120 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



ing to the genus feed on bulbous roots. Verrall states that it is 

 recorded from all North and Middle Europe and also from Italy. 

 It would seem as though this insect might become a serious enemy 

 of American bulbs, particularly the onion. 



This onion fly is noticed most frequently in economic literature 

 under the generic term Humerus, though the discovery of 

 Meigen's 1800 paper may necessitate the substitution of Zelima for 

 the better known Eumerus. This species has also been redescribed 

 a number of times, the recognized synonyms being Eumerus 

 aerieus Macq., E. funeralis Meign., E. grandi- 

 c o r n i s Meign., E. lunulatus Meign., E. planifrons 

 Megn., E. selene Lw. (not Meign.) beside another probable 

 synonym, Syrphus acanthodes Rossi and two varieties. 

 In view of the possible economic importance of this insect a descrip- 

 tion of the adult and an illustration of the wing are given below. 



Adult. Length 6 to 7 mm, head rather small, slightly swollen, 

 hemispheric ; eyes in the male narrowly contiguous. Face in the 

 male grayish black, with a sparse, yellowish pile, in the female 

 dark grayish with scattering, short setae. Antennae dark brown 

 in the male with grayish reflections, black in the female, the inner 

 face hoary ; the two basal segments short, the third narrowly oval, 

 with a length nearly twice that of the two preceding. Frontal 

 triangle of the male with golden yellow setae ; vertex bluish in the 



Wing of lunate onion fly, Eumerus strigaius, enlarged (original). 



male, aeneous in the female and with a thick pile which is black 

 on the vertical triangle and otherwhere mostly tawny. Disk of 

 thorax and scutellum aeneous, the former with submedian, hoary, 

 evanescent stripes and short, coarse setae. Abdomen bronzy black 

 with three lateral oblique, white, lunate bands, the posterior pair 

 in the male largely obscured by coarse, yellowish setae, the latter 

 also thick on the apex of the abdomen. Wings grayish, the stigma 

 tawny. Halteres yellowish white. Legs mostly black, the tip of 

 the coxae, femora, the basal third and the apex of tibiae, and the 

 three basal tarsal segments yellowish or tawny red ; the femora has 

 about twelve short, stout spines on the distal half of its ventral 

 margin. 



