NO. 2344. SUPERFAMILY TIPVLOIDE A— ALEXANDER AND McATEE. 389 



KEV TO FAMILIES OF SUPEKFAMILY TIPULOIDEA. 



1. Five branches of the radius reaching the wing margin ; a single anal vein * — 



Tanyderidae (p. 889). 



Less than live branches of the radius reaching the wing margin ; one or two 



anal veins 2. 



2. Ocelli present Rhyphidae (p. 390). 



Ocelli lacking 3. 



3. A single anal vein Ptychopteridae (p. 389). 



Two anal veins Tipulidae (p. 392). 



Family TANYDERIDAE. 

 Genus PROTOPLASA Osten Sacken. 



PROTOPLASA FITCHII Osten Sacken. 



The adults of this rare fly have never been taken in the ordinary 

 accepted limits of the District of Columbia fauna, but are regional, 

 having been secured in greatest numbers in North Carolina and 

 New York. The nearest point of capture is Camp Meade, Mary- 

 land, where a specimen was taken in May, 1918, by R. C. Shannon. 

 A curious dipterous larva that is referred to this species with con- 

 siderable confidence was found in late May, 1916, by Messrs. H. S. 

 Barber, Charles T. Greene, and E. C. Shannon in a much decayed 

 drift log of soft maple near the mouth of Dead Run, opposite Plum- 

 mers Island, where they were associated with larvae of the wood- 

 boring syrphid, 2'einnostoma hombylans^ and a crane-fly, Epi- 

 ■phrcugma solutrix. Larvae were again found on May 27, 1917, by H. 

 L. Viereck, who sent one large larva to Ithaca, New York, where 

 it was placed in a rearing cage, but died soon thereafter. 



Family PTYCHOPTERIDAE. 



KEY T<1 GEXF.r.A. 



1. Antennae with 16 segments; legs not banded with black and wliite; two 



branches of media reaching the wing margin Ptychoptera (p. 389). 



Antennae with more than 16 segments; legs conspicuously banded with 

 black and white ; a single branch of media reaching the wing margin 2. 



2. Metatarsi not swollen ; apical cells of the wing pubescent 



BittacomorpheUa (p. 390). 



Metatarsi conspicuously swollen ; apical cells of the v/ings not pubescent 



Bittacomorpha (p. 390). 



Genus PTYCHOPTERA Meigen. 



PTYCHOPTERA RUFOCINCTA Osten Sacken. 



This is the only regional species. The pale brownish-white larvae 

 live in wet organic mud, often associated with the larvae and pupae 

 of Bittacomorpha cla.mpes. The adults are common about swamps ; 

 extreme dates of collection are May 8 and August 15 ; in copulation, 

 July 16; at honey-dew on tulip tree, July 4, 1917, McxUee. V. P. I. 



1 For explanation of the venational terms ust-d in the keys in this papei- see plate 23 

 and its legend, on page 435. 



