164 IHH i)ii'ri:iiA-i'.i;A(iiYCKi:A of Tasmania, 



yeJlow ; knees black; tibicc vai-ying in colour from light 

 yellow to red ; tarsi black ; bristles of femora, tibiee, and 

 tarsi black, although a feM' yellow bristles may sometimes 

 be present. Wings hyaline or tinged with brown; fourth 

 posterior cell open, but contracted at the wing margin 

 ti. about half its breadth ; anal cell almost, but not quite, 

 dosed. 



Vari'ifion. A female taken at Bellerive differs consid- 

 erably from the type ; the femora are entirely black, the 

 bristles of the femora yellow, of the tibiae and tai^i red, 

 moustache pale yellow, and tomentum on thorax, and abdo- 

 minal side-stripes, white. This specimen may possibly 

 represent a. distinct species, but I think that it is probably 

 only a variety of ^S'. eUmgafus. 



S. elonaattis is a common insect, and seems to be distri- 

 buted over almost the whole of Australia. It may usually 

 be met with settled on low vegetation. My dates range 

 from January 1 to February 13. 



Beside,s the foregoing, the two following species, Dasypo- 

 (fon (iV)(,n(,taiu^, Marq., and Dasypogon iiiyrinus^ 

 Macq., originally described from Tasmania, are stated by 

 Miss Ricardo to be of doubtful position. D. alho7iotatus is 

 described as having a long, slender, black abdomen, with 

 Avhite spots at sides of second to filth segments ; legs red , 

 wings hyaline, a little yellowish at base and on fore border. 

 Length, Id mm. D. nigri/ius is described as black, the 

 fifth and sixth abdominal segments with testaceous seg- 

 mentations ; legs red and black ; wings dark brown, with 

 base hyaline. Length, 10 mm. 



Subfamily Laphrinse. 



Of this subfamily eight genera have been recorded from 

 the Australian region, but of theso only one, Lapliria, is 

 known to occur in Tasmania. 



33. L A p H R I A, Meig. 



Large robust flies, usually shining blue-black or violet in 

 colour. Moustache large and bushy, and not confined to 

 the oral opening ; legs strong and hairy ; anterior tibise 

 without a curved spine at apex ; wings with first posterior 

 cell open, fourth posterior cell closed at some distance 

 above the wing margin, anal cell closed close to the wing 

 margin. 



Face with a distinct facial knob; moustache large and 

 bushy. Antenna; rather longer than the head, fii^t joint 

 about three times the length of the second, third joint 

 a little longer than the first and second together, and, in 



