402 cESTiiiD.i:. 



brownish than in d" ; face and lower part of head more brownish 

 tlian in (S , pubescence much shorter and less dense; antenuse 

 also more brownish. Thoy-axhiack: humeral space clearly defined, 

 pale yellowisli ; whole surface, including sides, covered with long 

 and dense, bright yellow pubescence, which is slightly darker on 

 the dorsum and more brownish on the scutellum ; some nearly 

 whitish pubescence between scutellum and wing-base. In $ , 

 pubescence much shorter, and greenish-grey in colour. Abdomen 

 honey-yellow, with long and dense, pale yellow or golden-yellow 

 pubescence, extending unbroken over sides and venter, though 

 through it the emargiuations of the segments are distinctly visible. 

 In 2 , abdomen wholly black ; pubescence very sparse, almost 

 absent except for an obvious band of yellowish-white hairs across 

 middle of 2nd segment; venter in 5 black, with numerous small 

 wart-like bumps. Legs in cJ pale brownish-yellow, with rather 

 long and thick, bright j'ellow pubescence on under side of femora ; 

 tibiae and tarsi with very short, mainly black, stiff pubescence. 

 In 5 , femora black or blackish-brown with yellowisli under sides ; 

 tips more or less narrowly yellowish ; rest of legs as in 6 . 

 Wings dull grey, vaguely darker in middle for a distance from 

 anterior margin, also about the tip (in one 5 , wholly pale 

 brownish-gre_y) ; alulae strongly developed ; squamae dirty white, 

 with narrow yellowish margins and a little Avoolly whitish fringe ; 

 halteres brownish-yellow. 



Length, 10-13 mm. 



Redescribed from two pairs in good condition in the British 

 Museum. Not uncommon in Europe ; fi.rst obtained in India by 

 Col. Nurse, who bred examples at Deesa, xi. 1899, from pupae 

 passed by a horse, the imagines emerging about fifteen days later 

 {Col. Nurse). Meerut, N.W. India, S $; bred from pupae dropped 

 August 27th (the flies emerging Sept. 13th, 1901) by a Chinese 

 mule of unknown origin, but used in Tientsin Transport Lines by 

 the Chinese Expeditionary Force and shipped to India in July. 

 Several other specimens from the same source were obtained but 

 were destroyed in transit to London (from notes by the donor, 

 Lt. G. A. Hawlcs). The life-history is dealt with by Brauer, 

 Mon. CEstr. pp. 78, 79 (1863). In fresh specimens the dense 

 pubescence is often fox-red, and the thoracic band of black pubes- 

 cence is often indistinct, especially in the 5 . 



G-enus PORTSCHINSKIA, Sememv. 



Portschinskia, Semenov, Eev. Russe Ent. ii, p. 52 (1902) (nom. nov. 



for Microcephalus, Schnahl, prseocc). 

 Microcephahis, Schnabl, Deutsche Ent. Zeit. xxi, p. 49 (1877). 



GrENOTYPE, Microcephalus loewii, Schnabl ; the original species. 



Body robust, entirely without strong bristles. Head much 

 narrower than thorax, small ; frons rather narrow in J , broader 



