66 Psyche [Jtrne 



TRICHOPROSOPON THEOBALD (DIPTERA; CULICIDiE). 



C. S, Ludlow, 

 Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. 



Some specimens of this interesting genus" from the Canal Zone 

 bring up again the question of synonymy. 



The species under consideration is quite possibly new, and as 

 such is described below, but there is a certain amount of uncer- 

 tainty on the subject arising from the following conditions. The 

 specimens were compared with all the available descriptions and 

 coincided with none, then they were taken to the National Museum 

 where, what I believe to be identical specimens were found, but 

 which H. D. & K. had referred to and described as Culex digitatus 

 (Joblotia digitatus) Rondani, and Theobald's Trichoprosopon 

 nivipes was reduced to a synonym under this species. Of course 

 the original description by Rondani is, as are all short descriptions, 

 too indefinite to be of much value, and Theobald's description of 

 nivipes does not cover these specimens unless the note under 

 "Observations" at the end of his description modifies it suf- 

 ficiently to do so. At all events, my specimens have, in eight males, 

 always the distal tarsal joint of the mid-legs and the apex of the 

 fourth point, brown, as will be seen below. The specimens in the 

 National Museum show the same condition, and the very tip if the 

 distal joint in the female is also brown. It may be, of course, a 

 local variation, as Theobald's specimens came from Trinidad, and 

 mine from the Canal Zone, but Theobald speaks of his species 

 having "pure white" joints, and it seems quite unlikely that he 

 could have included purely hroivn under that wording. Whether 

 the species be digitatus is, of course, open to question, but it 

 seems possible that there may be some closely allied species. At 

 all events I do not think these specimens from the Canal Zone 

 are nivipes, and at the risk of adding to the synonymy I am de- 

 scribing these as : 



Trichoprosopon Wilsoni sp. nov. 



Head dark, covered with flat dark scales having deep (cobalt) 

 blue to white iridescence, and a line of dark forked-scales at the 

 nape, two heavy chaetse projecting forward between the eyes and 

 some shorter ones behind the eyes; proboscis dark, long, of uniform 



