24 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. IX, January, 1955 
Maskell, 1888. New Zeal. Inst., Trans. 20: 
106-108, pi. 10 (Henops). 
Brunetti, 1926. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 
IX, 18: 593-594. 
Maskell writes: 
Flies (fig. 1) rather large, but squat-looking and 
heavy; motions very slow. Thorax much elevated, the 
head being bent down beneath it so as not to be visible 
when the insect is viewed from above. Abdomen round 
and swollen, wider than the thorax but seeming as if 
cut off short, the posterior extremity being turned 
under; there are six segments on the abdomen. Colour 
dark brown, almost black, on the thorax, with short 
yellow hairs; abdomen dark brown, with a yellow band 
marking each segment; head black; Wings hyaline; 
halteres yellow. The winglets are very large and scale- 
like. Eyes very large, compound, occupying all the 
upper part of the head, but not highly convex (fig. 2). 
Antennae (fig. 3) inserted in front, between the eyes; 
two-jointed, both joints very short; the style is very 
long, inflated near the base, narrow in the shaft and 
slightly dilated at the tip, where there are two short 
bristles. Proboscis (fig. 2) very short, almost obsolete, 
conical; placed so much beneath the down-turned head 
as to be extremely difficult to detect. Feet (fig. 5) long 
and slender; tarsus five-jointed; claw double (fig. 6) 
with three pulvilli. Wings (fig. 4) with brown costal 
and subcostal veins; discoidal cell open; cubital cell 
large; and postical vein appears to have a branch almost 
if not quite disconnected. Length of the body, in the 
usual postion, nearly inch. 
Hutton, 1901, writes: 
Head black; antennae pitch-brown. Thorax pitch- 
brown, with scattered tawny hairs. Abdomen brown, 
the posterior margin of each segment tawny. Legs 
pale-brown. Wings hyaline; the costa and second 
longitudinal vein brown. Length, 5-6 mm.; wing, 
5-7 mm. 
Hab. Otago (F.W.H.); Wairarapa (Maskell) ; Auck- 
land (Broun). 
Brunetti writes: 
A short series in the British Museum from New 
Zealand, some labelled Wellington, 3. ii. 1911 (Capt. 
F. W. Hutton); Christchurch, Ohakune, v. 1922 (J. W. 
Campbell), others with no closer data. 
A further series from New Zealand amongst the 
unnamed material in the British Museum have nearly 
or entirely clear wings, and the legs showing much 
variation, being in individuals entirely and quite black, 
in others shining brown varying in intensity and ex- 
tent, in others again with the tibiae all brownish yellow. 
The data are as follows: — Wilton’s Bush, Wellington, 
28. xi. 1921; 6. xii. 1920; Karori, Wellington, 28. i. 
1917; 16. ii. 1920; Gollans Valley, 24. xii. 1921 (all 
G. V. Hudson). Ohakune, 1922-23 (T. R. Harris). 
The specimen from Gollans Valley has a pale irregu- 
larly-shaped spot of some size, but with indefinite 
outline towards each side margin on the third segment. 
The author has seen only one specimen: 
1 9 , 23. xii. 1924, Dun Mt., 3,000 ft., N. Z. 
(A. Philpott). 
Oncodes consimilis Brunetti 
1926. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. IX, 18: 
603. 
Brunetti writes: 
Considerably like 0. basalis Walk. The pubescence 
of the thorax is more yellowish, that of the abdomen 
is distinctly longer, rather conspicuously whitish, the, 
clear-cut yellow hind margins of the segments being 
quite bare (as is the case also in basalis). The first and 
second abdominal segments are all black, the third, 
fourth, fifth, and sixth mainly blackish brown on more 
than the basal half of each, the remaining portion 
paling to a bright yellowish brown; the black spots at 
the sides of the segments are less clearly demarcated, 
larger, more triangular, and almost united to the 
blackish-brown basal band. The femora are much more 
slender in form, brownish yellow, indistinctly darker 
distally; the tibiae brownish yellow, the tarsi mainly 
black but first joint brownish yellow on basal half or 
more. 
Length 6 mm. 
A single specimen from Mount Ruapehu, New 
Zealand, 4,000 ft., Jan. 1922 (G. V. Hudson). 
Unique type in British Museum. 
Apart from the first and second abdominal segments, 
which are wholly black in both species (except for the 
whitish hind margin of second segment in each), the 
ground-colour of the rest of the abdomen in consimilis 
is blackish brown, shading into brownish yellow pos- 
teriorly; but in basalis it is bright brownish yellow, with 
the black spots clearly cut on third and fourth seg- 
ments. In the type of basalis the pubescence of the 
thorax and abdomen is more yellowish, that of the 
abdomen much shorter than in consimilis ; the black in 
the femora is on the basal half only and sharply de- 
fined, the femora themselves stouter and more uni- 
formly cylindrical; the tibiae uniformly bright orange 
and the tarsi wholly black from base to tip. The wings 
in consimilis are absolutely colourless and the squamae 
nearly as clear, although not actually transparent; in 
basalis the wings are yellowish grey, the squamae 
obscurely whitish. 
The author has seen specimens from the 
following localities: 2c? c?, 30. xi. 1921, 
Khandallah, N. Z. (A. Tonnoir); lc?, 1$, 
2. xii. 1921, Wilton’s Bush, N. Z. (A. Ton- 
noir); lc?, 5-7. i. 1922, Dun Mt., 3,000 ft., 
N. Z. (A. Tonnoir). 
Oncodes nitens Hutton 
1901. New Zeal. Inst., Trans. 33: 29. 
