LYCASTRIS. 



279 



ill subcostal cell about six in number but variable ; squanise ami 

 halteres small, yellowish-grey. 



Length, 14-17 mm. to tip oE suout. 



Redescribecl from the type $ from India; the type 6 6 ol 

 Xiiihopheromyia glossata. Big., from Sabatoo, India ; and two cJ d 

 of mxL.favoJiirtaJrom Snreiland near Sureil, 6000 and 5000 ft., 

 ll-;^"l. X. 1917 and 18. x. 1917 (Annandah 4' Gravehj). I have 

 seen it from xMussoorie, ix and x. 1906 ; Darjiling, 10-15. ix. 1905 

 (type of fJavohirta, Brunetti) and 25. ix, 1906. 



"^Ttfpe ( $ ) of L. albiiHs, Walk., in British Museum. The type 

 of L. Jlavohirta, Brun., is in the Indian Museinn, and the two 

 S 6 oi X. glossata, Big., are in the Bigot Collection. 



A close study has been made of the type $ of L. albipes, the 

 two d 6 on which Bigot set up his X glossata, and two d 6 of 

 my L.flavoUrta, also a d" and a $ of i/. corautv.s, Euderl., sent by 

 the Budapest Museum ; all the specimens are in excellent con- 

 dition. There seems no doubt of the synonymy of the first three, 

 whilst the validity of cornutus rests practically on the single 

 character of its having dense black pubescence on the black parts 

 of the femora. L. albipes is a variable species, the length of the 

 produced rostrum varying from less than the height of the eyes 

 to nearly 1^ times as long.' The yellow anterior margin (some- 

 times resolved into two elongate spots) of the 2nd abdominal 

 segment mav be present or absent, and the colour of the abdomen 

 itself is also' variable. The insect very closely resembles the bees 

 Bombus vallestris. Smith, and B. favescens, Smith. 



216. Lycastris austeni, sp. uov. 



6 2 ' Head : in d , eyes not absolutely contiguous, but prac- 

 tically so for five or six facets; vertical triangle black, with 

 yellow dust and long, stifl:", blackish-brown pubescence; ocelli red. 

 Eest of head, including antenna; and arista, mainly shining, 

 rather deep, chestnut-brown, darker still on upper side of frontal 

 prolongation ; proboscis black, when bent umler body reaching 

 nearly "to tip of abdomen ; tip of the bifid rostrum a little orange ; 

 an indistinct, narrow darker line on each side of rostrum. 

 Occiput concave, black, with rather long, shaggy, black pubescence 

 on lower part. Thorax black, with long, dense, black pubescence, 

 which is much shorter and sparser on pleurae : scutellum black, 

 with dense, bright vellow pubescence. Abdomen black, with long, 

 dense pubescencs' of wliich that on basal third is yellow, on 

 middle tiiird black, and on apical third orange-red. Venter 

 shilling blaik, bare except for some long fine hairs. Genitalia 

 in d shining black, globular, with a little fine black, orange or 

 red nubescence. Leqs black or dark shining brown, knees 

 vellowish, al)out basal half of middle tibia) and basal part of 

 middle metatarsi orange-brown; tips of hind tibiic and the hind 

 tarsi deeji orangn-red, with very short, dense, concolorous 

 pubescence, and two or three closely-set longitudinal rows of tinv 



