Asilidae. 55 



forceps, it is semiannular and forms, as it were, a ninth ventral seg- 

 ment; it is eitlier black and shining Uke the genitalia, or pruinose and 

 tiien quite resembling a ventral segment. In the intei'ior lies the 

 penis which is curved upwards towards the apex, and here often 

 three-branched. In the female the abdomen consists likewise of eight 

 segments, but the eighth ahvays forms part of the ovipositor, that is 

 to sav it is black, shining and otherwise indicating that it belongs to 

 the ovipositor. The ovipositor consists of a basal part, the mentioned 

 eighth segment, and of a second dorsal piece above; it is thus formed 

 of two dorsal and one ventral piece, that is of the eighth segment 

 and a dorsal part of the ninth; the ventral piece is generally so 

 long that it stretches out to the end of the second dorsal piece. At 

 the apex of the dorsal piece lie a pair of lamellæ which are either 

 lamelliform and wedged into the apex of the dorsal piece, or they 

 are more styliform and free. The ovipositor mav be shorter or longer 

 and it is either cylindrical and conical, or strongly compressed, in 

 rare cases it is thick and swoUen. In some cases not only the eighth 

 but also the sixth and seventh segments form part of the ovipositor 

 which is then long and compressed. Legs more or less strong and 

 bristly ; the hairs on the legs fall in different categories; there is a 

 common clothing of short, somewhat depressed hairs, then on certain 

 piaces long and thin, erect hairs some of which mav be strong and 

 bristly, e. g. often on the ventral side of the front femora; fmally there 

 are strong spine-like bristles to a different degree on femora and 

 tibiæ; also apical spurs are present. On the ventral or antero-ventral 

 side of the front tibiæ and on the posterior side of the hind tibiæ 

 there is a special, dense, reddish pubescence, and a similar pubescence 

 is found on the under side of the tarsi. The tarsi have strong spine- 

 like bristles, especially at the apex of the joints. The claws are strong; 

 there are two pulvilli and a claw- or bristle-shaped empodium. Wings 



Fig. 21. Wing of Neoitanms cyannrus. 



with the subcostal cell closed, the cubital vein forked; two cubital 

 cells (in some non-Danish genera the upper branch of the cubital 

 vein has a recurrent veinlet, and this may be prolonged to the radial 

 vein, then there are three cubital cells); no postical cross-vein between 

 the upper branch of the postical vein and the discai cell, but the 



