AKGYItAMCEBA. 231 



hairs on anterior margin, and soft black hairs on dorsum and 

 sides, intermixed with some black bristles on the shoulders and 

 posterior calli ; posterior margin with some long black bristles 

 deflected backwards ; scutellum black, with short black pubescence, 

 and some longer, curved bristles on posterior border. Abdomen 

 dull black, with short, rather sparse, black pubescence, and a 

 bunch of long black hairs on each shoulder ; some black hairs at 

 the sides and some longer thicker black hairs at tip ; venter black. 

 Legs black, minutely pubescent; tibiae a little lighter, with short 

 black bristles (including fore pair). Wings clear, elongated, anal 

 cell closed ; a blackish-brown band from the base, extending along 

 the costa to just above the fork of the third longitudinal vein; the 

 rather irregular external border of this band extends to the 

 posterior wing-border, just in front of the anal cell, which the dark 

 band wholly fills ; the band does not quite reach the fork of the 

 third vein nor the outer cross-vein ; near the wing-tip an oblong 

 (almost subtriangular) blackish-brown spot on the costa, barely 

 united to the broad band, and extending downwards and outwards 

 to just below the proximal end of the fork of the third vein, thus 

 leaving the absolute wing-tip narrowly clear. The second longi- 

 tudinal vein forms a distinct angle at the commencement of 

 the downward loop, somewhat as in Lepidanthrax. 



Length, 4| mm. 



Described from a S (type) in the Pusa collection, taken, 

 24. iii. 1906, at Larksom, Bengal, and from a 5 in the Indian 

 Museum collection from Margherita, Assam. 



I retain this species under Argyramceba, mainly because the 

 pencil of hairs at the tips of the antennal style is regarded by 

 Osten-Sacken as the most important generic character, and, though 

 small, these hairs are present in this species. The bisection of 

 the style is, however, not apparent, nor does the fork of the third 

 vein show the usual appendix. The very flattened, irregularly 

 oval, third antennal joint, the long, rather narrow abdomen, and 

 the long wings approximate it to Argyramceba rather than to 

 Anthrax. In one or two respects it resembles Astrophanes, O.-S., 

 a genus containing but one species (from Mexico) ; these are the 

 " almost rudimentary development of the base of the costa and 

 the closed anal cell." These two characters, in conjunction with 

 the contiguity of the eyes on the vertex in the S , are regarded as 

 the main generic distinction of the genus. As, however, I believe 

 both sexes to be before me, ray species cannot be an Astrophanes. 

 The angled loop of the second vein approximates it to Lepidanthrax, 

 O.-S., so that for the present it should be regarded as a some- 

 what aberrant species. It seems to bear some resemblance to 

 Bigot's Argyramceba appendicidata, and it is just possible it may 

 be identical with it, but the $ iu the Indian Museum collection 

 is labelled as a distinct species by Bigot (erroneously as ad), 

 and I therefore treat it as such. "When the two sexes are placed 

 side by side the difference of width in the frons is sufficiently 

 noticeable. 



