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Psyche 7:183-186, 1894.

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PSYCHE.
ON THE RHOPALOMERIDAE.
BY S. W. WILLISTON, LAWRENCE, KANSAS.
Seventy years ago Wiedemami de-
scribed il genus of flies of peculiar
structure under thc name Ropalomera,
which lie placed in the vicinity of
Platystoma. Latreille later included
the genus among' the Ephydridac, to
which indeed the flies have a peculiar
resemblance, but his example has not
been followed by more recent writers.
Macquart, Walker, and Rondani all
agreed with Wiedernann in his views
of their relationship. Loew at one time* located the genus with the Platystomi-
me. Later? he wavered in his opinion
whether it should be placed with the
Sapromyxiclac or tile Sciomyzidac.
Scliinei*$ contended that Rhopalomera,
and a new genus Rhinotoria, which he
erected, should constitute a separate
frimily. In this contention I think
Scllincr was right, and my opinion is
based upon a critical study of several
species of the group as well as of several hundred of those of the allied families. After a careful exiimination of the
literature, I find descriptions of the
following species : Rho/a/omera cla-
vipe.9, femorata, $Z:zwofunctata, and
stictica Wieilemann, mac~/I/$eds
-" - . -- . .. . .- .-
ĺ´ Nme Beitr., vii, 2.
-f- Monographs, X, 14.
:I Reise cler Novaru, Dipt. 233.
anclflavice$s Macquart, $unctipe&,
.~z'miZz's and vit/~ĺ´fron Rondani, tibi- ah's, varipes, and ? 7-z~fifes Walker.
Of these, I believe that only the first
six represent valid species ; the remain- der are either identical with Wiede-
mann7s and Macquart's species, or the
descriptions are unrecognizable. R.
? rt~fi$es Wallcer apparently does not
belong in the genus, although it may
possibly be a Rhinotoria.
With these species are included two
species of Rhinotoria Schiner, neither
of which is known to me, rind
possibly one or more known species of
Coelometopia Macquart.
Of the genus Rhopalomera, in
Weidemam's sense, I have five species
in my collection, which may be defined
as follows :-
Eyes oval or siibreniform in shape, bare, the frontal margins concave, and their
greatest proximity just below the roo1 of the antennae. Front excavated, flattened, broad ; ocelli present; bristles short, two divaricate ones at the angles of the eyes above, the frontal and ocellar bristles absent or present. Antennae short i third joint oval, with a bare or plumose arista. Face broad, carinate or with a strong median tubercle ; checks broad. Clypeus projecting; no vibriseae. Proboscis short, with thickened labella; 'palpi short, broadly spatulate. Occiput nearly plane. Thorax elongate ; mesonot~i~n nearly bare,.



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the bristles short and confined to the sides and posterior margin. Scutellum with
bristles. Abdomen shorter than the wings, flattened; ovipositor telescopic, projecting; hypopvgium largelyconcealed. Legs stout; all the femora thickened. Auxiliary vein of the wings well-developed, elongate, reaching nearly to the middle; basal cells large; last section of the fourth vein oblique, the first posterior cell nearly closed before the tip of the wing. All the tibiae with a preapical bristle, the middle tibiae only, with spurs. Among the five species from which
these characters are derived, there is a considerable variation in other struct-
ural characters, of ~ufficient importance, I believe, to render the dis~ncmbeiment
of the genus Rhopalomera of Weide-
mann advisable, as follows : -
RHOPALOMERA Wiedemann, Analecta En-
torn. 1824.
A pair of posterioroecllar bristles present; no frontal bristles; face tuberculate; anten- nae not inserted under a frontal projection; arista bare or plumose; scutellum pyiamidal, directed obliquely upwards.. Wingb spotted (unspotted in R. ciliafa),
RHOPALOMYIA, gen. nov
Posterior ocellar bristles present; two
short frontal bristles on each side; antennae inserted under a projection of the front; arista plumose ; face urinate ; scutelium oval, not prominent; hind tibiae dilated and -with tubercles.
No ocellar or frontal bristles; antennae not inserted under an angle of the front; face tubeicuhue; arista plumose; scutellum oval ; hind tibiae slender.
In the following table I have en-
deavored to include all the valid or
recognizable species now known,
belonging to these three genera, though
it must be remembered that some of
them are unknown to me.
I. Wings brownish black . . Rhopalomera femorata. Wings with distinct markings
. 2.
Wings without distinct markings .
4-
z. Wings with numerous small spots . Rhopalomera macuZ/fennz's. Wings with fewer, larger spots .
3-
3. Wings clouded with brown along the veins . Rhopalomera flavicef s. Wings brown and hyaline, spotted, with dark brown clouds on the cross-veins. Rhopalomera chvipes, tibialis.
Wings hyaline and yellowish, with brown clouds Rhopalomera stictica. 4. Antennae and palpi yellow ; hind tibiae broad varipes.
Not such species . . 5-
5. Scutellum pyramidal ; hind tibiae densely ciliate ; arista bare. Rhopalomera ciliafa, n. sp.
Scutellum oval . 6.
6. Hind tibiae dilated . . .
JR.ho$alomyia plewofinctata.
Hind tibiae slender, arcuate . . A~o~horhy~~chusJlavidus, n. sp.



