2Y2 DIPTERA OP NORTH AMERICA. [PART IV. 



line which runs more obliquely than in any species of Amalopis, 

 and if prolonged, would form a very acute angle with the line 

 of the anterior margin ; in Amalopis the line of the central cross- 

 veins is nearly at right angles with the anterior margin, or at 

 least at a much less acute angle. 3. The posterior margin of the 

 wing is somewhat excised towards the apex in such a manner 

 that the wing is not rounded at the tip, but somewhat pointed, 

 the point being directed backwards ; this character belongs to the. 

 male sex only ; in the female the apex of the wing is rounded, as 

 usual. 4. The wings are kept divaricate, when in repose, whereas 

 the species of Amalopis usually fold them. 



These characters are barely sufficient to establish a claim to 

 generic separation, and the genus Pedicia, defined in such a 

 manner as to include all the species of Amalopis, would not have 

 been an unnatural one. 



The forceps of the male, built upon the same plan as that of 

 Amalopis, has large, horny appendages, projecting in a curved 

 point above ; the ovipositor is comparatively short, moderately 

 broad at the basis, pointed at the tip ; the shorter lower valves 

 have, on the inside, a fringe of recumbent, strong bristles. 



A single European and a single North American species of 

 Pedicia are known, and both are so much alike that it requires a 

 close comparison to distinguish them. P. contermina Walk., from 

 Nova Scotia, is very probably only a variety of P. albivitta; P. 

 rivosa shows occasionally the same abnormity. P. gracilis 

 Walker (List, etc. I, p. 31), from an unknown locality, seems to 

 be a distinct species. 



Pedicia inhabits marshy woods ; Dr. Schiner (Fauna Austr. 

 Dipt. II, p. 52 T) observed it also in mountainous regions upon 

 willow trees, so high that the net could not reach them. The 

 larva has been observed by Scheffer, in well-water (Rossi, System. 

 Verz. etc. p. 9). 



This genus was first introduced by Latreille, in 1809 (Genera 

 Crust, et Insector. Vol. IY, p. 255), who placed it among the 

 Tipulidsd longipalpi. The relationship of Pedicia and Amalopis 

 has been first pointed out by me in Proc. Acad, Nat. Sci. Philad. 

 1859, p. 246. 



The name may perhaps be derived from rcsStov, a field. 



Observation. In two male specimens of P. albivitta which I 

 have before me, I perceive something very like a pair of ocelli on 



