MEGARHINUS SEPTENTRIONALIS 947 



sixth and seventh segments. Beneath pale golden, a broad median purple stripe on 

 segments 3-7; eighth segment purple beneath, golden at the sides. Lateral cilia 

 pale yellow except on the eighth segment and claspers, where they are dark. 



Legs dark with purple lustre. The femora pale golden on the lower surface. 

 Front tibiae dull golden on the outside, the middle tibiae on the inside. Middle 

 legs with the third and part of the fourth segments of the tarsi silvery on the outer 

 side. Hind legs with the fourth tarsal segment white. 



Female. Antennje: second segment twice as long as the third and but slightly 

 thicker, the basal half with a crest of erect scales. Palpi about two-thirds the 

 length of the proboscis, four-jointed, stout, more or less laterally compressed, the 

 third segment much thickened at the apex. Color violet-blue and purple with many 

 pale golden scales, particularly on the sides of the second and third segments; 

 apices of the segments pale mauve. Third segment much the longest, fourth shorter 

 and stouter than the second, nearly cylindrical. 



The abdomen is more or less greenish, passing into steel blue towards the tip. 

 Segments 4-7 show golden spots at the sides and the sixth and seventh are finely 

 margined behind with gold; eighth segment purplish spotted with gold. Femora 

 and tibiae as in the male. All the tarsi marked with white. On the first and second 

 pair of legs the tarsi have the tip of the first, the second and the third, and part of 

 the fourth segments white. On the hind legs the fourth and all but the tip of the 

 fifth tarsal segments are white. 



Length, 6-10 mm. 



Type No. 9952, U. S. N. M. 



Localities: Woodstock, Va. (F. C. Pratt), Morgantown, W. Va. (A. D. Hopkins), 

 Washington, D. C. (J. Kotinsky), Plummer's Island, Md. (A. K. Fisher, W. V. 

 Warner), River Township, Henderson Co., N. C. (J. L. Coker, Jr.), St. Louis, Mo. 

 (A. Busck), Baton Rouge, La. (J. W. Dupree), Benoit, Miss. (H. S. Barber), 

 Ringo, Indian Territory (A. N. Caudell), Skyland, "Va. (Miss W. Pollock), Grand- 

 father Mt., N. C. (F. Sherman). 



13 (^, 11 $. It should be noted that the markings on all the tarsi are clear white 

 in the female. In the male the silvery markings of the middle tarsi are less dis- 

 tinct than the white on the hind tarsi and sometimes have to be carefully looked 

 for. These markings are uniform for either sex in all the specimens examined. 

 We have seen no specimens of Megarhinus from North America with the front and 

 middle tarsi entirely dark. 



Original Description of Megarhinus hereickii: 



Megarhinus portoricensis. Herrick (non Von Roder) (Entom. News (1905), p. 

 281). 



Allied to M. portoricensis. Von Roder, but differs in the following respects: 



(i) The last segment of the male palpus much longer than the penultimate, at 

 least twice as long; and (ii) the head iridescent bluish green instead of brown with 

 a shiny white border around the eyes, white scales laterally, and azure blue spots in 

 front; (iii) the hind tarsi are white except a black ring at the distal ends, whilst 

 in portoricensis the penultimate tarsal segment only is white save for a small basal 

 dark spot. 



Habitat. Mississippi State, U. S. A. 



Observations. This species is referred to by Professor Glenn Herrick as porto- 

 ricensis, but he points out very obvious and marked differences. This new species 

 has been named after him. 



The specimens, he says, were bred from larvae taken " in the cup-like bottom of 

 a massive iron post supporting one corner of a large water tank. . . . Here we 

 found five large, dark brown, very spiny larvse, and also remnants of cast pupal 

 skins, conspicuous for their long spines, made especially prominent by the colonies 

 of Vorticellae clinging to them. . . . We fed the larvse entirely on Culex larvae and 

 great numbers of the latter were devoured. For example, three Megarhinus larvse 

 in four daj's ate eighty-three large Culex larvae, besides many small ones just 

 hatched from eggs. 



" The larvffi transformed to pupse on September 28th. 



" The pupal stage lasted four days, while that of a third extended over a period 

 of five days. The anal flaps seem to have a characteristic shape, and the edges, for 

 the most part, are beset with short stiff spines." 



Description of Female, Male, and Larva of Megarhinus septentrionalis : 



Female. Proboscis rather long, curved, tapering to a point. Palpi about 

 two-thirds the length of the proboscis ; long joint stout, somewhat compressed, 

 with a constriction at basal two-fifths; penultimate joint stout, cylindrical, 



