with ti-ie description of one new genus and...

Psyche IApril

NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND TACHINID2E, WITH TI-IEDESCRIPTION OF ONE NEW GENUS AND TWO NEW

SPECIES.

BY HARRISON E. SMITH,Entomological Assistant, Cereal and Forage Insect Investigations,

United States Bureau of Entomology.

Pseudotachinomyia gen. nov.

Head wider than thorax, antenn inserted above the eye middle,as viewed from the side, the head projects in front of the eye,nearly one-half the horizontal diameter of the eye. Probosisrobust, shorter than height of head, palpi large, vibriss strong,cruciate, placed slightly above the front edge of the oral margin.Facial ridges bristly on at least the lower half, antennm nearly aslong as face, frontal bristles descending below the base of the thirdantennal joint. Eyes bare (microscopically, sparsely hairy), sidesof face on lower half bare, less than one-third as wide as the facialdepression, ocellar bristles proclinae. Wings hyaline, the firstlongitudinal vein bare, apical cell open, ending well before theextreme wing tip, bend of fourth longitudinal vein without distinctstump or long w.rinkle. Abdomen short conical, male hypopyg-ium projecting, female with wide, shining black pseudo-ovipositor.Type, the following species:

Pseudotachinomyia webberi sp. nov.

Black, gray pollinose species. Length, 6-10 mm.Front in male nearly as wide as, in female about one and one-

third times as wide as either eye, frontal vitta opaque brownishblack, wider than sides of front. Parafrontals yellowish graypollinose, frontal bristles in a single row, outside of these numerousfine, long, bristly hairs. Antennae black, faintly tinged with rufousat base of third antennal joint, the third joint in male about fivetimes as long as, in female from two and one-half to three times aslong as, the second. Arista as long as the antennae, microscopic-ally sparsely pubescent, thickened on approximately the basalthird, the penultimate joint two times as long as broad, cheeks atleast one-fourth as wide as the eye height, palpi yellow. Thorax

1917] Smith--New England Tachinidoe 55

grayish pollinose, as viewed from behind, marked with four wideblack virtue. Three postsutural and three sternopleural macro-chete. Scutellum black or reddish yellow at apex, denselygray pollinose, bearing three pairs of long marginal and a shortercruciate apical pair of macrochete. Scutellar disk clothed withmany fine long erect hairs and a pair of discal macrochete. Legsblack, knees yellowish, front pulvilli in male about as long as, infemale one-half as long as, the last tarsal joint. Middle tibiae onthe outer front side each, bearing several long macrochete, thehind tibiae with a row of stout bristles of irregular length. Abdo-men yellowish gray pollinose, marked with several distinct shiningblack reflecting spots and a median black vitta. First segmentbearing a median marginal pair of marcochete, second segment amedian discal and marginal pair, third segment a median discalpair and a marginal row, and the fourth segment a discal and mar-ginal row. Fine, long, bristly hairs of abdomen sub-erect. ]Ialehypopygium projecting, the genitalia curving forward beneath thefourth abdominal segment, the tip of the forceps resting in a sheathformed by a bisected flap-like projection on either side of the me-dian renter of the fourth segment. Ventral aspects of forceps atbase somewhat narrow, gradually broadening to their greatestwidth, whence they taper to a point at the tip. Inner margin offorceps on basal half, and the outer margin bearing bristly blackhairs, the remaining surface shining brownish black with a fewscattered black hairs. In the female the sheath of the ovipositoris similar in form to sheath of forceps in the male, but is not bi-sected on its front surface. The female ovipositor is not distinctlyvisible, but what appears to be this organ is shining black in color,broad at base and sharply pointed at tip. Wings longer than abdo-men, small cross-vein far before tip of first longitudinal vein, thirdlongitudinal vein bearing two to six bristles at its base, posteriorend of hind cross-vein nearer to bend of the fourth longitudinalvein than to the small cross-vein. Calypteres milky white.

Described from 4 males and 9 females. (Holotype, U. S. N. V[.

Cat. No. 001) a male taken at Melrose Highlands, Mass., May16, ’15. (Allotype, U. S. N. M:.) a female taken at Malden, V[ass.,May 15, ’15. (Paratypes) 1 male, 4 females taken at V[alden,Mass., May 8, ’15; males, 3 females taken at Melrose High-

Vestigial first abdominal segment not considered.

56 Psyche [April

lands, h/lass., June 15, ’1, and May 0 to June , ’15, placed incollection of author and the Gypsy Y[oth Parasite Laboratory.(Paratype) one female taken at Amherst, Mass., by unknownstudent at Massachusetts Agricultural College, during May orJune, 191, placed in collection of that institution. With theexception of the Amherst specimen, the others were taken byV[r. R. T. Webber, after whom this fine species is named.

Sciasma frontalis sp. nov.