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Jammy 1895.J PSYCHE. 185
Rhopalomera clavipes Fabricius, Syst.
Antl. 320 (Dictya) ; Wiedemann, Analect. Entom. 17, fig. 12; Auss. Zw. Ius. ii, 571, pl. x, f. 9.- South America.
?Ro-paZomera tibiali.~ Walker, Dipt. Saun- ders. 375, pi. viii, f. 8.
A true IU~opalo~~~era, allied to the
following species.
Little can be made
from Walker's description, but West-
wood's figure, and such of the descrip-
tion as is not meaningless, seem to
indicate that clavipes and tibidis are
identical. Possibly, however, Ubialk
is synonymous with stict'ica.
Rhopalomera stictica Wiedemann, A~iss.
ZK. Ins. ii, 573 ; Schiner, Reise der Novat-n, Dipt. 322.-Brazil.
r.
1he description of this specks ns
given by Schiner applies well to two
specimens before me.
Rhopalomera ? femorata Fahrici~is, Syst. Antl. 326; Wiecleinann, Auss. ZIT. Ins. ii, 571.- Soiilh America.
The position of this species cannot
be dcicrn~incd Horn the description.
Rhopalomera maculipennis Macquart,
Dipt. Exot. ii, 3, 203, pi. xxvii, fig. z.~ Brazil.
Ro$domera flu~ct;fezm's Rondani, Esarne. etc., 20; Schiner, Reise der Novara, Dipt. 23%-Brazil.
Ko-pdomera similis Rondani, I. c. -
Brazil.
3.
Front reddish yellow, brownis11 at the
middle and blackish about the ocelli ; a slender silvery line on each orbit. First two joints of the antennae reddish yellow, the third black, except at the immediate base; second joint with a sinull bristleabove. Face opaque yellow; cheeks a little more red- dish, with light yellow hair. Paipi yellow. Mesonoturn ochraceousyellow, with similarly colored pollen, beneath which there are seen three brown or blackish stripes. Pleurae for the most part like the tnesonotum; a black spot below the humeri, and the metanotum in part pitchy brown. Abdomen black; each segment on its posterior part with four nearly contignoiis silvery whitespots. Legs reddish yellow, the femora and tibiae in large part, cspeciallj: the posterior side of the four anterior femora, pitchy brown or blackish; all tlie metatarsi light^yellow, the distal joints brownish ; all the femora thickened, the hind pair much so, and all with rather long', light yellow pile below; tibiae on the inner side distally with black pile; hind tibiae consider- ably dilated and with four long bristles, each inserted on a conspicuous tubercle; the four posterior femora with spinons bristles on the ouler side inferiorly. Wings yellowish hya- line, with numerous snidl, brown spots, the largest and deepest colored of which are situiited, one nearly back of the tip of the auxiliary vein, one on the antefiorcross-vein, and the third at the tip of the second vein. Length II mm.
Two specimens, Rio dc Janeiro,
13. 13. Sinitli, Nov.
This description
does not fully agree with the original by Macquart, nevertheless I have but little doubt of the clete-initiaiion. Macquart
says : *' Thorax noiritre, pointill6 de
blanch?ttrc ; deux batx-les jaunatres, in- tcrrompues ; flancs i bande testache,"
etc., and describes the abdomen as
simply noiratre." He rcprescnts the
front in his figure as having long bristles, which it is needless to say do not exist. I feel equally confident that R. pzi.ncti- pennis Rondani is the same species,
Rondani also describes another spe-
cies as R. s'imilis, which be thought
night be a variety of his R. functifien- m's, in which opinion I fully agree.




