Two Remarkable New Genera of Diptera. 



U\ S. \V. WILLISTON. 



Townsendia, gen nov. {.ls/7/dtc\) 



\'ery small species. Head broad, nnich broader than high. 

 Front very broad above, about three-fourths of the width of the 

 head; narrow below, the sides gently convex; only moderately ex- 

 cavated, nearly bare, with some bristles at the vertex and on the 

 ocellar tubercle. Face narrow, with parallel sides, flat, much 

 receding, not at all visible in profile, with a thin row of bristles on 

 the oral margin, otherwise wholly bare. Antennse not as long as 

 the head, situated near the middle of the head in profile; first joint 

 shorter than the second, the second about as broad as long; third 

 joint longer than the first two together, gently tapering from near 

 its base; style slender, divaricate, about half the length of the joint. 

 Proboscis short. Thorax moderately convex above, with bristles 

 on the posterior part. Scutellum with a row of thin bristles on its 

 margin. Abdomen elongate, its sides nearly parallel; moderately 

 flattened, bare. Legs moderately stout; the first two joints of all 

 the tarsi a little incrassate. Wings long, narrow toward the base; 

 axillary cell narrow, the anal angle wholl)' wanting; alula^ wholl}' 

 wanting; discal cell long and narrow, the penultimate section of 

 the fourth vein a little shorter than the ultimate section; the third 

 vein from the discal cell, separating the third and fourth posterior 

 cells, wholly wanting. 



This genus is remarkable for the small size of its typical species, 

 for the broadness of the front, the narrowness of the wings at the 

 base, the absence of the aluhe and the confluence of the third and 

 fourth posterior cells. In one of the two specimens from which 

 this description is drawn, there is a slight angulation of the vein at 

 the posterior part of the discal cell where the missing vein should 

 start from, but even this is wholly wanting in the other specimen. 

 I can not believe that this character should have the importance 

 that it might seem to have, as it is not at all improbable that con- 

 generic species may be discovered in which the neuration is not 

 abnormal. The very broad front, the receding face, and the nar- 

 rowness of the base of the wings are, I believe, the most essential 



(107) K.VX. UNIV. QU.Mi, VOL. IV, NO. :,'. OCT.. 18iV). 



