PROTOPLASA. 319 



are contiguous above the antennae, which are likewise longer 

 than those of Protoplasa, and nineteen-jointed ; their structure 

 is nearly the same ; the collare is short, and in this respect 

 Macrochile differs from the two other genera. Macrochile is 

 represented by a single species, M. spectrum, found in the Prus- 

 sian amber. 



Macrochile, Protoplasa, and Tanyderus thus form a group of 

 closely allied genera, distinguished by the presence of a discal 

 cell, of a supernumerary longitudinal vein in the first posterior 

 cell, the great length of the second submarginal cell in comparison 

 to the first, the shortness of the basal cells, and some other very 

 striking characters. That they are more closely allied to the 

 Ptychopterina than to any other known group of Tipulidae is 

 proved by the presence of only six longitudinal veins, by the 

 large development of the suctorial flabs, the great length and 

 structure of the palpi, and the sinuosity of the thoracic suture 

 of Protoplasa. Ptychoptera and Bittacomorpha have no discal 

 cell, the second submarginal cell is only half so long as the first, 

 and the first posterior cell is not divided in two by a supernu- 

 merary longitudinal vein, although this vein is foreshadowed by 

 a fold which appears in its place in Ptychoptera. 



The genus Protoplasa (from rtpwtoj, the first, and mmgoio, to 

 form, in allusion to its relationship to a species belonging to a 

 previous geological period) has been introduced by me in the 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1859, p. 252. 



Description of the species. 



1. P. fitcllii 0. S. — Fuscano-cinerascens ; alse maculis ocellaribus 

 brunneis in fascias confluentibus ornatae. 



Brownish-gray ; wings banded with brown, the bands consisting of con- 

 fluent brown spots. Long. corp. 0.3 — 0.35. 



Syn. Protoplasa fitchii 0. Sacken, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1859, p. 252. 



Head grayish, epistoma, proboscis, and palpi brownish ; an- 

 tennas paler. Thorax brownish-gray, opaque, stripes hardly 

 visible ; halteres with brown knobs ; feet yellowish ; knees, the 

 tips of the tibiae, of the first tarsal joint, and of the tarsi brown. 

 Abdomen brownish ; posterior margins of the segments paler. 

 Wings whitish, with a brown picture occupying nearly the 

 whole surface ; on all the cross-veins and at the origins and the 



or 



