Bombyliidae. 111 



Male. Ground colour black or greyish black; frons and epistoma 

 with short, erect, blackish or dark brownish hairs and covered with 

 depressed, golden, scaly hairs; epistoma somewhat protruding. Occi- 

 put with depressed, white hairs, and with a short fringe of yellow 

 hairs at the hind margin, Antennæ black or brownish black, the 

 basal joints with short, black hairs; the third joint elongated conical, 

 the distal part separated and the antennæ thus four-jointed. Thorax 



Fig. 38. Antenna of A. afer. X 45. 



more or less densely clothed with scaly, golden or whitish hairs, and 

 sparingly also with short, yellowish brown hairs which are denser at 

 the front end and here form the common fringe which is yellow, but 

 intermingled with black hairs below; at the hind part of thorax there 

 are some stronger, black hairs; along each lateral margin of the disc 

 there is a longitudinal stripe of white or slightly yellowish hairs. 

 Pleura with longish hairs which are reddish yellow above, darker 

 farther down; the metapleura have a vertical tuft of pale or reddish 

 yellow hairs. There are strong postalar bristles on the postalar 

 cailus, and the bristles on the scutellum are also somewhat strong, 

 Abdomen covered with scaly hairs which are black on the front parts 

 of the segments but yellow at the hind margins, the second segment 

 on the contrary is chiefly yellow haired with black hind margin; on 

 the third and sixth segments there is a broad, white, transverse band 

 on the front part, nearly covering the whole segment; the band on 

 the sixth segment is interrupted in the middle; also the seventh 

 segment is whitish haired. Abdomen also sparingly clothed with 

 longer, black hairs which are denser at the lateral margins; the first 

 segment has erect, white hairs at the sides, reaching like a fringe 

 nearly to the middle. Venter with long, chiefly whitish, towards the 

 apex more or less black, hairs, and depressed yellow or golden hairs. 

 Legs blackish or brown; the hairs and bristles black, the scaly hairs 

 to a great extent yellow or golden; the front tibiæ smooth. Wings 

 hyaline, only blackish at the base and along the front margin; the 

 blackish colour begins at the apex of the mediastinal vein, then 

 stretches towards the base to the medial cross-vein which it follows, 



