ART. 7 PSYCHODID SUBFAMILY BRUCHOMYINAE — ALEXANDER 7 



The genus Nemopalpus as now known is represented by six living 

 and two additional fossil species. Of these, two closely allied forms 

 occur in the New World and are discussed in the present report. 

 The species are all very uncommon and their distribution as known 

 is markedly discontinuous, indicating a palseogenic group of Diptera. 

 The genotype, flavus Macquart (1838 a, 1838 h) was described from 

 the Canary Islands. Since the original definition, a few additional 

 specimens have been taken (Eaton, 1904; Becker, 1908), but the fly 

 must be considered as being excessively rare. The New Zealand N. 

 zelandiae Alexander (1921) and the Australian N. australiensis Alex- 

 ander (1928) are the only known representatives in the Australasian 

 Region. N. orierdalis Edwards (1928) has recently been described 

 from the Malay Peninsula and is the sole known representative of 

 the subfamily in the Oriental Region. The two fossil forms, N. 

 tertiariae (Meunier, 1905) and N. molophilinus Edwards (1921), are 

 known only from Baltic Amber (Lower Oligocene). 



In the New World the first described species was 7v^. pilipes Tonnoir 

 (1922), described from Paraguay, but now recorded from northeastern 

 Argentina. The species recent!}' described by Shannon and del 

 Ponte as Bruchomyia pallipes proves to be more correctly referrable 

 to Nemopalpus. Although closely alHed to N. pilipes,! believe the 

 two species to be distinct. 



The antennae of species oi Nemopalpus have been described as being 

 16-segmented, but there is an additional tiny buttonlike segment at 

 the end of the organ which is herein held to be 17-segmented. The 

 chief point of difference in the venation from Brucliomyia is in the 

 short distal section of Cui, which is scarcely one-half the basal section 

 and rather conspicuously bent toward the anal angle. As a conse- 

 quence, cell Mi at the margin is very wide. 



Little is known concerning the ecology of any members of the genus. 

 Nemopalpus orientalis Edwards was taken at Camerons Highlands, 

 Gunong Berumban, Pahang, Federated Malay States, altitude 5,500 

 feet, March 14, 1924, by H. M. Pendlebury. Two specimens were 

 observed, resting on damp moss on a tree trunk. These occurred in 

 a type of rain-forest that was continually dampened by mist. 



KEY TO THE NEOTROPICAL SPECIES OF XEMOPAI^PX^S MACQUART 



1. General coloration brown, the body and wings with abundant pale brown 

 setae, the wings with additional patches of dark setae at fork of Ri+s, r-m, 

 base of Afs, M3+4 and end of C'^i, with paler and less distinct areas at ends 

 of medial veins; legs pale brown, the tarsi paler. (Paraguay. Argentina.) 



pilipes Tonnoir. 



General coloration dark brown, the body and wings with almost black setae, 



the patches on the wings arranged as above but inconspicuous due to the 



dark color of the costal fringe; legs brownish black, the tarsi conspicuously 



pale. (Argentina) pallipes (Shannon and del Ponte). 



