April, 1903.] Genus Peditia with One New Species. 417 



Seaside Station. As Osten Sacken did not suggest a name for 

 the species, and as I cannot find it described elsewhere, I desire 

 to give it the following : 



PEDITIA MAGNIFICA N. SP. 



Color of body and legs light brown, wings conspicuousl}^ marked with 

 clear brown. Palpi brown, third segment of each more than twice as long 

 as the first two combined ; eyes dark brown, a conspicuous brown stripe on 

 each side of the thorax before the wings ; knobs of halteres brownish ; 

 wings with wide brown costal and posterior margins and with a broad stripe 

 of the same color starting at the base and following the fifth vein to where 

 it meets the, brown border of the posterior margin, then turning and follow- 

 ing the posterior crossvein, the vein at the inner margin of the discal cell, 

 and the anterior crossvein and thence to the apex of the wing, including the 

 whole of the first submarginal cell. Middorsal stripe on the abdomen rather 

 narrow, slightly darkened but not conspicuous, male forceps short, irregular 

 in form, emarginate at the tip and the inner side at apex rather prominent 

 and furnished with a number of short black spines. The brown markings of 

 the wings are much wider than in any other species that I know% therefore 

 the hyaline spaces are correspondingly narrowed. Total length of the body, 

 33 mm. ; of wing, 28 mm. 



Habitat : Port Renfrew, B. C. Described from a single male 

 specimen. 



The following key may aid in separating our North Anierican 

 species : 



1. Male forceps long, about four millimeters, obtiisa Osten Sacken. 

 Male forceps short, less than two millimeters, 2. 



2. Posterior border of wing hyaline, albivitta Walker. 

 Posterior border of wing brown, uiagui/ica Hine. 



There appears to be a variation in some of the species regard- 

 ing the extent of the brown margin of the fifth vein. Sometimes 

 that part of this ^•ein beyond the posterior crossvein is not mar- 

 gined at all. Osten Sacken has reported .such a variation in the 

 European species n'vosa, and both he and Aldrich have noted the 

 same in obtiisa ; therefore the former has intimated that Walker's 

 contermina, which differs from albivitta only in this particular, is 

 a synonym of the latter species. Walker also describes a species 

 that he q.2\\^ gracilis, without locality, that, so far as I know, has 

 not been recognized. It does not agree with any of the Ameri- 

 can species. 



Beling has described the immature stages of rivosa in Europe. 

 He found the larvae living in and around brooks and springs, 

 also in springy, wet or damp places in mud and earth. Judging 

 from their very strong mandibles they prefer to feed on animal 

 food, such as the larvae of water-beetles. The adults appear 

 mostly in the latter part of Atigust and during September, but 

 occasional individuals may sometimes be seen earlier. 



I find no account of the early stages of any of our species. 



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