MEGAEHINUS SUPEEBUS 933 



Megarhinus superbus Dyar & Knab, Smithson. Misc. Coll., quart, iss., xlvili, 247, 248, 



255, 1906. 

 Megarhinus superbus Dyar & Knab, Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc, xv, 12, 1907. 

 Megarhinus superbus Busck, Smiths. Misc. Colls., quart, iss., lii, 60, 1908. 

 Megarhinus hccmorrhoidalis Pazos (in part, not Fabricius), San. y Benef., ii, 46, 185, 



1909. 

 Megarhinus hwmorrhoidalis Theobald (in part, not Fabricius), Mon. Culic, v, 92, 



1910. 

 Megarhinus superbus Theobald, Mon. Culic, v, 602, 1910. 

 Megarhinus superbus Knab, Psyche, xviii, 82, 1911. 

 Megarhinus superbus Picado, Bull. Sclent. France et Belg., 7 Ser., xlvii, 296, 1913. 



Obiginax Description of Megaehinus superbus : 



Male. Head metallic blue and green with scattered coppery scales. Antennae 

 densely plumose; second segment as long as the following three and slightly thicker, 

 its crest densely clothed with coarse, erect blue and golden scales. Palpi metallic 

 part violet-blue and coppery red, all but the last golden beneath. Third and fourth 

 segments of equal length, the second slightly shorter, the fifth as long as the third 

 and fourth together. 



Prothoracic lobes bright blue. Mesothorax denuded on the disc, the remaining 

 scales, particularly towards the sides and behind, golden-green and olivaceous, the 

 extreme lateral margins bright blue; hind margin bright green. Patches over the 

 roots of the wings brilliant blue. Scutellum silvery blue. Pleurae and coxae silvery 

 white. Abdomen: first segment silvery, a patch of blue in the middle; second 

 segment green, the following ones steel blue and purple to deep golden; the gold 

 begins on the fourth segment and is diffused over the entire surface of the much 

 dilated sixth and seventh segments; eighth segment violet; genitalia covered with 

 deep blue scales. Sixth segment with a few reddish hairs at the hind angles; 

 seventh and eighth segments with lateral fringes of brilliant red hairs, particularly 

 ample on the seventh segment; the preceding segments with the usual scattered, 

 pale yellow, lateral hairs. Beneath golden along the sides, the median area steel 

 blue; eighth segment entirely blue. Legs steel blue and reddish purple. Femora 

 and hind tibiae golden beneath. 



Female. Coloration of head and thorax as in the male. Antennae: second seg- 

 ment 1% times as long as the third, hardly stouter, a small crest of erect scales on 

 the basal half. Palpi violet blue and coppery red, golden beneath; fourth segment 

 longer than second, third much longer than fourth. 



Abdomen: first segment bright silvery at the sides, pale blue in the middle; 

 second segment green, the third blue and purple, the succeeding ones purplish red 

 and bright coppery the latter shade predominating on the sixth, seventh and eighth 

 segments; front angles of segments 2-8 bright blue; hind angles of segments 2-6 

 broadly golden. No lateral tufts a few red hairs at the sides of the seventh seg- 

 ment. Beneath entirely pale golden. 



Legs steel blue and coppery red. Femora and hind tibiae golden beneath. On 

 the middle pair of legs the second tarsal segments is marked with silvery blue on 

 the inside, visible only in certain positions. 



Length, 4-6 mm. 



Type No. 9957, U. S. N. M. 



Localities: Trinidad (F. W. Urich), Frontera, State of Tabasco, Mexico (Town- 

 send). 



2 ^, 1 $. The Mexican specimen, a male, shows, none of the golden scales on the 

 abdomen which is mostly blue and purple. In the other specimen the golden scales 

 have the appearance of being loosely attached and easily rubbed off. Mr. Urich's 

 two specimens were bred from Bromelias, where the larvse prey on those of 

 Wyeomyia. The male was but recently received. The female formed the basis for 

 Mr. Coquillett's diagnosis of M, violaceus and we have characterized the larva 

 under that name. 



It is evident that the three male specimens reported from Atoyac in the state 

 of Vera Cruz (Mexico) by Williston, and doubtfully referred by him to hwmorrhoi- 

 dalis, belong to the present species. His criticism of Wiedemann's description of 

 hwmorrhoidalis and his statement that the red hairs of the tuft " are confined to 

 the tip of the sixth and the sides of the seventh segments " proves this beyond a 

 doubt. 



Description of Female, Maxe, and Larva of Megarhinus superbus : 



Female. Proboscis curved, tapering gradually to tip; vestiture dark with 



iridescent reflection. Palpi long, about two-thirds the length of the proboscis ; 



terminal joint minute, outer part of long joint nearly half as long again as 



