144 Mr. C. H. T. Townsend on Diptera 



Tachinidae. 

 11. Dejeania rutiUoides^ Jaenn. 



Twenty-seven specimens (all females), Rio Tularosa, below 

 Blazer's Mill, about 6000 feet. On flowers of Bicjelovia 

 graveolens, var. glahrata^ Oct. 20, except two taken Oct. 13. 



The fact that they are all females and were taken so late in 

 the year is worthy of remark as bearing on the hibernating 

 habits of this and other Tachinidge. The nights in the 

 mountains at this date had been cool and frosty for a week or 

 more, the days, however, being warm ; and these Tachinids, 

 usually so active, alert, and difficult to catch even with a net, 

 were all taken by simply sweeping with the hand alone, as 

 were also upwards of two hundred other large Tachinids of 

 various genera on this and other flowers. All the October 

 collecting mentioned in this paper was done in this way. 

 The cold nights had dulled the sense of alertness of these 

 flies to such an extent that with care they could be approached 

 to within a few feet before taking flight. As already stated, 

 the Bigelovia above mentioned grows rankly for miles along 

 the Tularosa creek, in many places attaining a height of 

 7 feet and sometimes more, and blooms profusely in October. 

 Its flowers were everywhere covered (Oct. 20) with hundreds 

 of large Tachinids of such genera as Dejeania^ Juriniay 

 Saundersia, Ediinoniyia, &c., as may be judged from the 

 number collected in a itw hours by the hand alone. 



A word may be said as to the cause of such an abundance 

 of large Tachinids at this season in this locality. The seasons 

 are usually moderately wet in these mountains, but the season 

 of 1895, in October of which year this collecting was done, 

 had been an unusually wet one for New Mexico. As testi- 

 mony of this, Silver City and Socorro both sustained much 

 damage from cloudbursts in the summer of that year. The 

 wet season stimulated vegetable growth to an unusual degree, 

 and lepidopterous larvae were abnormally abundant ; therefore 

 their Tachinid parasites bred to an unusual extent. Hundreds 

 of these Tachinids were seen that were not taken. In no 

 case wore any seen in copulation. 



The genus Dejeania is said by van der Wulj) to have the 

 front tarsi enlarged in the female and the last tarsal joint of 

 male surrounded with long curved bristles. All the above 

 specimens of rutilioidcs have the front tarsi strongly widened ; 

 they also have last tarsal joint with curved bristles. Whether 

 the latter are longer and more pronounced in the male of this 

 species 1 cannot say, as I have no male specimens at hand, 

 but this is doubtless the case. 



