) with 

 Fig. 143.— Microdmjsa fli6 third joint larger and more distinctly annulated. 



poiiia ?. X 30. Thorax and scatellum sometimes more purplish, and 



bearing all over a very short pale inconspicuous though 

 dense pubescence. 



Abdomen sometimes brilliant purple, shorter than the thorax and as 

 broad as long, not so distinctly punctate as in the male, and bearing only 

 very short inconspicuous grey pubescence and consequently more brilliantly 

 shining. Ovipositor with a pair of rather long thin jointed blackish-orange 

 lamellae. 



Legs usually darker than in the male, even to the basal joints of the tarsi 

 and the more restricted orange tips of the front femora, but the front tibiae 

 are often almost entirely orange. 



Wings slightly more hyaline than in the male, and the stigma only pale 

 greyish yellow. Thoracal squamae almost as black as in the male, but with 

 rather greyer fringes. 

 Length about 5 mm. 



*o' 



This species varies but very little ; the antennae may be more or less 

 dark brown, but are never so yellow on the basal joints as in the other 

 European species ; the legs may vary a little in the amount and more so 

 in the intensity of the dark markings ; and the whole coloring may vary 

 between brilliant green, bluish green, and even purplish. It is always 

 distinctly larger and has blacker markings than the other two species. 



M. polita is very common on the leaves of shrubs in gardens, and 

 occurs in any shrubby district. I have innumerable records from 

 Penzance to Golspie between March 26 and August 16. Colonel Yerbury 

 took (along with normal specimens) a very large (5i mm.) female at 

 Glengariff in Co. Cork on June 15, 1901, and Haliday has stated that it is 

 common in hedges in Ireland. It is recorded from almost all Europe and 

 from North America, though Bezzi states that it is rare in Italy. It has 

 been bred in abundance from cow-dung and from decaying vegetable 

 matter. 



Synonymi/. — No doubi. need be raised against Linne's description which (accord- 

 ing to Haliday) is confirmed by the type in his collection, Musca vitreus of Mosea 

 Harris is an obvious synonym. 



