Descriptions of British Diptera. 



457 



Genus HiEMATOPOTA, Meig. 

 Antennae longer than the head, radical joint rather long and pu- 

 bescent,, elliptical in the males, subcylindrical in the females ; se- 

 s cond joint short, cup- 



shaped, and pubescent ; 

 third naked, elongate 

 and tapering, divided in- 

 to four rings, the first of 

 which is longer than all 

 the rest taken together, 

 (Fig. 1 ;) palpi two- 

 jointed and pubescent ; 

 first joint short, second 

 long and conical ; labrum 

 narrow and pointed, nearly as long as the labium ; hypostome with an 

 impressed cross line just beneath the antennae, and a vertical one on 

 each side ; eyes of the male meeting above, the forehead of the female 

 very wide, (Fig. 4 ;) ocelli wanting ; thorax with a cross suture in- 

 terrupted in the middle ; abdomen somewhat conical in the male ; 

 winglets small, not covering the halteres ; tibiae in the intermediate 

 pair of legs, with two small spines at the tip ; wings lying along 

 the body, and forming a kind of roof over it ; second submarginal 

 cell, with the rudiment of a nerve at the base ; the anal cell ex- 

 tending to the inner edge, (Fig. 5.) 



The port of the wings, and their speckled appearance, distinguish 

 these insects at first sight from the rest of the Tabanidae. Very 

 few kinds are known, and it is even probable that some of those now 

 regarded as species, are not entitled to such a distinction. The fe- 

 males are even more blood-thirsty than the rest of their tribe, and 

 are often extremely troublesome both to men and cattle, particular- 

 ly in warm showery weather, a circumstance which has caused the 

 name pluvialis to be applied the most common species. The males 

 are seldom seen, and their numbers seem to be remarkably few in 

 proportion to those of the other sex. They appear to subsist en- 

 tirely on the juices of flowers, and in conformity with their in- 

 noxious habits, the oral organs are found to be much less deve- 

 loped than in the female. The natural history of these insects in 

 their early states is unknown. Fabricius states that the larvae live 

 in dung. 



HjEMATOPOTA PLUVIALIS (s.) 

 Tabanus pluvialis, Linn. Fabr. De Geer, tab- 13, fig. 1, 2. Haemat. pluvialis, 

 Meig. La.tr. Fallen — Reaumur, iv. pi. 18, fig. 1. Tab. byeomantis $ Shrank. 

 Female: eyes green, with transverse undulating purple brown 



