Descriptions of British Diptera. 457 
GENUS HJEMATOPOTA, 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 j) 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 j 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. 
H^JMATOPOTA PLUVIALIS (s.) 
Tabanus pluvialis, Linn. Fabr. De Geer, tab- 13, fig. 1, 2. Haemat. pluvialis, 
Meig. Latr. Fatten. Reaumur, iv. pi. 18, fig. 1. Tab. hyeomantis Shrank. 
Female: eyes green, with transverse undulating purple brown 
