216 [February, 188;i. 



viewed from before backwards ; but looking; of a grey colour with brown reflections, 

 and having an interrupted dorsal stripe, when seen from behind. 



This jiretty, well-marked species is said to feed, in tlie larval state, on the let- 

 tuce. It appears to be of rather local occurrence. The only place in which I have 

 found it has been a kitchen garden near Buckingham, where I captured several males 

 on several occasions. I have not seen a female. 



P. OBSCUKA, Macq. 



The thorax of this species is black, with the front margin and shoulders glisten- 

 ing greyish-white. The anterior edge is intersected by three, and sometimes four 

 (when the middle one is bifid), abbreviated black stripes, which form two or three 

 irregular, bright, white, spots, giving a peculiar and characteristic appearance to the 

 fly. The abdomen is oblong, rather narrow, flat, and glabrous. It is grey, with a 

 wide, interrupted, black, dorsal stripe, and has three straight, transverse, brown 

 bands, which cover the upper halves of the second, third, and fourth segments. The 

 length is about 4 mm. (2 lin.). 



Very rare ; I have seen but one male specimen, which I captured near Brad- 

 ford, in June, 1879. 



P. MUSCARIA, Meig. 



This is characterized by being narrow, elongated, black, and hairy. The face 

 and epistome are both prominent ; the antennse are very short, the second joint 

 being almost as long as the third, which is short and wide ; the palpi are long, hairy, 

 and dilated at their extremities ; the thorax and abdomen are indistinctly striped ; 

 the latter is very narrow, and thickly clothed with long hairs ; the hind femora are 

 very hairy, but the hind tibiae are bare on their inner sides. These remarks apply to 

 the male, I do not know the female. 



Very rare. 



P. HisTuio, Zett. 



This, and the two following species, are peculiar by having the hind tibioe of the 

 males ciliated along the whole length of their inner sides with short erect hairs or 

 bristles. The present fly, which is considerably larger than either of the two fol- 

 lowing (it being from 7 to 8 mm. in length) has the arista decidedly pubescent ; the 

 thorax whitish-grey, marked with a black central stripe (bifid in front), and with 

 two wide, irregular lateral bands. The scutellum has the edges, and sometimes the 

 centre, marked witli brown. The abdomen is oblougo-conical, with the apical seg- 

 ment small. It is marked with a narrow, black, longitudinal stripe, as well as with 

 black transverse lines. The wings have the external transverse veins oblique and 

 sinuous. The hind femora are nearly bare of hairs on their under surfaces ; and 

 the hind tibijE have the bristles arranged in a double row along both their inner and 

 front sides ; the bristles being of slightly irregular lengths. 



This rare species, of which I only know the male, approaches in form, and by 

 its pubescent arista, to those Anthoniyds placed in the genus Hylemyia. 



P. CILICEURA, lioild. 



This little species, 4 to 5 mm. (about 2 lines) iu length, is of a dark brownish- 

 grey colour, marked on the thorax witli three raihor indistinct, wide, brown, longi- 



