SYNOPSIS OF NORTH AMERICAN SYRPHID^. 189 



aud the whole of the front tarsi, the tip of middle tarsi and the whole 

 of the hind legs, except the distal end of the femora aud the base of 

 tibiae, black; the extreme tip of hind femora also black. Wings hyaline; 

 stigma yellowish. Dorsum of thorax densely light yellow or ochra- 

 ceous opaque, with three sub-opaque black stripes, of nearly equal width 

 throughout, the middle one a little broader ; pile yellow ; pleurae 

 densely gray poUinose. 



Twenty male and as many female specimens, collected chiefly from 

 New England, where it is the most common species. In addition, fif- 

 teen specimens from the Rocky Mountain and Pacific regions, and twen- 

 ty four from Montana (Professor Comstock), do not differ from the east- 

 ern ones. Both this and the following are closely allied to H. trivitattus, 

 kybridus, and pendulus from Europe. 



Helophilus similis, (Plate VIII, fig. 2.) 



HelophUus similis Macqnart (uon Curtis), Dipt. Exot., ii, 2, tj4, 7. 1842. 

 Helophilus fasdatus Walker, List., etc., iii, 605. 

 Eristalis decisus Walker, List, etc., iii, 614. 

 Helophilns susia-r'ans Jaeuuicko, Neue Exot. Dipt., 94. 



Habitat. — New England, Canada, Indiana, Kansas, California! 



^ , 9 . Length, 13 to 15™™. Very closely allied to S. latifrons, with 

 which it may be readily confounded. It will, however, be at once distin- 

 guished by the front of the male being much narrower above, not more 

 than a third or fourth as wide as the distance from the ocelli to the base 

 of the antennae, and in the female by the front being wholly black 

 pilose; in the male the front is black pilose on the upper half; the an- 

 tennae are lighter colored, red, or yellowish red, except on the upper 

 part of the third joint, where it is blackish ; the yellow cross-bands of 

 the second and third abdominal segments are not as broad, and the 

 posterior black portion is broader; the hind tibiae are usually red, or 

 brownish red, with the basal third yellow; the pile of the scutellum 

 is in larger part, sometimes almost wholly, blackish. Otherwise the 

 species scarcely differs from latifrons. 



Ten specimens from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Indiana, Kansas, 

 Canada, and a single male from California. At the time Macquart 

 named the species there existed another H. siinilis Curtis (Brit. Ent. 

 429, 5), now considered a synonym of H. pendulus, and hence need not 

 interfere with the present. 



HelophHus laetua. (Plate VIII, fig. 6.) 



Helophilus laetus Loew, Centur., iv, 77. 



Habitat. — Connecticut, New York!, Wisconsin, Illinois (O. S.). 



9. Length, 8.5 to 9™™. Face concave below the antennae and then 

 gently convex to the oral margin, wholly yellow, grayish-yellowish pol- 

 linose, on the lower part, in the middle, a narrow shining spot ; cheeks 

 black but not extending forward. Front black, thickly yellowish polli- 

 nose and wholly black pilose, except on the vertex. Antennae yellow- 

 ish red; arista black at the tip. Dorsum of thorax opaque black, 



