84 



PSYCHE. 



[May 1891 



front at vertex about one-half the width of 

 the face below, at base of antennae about one- 

 third the width of the head; frontal vitta 

 black, of equal width, with a row of black 

 bristles on each side extending fully half-way 

 down the cheeks, the front on each side 

 golden, this color extending nearly as far 

 down on the cheeks as do the frontal bristles ; 

 vertex blackish with longer and stouter bris- 

 tles, three on each side posteriorly inclined, 

 and a pair on the ocellar area anteriorly in- 

 clined ; antennae blackish, a little shorter 

 than the face, second joint elongate, the 

 third joint about twice the length of the 

 second; arista 3-jointed, basal half somewhat 

 thickened; vibrissae removed from the oral 

 margin, the facial ridges with a few bristles 

 which do not extend quite half way up the 

 face, but usually as far as the lowermost 

 frontal bristles; proboscis blackish, palpi 

 reddish-brown, black bristly; face and 

 cheeks silvery, in places with a golden sheen, 

 lower cheeks cinereous with short black 

 bristles; occiput blackish or cinereous, 

 covered with dense, coarse, whitish hair ex- 

 cept a narrow bare space opposite the vertex, 

 the edge with a fringe of black hairs. Thorax 

 black above with six gray vittae, the middle 

 pair sometimes coalesced, covered with short 

 black hair and with rows of black bristles; 

 humeri and pleurae more or less cinereous, 

 black pilose; scutellum dark flesh-red, some- 

 what black at base, with black hair and eight 

 marginal macrochaetae which reach at far- 

 thest about to the middle of the second ab- 

 dominal segment. Abdomen long oval, some- 

 what conical, black, thickly covered with 

 rather short black bristles becoming longer 

 behind, the basal half of the second, third and 

 fourth segments cinereous usually more dis- 

 tinct on the sides, the second segment usually 

 with a flesh-red tinge on the sides ; the first 

 and second segments each with one dorsal 

 pair of macrochaetae near the hind margin, 

 the third segment with two pairs, the anal 

 segment with many stout bristles ; venter 

 black, the bases of the segments cinereous 



except the anal, black hairy. Legs black, 

 black hairy, femora somewhat cinereous, 

 femora and tibiae with black bristles and a 

 few macrochaetae; claws black, elongate, 

 pulvilli dirty yellowish. Wings hyaline, 

 costo-basal portion tinged with yellowish, 

 curvature of the fourth vein with a wrinkle 

 appearing like a stump; veins black, very 

 stout towards the base of the wing, the base 

 of the costa with black bristles, the third vein 

 bristly above and below at its origin ; tegulae 

 white with yellowish margin, halteres very 

 dusky, nearly black. 



Length of body 12 mm ; of wing 9^ mm. 



Described from two specimens, bred 

 from larvae of Clisiocampa sylvatica. 

 Orono, Maine. The eyes in this species 

 cannot be said to be hairy, although thin, 

 scattered hairs are distinctly visible with 

 a high-power lens. I base my generic 

 reference of this species particularly on 

 the strongly elongated second antennal 

 joint as compared with the third, and 

 the wrinkle at the curvature of the fourth 

 vein, characters of the true Tachina 

 sens. Schiner. This species agrees 

 exactly with Schiner's description, ex- 

 cept the one remark, " eyes bare." 

 Some authors seem inclined to abandon 

 this much patronized genus, but I think 

 we can not do better than accept it as 

 restricted by Schiner (Faun, austr., 

 Dipt., r, 472.) 



Phorocera promiscua n. sp. $ . Eyes 

 brownish, thinly, indistinctly hairy; front- 

 broad, a little more than one-third the width 

 of the head; frontal vitta nearly black, of 

 equal width, cleft behind where a prong 

 widens outward on each side of the ocelli ; a 

 row of bristles on each side of the vitta, ex- 

 tending about three or four bristles below the 



