176 THE DIPTERA-BRACIIYCEKA OF TASMANIA, 



Size, four scutellar bristles, and single broad, black, 

 median, thoracic stripe. It is a comman species, and may 

 be met with settled on the ground, on fences, and on tree- 

 liunks. My dates range from November 9 tc February 

 13. It occurs also in Victoria. 



Nkoitamus caliginosus, White. 



Thorax black and brown; scutellum with two long term- 

 inal bristles, either both black or one black and one white; 

 abdomen black, with hind-margins of segments white ; 

 femora black ; tibiae red with apex black ; wings hyaline, 

 suffused with brown at apex of second basal cell, at an- 

 terior cross-vein, and at base of cubital fork. 



Length. Male, 9 mm.; female, 10-14 mm. 



liab. Bagdad Valley ; Bellerive. 



Fcniale. Face covered with grey tomentum ; moustache 

 white, with a few black hairs intermixed. Front black. 

 Antennae black, the first two joints with long black hairs. 

 Thorax with two median, narrowly-divided, brownish- 

 black stripes, and two broad lateral stripes ; sides of thorax 

 light brown ; scutellum brownish-grey, with two long 

 terminal bristles, of which one is usually white and one 

 black, but sometimes both are black. Abdomen black, 

 with hind margins of segments white ; sides of abdomen 

 with black bristles. Legs with femora black; tibiae red 

 with apex black, the hind pair darker than the others; 

 first joint of tarsi and base of other joints red, remainder 

 black ; bristles of legs mostly black, but with usually a few 

 white ones. Wings hyaline, with the apex of second basal 

 cell, the anterior cross-vein, and base of the cubital fork 

 (also sometimes the base of second posterior cell) suffused 

 with brown. (To' the naked eye this merely gives tlie im- 

 pression of the veins being darkened in the areas specified, 

 but examination with a low-power lens shows the presence 

 of suffused portions of the wings). Second posterior cell 

 short and broad, and not contracted. 



The female shows the specific characters most clearly. 

 The male is usually much smaller, the beard yellowish- 

 white, with a few black hairs below, and the scutellar 

 bristles are both black. 



Tasmanian specimens of this species may be identified 

 without much difficulty by the irregularly-suffused wings, 

 the black abdominal bristles, and the almost wholly white 

 moustache of the female. On the mainland of Australia, 

 however, besides typical specimens, others occur having 

 the wings quite hyaline, which renders identification more 

 difficult. 



