ENTOMOLOGY 859 
THe TABANID FAUNA OF LIBERIA ! 
Few previous Liberian records of tabanids are to be found in the literature. 
I was informed by one of the Liberian officials that Sir Alfred Sharpe collected 
biting insects during his journey through the hinterland of Liberia, a few years 
ago; but no account of his captures appears to have been published thus far. 
The following list is therefore based almost entirely upon observations made by 
the members of the Harvard Expedition. It is probably a mere fragment of the 
fauna, since many more species are known from the adjoining colonies of Sierra 
Leone and the Ivory Coast. Owing to the scarcity or absence of big game, cattle 
and horses, horse-flies are much more difficult to observe in the dense rain forest 
than in the open savanna. Moreover, even this incomplete list sufficiently 
indicates the character of the tabanid fauna of Liberia, which is not different 
from that of the neighboring parts of West Africa. 
* Chrysops longicornis Macquart. # Pabanus pluto Walker. 
* Tabanus besti Surcouf. ruficrus Palisot de Beauvois. 
2 _ ‘* var. arbucklet Austen. secedens Walker. 
fasciatus Fabricius. socialis Walker. 
kingsleyt Ricardo. taeniola Palisot de Beauvois. 
marmorosus Surcouf. tenuipalpis Austen. 
obscurehirtus Ricardo. Haematopota guineensis Bigot. 
ec Se 
* * & & F ¥ 
THe TABANID FAUNA OF THE ISLANDS OF THE GULF OF GUINEA 
The discovery of an apparently undescribed species of Tabanus in Prince’s 
Island (Principe) led me to investigate the tabanids at present known from that 
island and its neighbors. Very few species have thus far been recorded from 
those islands, the following short list containing all the records that I have been 
able to find in the literature. It is quite possible that some of them are based on 
erroneous identifications. No tabanid appears to have been reported from 
Annobon. 
Chrysops silacea Austen (Fernando Po). 
Pabanaus biguttatus var. croceus Surcouf (8. Thomé). 
congoiensis Ricardo (S. Thomé; Prince’s I.). 
obscurefumatus Surcouf (8. Thome, 
. . principis J. Bequaert (Prince’s I.). 
sagittarius Macquart (8. Thomé; Rolas I.). 
socialis Walker (Fernando Po). 
taeniola Palisot de Beauvois (Prince’s I.). 
williamsii Austen (Fernando Po). 
Tue TABANID FAUNA OF THE BELGIAN Congo 2 
Ecological conditions are extremely varied in the vast territory covered by 
the Belgian Congo, so that one might expect a corresponding variety in the 
fauna. Of still greater importance is the fact that this territory comprises areas 
1 In this and the following lists, an asterisk precedes the species and varieties which are recorded 
from actual specimens seen and identified by the author. 
2 A popular account of the horse-flies of the Congo has been published recently by Vanderyst, H. 
1928. ‘Les Tabanidés hémophages au Congo belge.’ Bull. Agric. Congo Belge, XIX, pp. 607-630. 
