16 



Chaetopsis apicalis Johnson, var. duplicata, var. nov. 



This species is common in the salt marshes from Florida to Machias, 

 Maine. The typical form is found from New Jersey southward. In. 

 the marshes of Massachusetts, however, the species shows consider- 

 able variation and indications of a pre-apical band become more and 

 more prominent as the species extends northward. In the marshes 

 along the north shore of Mt. Desert and the marshes of the Machias 

 River, below Machias, Maine, the pre-apical band becomes perma- 

 nent, with little variation, while the typical form is absent. To this 

 extreme form I am applying the above name. 



The holotype and allotype, "Narrows," Mt. Desert, Maine, August 13, 1920,' 

 and four paratypes from the same place, June 9, 1921, and Machias, Maine, 

 July 17, 1909, are in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History; 

 other paratypes are in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, U. S. National 

 Museum, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and the author's collec- 

 tion. 



In the typical apicalis the stigma is not colored, but in the duplicata 

 it is slightly brownish, with sometimes a faint suggestion of a band, 

 pointing to a possible relationship with C. fuhifrons Macq. in the 

 north, and C. debilis Loew in the south. C. aenea Wied and C. api- 

 calis Johns, are confined to the salt and brackish marshes and have 

 not been found inland. The C. aenea of authors that is said to injure 

 corn, sugar-cane, onions, etc., is the C. fuhifrons Macq. In my paper 

 on the Diptera of Florida 1 the difference between the two species was 

 pointed out, a view later endorsed by Mr. E. T. Cresson, Jr. 2 Say 

 described two forms as trifasciata. the first is C. aenea and the second 

 C. fodvifrons so that the name is not available. C. massyla Walker 

 is a valid species with black legs and with broad, dark, continuous 

 bands on the wings. It is locally common in fresh-water marshes. 

 The species of Chaetopsis of the eastern United States would form an 

 exceedingly interesting group for biological study, their abundance 

 throughout the entire summer and the ease with which one species 

 (and no doubt the others) can be raised, would aid greatly in the work. 



The marked variations in the maritime species at the more extreme 

 limits of their range, or the inland species when breeding in the salt or 

 brackish marshes, are not uncommon. The specimens of Chrysops 

 fuliginosus Wied.(C. plangens Wied), from Florida and Georgia are 

 quite different from those of the Maine coast. From the latter place 



1 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat, Hist., March 1913, vol. 24, p. 83. 



2 Ent, News, July 1913, vol. 24, p. 317. 



