Ruminations on Ruinations

We can see ruins as objects that have a foot in three different times: the past, the present, and the future. This is the nature of the ruin: they help us imagine the past, affords us interesting aesthetic opportunities in the present, and asks us to project ourselves (and it) into the future. We think about those who once lived, our own current experience, and what will be. There are two kinds of aesthetic experiences of ruins that are often conflated: that of recording the ruin be it in poetry, prose, or picture and that of engaging with a ruin qua ruin (the experience of the ruin in situ). In this paper I discuss ruin appreciation and the major and minor appreciations discussed by Rose Macaulay. Minor forms of appreciation include graffiti while contemplating the sublime and engaging in multisensory ruinlust are considered major forms of appreciation

Excursions!

Postcard from Morgan Scarbrough, during the Linfield College Semester Abroad Program at the Institut Américain Universitaire in Aix-en-Provence, Franc

New and old species of Ommatius Wiedemann (Diptera: Asilidae) from Hispaniola

Four new species of Ommatius Wiedemann, the female of O. stramineus Scarbrough, and the male of 0. nigellus Scarbrough from Hispaniola are described. A lectotype for O. gwenae Scarbrough and a neotype for O. cinnamomeus are selected. Notes of previously named species, new records, illustrations of terminalia, and a key to the species are included

West Indian species of Beameromyia Martin (Diptera: Asilidae)

The West Indian species of Beameromyia Martin are reviewed. Four new species are described, and Beameromyia insulara Martin and B. cubensis (Bigot) are redescribed. Illustrations of the genitalia and a key to the known West Indian species are included

New Ommatius Wiedemann from the Americas with two new species groups, keys, and taxonomic notes (Diptera: Asilidae)

Two species groups are proposed for Ommatius Wiedemann, normus and tibialis species groups, increasing the number to eight groups from the Americas. The normus group includes six species, two of which are new, O. nebulosus n. sp. and O. tepui n. sp., from Venezuela. This species group thus far extends from Venezuela southward into Paraguay and southern Brazil. Ommatius pulcher (Engel) is redescribed and a neotype designated. The tibialis group includes eight previously described species from eastern and southwestern United States. Ommatius gemma Brimley is transferred to the costatus group. Keys to the eight species groups and the species of the normus group with illustrations of diagnostic characters are provided. Notes and new distribution data are given for previously described species. The spelling of Ommatius norma Curran and O. ruficauda Curran are changed to agree in gender with the genus name, which is masculine

New species of Damalis Fabricius (Diptera: Asilidae) from Thailand and China

Damalis bigoti, new species, from Thailand, and D. candonensis, new species, from China, are described, illustrated, and compared with known species from these regions

Review of the West Indian species of Efferia Coquillett (Diptera: Asilidae): Part 1. Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, and Jamaica

The genus Efferia Coquillett from the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, and Jamaica is reviewed. The fauna now totals 16 species with 6 new species described (Ef. bellardii n. sp., Ef. bromleyi n. sp., Ef. hinei n. sp., Ef. insula n. sp., Ef. pina n. sp., and Ef. vinalensis n. sp.). Cuba has the greatest diversity with 10 species, Jamaica 3, the Bahamas 2, and the Cayman Islands 1. Efferia stylata (Fabricius) is removed from the species list of these West Indian islands. The wings of Ef. caymanensis Scarbrough and Ef. bromleyi, spermathecae of Ef. bromleyi, Ef. cubensis (Bromley), Ef. insula, Ef. nigritarsis (Hine), and terminalia of all species are illustrated. Keys for the identification of the species are provided. Specimens of two additional species from Cuba are in too poor a condition to be described but their terminalia are illustrated and the species are included in the key to the males