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PSYCHE

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F. M. Hull.
Studies on Syrphid Flies in the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy.
Psyche 51:22-45, 1944.

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2 2 Psyche
[March- June
STUDIES ON SYRPHID FLIES IN THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY
BY FRANK M. HULL
University of Mississippi
This study presents the descriptions of additional new species of Syrphid flies in the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University and represents a continuation of earlier studies. Again I wish to thank Professor Nathan Banks for facilities of study extended to me.
S~rphus graptus n. sp.
Male.
Length 11.5 mm. ; wing 10.6 mm. Head: eyes bare, touching for a considerable distance; the middle of the posterior margins are gently excavated, the vertical triangle is brownish- yellow pollinose, the occipital pile wholly golden yellow; the front, face and cheeks are pale yellow, the upper face and re- mainder of face except the broad round central tubercle are cov- ered with dense, golden pollen, more shining upon the face than upon the front. There is also on the front a large, circular, pol- ished, shining bare area; from this area there runs upward a vertical, slender, brownish streak, not however, reaching to the noint of contact with the eves. Tust above each antenna is a "
conspicuous shining black spot. Antennae wholly pale orange, the base of the arista concolorous, its rather long, apical three- fifths black. Pile of front long, erect and like that of the face pale and confined to a pollinose area. Thorax: dark, shining golden- ; Published with the aid of a grant from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Earlier articles in this series, dealing with the Syrphids in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, are as follows: I. New Species of Exotic Syrphid Flies. Psyche, xliv, pp. 12-31; pi. 2 (1937). 11. Descriptions of Some New Species of Syrphida;. Psyche, xlviii, pp. 149-164, plate x (1941).
111.
Some Flies of the Genus Volucella. Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. xix, pp. 93-98 (1942).
IV.
Some Flies of the Genus Mesogramma. Proc. New England Zod. Club, vol. xx, pp. 17-24 (1942).
V. New Species of Syrphidz from the Neotropical Region. Psyche, dix, pp. 84- 107 (1943).
Ps\che 51:22-45 (1944). hup //psyche einclub org/Sl/51-022 html



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19441 Studies on Syrphid Flies 23
brown with still darker vittae as follows: a pair of narrowly sepa- rated, median vittae slightly diverging posteriorly, the posterior ends pointed but rounded on the medial surface, running nearly half-way down that part of the mesonotum behind the suture; moreover, rather widely separated from the median pair, is the outlying pair of wider vittae, narrowly interrupted at the suture; their posterior section of which is wide but which becomes slender before it stops almost at the scutellum. Between each of the vittae and narrowly enclosing them even at their posterior ends and including the whole of the outer lateral margin of the thorax the area is covered with light yellowish-brown, almost golden pollen; thus a large, broad, posterior semicircle lying in front of the scutellum is left bare.
Pile of dorsum of the thorax and of
scutellum and of pleurae quite erect, wholly pale with a shining silky yellow luster; it is especially long just before the mesonotal suture on the mesopleurae and the scutellum. Abdomen: elongate, slenderly oval, widest at the end of the third segment, very little less wide basally or at the end of the fourth segment, its greatest width not quite equal to that of the thorax; second and third seg- ments a little longer than the fourth and fifth; fourth segment as long as its own basal width; the fifth segment is a truncated equi- lateral triangle. Abdomen shallowly convex, non emarginate with the ground color wholly a light rusty red or orange-brown, largely opaque but more shining on the posterior margins and on the narrow basal margins of at least the posterior segments. There is a conspicuous though not wide, transverse, uniform black band across the posterior margin of the second segment and another one about the same width similarly placed on the third segment. On the fourth segment there is a quite subapical, transverse fascia narrow towards the middle, as it nears the mid- line turning sharply upward as a sharp-pointed wedge of black that reaches quite to the midpoint; on its outer lateral point it turns down sharply to reach the posterior corners of the segment. On the anterior part of the fourth segment some distance from the base there is a slightly oblique slender fascia, its inner end pointed and directed towards the midline of the base; towards the base the inner ends are separated by three times their width. On the anterior half of the third segment about the same distance from the base, are a similar pair of slightly oblique stripes sepa- rated by less than twice their width. Legs: almost wholly light yellow, the hind tibiee and tarsi brownish-yellow due perhaps to



