American Platypezicte. 



BY W. A. SNOW. 



(With Plate 12.) 



During the summer of 1894 the University of Kansas sent out five 

 different collecting parties for the purpose of gathering specimens for 

 its museum. One of these in charge of Prof. F. H. Snow devoted 

 the entire time spent in the field — about five weeks — to the collecting 

 of insects. The other members of this party were Messrs. Hugo Kahl, 

 E. C. Case, H. W. Menke, the writer and his young brother. Four 

 weeks were spent in camp in the Magdalena Mountains, Socorro Co., 

 N. M. The camp was situated in Hop Canyon. Nearly all of the 

 12,000 specimens obtained on the trip were taken in this canyon. The 

 elevation of the camp was 7,500 feet; of the the head of the canyon, 

 9,000; of the highest mountain in the range, 9,900 feet. 



The collections made at this place were rich in diptera, including 

 many representatives of the rarely occurring family Platypezidffi. No 

 less than seven species belonging to this family were obtained, six of 

 which are described below as new. 



The four genera belonging to Platypezidas are Platypcza Meig., 

 Callomyia Meig.,, Opetia Meig., and Platycnema Zett. ; separated by 

 Schiner as follows: 



1. Discal cell present 2 



Discal cell absent 3 



2. Fourth longitudinal vein simple Callomyia. 



Fourth vein forked Platypeza. 



3. Fourth longitudinal vein simple Platycnema. 



Fourth vein forked Opetia. 



Townsend has recently described* a Platypezid from Illinois, 

 having irregular and greatly enlarged hind tarsal joints (P. 12, fig. 2) 

 and erected therefor the genus Calotarsa, the type of which 

 is now in the University of Kansas collection. In my opinion 

 Calotarsa must be rejected. It is nothing more than a large and 



♦Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XXVT, p. 50. Calotarsa ornatipes first described as an 

 anomalous Syrphid and afterwards maintained as a valid genus of PlatypezidaB (1. c. , 

 p. 102). 



(143) KAN. UNIV. QUAR., VOL, III., NO, 3, ]894. 



