52 H. C. EFFI.ATOUN. 



among the white, with blackish hairs on the side margins, except 

 on the first two segments where it is very long and tufted, espe- 

 cially on the sides, and varying from pure white, to greyish-white ; 

 the pubescence on the fifth segment is longer than that on the 

 preceeding two segments, but shorter than on the two basal segments, 

 and varies from being almost pure white to greyish-brown. 



Venter shining, bright yellow to brownish-yellow, with three 

 large central, elongated black markings, one on each of the second, 

 third and fourth segments; the remaining distal segments vary 

 from being reddish-brown to yellowish-brown in colour. Hypopy- 

 gium small and reddish-brown. 



Legs orange-yellow with the basal third of the anterior femora, 

 and all the hind femora, except the distal end, black, as well as 

 the three middle tarsi blackish. Pubescence on the front legs very 

 short, pale and inconspicuous and on the hind legs longer, and 

 blackish on the outer edge of the tibia? only. 



Wings pellucid with all the veins yellowish-brown at the base 

 and darker at the tip, and with the sub-costal cell yellowish-brown. 

 Squamulae and their fringes white, but their margins yellow; the 

 fringes of the thoracal squamulae are very delicate and about five 

 times as long as those of the alar pair. Halteres pale yellow to 

 orange. 



Female. — Very similar to the male; frons inflated and dark- 

 ened on two blotches above the antennae; facets of the eyes all equal. 



Length from 13 to 15 mm. 



This seems to be a rather common desert species and the larva 

 is probably aphidiphagous like its near ally L. -pyrastri. I have 

 watched and caught the adult hovering over and around bushes of 

 Iphiona mucrdnata find Zygophyllum coccineum in the Wadi 

 Hoff, about and even after sunset. I also possess a few specimens 

 caught in the desert along the Suez road, but I have never seen it 

 nor do I know of any specimens of this insect being captured near 

 towns or cultivated land. There is no doubt about there being 

 more than five or six broods in the year as my dates are from 

 January to November. It is known to occur in Southern Europe, 

 North Africa, Canary Islands, Madeira, Asia Minor and North 

 Persia. 



