188 THE DIPTERA-BRACHYCERA OF TASMANIA 



G. cothurnatus. Bigot, would appear from Bigot's descrip- 

 tion to be merely a pale variety of this species. 



G. dispar is common and generally distributed ; it fre- 

 quents flowers in the bush. My dates lange from Novem- 

 ber 20 to March 24. 



Geron hilaris, Sp. nov. (Fig. 31). 



Thorax and abdomen velvet-black, with white pubes- 

 cence ; legs black ; wings absolutely clear, with the vein 

 closing the discal cell quite straight. 



Length. Male, 4 mm. 



Hab. Bellerive. 



Fig. 31. Wing of Geron hilaris. 



Male. Eyes joined from the vertex to the antennae, the 

 line of junction being much depressed. Proboscis black, 

 long and slender. Antennae black, about the same length 

 as the head, the iirst joint about twice the length of the 

 second, the third longer than the first two together. Thorax 

 velvet-black, with long, dense, upstanding, white pubes- 

 cence, and a little short, white, depressed pubescence. Ab- 

 domen similarly coloured, and with similar pubescence to 

 that of the thorax. Legs entirely black. Wings absolute- 

 ly hyaline, the vein closing outwardly the discal cell quite 

 straight ; halteres pale brown. 



This species may be distinguished from G. (lisjjar by the 

 straight veinlet closing the discal cell, by the shorter first 

 antennal joint, by the white pubescence, and the clear 

 wings. 



G. hilaris I have only met with frequenting flowers on 

 the sand dunes at Bellerive ; time of occurrence February. 



42. M A R M a s o M A, Gen. nov. (Fig, 32). 



Humpbacked, bristly flies, with the vestiture consisting 

 largely of scales. Abdomen long, narrow and conical, de- 

 cumbent with the apex upraised ; proboscis about one-and- 

 a-half times the length of head ; ar.tennae slender, slightly 

 longer than the head the first joint fully three times the 

 length of the second, the third a little longer than the first, 

 and provided with a pointed, two-jointed style ; femora 



