F. M. Carpenter.
New Nearctic Mecoptera, with Notes on Other Species.
Psyche 42:105-122, 1935.

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193.51 New Nearctic Mecoptera 105
NEW NEARCTIC MECOPTERA, WITH NOTES ON
OTHER SPECIES
BY F. M. CARPENTER
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University During the three years subsequent to the publication of my revision of the Nearctic Mecopteral, a number of new and interesting species have come to my attention. Some of
these were taken by me in the central and western states, but by far the majority were received from other entomolo- gists, as follows : Mr. E. S. Thomas, Ohio State Museum ; Mr. C. A. Frost, Framingham, Mass.; Dr. C. B. Philip, Hamil- ton, Montana; Dr. H. B. Mills, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; Mr. E. P. Van Duzee, California Academy of Sciences; Mr. L. C. Lloyd, Seattle, Washington; Dr. H. H. Ross, Illinois State Museum, Urbana, Illinois; Dr. Hugo Kahl, Carnegie Museum, Pittsburg; and Dr. C. E. Mickel, University of Minnesota. To all these I am grateful for their cooperation.
In the present paper I have included the most interesting of the new locality records and descriptions of eight new spe- cies. Including the latter, the total number of Nearctic species is sixty-four.
Family Panorpidse
Brachypanorpa montana Carp.
Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 72 (6) : 212; 1931. Four males were taken among pines at Crater Lake, Ore- gon, July 16, 1932, at an altitude of about 8,000 feet (F. M. Carpenter). As far as I am aware, these are the only speci- mens in addition to the types which have been collected. No females were found in spite of careful searching. Panorpa lugubris Swederus
Kgl. Svenska Vetensk.-Akad. Nya Handl., 8 :279, 1787. In the collection of the Illinois State Museum there is a 1 Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 72 (6) : 206-277, pis. 1-8, 1931. See also Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 27: 149-151. 1932.



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106 Psyche [ June
specimen of this species labeled "N. Mex.". Since lugubris
has previously been reported only from the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama, a New Mexico record is most surprising. Dr. Ross, of the Illinois Museum, assures me, however, that the locality datum is almost certainly correct. If so, this specimen extends by some three hundred miles (to about longitude 103') the westward range of Panorpa in the Nearctic region, for I have seen no previous records of the genus beyond Austin, Texas (longitude 98'). Panorpa insolens, n. sp. (Figure 5.)
Body: light reddish-brown. Fore wing: length 12 mm.; width 3 mm., membrane faintly yellow, markings grayish- brown ; apical and pterostigmal bands entire ; basal band broken at the middle, but very broad, both upper and lower portions fusing with the first basal spot; second basal spot very small ; both marginal spots absent; cross veins not mar- gined. $ genitalia: internal skeleton small, the axis en- tirely confined to the plate, not projecting anteriorly as in most species of the genus. Male unknown. Holotype : Cincinnati, Ohio ; May 30, 1908 ; in Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Although in describing this species from the female alone, I have departed from my usual policy of not establishing a new species of Panorpa unless the male is known, I consider the wing markings of this particular insect so unusual that the male when found will at once be recognized. In none of the other Nearctic Mecoptera has the basal band been modi- fied to anything like the form in insolens. The internal skele- ton is close to that of P. carolinensis Banks, and I suspect that the male when found will have a genital structure also close to that of carolinensis. In my key to the females of Panorpa (1931, p. 224) insolens runs to section 9, including signifer, carolinensis and longicornis, from all of which it can be readily separated by the form of the basal band of the fore wing.
Panorpa vi~ginica Banks
Psyche, 13 : 99; 1906.
Two males in the Illinois State Museum are labeled "Wis- consin,,' the first record of the species in that state.



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19351 New Nearctic Mecoptera
Panorpa isolata Carp.
Bull. Mus. Comp Zool., 72 : 241; 1931.
One male from Waukegan, Illinois, July 7, 1932 (T. H. Prison) is in the Illinois State Museum. Since this species has not previously been found outside of Georgia, the Caro- linas and Tennessee, the Illinois record is most interesting. and unexpected; it probably signifies that the species occurs in Kentucky and Ohio.
Panorpa speciosa Carp. (Figure 4.).
Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 72 : 243, 1931.
During the summer of 1934 I was fortunate enough to secure two males and a female of this rare species, which has previously been known only from four males. Both were taken at Vandalia, Illinois, June 28, 1934. The female is similar to the male in coloration and wing markings. The internal skeleton
(figure 4) is small but has a very deep
"U"-shaped cleft; the axis is small, projecting only a short distance beyond the plate itself; there is a small chitinous envelope covering a part of the axis and surrounding part of the plate. This female, now in the Museum of Compara- tive Zoology, is designated as the allotype. Panorpa bifida, n. sp. (Figures 1, 3.)
Body brown to yellow; anal horn present. Fore wing:
length 11-13 mm. ; width, 3-4 mm. ; membrane faintly yel- low, markings dark-brown or black ; apical band entire ; pte- rostigmal band broken at middle ; basal band interrupted ; first basal and first and second marginal spots present; sec- ond basal spot absent; cross veins margined. 8 genitalia: genital bulb rounded; forceps of moderate size, the distal half quite slender; hypovalves long, extending very nearly to the base of the forceps; ventral valves elaborate, each consisting of a single semi-circular basal piece which forks distally into two long branches; the outer one of these is the longer, is slightly curved, and bears a number of barbs; the inner branch is nearly straight and is also barbed. geni-
talia : internal skeleton small; the posterior part of plate in the form of a half-moon; the anterior part with a deep, broad "U"-shaped incision.




