6. CHRYSOPILUS 305 



and the bristles on the frons (even though very tiny) more distinct, the 

 thorax with the stripes more obscured by golden pile (a very doubtful 

 character) and with the pair of stripes narrower and shorter and the 

 middle line hardly perceptible or with the stripes sometimes hardly visible, 

 and the femora with the scales much more extended. I believe the two 

 species are quite distinct and (remarkable to state ! ) Bigot had them nearly 

 correctly separated, though most of his specimens were in atrocious 

 condition; his C. aurata was mainly the species known by that name, 

 while his G. atrata was C. cristatus, which (though his specimens were 

 unlabelled) tends to prove that C. cristatus is by no means confined to 

 Britain. C. mcerens Loew is a perfectly distinct species known at once by 

 its very long and faint stigma and by other characters given by Loew. 

 C. erythrophthalmus Loew can scarcely be considered a close ally, as it is 

 much larger and thinner, with lighter femora, and with no long thin black 

 hairs on the thorax or abdomen. C. atratm Fabr. is probably identical 

 with Loew's C. siculiis (which Bezzi states is common in all Italy) and is 

 distinguished by its pale haired coxae and jowls. Bezzi wrote to me that 

 a pair of C. cristatus which I had sent to him were " une espece alliee du 

 " Chr. auratus (F.) Lw. { = atratus Sdiin.) comme je I'entende ; il a aussi 

 " dans le $ la barbe noire et les polls noirs aux hanches anterieures ; la 

 " Crete de polls fauves sur la base de I'abdomen se trouve aussi dans 

 " r auratus ! — Mais c'est une espece que je n'avais pas encore vue, distincte 

 " par la taille mineure, et dans le S pour la coloration des ailes qui est 

 " beaucoup plus foncee, surtout vers I'extremite, et dans la ? pour 

 " I'absence des polls gris presses sur I'abdomen." I do not think that any 

 other well-recognised species can be confounded with C. cristatus. 



C. cristatus is moderately common in Britain and I have numerous 

 records from Penzance to Sutherland and to Orkney, so I think it is likely 

 to occur in any suitable marshy localities ; it likes the long grass and low 

 herbage in the vicinity of water. Colonel Yerbury took it at Glengariff 

 in Co. Kerry, and says " Common everywhere." My dates extend from 

 June 6 to August 28, but specimens very soon show a worn appearance, 

 and a peculiar male taken at Lulworth Cove on August 21, 1906, is 

 extremely small, deep black with scarcely a golden pile left, and with the 

 wings unusually pellucid though not in the least orange about the base. 

 The species is recorded from the British Isles only at present, though I think 

 there were continental specimens in Bigot's collection, but when better dis- 

 tinguished from C. a.uratus I have no doubt it will be found to occur through- 

 out Western Europe. The common G. auratus is recorded from nearly all 

 Europe, and occurs in Italy in company with the South European G. sicuhis, 

 so it is probable that we shall find the true G. auratus in Britain, but I 

 have not been able to detect a specimen for certain at present ; unfor- 

 tunately most specimens that I have seen have been in very bad condition. 



Synonymy. —Loew in 1869 (Beschr. eur. Dipt., i., 56) dealt exhaustively with 

 the synonymy of the two species which he identified as C. anrata Fabr. and 

 6\ spfendicla_ Meig., and his synonymy has since been almost universally adopted. 

 Since that time however Loew's reasons for the adoption of the name G. anrata 

 have been weakened ; firstly he had no idea that a very closely allied species existed 

 in England, and secondly he did not know that C. anrata occurred in Italy, and he 

 to_ a large extent used the name C. aurata as applying to a Danish species and 

 rejected the older name of G. atrata because it was originally given for an Italian 

 species. In the latter action he has been justified, as it is most probable that 



U 



