﻿268 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. loo 



casia or Colocasia) and one from a ground pool. The latter record 

 is misleading as the larvae collected in this place probably were washed 

 out from their real habitat. Another collection is recorded from a 

 cardboard container. It is very likely that this species will be found 

 to be a general breeder, similar to lipovshyi in its selection of larval 

 habitats. 



No information is available on the habits of the adults. 



Distribution. — Solomon Islands : Bougainville : Kmpress Augusta 

 Bay (C. E. Bruck, A. B. Gurney, W. G. Downs, Sgt. Scott) 

 [U. S.N.M.]. 



TRIPTEROmES (TRIPTEROIDES) DISTIGMA (Edwards) 



RacMonotomyia distigma Edwards, 1925, pp. 257-258. 

 Tripteroides (T.) distigma Edwards, 1932, p. 78. 

 Tripteroides distigma. Knight, Bohakt, and Bohakt, 1944, p. 17. 

 Tripteroides ( T. ) distigma, Lee, 1946, p. 241. 



Type. — 5 in house, Tulagi Florida group (Dr. A. G. Garment) 

 [British Museum]. 



Distinctive characters. — Female : Head with azure scales. Middle 

 femora with a small pale spot anteriorly, hind femora pale except for 

 dorsal surface and anterior part of posterior surface. Thoracic integu- 

 ment orange ; dorsocentral bristles present ; scutal vestiture of straight, 

 hairlike, greenish scales, a dark brown spot densely clothed with flat, 

 deep black scales in front of wing root. Pronotal lobes with broad 

 scales, posterior pronotum with a few narrow scales. Abdomen with 

 purplish gloss, no silvery markings. 



Original descnption. — ^^Head clothed with azure scales above, silvery 

 below. Clypeus and tori orange. Palpi black, hardly longer than the 

 clypeus. Proboscis black, long and slender. Thorax with the integu- 

 ment mainly orange. Anterior pronotal lobes with flat black scales ; 

 posterior pronotal lobes ("proepimera") with a few narrow dark scales. 

 Mesonotum mainly clothed with straight hair-like greenish scales, but 

 in front of the root of each wing is a roundish dark brown spot densely 

 clothed with flat deep black scales. Dorsocentral bristles present (rep- 

 resented by scars ) . Three spiracular bristles. Pleurae with the usual 

 patch of silvery scales ; integument of sternopleura and lower part of 

 mesepimera dark brown. Scutellum denuded. Abdomen brownish 

 with a strong purple gloss, but devoid of silvery markings. Venter 

 (as far as visible) golden. Legs dark brown, with a purple gloss. 

 Femora pale beneath ; mid femora with one small obscurely pale spot 

 in the middle in front ; hind femora with a dark dorsal line reaching 

 the base, on the outer side pale golden, with the tip and a longish area 

 beyond the middle dark. Hind tarsi with two small claws. "Wings 

 normal, outstanding scales ligulate, rather short. Wing length, 

 3.3 mm. 



