1912] Knab — Drosofhila replcta 107 



The species is a strikingly colored one. The mesonotum and 

 scutellum are gray, mottled with small dark brown spots, these 

 spots mostly confluent and tending to form four broad longitudinal 

 stripes on the disk. The abdomen is marked black and yellow 

 • — dorsally there is a broad, yellow, continuous median longitu- 

 dinal stripe and each segment is broadly yellow at the base and 

 narrowly so on the apical margin. Mik gives a good detailed 

 description of the insect, but it should be kept in mind that the 

 coloration is subject to considerable variation and that the struc- 

 tural characters must be carefully compared. Thus in the major- 

 it}' of specimens before me the legs are yellow and the darker 

 shadings described by Loew and Mik are not very obvious; in 

 other specimens the legs are almost wholly dark, almost black. 

 Yet these all belong to one species. I am inclined to think that 

 the insect darkens somewhat with age and that perhaps also the 

 character of the food may liave some influence, as is known to 

 be the case in certain blood-sucking Dipt era. 



The species appears tcTliave a very wide distribution in the 

 warmer parts of the globe. Wollaston's specimens came from 

 Madeira, Loew's from Cuba and Mik's from Vienna (Austria) 

 and x\shanti (West Africa) ; Williston records the species from the 

 island of St. Vincent, There are many specimens in the National 

 Museum collection, some of which stood determined by Mr. 

 Coquillett as punchtlata, while the rest turned up among the 

 undetermined material. There is but a single specimen from the 

 Old World, taken bj' C. W. Howard at Lourengo Marcpies, Portu- 

 guese East Africa; it agrees in every respect with American 

 specimens. There are specimens from the following American 

 localities: New York (E. B. South wick); District of Columbia; 

 St. Louis, Mo., Oct., 1904 (A. Busck); Flat River, Mo., Oct. 

 (T. Pergande); Nashville, Tenn., 17 Aug. 1904 (H. S. Barber); 

 Jacksonville, Fla. (Mrs. A. T. Slosson); Key West, Fla.; Willis, 

 Tex.; San Diego, Tex., 25 May, at exuding sap of Celtis occiden- 

 talis (E. A. Schwarz); Brownsville, Tex. (C. H. T. Townsend); 

 Claremont, Cal. (C. F. Baker); Cuernavaca, Mex., 7 July, 1900 

 (C. C. Deam); Amatlan de los Reyes, near Cordoba, Mex., 16 

 Feb., 1908, about wine-bottle in tavern (F. Knab); Nicaragua; 

 Port Limon, Costa Rica, 24 Sept. 1905, one specimen at crab-hole 

 in cacao orchard (F. Knab); Alhajuela, Panama, 15 April, 1911, 



