36 AUSTRALIAN STRATIOMYIIP.E, 



rubriceps, Macquart, described below, and does not agree 

 with the antennal proportions given by White. A critical 

 study of White's description compared with a number of 

 undescribed Beridince has led the writer to conclude that 

 the description given by White is misleading, and there- 

 fore the above specimen determined by White is considered 

 to be correctly identified. 



Inupus despectus, Walker (Ins. Saund. Dipt.), from un- 

 known locality may also be intended for the male of M. 

 rubriceps, Macquart, but the illustration with it does not 

 quite conform to this insect. 



Description. — Male. The head is black or blackish 

 brown ; the eyes are contiguous ; the second joint of the 

 antennas is about one quarter the length of the first, and 

 the third joint is as long as the first and is segmented. The 

 tliorax, s •utellum, and abdomen are blackish brown, and 

 a golden yellow pubescence, very conspicuous in fresh 

 specimens, covers a large area of the thorax dorsally, and 

 extends on to the scutellum and abdomen ; ventrallv the 

 abdomen has yellow and much shorter pubescence; the 

 male genitalia is exposed. The legs are yellowish brown 

 and the wings are similarly coloured. 



Length.— Males, 5-6 mm.; females, 6-10 mm. 



Hab.—'N&w South Wales : Sydney, March and April, 

 1919, 30 males and 13 females, and November, 1919, 24 

 males and three females. Victoria: Melbourne, Novem- 

 ber and December, 1 male and 2 females taken by Mr. C. 

 E. Cole. Tasmania: This locality is recorded by Mac- 

 quart, but specimens are not represented from there in 

 recent collections. 



Note. — Specimens have been taken in copula during 

 the spring and the autumn, and this places its sex rela- 

 tionship beyond dispute. 



Metoponia prisca, Walker. 



Chiromyza prisca, Walker, Ins. Saund. Dipt, i., 1852, 

 p. 162. 



Status. — A blackish species with yellow pubescence is 

 referred here with considerable doubt. Walker's descrip- 

 tion agrees with the species described below about as well as 

 Chiromyza flavicaput of the same author agrees with the 

 previous species. Until the type is examined it is advis- 

 able to append Walker's name to this, the only species from 

 Tasmania, the tvpe locality, that conforms to the descrip- 

 tion in any way. 



Description.- — -Male. The eyes have scanty pubescence 

 and are contiguous; the front consists of ocellar and 



