•244 



PSYCHE. 



[January — March iSS.;. 



is horny in the asilickte and tlcshy in the 

 therevidae ; in other words, in the there- 

 vidae tlic proboscis terminates in two 

 rtpsliy lips, vvliile in the asilidae it is des- 

 titute of lips. 



The genns Ajnocpra possesses all of the 

 eiiaracters which Dr. Loew assigns to the 

 asiUdac exceiit that the proboscis ends 

 in two fieshy lips ; and as this is the only 

 character of importance wherein the 

 till' ri'ri dap differ from tlie asilidae. it 

 naturally follows that this genus must 

 be refi'rred to the therevidae. 



The characters which the Baron found 

 to be connnon to Apiocera and the sec- 

 lioti asilhia (I. <•., p. 'iSD-i!)] j also exist 

 in the larger therevidae. with the excep- 

 tion of the closed marginal cell ; niore- 

 ov(tr, the therevidae agree with Apiorera 

 in several of the characters wherein this 

 gi-niis differs from the usilina. 'I'hns the 

 majoritN' of the therevidae have a verj' 

 short autennal style, as in Apiocera : . 

 whereas, in the a.tilina the style is usual- 

 ly long and bristle-like. In the there- 

 vidae. as in Apiocera. the face is very 

 objiqne, thus differing widely from Uie 

 perpendicular or more or less convex face 

 of the a.tilina, with its characteristic mys- 

 tax, which is wanting in the therevidae 

 and Apiocera. Moreover, the legs of 

 Die t/ieri'vidue ami Apiocera are weaker 

 than in i\n' a silina., and the tarsal joints 

 are long and slender, instead of being 

 short and robust. So that, if Apiocera 

 Is closely related to the a.silitia. it is still 

 moie closely related to the therevidae. 



I admit that some species of Apiocera 

 l)car a very close reseniblauce to several 

 species of Erax : however, our classifica- 



tion is not based upon a superticial re- 

 seml)lance, but upon the presence or 

 absence of certain well-marked charac- 

 ters. Were we justified in placing the 

 genus Apiocera in the fan)ily ai^ilidae 

 it would become necessary to remove all 

 of the therevidae to this family ; but 

 such a course is not at all desirable, as 

 the family asilidae is already a very ex- 

 tensive one, and the presence or absence 

 of lips at the tip of the proboscis is a 

 character of veiy easy api)lication. 



There is not an entomologist living 

 whoso opinion on any subject relating 

 to the dijitera has greater weight than 

 that of the liaron Osten Sacken ; and I 

 would not have ventured an o|)inion con- 

 trary to one expressed by the Haron were 

 I not convinced beyond a doubt of the cor 

 rectness of my own views. From tin- 

 few words which he gives concerning the 

 relationship of Apnocera to the therevidae 

 it is quite evident that he had not com- 

 pared them with the same care that lie 

 compared this genus with the asiliva. 



The genus Apiocera is icpresented in 

 my collection by twenty-two specimens, 

 which were collected in this state (Cali- 

 fornia) Some of the males agree in 

 all essential characters with Osten Sack- 

 en's descrijnion of his ^1. haru.^tie.v. but 

 the others differ to such a degree frcuu 

 these, and also from each other (there 

 being scarcely any two specimens mark- 

 ed I'xactly alike) that I am at a loss to 

 know whether to regard them .as belong- 

 ing to sever.al distinct species, or as 

 merely varieties of one very variable 

 species ; but 1 iucliiie to the latter view 

 of the case. 



