April, 1903.] Genus Peditia with One New Species. 
4i7 
Seaside Station. As Osten Sacken did not suggest a name for 
the species, and as I cannot find it described elsewhere, I desire 
to give it the following : 
PEDITIA MAGNIFICA N. SP. 
Color of body and legs light brown, wings conspicuously marked with 
clear brown. Palpi brown, third segment of each more than twice as long 
as the first two combined ; eyes dark brown, a conspicuous brown stripe on 
each side of the thorax before the wings ; knobs of halteres brownish ; 
wings with wide brown costal and posterior margins and with a broad stripe 
of the same color starting at the base and following the fifth vein to where 
it meets the brown border of the posterior margin, then turning and follow- 
ing the posterior crossvein, the vein at the inner margin of the discal cell, 
and the anterior crossvein and thence to the apex of the wing, including the 
whole of the first submarginal cell. Middorsal stripe on the abdomen rather 
narrow, slightly darkened but not conspicuous, male forceps short, irregular 
in form, emarginate at the tip aud the inner side at apex rather prominent 
and furnished with a number of short black spines. The brown markings of 
the wings are much wider than in any other species that I know, therefore 
the hyaline spaces are correspondingly narrowed. Total length of the bod}-, 
33 mm.; of wing, 28 mm. 
Habitat : Port Renfrew, B. C. Described from a single male 
specimen. 
The following key may aid in separating our North American 
species : 
1. Male forceps long, about four millimeters, ob/usa Osten Sacken. 
Male forceps short, less than two millimeters, 2. 
2. Posterior border of wing hyaline, albivitia Walker. 
Posterior border of wing brown, magnified Hiue. 
There appears to be a variation in some of the species regard- 
ing the extent of the brown margin of the fifth vein. Sometimes 
that part of this vein beyond the posterior crossvein is not mar- 
gined at all. Osten Sacken has reported such a variation in the 
European species rivosa , and both he and Aldrich have noted the 
same in ob/usa ; therefore the former has intimated that Walker’s 
contcrmina, which differs from albivitta only in this particular, is 
a synonym of the latter species. Walker also describes a species 
that he calls gracilis, without locality, that, so far as I know, has 
not been recognized. It does not agree with any of the Ameri- 
can species. 
Beling has described the immature stages of rivosa in Europe. 
He found the larvae living in and around brooks and springs, 
also in springy, wet or damp places in mud and earth. Judging 
from their very strong mandibles they prefer to feed on animal 
food, such as the larvae of water-beetles. The adults appear 
mostly in the latter part of August aud during September, but 
occasional individuals may sometimes be seen earlier. 
I find no account of the early stages of any of our species. 
