2. LEPTIS 279 



5. L. anniilata DeGeer. Wings without any distinct stigma. Legs 

 almost wholly yellowish. Palpi and antennae blackish. Pubescence 

 mainly pale. 



A rather large species belonging to the group of L. tringaria 

 but distinguished by its pale pubescence. 



The only recognisable description * I can find of this species is that 

 given by Loew in his first work, Bemerkungen liber die in der Posener 

 Gegend Diptera, published in 1840, of which the following is a 

 translation : — 



$. "Leptis (annulata?) cinerea, coxis concoloribus ; abdomine flavo, trifariam 

 nigroi^unctato, postice utriiniue nigro, antennis palpisque nigris, alls immacu- 

 latis." 



" Male ; Head : Antennte black, and palpi also but like the face with long 

 " silvery grey pubescence. Frons also bearing short silvery grey pubescence 

 " and appearing blackish in many lights. Thorax : rather dark grey with the 

 " usual stripes ; coxas also dark grey with silvery grey pubescence. Disc 

 " clothed with fine yellowish grey hairs, which are longer than in the allied 

 "species. Abdomen: yellow; first segment black above, pale beneath ; 

 " second and third yellow with black dorsal spots and pointed triangular side 

 " spots, pale beneath ; fourth segment like the two preceding but brownish 

 " beneath with a pale hindmargin ; on the fifth segment the black middle 

 " spot unites with the side spots to form a doubly bowed band, it is black 

 " beneath. The two last segments are wholly black. The pubescence of the 

 "abdomen is yellowish white. Legs: yellow; front tarsi browned from 

 " about the middle of the basal joint, middle tarsi from the base of the basal 

 " joint ; hind tarsi all brown ; also the middle and especially the hind tibiae 

 " are somewhat darker at the tip. Wings : rather hyaline, little colored, 

 " but more yellowish on the foremargin." 



" Female very much like the male, but distinguished as follows : coxae and 

 " palpi with much shorter pubescence which tends more towards greyish ; frons 

 " brown on the upper part. Abdomen : first segment blackish above, with the 

 " exception of a yellow hindmarginal hem which widens towards the sides ; 

 " second segment yellow above with a large black spot, which nearly reaches 

 " to the hindmargin ; third segment also yellow with a black spot widened 

 " forwards banddike ; fourth segment with a black posteriorly bowed band, 

 " but yellow on the hindmargin, like the subsequent anteriorly black segments. 

 " On the under side of the abdomen the colour goes from the base onwards 

 " gradually over to black, but the incisures remain yellow. The hind tarsi are 

 " somewhat less, and the anterior more browned than in the male. The 

 " pubescence of the abdomen tends more towards yellow that in the male." 



Loew stated that the species was common near Posen, but I do not find 

 any satisfactory recognitions or descriptions of it from 1840 to 1907. 



$, I have seen one English female specimen which I refer without hesitation 

 to this species, as T believe it to be the only one of the L. trin<jaria group 

 which bears mainly pale pubescence. I have made the following notes 

 from it : — 



Probably a dark specimen. Frons light grey at the top and bottom but 

 with the middle part widely brown and becoming blackish about the centre ; 

 quite bare. Proboscis greyish black ; palpi greyish black, bearing numerous 

 black bristly hairs above but whitish hairs beneath and about the sides. 

 Antennas greyish black with faint traces of orange at the extreme tips of the 

 two basal joints ; arista hardly twice as long as the antennae. 



Thorax light ashy grey with the usual stripes blackish and the middle one 

 split, causing the light grey intermediate strijies and the sides of the disc 

 to stand out rather conspicuously pale; pubescence (rubbed?) consisting of 



* Lundbeck has since described it in Diptera Danica, p. 147 (1907). 



