LAPHRIINAE 



ROBBER FLIES OF THE WORLD 



391 



Anterior femur with 2 slender, dorsal bristles be- 

 yond the middle; the tibia has 3 dark, posterodorsal 

 and 4 or 5 stiff, yellow anterodorsal hairs and vent rally 

 bears 3 quite long, slender, dark bristles. The anterior 

 basitarsus has quite long bristles at the apex and 1 

 posteriorly at the base; second segment with slightly 

 shorter apical bristles. Claws short, sharp, strongly 

 curved at the apex; the pulvilli short and oval, about 

 two-thirds as long as the claw and with the ventral and 

 marginal pile unusually long and fluffy; empodium 

 about three-fourths as long as the claw, somewhat 

 thickened at the base. 



Wings: The wings are rather broad basally in the 

 type of genus but more narrow in related forms. Sub- 

 costal cell narrowed. The marginal cell is closed with 

 a long stalk. The fork of the third vein is beyond the 

 discal cell and characteristically the discal cell is 

 shorter than the fourth posterior cell and thus appears 

 to be closed by one vein. Fourth posterior cell closed 

 with a moderately long stalk, the other posterior cells 

 are widely open ; second submarginal cell only moder- 

 ately flared apically. Anal cell closed and stalked; 

 alula almost eliminated; it is quite narrow and short. 

 The anterior crossvein enters the discal cell at the 

 middle. The ambient vein ends at the apex of the 

 wing. 



Abdomen : The abdomen is subcylindrical but slightly 

 flattened across the middles of the first two or three 

 tergites and the basal portion of the abdomen is rather 

 thin, the sides curled over but thin. At the base the 

 abdomen is not quite as wide as the mesonotum and 

 slightly narrow to the end of the second tergite. First 

 tergite three-fourths as long as second. Sides of first 

 tergite with a vertical fringe of moderately long, white 

 pile, and also 3 or 4 long, quite stiff hairs or slender 

 bristles. Sides of the second and third tergites each 

 with 7 or 8 long, stiff, whitish hairs. Remaining ter- 

 gites with shorter, pale pile. The abdomen is not punc- 

 tulate; the dorsal pile is fine, pale, and subappressed. 

 The third, fourth, and fifth tergites have nearly paral- 

 lel sides. In the male seven tergites are visible; the 

 seventh is nearly three-fourths as long as the sixth. 

 The male terminalia are apparently inverted with un- 

 divided, shallowly convex epandrial plate and with a 

 pair of widely separated, rather long, slender, clavate 

 terminal processes from the apparent gonopods; these 

 processes are placed at a considerable distance above 

 the ventral plate. Female terminalia minute, the proc- 

 tiger barely protruded beyond the last tergite; last 

 sternite a little swollen and convex. 



Distribution : Neotropical : Othoniomyia nigrum, new 

 species: triangularis Hermann (1912). 



Sphagolestes, new subgenus 



Figures 287, 682, 1292, 1301 



Type of subgenus : Sphagolestes nigrum, new species. 



This subgenus differs from Othoniomyia Hermann in 

 the character of the third antennal segment. The dorsal 

 spine and incision are distinctly subapical and there is 



no microsegment at all. This is a shining black fly 

 with black pile and bristles, except on the first tergite, 

 which has white bristles, on pleuron which has white 

 micropubescence, becoming reddisli brown dorsally on 

 the mesopleuron. Also the hind coxae and all tibiae 

 and tarsi are dark, reddisli brown in color. One spe- 

 cies from Sao Paulo, Brazil. 



Genus Protichisma Hermann 



Figures 278, 649, 1293, 1302, 1346, 1355 



Protichisma Hermann, Nova Acta Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol., vol. 

 96, p. 35, 1912. Type of genus: Protichisma longimanus 

 Hermann, 1912, by original designation. 



Flies of medium size or smaller, characterized by 

 short pile, the very long, first antennal segment and the 

 slightly upward divergence of the face. These charac- 

 ters ally the genus to Cerotainia Sehiner. It is distin- 

 guished by the clavate abdomen and the upper margin 

 of the vertex which is either mostly horizontal without 

 the deep, slanting posterior sides of Cerotainia, or is at 

 most shallowly excavated behind. Length 12 mm. 



Head, lateral aspect : The head is of moderate length. 

 In profile the face is visible and slightly bulging or 

 protuberant below but never conspicuously gibbous. 

 The occiput is slightly swollen, convex below with 

 scanty, long pile and beginning at the lower third it 

 bears a medial, irregular row of 8 or 9 long, stout, black 

 bristles which are placed far back from the ocular 

 margin; the upper 2 bristles are especially stout and 

 tuberculate. The proboscis is short and directed hori- 

 zontally forward and distinctly compressed; the sub- 

 truncate apex and the base are stouter. The apex has 

 a few scattered hairs and the base laterally and below 

 bears numerous, long hairs. The palpus is extremely 

 minute and cylindrical, with a few long hairs towards 

 the base and a single, stout, apical bristle which is 3 or 

 4 times as long as the palpus. The basal segment is so 

 short, though wider, and so nearly fused as to be almost 

 nonexistent. The antenna is attached upon a swollen 

 prominence and directed obliquely upward and is quite 

 elongate. The first segment is slender and almost as 

 long as the head and nearly or quite as long as the third 

 segment. The second segment is short and beadlike, 

 with a long bristle above, another bristle more stout 

 below. The third segment has a small, inconspicuous 

 dorsal incision beyond the middle containing a short, 

 bristlelike spine; microsegment absent. The first seg- 

 ment bears a single, long, ventral, bristly hair in the 

 middle, besides short pile dorsally and ventrally. 



Head, anterior aspect : The face below the antenna 

 is a fourth the head width and slightly convergent 

 below ; the surface is micropubescent, and the face bears 

 6 to 8 short, fine hairs on the upper half and approxi- 

 mately 10 to 12 long, fine hairs on the lower and 

 protuberant part; laterally the lower face has 4 or 5 

 additional, fine, golden hairs. The vertex is deeply 

 excavated above ; the divergence that begins on the face 

 is continued above so that dorsally the eyes are far 



