The Biology of the North American Crane 



FHes (TipuHd^ Diptera) III. The 



Genus Ula Hahday 



CHARLES PAUL ALEXANDER, 

 ITHACA, N. Y.* 



INTRODUCTION 



The genus Ula was erected by Hallday (Entomological Maga- 

 zine, Vol. 1, p. 153, 1833) for the species moUissima, nov., which 

 is now recognized as being the same as the Limnohia macroptera 

 of Macquart (Recueil Soc. Sc. Agricult., Lille, p. 158, 1826). 



The genus includes six described species, macroptera Macquart, 

 the genotype, sororcida Zetterstedt, and hoUtophila Loew, of 

 Europe; elegans Osten Sacken and paupera Osten Sacken of the 

 United States; and javanica Alexander of Java. The series of 

 North American material that I have had for study render it 

 probable that paupera Osten Sacken (Mon. Dipt. N. Am., vol. 4, 

 pp. 277, 278, 1869) is the same species as elegans Osten Sacken 

 (1. c, pp. 276, 277). The insect varies greatly in its body color- 

 ation and in the intensity of the pattern on the wings. It seems 

 possible, moreover, that the three European species are merely 

 variations of a single species, but this question cannot be decided 

 at this time. 



Osten Sacken in 1859 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., p. 199) 

 placed this genus in the tribe Pedicini (as Pediciaformia) and in 

 1869 (Mon. Dipt. N. Am., vol. 4, p. 274 to 278) still retained it 

 in this tribe (as Amalopina) . It has been left in this tribe by all 

 subsequent workers, but the study of the immature stages shows 

 that the reference is quite erroneous. The genus Ula should be 

 placed in the Limnophilini close to Ulomorpha Osten Sacken. The 

 characters of the Pedicini (?'. e., larva with the anterior margin of 

 the submental region transverse, the caudal end of the body with 

 but two lobes; pupa with the spiracles short, the tips expanded and 



* Contribution from the Limnological Laboratory of the Department of Entomology 

 in Cornell University. 



