43 
Therioplectes solstitialis, Schin., Brauer (? Mg.). 
Plate 17. 
In this species, which is the most brightly coloured of the larger 
British Tabanidae, the two sexes are alike in coloration, though the 
black median dorsal stripe on the abdomen is usually narrower and 
more distinctly defined in the male. Of eight British males in the 
Museum collection the smallest is 144, the largest l6| mm. in length, 
while twenty females vary in length from 14^ to 17 mm. The eyes 
of the male according to Brauer (Joe. eit., p. 1 50), are " dark green, 
with a strong purple sheen above, with two purple bands on the 
lower third, and with the rudiment of a similar band on the edge 
of the larger facets " ; those of the female are described as " bright 
green, with a coppery sheen, or bluish green, with three narrow 
purple bands, which often have a yellow edging." 
The dates of capture of the Museum series of 77/. solstitialis range 
from June 13th to July 22nd inclusive. The localities are, in Scotland : 
Nethy Bridge and Aviemore, Inverness-shire ; Nairn ; Brodie, Elgin ; 
and Rannoch, Perthshire (Lieut.-Colonel Yerbury) ; Taynuilt, Argyll- 
shire (A. Beaumont) ; and Goatfell, Arran (Sir G. F. Hampson, Bt.). 
In Wales : Barmouth, Merionethshire (Lieut.-Colonel Yerbury). And 
in England : Tarrington, Herefordshire ; Lyndhurst, New Forest, 
and Ringwood, Hants (Lieut.-Colonel Yerbury); Beaulieu, Hants 
(Miss Gertrude Ricardo) ; Avon and Walkham Valleys, S. Devon 
(Lieut.-Colonel Yerbury) ; and near Bude, Cornwall (B. G. Rye). In 
the Museum general collection there are specimens from Norway, 
and the localities given by Brauer show that the species occurs south- 
wards as far as Hungary and the Tyrol, and eastwards on the Amur 
river in Russian Asia. 
Colonel Yerbury writes that in Great Britain 77/. solstitialis is 
" very common and generally distributed. The males are frequently 
seen hovering over roads through woods, and the habit seems to be 
confined to this species. Although not painful, the bite of the 
female is very severe, and draws blood more often than that of any 
other species." 
