Plecia — Hardy 
199 
pilose, dorsocentral hairs very short. All leg 
segments slender, tibiae not at all enlarged at 
apices. Tibial spurs all black. Wings dark 
brown fumose, darkest along the anterior 
margin. The stigma are not well differentiated 
from the wing membrane. Vein R 2+3 gently 
curved, forming about a 50° angle with R4+5. 
The section of M 1+2 from the fork to the r-m 
cross vein is nearly one-half longer than the 
cross vein. The cubital cell is not at all nar- 
rowed at its apex. Abdomen faintly shining, 
lightly tinged with brown in ground color. 
The ninth tergum is almost as long as wide 
and the hind margin is gently concave (Fig. 
10c). The sternum has a moderately large, 
obtuse lobe at each side on hind margin and a 
smaller inconspicuous lobe just inside each 
clasper. The median portion of the hind mar- 
gin has a broadly U-shaped concavity (Fig. 
lOff). The claspers are bilobed; the ventral 
lobe is square tipped and the dorsal lobe is 
acutely pointed (Fig. ICLz, b). 
Length: Body, 5.5 mm.; wings, 6.0-6. 3 mm. 
female: Head shining black in ground 
color, densely grayish pubescent and wider 
than long from a dorsal view. The antennae 
appear to be 11-segmented but the last two 
are very closely joined. The front has a small, 
shining black tubercle in middle just above 
the antennae. Otherwise like the male, except 
for genital characters. 
Length: Body, 5. 0-5. 5 mm.; wings, 7.0- 
7.5 mm. 
type locality: Lawson, Blue Mountains, 
Australia. 
Type in the Australia Museum. 
The above described specimens were from 
Malanda, North Queensland (G. F. Hill). 
Plecia forcipata Osten Sacken 
Fig. 11^, b 
Plecia forcipata Osten Sacken, 1881, Ann. del 
Mus. Civ. di Storia Nat. di Genova 16: 397. 
This species may be somewhat variable, 
some of the specimens which I have seen from 
the British Museum collection have the dor- 
sum of thorax orange, including scutellum 
and metanotum, and the pleura marked with 
black. The type male in the Museo Civico di 
Storia Naturale, Genova, has the thorax en- 
tirely rufous. The original description men- 
tions a characteristic uninterrupted reddish 
stripe which extends across the pleura from 
one halter to the other, this is the case in the 
specimens in the British Museum collection; 
the metapleura, lower part of pteropleura, and 
all of sternopleura are rufous and the pro- 
pleura, mesopleura, and hypopleura are black. 
The strongly forcipate ninth tergum allies this 
to forficula Edwards but the claspers and 
sternum are differently developed as pointed 
out in the above key and as shown in Figures 
lla and 12 a. The tergum of the type fits my 
Fig. 11. Plecia forcipata Osten Sacken. a. Ninth 
sternum; b, ninth tergum. 
