Hesse (1969) described this species as follows: Species is entirely and uniformly white-haired, no rufous or reddish vestiture on the head above and thorax above; in having the yellowish hind margin of tergite-2 much broadened on sides to surround the bullae (a character also present in C. meridionalis); have a dark margin around the bullae (also present in C. meridionalis), have the whitish pruinosity on the posterior parts of the tergites strictly limited to the pale hind margins. All these characters appear to be of sufficient value to separate C. albida specifically from the specimens of C. fascipennis Macq. which Bequaert referred to as C. umbrina.

According to Bequaert's very short description, C. albida differs from the preceding C. meridionalis in having a longer proboscis; a more restricted, less extensive and darker infuscation in the wings, which does not also occupy the second basal cell, posterior part of discoidal cell and base of third posterior cell to the same extent; a distinctly broader apical part of second submarginal cell, which is as broad apically as first posterior cell and not much narrowed as in C. meridionalis; a much shorter apical stalk to first posterior cell; a much longer apical stalk to discoidal cell; and much longer hairs on hind tibiae along their inner and lower faces.

Type locality: South Africa, Western Cape, Mossel Bay

Notes below were extracted from Hesse (1969): A single male specimen from Mossel Bay, collected by Turner, was described as a white-haired variety C. albida of Gerstaeker's C. umbrina by Bequaert in a short appendix to his comprehensive redescription of what he took to represent the latter species. This variety is not represented in the collections before me. As representatives of the genus Cephalocera are somewhat difficult to separate and as they also appear to be restricted to certain geographical regions as in the case of other mydaid genera in South Africa, it is more than likely that this variety C. albida represents a distinct and separate species which status it is accorded in this revision. The other imperfect male specimen from a locality (Howers) in the near eastern Cape and collected by C. B. Cottrell in November 1956 and also referred to a local variety of the form described by Bequaert as C. umbrina (Bequaert 1963: 64) is also not present in any of the collections before me, but from Bequaert's short reference to it, it appears to be still another species which is different from both C. albida and C. meridionalis and probably represents a still farther eastward-occurring species of this genus.

South Africa.

This species is found mainly in southern coastal parts of the Western Cape (Hesse 1969).

The information below was extracted from Cannings and Scudder (2005): Dipterans are primarily aerial insects and the mesothorax, which bears the only pair of wings, dominates the thorax - the prothorax and metathorax are greatly reduced. The legs are normally rather simple and are used primarily for perching; in some groups, they are modified for prey capture or for signalling during courtship. The tarsi are nearly always 5-segmented. The functional wings are membranous and their pattern of veins is critical in fly classification and identification. During the evolution of flies, there has been a trend towards a reduction in veins, especially in the rear half of the wing – changes that evidently relate to improvements in two-winged flight. The hindwings, present in most other insects, are reduced in Diptera to small, club-like organs, called halteres, used for stabilising flight.

Herbivore - Nectarivore (nectar-eating)

The flies in this family are not known to hunt, catch or prey upon other insects as asilids do. They are however known to imbibe on the flower nectar especially Afroleptomydas and Cephalocera (Hesse 1969).

Like the others, flies in the Mydidae family begin life as an egg, which hatches into a grub-like larva. Most of the fly life is spent in the larval stage, mainly eating and growing as well as molting several times. Some flies may spend at least a year as a larva. The next stage is a pupa, during which the insect transforms into its final stage, emerging from the pupa as a winged adult, able to mate and reproduce. In many species, males stake out positions at favourable egg-laying sites and wait for females to arrive (Hesse 1969).

Fynbos