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Psyche 8:147-149, 1897.

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DIPTERA FROM THE MESILLA VALLEY OF THE RIO GRANDE IN NEW MEXICO. - I.
BY C. H. TYLER TOWNSEND. LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO. This region has been described, in
different papers and at different times, both by Professor Cockerell and myself,
so that further description here is un-
necessary.
For information as to its
characteristics, reference may be made
to my tirst and second papers on bio-
geography of Mexico iind
the south-
western U. s., in the Transactions of
the Texas Academy of Science (1895-
1897)-
I. Tabanns guttatulus Towns.
Syn. Didoyu&g~tttatttZus Towns.
Trans. Kans. Acacl. Sci. 25th Ann.
Meet. pp. 134-5.
Four 9 s (R. R. Larkin). Las
Cruces. Length, 81 to lo& mm. This
is not a Diuchlorus. The poition of
front between eyes is about 2,{ times as long as vertical wicIt11, the front, there- fore, being comparatively wide. The
eyes are distinctly pubescent, hut the
pubescence is not readily noticed. The
front tibiae are but little thicker than the others. It probably belongs in
Osten Sacken's section Th&ofledes.
The above points should be added to
niy original description. The Literal
prolongations of the frontal callosity
above arc sometimes obsolete, repre-
sented only by a brown spot on each
side of the small median callosity, which latter may or may not be cut off from
the large frontal callosity below it.
SYRPHIDAE.
2 Parapcs tibialis var. dimidlatus
Lev. Six J s. Las Cruces, August
21. On flowers of Aphantostephus
ar/xom'cits Gray, Length, 3 to 4& mm.
Only a faint shade of brown on tip of
abdomen, and all with the second
segment more or less broadly red behind. Length of the vertical triangle in one or two of the specimens about twice its
greatest width (at posterior corners of
eyes), but in the others not over one and one-half times. It thus seems certain
that this character will not separate the American from the European forms.
See paper on White Sands diptera, for
notes on this species.




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148 P-E. [December 1897.
3. Nausz~aster functulata Will.
One specimen (Clcil.). Rincon. July 5.
On Chilo$szs /inea~+s. See section I1 of paper on Riu Nautla diptera, for notes
on separation of specks of this genus.
4. Melanostoma ste^fzum Say. One
9 (Ckll.) . Las Cruces. March 26. On
flowers of %nus (pliim) .
j. E@eades vohicris 0s. Five ? s
(Cldl.). Las Cruces. One, March 2,
three March 3 I, and one April 16, on
flowers of Sisymbrium canescens.
Length, 6& to nearly g mm. I have
also a f (Ckll.) from Roswell, in the
Ria Pecos Valley, ~alzen April 14, on
flowers of Sisynibri'tifii.
6. Baccha. lemur 0s. One 2. Las
Cruces, August I I. Front and vertex
metallic purplisli-blach, but thorax
metallic greenish. Ahilomen purplish,
of same shade as front.
7. VoZ~cel/a comstocki Will. Three
f s, and one 9 (Ckll.). Las Crnces.
Two f s, March 23 ; 9 March 26 ; one
f April I. All on flowers of Przmus
(plum). Length, 10 to I I mm.
CONOPIDAE.
8. Zodim splendent Jaenn. One f .
Las Cruces, August 21,
On flowers of
Aphanfostejhlisa~-izo?zicvs Gr~y.
This specimen measures but little over
6 mm., yet it is without doubt the same
species as another $ (Soledad Canon,
Organ Mts.) which measures 11 mm.
and is, so far as absolute bulk is can-
cerued, at least five times as laigc as the present one ! The metanotum is shining
black in the present specimen, but there is very little black on the pleumc.
Scute.lluni reddish-yellow. Abdomen
same color, with the pollen as described by Williston (in 2. leucostoma) .
The occurrence in New Mexico of
tlie genus Gymnosoma has never been
recorded, and heretofore had not been
suspected. During several of the earlier years of my collecting in that region, I never met with a specimen, and I had
come to suppose that the New Mexico
region was outside of the faunal limits
of the genus, due to the genenil arid
character of the country combined with
the elevation. Both Gymnosoma and
Cistogaster, which two genera tbrtii tlie group Gyninosomatidae, are preein-
inently inhabitants of the humid low-
lands of temperate North America.
They occur plentifully along the Atlan-
tic coast slopes, and in the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes regions. Ill
this respect they resemble the genus
Trichopoda, except that the latter is
even more highly developed in the trop-
ical lowlands than in tlie temperate.
Trichopoda, besides, is strictly Arneri- can, and most developed in humid coast
regions. It seems absent from subarid
coast regions, such as the southern por- tion of Texas between the Rio Nueces
and the Ria Grande-the Costa Deserta
of the old Spanish historians. Cistogas- ter and Gymnosoma are both recorded
from portions of humid tropical Amcr-




