Genus Phoniomyia. 599 



(J . Head deep brown, clothed with flat silvery scales in 

 front, dark ones with dull violet reflections behind ; antennae 

 deep brown ; palpi very small, deep brown ; proboscis long, deep 

 brown, curved downwards, not quite as long as the whole body ; 

 clypeus brown, long. 



Thorax deep shiny black with broad spindle-shaped bronzy 

 scales, which are very dense over the wings and in front of the 

 scutellum, and slightly broader ; scutellum with larger flat scales, 

 the mid lobe with mixed black and white ones, four black border- 

 bristles to the mid lobe, three to each of the lateral lobes ; 

 prothoracic lobes mauve, orange and brown ; metanotum black 

 with two brown chaetae arising each from a black spot ; pleurae 

 brown with dense silvery puncta. 



Abdomen deep black with metallic violet reflections in places, 

 narrowed basally, expanded apically, with lateral snowy white 

 patches to the segments forming a white lateral line, border- 

 bristles short and pale ; genitalia pale testaceous ; apex densely 

 hairy. 



Wings with the fork-cells very long and thin, the first sub- 

 marginal longer but not much narrower than the second posterior 

 cell, its base a little nearer the base of the wing, its stem about 

 one-third the length of the cell, stem of the second posterior 

 about three-fourths the length of the cell ; posterior cross-vein 

 about one and a half times its own length from the mid. 



Legs deep brown, fore unadorned, mid with first tarsal white 

 on one side, second and third tarsals all white, third white on one 

 side, fourth dark. The dark apex has the scales outstanding, 

 giving the leg a semi-paddle-like appearance. In the hind legs 

 the last two tarsals are white at the base beneath. 



Genitalia very peculiar, the claspers large and curved with a 

 large acute process arising from the base, about half the length of 

 the clasper, other pieces attached to the basal lobes, etc., of 

 curious form, one pair broad, contracted, and then expanding 

 asain, ending with a flat striated plate, another process broad 

 plate-like and thickened at one edge. 



Length. — 3 mm. 



Habitat. — Rio de Janeiro. 



Observations. — Described from a perfect male (parts mounted 

 in balsam). 



The densely scaled black apex to the mid legs and the silvery 

 white sides of the abdomen are alone sufficient to identify it. 



