34 
Psyche 
[March 
Zodion canescens new species (Figs. 4, 5) 
Female: length 5 mm. Face yellow with the depressed 
central portion piceous ; a few fine pale hairs on the cheeks, 
longer and darker hairs on front and vertex ; front piceous, 
becoming darker towards the vertex; shining space around 
the ocelli broadly angular anteriorly. Face and cheeks cov- 
ered with pale yellow pollen. Antennae as figured, first and 
second segments piceous, the third rufo-testaceous. Probos- 
cis twice as long as the head. Thorax piceous, covered with 
grey pollen except for three broad dorsal longitudinal piceous 
lines. The legs piceous but the femora, except at their distal 
ends, and tibiae more or less feebly covered with grey pollen. 
Halteres yellow; calypteres white. Wings subhyaline, veins 
piceous, first posterior cell broadly closed. The abdomen as 
figured, segments one to four and all but the posterior mar- 
gin of the fifth black, covered with grey pollen, except along 
two broad dorsal bands. The apical segments and ventral 
plate are rufo-testaceous. 
Holotype ( $ ) : April 12, 1926, Soledad, near Cienfuegos, 
Cuba in the American Museum of Natural History. 
Among the North American species canescens is closely 
related to fulvifrons Say. But fulvifrons has a broad low 
ventral plate, longer proboscis, paler front, etc. Among the 
Neotropical species canescens is apparently very near to 
americanum Wied. According to Krober, who examined 
the male type from Uruguay, americanum differs in having 
a pale front, proboscis more than twice the length of the 
head, two narrow black lines on the thorax, differently 
marked and colored abdominal segments. Krober says that 
a female, without a head, next to the type is identical with 
nanellum Loew. If this is so, then the anal segment and 
ventral plate of americanum is very different from canes- 
cens. 
Zodion species vix americanum Wied. 
In the U. S. Nat. Museum is a Zodion from San Diego de 
Los Banos, Pinar del Rio, Cuba which is labelled americanum 
Wied. Unfortunately it is a male, but it seems to be much 
closer to canescens than to americanum. Roeder (1885, 
Stett. Ent. Zeit., 46: 343) records americanum from Puerto 
Rico, but very likely it is not true americanum. 
