A REVISION OF THE GENUS LEPTOCONOPS, SKUSE. 



15 



with short black hairs ; scutellum and postscutellum similarly coloured, the scutellum 

 with three pairs of black bristles ; pleurae and pectus shining black. Wings (fig. 7) 

 whitish, strongly iridescent ; first and third veins joining the anterior margin near 

 the proximal third, point of bifurcation of the fifth vein situated considerably beyond 

 the extremities of the costa and third veins. Halteres whiti.sh, opalescent. Legs : 

 femora and tibiae dark brown, with pale hairs, metatarsi and second tarsal segments 

 without conspicuous spines, except distally, where differentiation (into spines or stout 



% 







Fig. 7. Wing of Leptoconops rhodesieusis, sp. n., $ ( X 75 circa). » 



spine-like bristles) of the apical pair of bristles often takes place. Claws equal, 

 simple, each with a short bristle arising from the base. Abdomen : dorsum sepia- 

 coloured (shining when held in certain positions), the apical margins of the tergites 

 narrowly paler brown ; venter sepia-coloured medially, paler brown laterally ; both 

 surfaces with short dark hairs. Lamellae dusky white or light grey, 0-2 times as long 

 as the wing. Spermathecae strongly chitinised, apparently elongate-oval (collapsed 

 in the single specimen available) ; the commencement of the duct chitinised for 

 a very short distance. 



Habitat. North-Western Rhodesia : Kafue Flats, 3,000 ft., 19.x. 1913 {R. C. 

 Wood), " Biting myself" ; 1 $ (type) in the collection of the Imperial Bureau of 

 Entomology. 



This species should be recognised without difficulty by the wing venation, the 

 short extent of the anterior veins being a conspicuous character. From L. (Holoconops) 

 interruptus, End., the only other species yet described from South Africa, it may, of 

 course, be immediately separated by the structure of the antennae. The coloration 

 of the abdomen given above must be regarded with reserve, since the specimen w^as 

 caught when biting and probably contained undigested blood. 



Leptoconops torrens, Twns. 



Tersesthes torrens, Twns., Psyche, vi, pp. 369-371 (1893). 



This species, the type of the genus Tersesthes, Twns., belongs to the group of species 

 in which the claws are simple. I am indebted to Professor L. O. Howard and 

 Dr. J. M. Aldrich for the opportunity of examining female specimens from the Organ 

 Mountains, New Mexico, and a microscopical preparation of a male from Las Vegas 

 Hot Springs, New Mexico. The females were collected by Townsend on horses, and 

 agree in all essentials with his description ; the males, however, cannot at present be 

 more than provisionally associated with this species, but in view of Weiss's descrip- 

 tion of the male antennae of L. (Holoconops) kerteszi {M. laurae, Weiss), appear 



