166 



ROLAND THAXTER ON THE 



of the aphides, "donnerent naissance a une spherule mucronee, rcmplie d'un plasma re- 

 fringent et au centre de laquelle apparaisait line spore en forme de toupie d'Allemagne. 

 Dans Tair humide les sporanges fnrent lances au loin," etc.: and in the only other place 

 where I find the species characterized, 1 he says "Cette espece parait characterisee par la 

 production . . . de spores oroides oblongues, sans sporanges, on sporanges soudes a la 

 spore" (the italics his). I am unable to reconcile these two descriptions or to determine 

 whether the author here realizes what I consider to be the true morphology of the Em- 

 jmsa conidium. The phenomenon of the separation of the outer wall I have never seen 

 in the round spored species of the ^Grylli" type to which the present form belongs, and 

 such a separation so exceptional in any case, that its occurrence as a characteristic of the 

 general morphology of any species is highly improbable. A "spherule mucronee" may 

 refer to a conidium of the " Muscae" type; yet since the conidia are characterized as in 

 the form"de toupie d'Allemagne" as well as "ovoides oblongues" this seems doubtful. 

 The last expression perhaps refers to another species on aphides (the common E. Aphi- 

 dis) ; yet any opinion concerning the form to which E. Planclioniana belongs is purely 

 conjectural, since the above quotations which furnish all the published data concerning 

 the species are not of such a nature as to render its determination possible. 



Empusa papillata nov. sp. 

 PI. 15, figs. 82-90. 



Conidia broad-ovoid, evenly rounded, with a very large tongue-like slightly truncate 

 papilla, clearly defined from the spore body. Average measurements 35 x 50//, maxi- 

 mum 50 X 75/j... Conidiophores stout, simple. Secondary conidia like the primary, nest- 

 ing spores azygospores (?), 45-55/* in diameter, spherical, slightly brownish. Host at- 

 tached to substratum by a few large rhizoids, terminating in a sucker-like expansion. 



Hosts. Diptera : several minute gnats. 



Habited. Mt. Washington, 1ST. H. ; Cullowhee, N". C. 



I first noticed this species on the wet Sphagnum surrounding a spring in the locality 

 known as the Alpine Garden on Mt. Washington, where it occurred in July and August 

 (1886). I also found a small number of specimens on very minute gnats in the beds of 

 mountain brooks at Cullowhee, in company with several other species, which occurred on 

 moist logs and in similar situations. The conidia sometimes attain a size greater than 

 any other Empusa known to me and are peculiar for their prominent tongue-like papil- 

 late base. They are formed usually in small numbers and are visible to the naked eye 

 without difficulty. Like E. apiculeda, this form is peculiar for its few powerful rhizoids 

 which attach the host firmly to the moss or other substratum on which it rests. It differs 

 from the last-mentioned species in its much larger conidia which are of a more ovoid 

 shape, while it apparently lacks entirely the sharp point peculiar to the basal papilla of 

 E. apiculata. It is not impossible that the form on Culex referred by Nowakowski to 

 E. Grylli maybe the present species; yet, as previously mentioned, I am inclined to think 

 that he refers to the species I have called E. conglomercda. The two forms, E. conglom- 

 ercda as above described and the present species, are, I think, quite distinct. 



1 1. c. B. 



