220 A. L, MELANDER. 



abdomen, black, shining. Wings hyaline, third and fourth longitudinal veins 

 parallel, straight. Length 1.5 mm. 



New Jersey, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Tennessee. 



Platypalpus vicarius Walker. 

 Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., N. Ser., iv, p. 149. 



"Black, shining; legs testaceous, slender, nearly equal in size; wings limpid, 

 veins testaceous, externo-medial veins very slightly curved." Length 2 mm. 



"United States." 



Plalypalpus canus sp. nov. (Figs. 29, 40, 45). 

 Length 1.5-2 mm. Head black, base of antennse, proboscis and palpi yellow ; 

 third antennal joint short, more or less fuscous, arista black, equal to antenna; 

 proboscis a little shorter than head-height. Face narrow. Thoracic bristles 

 mostly black ; scutellum with two long bristles. Head, thorax and abdomen with 

 slaty pollen, pleurte completely covered. Halteres pale yellow. Hypopygium 

 piceous, its outer parts freer than usual. Legs, including coxae, yellowish, tarsi 

 dusky apically, femora slightly thickened, front and middle subequal, hind 

 femora not thickened, front tibiae incrassate, compressed, a little more slender than 

 the front femora, middle femora beneath with no setulse, but with dusky setae, 

 middle tibiae with no setulse nor terminal spur. Wings clear, veins light fuscous, 

 anal angle not prominent, anal cell open, second and third veins nearly parallel, 

 posterior cross-vein nearly a continuation of the anterior. 



Thirteen specimens; Los Angeles Co., California, December. 



Platypalpiis hians sp. nov. (Figs. 32, 36, 37). 

 Length 2-3 mm. Black, shining where tomentum is rubbed. Head, thorax 

 and pleurae with gray-green tomentum. Face moderately broad, gray pollinose. 

 Proboscis about one-half the head height; palpi short, whitish. Mouth-opening 

 large, as in the Ephydridae. Antennae short, basal joint reddish yellow, apical 

 joint lanceolate, pointed, its arista equal to itself. Postocular and thoracic bris- 

 tles yellow ; all on scutellum moderately long. Halteres reddish yellow. Abdo- 

 men black, with a greenish reflection, as in also the pleural plaga. Hypopygium 

 rounded. Legs, including front coxae, reddish ; tarsi piceous from tip of first 

 joint, middle and hind coxae concolorous with pleurae ; femora moderately thick- 

 ened, middle ones the most, black, setulae of middle femora prominent, middle 

 tibiae two-thirds the length of femora, front tibiae not incrassate. Wings clear, 

 anal angle moderately prominent, veins narrow, fuscous, lighter at base, third 

 and fourth subparallel, first and second basals equal, posterior cross-vein nearly 

 perpendicular to wing margin, anal cell faintly closed. 



One male and three females ; Colorado. 



Platypalpus inops sp. nov. 

 Closely related to hians, but readily distinguished by the follow- 

 ing characters: 



Face narrow, gray-white pollinose; front narrow. Palpi narrower, longer, 

 pinkish to reddish. Mouth-opening not large. Antennae black, plainly 3-jointed, 

 arista longer than antenna, third joint short, ovate, blunt. Legs lighter, of a 