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24 Psyche [March-June
the fact that their pile is dark brown whereas elsewhere, except upon the apical two-fifths of the hind femora, the pile is pale. Wings: elongate, nearly hyaline, whole of the stigma1 cell light brown, the sinuosity of the third vein very slight, the subapical cross vein long, nearly straight, sharply though slightly bent back a short distance from its apex.
Holotype. No, 23796, one male, Sozan, Formosa, June 30, 1934. L. Grissett collector,
Syrphm ochreolinea n. sp.
Related to orididis H. B. from which it differs in abdominal pattern, etc.
Female, Length 7.5 mm. ; wing 7.5 mm. Head: sWg metallic black over the vertex, the upper third of the occiput black with brassy-brown pubescence, the lower part greyish white pollinose ; all of the occipital pile is long and yellowish white. The front is shallowly concave with a broad band of greyish-brown pollen across the middle which is from either side directed a little diag- onally downwards. The band is of uniform width on a shining black background. Face shining black with a yellowish-brown, inverted V running from base of antennas towards the eye mar- gins, ending opposite the tubercle, its margins diffuse. The whole of the face except the prominent tubercle is whitish pubescent; the shining black cheeks are also whitish pubescent. Pile of face almost wholly pale; with a few black hairs along the eye margins on the upper part of the face ; the pile of the front and vertex is long, erect and black. Eyes rather thickly long white pilose. Antennae black, the third joint large, suborbicular with reddish- brown pubescence. Therax: shining greenish-black with long, thick, erect, pale pile. Scutellum greenish-black, somewhat brownish on the posterior half and dark brownish polhose; the pile on its disc is pale, along its margin is a double row of very slender, long black bristles. Squams whitish with yellow fringe, its surface without pile. Abdomen: broadly oval, the first and second segments somewhat flattened, the lateral margin of the abdomen slightly curled over but not emarginate. First segment metallic black, the second shining black with a pair of melanic spots obscurely reddish, small, oval and quite widely separated by at least twice their length. Third segment with a pair of sub- basal, light brown transverse spots, each end rounded, set well back from the lateral margin, placed horizontally and separated



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19441 Studies on Syrphid Flies 25
by almost the length of one spot. Remainder of the segment shining black. Fourth segment quite similar to the third, the spots barely less wide. The fifth is segment wholly shining black its anterior corners somewhat brownish. Pile of the abdomen long and pale upon the sides of the first and second segment, shorter but pale and erect along sides of the third and fourth seg- ments; the pile of the third and fourth segments is broadly through their middles sparse, flat appressed and chiefly black. Pile of fifth segment long and largely black. Legs: all of the femora black, their extreme apices brownish. Anterior tibiae, middle tibiae, and hind tibise except its extreme base, dark brown; all of the taris blackish. Pile of femora chiefly pale. Wings: pale brownish, the stigma1 cell wholly dark brown; subapical cross vein sinuous.
Holotype: No. 23800, one female, Nikko, Japan, April 22, 1934, L. Grissett, collector.
This fly traces to orientalis H. B. in Shiraki7s key. Syrphus convexigaster n. sp.
Related to orientalis H. B. from which it differs in abdominal pattern.
Female. Length 9.15 mm.; wing 8.8 mm. Head: upper part of occiput and vertex and front shining black, polished, black pilose. A broad, transverse, broadly interrupted fascia of golden- brown pollen lies across the quite concave lower portion of the front; its anterior margin is concave; the pollinose area is drawn out along the eye margins until it is opposite the antennae. Face extensively light brownish-yellow and yellowish pubescent on either side from eye margin to the base of the conspicuous shining black tubercle. The yellow of each side is connected beneath the antennae and at the eye margins about the middle of the face this yellow area leaves the eye margins and drops nearly vertically down the face, almost to the ventral angle of the oral margin; thus a wide, black middle stripe is left upon the face which tapers acutely to a point beneath the antennae and which diverges on either side along the oral margin and connects with the black of the cheeks. Facial pile erect, sparse and black throughout; the oral margin, the extreme posterior part of the face and the cheeks also light pubescent. Thorax: black in color, the details obscured by grease; its pile is erect and long, though sparse and wholly pale. Pile of pleuree long and shining yellowish. Scutellum yel-



