THE  BIBIONIDA. 159 
S. inermis, Ruthé =S, soduta, Lw. 
A widespread and common species. Black, with costal, sub-costal, 
and radial veins testaceous, others pale, almost white. First vein 
ends at a little beyond one-third length of wing; second ends at 
about two-thirds and far from the border. Legs blackish brown, pale 
towards the tips. Verrall records it from Exeter, Cambridge, Winder- 
mere, and Gairloch, ~ 
S. clavipes, Lw. 
A shining black species, with thick, long antennz and with stout, 
black legs. Radial vein ending with costal at much before two-thirds 
of the length of the wing. 
The following are also British species, viz., S. geniculata, Zett. (D. 
Scand., ix. 3401-5), S. ¢vistis, Zett. (D. S., ix. 3404, 8), S falpa, 
Ver., S. coxendix, Ver., and S. platyscelis, Lw. 
Genus.—Aspfistes, Mg. = Arthria, Kirby. 
Small; body shining, nearly bare, broad and short. Head 
roundish, small. Proboscis and palpi not seen or very slightly pro- 
truding. Eyes remote, small; ocelli three; antenne 12-jointed, 
cylindrical, a little longer than the head ; joints transverse cyathi- 
form; last joint large, hairy; third joint small, joints gradually 
getting larger. ‘Thorax convex, broad. Scutellum small, transverse. 
Abdomen broad, eight segments, depressed. Legs stout and short, 
fine pubescence; coxe large; fore femora very thick, with a few 
bristles on the ventral surface ; fore tibiz with long apical spine ; 
short spurs on the hind tibize ; metatarsus of hind legs as long as 
the tarsal joints together. Wings wide, bare, hyaline ; first longi- 
tudinal vein rudimentary ; second or radial dark, and ending before 
half the length of the wing; third longitudinal vein curved and 
ending on the anterior border before two-thirds of the length ; fourth 
and fifth simple and arising from the third ; the sixth and seventh veins 
distinct, and meeting the border. The latter vein often has a distinct 
angulation. Schiner* says concerning the metamorphosis: ‘‘ Ueber 
die Metamorphose ist mir nichts Positives hekannt geworden ; 
v. Winthem vermuthet, dass die Larven an Zussilago petasites oder 
spuria leben diirften ; sicher und durch Zellers und Scholtz’s Beobach- 
tungen ausser zweifel gesetzt ist, dass die Fliegensich besonders 
haufig an sandigen Stellen, wo die genannten Pflanzen nicht vorkom- 
men, vorfinden.” -Fig. 5, Pl. iii. 
* Schiner, Die Fliegen, vol. ii., p. 348. 
