Volume 29, Plate XXXV / Entomology (Insects)

Asilus (Blepharotes) Abdominalis & Acanthomera Immantis

1. Asilus (Bleph­arotes) Abdomin­alis. This splendid fly of the family Asilidae differs from all others in its broad flattened abdomen and the structure of the intermediate tarsi, being obscure brownish-black with grey hairs and a nose fringed with long fulvous hairs. The four smooth abdominal segments are rich green with whitish hind margins and lateral brushes of brown hair, the terminal segment bearing two curved horny appendages, the legs black and the wings pale brown; it inhabits New South Wales.
2. Acantho­mera Immantis. This is one of the most gigantic dipterous insects yet discovered, apparently the Acanthomera Immanis of Weidemann, the figured specimen nearly two inches long and three inches in wing expanse. It is a female, differing from males in its simple posterior femora, which shows the impropriety of a generic name drawn from the males’ toothed thighs; the minute silvery dots in curved series on the second, third, and fourth abdominal segments are very peculiar, and it is from Brazil.