DRAPETIS. 135 



Genus XIX. DRAPETIS. 



DRAPETIS, Mg. zw. iii. 91 (1822); Mq. ; Hal.; Ct. ; Ztt. Tachy- 

 -dromia p., Fin. ; Mg. 



Corpus minutissimum, atrum, oblongo-ovatum, nitidum, glabrum. 

 Oculi hirsutuli, in utroque sexu parum remoti. Proboscis verti- 

 calis. Palpi lati, compressi, proboscide breviores. Antennae 4-arti- 

 culatse, capite breviores, ascendentes ; articulus tertius brevi-ovatus 

 vel rotundatus; quartus longus, setifortnis. Thorax gibbus, non 

 lobatus. Alas sublatae ; vena cubitalis simplex; venae externo-medits 

 2 ; areola discoidalis et vena subanalis nulla ; areola prabrachialis 

 pobrachiali multo brevior ; venae longitudinales simplices ; secunda 

 brevis, incurva ; quinta in marginem interiorem descendens. Pedes 

 nudi, simplices ; coxce femoribus breviores. 

 Mas. Abdomen subcylindricum. Anus obttfeus. 

 Fcem. Abdomen subovatum. Anus acutus. 



Body very small, oblong-ovate, black, smooth, shining, beset with a 

 tew black bristles. Head almost round ; epistoma very narrow. Eyes 

 somewhat parted in both sexes. Oculi 3, on a tubercle of the crown. 

 Proboscis very short, perpendicular. Palpi broad, shorter than the 

 proboscis. Labrum long, very stout, broad-ovate and convex at the 

 base, lanceolate and curved at the tip. Palpi incumbent, large, ovate, 

 furnished with a few bristles, shorter than the proboscis. Labium rather 

 small. Antennae 4-jointed, porrect, inserted between the eyes in the 

 middle of the face, approximate at the base, diverging, curved upwards, 

 as long as the head ; first joint very short ; second slightly cyathiform, 

 bearing a few bristles ; third short-oval or round, compressed ; fourth 

 setiform, pubescent, as long as all the preceding, forming an angle 

 with the third. Thorax gibbous; scutellum semicircular. Wings 

 rather broad, incumbent and parallel in repose, finely pubescent, 

 rounded at the tips ; cubital vein simple ; externo-medial veins 2 ; ducal 

 areolet and subanal veijf none ; presbrachial areolet much shorter than 

 the pobrachial; longitudinal veins simple; second short, incurved, 

 scarcely extending beyond the middle of the fore border ; fifth de- 

 scending to the interior margin. Legs long, simply pubescent, beset 

 with a few black bristles ; coxa shorter than the femora ; femora rather 

 thick ; tibiae slender ; anterior tibiae with spines at their tips ; hind 

 tibise slightly curved. 



Male. Abdomen rather long, almost cylindrical ; tip obtuse. 

 Fern. Abdomen more oval, acute. 



These flies appear from the spring to the autumn ; they run 

 with extreme rapidity, and frequent herbage, trunks of trees, hot- 

 beds, and sea-weed. In hot-beds they are much infested with 

 mites. The genus may be thus divided : 



a. Third joint of the antennas ovate. Radial vein extended beyond 



