1882.1 ^1 ' [Williston. 



The genus Temnocera is an unsatisfactory one, and I believe ought to 

 be suppressed. The characters relied upon are the more slender third 

 joint of antennae, and the presence of bristles on the scutellum. 



I do not know either of the following species : 



*Temnoceka. setigera O. S., West Dipt., 334, New Mexico. 

 *TEM]srocERA MEGACEPHALA Lw., Centur. 1.5, 57. California. 



J J. — The small cross-vein at or beyond the middle of the discal cell, 

 oblique. 



a. — Antennae with a distinctly dorsal bristle. 

 ^. — Third longitudinal vein deeply sinuous. 

 y. — Marginal cell closed and petiolate. 



V. — Thorax never with yellow spots ; wings hj^aline or with a dark spot ; 

 face obtusely tuberculate Eristalis. 



Eighteen species of Eristalis are recognized by Baron Osten Sacken as 

 having been described from America, north of Mexico. More than twice 

 as manj^ names have been given, chiefly by Walker and Macquart, but 

 the facilities enjoyed by Osten Sacken, together with his well-known ac- 

 curacy and faithfulness, render it unnecessary to any further discuss the 

 most of them at present. 



Since the publication of this catalogue two species have been published 

 by Bigot in the Annales des Soc. Ent. de France, 1880, 216-217. £J. parens 

 is given below in part ; E. zonatits = E. transversusWied. 



I have endeavored to tabulate below all of the species known to me, and 

 have added the diagnoses, or descriptions, of all the remaining, with the 

 addition of what I identify as E. Meigenu Wied., a South American 

 species = E. androdus O. S. (non Walker, undescribed, see catalogue, 

 etc.), together with two new ones. The genus though large, and especially 

 predominating in America, is readily defined, showing comparatively lit- 

 tle structural variation. The eyes are contiguous, or sub-contiguous, usu- 

 ally pilose, although in some species, astenax, occupying only a spot in the 

 middle ; in ceneus they are nearly bare, being sparsely pilose near the top. 

 The third joint of the antennae is sub-quadrate, thus at once distinguishing 

 it from Volucella and Temnocera. The face is never produced, in nearly 

 all of the species with a not very prominent tubercle, with a median stripe 

 and cheeks black, bare, and shining. From Milesia and Pteroptila it may 

 readily be distinguished by the absence of distinct yellow spots or stripes 

 on the dorsum of the thorax, which is, however, sometimes distinctly fas- 

 ciate or vittate with dull gray or olivaceous "; from the latter genus also by 

 the absence of pubescence on the wing, though, indeed, this character is 

 only relative. There is a tendency to difierences of coloration and mark- 

 ings between the male and female, sometimes so striking as to cause one 

 to doubt their relationship. Such differences may consist in the ab- 

 sence of yelloAV upon the abdomen, or in the presence of stripes of the 



