194 STRATIOMYID^ 



records from Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, 

 Middlesex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Worcestershire, Hereford- 

 shire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, and Glamorgan, while from Scotland 

 I have notes of having seen it from Arran, Whauphill, Kinghorn, Eannoch, 

 Forres, and Golspie, and Duncan quotes from Haliday " common in 

 Ireland along with G. polita," but I think my records from at least 

 Eannoch and Forres may belong to the next species. My dates extend 

 from June 9 to September 1. If correctly identified it is recorded from 

 Scandinavia to Italy, though Bezzi excludes South Europe. 



Synonymy. — Meigen originallv described this species from a female sent to him 

 by Dr Leach from England, and his words " antennis flavis " and " Stirne breit, 

 " glanzend goldgriin ; — Hinterleib goldfarbig, mit blaulichem Schiller " conclusively 

 identify it. In 1830, however, Meigen described a ,Sargus jjall ipes with very similar 

 characters, which Zetterstedt and Walker professed to recognise as distinct from 

 M.flavicornis ; I am bound to agree with Loew (1855) that I cannot trace any trust- 

 worthy distinctive character, and in fact I think Meigen's words "Brustseiten 

 " glanzend schwarz, vor der Fliigelwurzel mit gelbweisser wagerechter Strieme " are 

 conclusive as to its identity. At the same time Loew came to the opinion that 

 Zetterstedt's Chyysomyia cyaneiventris was only another synonym, and that 

 opinion has been generally accepted ever since ; I have, however, proved it in my 

 next description to be a perfectly distinct species. Walker's C.jml/ipes, G .flavicornis, 

 and C. cyaneiventris form a comi^lete tangle, but I think his G. pallijjes may well 

 be M.flavicornis, and his G. cyaneiventris the female of M. cyaneiventris, and his G. 

 flavicornis a mixture of G. cyaneiventris and G. flavicornis, and a number of specimens 

 in the Entomological Club collection tend to prove this, as both species exist there 

 though mixed vq), and there are several specimens of M. cyaneiventris under the 

 label of flavicornis. It is most probable that Musca 2Mrvidus of Moses Harris 

 (1782) is the oldest name, but his description and figure of the female only are not 

 sufficient for positive identification. 



3. M. cyaneiventris Zetterstedt. Antenn?e yellowish. Legs mainly 

 yellow. Abdomen in both sexes and the frons of the female shining 

 blackish. 



Very much like M. flavicornis, but easily distinguished by 

 its blacker colour. 



(J . Agreeing with M. flavicornis, but the frons dull black with more distinct 

 depressed greyish pubescence and narrow middle furrow. 



Thorax and scutellum with slightly longer pubescence ; the pale humeri 

 and the narrow line along the dorso-pleural suture absent or very narrow and 

 indistinct. 



Abdomen shining black with a slight tinge of blue, and bearing longer and 

 much darker pubescence. 



Legs with the blackish markings on the posterior femora more restricted, 

 especially on the middle pair, and sometimes limited to an obscure middle 

 sixth of the hind pair. 



Wing-veins darker. Squamae dark brown Avith brownish fringes. Halteres 

 rather paler. 



? . Occiput, vertex, and frons dark bluish black ; frons more sparsely punctate, 

 and often with a pair of narrow curved yellow lunules which almost meet 

 just above the antennae, but these lunules are usually obscure or even absent, 

 though when distinctly present the dorso-pleural suture is also yellowish. 

 Eyes in life brownish green with a faint trace of a broad dark band just 

 above the middle._ Antennae larger than in the male. 



Abdomen shining bluish black, and consequently the pale pubescence more 

 obvious. 



