EXETASTES. 247 



173. Exetastes nigripes, Grav. 



E.retastes nigripes, Gravenhorst, Ichn. Eur. iii, 1829, p. 416, excl. 



var. ; Ratzeburg, Ichn. d. Forst. iii, 1852, p. 94; Holmgren, Sv. 



Ak. Handl. 1854, p. 26 ; op. cit. 1858, no. 8, p. 153 ; Thomson, 



Opusc. Ent. xxii, 1897, p. 2315 (rf ). 

 Var. Exetastes illusor, Gravenhorst, op. cit. p. 427; Holmgren, 



op. cit. 1858, no. 8, p. 151 ; Thomson, op. cit. p. 2416 (J $) ; 



Morley, Ent. Mo. Mag. 1903, p. 160 (); cf. Vollenhoven, 



Pinac. pi. xvii, fig. 4. 



c? $ . Shining, punctate, black. Head punctate and somewhat 

 narrowed behind the eyes ; of $ immaculate, of <$ usually with a 

 mark at the clypeal orbits, and another at the centre or base of 

 the mandibles, navous ; clypeus deplanate, a little elevated basally 

 and rounded apically ; mandibles curved, with the teeth of equal 

 length. Antennae, setaceous, about as long as the body and 

 strongly attenuate towards their apices, with the basal flagellar 

 joint one-third longer than the second. Thorax stout, gibbous, 

 punctate and narrower than the head ; metathorax rugose, or 

 in J strongly punctate above, with the areae incomplete and 

 spiracles linear. Scutellum black. Abdomen fusiform, glabrous 

 and nitidulous, apically subcom pressed, narrower than the thorax; 

 black, with the apex of the first segment and whole of the second 

 to fourth red, or with the two latter apically infuscate ; basal 

 segment narrow, nearly thrice as long as broad, slightly dilated 

 apically, with the tubercles a little prominent ; second and third 

 of equal length, the fifth rarely basally rufescent ; terebra half as 

 long again as the basal segment, with linear valvulae. Legs 

 very long, the anterior pairs slender ; front ones more or less 

 fulvescent or ferruginous, with the coxa9, trochanters and base of 

 femora always black ; hind ones not slender, nearly always entirely 

 black, though rarely with the tibiae basally ferruginous ; tf with 

 the third and fourth hind tarsal joints white. Wings slightly 

 clouded ; stigma infuscate-fulvescent, tegulse black, radix and 

 radius infuscate ; areolet sessile. 



Length 7-11 millim. 



SIKKIM : Darjiling, 6000 ft., x. 05 (E. Brunetti). EUROPE. 



Type in the Breslau Museum. 



Holmgren says it may be known by the colour of the legs, 

 adding that the wing nervures are similar to those of E. femora tor, 

 from which Thomson distinguishes it solely by the colour of the 

 hind femora. 



This species varies very considerably in the colour of the legs 

 and also slightly in the markings on the head of the c?; in 

 my J d 1 of the var. illusor, which has the abdomen red, the 

 anterior coxse and trochanters are broadly marked with flavous, 

 and the scutellum apically dotted with the same colour ; Graven- 

 horst mentions a $ with the hind tarsi infuscate throughout ; 

 and I have a 2 intermediate in coloration between the typical 



