128 (November, 
not recollect exactly where I took it; it was first described by 
Loew in 1856, who, in company with Schiner, found it near the 
tops of the Carinthian Alps. 
3. peltatus, Meigen, is distinguished by its rather large size, blackish 
colour, moderately produced epistoma, luteous under-side of the 
third joint of the antenne; the male by the coarse fringe of black 
hairs behind the front femora, luteous front tarsi with only the 
metatarsus enlarged, the other joints bemg abruptly narrower ; 
the female by the whitish-yellow abdominal spots, all of which, 
except the first pair, lie on the fore-margins of the segments. It 
is common and widely distributed, and was rather abundant at 
Loch Rannoch, where I noticed it was very fond of sitting upon 
the leaves of shrubs in company with some Syrphi, which much 
resembled it. 
4. albimanus, Fab., is smaller, and is distinguished by the peculiar 
colour of the abdominal spots; the male has the abdomen rather 
narrow, with three pairs of hoary «neous spots, the front tarsi 
luteous, altogether dilated, the second joint being about half the 
length of the first; the female is steel-blue, with three pairs of 
hoary, light blue spots on the abdomen. It seems to be very 
generally distributed, but never abundant. 
5. scutatus, Meigen: this species is rather allied to the preceding, but 
the antenne are luteous beneath and the abdominal spots yellow, 
and more quadrangular ; the male also has the abdomen still more 
narrow, the front tibize with a tuft of black hairs on the outside 
and the luteous dilated front tarsi with the first joint about eight 
times as long as the second ; in the female the abdominal spots are 
rather small, nearly twice as broad as long, and do not touch the 
fore-margins of the segments. It is as widely distributed as 
albimanus, but rather less common. 
6. clypeatus, Meigen: this is the first of a series of closely allied 
species ; it has the epistoma but very little produced, and with 
only a slight knob, the abdomen has three pairs of reddish-yellow, 
sub-quadrate spots, the first pair being rounded and rather small, 
the legs are luteous ; in the male the anterior femora have a mode- 
rate pubescence of black hairs behind, the front pair have a blackish 
streak above, and the middle pair are blackish at the base, the 
front tibiz are whitish at the tip, and, as well as the tarsi, mode- 
rately dilated; the female has the anterior femora almost all 
