PSYCHE 



VOL. XVII. APRIL, 1910. No. 2. 



THE GENUS TACPIYDROxMIA.i 

 By a. L. Melander, Pullman, Wash. 



Concerning the application of the generic names Coryneta, Tachtj- 

 dromia, Plati/palpus, Tachypeza and Tachista of the family Empididae 

 there is much confusion. In his early paper, the Nouvelle classifica- 

 tion des mouches a deux ailes, bearing the date 1800, Meigen gives his 

 forty-fourth genus the name Coryneta, describing it as follows. "An- 

 tennes a deux articulations: la premiere petite, herissee de poils; la 

 seconde conique, terminee par un poll barbu. Trompe perpendicu- 

 laire. Cuisses des jambes du milieu enflees. Le tibia arme a I'ex- 

 tremite d'un piquant. Les ailes croisees." 



No species of the genus are mentioned by name, but INIeigen states 

 that he has recognized three species. In 1803 in his revision of this 

 paper in lUiger's Magazine, Meigen gave the name Tachydromia to 

 the fifty-second genus, mentioning however this time two species, 

 cursitans Fabricius and cimicoides Fabricius. His diagnosis of 

 Tachydromia is as follows. "Die Ftihlerhorner vorgestrekkt, zwei- 

 gliederig: das erste Glied becherf ormig ; das zweite kegel-formig in 

 eine Borste auslaufend. Der Riissel senk-recht. Schenkel der 

 Mittelfiisse dikk, stachlig. Die Fliigel flach parallel." 



It will be noted that the two descriptions read much alike, which is 

 why Bezzi (in lit.) and Hendel - have concluded that both refer to the 

 same genus, and that therefore the older name Coryneta should be 

 given preference. The Nouvelle Classification has been an extremely 

 rare paper. But three copies are known to exist, one at the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, a second owned by Professor Hey- 

 den, and another belonging to the late Osten Sacken, and now in the 

 possession of Dr. Hendel. Because of the obscureness of this early 

 paper of Meigen it has been neglected by all writers. Its names are 

 not given in the nomenclators, and even Meigen himself ignored its 



1 Contribution from the Zoological Laboratory of the State College of Washington. 



2 Verhandl. k. k. zool.-bot. Gesellsch., Wien. 1908. pp. 43-69. 



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