- Source: Benhamyia apicalis
Benhamyia apicalis is a species of soldier fly described by Francis Walker in 1849, who originally called the species Diphysa apicalis. It is endemic to New Zealand.
Description
Walker's original 1849 description is as follows:
Head black, hoary in front: eyes pitchy-black; facets of the fore feet rather larger than those elsewhere: palpi and sucker tawny; second joint of the palpi spindle-shaped, not broader than the first: feelers black, filiform, dark red towards the base, nearly as long as the chest: chest and breast dark purple; chest adorned with golden down, which forms three stripes; scutcheon tawny, armed with four teeth: abdomen tawny, a little narrower than the chest and nearly twice its length, slightly decreasing in breadth from the base to the tip, which is purple: legs tawny; hind legs long, their thighs club-shaped ; fore feet pitchy: wings colourless on the disk, tawny along the fore border, gray along the hind border and at the tip, adorned with a blackish band which does not reach the hind border; wing-ribs and veins tawny; veins pitchy on the blackish band; poisers pale yellow. Length of the body 31⁄2 lines; of the wings 7 lines.
Distribution
The species is endemic to New Zealand, found on both the North Island and South Island.
