THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 307 



numerous as to fairly dot the surface of the screen here and there, 

 and where spider webs occurred it was not uncommon to see 5 or 6 

 in a line usually about a quarter of an inch apart. They hung 

 lightly from the web, were easily disturbed and frequently returned 

 to their fragile supports.* The insects were so numerous that it 

 was comparatively easy to capture som.e 50 with an ordinary col- 

 lecting bottle by simply placing it over groups of three or four 

 here and there on the screen. The midges had not been observed 

 previously and presumably represent the emergence of a brood 

 from £cm.e nearby feed plant or feed material, possibly plant lice 

 inhabiting adjacent maple or elm trees. 



Male. — Length, 1 mm. Antenna? fully ]/2 longer than the 

 bcdy, thickly haired, light brown; 14 segments, the fifth having the 

 two portions of the stems 3 and 3^^ tim.es their diam.eters, respec- 

 tively; the distal enlargement with a length ^4 greater than its 

 diam.eter and a slight constriction near the basal third. Palpi: 

 first segm.ent subquadrate, with a length fully twice its diam.eter; 

 the second a little longer, m.ore slender; the third nearly twice the 

 length of the second, som^ewhat dilated; the fourth a little longer 

 than the third, m.orc slender. Mesonotum yellowish brown. 

 Scutellum brownish yellow, post scutellum fuscous yellowish. 'Ab- 

 domen mX'Stly reddish brown, the genitalia reddish yellow. Costa 

 fuscous straw. Halteres m.ostly yellow transparent, slightly 

 fuscous subapically; Caxie and femora m.ostly pale yellowish, the 

 tibia? and tarsi fuscous straw; claws slender, strongly curved, the 

 anterior unidentate, the pulvilli about half the length of the claws. 

 Genitalia: basal clasp segm.ent nioderately stout; terminal clasp 

 segnient long, slightly swollen basally; dorsal plate short, broad, 

 deeply and triangularly emarginate, the lobes broadly rounded ; 

 ventral plate long, rather broad, broadly and roundly emarginate, 

 the lobes short and with a few coarse setse apically; style long, 

 stout, tapering. 



Female: Length, 1.5 mm. Antennae nearly as long as the 

 bod\', sparsely haired, reddish brown; 14 segmiCnts, the fifth with 



*Mr. Frederick Knab (N.Y. Ent. Soc. Journ.20: 14:3 — 46) records a number 

 of Diptera as habitually occuring on spider's webs. In this connection il is wc-chy 

 of note that Mr D. B. Young found last June at Albany N. Y.a Tipuiid hanging 

 on cobwebs, lea\'ing and returning thereto at will. The species appears identical 

 with a specimen in the state collection determined by Mr. C. P. Alexander as 

 Oropega obscura. 



