378 entomological news. [Dec. , *o6 



Wings long" slender, anal angle obtuse, not prominent, costal 

 vein encompassing the entire wing, auxiliary vein straight, 

 vanishing at the middle of the wing, stigmal spot faint, elong- 

 ate, third vein branched, the anterior branch long, as in Hilara, 

 discal cell narrow, acuminate apically, second posterior cell 

 narrowed at the base, the contact of the third and fourth pos- 

 terior cells with the discal cell equal, anal vein shortened, anal 

 cross vein recurved and fused with the anal vein. 



This description is drawn from an enigmatical little fly de- 

 scribed as Rhagas mabelae. The insect is evidently an Em- 

 pidine, but can not be assigned to any genus hitherto described. 

 Its nearest relatives are Rhagas, Haplomera, Hilar empis and 

 Hilara. 



The main characters by which these genera differ from 

 Hesperempis are herewith given: 



Rhagas: Eyes of male contiguous ; body with macrochaetae ; 

 anal angle of wing rectangular. 



Haplomera: Femora thickened; third antennal joint long 

 and nearly cylindrical. 



Hilarempis: Body and legs with macrochaetae ; anterior 

 branch of third vein short. 



Hilara: Auxiliary vein short and bent forward at tip. 



In the Transactions of the American Entomological Society 

 for 1902, page 277, I associated Empis conjuncta Coquillett 

 with the present species as the American species of the genus 

 Rhagas Walker. Mr. Coquillett* subsequently assigned 

 Synamphotera Loew, which is a genus of the sub-family 

 Hemerodromiinae, as a synonym of Rhagas, and in his table 

 stated that Rhagas has the anal cross vein perpendicular to the 

 wing axis. In this he was in error: both forms are valid 

 genera, in no ways related, for Rhagas is clearly an Empidine. 

 I have since seen Empis conjuncta. It and Empis triangula 

 Coquillett are normal species of the genus Iteaphila. 



Through the kindness of Dr. K. Kertesz, of the Hungarian 

 National Museum, I have been put in possession of both sexes 

 of Rhagas unica Walker, the type species of the genus. It is 

 quite a different form from mabelae. Its salient characteristics 



*Proc. Ent. Soc, Wash., 1903, p. 257. 