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186 PSYCHE. 1 iainiary 1895.
Rhopalomera ciliata, n. sp.
9.
Front black, the sides behind and near
theocelli reddish, covered with golden pollen, variable in different lights. Antennae red, third joint large, bi'o~idly black on Hie upper side; arista black, quite bare. Face bliick, brown and reddish, in the middle above yel- lowish. Occiput broadly golden pollinose. Piilpi black. Mesonoturn brownish red, wit11 a slender median stripe, a pair of broader, lateral ones, and the lateral margins golden nollinose, Abdomen yellowish red, shining; each segment with fourspots of silvery pollen variable in different reflections. Legs yel- lowish red, the femora and tibiae in the middle more or less brown; tili-si, except- the middlemetatarsi, brown or black; hind tibiae extraordinarily dilated: on the inner posterior margin with five or six long bristles inserted on tubercles; on the outer posterior. pro- dnccd, thin edge densely blnck ciliate; tarsi much flattened. Sculellnm yellow, reddish above. Wings nearly uniformly yellowish ; at the tip in front brownish. Length 12
mm.
One specimen. Chapada, Brazil,
H. 13. Smith.
?Rhopalomera flaviceps Macquart, Dipt.
Exot Snppl. i, 336, pi. xviii, f. 6.-New Grenada.
The position of this species cannot
he made out from the brief description
given.
Rhopalomyia pleuropunctata Wiedemann,
Anal. Entom. 18; Auss. Zv-. Ins. ii: ,572 (Ropaloinera).-Brazil.
l~opalomera vitfif-rons Rondani, Esame,
etc., 20.-'Brazil.
rf, 9. Front brown, moderately shining:
with irregularities; on the lower projecting margin more yellowish; the narrow orbits and a binall stripe in the middle, when
seen obliquely, silvery white. Face opaque yellow, with a median brown stripe over
the carina; cheeks below tlie eyes In-own. Clype~is dark brown, shining; palpi brown, the immediate tip yellowish. Posterior
orbits silvery uhite. The width of the
cheeks is equal to about two-thirds the
vertical diameter of the eyes. Antennae
red, third joint oval; arista plumose.
Mesonotnin dark brown or reddish biown,
opaque, with four whitish stripes, the inner ones continued on the sides of the scntellum, the outer ones piinct~ilate in front; between the inner pair of stripes, there is EI median, narrower, less conspicuous one. Pleurae
whitish pollinose, mid, on the more promi- nent part, in well-preserved specimens, the ground-color shows through in smn.ll, round spots. Tegulae white; haltereslight yellow. Abdomen more nearly black, opaque, with
four rows of silvery white spots, those of the inner rows sninllcr; oviduct shining black. Legs pitchy black, the immediate
base of the hind tibiae ?ellow, and in well- preserved specimens silrery white; all the rnetatar'-ii, snve the extreme tip, light yel- low; hind tibiae dilated, -wiLli fuur or five longbristles arising from tubercles. Wings light brownish yellowish, a little darker near the costa. Length 8-10 mm.
Twenty specimens, Chtipada, Brazil,
H. H. Smith. I have no doubt of the
identity of this species. Wiedemann,
it is true, in Iiis generic description
speaks of a t~~berclc on the face, but in his specific description calls the face
convex, which applies. Ronclani's
description differs only in minor details. He makes no mention of a facial stripe,
and calls the thorax lilacliisl~.
Apophorhynchus flavidus, 11. sp.
9.
Front opaque yellowish red, the large,
acutely pointed, depressed ocellar triangle whitish pollinose; orbits silvery pollinose. Face yellow, shining, the tubercle very




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January 1895.1 PS2'-a. 187
large. Cheeks not one-third the vertical .diameter of the eyes. Antennae yellowish red. Palpi light yellow. Thorax dark
reddish brown, opaque, the mesonotun1
with a pair of stripes and the lateral mar- gins yellowish white pollinose. Pleurae
with a similar light colored stripe at about its middle. Abdomen deep reddish brown
or blnck, opaque, with the lateral margins opaque light yellow; ovipositor yellow.
Legs wholly light yellow; the four anterior femora only a little thickened; tip of hind tibiae and the distal joints of all the tarsi brown ; hind femora considerably thick-
ened; hind tibiae arcunte, not dilated, with a few short bristles on the outer side;
all the femora with spiny bristles on the under side distally. Wings brownish,
lighter colored along the costa; first pos- terior cell elongate. Scutellum yellowish, whitish pollinose. Length 8-9 inm.
Two specimens, Chapada, Brazil,
H. H. Smith.
A PSYLLID LEAF-GALL ON CELTIS, PROBABLY PACHYPSYLLA CELTIDIS-PUBESCENS RILEY.
BY C. 11. TYLER TOWNSEND, LAS CRUCES, N. M. On May 14, 1892, I found at Riley's
water, at western base of the Organ
Mountains, some small leaf-galls on
CeZtis occidentaZis. The tree was
determined by Mr. Walter H. Evans,
who was will] me at the time. The
galls at that chite showed on the upper
side of the leaves as small swellings
about 3 to 5 mm. in diameter, with a pit in the center, thus appearing like raised circles. On the underside they showed
simply as smaller warts covered with
fine rather long pubescence. Several
galls occurred on the same leaf.
On Nov. 26, 1892, in the north end
of the same range, south of San ALI~US-
tine and part way up from the base of
the mountains, there were found numer-
ous fallen leaves of Celtis containing
fully developed galls of this species.
As many as 20 galls occuried on one
small leaf. There were occasionally
some double galls. The fallen leaves
were green in color, but nearly dry.
This gall appears without mncli doubt
to be that of Pachypsylla celtidis-
$descens Riley, as it agrees well with
the description.
The dried galls on the leaves just
mentioned measure 3 to 3 mm. in
diameter on the lower glob~tlnr portion. The upper circular rim-like portion is
3 to 4 mm. in diameter. Only galls from
which the occupants had emerged were
measured. The exit holes are in the
side of the pit-like depiession on upper surface of leaf. They are elongate
openings, so as to allow the egress of
the wide-bodied and flattened pupa.
Occasionally a gall has a small circtilar opening, in one case this being in the
globular portion of the gall on the under side of the leaf. These mark the exit of a small l~y~nenopterous parasite.
Some of the above dried galls having
no exit hole were opened, and some




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