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108 Psyche - [ June
Holotype ( 8 ) : Rector, Penna., July 18, 1921; in the Car- negie Museum, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Allotype: same locality and date as holotype; in the Car- negie Museum, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
Paratypes : 1 8 , Rector, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1921 ; 1 9, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania, July; in the Museum of Comparative Zoology.
This unusual Panorpa is closest to anomala Carp. in both wing markings and genitalia. The male genital bulb of bifida, however, has longer forceps and hypovalvse, and the shape and lengths of the ventral valves are very different. The internal skeleton of the female genitalia has a much broader incision posteriorly than that of anomala. In my key to the males of Nearctic Mecoptera (Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 72 (6), 1931) bifida runs to the couplet containing dis- sirnilis and decorata (28), from both of which it can readily be separated by the forked ventral valves. The female runs
to the last group of species under number 22 and can be dis- tinguished from the species included there only by the struc- ture of the internal skeleton.
Panorpa flexa, n. sp.
(Figure 2.)
Head, thorax and first 6 segments of abdomen dark- brown, nearly black; abdominal segments 7-9 yellowish- brown; anal horn absent. Fore wing: length, 11 mm. width, 3 mm. ; membrane colorless, markings light brown, all bands interrupted; both marginal and both basal spots absent, cross veins margined. 8 genitalia : genital bulb rather slen- der, forceps of moderate size, without lobes; a cluster of heavy, black hairs at base of forceps; hypovalves long, al- most reaching to the base of the forceps; ventral valves con- sisting of a long, cylindrical, glaborous shaft, smoothly curved; at the base of this shaft is a cluster of 5 radiating barbs; an abruptly tapered point terminates the shaft it- self. Female unknown.
Holotype ( 8 ) : Indian Pass, Smoky Mts., N. Carolina ; September 4, 1933 (C. F. Walker) ; in the Museum of Com- parative Zoology.
This locality is almost identical with that at which the types of P. longicornis and many other Panorpas were col-



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19351 New Nearctic Mecoptera 109
lected by the writer at the same season three years previous. Although no specimens of flexa were among the several hundred Panorpas which were secured at that time, the specimen described was the only Panorpa which Mr. Walker collected in the vicinity.
Since flexa does not possess the anal horn, it falls into the nebulosa group of Panorpa, and in my key (1931, p. 222) runs to couplet 7. As this couplet reads, flexa will not be covered by either choice; but if the first line of the couplet be changed to "ventral valves curved," both flexa and sig- rnoides will be included. From sigmoides the new species can be distinguished by the shape of the ventral valves, which are sigrnoidally curved in sigmoides but nearly semi- circular in flexa.
Panorpa latipennis Hine
Bull. Sci. Lab., Den. Univ., 11 : 248, 1901. Two females received from E. S. Thomas, of the Ohio State Museum, were collected in Ohio: Fallsburg, June 18, 1932 (C. F. Walker), and Bay Point, Ottawa County, July 18,1931. These are the first records in the state and bear out my previous suggestion (1932) that latipemis probably oc- curred in Ohio and Ptennsylvania.
Panorpa submaculosa Carp.
Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 72 (6) : 255 ; 1931. One female was taken by C. E. Mickel in Prince George Co., Maryland, July 27,1929 ; this constitutes the first record for the state.
Family Bittacidse
Bittacm punctiger Westwood
Trans. Enti Soc. Lon., 4:195 ; 1841.
One male, now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, was collected at Dunedin, Florida, during March (Blatch- ley) ; this constitutes the fir~t~record in that state, although the species has previously turned up in neighboring states. Family Boreidse
During the past two years several extensive collections of Boreus, mostly from western states, have been received for



