AEDES PLTJTOCEATICUS 805 



brown median area, expanded to lateral margin behind the middle and en- 

 closing two indistinct, darker submedian lines, large, deep brown lateral patches 

 at anterior third and smaller ones at posterior third; scales about antescu- 

 tellar space and over roots of wings paler; setae rather short, brown. Scutellum 

 trilobate, brown, clothed with narrow, curved, pale golden brown scales, each 

 lobe with a group of blackish bristles. Postnotum elliptical, prominent, dark 

 brown, nude. Pleurae brown, coxae luteous, clothed with patches of elliptical 

 white scales and rows of pale bristles. 



Abdomen subcylindrical, somewhat flattened, tapering posteriorly; dorsal 

 vestiture black with a slight metallic reflection, very narrow bands of sordid 

 white scales at the bases of segments, becoming obsolete at the sides and obscure 

 outwardly, a row of triangular lateral basal segmental yellowish white patches ; 

 first segment black scaled and with many pale hairs; venter yellowish-white 

 scaled. Cerci black. 



Wings rather broad, hyaline ; petioles of second marginal and second posterior 

 cells shorter than their cells and about equal ; basal cross- vein distant nearly its 

 own length from anterior cross-vein ; scales brown, outstanding ones narrowly 

 ligulate, somewhat denser on forks of second vein. Halteres whitish, with 

 blackish knobs. 



Legs slender, moderately long; vestiture dull bronzy-brown with a bluish 

 luster ; femora beneath yellowish- white except at tips ; mid and hind tarsi with 

 a pale line beneath, becoming indistinct distally. Claw formula, 1.1-1.1-1.1. 



Length : Body about 4 mm. ; wing 3.5 mm. 



Male. — Proboscis straight, long and slender, dark bronzy brown scaled. 

 Palpi exceeding the proboscis by nearly the length of the last joint ; end of long 

 joint and the last two joints slightly swollen and vnth long, dense, shining 

 brown hairs ; vestiture dark bronzy brown. Antennae plumose, the last two 

 joints long and slender, rugose, pilose, black, the others short, pale, narrowly 

 ringed with black at insertions of hair-whorls ; hairs long, dense, shining brown ; 

 tori entirely blackish. Coloration similar to the female. Abdomen elongate, de- 

 pressed, the white dorsal segmental bands broader than in the female, uniform ; 

 lateral ciliation long, fine, abundant, pale yellow. Wings narrower than in the 

 female, the stalks of the fork-cells longer, the vestiture sparse. Claw formula, 

 3.1-3.1-1.1. 



Length : Body about 4.5 mm. ; wing 3.5 mm. 



Genitalia (plate 30, fig. 303) : Side-pieces three times as long as wide, small 

 at tip; apical lobe roundedly prominent, basal small, rounded, densely setose, 

 with a stout curved spine within. Clasp-filament slender, slightly swollen in 

 the middle, with a long articulated terminal spine. Harpes narrowly elliptical, 

 concave, inner margin thickened and revolute, tip pointed and recurved. 

 Harpagones with a slender columnar stem bearing a seta at its middle and a 

 terminal articulated filament, which is widened in the middle and bears a 

 retrose spine with a small denticle below it. Unci contiguous, revolute, forming 

 a moderate basal cylinder. Basal appendages small, bearing five stout spines. 



Life history and habits unknown. 



Bahama Islands. 



Nassau, New Providence, June 34, 1903 (T. H. Coffin) ; Andros, June 36, 

 1903 (T. H. Coffin) ; Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera (T. H. Coffin) ; Powell's Point, 

 Eleuthera (T. H. Coffin) ; San Salvador (T. H. Coffin) ; Current Settlement, 

 Eleuthera, July 5, 1903 (T. H. Coffin). 



As remarked in the discussion of hracteattis, this species is the representative 

 in the Bahamas of that Cuban species. 



