I(j9 [Ju'ic, 



M. EUBRITARSIS, Ztt. 



fiavitar sella, Ztt. 



Masicera rujitarsis ?, Mgn. 



Forehead slightly prominent ; face oblique ; eyes rather nearer together in the 

 male than in the female ; frontal stripe much wider than the sides of the frontalia ; 

 black behind with grey reflections and red in front ; sides of frontalia, like face, 

 silvery-white, with grey reflections ; fronto-orbital setae small and far apart, ex- 

 tending to base of antennte only, they ai-e in a double row behind in the male ; 

 vibrissse small ; facial setae minute, and extending up two-thirds of the face ; palpi 

 black with rufous ends ; antennse black or grey, third joint fully six times as long as 

 the second ; arista short and thickened for three-fourths of its length, then abruptly 

 ending in a fine short bristle ; thorax dark grey on the dorsum, with the shoulders 

 and sides silvery-white, the white part extending a little across the ti'ansverse 

 groove ; in some lights two centi*al black stripes are visible in the male, in the 

 central part is shiny black ; post-sutui-al outer dorso-central bristles three in num- 

 ber ; abdomen subcylindrical, with thick apex in the male, ovoid and rather flattened 

 in the female, grey with black bands, which form three irregular subtriangular spots 

 on each segment in the male, but coalesce on the dorsum in the female, leaving it 

 uniformly black, with only the spurs of three whitish bands on the sides ; the seg- 

 r-i cql ments are all smooth, without either discal or apical setae, except on the end of the 

 fune, 1892. fourth ; wings with the apical cross vein curved with a short appendix, outer cross 

 vein straight ; legs black, with the exception of the tarsi, which are testaceous or 

 rufous, and also the knees and inner sides of the fore tibise in the male. This little 

 species (only 4 — 5 mm. in length) seems very rare. I captured a single specimen of 

 both male and female near Bicester, Oxon, in July, 1883. 



There is very little doubt but that this is the same as the M. rufitarsis of 

 Meigen, but the facial setae are so small that he must have overlooked them, and, 

 therefore, placed the species in the genus Masicera. In all the principal characters 

 it is a Metopia, but very feebly ciliated. 



M. FORFicuL^, Newport.* 



Mr. George Newport discovered a Tachinid which infests the common earwig. 

 He gives an interesting account of its life-history during its larval and pupal statesf, 

 tracing it up to the development of the imago, wliich he says appears to belong to 

 the genus Metopia of Meigen. His description of the fly (which I give below) is 

 so vague and short however, that I do not think it is rightly placed in this genus 

 and it is doubtful whether any specimens are preserved. 



" Metopia forficulce, cinerea, oculis testaccis, antennis nigris, corpore pcdi- 

 busque pilis longis nigris vestitis ; thoracis pilis lineas 6 lineas longitudinales effor- 

 mantibus, scutello alarum basi femoribusque ferrugineis. 



" Musca domestical aliquanto minor; Jorfindas prope Londinum iufcstat." 



* Schiner, by mistake, refers this species to Mr. E. Newman, aud Mr. VoiTall does the same 

 in his list. 



t Piuc. Linn. Soc, vol. ii, pp. 217—8, June 7th, 185.3. 



