﻿204 [February, 



naked eye, but may be easily seen with a lens in a good light ; the spe- 

 cies in this group always have hairy eyes : the second group has the 

 disc of the epistoma without any hairs, and the eyes (at least in the 

 male) distinctly hairy ; the females in a few species (albitarsis, flavimana, 

 and mutabilis) have the eyes quite bare, but I think all the bare-eyed 

 females have the legs black, with the middle joints of the front tarsi 

 pale : the third group has the epistoma without any hairs on the disc, 

 and the eyes bare in both sexes. 



Group I. — Epistoma with distinct hairs on the disc ; eyes hairy. 



1. (Estracea, L. This species may be at once known by its robust 



shape and shaggy whitish pubescence^, with a band of black hairs 

 across the thorax, and on the third segment of the abdomen ; the 

 apical segment is clothed with tawny hairs, thus giving the insect 

 the appearance of a Criorhina. I believe it is tolerably common, 

 though I have only met with it near Dorking, in June, 1868. 



2. intonsa, Lw., may be distinguished from any other British species of 



this group by its soft brown pubescence, without the least inter- 

 mixture of black hairs round the edge of the scutellum and 

 thorax ; I expect it is rare, as I have only seen a pair in Mr. Un- 

 win's collection, probably caught in Sussex, and a male in the 

 Entomological Club collection. Our species may be griseiventris, 

 Lw., as the belly is dull. 



3. pigra, Lw. The characters of this species lie in the dark brown an- 



tennae, with an only slightly pubescent arista, the brownish alulae 

 of the male, and the peculiar whitish pubescence on the abdomen 

 of the female, forming slight fasciae. In the Entomological Club 

 collection are one male and three females, and I possess one male 

 captured by Mr. Smith in North Devon last year. 



4. harhata, Lw., is distinguished by its distinctly pubescent arista and 



rather pale legs, the pubescence on the thorax is more reddish 

 than usual, and the hairs on the disc of the epistoma more abun- 

 dant. I captured one female of this near Box Hill, in the summer 

 of 1867. 



5. variabilis, Pz. This is the commonest of the genus, and may be 



known by its entirely black legs, elongate abdomen, and bluish- 

 black colour. It is a large species, and occurs abundantly in woods 

 and about hedges in June. 



Grroup II.— Epistoma without any hairs on the disc ; eyes {of the male) hairy. 



6. impressa, Lw., is separated from the allied species by its entirely 



