56 



G. F. HILL. 



imago. The first abdominal segment bears two isolated hairs on either side of the 

 median line and one on each pleura behind the spiracle ; the second to seventh 

 tergites and pleurites each have a double row of bristles, those of the anterior row 

 being much shorter than those of the posterior. On the ventral surface, segments 2, 

 3 and 4 each bear an irregular single row of bristles of varying length; on 

 the 5th to 7th segments the -bristles are arranged in two rows ; the terminal 

 segment bears the usual number of large spurs (six) ; anterior to the anal tubercle 

 there is, in the male, a fringe of about twentv long straight or curved bristles, 

 which in the female is interrupted in the middle and is composed of five to eight stout 

 and generally straight bristles (fig. 13). In the male the anal tubercle is large and 

 deeply ribbed, in the female it is small but prominent. On either side of the dorsal 

 surface, midway between the base of the upper pair of spurs and the posterior margin 

 of the 7th segment, there is a group of six or eight stout bristles of irregular size and 

 shape, which in the female is reduced to two or three much smaller bristles ; in 

 addition, in the male, there is on either side a group of two or three very short bristles 

 midway between the above and the posterior extremity of the anterior fringe. 



Fig. 13. T. rufinotatHs, ventral surface of last segment of female pupa. 



The Adult. In life the eyes of the male have the upper part grey, with deep brown 

 iridescence, and the lower part, lateral and hind margins maroon, "^ with an emerald- 

 green band in line with the insertion of the antennae. The facets of the lower part 

 are larger than those of the upper. In the female the eyes are maroon to dark maroon- 

 purple, with two broad green bands in line with the callus and subcallus respectively. 



Seasonal Occityrence. These flies were very scarce indeed during the period 

 February 1919 to September 1920. Females were seen or captured in the field in the 

 months of January, February, April, June, September and December, generally 

 while buzzing about one's head or resting upon one's hat. Horses (locally and in the 

 Northern Territory) appear to be more troubled than cattle, the former usually being 

 bitten about the nose, ears, rump and coronet. 



Tabanus nigritarsis, Tayl. 



T. nigritavsis, Taylor, Rept. Aust. Instit. Trop. Med. 1911, p. 67. 



Distribution. This species has been recorded previously from North Queensland 

 (Houghton River) and the Northern Territory (Darwin, Stapleton, etc.). 



Breeding-places and Habits. Between the 19th May and 10th June 1919 five 

 apparently full-grown larvae were gathered from the submerged stems or leaves of 



