DIPTEUOUS FAMILY PANTOPHTHALMID^, 563 



the 2 ' A study of the thoracic markings, which are character- 

 istic of this species and present a striking agreement in both 

 sexes, leaves no doubt as to the correctness of the synonymy here 

 given. In spite of the fact tha,t Pantophthalmns gigas Enderlein 

 (Zool. Anzeiger, Bd. xli. p. 110, fig. 7 (1912)), described from 

 the $ sex, is stated by its author {loc. cit.) to be devoid of pn,le 

 spots on tlie lateral margins of the second and third abdominal 

 tergites, it would seem not unlikely that this supposed species is 

 also identical with F. tabanimts Thunb. 



The representatives of Pantopldhahnus tabanimts Thunb. at 

 present contained in the British Museum (Natural History) are 

 as follows:— One 6 , (?) Trinidad, B.W.I. (G. Robertson— ex coll. 

 W. W. Saunders) ; one $ , Venezuela, before 1847 (purchased 

 from — Dyson) ; one ? , Brazil, before 1849 {Mrs. Noel) ; one S , 

 locality unknown (e.u coll. Alexander Fry) ; one 6 , Trinidad, 

 B.W.I., before 1878 {Mrs. Cutter) ; one. c? , Macapti, R. Amazons' 

 Brazil, 25. ii. 1896 (i5'. E. Austen), "on board Messrs, Siemens 

 Bros.' Cable S.S. Faraday" ; one $, Nicaragua {jE. A. Burns); 

 one 5 , Colonia Hansa, Santa Catharina, Brazil (purchased from 

 H. Rolle). Presented by Mr. J. E. Collin, F.E.S., from the 

 Bigot collection, we also have the four specimens (inpluding the 

 type) of Acanthomera rtibriventris Big., which are all $ 2 from 

 Guatemala ; and two cJ cf of P. tabanimts, likewise from Guate- 

 mala, which, in Bigot's series, were placed with a c? of P. vei-si- 

 color Austen (see below), above the label "Acanthomera seticornis, 

 Wied. c? ," in Macquart's handwriting. 



The Hope Department of the University Museum, Oxford, 

 possesses two d c? and two $ $ of P. tabanimts ; of the former, 

 one specimen is labelled " seticornis Wied,," but is without any 

 indication as to provenance, while on the label of the other is 

 written "Para. Higgins, 1868"; there is nothing to show the 

 origin of the two $ $ , which are labelled " R. planiventi-is." 



The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has a $ of P. 

 tabaninus from Para, Dec. 1922 {Dr. Clarke). 



In this species, in Avhich the female usually, although not 

 invariably, much exceeds the male in size, the ground-colour of 

 the dorsum of the abdomen ranges from cinnamon-rufous* or 

 vinaceous-rufous to blackish-brown or black. The dark thoracic 

 stripes are the same in all cases, and, at least in the specimens 

 available to the writer for examination, the silvery-white 

 triangular spot near each posterior angle of the second and third 

 abdominal tergites is always visible, although in some individuals 

 less conspicuous than in others. In the case of the type of 

 P. tabanimts, which, from the details furnished by Thunberg, is 

 evidently a male, the dorsum of the abdomen, according to the 

 original description, is " bi'own " ; Wiedemann (loc. cit.) describes 

 the dorsum of the abdomen in Acanthomera seticornis as " vivid 



* For uninos nnd illustrntions of colours used for descriptive purposes in the 

 prcsonfc pnpor, sco Rid^wiiy, 'Color Stnndnrds nud Color Noinenclaturo ' (Wnsh- 

 ingtou, 1).C. Tublislied by the Author, 1912). 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1 923. No. XXXVII. 37 



