08 AUSTRALIAN HOMBVLIID^E AND CYRTID.^: (DIPTERA), 



Type. — The allotype male is in the Australian Museum. 



Note. — The head characters read similar to those of 

 Acreotrichus gihhicornis, Macquart, which differs, however, 

 by the pubescence of the face being exceptionally long, and 

 the third joint of the antsnnse containing some long hairs on 

 the apical half and little, if any, on the basal half. 

 Acreotrichus inappendicidatus, Bigot, described from a speci- 

 men said to be a male cannot belong here, as the description 

 conforms almost entirely to that of a female A. gihhicornis. 



There are several apparently distinct species in the 

 genera Acreotrichus and Phthiria in th^ collections under 

 revision, and they show that their respective genera cannot 

 be separated by the usual characters adopted. Those 

 characters given by Bigot and Becker in their respective keys 

 do not hold good for Australian species. The appendix of the 

 upper branch of the cubital fork can be used as a somewhat 

 imperfect guide, as it is rarely absent in Acreotrichus and 

 never present on Phthiria. The females can be readily dis- 

 tinguished by the presence or absence, respectively, in these 

 genera, of long thick pubescence on the front and face. 



Genus Dischistus, Loew. 



Dischistus, Loew, Neue Beitr., iii., 1855, p. 45. Id., White, 

 Proc. Roy. Soc. Tasm., 1916, p. 192 (in key). 



Note. — It appears that the characters of Sparnopolius 

 limbatus, Bigot, belong to those given to the genus Dischistus 

 in the key, and on this account Bigot's species is placed under 

 this genus. 



Schiner states that a new genus will be required for 

 Dischistus crassilabris, Macquart. 



There are several undescribed species in various collec- 

 tions that come within the characters strictly attributed to 

 the genus Dischistus, but until the positions of those already 

 described can be ascertained it is inadvisable to add new 

 descriptions that ultimately may cause further hindrance 

 without benefiting the taxonomy of the group. 



Dischistus crassilahris, Macquart. 



Bombylius crassilahris, Macquart, Dipt. Exot., suppl. 5, 



1854, p. 77, PI. iv., fig. 1. 

 Dischistus crassilabris, Schiner, Novara Reise, 1868, p. 138. 

 Note. — This species is represented in various collections. 



