134 INSECUTOR INSClTliE MENSTRUUS 



is before me, and, like the type, is a female. The male remains 

 unknown, Williston merely published a translation of Loew's 

 description without further comment and it is remarkable that 

 the relationship should have escaped him. While slightly 

 larger and more robust than most species of Ocyptamiis, it 

 shows all the characteristics of the bacchine series. The frons 

 of the female is narrow and converges evenly to the very nar- 

 row vertex. The face is flat, receding, and with a small rounded 

 tubercle. The mouth-opening is narrow and the eyes crowd 

 the cheeks to a narrow strip. With this is to be contrasted the 

 typical Syrphiis, with broad frons in the female, prominent 

 face shallowly excavate below antennae and with prominent 

 tubercle. 



It is doubtful that any Syrphus in the modern sense occur in 

 the Antilles, the genus being one that has developed in boreal 

 and temperate latitudes. The Bacchini, on the other hand, are 

 of tropical origin and represented by but few species in our 

 temperate zone. I do not doubt that all the species of Antil- 

 lean origin described under Syrphus will ultimately prove to 

 belong with the Bacchini. As to the status of the genus 

 Ocyptamus, I quite agree with those authors who would fuse 

 it with Baccha and at present retain it merely for convenience, 

 pending a readjustment of generic values within the group. 



Volucella and Phalacromyia. 



On page 94 of the paper already referred to, in discussing 

 Volucella incommoda, new species, the writer inadvertently re- 

 versed the characteristics of the genera Volucella and Phal- 

 acromyia. The error can be remedied by inserting in the line 

 before the last, after the word "specimen," the words "falls 

 into Volucella, while the others." The invalidity of Phalacro- 

 myia was already indicated by Josef Mik many years ago.^ 

 He found that of the specimens of Volucella vaga Wied. in the 

 von Roeder collection part had the marginal cell of the wing 

 open while others had it closed. I can confirm this observa- 

 tion from three specimens in the national collection. Of these, 



iWien. Ent. Zeit., vol. 2, 18S3, p. 2S4. 