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26 Psyche [March- June
low, the surface is greasy, with abundant very long fine bristles in several rows on the edge of and before the margin. The sparse ventral fringe is black. Squamae dark brown, the lower lobe bare; the metasternum pubescent. Abdomen: broadly oval, much wider than the thorax, rather convex, the first segment dark shining brown, somewhat metallic on the sides, the remainder of the abdomen shining black, sharply marked with yellow bands as follows: a pair of broad, clear yellow bands on the basal half of the second segment, their inner ends rounded, and separated by a little more than their width and removed from the base of the segment by a little less than their width; their outer ends are diagonally, rounded-truncate and fail by half their width to reach the margin. On the third segment near the midline, nar- rowly removed from the base, their inner ends rounded, are a pair of spots that, after a short distance, are slightly narrowed and proceed towards the lateral margin which they narrowly fail to reach. Over most of their length except on their medial third they are removed from the base by at least their own width and they are separated in the middle by at least their narrowest width. Their outer ends are subtruncate. On the fourth segment there are a pair of similar bands almost as large and of the same general shape; they are slightly narrower, their inner ends almost touch the base and their later ends again fail to reach the margin. On the fifth segment there are a pair of small, oval, subbasal, yellow spots the medial ends more pointed; the slender, posterior margin of the fourth and fifth segments, except at the sides are yellowish. The sides of the abdomen are quite emarginate. The pile of the abdomen is pale yellow along the margins as far as the end of the third segment, over the yellow spots and to a varying extent beyond it, but the greater part of the pile of the abdomen, especially upon the third and fourth segments is short, subap- pressed and black; upon the fifth segment it is long and black. Legs: femora black except upon the apical fifth and with the hind femora upon the apical sixth. Hind femora unusually long and slender. Anterior tibiae and middle tibiae reddish, more brown upon the distal part, the latter pair diffusely yellow on the basal third. Hind tibiae brown basally and blackish-brown on the distal three-fourths. Fore and hind tarsi and apical joints of the middle tarsi dark brown; the middle basi tarsi are brownish-yellow. Wings: tinged with pale brown; the stigma1 cell very dark brown. Holotype : No. 23801, one female, Nikko, Japan, July 15, 1931, L. Grissett collector.




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19441 Studies on Syrphid Flies 27
I have carefully compared the present fly with Shiraki's de- scriptions of Japanese species and I fail to identify it with any of them.
Epistrophe funeralia n. sp.
Much smaller and unrelated by pattern, etc., to the few known species.
Male. 'Length 9.2 mm. ; wing 8 mm. Head: eyes touching for a considerable distance, bare, broadly excavated in the middle on the posterior margin; the posterior occiput is grey pollinose and silvery pilose, the pile becoming black towards the vertex. Verti- cal triangle small, brownish-black, feebly shining, black pilose. Front broadly opaque, brownish-black, feebly shining just before either antennae; the front is narrowly light brownish-orange along the eye margins, this area expanding opposite the antennae into the pale broadly yellow sides of the face. The front is extensively bare above the antennae; it is long, erect, black pilose on the upper half, shorter black pilose in the yellow margins along the eyes. Pile of face black, sparse, submarginal, confined to the anterior half of the yellow stripe. Face produced forward well beyond the base of the antennae with a strong, convex tubercle deeply con- cave beneath the antennae. Face widely shining black in the middle, roughly about one-half of the facial width being black. All of the anterior parts of the cheeks and the posterior part of the occiput below light yellow, obscurely brownish between. Antennae widely separated, the first joint black, the second joint very dark basally, the third and the outer part of the second joint light orange; the third joint broadly infuscated above. The arista is short, thick, dark in color, the tip black. Thorax: dark brown, feebly shining on the anterior part, more polished pos- teriorly; the humeri, a spot on the "sides before the suture and post calli obscurely yellowish-brown. The pleura are metallic brassy and anteriorly they are silvery over the metapleurae, pteropleurae and hypopleurae. Scutellum large, evenly rounded, colored like the thorax except that on either side there is an oval, apically separated, large diagonal but quite obscure and diffuse yellowish-brown spot. Pile of thorax erect, chiefly light brown on the dorsum, longer and black upon the disc of the scutellum where it is sparse; the long ventral fringe of the scutellum is golden-brown. Abdomen: slender, the sides almost parallel, tapering a little posteriorly, chiefly deep opaque black in ground color, the narrow posterior margins of second, wider ones of third



