68 Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 



also in the collection a specimen from Westville, N. J., taken August 23. 

 The southern range of the species extends into Mexico and Florida. 



Anastoechus nitidulus Fabricius. 



Bombylius nitidulus Fabricius, Syst. Antl., 1805, p. 132. 



Systoechus nitidulus (Fabricius) Schiner, Fauna Austr., Vol. 1, 1862, 



p. 63. 

 Aanastoechus barbatus Osten Sacken, West. Dipt., Bull. U, S. Geol. and 



Geogr. Surv., Vol. 3, No. 2, 1877, p. 252. 



Length, 8.5 mm. Whitish testaceous, slightly shining, cephalic and 

 abdominal thorns dark brown. Cephalic armature consisting of 8 strong 

 thorns, the upper pair widely separated, their apices acute; lateral pair 

 on a slight eminence, the lower one boot-shaped at apex; central pair on 

 lower margin as long as the other pairs, their bases swollen and fused; 

 lateral view of head as in Figure 3, anterior view as in Figure 2; pro- 

 boscis extending to apex of wings, slightly tapering from base to apex. 

 Surface of thorax irregularly reticulated ; spiracle of moderate size, margin 

 raised; discal hairs weak (only one — that above anterior portion of wing- 

 base — visible in specimen); a small, sharp, ridge-like tubercle at base of 

 wing and two slight swellings on the disc, one about one-third from base 

 and the other about one-third from apex, the former near costa, the latter 

 on median line ; wings extending to middle of third ventral segment of 

 abdomen ; hind tarsi extending to middle of fifth. First dorsal abdominal 

 segment with one or two short hairs laterally and a few very weak, in- 

 distinct, widely placed thorn-like elevations on central part of the 

 transverse series ; segments 2-8 each with a very regular transverse series 

 of short, stout thorns which stand almost upright and are interspersed 

 with weak and exceptionally short hairs; spiracles small but distinct: 

 post-spiracular area of first segment with 5-6 very stout and moderately 

 long hairs ; the post-spiracular hairs on other segments weak and rather 

 short; ventral segments except the eighth each with 3 hairs on each side 

 of median line in a transverse median series; apical segment on each 

 side with a strong upwardly turned thorn above and a small backwardly 

 directed one below, as in Figure 1. 



The specimen from which the foregoing description was drawn was 

 sent me by Mr. Hyslop, of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology. The pupa 

 was obtained under a stone at Wilbur, Washington, in the Big Bend 

 country of that State. The larval habits are unknown. 



The species was originally described from Europe and was re-described 

 by Osten Sacken from America. Tlie synonymy is according to Coquillett, 

 who decided from an examination of American and European examples 

 that the species are identical. Judging from published records the species 

 occurs in the west more commonly than in the east. The following States 

 are mentioned by Aldrich*as those in which it is known to occur: 

 Wyoming, Colorado, California, Massachusetts, and New Mexico. 



• Cat. North Amer. Dipt., 1904, p. 237. 



