106 BULLETIN 31, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Sphaeroplioria sulphiiripes. 



Si/rphus nutphitripes Thomson, Eugenies Resa, 501. 

 Sjjhcerophoria sulphuripea Osten Sackeu, West. Dipt., 330. 



Habitat. — California ! 



5 . Length, 8 to 9°^™. Face and front livid yellow; cheeks brown 

 behind. Antennaj yellow, third joint brownish above. Thorax oliva- 

 ceous black, but little metallic; ante-sutural lateral stripes broad; scu- 

 tellum light ochraceous yellow, with light pile ; pleurae shining black, 

 somewhat bluish, with light yellow spots. Abdomen black, with three 

 yellow or orange bands, slightly arcuate, entire; in front of and be- 

 hind each yellow band, more broadly on the second segment, opaque 

 black; elsewhere the abdomen is shining, more or less metallic ; fifth 

 segment with two red or orange spots; hypopygium yellow or red, more 

 or less blackish behind. Legs, including the coxae, yellow ; the tarsi, 

 especially the hind pair, ochraceous. Wings nearly hyaline ; a little 

 exceeding the tip of the abdomen. 



Two specimens, Southern California. With these there are others, 

 which probably belong to the same species, differing in the abdominal 

 bands being broader, the color less black and less opaque, and the 

 fourth and fifth segments reddish with brownish marks. 



Sphaerophoria melanosa, n. sp. 



Habitat. — California ! 



<?. Length, S""". Front and face light, livid, greenish-yellow, the 

 facial tubercle fuscous, and the oral margin in front narrowly brownish. 

 Cheeks metallic greenish black behind ; antennae reddish-yellow ; third 

 joint brown above. Dorsum of thorax metallic greenish-black; the 

 ante-sutural yellow stripes not very broad; pleurae deep, shining black, 

 somewhat bluish, with light yellow spots. Abdomen opaque black; 

 first segment, very narrow hind margin of the second, broader hind mar- 

 gin of the third and fourth, and the fifth segment, except a median spot, 

 shining metallic ; first segment with a narrow, narrowly interrupted, 

 yellow band; third with a broader entire one, not reaching to the lateral 

 margins; fourth with two narrowly separated spots in front; fifth with 

 two smaller ones. Hypopygium globular, not pilose, red, black behind. 

 Coxae black, the hind pair with a yellow spot behind; femora blackish 

 on the basal half, distal portion and tibiae yellow and luteous; tarsi 

 brown. Wings nearly hyaline, slightly exceeding the abdomen in length. 

 9 . Front deeply shining black, narrowly yellow on the sides to near 

 the middle. Abdomen moderately shining, black; second, third, and 

 fourth segments each with a slender, gently arcuate, yellow cross-band, 

 attaining the lateral margins; the first one very narrowly interrupted 

 in the middle. Legs, including all the coxae, light yellow; the tarsi, 

 especially the hind pair, ochraceous. 



This description is from two specimens, sent me by Mr. Coquillett, 

 pinned together and bearing a label, "Taken in coitu." The great dif- 

 ference in the legs would have furnished good grounds for believing the 

 specimens to be specifically distinct, had they not been taken together. 



