SYNOPSIS OF NORTH AMERICAN SYRPHID^. 243 



black shining space above the auteuuae larger. The prevailing pu- 

 bescence on thorax and scutellum is black; black, opaque hind mar- 

 gins of the segments two and three in the male only, not in the female. 

 Femora brown, except the tip; tibiae brownish yellow, more or less iu- 

 fuscated before the tip, especially the front pair; tarsi brownish red at 

 base, brown at tip. Wings grayish hyaline, feebly tinged with brown- 

 ish yellow at the root and on the stigma ; costal cell sub-hyaline in the 

 female; brownish clouds on cross- veins very weak." — O. Sacken, 1. c. 



MERAPIOIDUS. 



Merapioidus Bigot, Bull. Soc. Eat. de France, 1879, 64. 



Large, pUose species; black, with metallic bands on the abdomen. 

 Head subtriaugular in front view. Front of female short, but little 

 inclined, nearly plane, moderately broad. Antennae: first joint slender, 

 cylindrical, about three times as long as the short second joint ; third 

 joint very broad, short, in front slightly concave, below the insertion of 

 second joint prolonged downward, obtuse; above extended into a coni- 

 cal poiut, slightly convex on the upper posterior part and terminating 

 in the arista, which is a little thickeued at its base. Face extending 

 downward, not descending far below the eyes, obtusely conical below, 

 gently concave below the antennae, and with an obtuse tubercle. Eyes 

 bare. Abdomen depressed, broad, elliptical. Legs simple. Wings; 

 marginal cell open ; third longitudinal vein nearly straight; last sec- 

 tion of fourth vein slightly sinuate, joining the third before the costa ; 

 anterior cross- vein oblique, joining the fourth vein near the outer third 

 of the discal cell. Type of genus, M. villosus Big., North America. 



Merapioidus villosus. (Plate XI, figs. 2, 2a.) 



Merapioidus villosus Bigot, Bull. Soc. Enl. de France, 1879, 64. 

 Habitat. — Georgia ! 



9 . Length, 14""". Front black, a little metallic, moderately shining, 

 with reddish pollen and black pile. Antennae black. Face, except 

 broadly on the tubercle and thence to oral border, covered with dense 

 whitish-yellow dust and whitish pile. Cheeks black, shining. Pro- 

 boscis short. Pile on the lower posterior orbits long, whitish. Thorax 

 obscurely metallic, moderately shining, the pile moderately thick and 

 rather long, more abundant and whitish on the pleurae; post-alar cal- 

 losities with tufts of thick, long, whitish pile. Abdomen opaque 

 black, with long whitish pile on each side near the base and along the 

 lateral margins, elsewhere short ; first segment with a small shining 

 spot on the hind margin on each side ; second segment with a large 

 subtriangular spot on each side and narrowly in the middle behind : 

 third segment with a broad fascia, broadly interrupted, and a small 

 obtuse, posterior, median triangle ; fourth segment with a narrower fas- 

 cia narrowly interrupted ; fifth segment on the anterior margin, shining 



