APIOCEEA.— DOLICHOPUS. 213 



margins of segments 3-5 elongated brown spots are perceptible ; ventral surface greyish- 

 silvery at the base, pale reddish towards the tip ; male forceps rather large, black. 

 Halteres brownish-yellow. Legs black, or brownish-black. Wings hyaline; veins 

 brown, the auxiliary vein, and the first vein also, more yellowish. 



N.B. — Since writing the above description, I have received Coquillet's article on 

 Apiocera (Psyche, 1885, p. 244) ; this author there states that he has twenty-two 

 Californian specimens, some of which agree with A. haruspex, O. Sack., but the others 

 differ to such a degree from these, and also from each other, that he is at a loss to know 

 whether to regard them as belonging to several species, or as merely varieties of one 

 very variable insect ; he inclines to the latter view of the case ; and if this view be 

 correct, my A. augur may perhaps also be merely a variety of A. haruspex. 



In my detailed article on Apiocera (Berl. ent. Zeit. 1883, p. 292) I paid but little 

 attention to the suggestion of Macquart as to the relationship of this genus to Thereva. 

 I merely said that the venation of Thereva, " on account of the shortness of the first 

 longitudinal vein," belongs to a different type, far remote from that of the Asilidae and 

 Apiocera. This argument is conclusive, and those who insist nevertheless upon 

 upholding Macquart's view merely show that they have no eye for affinities based upon 

 the venation of Diptera. The Tipulidse, Asilidae, Syrphidae, and some other groups of 

 Diptera have such a well-characterized venation that the sight of the wing alone is 

 sufficient for defining the systematic position of the species belonging to them. Since 

 I have shown that Apiocera is not a Midaid, the only debatable question is whether it 

 is an Asilid, or an aberrant form allied to the Asilidae. 



Fam. DOLICHOPODIDjE. 



DOLICHOPUS. 



Dolichopus, Latreille, Precis des Car. gen. des Ins. iv. p. 292 (1796). 



1. Dolichopus myosota, sp. n., a . 



Antennae and legs black ; cilia of the inferior orbit whitish ; cilia of the teguhe black ; face silvery-white ; 



wings hyaline, the distal half of the fourth vein bisinuate but not angularly broken, the costa without any 



incrassation. 

 Length about 4 millim. 



Sab. Mexico, Northern Sonora (Morrison). 



Bright metallic green, with bluish reflections ; antennae black, rather small, the third 

 joint short and subtriangular ; arista black, glabrous ; face silvery ; pleurae slightly 

 hoary ; abdomen distinctly hoary on the sides ; lamellae of the hypopygium rather small, 

 whitish, with black margins; legs uniformly black, the brown on the knees hardly 

 perceptible ; the femora, especially the anterior pair, with metallic green reflections ; 

 maerochaetae on the outer side of the four posterior femora, neai the tip, rather strong. 



