of THE MALTESE ISLANDS. 71 



coxae pale, translucent ochreous ; abdomen similar, but sometimes pale smoky 

 grey. Hairs paUid. Wings faintly irridescent in strong light ; pale drab in 

 subdued light ; costal fringe generally very dark or blackish grey, though 

 examples with pale costal fringes are not uncommon. Legs silvery grey, in 

 a strong light presenting a distinct metallic lustre ; in certain lights also those 

 segments which lie in shadow appear almost black and show up in marked 

 contrast to those which are so placed that their surfaces refract the light. In 

 some lights the under surface of the legs appears distinctly and regularly 

 speckled, a character due evidently to the regular arrangement of the scales. 



Head densely hairy, with generally two ill-defined tufts. Clypeus with a large 

 tuft of hairs, some of which are directed forwards, others backwards towards the 

 forehead. Palpi with segments 2, 3 and 4 equal in length and collectively a little 

 longer than 5. Antennae with the second segment much longer than the two 

 succeeding ones ; the longest hairs on segment 14 almost equal in length to those 

 on the preceding segment. Thorax densely hairy, usually with a tuft on the 

 front portion and another on the scutellum. Abdomen densely hairy, the longest 

 hairs arising from the apical mai'gin of the segments, but no distinct tufts 

 are found as in P. papatasii. The arrangement of the hairs is similar in both 

 sexes, but blackish hairs are often intermixed with the pale ochreous ones on 

 various parts of the body in the darker forms of this insect. Legs shorter than 

 those of P. papatasii. Wings (fig. 6, p. 62) with the posterior border much 

 more strongly arched than the anterior border ; the anterior branch of second 

 longitudinal vein nearly as long as the stem between the cross-vein and the 

 proximal fork. 



External genitalia (^gs. 16, 17), Superior clasper with five very long stout 

 curved spines ; two apical, one external and two internal, placed a little in 

 advance of the outer one ; inferior clasper nearly twice the length of the 

 intermediate appendage and clothed to the apex with very long and slender 

 hairs ; intermediate appendage somewhat finger-shaped and hairy, proximal 

 portion with a large keel-like extension ventrally, the distal margin of which 

 bears several (5-6) hairs ; apex of intromittent organ deeply divided or forked, 

 with occasionally a minute central tooth ; exposed portion of the genital filament 

 about half the length of the intromittent organ. 



Female. — With the palpi, antennae and legs similar to those of the male. 

 Wings very slightly larger and broader than those of the male. 



Length, l'9-2"2 mm. 



This insect is widely distributed over the island of Malta, and was extremely 

 abundant during the month of August and the beginning of September, though 

 many examples were captured also in July. It was most abundant at Floriana, 

 near the old bastion by the Grand Harbour, on the evenings of August the 

 26th and 27th, when, between the hours of 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m., 39 examples 

 were captiired as they came into a lighted room ; of this total 28 were males and 

 11 females. 



Two examples of P. minutus were found in association with this species ; but 

 strange as it may seem, not a single example of P. papatasii was either captured 

 or seen on these occasions. 



