H. Sauter's Formosa-Ausbeute, Nycteribiidae. 



101 



$. 2nd tergite more shield- 

 shaped, with scattered short 

 bristles only on the middle part 

 of the disc, with short and very 

 long bristles on the hind margin, 

 3—5 short ones between every 

 two long ones. Connexivum re- 

 presenting the 3rd tergite with 

 alternating long and short brist- 

 les on its hind margin. 4th and 

 5th sternites bare on the disc, 

 on the hind margin bearing a 

 row of short bristles and a row 

 of alternating longer and shorter 

 bristles. 



margin: with short bristles on 

 the middle part of the disc: 

 with longer and shorter bristles 

 on the hind margin, generally 3 

 shorter between every two longer 

 ones. Connexivum, (= 3rd ter- 

 gite) without bristles on its hind 

 margin. 4th sternite bare save 

 for some short bristles on the 

 middle of the disc near the hind 

 margin. 4th and 5th sternites 

 with long bristles on the hind 

 margin. 



The above are the principal differences to be gathered from 

 Kolenati's descriptions and figures, and they appear to me un- 

 satisfactory. For comparison I have had before me the following 

 material: 7 S an d 16 $ of blasii (in alcohol) from 4 different loca- 

 lities in Britain, named by Speiser, and kindly lent by the Hon. 

 N. C. Rothschild; 2 $ blasii preserved dry (determined by Licht- 

 wardt and Speiser respectively), and 1 <J and 1 $ of pedicularia, 

 also preserved dry and determined by the same gentlemen, all 

 kindly lent from the Deutsches Entomologisches Museum; and 

 lastly, 3 cJ and 2 ? collected at Hammam Meskoutine in Eastern 

 Algeria by Mr. P. A. Buxton, and referred by me to pedicularia. 

 Of course I have not seen the actual types of blasii or pedicularia. 

 The old writers Latreille, Leach, Curtis and Westwood, all of 

 whom have been consulted, mention no characters of pedicularia 

 which might distinguish it from the later described blasii. 



In size the German and Algerian specimens of pedicularia 

 are much larger than the British or German blasii: but the For^ 

 mosan specimens, though corresponding in size more with the 

 blasii, yet have certain characters of pedicularia. In the form of 

 the thorax beneath, I have been unable to detect much appre- 

 ciable difference in the two forms: in all the specimens the thorax 

 appears a little broader than long 4 ), but how much so is very 

 difficult to measure, since its appearance is often deceptive and 

 differs greatly according to the exact angle at which it is viewed. 

 In the abdomen: the presence or absence of short bristles on 

 the discs of the tergites is not alwavs a constant character. In the 

 British examples of blasii the 3rd tergite has short bristles on its disc, 



4 ) Speiser, in his key for determining the species (Arch. Naturg., 

 67. 1. 1901, p. 59) separates blasii from pedicidaria by the form of the 

 thorax beneath: „rundlich, so breit als lang" == blasii; „breiter als lang" 

 = pedicularia. Schiner had previously adopted a nearly similär arrarige- 

 niiMit in Fauna Austriaca, Dipt., IT. 1864, pp. 654 — 6. 



8. iielt 



