7. MACHIMUS 673 



middle and a small one near the Ijase, and two strong antero-ventral close 

 together at about three-quarters the length ; hind tarsi with the yellow 

 apical bristles on the four basal joints shorter than in the anterior pairs, and 

 with only a long anterior bristle near the base of the basal joint. Pulvilli 

 long, dull orange ; claws long, black but obscurely reddish at the base. 



Wings slightly brownish, with dark brown veins and extensive faint grey 

 "gloom" at the tip and hindmargin, and with this tint filling all the 

 cubital fork-cell (except just the base) and reaching much further back as a 

 small stripe in the mai-ginal and submarginal cells, and entirely enclosing the 

 veins near the wing-tip (leaving other veins with a hyaline margin), but 

 continuing uninterruptedly along the wingmargin ; the closed fourth posterior 

 cell with a large grey kernel and the fifth and sixth with small kernels, while 

 even the discal cell sometimes was a dull grey tip. S(iuama3 pale yellow 

 with a dark orange margin and with a long conspicuous dense whitish fringe 

 along the lower part. Halteres dull dark orange. 



5 . Extremely like the male. Postocular festoon composed of about three strong 

 black bristles. 



Abdomen with a rather more brownish tint to the yellowish grey colour, 

 the pale hindmargins less conspicuous but the pale bristles there rather more 

 numerous, and the grey sidemargins narrower except as triangles on the hind 

 corners of segments ; pubescence on the disc short and all pale except near 

 the hindmargin of the sixth segment and on nearly all the disc of the seventh, 

 and any stronger bristles on the seventh segment black. Belly with some long 

 pendent hairs on the basal segments, and often with more or less numerous 

 black hairs on the apical segments. Ovipositor (fig. 359) shining black, 

 strongly compressed laterally, obviously shorter than the two preceding 

 abdominal segments together, and (when seen sideways) of pointed elongate 

 triangular shape ; pubescence very sparse, black but with a few pale hairs 

 on the sides, and with some longer hairs beneath not far from the base which 

 are black with a few pale hairs intermixed or vice versa ; the second upper 

 piece of the ovipositor not half so long as the first and impunctate, but with 

 an inconspicuous circlet of thin pale hairs not far from its end ; the small 

 lamellae entirely free and coarsely punctate (especially above). 



Legs with the long pale pubescence sparser than in the male and much 

 shorter on the tibiae, but otherwise similar excei:)t that the black bristles on 

 the middle tibise may be reduced in number. 



Length about 16 mm. 



This species varies considerably in size, and as usual the small specimens 

 are darker than the large ones ; a small male from Lewes has the postocular 

 festoon composed of about ten stiff black and no yellow bristles, while 

 the small bristles on the sides of the Irons are all black, the collar has 

 about six strong yellow spines, the bristles on the middle of the disc of the 

 thorax are black, and the scutellar bristles only four in number, and 

 not very much upturned, the tip of the process from the underside of the 

 eighth abdominal segment bears three or four black bristly hairs, while 

 the claspers are hardly so thick and have a few black hairs above near 

 the tip. If attention be given to the almost entirely black legs and the 

 great predominance of pale bristles (especially on the scutellum and legs) 

 no confusion can arise between this and any other known European species 

 of Machimus. Eutolmus rufiharhis is very similar but may be distinguished 

 by the absence of any rufescent base to the tibiae, by the bristles on the 

 thorax, scutellum, and especially the legs being nearly all black, by the 

 much longer fine pubescence on the front tibial, which moreover extends 

 to the Imsal joint of the tarsi, and by the short pubescence on the hind 

 part of the thorax being mainly black, while the female of E. rufiharhis 

 has the end lamelloe of the ovipositor wedged into an excision in the 



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