STRATIOMYID^ 757 



7 O.felina Panz. Included by Stephens in his Catalogue in 1829, as having been 



taken to his knowledge within twenty-five miles of St Paul's. Duncan in 

 1837 (Mag. Zool. Bot., i., 153) described it and said " Has been found in several 

 " parts of the country, but appears to be uncommon. 'Cardew Mire,' T. C. 

 " Heijsham, Esq." ; his description might well apply to the true O.felina, and 

 I have seen a female of ti'ue 0. felina from the Dublin Museum which is 

 reputed to be British and was part of Haliday's collection and so labelled by 

 him, but it is on a foreign pin and probably came from Loew at the same 

 time as Oxycera FaUenii. It is not at all improbable that the true O.felina 

 may be found in Britain, and possibly even be not uncommon. Some 

 specimens named O.felina in the old collection of the British Museum are 

 only 0. viridida but include one 0. anyulata. 



8 0. hydroleonL. Stephens included this species in his Catalogue (1829) because 



the older British entomologists had recorded it, and he marked it as having 

 occurred to his knowlcdgf within twenty-five miles of St Paul's, but in his 

 synonymy he identified the female as Str. awjulata Panz. and the male as 

 Str. hydroleon Panz. Duncan in 1837 (Mag. Zool. Bot., i., 153) said "Not so 

 " plentiful as the following {0. viridida), but occurring now and then on 

 " banks and in meadows. 'Cardew Mire.' C. T. Heyshavi, Esq." "In ponds, 

 " Holy wood " : Killarney, etc. ''A. H. Haliday, Esq." ; Duncan's species was 

 probably neither 0. angidata nor 0. felina and certainly not a variety of 0. 

 viridida, and therefore may have been the true 0. hydroleon. Walker in 

 1851 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 19) said "Very rare. In the British Museum. (E.)." 

 A female in the British Museum labelled " Berkshire, J. C. Dale " may belong 

 to this species, but has the basal abdominal spots small and the band-like 

 black markings on the second and third segments caused by triangular side- 

 spots which slope back almost to the sides and has smaller spots on the 

 fourth segment which have the inner points cut off ; in other words the black 

 base of the third and fourth segment widens out though not quite to the 

 sides and is not much band-like. 



9 0. hydropota Meig. This species was recorded by Stephens in 1829 (Syst. Cat. 



Brit. Ins., ii., 277) as having been taken to his knowledge within twenty-five 

 miles of St Paul's ; Duncan also included it in 1837, but his description 

 almost certainly refers to 0. angidata. Walker in 1851 (Ins. Brit. Dipt., i., 18) 

 said " Rare. In the British Museum. (E.)," but his description might apply to 

 O.felina. Brunetti in 1889 (Entom., xxii., 131) said "among some specimens 

 " from his collection kindly lent me by Mr C. Dale for examination, I found 

 " a specimen undoubtedly of this species. I have it from France and 

 " Bohemia, it being rather common on the Continent." I have included these 

 last words in my quotation because they make me doubtful as to what 

 species Brunetti had before him, 0. hydropota being very little kno-ma on the 

 Continent, and I could not recognise any such specimen in the Dale collection 

 at Oxford. The British Museum specimens under the labels of 0. hydropota 

 and O.felina are 0. angidata. 



10 0. conmxa Walk. Walker in Ins. Brit. Dipt., vol. i., 17 (1851) said "Very rare, 

 " in Mr Stephens' collection. (E.)" but in vol. iii., xi., he added "probably not 

 " European." I have seen the specimen and made the following notes upon 

 it : 0. connexa ? . Basal joint of the antennae three times as long as the 

 second, obscurely reddish ; third joint not twice as long as the basal one ; 

 head yellow including a broad collar, frons with a large black ocellar spot 

 which is diamond shaped but has the points rounded,^ and with a pair of 

 conspicuous sloping black spots near the middle which just reach the eyes ; 



