262 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



on the way to the Coussons the lavender is by no means flowered 

 out, and the spikes are studded with the ruddy orange-red of 

 Zygana fausta, Z. carniolica var. diniensis, and occasional Z. 

 transalpina . P. mdeager, males, are also flying, and from a 

 flower-head of Eupatoriiim I am presently fortunate enough to 

 take what, at a distance, looks like a female of C. virgaurece, but 

 in the net discloses a female C. alcipliron var. gordius with a 

 somewhat remarkable under side, with the exception of the 

 discoidal spot on the fore wings, the usual maculations being 

 almost entirely absent, as one sometimes sees them in L. arion ; 

 and in the scheme of marking not altogether unlike the aberrant 

 cinnus of P. heUargus." 



(To be continued.) 



A FOSSIL FLY OF THE FAMILY BLEPHAEOCEKIDiE. 

 By T. D. a. Cockerell. 



Philorites johannsciii, n. g., n. sp. 



In his ' Western Diptera ' (1877) Osten Sacken described the 

 Blepharoceridae as a "remarkable family — remarkable for its 

 exceptional characters ; for the paucity of the species, scattered 

 through the most distant parts of the world ; and for the variety 

 of generic modifications which these species show in preserving 

 at the same time with wonderful uniformity the very striking 

 family characters, some of which are unique in the whole order 

 of Diptera." These words are equally true to-day, although the 

 number of known species has been somewhat increased. Accord- 

 ing to Handlirsch (' Die Fossilen Insekten ') there are about 

 thirty living forms described, but not a single fossil species. Of 

 the thirteen families of Nematocerous Diptera recognized by 

 Handlirsch, only two, the Blepharoceridse and the Orphnephilidae, 

 are without fossil representatives. 



