288 BOMBYLIHK*:. 



at vertex about one-fifth of the greatest width of the head, 

 broadening distinctly to base of antennae. Thorax black, with a 

 coating of verv small oblong brownish scales lying flat on the 

 surface, and a further clothing of dense short bright chrome-yellow 

 hair-like scales covering (presumably) the entire thoracic and 

 scutellar dorsum, this vestiture being a little shorter and longer 

 towards the sides : pleurae covered (apparently entirely) with 

 similar scales of greyish- white colour. Abdomen black, with a 

 layer of small brownish scales as on the thorax, and a clothing of 

 closely-placed, moderately elongate, yellow overlapping scales, 

 evidently covering the entire dorsum and sides in perfect speci- 

 mens ; sides of 2nd segment with four or five long, slightly curved, 

 yellow bristles. Venter bearing at least a broad median stripe of 

 similar scales, which are greyish white ; hind margins and sides 

 of all the segments with small bright yellow scales ; whole venter 

 sometimes covered with small whitish scales, more densely so on 

 hind margins of segments. Legs black ; coxae with white scaled 

 on front sides, hind pair with three long yellow bristles on outer 

 sides ; femora and tibiae closely covered with small brown scales 

 as on the body ; anterior femora on hinder and undersides, hind 

 femora on outer and undersides, with small overlapping silvery- 

 white scales ; hind pair with a few small black bristles below ; 

 tibiae with several rows of strong bristles, outer sides with small 

 depressed whitish scales, their extent apparently variable; all 

 tibia} on inner side with a row of rather longer, dark brown, 

 somewhat outstanding scales, and with a circlet of apical spines ; 

 tarsi black, with short black bristles below. Under moderate 

 microscopic power the whole surface of the tarsi is seen to be 

 covered with extremely minute black scales. Wings grey, more 

 or less brownish on anterior part, sometimes distinctly so as far 

 hindwards as the 4th longitudinal vein ; sometimes the colouring 

 much restricted or almost entirely absent, leaving oolv the trans- 

 verse veins slightly suffused ; halteres pale brownish yellow ; 

 thoracic squamae whitish, with a long fringe of white hairs. 



Length, 5-6 mm. (excl. antennae). 



Eedescribed from one c? in the Pusa collection (Allahabad, 

 Howlett} and one rf and three $ $ in the Indian Museum, 

 Calcutta, 7. v. 1907 (Gaunter), 7. rii. 1907 ; Allahabad, 21. ii. 1906 

 (Howlett); Guindy, Madras (Capt. Crayg). De Meijere records 

 it from Krakatua, Java. 



Ti/pe in Westermann's collection. 



The colour of the body-scales in this species is sometimes 

 uniformly bright yellow and sometimes wholly snow-white; in 

 some specimens scales of both colours are present in variable 

 proportions, those on the thorax and forming a broad median 

 stripe on the abdomen being yellow, whilst those on the pleurae 

 and sides of the abdomen are white. Probably in perfect 

 specimens the whole thorax and abdomen are covered with scales ; 

 but when a specimen is partly denuded, the form usually taken is 

 of a median aud lateral stripes of scales and more or less complete 

 transverse bands of them on the hind margins of the segments. 