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28 Psyche [March- June
and fourth whoIly shining black, sides of abdomen not emargi- nate. The sides of first segment with a large, dull yellowish spot; on either side of the second segment and broadly separated in the middle is a large roughly triangular clear opaque yellow, sharply delimited spot, all of the corners of which are rounded, and which does not reach the side margins. On the third segment is a similar spot of the same size, narrowly separated, more oval, rather pointed on its medial ends and pear-shaped. Fourth' segment with a pair of spots similar to that of third, almost connected across their somewhat wider medial ends. Fifth segment with a pair of smaller subbasal spots narrowly connected basally. The spots of the third, fourth and fifth segments are more brownish- orange; the pile of the abdomen is pale upon the pale spots of the second and third segments, upon the base and sides of second segment and basal half of third segment; elsewhere it is semi- appressed and black. Legs: basal half of anterior, all but the apex of the middle and the whole of the slender hind femora moderately shining black. Apices of the anterior four femora and narrow bases of the four front tibiae light yellowish-brown. Remainder of anterior four tibiae dark brown and the whole of the posterior tibise black. All of the tarsi dark brown and the whole of the pos- tenor tibiae black. All of the tarsi dark brown. Pile of the legs, except upon the extreme bases of the femora, black. Wings: strongly tinged with brown, a little more so along the anterior outer half, but everywhere diffuse; the stigmal cell the darkest of all; no stigmal cross vein present.
Subapical cross vein almost ,
straight with no sinuosity, with a slight inward bend just past its base and a slight recurrent turn just before the end; however, it joins the third longitudinal vein rectangularly. Holotype: No. 23787, one male, New Cattle, Jamaica,, E. B. Bryant, Feb. 16-20.
Rhysops quadrimaculata n. sp.
Not closely related to any known species of Rkysops; dish- guished by the quadrate spots.
Male.
Length 6.5 mm. ; wing 6 mm. Head: large, the eyes touching for a considerable distance, the vertical triangle small, the occiput not protruding beyond the eyes on the upper third. The front is shining bluish-black, Fey dusted on the upper half and with a narrow thin line of greysh-white pubescence running down the eye margin which expands anteriorly into a small, tri-



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19441 studies on Syrphid Flies 29
angular spot on the upper part of the face and again on the lower part of the face opposite the tubercle. The face in ground color is brilliantly shining, metallic black, with perhaps a faint bluish luster. On either side of the midline there is a prominent, ven- trally connected, violet stripe, its margin golden inside and out. These stripes are rather widely separated over most of their length; their outer margins are lined by a thin stripe of whitish pubescence. Lower half of face sparsely white pubescent and diagonally striate opposite the tubercle; the middle of the face is cut by four shallow grooves, the outer ones less distinct; the pro- file of face above the low tubercle is perfectly straight. The first and second joints of antennae are nearly equal in length; light brownish-yellow third Joint missing. The eyes are bare. Pile of face and front light brownish-yellow, of the vertex darker. Tkorw: very convex;, shining metallic black; seen from behind there are a pair of brownish, pollinose, median vittae which run half-way down the posterior part of the mesonoturn. There are suggestions of a fourth pair of such vittse lying some distance from the others on the lateral part of the mesonoturn. There is a low but well developed, rounded bump in the middle of the an- terior lateral comers of the thorax lying diagonally from the humeri. Squamae dark brown with dark brown fringe; halteres pale. Sottellurn broadly rounded, brilliantly metallic, with two or three subterminal, transverse, faint , ripple-like depressions. Pile of thorax and scuteUum pale, the ventral fringe long. Ab- domen: long and slender, rather flattened, sides almost parallel, end of the third segment barely -wider than base of the abdomen. First segment shining metallic black, second shining on the basal two-fifths with a brassy or golden-brown appearance; opaque, dark sepia-brown on almost all of the remaining segments and quite to their posterior margin. Located near the base upon the sides of the second segment, not reaching the anterior corners and covering about one-half the length of the segment there is a shal- low, diffuse, brownish-yellow spot; in some specimens it extends inward for a greater distance. Third segment with a pair of large, square, light brownish-yellow spots occupying the base, the en- tire anterior corners and the sides for one-haK the length of the segment; their medial surfaces are just a little cut-away and diminished on their posterior surfaces; remainder of this segment opaque, dark sepia. Fourth segment with a pair of similar spots, slightly smaller, barely darker, and a very little closer together;



