8. NEOITAMUS 



679 



Fia. 362. — Neoitamus cyamirns ? . x 13. 



leaves nearly tlie upper half or third and the sides of the face bare ;'ocellar hristles 



I'ather well defined ; postocular festoon long and extended, but with its bristles 



rather thin and erect until the upper quarter where they bend forwards on their top 



half almost rectangularly (fig. 3G2). Antennae 



with the basal joint thin and twice as long as 



the almost globular second joint, and the two 



basal joints bearing long bristles (especially on 



the underside) ; third joint tapering so much 



that it ends as thin as (and seems to merge into) 



the base of the style ; style long and thin. 



Thorax rather unusually blackish grey, because 

 the strongly marked dorsal stripes are blacker 

 than usual and are quite bare of pubescence ; 

 pubescence otherwise fairly long and growing 

 still longer posteriorly until it becomes almost 

 as long as the dorso-central bristles. Bristles 

 long, strong, and numerous, four or five prtesu- 

 tural, about five irregular supra-alar, about five 

 (3-5) postalar, and about twelve dorso-central 

 (becoming weak j^osteriorly and not extending 

 anteriorly more than half-way between the suture 

 and the front) ; metapleural and hypopleural fans 

 composed of numerous long bristly hairs. Scu- 

 tellum with about four (2 or 4) strong marginal 

 bristles. 



Abdomen long, rather narrow, and dark colored, with large genitalia ; eighth 

 segment in the male not much shorter than the seventh. Pubescence rather long 

 and conspicuous, becoming of a bristly nature towards the sides of the pra^hind- 

 marginal fringes on the second, third, and fourth segments, where a few (about 

 four) of the long hairs become stout and strong. Genitalia of the male large and 

 complicated, shining black ; ovipositor laterally compressed and appearing to be 

 very long because the sixth and seventh abdominal segments seem to form part 

 of it. 



Legs black, but with the tibiae (except at the tip) bright orange and not obscured 

 by any close short pubescence nor by any striping or banding ; tarsi often also more 

 or less orange about the base. Bristles normal ; front femora without any bristles 

 On the underside. 



Wings normal ; cubital fork with a decided bell-mouthed opening. Squamae 

 (alar) with only a moderate marginal fringe which is neither so dense nor long as 

 usual. 



The generic characters now given apply only to Section A of Loew's 

 genus Itamus, as I believe that there are sufficient reasons for giving 

 generic (or subgeneric) rank to the species in his Section B for which I 

 here propose the name Paritamus. 



This genus as now restricted may be distinguished from any Asilince 

 known to me by the remarkable ovipositor and by the bare thoracic 

 stripes. The ovipositor is very much laterally compressed and is very 

 long, as it appears to include the sixth and seventh abdominal segments 

 so that the ordinary abdomen seems to be reduced to five segments. 

 Other notable characters exist in the narrow face, the rectangularly bent 

 postocular festoon, the tapering third antennal joint, the numerous thoracic 

 bristles, the complicated male genitalia, and the bright orange coloring of 

 the tibiae. Paritamus has the face less narrow and only its upper quarter 

 bare, the postocular festoon less bent forward, the third antennal joint not 

 more tapering than usual, the thoracic stripes considerably covered by the 

 tiny thoracic bristles, the male genitalia conspicuously swollen, and the 

 ovipositor normally formed so that the abdomen has the usual seven 

 segments, irrespective of the ovipositor. 



