346 TABANID^ 



Symjni/ini/. — Although the principal figure attached to //. italica in Curtis' 

 British Entomology, 525, belongs to that species, the dissections are obviously 

 made from //. pluvialis. Newman's record of //. longicornis mentioned 

 above is probably a synonym, and in fact Macquart's //. longicornis is 

 probably tlie same. The synonymy as given in Kertesz's Katalog can only be 

 founded on tradition and guesswork, and it may be noted that there is no 

 such species as //. efom/afa of Curtis, he having called his species //. italica while 

 the date on his plate is 1834; I made a note however when I examined Meigen's 

 collection in 1906 that his //. grandis Avas only //. italica ■with darkened femora 

 and indistinct abdominal spots. //, nigricornis Gobert appears to be a synonym 

 according to the description and also according to three out of five females so 

 named in Bigot's collection, the other two being specimens of //. Bigoti ? I have 

 adopted the name //. italica^ but until the European species are better distinguished 

 the identity of Meigen's species must remain uncertain. H. variegata Fabr. was 

 described from "Tanger" and from the words "Antennae testacese : articulo ultimo 

 nigro. . . . Pedes rufi " should be very distinct from either //. italica or H.jduvialis. 



4. H. Bigoti Gobert ? Third antennal joint partly reddish ; basal 



joint slightly ovate, and shining at the tip in the female. Femora of the 



female obscurely ochreous. Wings moderately but not yellowish 

 m arm orate. 



A recently distiDguislied species of which I do not know 

 the male. 



-$ . Unknown; but probably distinguished from //. crassicornis by reddish 

 coloring on the third joint of the antenna3 and by less darkly marmorated 

 wings ; from H. 'pluvialis by the absence of any hyaline markings on the 

 hindmargin of the wings, and by more distinct abdominal markings ; and 

 fi'om //. italica by its less washed out wing-markings and its more distinct 

 thoracic and abdominal markings. I should expect to find that the pubescence 

 behind the vertex was all tawny as in //. italica. 



$ . Most allied to //. italica but distinguished at once by the antennjB. Head 

 broader than in the other species ; side-cheeks dotted as in //. italica but with 

 the spots rather larger ; frons bearing strong black i^ubescence as in //. italica 

 but with distinctly more pale pubescence at the sides of, and just after, 

 the dull black spots, and the middle frontal spot by no means small. Palpi 

 with very few black bristles. Eyes colored as in //. italica (according to 

 notes made by Colonel Yerbury on a living specimen, though in a second 

 specimen the bands were different in colour). Antennae rather long ; basal 

 joint not so long as is usual in //. italica and distinctly though slightly ovate, 

 and shining at the tip (even to a third of the length on the inside), while in 

 one specimen the basal joint is obscurely reddish except at the tip and a 

 second specimen shows similar traces ; second joint not extended cap-like 

 over the third ; third joint (exclusive of the three-jointed style) wholly 

 brownish orange, slightly tapering after its circlet of bristles, and longer 

 than the style. 



Thorax very similar to that of //. italica, but the side-lines developing 

 into rather more conspicuous spots near the hindmargin. 



Abdomen with more conspicuous markings than in any of the other 

 species, every segment (even to the basal one) having a well defined pair of 

 pale brownish grey spots ; the grey dorsal line and hindmargins of segments 

 also clearly defined, and (when seen from above) the naked eye can at 

 once distinguish the pale triangle on the second segment more distinctly than 

 in any of the other species. 



Legs colored as in the palest forms of //. italica^ the front tibiae having 

 oidy the tip blackened ; hind tibiae with rather distinct pale pubescence on 

 the pale bands. 



Wings marked rather like those of //. italica as there is no trace of any 