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110 Psyche [ June
determination. One very unusual species (reductus) from this lot has already been described2. Quite recently, also, Mr. L. C. Lloyd has described3 another species (inter- medius) from Alaska, and recorded the occurrence of B. uni- color at the same locality. Through thge courtesy of Mr. Lloyd and the authorities of the Washington State Museum, these specimens were sent to me for examination. Much to my surprise, a study of all the Boreus material now at hand re- veals that among the recently collected Western material there are no less than five undescribed species, making a total of twelve species of the genus now known from the Nearctic region.
These additional species have brought to light several new characteristics which are most useful in the taxonomy of at least the Nearctic members of Boreus. The most impor- tant of these is the form of the hypandrium (tenth sternite), which may be either narrowly or broadly triangular, and may be either emarginate (notched) or entire (straight). Since the shape of the hypandrium is very helpful in the identification of the new species described below, I have also included here figures or descriptions of other Nearctic spe- cies of the genus. Some of the new species are also charac- terized by the color and length of the pubescence, features which show very little difference among' the previously de- scribed ones. The lengths of the rostrum and ovipositor are likewise convenient diagnostic characteristics, but I have found it advisable to measure these at somewhat different positions from formerly. In the present descriptions the ros- trum is measured from the ventral edge of the eye, and the ovipositor from the posterior margin of the ninth tergite4. This gives a slightly smaller dimension for the length of the ovipositor than when it is measured from the corresponding sternite, but the measurement is more easily obtained since, the specimens are usually glued to points and the ventral surface of the head thus concealed. The detailed coloring of the various parts of the body, as I have already pointed 2 Can. Ent., 65: 94-95.
1932.
3 Pan. Pacific Ent., 10: 119-120.
19134.
4 the ninth tergite 'because the tenth is modified to form a long sheath covering the ovipositor pnoiper.




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193.51 New Nearctic Mecoptera Ill
out, is of little taxonomic value, because it is subject to much individual variation.
Since there are now more than twice as many species of Boreus as were known when my key was published (1931). new keys to both sexes are included here. Key to Males of Boreus
.......................................................... 1. Hypandrium entire 2.
................................................ Hypandrium emarginate 8.
.......................................... 2. Wings and all of body black
.3.
................................................. Wings brown or yellow.. .4.
3. Body covered with long, white pilosity: hypandrium ............................
slenderly triangular. reductus Carp.
Body covered with very fine, white pubescence, hypan- ...................
drium broadly triangular.. .unicolor Hine. 4. Fore wings gradually tapering throughout their entire .......................................................................... lengths 5.
Fore wings strongly narrowed in proximal half .......... 6. 5. Fore wings very broad and long, two and one-half times the length of the rostrum (British Columbia) ............ elegans n. sp.
Fore wings not so broad and of moderate length, only one and one-half times the length of the beak (east- ern United States) ........................ ..nivoriundus Fitch. 6. Distal half of wings very slender; rostrum twice the length of the eye ........................... ..intermedius Lloyd. Distal half of wing normally slender; rostrum only one and one-half times the length of the eye. .................. .7. ...........................
7. Body except wings black or nearly so. 8. . Body brown or reddish brown.. .californicus var. caU- f ornicxis Packard.
8. Wings yellow-brown.. ............................... .borealis Banks. Wings dark brown. ...... .c(difornicus var. fuscus n. var. 9. Body covered with long white or yellowish pilosity .... 10. Body covered with very fine white pilosity.. .............. ..I!. ................................
10. Wings and body deep black
nix n. sp.
Wings yellow or light brown, body dark brown ............... pilosus n. sp.
11. Wings yellowish-brown, much lighter than the dark ............................................. brown body.. .isolatzis n. sp.




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112 Psyche [ June
Wings either black or brown, always the came color as the body. ................................................. brumalis Fitch. Key to Females of Boreus
Fore wing reduced to a minute scar, similar to that of the hind wing ........................................ reductus Carp. Fore wing in the form of a small oval pad. ................... 2. Wings and body the same color (brown or black) .... .3. Wings much lighter (yellow or yellow-brown) than ........................................ body (dark brown or black)
7.
Ovipositor short, only as long as rostrum.. ..................... -4. Ovipositor distinctly longer than rostrum. ................... .5. Body either black or very dark brown.. .. brumalis Fitch. Body light brown or medium brown,. . .nivoriundus Fitch. Body covered with long, white or yellowish hairs .......... GX n. sp.
Body covered with fine, white pubescence. ................... 6. Ovipositer twice as long as rostrum.. ..... .unicolor Hine. ovipositor only one and one-half times as long as ................................................... rostrum.. gracilis n. sp.
Ovipositer twice the length of the rostrum .................... intermedius Lloyd.
Ovipositer at most one and one-half times as long as the ......................................................................... rostrum .8.
Body light brown or reddish brown ................................ ccdifornicus var. californicus Packard.
Body black or nearly so.. ................................................. .9. Body black, with a pronounced bronze hue; abdomen above exceedingly shiny.. ..................... .borealis Banks. Body jet black; abdomen above with only a slight shine.. californicm fuscus, n. var.
Boreus brumalis Fitch
Amer. Journ. Agric., 5 : 278; 1847.
Although this species has previously been known to occur only in Massachusetts, New York, District of Columbia and Michigan (Detroit), a great many specimens have been tak- en in Hocking and Fairfield Counties, Ohio, December 5-25, 1933 (E. S. Thomas, J. S. Thomas, W. Goslin, R. Goslin). These Ohio specimens, although somewhat smaller and more



