No. 4. — Studies in Dipt era Cyclorhapha. 1. The Pipunculidae 
of the United States. 
By Garry de N. Hough, New Bedford, Mass. 
This is a small family of mostly small flies, from three to five 
millimeters in length. A better idea of their appearance can be 
obtained from the figures on p. 473 of Professor Comstock’s Man¬ 
ual for the study of insects than by any description that can be 
written. 
The family contains but four genera which may be thus dis¬ 
tinguished : — 
1. Occiput scooped out, closely applied to the convex cephalic 
surface of the thorax. Body, long, hairy ... 2 
Occiput not scooped out, not so apjdied to the thorax. Body 
naked or very slightly hairy ..... 3 
2. Discal cell present .... Protiiecus Rond. 
Discal cell absent .... Ciialarus Walk. 
3. Abdomen elongate, thorax with well-developed bristles 
Nephrocerus Zett. 
Abdomen not particularly elongate, thorax without well- 
developed bristles .... Pipunculus Latr. 
For an elaborate characterization of these genera see Becker’s 
monograph of the European species, Berl. ent. zeits., 1897, vol. 42, 
p. 25-100. 
Of the four genera of this family all except Nephrocerus are now 
known to occur in this country. 
Ciialarus. In my collection are two specimens, apparently of 
different species. One was collected here by myself, the other in 
Colorado by C. F. Baker. Neither is in sufficiently good condition 
to use as the basis of a description. 
Protiiecus. Pipunculus lateralis Walk. (Dipt. Saund., p. 216) 
is referred to Protiiecus by Mr. Coquillett (Proc. acad. nat. sci. 
Phil., 1895, p. 331). Pipunculus opacus Will. (Trans. Amer. ent. 
soc., 1886, vol. 13, p. 295) also belongs here. The femora of 
P. lateralis are “ serrated beneath for half their length with very 
small black teeth ” ; the femora of P. opacus are not so serrated. 
Pipunculus. By the kindness of Mr. Samuel Henshaw I have 
