a PSYCHE _ 
VOL. XVII. APRIL, 1910. No. 2. 



‘a THE GENUS TACHYDROMIA.! 
By A. L. MELANDER, PULLMAN, WASH. 
Concerning the application of the generic names Coryneta, Tachy- 
dromia, Platypalpus, Tachypeza and Tachista of the family Empididae 
there is much confusion. In his early paper, the Nouvelle classifica- 
tion des mouches 4 deux ailes, bearing the date 1800, Meigen gives his 
forty-fourth genus the name Coryneta, describing it as follows. “‘An- 
tennes 4 deux articulations: la premiére petite, hérissée de poils; la 
seconde conique, terminée par un poil barbu. 'Trompe perpendicu- 
laire. Cuisses des jambes du milieu enflées. Le tibia armé a l’ex- 
trémité d’un piquant. Les ailes croisées.” 
No species of the genus are mentioned by name, but Meigen states 
that he has recognized three species. In 1803 in his revision of this 
paper in Illiger’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 Fihlerhérner vorgestrekkt, zwei- 
gliederig: das erste Glied becherformig; 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. 
? Verhandl. k. k. zool.-bot. Gesellsch., Wien. 1908. pp. 43-69. 


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