I 



Sept., 1914-] Alexander: Tanypremna and Megistocera. 215 



Abdominal tergites reddish brown, the apex of each segment narrowly 

 paler, greenish white, the apical tergites darker brown ; lateral margin of the 

 tergites narrowly dark brown. Sternites light yellow, the extreme apices of 

 the sternites darker, the apical sternites uniformly darker brown. 



Distribution. — Colombia, Cordillera Central. 



Holotype, female, near La Vega which is about 12 miles north of 

 Almaguer, March 6, 1912, at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. (John 

 Thomas Lloyd, coll.) 



This species is part of the Lloyd collection of Andean insects; the 

 craneflies of this collection have been discussed in an earlier paper 

 (Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc, vol. 21, Sept., 1913). This specimen was 

 not included in that article because it was in papers with butterflies 

 and so was overlooked until very recently. 



There can be but little doubt but that this fly is quite greenish in 

 its living state as shown by the presence of decided green tints on the 

 halteres, legs and thorax. Other species of this genus suggest this 

 same condition to a much less degree. This form is by far the most 

 beautiful of all the species described and it is believed that the 

 specific name is not inappropriate. The presence of the numerous 

 spurs of veins in the basal cells of the wings is quite remarkable. 

 Since these spurs are surrounded by dark markings in every case, I 

 believe these remnants to be constant or nearly so, and Dr. Needham 

 and Dr. Johannsen who examined the wing, are of the same opinion. 

 This presence of a dark marking about a vein or spur seems at first 

 glance to be a trivial character but it is my belief that it is a character 

 upon which considerable stress must be laid, — that is, that dark mark- 

 ings when present on a wing nearly always surround veins and the 

 presence of a brown blotch in a cell may well indicate the position once 

 occupied by a vein. 



MEGISTOCERA Wiedemann. 



1S21. Mackistocera Wiedemann; Dipt. Exot., p. 41'. 



1828. Megistocera Wiedemann; Aussereur, zweifl. Ins., vol. i, p. 55. 



The genus Megistocera contains a small restricted group of flies 

 having a tropicopolitan distribution. There are about three species in 

 the Old World and these are remarkable in the possession of enor- 

 mously elongated antennae in the male sex so far as known ; the single 

 New World form has short antennae in both sexes. 



