Plecia — Hardy 
205 
related to P. thoracica (Guerin) and is sepa- 
rated by the genital characters of the male. 
The claspers of P. javensis are produced into 
elongate slender lobes at their apices while the 
claspers of thoracica are blunt, rounded at 
apices not developed into an apical lobe. The 
aedeagus and its accessory structures, the 
ninth sternum, tergum, and cerci are also dif- 
ferently developed in the two species. In 
javensis the ninth tergum is two times wider 
than long and has a V-shaped cleft almost to 
its base on the hind margin. The posterior 
lateral margins of the tergum are each bilobed, 
the inner lobe is broader, more blunt than is 
the outer. The cerci are broad, well developed, 
and extend well beyond the apices of the 
tergum. The ninth sternum is very broadly 
concave on the hind margin, at the median 
portion the sclerite is less than half as long as 
at lateral margin; the posterior lateral margins 
are sharply pointed. The claspers are very ir- 
regular in shape, are extended into slender 
lobes on inner apices, and are apparently fused 
together by a narrow sclerotized bridge con- 
necting their inner bases. The aedeagus has an 
elongate rodlike accessory structure on each 
side, extending beyond apices of claspers. 
(Refer to figs. 4a, b, Hardy, 1952, Beitr. z. 
Ent. 2: 430.) 
Length: Body, 6.5-10.0 mm.; wings, 7.8- 
14.0 mm. 
type locality: Java. 
Type in the British Museum (Natural 
History) . 
I have seen the type and numerous speci- 
mens from Java. 
This is the species which Malloch (1928, 
Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales, Proc. 53: 604) de- 
termined as " Plecia fulvicollis Fab.” The speci- 
mens were intercepted at San Francisco, 
"reared from orchids” (the medium in which 
they were growing) brought in from Java on 
the S. S. "Tenyo Maru.” 
Plecia laffooni Hardy 
Plecia laffooni Hardy, 1950, Hawaii. Ent. Soc. 
Proc. 14: 80-82, fig. 6a-c. 
A medium-sized species having the dorsum 
of the thorax bright orange and the pleura 
brown to black. It fits in a complex with P. 
gurneyi Hardy and P. manni Hardy because of 
the unusual development of the male genitalia : 
the fingerlike claspers, the paired lobes on 
each posterior lateral margin, and the strong, 
heavily sclerotized accessory structures of the 
aedeagus. P. laffooni is readily differentiated 
from manni by the presence of the elongate 
rodlike submedian lobes on the hind margin 
of the ninth sternum (loc. cit ., fig. 6a). It dif- 
fers from gurneyi by the subequal lobes of the 
posterior lateral margins of the sternum, the 
dorsal lobe is about equal in size to the clasper 
and extends as far as apex of clasper, rather 
than being short, inconspicuous, not longer 
than dorsal lobe. Also the submedian lobes of 
the sternum extend well beyond apices of 
claspers and the claspers are smaller; the ac- 
cessory structures of the aedeagus are also 
much stronger in laffooni , extending beyond 
apices of claspers. In gurneyi the claspers are 
larger and the accessory structures smaller, 
scarcely extending beyond hind margin of 
sternum. The ninth tergum of laffooni is also 
longer than wide and has a deep V-shaped 
cleft on hind margin (loc. cit., fig. 6b). See 
original description for more complete details. 
Length: Body, 4. 2-5.0 mm.; wings, 5.8- 
6.6 mm. 
type locality: Guadalcanal, Solomon 
Islands. 
Type in the U. S. National Museum. 
Plecia lief tine ki n.sp. 
Fig. I6a-c 
Related to P. ruficornis Edwards (from Kei 
Island, Indonesia) but distinguished by the 
characteristics of the male genitalia. In Ed- 
ward’s species the lobes of the posterior lat- 
eral margin of the ninth sternum are elongated 
and pointed, extending two times farther than 
the claspers. In lieftincki the lobes are rounded 
at their apices and extend scarcely two-thirds 
as long as the claspers (Fig. 16^). Also the 
