Article beginning on page 99.
Psyche 5:99-101, 1888.

Full text (searchable PDF)
Durable link: http://psyche.entclub.org/5/5-099.html

The following unprocessed text is extracted from the PDF file, and is likely to be both incomplete and full of errors. Please consult the PDF file for the complete article.

HILARIMORPHA AND APIOCERA.
BY SAMUEL WENDELL WILLISTON, NEW HAVEN, CONN. In the examination, recently, of 21
small collection of Diptera sent me by
Mr. Charles Robertson of Carlinville,
Illinois, I detected several specimens,
which, upon examination, pioved con-
clusively to belong to the genus Hi-
Zarimorfha, whose systematic position
has been the subject of some discussion. The two other known species, both
European, were first located by Schi-
ner, the author of the genus, in close
proximity to Hilara in the family em-
Wae. Later, from a renewed study
of the subject, he arrived at the con-
clusion that they bLundoubtedly belong
to the Ze$fidae." Mik, more recently
(Ueber die systematische Stelliuig des
Genus Hilarimorpha Schin., Verh.
Zoo]. Bot. Gesellsch. 1881, pp. 327-
329)) has presented cogent re:isons why
the first location by Scliiner is the cor- rect one,-arguments with which, from
the study of the present closely allied
species, I fully agree. Roeder has re-
cently published some remarks upon
this subject, which I regret not to find among the copies of his papers that he
has kindly sent me.
Professor Mik here takes the view, I
may add, that a more decisive ground
for an opinion regarding the position
can be expected only when the earlier
stages are known, which unfoi tunately
is not the case at present. Perhaps in
such a case as the present, where there
may be doubt, some important charac-
tei s or mode of developn~ent in the im- mature stages may be sufficient to de-
cide its position, but I am far from the belief, as I have elsewhere expressed
myself, that characters chaw11 from the
immature stages are of greater or even
equal value with those shown by the
adult insect. Professor Mik, with
Professor Bratier, is inclined, as shown by his remarks in a recent number of
the Wiener Ent. Zeit., to subordinate
adult chciracters in classification. But, notwithstanding the deservedly high
repute of both these eminent entomo-
logists, I cannot but differ with them,
in a measure at least. Resemblances,
in my opinion, are everywhere of more
importance than differences ; I do not
think it desirable to separate species or genera that show important resem-
blances in the adult stage, no matter
how important may be the differences
of larvae or pupae. The differences
among the earlier forms of the ceci-




================================================================================

ps?-cHE'. [October-September 1888.
domyidae,
important
sented by
for instance, are much more
than the differences pre-
the imagines ; nevertheless,
one will not split the cecidomyidac into corresponding families for that reason.
Following is the description of the
new Hilarimor/ha, whose specific
name it gives me pleasure to choose
in honor of Professor Mik.
Hilarimorpha mi& n. sp. .
8 Length 4 mm. Eyes broadly
contiguous. Face opaque gray, with
grooves froim the oral margin. Anten-
nae brownish yellow ; the first two
joints short, the third oval, a little
longer than broad, the anterior bor-
ders straight or gently concave to the
insertion of the slender two-jointed
style, which is nearly as long as the
body of the joint. Thorax in ground-
color black, thickly covered on the
mesonoturn with opaque yellowish
pollen; on the pleurae with lighter,
less dense pollen. Abdomen with each
segment anteriorly brownish black ;
posteriorly broadly banded with opaque
yellow, of a color somewhat lighter
than that of the mesonot~~m. Legs
yellow, the terminal joints of the tarsi infuscated. Wing's blackish, a little
lighter behind.
Four specimens, Carlinville, Illinois
(Charles Robertson .)
The neuration is quite as figured by
Mik. in the paper above quoted, for
the European H. singularis Egg. ; the
wing and cells are somewhat narrower.
The third antenna1 joint is shorter, and the style longer than in H. tristis.
The tarsi show no trace of an enipo-
dium under a compound microscope.
For the reception of this genus a
slight change will be necessary in the
table of families recently published by
me, as follows :
29.-Anal cell narrowly open or closed
near the border; discal cell present.
Bo in by Z ida e .
Anal cell closed near the border; discal wanting. Hilarimorfha Schin.
Anal cell closed remote from the border. Emf idae.
Baron Osten Sacken published,* not
long ago, an elaborate article on the
systematic position of the genus
Apiocet-a, in which he combated the
views of Schiner as regards the loca-
tion of it under the midaidae, and
sought to show that its proper position
was among the asilinae. Other auth-
ors have not generally been in accord
with him. Wiedemann, the first who
described any species pertaining to the
genus, looked upon the form as that of
an Asilid. Westwood, the author of
the genus, hesitated between the mi-
daidae and nemist?*inidae. Macquart
established a new family for the genus,
locating it next the fherevidae. Phil-
ippi described a new species as an
Asilid; and Gerstaecker, while re-
fusing it admission to the midaidae,
knew not where to place it. Schiner,
on the other hand, insisted upon its
union with the midaidae; Coquillett
with the therevidae; Brauer and Mil<
:is forming EI distinct family allied to the therevidae. Finally, I too would
å´*Berl Ent. Zeitschr. xxvii, 287-294.




