240 BOMBYLIIDyE. 



185. Anthrax afra, F. 



Anthrax afra, Fabricius, Ent. Syst. iv, p. 258 (1794) ; Schiner, 

 Fauna Austr. i, p. 50 (1862) ; Brunetti, llec. Ind. Mus. ii, p. 451 

 (1909;. 



Anthrax fimbriatus, Meigen,Klass. i, p. 205 (1804) ; id., Syst, Beach. 

 ii, p. 154, pi. xvii, %. 13 (1820). 



cJ $ . Head : frons one-third as wide at vertex as at level of 

 antennae, where it forms one-third the width of the head, dark 

 olive-brown or blackish, with black hairs and small elongate 

 yellow scales ; ocelli pale, ocellar tubercle quite clear of eye- 

 margins; face clothed as frons ; eyes dark brown ; antennae black, 

 2nd joint often dull red, 1st joint with long, 2nd with short black 

 bristles ; proboscis marked with blackish brown ; occiput black, 

 with very small yellow scales and minute white scaly pubescence 

 in centre and around upper half of margin. Thorax from dark 

 olive-brown to blackish, more or less covered on upper surface 

 with very small yellow flat-lying scales ; towards the sides with 

 from pale yellow to brownish-yellow bristly pubescence, which 

 on anterior margin changes to very narrow elongate yellow 

 bristle-like scales, a large fan-shaped bunch of which (of deeper 

 yellow) occurs below the shoulders, extending nearly to the wing- 

 base ; on the shoulders and extending posteriorly for a short 

 distance the scales are often yellowish white and nearly silky 

 in nature ; on the posterior calli a large fan-shaped bunch of 

 bright yellow- elongate bristle-like scales, with some whitish 

 ones in front of them. Sides of thorax with some black hairs 

 and apparently a few yellow hairs around wing-base ; scutellum 

 with short flat-lying yellow scales and a row of long black bristles 

 towards hind margin. Thorax with usual macrochsetae. Abdomen 

 black, 1st segment with small yellow and white scales inter- 

 mixed ; anterior half of 3rd and 6th segments with small white 

 scales ; most of the 2nd segment and a band on hinder part of 

 3rd to 6th segments, yellow-scaled ; rest of dorsal surface with 

 black scales ; the 7th segment bears white and black scales, and 

 there is a large fan-shaped bunch of very elongate milk-white 

 scales on anterior corners of abdomen. Genitalia with a circlet of 

 reddish-yellow spines ; venter mainly with black scales and a few 

 long pale hairs, a narrow row of small yellow scales on hind 

 borders of segments. Leys black or dark brown ; femora with 

 small, dark-brown, closely-applied scales and others that reflect 

 a greyish lustre in certain lights ; fore femora with a few stiff, 

 moderately long hairs below, hind pair with a row of moderate- 

 sized bristles below ; anterior tibiae with short pubescence, hind 

 pair with dark brown and greyish-lustred scales and rows of 

 small black bristles ; tarsi blackish. Wings clear ; a dark brown 

 oblique band on anterior margin extending nearly to tip of costal 

 cell and defined posteriorly by a line drawn, with slight angu- 

 lations at the veins, from that spot diagonally to the base, cutting 

 the anal cell at one-third of its length ; halteres yellow. 



Length, 4g-7 mm. 



