2. TABANUS 387 



segments ; sidemarginal pubescence all greyish white but slightly brownish, 

 longer, and more outspread on the basal segment ; seventh segment both 

 dorsally and ventrally with fairly conspicuous rigid black bristly hairs, of 

 which there are traces (especially dorsally) on the sixth segment. Belly ashy 

 grey with any ferruginous coloring near the basal coriiers shining through, 

 and the hindmargins of segments narrowly whitish on their outer quarters ; 

 pubescence rather dense all over, short, greyish yellow, and mainly 

 adpressed. 



Legs dull blackish brown and orange, but the femora rendered grey by 

 abundant dust ; trochanters brownish orange ; just the tip of all the femora, 

 the basal third or half of the front tibice, all the posterior tibiae except the 

 distinctly darkened tip, and the base and underside of the posterior tarsi, 

 orange ; front tarsi deep black ; bare space beneath the front femora shining 

 black with a slight tinge of brown (especially just after the middle) and the 

 very dense row of tiny black bristles on its anterior margin inconspicuous. 

 Pubescence greyish white, short and inconspicuous on the tibise, and even the 

 dorsal fringe on the hind tibiae inconspicuous and only partly black. 



Wings as in the male. Squamae (alar) distinctly smoky with a blackish 

 margin ■ thoracal pair yellowish white with an almost white margin ; the 

 short fringes and the long angle-tuft pale yellow. Halteres whitish yellow. 



Length about 12-5 mm. 



This species apparently varies considerably in the colour of the ahdomen 

 both dorsally and ventrally as continental specimens are frequently much 

 more ferruginous, but I have seen but little variation in the few British 

 specimens I have examined. It is easily distinguished from A. fulvus by 

 the abscence of the conspicuous golden or orange hue which is so 

 characteristic of that species (especially in life), but is very closely allied 

 to A. latistriatus and special attention must be given to the bowed dark 

 abdominal stripes, the narrow parallel-sided frontal stripe of the female, 

 and the almost entirely greyish black femora, while more exact distinctions 

 are given in my description of A. latistriatus. The male specimens in 

 Kowarz's collection seem at first glance very distinct, but that is only because 

 they are in extremely perfect condition and consequently have the disc of 

 the thorax covered with dense almost felt-like pale grey pubescence amongst 

 which it is difficult to detect any black hairs^ while on the abdomen the dark 

 middle stripe (= the two blackish stripes and the intermediate space) is 

 only faintly discernible ; the palpi are pale yellow and in some cases bear 

 nothing but long pale pubescence ; in the female specimens the abdominal 

 stripes are faint and apparently parallel. In some specimens in Bigot's 

 collection the side-cheeks bear some black hairs on the upper part, and in 

 one female the apical half of the femora is orange, while in both Kowarz's 

 and Bigot's collection a specimen or two may have the abdomen rather 

 acuminate. I am also inclined to think that a distinct continental species 

 exists in which the enlarged facets on the eyes of the male are still more 

 enlarged, the pubescence more tawny, the palpi shorter and more black 

 haired, and the hump on the third joint of the antennae nearer the base of 

 the joint, and perhaps the prsealar calli ferruginous. 



A. rusticus is uncommon in Britain, and all my specimens were taken 

 in Sussex ; Mr J. H. A. Jenner took one male and four females near Lewes 

 in 1882 and 1883, the females having been taken on July 16 and 17 and 

 the male on September 6, and I have a female which was taken near 

 Eastbourne in July 1900. The Cambridge Museum possesses two females 

 which were taken by Mr C. C. Babington (the celebrated botanist) at 

 Monk's Wood, Hunts, on June 9, 1828, and there are two specimens in the 