================================================================================

September-October 1888.1 PSYCHE. 101
give to the group a family rank, loca-
ting it between the asilidae and midai-
dae.
The simultaneous possession of four
species, three from Australia and A.
Jiarusfex 0. S., will, I hope, give
some weight to the remarks I would
here offer concerning its true syste-
matic position. As Osten Sacken very
justly remarked in a letter to
me, the
group is an old one geologically, and
within certain limits will show wide
structural variation. In one of the
species, botli male and female, now be-
fore me, there is no indication what-
ever of any anterior branch to the
third longitudinal vein. The absence
of this vein under some circiimstmces
would indicate very great structural
differences, but, as Cope has morethan
once said, generic, or even family
characters in transitional forms or
iso-
lated groups may cease to have even
a
specific value. Here a well-marked
family character among the asih'dae,
therevdue and the like! I am satisfied
has nothing more than a specific value,
if it has even that.
The a$ioceridae is
fin old, isolated, geological form ; it
cannot be allied to the therevidae or
asilidae without doing violence to gene- tic relationships. On the other hand,
the midaidae, certainly the nemistri-
dae, and perhaps also, the acroceridae,
are all families undergoing a similar
decadence ; all are apparently old geo-
logically ; all show remarkable neura-
tional variations within narrow limits,
and all, except perhaps the acroceridae, seem to have more than an accidental
coincidence in their geographical dis-
tribution. Numerous forms of nemis-
trinidae and midaidae occur both in
Australia and South America, as I can
state from the examination of speci-
mens. I do not wish it to be inferred
from the above that ufiocera should be
looked upon as only an aberrant type
of midaidae, but rather that the apio-
c e d e from their isolated position
should be recognized as distinct in the
same way that these other families are.
In one tiling I agree with Osten Sac-
ken ; the shortness of the first longi-
*
tudinal vein in therevidae points to a
more remote geological divergence.
The argument of fleshy labella has lit-
tle weight, for in one of the species be- fore me the proboscis is elongate, slen- der, and the labella small.
My views, then, in brief are : the
a$ioceridae form an isolated 'group
approaching extinction, it is probably
most nearly related geologically to the
nemistrz'nidae and midaidae, next to
the asilz'dae, and less intimately to the therevidae. In consideration of these
views it seems to me best to recognize
the group as a distinct one under the
name of @iocen'dae.
One other thing that has impressed
me in the examination of a consider-
able collection of the South American
flies, and a small one from Australia,
and that is the points of resemblance
that exists between the dipterological
faunae of the two continents. This
resemblance, too, in some respects, is
more than superficial. With only my
small collection for comparison I have




