June-0ct.,i92i Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 71 



strong, and even stronger, than some of those heretofore used. 

 For the present it has been deemed best to keep the same genera 

 so far described and accepted and to add just as few to our Hst 

 as possible. In only one case has a new genus been erected, 

 namely, Eumyiolepta, type Myiolepta strigilata. In this case the 

 color of the face made it impossible to conveniently include it 

 under Myiolepta in the table, and the structure of the pile of the 

 body is so distinct it is easy to recognize the form as a separate 

 genus. The European genus Doros has been included to contain 

 our species Xanthogramma aequalis. Cynorrhina, formerly con- 

 sidered a subgenus, is here considered of generic rank. 



Several tropical genera included in Williston's Manual, but of 

 which there is no material at hand, have not been included, as it 

 is impossible to place them in their respective subfamilies. These 

 are listed at the end of the table of genera. Senogaster (=Acro- 

 chordonodes) is of tropical distribution and of very doubtful oc- 

 currence in our fauna, hence is not included. 



Several more or less radical changes have been made in the 

 status of the subfamilies, but it is believed that they are more 

 clearly defined than before, and an attempt has been made to 

 take care of all aberrant forms. With the subfamilies " circum- 

 scribed " on their present basis, it is hoped that other workers will 

 be able to choose a group to greater advantage and will work up 

 the genera in more detail, placing them, thereby, on a more nearly 

 equal rank, and at the same time improve the classification of the 

 species. It is also hoped that structural characters will be used 

 in place of color, for such do exist. Structural characters are 

 more obscure than color differences, but we of the present day, 

 through the aid of the binocular microscope, enjoy a great advan- 

 ,tage over Williston and his contemporaries. With our modern 

 means we are enabled to discover many characters that could not 

 have been seen with the olden hand lens that Williston and his 

 colleagues were forced to use. 



Syrphinae. 

 • The characters of the bare humeral calli ; abdomen of both 

 sexes consisting of five visible segments exclusive of genitalia 

 (Eupeodes volucris O. S. illustrates this character best) ; the loca- 



