igii.] G. RiCARDO : Revision of the species of Tabanus. 155 



Tabanus rubidus, 9 , Wied. 



Dipt. exot.. 69, 14(1821). 



9 . Lilac brownish. Thorax with whitish stripes. Abdomen 

 with three whitish stripes composed of spots. 8 lines. From 

 Bengal, Wied., Dipt, exot., 69, 14 (1821). 



Related to Tabanus autumnalis. Antennae rather reddish, the 

 end joint almost wholly blackish'. Face and beard white. Palpi 

 very pale yellowish. Forehead grey. Frontal stripe narrow end- 

 ing below in a narrow egg-shaped reddish callus. Thorax lilac red- 

 dish brown, with gre}' tomentum and five whitish, in certain lights, 

 grey- haired stripes ; breast sides rather hoary white with white 

 tomentum. Abdomen lilac reddish brown, median stripe com- 

 posed of narrow triangular side stripes of nearly square spots : side 

 borders yellowish white, in certain lights the abdomen appears a 

 little grey haired. Wings in the middle rather yellowish ; halteres 

 rather reddish. Femora very light lilac reddish, above with a 

 blackish stripe, tibiae more 3^ellowish, both with white pubescence, 

 tarsi brown. Wied., Auss. Zweifl. Ins., i, 127, 25 (1828). 



Van der Wulp in Notes Leyden Museum, vii, 71, 23 (1885), 

 records females from Java and Sumatra. Eyes with no cross-bands. 



In Brit. Mus. coll. 9 specimens from Moulmein, Burma ; 

 Bombay ; Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, Federated Mala}^ States ; 

 Siam (WooUey). On the female from Singapore is the following 

 note : " Biting horses and cattle, more frequentl}^ seen during the 

 past six months than in former years." (Falshaw.) 



In Howlett coll. from Pusa and Belgatchia. In Indian Mus. 

 coll. from Sibsagar, Assam; Bhogaon and Purneah District, N. 

 Bengal : " Resting in numbers on tree-trunks during the da}', 

 common in the evening on the stomach of cows ; " from Khasi 

 Hills, Assam; from Partabgarh, U. P. 



This species is distinguished from Tabanus striatus, Fabr., in 

 general by its broader, larger abdomen ; the frontal callus is not 

 prolonged in a spindle-shaped thick line but as a narrow short line ; 

 the median stripe of abdomen is not so .straight, the sides are 

 serrated, the spots composing it being more triangular lin shape, 

 the side stripes do not appear so regular and continuous, being 

 composed of ver}' similar spots, but their apices as a rule are 

 turned inwards so that the stripe appears irregular. The legs as a 

 rule are darker, especially the femora, and the apices of the fore 

 tibiae, which are blackish, their basal part yellowish white. The 

 palpi are pale yellow or whitish with mostl}^ black pubescence, 

 stout and large. The face is covered with grey tomentum and 

 with white hairs. Forehead slightly narrower anteriorly, about 

 five times as long as it is broad. In the specimen from Assam the 

 wings are tinged with brown. Length of specimens 17 — 20 mm. 

 The males of this species if they do not retain the dark colour of 

 the females will be difficult to distinguish from those of Tabanus 

 albimedius, Wlk., only the darker femora serving to divide them. 



