On tlie genus Apiocera. 289 



and this constitutes a new link between it and the Asilidae, besides 

 those noticed before, as the presence of ocelli and palpi etc. 



I will now attempt a detailed comparison between Apiocera and 

 the genera Erax and Proctacanthus (Section Asilina) the nearest to it 

 among the Asilidae, and will beginwith the distributionofthemacrochaetae. 



On the head, the occipito-orbital bristles of Apiocera are as 

 dense, although not quite as streng as in the Asilina; the ocellar 

 bristles, generally existing in the latter, are absent here, — On the 

 thorax the following macrochaetae may be observed: 1. A collarlike 

 row on the prothorax, a little less conspicuous than in the Asilina; 

 2. Humeral bristles, hardly deserving the narae of macrochaetae ; 3. A 

 row of bristles between the humerus and the root of the wing ; it is 

 characteristic and replaces the praesutural bristles present in the 

 Asilidae (one, two or more large bristles inserted in the angle formed 

 by the mesothoracic and dorsopleural sutures); 4. An irregulär row of 

 supra-alar bristles, along the edge of the supra-alar cavity; they seem 

 to vary in number in different species; similar bristles in the Asilina; 

 5. Bristles on the post-alar callus, as in the Asilidae; 6. A pair or two 

 of praescutellar bristles ; 7. Scutellar bristles, very distinct, although less 

 numerous than in the Asilina. 



The fan-like row of bristles on the metapleura {trichostichus Arrib.) 

 common among Asilidae, does not exist here. 



The legs are somewhat weaker than in most Asilina, however the 

 importance of this weakness as a family-character has been much over- 

 rated. I have a new australian species whose legs are not rauch weaker 

 than those of a Proctacanthus of a corresponding size, — The front 

 femora are beset with bristles on both sides ; the middle pair principally 

 on the underside; on the upper side, I perceive only a couple of bristles 

 before the tip; the bind pair has bristles on the underside only. 

 Proctacanthus has a similar distribution, only the bristles on the under- 

 side of the front femora form a more conspicuous row; on the middle 

 and bind femora the bristles are more numerous on the upper side, although 

 not along the central line. In both genera the tibiae have scattered 

 bristles. The tarsi of Apiocera are weaker; the joints of the fore tarsi 

 are less coarctate at base, and therefore less capable of a strong grip; 

 the bristles on them are less numerous. Ungues and pulvilli have the 

 sarae structure, 



(The legs of the Midaidae are generally deprived of characteristic 

 bristles; a few weak ones exist on the posterior tibiae of some genera 

 only, for instance Leptomidas. The genus Midas, which comprises the 

 majority of the species of the family has no such bristles and the 

 structure of its legs is very different from that of the Asilidae: the 



19* 



