202 BULLETIN 31, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



• 

 towards the top. Antenna? brown oi' blackish, third joint nearly orbic- 

 ular. Thorax black, oi)a(iue on the disk, in front and on the sides 

 brownish when denuded ; dorsum thi(;kly covered with bright yellow 

 furry pile, less abundant on the middle, where itis sometimes intermixed 

 with black, or not seldom quite black. Scutellum yellow, black nt base ; 

 pile yellow. Abdomen black, with abundant black and yellow pile ; the 

 yellow pile varies much, usually it is contined to the lirst and basal part 

 of the second segment, at other times comprising nearly the whole of 

 the third segment. When denuded of pile the abdomen often shows 

 considerable red on the second and third segments. Legs black ; tips 

 of femora, the tarsi, and sometimes a large portion of the tibiae, red : 

 pile chietiy black, but with more or less yellow, especially on the front 

 and middle pairs; hind femora much swollen, arcuate in the male, hind 

 tibise compressed, especially in the male. Wings nearly hyaline, usu- 

 ally with a small, faintly brownish spot opposite the tip of the auxiliary 

 vein. 



This fly shows a striking resemblance to Uristalits Jiavipes, with which, 

 indeed, it was confounded by Say in his description of Milesia barda. 

 the female of which belonged to the former, the male to the present 

 species. Thej' are not only strikingly similar in appearance, but they 

 vary in the same way, namely, in the amount of yellow and black pile 

 on the thorax and abdomen. Thus, as I have shown elsewhere, Uris- 

 talis melanostonnis is a simple variety of E. Jlavipes, corresponding quite 

 to M. postieata, variety barda of Say. I have found the species rather 

 common in Connecticut. The description is based chiefly upon fifteen 

 specimens collected in June, from about blossoms of the blackberry 

 and dogwood [Cornus paniculata), in company with 31. cimbiciformis. 

 Other specimens I have compared from Canada (William Brodie), New 

 York (Professor Lintner), Kansas (Professor Popenoe), and Pennsyl- 

 vania (E. Keen). 



For discussion of the synonymy of this species see the following: 



Mallota cimbiciformis. (Plate VIII, tig. 11, and Plate IX, fig. 8.) 

 HijrphuH cimbicijoniiis Fallen, Syrph., 27, 18. 

 EriHtalh cimhidformiH Meigen, Syst. liesclir., iii,:?85, 3. 

 Imatisma posilcata, Maccjuait, Dipt. Exot., ii, 2, 68 (female only); tab. xii, fig. 



2; Loew, Neue Beitr., iv, 17 : id., Amer. .Jour. Sci., 2ud series, xxxvii, 317. 

 Mallota jxjsiicota Svhhnn; Dipt. Aust.r. in Verh. Z^wl. Bot. Gesell.s., vii, 402; id., 



?"'auTia Anstr., i, :54:5 ; Osten Sacken, Cat. Dipt. 

 Mallota eimbiciformii Scbiuer, Nov. Exped., 1500; Williston, Berl. Eut. Zeit- 



schrift, xxvii, 171. 

 Merodon Bantias Walker, List, etc., iii, (500. 

 Mallota Bautias Osten Sacken, Cat. Dipt, and note 239, p. 2.'30 ; Karsch, Berlin 



Ent, Zeit., xxvii, 172. 

 Mallota atrox (Berlin Museum) Karscli, 1. c. 

 Mallota deritipes (Williston) Lintner, First An. Rep. of the Entomologist, 211. 



Habitat. — Georgia, Iiuliana, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticat, 

 New Hampshire, Canada ! 



