230 
Psyche 
[Aug.-Oct. 
characteristic of the Calyptrate, not of the Acalyptrate Muscoi- 
dea; but although the open first posterior cell would seem to 
suggest that the species should be referred to the Anthomyiidae, 
I don’t think that strictly speaking it can belong to this family, 
owing to its smooth tibiae. On the other hand, the Glossina-\ike 
course of the fourth longitudinal vein, to which you draw at- 
tention in your description of the genus Eophlebomyia , is very 
remarkable, and may be significant. Unfortunately, since 
nothing can be seen of the proboscis or arista, it is impossible 
to determine whether or not the fly should be regarded as a 
blood-sucker. Be this as it may, I am, for the moment at any 
rate, inclined to consider Eophlebomyia as possibly representing 
an annectant form between the Anthomyiidae and the blood- 
sucking Muscidse, as represented by Glossina.” 
With regard to the tibiae, in the original type, now in the 
U. S. National Museum, it was possible to see that there were 
no preapical bristles, but were minute dark hairs on outer side 
arranged in two lines. 
In a later letter, Major Austen discusses the question whether 
Glossina may have originated in America, and spread later to 
Africa. We have of course, severals species of Glossina in the 
Colorado (Florissant) Miocene; and it is at least conceivable that 
the Eocene Eophlebomyia , from the same general region, may be 
ancestral to them. In this case, it appears to follow that the 
so-called Muscidse are polyphyletic, the Glossina group having 
arisen independently from the others. Eophlebomyia is best 
placed in a separate family, Eophlebomyiidae. 
It is a pity that more collecting is not done in the Eocene 
shales of the Roan mountains and adjacent ranges. The many 
excavations in the oil shales have resulted in throwing out and 
exposing large quantities of rock, which should be searched for 
fossil insects and plants. In a few years weathering will have 
decayed and spoiled these precious materials. The cost of an 
expedition, as such things go, would be very small. The best 
time would be in the fall. The discovery of such a fossil as 
Eophlebomyia is certainly worth the time, trouble and expense. 