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19351 New Nearctic Mecoptera 113
uniformly black than the New England specimens, show no structural differences whatever. The posterior margin of the hypandrium is emarginate, the hypandium as a whole being shaped much like that of isolatus, n. sp. (figure 11). The body of brumcdis is covered with a prominent yellow pubescence, which is more striking in the black specimens than in the brown ones.
Boreus nivoriundus Fitch
Amer. Journ. Agric., 5 : 277; 1847.
This is another species which, previously known only from New England and northern New York, has been found in Hocking and Fairfield Counties by the above-named collec- tors (December 5-25, 1934). The Ohio specimens, like those of brumcdis, are very much smaller than the more eastern ones, being about one-half the length of the latter. In all other respects, however, the Ohio specimens and the New England ones are identical. The fact that the more southern specimens of both brumdis and nivoriundus are decidedly smaller than the northern ones suggests that the more mod- erate climatic conditions tend to cause smaller specimens in this particular genus of insects, which are of course only ac- tive in the adult stages from November to February. The hypandrium of nivoriundus is entire and shaped very much like that of unicolor (figure 15).
The color of the
body is subject to some variation, the New England speci- mens being light brown and the Ohio ones somewhat darker, but the color never reaches the blackish brown of brumalis. Boreus unicolor Hine (Figure 15.)
Bull. Sci. Lab. Den. Univ., 11:250; 1901. This insect has previously been recorded only from Boze- man, Montana, and Reno, Nevada (6,600 ft.). In the col-
lections sent by Dr. Philip and Dr. H. B. Mills there are 15 specimens of both sexes from Blacktail Flat and Specimen Ridge, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, March 17, 1934 and Feb. 5, 1935; and several specimens from Gird's Creek, Ravalli County, Montana, November 2 and December 30, 1934 (N. L. Jellison). Mr. Lloyd (1934) recorded this species from Alaska also, but his specimens really belong to a new species (gradis) described below.




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114 Psyche [June
The hypandrium is entire and broadly triangular in out- line (figure 15).
The body is covered with a very short
pubescence; the beak is short, about one and one-half times as long as the eye, and only half as long as the ovipositor. Boreus nix n. sp.
(Figure 7.)
Male: length of body, 3 mm.; uniformly black except the eyes, which are either black or dark brown or both; entire body including wings covered with long, white pilosity, ex- cept pronotum, which bears two rows of very long heavy black hairs, one row along the anterior margin, the other along the posterior margin; wings with the outer margin smoothly curved, as in unicolor (see Carpenter, 1931, fig. 6d) ; hypandrium broadly triangular, deeply emarginate (figure 7) ; rostrum short, less than one and one-half times the length of the eye.
Female: length, 4 mm.; entire body, including wings, black and covered with long white pilosity ; ovipositor one and one-half times the length of the rostrum; fore wing covering entire hind wing scar.
Holotype ( 8 ) and allotype : Gird's Creek, Ravalli County, Montana, November 2, 1934, on snow (W. L. Jellison) ; both in Museum of Comparative Zoology.
Paratypes : 1
8 with same collecting data as holotype ; 2 8, 2 9, Hamilton Heights, Ravalli County, Montana, Nov- ember 15, 1931, on snow (C. B. Philip) : all in writer's col- lection ; 1 $ Hamilton Heights, Ravalli County, Montana, November 15, 1931, in collection of the California Academy of Sciences.
This interesting species is easily recognized by the com- bination of the black wings, emarginate hypandrium, and long, white pilosity. The latter is visible without magnifi- cation and gives the insect a fuzzy appearance. Boreus pilosus n. sp. (Figure 10.)
Male: length, 3 mm. ; wings light brown, genital claws and hypandrium brown, legs light brown or dark brown; eyes dark brown or black; rest of body black; entire body covered with long, yellowish-white pilosity, especially well developed on the abdominal terga; pronotum with two rows



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19351 New Nearctic Mecoptera 115
of very long, heavy, yellow-brown hairs ; hypandrium emar- ginate, the notch broadly "V"-shaped ; rostrum long, more than twice as long as the eye.
Female: length, 4.5-5 mm.; wings, ovipositor and legs light brown or yellow-brown; eyes dark brown or black, pro- notum reddish brown; rest of body black; entire body cov- ered with prominent yellow pilosity, which is especially long and deeply colored on abdominal terga; pronotum with the two rows of long yellow-brown hairs as in male; ovipositor