182 Journal New York Entomological Society, t^o'- xxiv, 



longer, more slender, the fourth a little longer and more slender than the 

 third. Mesonotum shining black. Scutellum yellowish brown, postscutellum 

 a little darker. Abdomen black, with rather inconspicuous silvery white, sub- 

 median, lunate spots, the seventh segment mostly whitish ; venter suffused 

 with dull silvery scales. Wings with subcosta uniting with the margin at the 

 basal half, the discal spot obscure. Halteres, coxae and femora basally, yel- 

 lowish, the distal portion of femora, tibiae and tarsi mostly dark brown ; claws 

 slender, strongly curved, the pulvilli as long as the claws. Ovipositor about 

 two-thirds the length of the abdomen, the terminal lobes slender, lanceolate, 

 with a length about four times the width and rather thickly setose. 



Male. — Length 1.5 mm. Antennje hardly extending to the base of the ab- 

 domen; 16 segments, the fifth with a length one-fourth greater than its diame- 

 ter ; terminal segment broadly oval. Palpi ; first segment subquadrate. irregu- 

 lar, the second narrowly oval, the third a little longer, more slender, the 

 fourth one-half longer and more slender than the third. Genitalia; basal clasp 

 segment rather long, slender; terminal clasp segment long, swollen basally; 

 dorsal plate broad, broadly and triangularly emarginate, the lobes tapering to 

 a broadly rounded apex ; ventral plate moderately long, broad and tapering 

 to a narrowly rounded apex. Halteres moderately broad, tapering slightly to 

 an irregular, tuberculate apex. Colors probably much as in the female. Type 

 Cecid. a2yig, Webster 11,876. 



Lasioptera inustorum new species. 



This midge was reared in May, 191 5, by Mr. C. N. Ainslie from 

 blackened leaf sheaths of Panicum virgatmn collected at Elk Point, 

 S. D. This species runs in our key to L. impatient if olia Felt, a spe- 

 cies which also produces a carbonaceous discoloration in vegetable 

 tissues. A most striking difference between the two is in the much 

 produced lobes of the ovipositor of this western midge. 



The leaf sheath of the infested plants shows an irregular, some- 

 what diffuse blackening near its base. The blackened area may have 

 a length of 3 cm. and extend more than half way around the stem, 

 the latter being unaffected. Within the blackened tissues there may 

 be found larval cells, the larvae occurring in tubular, silk-lined cavities 

 some 5 to 6 mm. long. 



Larva. — Length 2.5 mm., rather long, slender, reddish orange, the head 

 rather small, the antennae long, biarticulate ; breastbone long, slender, biden- 

 tate, with a minute, median tooth ; skin coarsely shagreened, the posterior ex- 

 tremity broadly rounded. 



Exuvium. — Length 2 mm., whitish transparent, the antennal cases hardly 

 extending to the base of the abdomen, the wing cases to the third abdominal 

 segment, and the first, second and third pairs of legs to the fourth, fifth and 

 sixth abdominal segments, respectively. There are numerous minute, chitinous 