================================================================================

102 PkS- 2'"CHB. [ September-October 1888. found no less than three genera of asili- dae identical, and unknown elsewhere.
I regret never to have seen a
speci-
men of Rhaphiomidas 0. S., one of
those peculiar transitional forms about
which opinions will differ. Baron
Osten Sacken has recently rejected it
from the midaidae, and, merging from
the description of the antennae, with
good reason. These organs seem to be
quite like those of the Dasypogonid
0Qrioceru.s. In some features the
form seems intermediate between
Apiocera and the asilidae, but the
wing structure is so different from that of the latter family that I do not think it should be united with it. I would
rather place it among the a-pioceri-
dae. These and the many other osci-
lant genera in the Orthorrliapl~ous
diptern serve only to emphasize the
fact that nature abhors classification,
and the only good that can come from
their discussion is the elucidation of the relative values of different structural
characters.
DESCRIPTION OF ASPHONDYLIA HELIANTHI-GLOBULUS. BY JOHN MARTEN,
This fly is recorded in Osten Sacken's
Catalogue of N. A. Diptera, p. 5, as
A. heliantki-globulus, Walsli (in lift.). Osten Sacken gives the following- cotn-
parison. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc.Vo1. Ill,
p. 52.-"A. rudbeckice cozs$icua at
first sight is not unlike A. heZiantJzi- gZobuZus, Walsh in litt., of which I owe a specimen to my lamented friend.
Walsh7s species, however, is easily
distinguished by the paler color of its
hind tibiae and tarsi. Its general color is also paler brown, with a yellowish-
brown pubescence ; its coxae are pale ;
the vein ending in the apex of the wing
is less arched than in A. rudbeckiae.
" A. heZianthi -globulus, Wctlsh,
forms a rounded swelling- on the stem
of fffZiantJf^s. As it has never been
described these notes may serve to
identify it."
CHAMPAIGN, ILL.
Imago, $ 9, blackish brown, cov-
ered with grayish hairs (dry and alco-
holic specimens become more brown) ;
feet black with grayish hairs, femora
brownish ; hind tibiae, short first joint of the tarsi and the long second joint
whitish tipped with black hairs. Wings
clothed with dark grayish hairs, dusky ; venation like that of A. monacha, 0,
Sack., it consists of three veins the last of which is forked, the anterior branch
being partially concealed in a fold which extends to tlie root of the wing; the
second vein is nearly straight and ends
almost in the middle of the apex. The
antennae are fourteen jointed (2 + I 2), filiform and pubescent; the joints of
the flagellum are cylindrical, of nearly equal gradually diminishing length up
to the ninth ; the tenth is smaller than the ninth ; the eleventh and twelfth to-



================================================================================

September-October 1888.1 PSYCHE. 103
gether are about equal in length" to the tenth. Halteres light brown. The
ovipositor is stout, cylindrical and fur- nished with a long needle-like organ
which protrudes beyond the tip.
Length four mm.
Emerges in Sep-
tember and October.
The pupa has two contiguous, short,
subconical projections at the top of the head; the dorsal segments of the ab-
domen have on the middle of each a
somew hat irregular double transvei se
row of short spines, and behind it a
single regular row of similar spines,
the last segment, at the tip, has a row
of such spines.
Osten Sacken compares, briefly, this
pupa with A. monacJia, Trans. Am.
Ent. Soc. Vol. 11, p. 301.
The galls are formed on the stem of
HeZian/hz~syrosse-sewatus, from a few
inches to three feet or more above the
ground ; they ase globular, sphericiil or ovate, in shape, from three-eigh ths of an inch to two inches in diameter.
The pupa in extricating itself fiom
the gall may leave its. case protruding' from the place of exit or may drop to
the ground before leaving its case.
SOME ACCOUNT OF OUR SPECIES OF GEOTRUPES. BY FREDERICK BLANCHARD, LOWELL, MASS.
Several familiar species of Geotru-pes
are among the first acquisitions made
by the beginner of a collection of cole- optera in the Eastern United States.
They are in fact so abundant and easily
found that the interest in them soon
ceases, and this part of one's col-
lection makes about the poorest exhibit
of the whole, from the fact that the
clumsily pinned, poorly cared for spe-
cimens of our early inexperience alone
appear as representatives of the species. As I have recently observed, however,
in Mr. Henry Ulke's collection, a series of good examples of the different spe-
cies and their varieties is an ornament
instead of, as is too often the case, a dis- grace to the collection. It is not always best to neglect old friends, and in our
common species of Geotrz/$es the very
interesting male peculiarities are quite worthy of occasional attention, as they
form the basisof a natural classification. In 1865 M. Henri Jekel published
in the " Annales de la Socikte Entom.
ole France," an arrangement of the spe-
cies of this genus, adopting the plan of making subgenera of the different divi-
sions, paying especial attention to our
North American species. and describ-
ing' several from this country as new.
A little later Dr. G. H. Horn, in 1867,
in the Transactions of the Ainer. Ent.
Soc. vol. i, reviewed M. Jekel's paper
at length as far as it related to our spe- cies, placing before American students
the true relations and limits ofthespecies at the same time very properly suppress-



================================================================================