112 BULLETIN 31, 'UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



pollen. Auteunse blackish, third joint on the lower part red. Thorax 

 metallic greenish bronze, moderately shining, lightly roughened. Abdo 

 men lightly punctulate, wholly black, moderately shining. Legs yellow ; 

 front and middle lemora black, except base and tip, the hind femora 

 except the base; hind tibiae with a ring beyond the middle blackish; 

 and first and last joints of hind tarsi black. Wings nearly hyaline, 

 stigma dilutely yellow. 



A single female sj^ecimen from Connecticut agrees with Walker's de- 

 scription, and may therefore be considered typical. The species, how- 

 ever, either varies remarkably in its abdomen and legs, or there are a 

 number of closely allied species; being unable to decide this from the 

 material 1 have, 1 will describe the different varieties. 



First var., alhipes Bigot, 5,9. Abdomen with two complete reddish 

 yellow bands, front and middle legs wholly yellow ; in the male the hind 

 tibine chiefly black, bands sometimes interrupted, fourth segment and 

 liypopygium bronze metallic. Seven specimens, Connecticut. 



Second var., 9 . Legs as in jireceding, abdomen wholly black. Two 

 specimens, Connecticut. 



Third var., $ . Abdomen with two interrupted bands, front and 

 middle femora and tibite with a black ring. Two specimens, Connecticut. 



Fourth var., metalUca, 9 . Abdomen wholly black, or third segment 

 with two small spots. Legs black, base and tip of tibiae and tarsi yellow, 

 tarsi otherwise brownish. Two si)ecimens, Oregon. 



One male from the last place has the base and tips of femora and tarsi 

 more broadly yellow, and the abdomen with two bands (var. nasida f). 

 In these last three specimens the third joint of the antenna} seems to 

 be shorter and more rounded at the extremity than in the Eastern speci- 

 mens. Possibly they may be entitled to specific rank, but I strongly 

 suspect that all these differences are but varieties of one widely distrib- 

 uted species. 



The species described by Bigot as nasuta has a broad band on the 

 second and third segments, thelatterone sometimes divided in the middle. 

 The legs are yellow, the femora black towards the base (the hind pair, 

 except the tip), the tibife with a broad ring of the same color, the 

 front tarsi with the first and last joint, the middle pair with the last 

 joint, and the hind pair with the under side of all the joints largely, black. 

 The specimens were from Mt. Hood. A. quadrmofafa^t'romthe same place, 

 differs chiefly in there being four spots on the abdomen, and was suspected 

 by its author of being a variety of the preceding. Should the differ- 

 ences in the antennae (as above stated) indicate a different species, it 

 would be entitled to the name metalUca^ of which Bigot's names would 

 indicate varieties. 



Neoascia distincta, n. sp. 



Habitat. — Massachusetts ! 



2 . Length, 4™"'. Deep metallic green, shining. Front finely rough- 

 ened; face whitish pollinose. Antennae red, brownish on the upper 



