252 NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN TABANIDAE, ii., 



Hab. — Our series includes specimens from the following localities : — Queens- 

 land: Palm Island, TownsviUe, Masthead Island, Bribie Island; New South 

 Wales: Richmond River. The species thus appears to be purely a coastal form. 



Note. — Further information on the identity of the two species has been re- 

 ceived from Major E. E. Austen, who states definitely from a comparison of the 

 types that T. aurihirtus Ric. is a synonym of T. nemopunctaPus Ric. 



Taeanus laticallosus Ric. 



T. laticallosus, Ricardo, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (8), xiv., 1914, p. 395. — 

 T. rufoabdommalis, Taylor, Proc. Linn. Soe. N.S. Wales, xlii., 1917, p. 525.— 

 ? var. T. heroni, Ferguson, Rec. S. Aust. Mus., Vol. 1, No. 4, 1921, p. 372. 



This species was described on three females from Moreton Island and a 

 male from Stradbroke Island, Moreton Bay. 



T. rufoabdominalis Taylor was described on both sexes from Stradbroke 

 Island. We have under examination a series from Stradbroke Island (5 c?, 1 ?) 

 which includes specimens received from the Queensland Museum as Taylor's 

 species. The female specimen was sent to London and has been returned 

 identified as T. laticallosus Ric. by Dr. G. A. K. Marshall. 



We have also a specimen of T. laticallosus kindly sent out by Major E. E. 

 Austen and bearing a label M.I., probably for Moreton Island, and evidently 

 one of the specimens Miss Ricardo had under examination. This specimen 

 measures 17 mm. as against 13-15 mm. for the series of T. rufoabdominalis , and 

 agrees with a series from Byron Bay measuring from 17-19 mm. This latter 

 series leads up to T. heroni (20 mm.) of which the type has been kindly loaned 

 by the South Australian Museum authorities for the purpose of comparison. In 

 T. heroni and in most of the Byron Bay series there is a continuous dark median 

 abdominal stripe, and the clothing is generally white, though in some of the 

 Byron Bay series it is golden as in T. laticallosus. Apart from size and the 

 above-mentioned differences in clothing and colour, there seems no difference be- 

 tween T. heroni and T. laticallosus, while the Byron Bay series is intermediate. 

 Further series will probably be necessary to settle the status of these various 

 names, but from the available evidence it seems likely that T. laticallosus and 

 T. rufoabdominalis are synonymous, while T. heroni is only a large variety of 

 the same species. 



Structurally, T. laticallosus is not closely allied to pwrvieallosus Ric, but is 

 much closer to T. vietorisnsis Ric; the latter species is hardly separable from 

 T. heroni except on colour, though both species occur together. 



The specimens recorded by Taylor (Proc Linn. Soc. N.S.W.. xlii., 1917, p. 

 524) as T. laticallosus do not belong to this species, but apparently to an un- 

 described species near T. aprepes Taylor. 



Tabanus pseudopalpalis, n.sp. 



T. nemopunctatus, Taylor (nee Ricardo), Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, xli., 

 part 4, 1916, p. 754. 



Closely allied to T. neopalpalis Ferg. & Hill, (^ palpalis Taylor), differing 

 in the absence of callus and in the shape of the palpi. 



Face, cheeks and subeaUus similar to T. n.eopalpalis. Palpi shorter, the 

 second joint stouter, though not greatly thickened at base, and slightly curved, 

 ending in a blunt point, yellow, clothed on outer side with pale hairs with an 

 occasional darker one. Antennae similar to T. neopalpalis, slightly lighter in 

 colour. Forehead" of same colour as face and clothed with similar tomentum, 