Shining bluish black, destitute of pollen. Length, 4 ram.Front one and one-third times as wide as either eye, frontal

bristles descending to middle of second antennal joint, outside ofthese an anterior pair of proclinate and a pair of reclinate bristles.Ocellar bristles very weak, directed divergingly forward, rontalvitta about four-fifths as wide as sides of front. Parafrontals tobase of second antennal joint opaque black, parafacials fulfous,eyes bare. Sides of face on lower half bare, about two-fifths aswide as the frontal vitta, facial plate deeply concave, hardly one-half as wide at base of antennm as at the vibrisse. Antennmorange yellow, the second joint nearly as long as the third, aristablack, thickened on the basal fourth to one-third, the penultimatejoint broader than long. Vibrisse cruciate, placed on a level withthe front edge of the oral margin, diameter of head at vibrisse aboutas long as at base of antennae, cheeks one-tenth as wide as the eyeheight. Thorax shining bluish black, not vittate, one postuturaland two sCernopleural macrocheet. Scutellum bearing a singlepair of long marginal and a shorter apical pair of macrochmte.Legs black, except the front cox and femora which are yellowish,hind tibi pectinate with two or three widely separated shortbristles. Abdomen flattened, somewhat conical in shape, clothedwith short appressed bristly hairs, several weak macrochetm onmargin of the fourth segment, the genitalia large and bulbous,curving forward beneath the fourth segment. Wings to tip ofthe second longitudinal vein wholly smoky brown, the remainderhyaline, veins destitute of setule, apical cell closed, the apex ofthird longitudinal vein obsolete. Anterior pair of calypteres sub-hyaline, the posterior pair smoky brown.

Described from a single female (ttolotype) taken by the writerat West Springfield, Mass., August 13, 1915. Placed in the col-

1917] Smith--New England Tachinidee 57

lection of the Boston ’Society of Natural History. There is noevidence of the palpi being present in the specimen, and as thesedo not appear to be hidden in the oral cavity, nor the specimen tohave been injured at this point, it is not improbable that morematerial will prove this species generically distinct.

Pelatachina pellucida Coq.

During May, 191, the writer reared specimens of this species atthe Gypsy Moth Parasite Laboratory. The tachinid maggots hademerged from the larwe of Euvanessa antiopa Linn., during themonth of August, 1911, hibernating in the puparia through thewinter of 1911-1. From 344 of the lepidopterous larvm taken inthe Lynn Woods, Mass., 14 puparia of this tachinid were obtained.Superparasitism existed to a great extent in the host larwe, thus,the figures do not indicate the exact percentage of parasitism.The maggots live within the host, located in typical integumentalfunnels. The anal stigmata of the puparia are highly raised withthe dorsal surface reticulated. A series of the reared specimenscompared with the type of the species in the United States NationalMuseum, appear identical with the specimen described by Coquil-lett. To my knowledge, this is the first record of this genus hav-ing been reared in North America although Brauer and Bergen-stamm record the rearing of the genotype, Pelatachina tibialisFall. from Vanessa urtice Linn. in Europe.

Compsilura concinnata VIeig.

Since the introduction of this species from Europe and theestablishing of it in the United States, by the United States Bureauof Entomology, as one of the foremost primary parasites of Por-thetria dispar Linn. and Euproctis chrysorrha Linn., it is known tohave been reared from more than twenty species of native NorthAmerican Lepidoptera. In the study of reared Tachinidm fromvarious New England sources, it has been noted that this speciesis particularly prolific as a parasite of Euvanessa antiopa Linn.In certain instances of its parasitism upon this host in the New

Rev. N. Amer. Tach., p. 65. In the Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. xxviii, pp. 19-24, Feb. 12,1915. Townsend proposed the genus Eohyria for the reception of P. pellucida Coq., designat-ing it the genotype.

Die Zweifltlgler des Kais. Mus. zu Wien., p. 558.

58 Psyche [April

England States, the percentage of parasitism has been well over50 per cent. At times, as many as five maggots have maturedwithin an individual host. I have before me a single female ofthis species, reared from Callosamia promethia Drury, M:ay ,1914, by Mr. William Reiff at lorest Hills, Mass. These dataappear to establish the fact that Compsilura concinnata hibernatesthrough the winter in New England in the pupa of this host.The writer has also reared a male and female of this species, from apupa of Diacrisia virginica labr., taken as a larva late in the fallof 1915 at West Springfield, Mass., the adult Compsilura issuingMay 1-15, 1916. The tachinid maggots apparently hibernate inthe host pupa until just before they are ready to pupate, whence,they leave the host pupa, probably in early April, and pupatewithin the cocoon of their host.

Ixoristoides slossonse Coq.Three males of this species before me, taken at Bennington, Vt.’

June 18, 1915, by Mr. C. W. Johnson. One male with setulmpresent upon the first longitudinal vein agrees in detail with Co-quillett’s description of slossone. The remaining two specimenswithout the presence of setulm upon the first longitudinal vein,agree with the description of Exorista spinipennis Coq., yet it isevident that all three specimens are conspecific. The characterof setulm being present upon the first longitudinal vein, within thelimits of E. slossona, is a variable one. With the exception of thischaracter the descriptions of Exorista spinipennis and E. slossoneare almost identical. I consider Exorista spinipennis Coq. asynonym of Exoristoides slossona Coq.

1Rev. N. Amer. Tach., p. 90-91.Rev. N. Amer. Tach., p. 95.

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