NORTH AMKRTCAN DIPTERA. Kii) 



O. S. ; and oiiom Coq. = selene (). S. When we consider the large 

 number of new species described by us independently, it is somewhat 

 strange that a greater number of synonyms were not made. 



In the work above quoted, the Baron Osten Sacken separates from 

 A)ithr(ix proper a small group of species under the generic term of 

 Lepidanthrax, describing as new one species {L. (inr/ulns), which he 

 credits to Mexico and C'alifornia, but which is unknown to me in 

 nature. Five of the species described in my monograph l)elong to 

 this new genus; these are: proboscldea Loew, agrcstis Coq., mmpea- 

 tria Coq., laida Coq. and Inaurata Coq. While these species do not 

 possess any single character not also possessed by some of the species 

 of Anthrax as at present limited, still they possess an assemblage of 

 character not found in any of the other species known to me ; these 

 characters, which are present in each of the species above named, 

 and which will readily enable them to be recognized from those be- 

 longing to the genus Anthrax, as restricted, are as follows : 



Ijepidaiitlirax O. S. — Fifth vein Iiaviiig the pemiltiinate section from two- 

 thirds as h)ii<r to fully as long as the ultimate section; base of third antennal 

 joint short, onion-shaped, the styliform portion slender and almost bristle-like ; 

 proboscis projecting at least one-fourth its length beyond the oral margin ; front 

 tibire provided with bristles: sides of abdomen furnished with long scales; 

 wings marked with brown clouds. 



I cannot accept Osteii Sacken's proposed new genus Stonyx ; it is 

 simply an Anthrax with three submarginal cells in each wing. Spe- 

 cies of Anthrax, which ordinarily have only two of these cells in 

 each wing, are not infrequently found in which three of such cells 

 occur in each wing, and sometimes there are two submarginal cells 

 in one wing, and three in the other. It is evident that a character 

 so variable as this should never be used for separating genera, since 

 this would result in [)lacing specimens of the same species into two 

 different genera. Stonyx falls into the same category as (^sten 

 Sacken's ])reviously proposed genus Dipaltn, which must be rejected 

 upon the same grounds. 



With increased materials, I have been enabled to make a few cor- 

 rections in regard to certain forms which I formerly considered va- 

 rieties. Thus, hypomelas Macq. and lateralis Say, which in my 

 monograph I considered as being mere varieties of alternata Say, are 

 certainly distinct species, separable by the characters given in the 

 accompanying table. Pretlosa Co(|. and vacans Coq. are also evi- 

 dently distinct species, and not mere varieties of tnolitor Loew, ns I 

 formerly regarded them. 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC. XIX. (22) JULY, 1892. 