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December 1807.1 PSYCHE. 149
ica, but they seem to be of far more
abundant occurrence in the correspond-
ing temperate portions of North Amer-
ica. Cistogaster has been recorded
from Colorado, hut probably not from
a great elevation.
I was, therefore, much surprised
when, in August, 1894, Professor Cock-
erell showed me a specimen of Gyin-
nosoma which he had just taken at Las
Cruces. Several other specimens have
been taken in the Mesilla Valley at
intervals since ; and I secured one in
the Sacramento Mts., (luring a week's
collecting there in October, 1896. The
Mesilla Valley specimens are noticed in
detail below. At best the genus is of
rare or infrequent occurrence in New
Mexico.
9. Gyimzosoma ful@/'~~osa Desv.
Three rf s and three 9 s. Las Cruces.
One 9 (Ckll.), August 24. on flowers of
Solidago canadensis, One 9 (Woo-
ton), October 4, on flowers of Bi&Zoviii tar'ghtii. one 9 (Ckll.), March 23,
and one if (Cldl.) March 26, both on
flowers of Przinus domesticus (plun2).
One f (CkIl.), Sept. 12, on flowers of
Bigelovia wi'htii. One if (C.
Rhodes') , Sept.
The Sept. 12 (J measures only 54
mm., being considerably smaller than
the others, and resembles somewhat G.
filiola Lw., which was originally de-
scribed from Texas. I am convinced,
however, that it is only a small speci-
men of fuliyinosa. Loew defined
filiola as distinguished by its shorter
antennae, and it probably must be con-
sidered only as a variety offttf/ginosa. The present specimen is considerably
larger than Loew's measurement, which
is z lines. The abdominal spots are
very small.
Of the other normal-sized specimens,
none has the abdominal spots at all
enlarged. In one of the 9 s, these
spots are very small indeed, while in
another they are subobsolete. The 9 s
measure 64 to 7 mm. ; the Js, 64 to
62, mm.
Both sexes of this species have the
humeri and pleurae silvery pollinose-
The scutellum is silvery on apex, and
slightly so in middle at base. The 9
is distinguished by rest of thoracic
dorsum being shining black. I pointed
out -the sexual differences, in the Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. (vol. 11, 1891, 12. 141), where I stated that the thoracic dorsum
of 9 is wholly black shining, but
neglected to add that the humeri are
silvery.
The specimen above mentioned from
the Sacrainenlo Mts. (a f, Rio Tula-
rosa, Oct. 2, on flowers of Big'elovia
g~aveolens var. glabra-ta) was taken a1
an elevation of about 6200 ft. This is.
doubtless, the greatest elevation at
which tiny specimen of Gymnosoma
has ever been taken. The Sacramento
Mts. are very humid, far more so than
the Mesilla Valley, but at the same
time they arc much higher. The other
specimens, taken at Las Cruces, are
from an elevation of about 3800 ft. The
difference is thus 2400 ft.
OCYPTERIDAE.




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150 PSYCHE. [.December 1897.
surprising find, made by Prof. Cockerell during the summer of 1897, is a speci-
men of this species, taken in the Mesilla Valley, on Bigelovia 'wriyJz* August
5. It is the first specimen of the genus ever taken in New Mexico, to my
knowledge.
TACHINIDAE s. str.
J's (Ckll.), Las Cruces, May 3 and
June 9. The former is an undersized
specimen, with the abdomen less red on
sides.
12. Gonict sepex Wl. Two speci-
mens (Cldl.), Las Cruces.
One April
9, on flowers of Primus domesficus
(plum) ; the other, May 5.
1 I . Jurinia later/ills Mcq. Two
A NEW ANT-NEST COCCID.
BY GEO. B. KING, LAWRENCE,
MASS., AND J. D. TINSLEY, MESILLA PARK, N. MEX. The species described below was col-
lected by Mr. King. The notes on the
microscopical characters were prepared
by Mr. King, but have been extended
and rewritten from Mr. King's mounts
by Prof. Tinsley, who is also respon-
sible for the comparison with allied
spccies. The drawings are by Mr.
Tinsley. The notes on the living insect, and habits, etc., are by Mr. King.
Dacfylo$itis cZaćŽuiger^ n. sp. - Adult 9. Length 2.5-3,s mm. Width abont 2 mm.
Shape, ovoidal, quite plump. Color, dark 1-eddish-brown, covered with white mealy secretion. Segmentation of body distinct, under hand lens. No lateral or candal
appendages. Boiled in caustic potash it
colors the liquid a light violet red. Legs and antennae pale yellowish-brown. An-
tennae %jointed ; 8 longest, longer than 6+7, and with several whorls of hairs, the hairs being numerous at the distal end ; I next longest, its diameter equalling or
slightly exceeding its length, a whorl of hairs around its distal end ; 2 next, its diameter abont 8 of its length, two whorls of hairs, one about midway and the other near distal end; ,; next, with two whorls of hairs, one at each end ; 7 next, with a whorl of hairs about its middle, 3 next (3 and 7 are often subequal), its diameter being about # of that of 2, a whorl of hairs about its middle; 4 and 6 about subequal and with a whorl of hairs about the middle. The joint between 4 and .5 is often, almost usually, quite indistinct, and this might be considered a prominent characteristic. Antenna1 forn?ula 812573 (46). See figure of antenna. Legs,-
Antenna, X 100,
Femur stout being a little over twice as long as wide, quite hairy; tibia, width about 5 the width of the femur, length about equal



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