WYEOMYIA AUTOCRATICA 117 



Abdomen siibcylindrical, compressed basally, expanded apically and witli 

 many long dark-brown terminal setae; dorsal vestiture black with a slight 

 metallic reflection; venter yellowish white, the colors separated on the sides in 

 a straight line. 



Wings rather narrow, hyaline ; petiole of second marginal cell one-fourth as 

 long as its cell ; that of second posterior cell nearly as long as its cell ; basal 

 cross-vein distant more than its own length from anterior cross-vein ; scales of 

 veins long, narrowly ovate, broader and denser on second to fourth veins out- 

 wardly, black, with bronzy reflection on costa. Halteres whitish with black 

 knobs. 



Legs rather long and slender, black, with bronzy and blue reflection, femora 

 pale beneath ; tibia? and tarsi with a bright-brassy luster beneath ; middle tarsi 

 with a pale-brassy luster on outer side of last four joints, becoming silvery 

 white beneath ; fore and mid tarsi without pale markings. Mid tarsi with a 

 single long claAv, those of the hind tarsi unequal ; formula, 0.0-0-0.0. 



Length : Body about 2.5 mm. ; wing 2.3 mm. 



Genitalia (plate 6, fig. 39) : Side-pieces over twice as long as wide, tapering 

 to tip, outer angle uniformly produced, leaving clasp-filament as a small spatu- 

 late appendage arising from outer third of side-piece ; a ridge along middle bears 

 a row of hairs and a long spine, and near the tip is produced into a short promi- 

 nence bearing two broad, ensiform spines. Clasp-filament small, spatulate, with 

 a spine on each apical angle. Harpes slender, concave, the inner margin 

 thickened, curved at the tip and obscurely dentate. Harpagones slender, curved, 

 crossing to form a basal cone. Unci small, with recurved tips, forming a small 

 basal cone. Basal appendages prominent, each with three long, stout setae. 



Larva. Stage IV (plate 89, fig. 285). Head rounded, straight on sides, a 

 slight notch at insertion of antenna?, oblique before, narrowly flattened between 

 the down-curved clypeal hooks. Antennas moderate, slender, smooth, two small 

 hairs beyond middle; three irregular spines and a slender digit at tip. Upper 

 head-tufts double, lower multiple. Mental plate lunate-triangular, with a large 

 prominent central tooth and fourteen on each side, the last one small. Mandible 

 quadrangular; a long filament and a small one before tip; an outer row of cilia 

 from a collar; seven small filaments with divided tips on outer margin; denti- 

 tion of four teeth on an upright process, the first longest ; a flat filament and a 

 row of feathered hairs within ; process below short and stout, rather widely 

 furcate, taking the place of the basal angle ; a row of hairs on its outer margin 

 and a tuft at tip of each limb; a row of stout hairs within and one at base. 

 Maxilla conically tapered, the suture obsolete ; outer half sparsely covered with 

 long, stiff hairs ; a row of coarse curved hairs at tip and a single long spine ; 

 outer half with a small filament above the middle, a band of hairs at base of 

 palpus and a rounded notch with a small spine near apex. Palpus small, with 

 four rudimentary digits. Thorax rounded, wider than long ; abdomen moderate, 

 the anterior segments shorter; trachese very narrow. Air-tube slender, tapering 

 outwardly, nearly six times as long as wide ; a row of long, single hairs on the 

 dorsal and ventral aspects and a series of seven slender, closely placed pecten 

 teeth beyond the base ; single teeth finely serrate on one side. Lateral comb of 

 eighth segment of many spines in a large triangular patch; single spine widened 

 at tip, fringed with long spinules. Anal segment as long as wide, the dorsal 

 plate large ; dorsal tuft of two pairs of long hairs on each side ; two long lateral 

 hairs from the plate ; subventral tufts large and stellate. Anal gills missing in 

 our specimen. 



The larvae live in the water between the leaves of epiphytic Bromeliaceffi. Mr. 

 Crich found them associated with Culex imitator, Wyeomyia telestica, and 

 Wyeomyia trinidadensis, and remarks that all of these are vegetable feeders. 



