AMERICAN DIPTERA. 277 



Ragas mabelte sp. nov. (Fig. 98). 

 Male. Length 3 miu. — ^Black species, covered with ciuereous dust. Face very 

 narrow, silvery, palpi white. Dorsum of the thorax diffused brownish, with 

 four brown vittse, the lateral two abbreviated anteriorly. Scutellum with six 

 equidistant uniform pale marginal hairs. Abdomen slender, dusted with cine- 

 reous, the hypopygium terminal, projecting, globose and closed, dusted with 

 cinereous, except beyond the margins of the broad, convex middle lamellae. 

 Legs slender, simple, devoid of any bristles, yellow, the tarsi apically and the 

 hind legs from the middle of the femora outwardly brown ; pulvilli small, 

 square, empodium linear. Wings hyaline, with a very faint brownish tinge, 

 veins dark brown ; the costa curves outward to accomodate itself to the elongate 

 faint stigma; marginal cell extending to the middle of the second submarginal 

 cell; anal vein vanishing. 



One male ; Moscow, Idaho (Prof. J. M. Aldrich). 



This is the first reported occurrence of this genus in America. 



Ragas coiijuncta Coquillett. 

 Empis conjuncta Coq., Proc. Wash. Acad. Sci., 1900, p. 411. 



Black, the halteres and legs dark brown ; venter of abdomen dark brown. 

 Eyes of male contiguous. Third antennal joint linear, long, its style minute. 

 Proboscis shorter than the head. Hairs and bristles of thorax and scutellum 

 black; thorax very thinly gray pollinose, not distinctly vittate, scutellum bear- 

 ing ten marginal bristles; abdomen slightly polished, hypopygium wholly and 

 sparsely covered with bristly hairs, the dorsal piece bearing a pair of long sub- 

 cylindrical, fleshy processes, which are covered with short hairs, filament free. 

 Wings hyaline, veins and stigma brown. 2.5 mm. 



Alaska (Prof. T. Kincaid). 



The characters given above have been drawn from the descrip- 

 tion of Empis triangula Coq., which the present species is said to 

 resemble, except in its generic characters. Its position in the genus 

 Ragas is evident from Mr. Coquillett's resume : " classified by its 

 short proboscis, this species would be placed in the genus Hilar a ; 

 but its elongated third antennal joint with the minute style, the 

 contiguous eyes of the male and the slender first joint of his front 

 tarsi, indicate a nearer relationship with the typical species of the 

 genus Eynpis." 



In the structure of the appendages of the hypopygium this spe- 

 cies departs widely from mabeke, but this difference is not of generic 

 importance, as similar cases occur, e.g., in the genus Brachystoma. 

 The females of B. occidentalis and vesiculosum Fab. are undoubtedly 

 related, but the males of the former bear prominent annexes to the 

 lamellae while in the latter they are wanting, judging from Mr. 

 Mik's description.* 



* Ent. Nachr., 1894, p. 154. 



TKANS. AM. ENT. SOC, XXVIII. AUGUST, 1902 



