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UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 224 



Genus Pagidolaphria Hermann 

 Figttbes 237, 274, 608, 610, 1239, 1248, 2074, 2089 



Pagidolaphrm Hermann, Ent. Mitt., voL 3, p. 85, 1914. Type 



of genus: Laphria gigas Macquart, 1838, by original 



designation. 

 Saliomima Enderlein, Zool. Anzeiger, vol. 44, no. 6, p. 243, 1914. 



Type of genus: Laphria reinwardtii Wiedemann, 1S28, by 



original designation. 



These flies are often very large and striking in appear- 

 ance and rank among the giants of Diptera. They are 

 characterized by the short or rather thinned eyes, the 

 prominent facial gibbosity and the extremely large, 

 long, polished, strongly and laterally compressed and 

 apically punctate proboscis. The facial bristles are 

 stout and remarkably long, many of them as long as the 

 proboscis. Mesonotal pile quite short, fine, appressed 

 and setate for the most part. 



In characterizing the flies of this genus, Hermann 

 emphasized the strong divergence of the two branches of 

 the third vein, the cubital fork, and noted that the an- 

 terior branch, instead of making the usual conspicuous, 

 S-shaped bend, generally extends in a straight line to 

 the wing margin, ending at some distance above the 

 wing apex and in consequence leaving the second sub- 

 marginal cell triangular. He formed this group in 1914 

 for certain large species of Laphria Meigen character- 

 istic of parts of India and the Indian Archipelago. In 

 the same year a few weeks later Enderlein erected the 

 genus Saliomima for the same group of species, and 

 emphasized that the pile of mesonotmn is usually ap- 

 pressed and golden and the hind femur generally with 

 but little or no swelling. While this genus is geographi- 

 cally useful, I should like to point out, however, that 

 the form of the anterior branch of the third vein is 

 somewhat variable and that none of these characters 

 given serve to sharply delimit the group. Length 25 

 to 40 mm. 



Head, lateral aspect : The face is poorly developed and 

 short on the upper third, but prominent and protuberant 

 below, with a conspicuous gibbosity. The eye is short 

 and high and wide from dorsal aspect, very slightly 

 narrowed below; its posterior margin is nearly plane 

 through the middle. The occiput is moderately promi- 

 nent on the lower half, but obliterated on the upper 

 half; the pile is long and fine and especially abundant 

 behind the upper eye comers ; it is somewhat less abun- 

 dant in the middle and comparatively scanty ventrally ; 

 bristles absent. The proboscis is exceptionally long; 

 from a lateral view it has parallel sides; it is very 

 strongly compressed laterally; the apex is truncate or 

 barely rounded and laterally on the outer fifth bears 

 numerous coarse punctures, together with a dorsal, 

 apical, and ventral fringe of short, stiff pile on this outer 

 part. A dorsal ridge is almost absent; there are a num- 

 ber of long, fine hairs ventrally on the basal half. Pal- 

 pus clearly of two segments ; the second is rather slender 



and bears numerous, stiff hairs at the apex laterally and 

 below and others dorsally. The antenna is attached at 

 the upper sixth of the head and is rather elongate ; the 

 first segment is twice as long as the second. The third 

 is nearly twice as long as the first two segments com- 

 bined and is laterally compressed, with a plane dorsal 

 edge; it is widest through the middle, gently tapered 

 at base and apex, and bears laterally at apex a small, 

 spoon-shaped opening within which is a minute spine ; 

 this hoodlike apex may represent a small, fused micro- 

 segment. 



Head, anterior aspect: The face below the antenna 

 is a little more than one-fourth the head width with 

 parallel sides. Subepistomal area small, nearly hori- 

 zontal, deeply concave and bare. The face is micro- 

 pubescent and bears on the upper half numerous, stiff 

 hairs which are only moderately long ; on the gibbosity 

 is pile of similar length and character, especially sub- 

 laterally. On the lower two-fifths of the face and con- 

 fined to the gibbosity are a number of exceptionally 

 long, basally stout, attenuate, wavy bristles ; there may 

 be as many as 24 bristles present, and some are as long 

 as the proboscis. Front exceptionally short, with a few, 

 fine setae along the eye margin ; the vertex is moderately 

 excavated with slanting sides, the ocellarium small, car- 

 rying 2 pairs of rather slender bristles, one of them 

 especially weak. Eyes with the central facets enlarged. 



Thorax : The mesonotum is pollinose ; on the pleuron 

 pollen is chiefly restricted to the lower parts. The pile 

 of the mesonotmn is short, fine and appressed along the 

 middle ; laterally it is very short and appressed, except 

 for a lower, lateral fringe of somewhat longer, erect or 

 nearly erect pile. Humerus erect pilose with 3 or 4 long, 

 weak bristles. Acrostical elements present or undiffer- 

 entiated; dorsocentral bristles are present but weak. 

 At the postalar level are about 6 or 7 quite long, slender 

 bristles. Lateral bristles are present as follows : 1 or 2 

 posthumeral, 1 stout and several weak notopleural, a 

 row of 5 or 6 long, supraalar bristles. The postalar has 

 10 or 12 long, moderately stout bristles and other weaker 

 bristles and hairs. Scutellar margin with 4 or 5 pairs 

 of moderately stout, long, attenuate bristles and addi- 

 tional long, stiff hairs. Scutellum thick, convex, with 

 a matted, appressed fringe of dense, coarse, setate pile 

 on the apical half. Propleuron with some long, stiff 

 hairs. Pronotum with numerous, weak bristles or 

 bristly hairs ; nearly the whole of the mesopluron bears 

 long, erect, stiff pile and its upper posterior corner has 

 3 or 4 long bristles; upper sternopleuron and the post- 

 hypopleuron with a few long, slender bristles which 

 are attenuate and curled backward on the apical 

 portion. Metanotal slopes micropubescent only; meta- 

 sternal slopes and the metasternum with some long, fine 

 pile. Postmetacoxal area membranous; tegula with 

 numerous, appressed setae; squama with a multiple 

 fringe. 



