DIPTERA. 



455 



Fig. 540. — Tabanus at- 

 ratjis. 



Fig. 54T.- 

 Chrysops 

 711 ger. 



The larger species, as well as some of moderate size, 

 belong to the genus Tabanus (Ta-ba'nus), of which nearly 

 one hundred American spe- 

 cies are known. One of the 

 most common of these is the 

 Mourning Horse-fly, Tabaytiis 

 atratiis (T. a-tra'tus). This 

 insect is of an uniform black 

 color throughout, except that 

 the body may have a bluish 

 tinge (Fig. 540). 



To the genus Chrysops 

 (Chry^sops) belong the smaller 

 and more common horse-flies with banded wings (Fig. 541). 

 Nearly fifty North American species of this genus have 

 been described. 



Family STRATIOMYIID/Ii (Strat-i-o-my-i'i-doe). 

 The Soldier-flies, 



The soldier-flies are so called on account of the bright- 

 colored stripes with which some of the species are marked. 



In the more typical mem- 

 bers of this family the abdo- 

 men is broad and greatly 

 f ^\ W V flattened (Fig. 542), and the 



jB r M \ wings when, at rest lie parallel 



I ^^m\ ^W jtSKI^ upon each other over the ab- 



^^S « ^^W domen. But in some genera 



the abdomen is narrow and 

 considerably elongate. 



The antennse vary greatly 

 in some genera the third segment is long and con- 

 sists of several quite distinct rings (Fig. 543) ; in others it is 

 short with but few indistinctly-separated rings and with a 

 bristle (Fig. 544), as in the true true short-horned flies. 



The most distinctive characteristic is the peculiar vena 



Fig. 542. 



St rati o- 



niyia. 



in form 



Fig. 543. 



Fig. 544. 