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30 Psyche [March- June
remainder of that segment shining black. The pile upon the abdomen seems to be practically absent on the third and fourth segments, though whether this is due to denudation I cannot ascertain. The sparse lateral pile of the second segment is pale. Legs: almost wholly pale brownish-yellow ; the narrow apices of the hind tibiae and the hind femora, a more obscure subbasal hind tibia1 band and the last two or three tarsal joints of all of the legs dark brown. Wings: very lightly tinged with brown; whole stigma1 cell brown and the apical margin of the wing to just past the end of the third vein margimte with brown giving the impression of an elongate brown spot. Holotype: No. 23785, one male. Cuba, Wright, and one para- type.
Related distantly to the lineata group; distinguished by the anchor-shaped abdominal pattern.
Femde. Length 7.5 m.; wing 7 mm. Head: hemispherical, much wider than the thorax, the eyes large, bare, their posterior margins only slightly excavated. The occiput, except at the ex- treme ventral part, the vertex to just before the ocelli, obscurely shining black ; vertical triangle quite narrow, lateral ocellus prac- tically touching eye margin, the ocelli set fairly well forward. Front, long widening to four times its width across ocelli with. a conspicuous round black spot just above antennae; front except for this spot, and the face obscurely shining deep yellow, a little paler on the sides. Face with a low tubercle, almost straight and vertical front tubercle to antennae, but below the tubercle it re- treats rapidly the short distance from the oral margin ; there is a shallow concavity between epistoma and tubercle. Cheeks small and wholly yellow. Antennae short, third joint a little longer than wide, the first joint almost hidden; color of the antennae light orange, the third joint narrowly brownish above; arista blackish, basally thickened. Thorax: mesonoturn broadly shining black; the shining yellow of the wide lateral margin of the thorax nar- rowly follows the suture inwardly on either side for a short dis- tance. Pleurae and scutellum wholly light brownish-yellow, the latter with a pair of black, short, apical bristles and just a few short black hairs on the disc. I can discern one or two tiny black hairs that may constitute a ventral fringe. Fringe may be absent. Squamee light yellow halteres yellowish with a brownish knob.



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19441 Studies on Syrphid Flies 31
Abdomen: elongate, slender, but considerably flattened, the sides posteriorly curved over narrowly along their edges. First seg- ment short, yellow, broadly brownish across the middle; second segment barely longer than the third; third and fourth equal; fifth segment square; the second segment is almost twice as long as wide; the fourth segment just about a half again as long as wide. Second segment brown with a pair of large, oblong, brownish-orange spots well separated from the middle, anterior and posterior ends rounded, reaching the margin and on one side reaching the posterior corner. Third segment brownish-orange except as follows. a prominent median stripe the full length ex- panded suddenly near the apex into a marginal fascia; this fascia narrowly connects towards the side with a posterior-lateral, acute triangle of brown, produced as far forward as a distance equal two-fifths the length of the segment; the outer margin of this acute triangle is oblique. The fourth segment has a very similar pattern except that posteriorly the middle stripe reaches the apex of the segment; its lateral expansion is more or less obsolescent and the posterio-lateral acute brown triangles are well developed, no wider than these of the third segment but reach forward just past the middle of the segment. Fifth segment quite similar to the fourth in every respect except that it is smaller and that the posterio-lateral triangles are merely elongated vittae reaching the same proportion of the segment. Legs: the legs seem to be wholly light yellow, basal half of the hind tibiae barely darker because the pile appears to be darker. The pile is chiefly pale golden but on the hind femora and basal half of its tibiae it is largely but not entirely brown. Wings: pale brownish; diffusely darker brown throughout the subcostal marginal cell and the apex of the sub- marginal cell; subapical cross vein rather sinuous, joining the third vein at right angles.
Holotype: No. 23784, one female. Soledad, Cuba, Feb. 27th, 1926, George Salt.
Baccha ochreolinea n. sp.
Related to cultrata Austen; it is characterized by the broad abdomen and interrupted yellow fascia of the third abdominal segment, etc.
Female. Length about 8 mm. ; wing 7.5 mm. Head: hemi- spherical, deeply excavated in the middle; vertex narrow, dark, obscurely shining brown, continued forward as a wedge of slightly



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Psyche
[March- June
decreasing width to the middle of the face. There is a tiny black spot above the antenna, quadrate, connected to the slightly larger, deep lunule of brown above it. Ground color of front, face and cheeks pale yellow, the former slightly brown in the middle, the pile of the occiput on the upper fifth of vertex, front and upper part of face erect and black, a very little pale pile on either side of the tubercle.
Occiput except immediately behind the ocelli pale yellowish pollinose. Tubercle small, extending barely beyond the base of the antennae; profile almost straight above the tuber-


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