With the distinctive differences 
between typical Ophiomyia and typical 
Melanagromyza species, including 
larval characters and biology, there 
is no justification for uniting the 
genera despite the blurred generic 
limits. The larvae and biology are 
known of relatively few of the species 
included in Ophiomyia , but as the 
genus becomes better known throughout 
the world, a number of distinctive 
species groups may well be given 
separate generic status. 
Recent studies have shown that 
Ophiomyia is a larger genus than had 
previously been suspected. Over 160 
species have now been described, and 
the genus occurs in all faunal 
regions. In the United States, 55 
species are now known, of which 14 are 
described here as new (part 2, p. 250), 
and 5 species are recorded as new to 
the United States but previously known 
in Canada. The genus. is widely 
distributed throughout the United 
States . 
Seven new synonyms and five new 
combinations are established. A 
number of species have been seen from 
random caught males, which are almost 
certainly undescribed. However, with 
no distinctive characters, formal 
description seems undesirable at this 
time. Fifteen other species are known 
in Canada (Spencer, 1969a; Sehgal, 
1971), some of which may be expected 
to occur in the United States. 
The majority of Ophiomyia species form 
shallow external stem mines, pupating 
at the end of the mine, with the 
anterior spiracles projecting through 
the epidermis. Species feeding in 
this way are 0. coniceps ( Sonchus ) , 0. 
labiatarum (several genera of ~~ 
Lamiaceae) , 0. simplex ( Asparagus ) , 
and a new species described here from 
Chondrilla . Several are leaf miners, 
including 0. camarae ( Lantana ) , 0. 
nasuta ( Taraxacum ) , and 0. quinta 
( Aster , Solidago ) , and two are feeders 
in seed heads — 0. Lantanae (Lantana) 
and 0. lippiae ( Phyla ) . One gall 
causer, 0. t iliae , which was previously 
placed in Hexomyza based on its 
biology, is transferred here to 
Ophiomyia (part 2, p. 260), as the 
male genitalia clearly associate it 
with the 0. jacintensis group. This 
new species described in part 2, page 
250, is of particular interest, as it 
forms a modified stem mine on Abutilon 
an< * Sida i which is somewhat raised and 
approaches the character of a stem 
gall. 
The host is known of only 11 of the 55 
United States species. This is the 
smallest proportion in any of the 
larger genera and is due to the 
inconspicuous nature of stem mines, 
which are difficult to detect and can 
only be discovered with careful 
searching . 
All known larvae have the posterior 
spiracles on a slender stalk, normally 
with few bulbs (fig. 177), whereas in 
Melanagromyza the spiracles are on a 
flat, normally strongly chitinized 
plate, frequently with numerous bulbs 
(figs. 39, 55). 
Two European species have previously 
been misidentif ied in the United 
States — 0. major (Strobl) and 0. maura 
(Meigen) (Frick, 1959) — and must now 
be deleted from the United States 
list. 0. major was confused with 0. 
vibrissata from Georgia by Hendel ~~ 
(1931) and 0. maura with 0. quinta , 
which occurs from Canada to Arkansas 
(part 2, p. 257). 
38 
