Host/Early Stages, Bidens pilosa , Verbesina sp. 
Larva feeding and pupating in seed heads; puparium 
essentially as in M. minimoides (fig. 127). 
Distribution. Florida; Costa Rica. 
References. Spencer, 1966d: 7; Spencer and 
Stegmaier, 1973: 32. 
Slightly larger species; ovipositor sheath dis- 
tinctly elongate (figs. 122, 124) 57 
57 (56) . Male genitalia with aedeagus having conspicuous gap 
between basal sclerite and distiphallus complex 
(fig. 123) M. minima (Malloch) 
Synopsis. Minute species, with wing length 
generally less than 2 mm; mesonotum generally 
bluish black, abdomen shining green; squama gray, 
fringe black; male genitalia with aedeagus having 
small area of pigmentation at extreme distal end 
(fig. 123). 
Host/Early Stages. Wedelia paludosa, W. trilobata , 
probably Eupatorium odoratum , and other genera of 
Asteraceae. Larva feeding and pupating in seed 
heads; puparium essentially as in M. minimoides 
(fig. 127). “ 
Distribution. Florida; Caribbean islands, Costa 
Rica . 
References. Malloch, 1913a: 328; Spencer and 
Stegmaier, 1973: 44. 
Male genitalia with aedeagus having only slight 
gap between basal sclerite and distiphallus 
complex (fig. 123) 58 
58 (57). Wing length in male normally 1.9- 2. 2 mm 
M. minimoides Spencer 
Synopsis. Small greenish species, frons little 
wider than eye; 2 ors, 2 ori, orbital setulae in 
single row, reclinate; eye distinctly pilose in 
male, less so in female; gena 0.17 height of eye; 
ovipositor slightly elongate (fig. 124); male 
genitalia with aedeagus as in figures 125, 126, 
only slight gap between U-shaped basal sclerite 
and distiphallus complex, pigmentation at end of 
distiphallus variable, scarcely detectable in type 
series ex Verbesina (Florida), obvious in popula- 
tions in Arkansas and Maryland ex Heliopsis and 
Rudbeckia . 
Host/Early Stages. Many genera of Asteraceae, con- 
firmed on Aster simmondsii , Borrichia frutescens, 
Helenium nudiflorum , Heliopsis helianthoides , 
Melanthera deltoidea , Rudbeckia laciniata , and 
Verbesina virginica . Larva feeding and pupating 
in seed head; puparium whitish yellow, posterior 
spiracles (fig. 127) on widely separated conical 
projections, each with ring of 9 bulbs around 
central horn. 
Distribution. Florida, Ohio; new records: 
Arkansas, Maryland; Venezuela. 
References. Spencer, 1966d: 13; Spencer and 
Stegmaier, 1973: 45; part 2, p. 246 (under M. 
radicicola) . 
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