96 jSEW AUSTRALIAN ASILID^, 



slender, the first joiut about twice the length of the secona,. 

 the third about the same length as the first two together, 

 and terminated by a slender style, which varies somewhat 

 in length in the different species. Thorax with the bristles 

 on the anterior half very short, on the posterior half long ; 

 scutelhim with marginal bristles. Abdomen slender, with 

 lateral bristles, which are longer in the male than in the 

 female; genitalia of the male about equal in breadth to 

 the preceding abdominal segment, lengthened, and never 

 globular ; oAapositor laterally compressed, sometimes con- 

 siderably elongated, but usually not so much so as in 

 Neuitaiiius, the terminal lamellae always free. Legs witn 

 the femora never entirely black, and, in all except one 

 rather aberrant species, longitudinally striped, the upper 

 surface being black, the lower red, yellow, or light brown ; 

 tibiae coloured similarly to the lighter part of the femora, 

 with the apex blaick ; femora, tibiae, and tarsi with long 

 bristles. Wings hj^aliue or brownish, rilled, but not In- 

 flated, and with the normal venation of Asilus. 



The species coanprised in this genus form a very ciiar- 

 Acteristic Australian group. They can be recognised at 

 once bv their longitudinally striped femora. In appearance 

 they most closely resemble the palaearctic genus Eji/fripfuv, 

 Loeiv, but are distinguished from that genus by the dif- 

 ferently striped legs, by the larger and more swollen geni- 

 talia of the male, and by the more slender and more elon- 

 gated ovipositor. Seven species are at present known, 

 some of these occur settled on the ground, others among 

 long grass, but I have never met with any of them on 

 fences, logs, or tree-trunks, in which situation the true 

 specieS' of Neoitamus so commonly occur. 



Table of tJie Austral /an Species of Rhnhdotoitamus. 



1. Bristles on the posterior half of thorax white, or 



mostly so ; bristles on the scute Hum always 

 white or yellow. 2~ 



Bristles on the posterior lialf of thorax entirely 

 black, except in R. laiitus, where a few small 

 white ones may be present adjoining the scu- 

 tellum. 4 



2. Femora not striped, and mostly black, only the 



base of the middle pair, and the basal third 

 of the posterior pair being yellow. 



VoLATicus, Sp. nov. 

 Femora striped longitudinally. 3^. 



3. Femora broadlv black above, red ( ^) or yellow- 



brown ( 9 ) below; tibiae yellow-brown in 

 both sexes. Graminis, White. 



