74 GLOSSINA PALPALIS, YAE. TACHINOIUES. 



the very dark ^ from Asaba, already alluded to, has the femora, 

 with the exception of the knees at the extreme tips and the 

 extreme base of the hind pair on the inside, entirely dark 

 cine reous-br o w n . 



Wings uniformly brownish. Squamie white, border of the 

 antisquama darker, fringed with short darker hairs, Halteres 

 yellowish white. 



Var. tachinoides, Westw. — Legs, except hind tarsi and last two 

 Joints of front and middle pairs, loholly pale yellow ; median stripe 

 and the other pale markings on the abdomen very conspicuous. 



Bulb at base of proboscis ochraceous instead of dark brown, 

 but with a dark brown patch on each side towards the tip. 

 Pleune and humeral calli more or less ochraceous-bufF ; the same 

 colour may also appear on the dorsum of the thorax between the 

 curved stripes and the enclosed dark patches. 



Abdomen. — In two 9 ? from the Gambia (JDr. Button) the 

 median stripe is unusually broad and well-marked, and extends 

 outwards along the front and hind margin of each segment from 

 the third to the sixth ; the lateral triangles are also exceptionally 

 conspicuous, more clearly buff-coloured than is usually the case in 

 the typical form, and are prolonged conspicuously on to the upper 

 side along the hind margins of the segments, the pale hind margins 

 themselves being broader than in the typical form and well-marked."' 



The var. tachinoides, therefore, clearly shows the connection 

 between the typical Gl. palpalis, with uniformly dark-brown 

 abdomen, only relieved by a pale median stripe and more or less 

 conspicuous lateral triangles, and Gl. morsitans or Gl. longipalpis ; 

 for the abdomen of var. tachinoides, at any rate as represented by 

 the two 9 9 referred to, might well be described as cinereous- 

 bufF, with dark brown interrupted transverse bands. 



Legs, with the exception of the hind tarsi and last two joints 

 of the front and middle tarsi, entirely pale yellow, though there 

 is sometimes a small dark patch on the outside of the middle and 

 hind femora towards the tip. 



* In addition to the two $ ? from the Gambia, the Museum collection 

 includes four other specimens (two i i and two 9 9 ) which must be 

 regarded as belonging to the var. tachinoides. According to their labels, 

 they are from the "Zambesi" {Dr. Kirk). All have the legs pale, with 

 the exception of the hind tarsi, which are wholly dark, and the last two 

 joints of the front and middle pairs, which arc partially infuscated, but 

 the median abdominal stripe and the pale hind margins to the abdominal 

 segments are not especially conspicuous except in the case of one female. 



