196 DOLICHOPID^. 



the hind margin by double its own length or more ; the subapical 

 vein usually somewhat sinuated and approacliing the cubital 

 towards the tip ; the alulae commonly fringed with pale hairs ; 

 the abdomen in the male somewhat compressed behind, of six 

 segments, besides the hypopygium, which is short and partly 

 imbedded in the neutral cavity, furnished with two pairs of 

 inflected appendages, the inner ones more rigid, forming the 

 forceps, the outer ones foliaceous, usually narrow and pubescent, 

 of a dingy yellow or dusky colour. In the female the abdomen 

 is more depressed, of five segments. The first joint of the hind 

 tarsus is usually rather shorter than the second and unarmed, the 

 other metatarsi elongated. 



The first of these differs from the rest in several respects, and 

 may be considered as the type of the genus Rhaphium. 



3. longicorne, Fin. dol. 5. 1 (1823); Mg. ; Mq. ; Ztt.; Lw. 

 vitripenne, Mg. Nigro-csneum, nitidum, fronte violacea, alls fuscanis, 

 alulis apice nigricantibus, antennis articulo tertio lineari longissimo, 

 arista brevi. Long. 2-| ; alar. 5 lin. 



Brassy -Hack, shining. Front violet. Face silvery-white. Antenna 

 elongated, the third joint linear, little compressed, not broader than the 

 second, as long as the thorax in male, shorter in female ; arista half as long 

 as that joint in male, shorter in proportion in female. Scutellum bluish. 

 Prosternum with a slight bristle on each side. Wings dark brown, 

 darker about the veins ; sometimes colourless in immature specimens. 

 Alulae with a blackish edge and pale fringe. Outer appendages of 

 hypopygium dusky, pubescent, straight, oblong, obtuse ; the inner ones 

 elongated, spine-shaped, curved, crossed, enlarged at the base. Legs 

 black ; anterior tibiae dull ferruginous ; fore metatarsus in male com- 

 pressed and slightly dilated at the tip. 



Not rare about pools in peat-mosses. (E. S. I.) 



The rest (species 4- 17) have the alulee pale, the third joint of 

 the antennae compressed and broader than the second, often 

 elongated in the male, with the arista contracted ; but ovate or 

 triangular in the females, with the arista elongated. The species 

 with the front blue have the third joint of the antennae particu- 

 larly long, and the arista very short in the male, while in the 

 females the long arista is not quite terminal ; the discal transverse 

 vein very remote from the hind margin of the wing, the subapical 

 very slightly sinuated or even straight; the hind metatarsus 

 evidently shorter than the following joint. These formed part of 

 the genus Rhaphium, as originally constituted ; they are small, 

 but the female notably larger than the male. The species which 

 follow next in order, with the third joint of the antennee gradually 



