﻿INSECTS OF EASTERN TROPICAL AFRICA. 287 



Chrysops centurionis, Aust. (PL XI, %. 6.) 



This would appear to be a fairly common forest species in Uganda, though it 

 has probably a very short season and is therefore frequently overlooked. During 

 a few days collecting at Entebbe, between the 1st and 12th September 1911, with 

 the assistance of my collectors, 128 <$ <5 and 17 Q Q were obtained. The vast 

 majority of these, females as well as males, were taken on the flowers of shrubs 

 on the outskirts of the forest, in company with a few individuals of C. funebris, 

 Aust. The eyes of the <$ of this species are somewhat remarkable for one of its 

 genus, being very large, so that the head is truly holoptic. They are of a golden 

 yellow colour, with a semi-circular transverse black streak, below which are two 

 black spots, one on each eye. 



Genus Holcoceria, Griinb. 



Holcoceria nobilis, Griinb. (PL X, fig. 10.) 



I was fortunate in obtaining a small series of 16 Q Q of this striking species 

 on the banks of a heavily wooded stream at the foot of Kifulufulu Mountain, 

 Iringa-Kilossa Road, German East Africa. The species is also known from the 

 northern shores of Lake Nyasa both on the German and British sides, and the 

 Research Committee have also a male of this insect from Chirinda Forest in 

 S. Rhodesia, collected by Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton. It would therefore appear 

 to have a wide distribution over the more densely wooded parts of Eastern 

 Tropical Africa. The eyes of the female are of a reddish bronze colour with 

 numerous black spots and markings, 



Genus Haematopota, Mg. 



The insects of this genus are extremely numerous both in species and 

 individuals in Eastern Tropical Africa. They occur practically everywhere in 

 the wet season and are perhaps more abundant at the higher elevations than in 

 the lower-lying country, in contradistinction to the majority of species of 

 Tabanus. The number of species of this genus already known is very large 

 and doubtless many more remain to be discovered, probably more than in the 

 case of Tabanus , since they are more local in their habits, and the season when 

 any given species is much in evidence is often a very short one. The range of 

 the genus is, however, very wide, and it is represented in all types of country 

 and at all elevations from sea-level to at least 10,000 feet. 



Different types of Haematopota seem to frequent rather different types of 

 country. The lighter coloured species such as H. unicolor^ H. denshami, 

 H. copemani and their allies are characteristic of rather open short-grass country. 

 The more strikingly marked species, on the other hand, as H. distinct a, H. 

 alluaudi and H. brucei, or those of dull but dark coloration, as H. fusca or 

 H. inornata are principally forest species or at least frequent streams with well 

 wooded banks. 



Nothing, at present, is known as to the breeding habits of the African species 

 of this genus. Until some careful work is done by an observer stationed in one 

 spot for an entire cycle of the seasons it is unlikely that our knowledge on this 

 point will be much advanced. It would seem probable that the majority of the 



