Curran, Charles Howard, 1894-1972.

Slosson, Annie Trumbull, 1838-1926.

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESPublished byNumber 724 TEE AMERICAMtEUAM OF NATURAI HISTORY May 9, 1934New York City59.57,72 SNOTES ON THE SYRPHIDAE IN THE SLOSSON COLLECTIONOF DIPTERABY C. H. CURRANThe Slosson Collection of Diptera, now in The American Museum'of Natural History, is in wretched condition, having been very badlyinfested with Dermestes when received at the Museum. Since its arrivalit has been well cared for but, nevertheless, very many of the speciesare represented by-fragments only, and some by nothing more than '-pin and label. All the specimens now bear the Slosson Collection labell'and will eventually be incorporated in the general collection..During the transfer of the Syrphidae it seems advisable to note therather numerous misidentifications, since many published records arebased upon the specimens. Where determinations are correct no men-tion is made of the species, but in other cases notes are given.Microdorn fusciteznnis MacquartThe specimen from Franconia, N. H., is globosus Fabricius.Microdonl.tristis LoewOf the five specimens, not one is in good condition and only'threeare recognizable: two of these are cothurnatus Bigot while one is tristis.All are from Franconia, N. H.Microdon speciesTwo specimens from Newfoundland, N. J., are M. ocellaris Curran.Epistrophe grossulariae MeigenOne of the specimens from Delaware Water Gap is the typical form,while the other is variety nmelanis Curran.Epistrophe umbellatarum SchinerThe three specimens are without head, but are evidently E. mentalisWilliston.Syrphus ribesii'LinnaeusThe four specimens are in poor condition. They are as follows:one S. rectus Osten Sacken from Franconia, N. H.; one S. vitripennisAMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESMeigern from Franconia, N. H.; two S. ribesii vittafrons Shannon fromDelaware Water Gap and Richmond, Va.Syrphus arcuatus FallenThree specimens from Franconia, N. H., are lapponicus Zetterstedt.Baccha notata LoewA female from "Florida" is not notata, but is too poor to beidentified.Mesograrmma duplicata WiedemannOne male from Biscayne Bay, Fla., is planiventris Loew; one malefrom Biscayne Bay, Fla., is florale Fabricius; two specimens aredestroyed.Mesogramma parvula LoewThe single specimen, from Niagara, N. Y., is a female Toxomerusgeminatus Say.Platycheirus hyperboreus StaegerThe single female under this label is P. erraticus Curran.Platycheirus quadratus SayThe male from Newport, Vt. (only the thorax and part of the legsleft), is imimarginatus Zetterstedt and the female, from Franconia, N. H.,is the same speciesMelanostoma obscurum SayThe specimen bearing this label is from Richmond, Va., and is amale of a species of Cartosyrphus but is too damaged for identification.Pipiza pistica WillistonOne female in perfect condition is Heringia salax Loew the other,without head, is a species of Pipiza.Pipiza puella WillistonThe female from Franconia, N. H., in puella. The male is probablyP. femoralis nigripilosa Williston.Pipiza festiva MeigenFemale, Delaware Water Gap, is P. femoralis Loew.2 [No. 7241934] SYRPHIDAE IN THE SLOSSON COLLECTIONPipiza pisticoides WillistonFrom Franconia, N. H. The female lacks head but is a species ofPipizeUa. The male is Cnemodon calcarata Loew.Pipiza pulchella WillistonBoth specimens are damaged beyond recognition, but they belongto Pipizella.Cheilosia petulca WillistonFranconia and Mt. Washington, N. H. This is Cheilosia orilliaensisCurran.Cheilosia lasiophthalmusA female from Mt. Washington lacks head. It is not lasiophthaimusbut one of the related species known from the east.Cheilosia leucoparea Loew and cyanescens LoewBoth specimens are damaged beyond recognition.Cheilosia occidentalis WillistonA male and female from Mt. Washington, pinned together, are C.orilliaensis Curran.Neoascia globosa WalkerThe single male from Franconia, N. H., is Sphegina flavimanaMalloch.Sphegina lobata LoewMale, Mt. Washington, and male, Franconia, N. H., are S. rufiventrisLoew.Two males from Franconia, N. H., are S. flavrimana Malloch.Sphegina infuscata LoewThe female from Colorado is correctly named. The female fromFranconia, N. H., is S. rufiventris Loew.Sphegina keeniana WillistonNeither of the two females is definitely recognizable, but from'theremnants one of them appears to be correctly named.Temnostoma bombylans FabriciusTwo males and one female from Mt. Washington are T. obscuraLoew. Two females from Mt. Washington and one from Franconia,N. H., are T. trifasciata Robertson.3AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES [No. 724Criorhina verbosa HarrisThe specimen labeled as this species is Brachypalpus oarus Walker.Xylota ejuncida SayOne female from Franconia, N. H., is ejuncida Say; another femalefrom Franconia is melanic but belongs here.Male from Franconia is X. subfasciata Loew, and a female fromDelaware Water Gap is the same species.Xylota nemorum LinnaeusThe single male from Watkinis Glen, N. Y., is X. ejuncida Say.Xylota anthreas WalkerMale and female from Franconia, N. H., are Myiolepta nigra Loew.Another male from Franconia is a species of Xylota but lacks head.Perhaps it is analis Williston, but I cannot be sure at present.Xylota elongata WillistonA female from Franconia, N. H., is a rather melanic specimen ofX. ejuncida Say.Xylota analis WillistonA female from Cherry Harbor, Fla., is evidently the female of X.?'iridaenea Shannon.Xylota pigra FabriciusTwo specimens from Delaware Water Gap are X. bicolor Loew, theother three specimens are X. pigra.Sericonyia slossonae, new speciesDistinguished from described species by the black pilose thorax and abdomen andthe narrow yellow abdominal fasciae. Length, 11 to 12 mm.MALE.-Face creamy yellow, with a moderately broad median stripe that iswidest above and reaches the base of the antennae; oral margin and cheeks shiningblack, the color on the latter extending halfway up the face; in profile almost perpen-dicular, the tubercle moderately large, not very long, as prominent as the tip of theantennal prominence, the lower part produced well below the lower border of the eye.Frontal triangle black, thickly covered, except immediately above the antennae, byyellowish-white pollen similar to that on the yellow part of the face. Middle portionof face white pubescent, lateral margins and frontal triangle whitish pilose, the latterwith a few black hairs above. Vertical triangle black, thinly pale pollinose, with blackpile. Occiput grayish pollinose, black pilose on upper half, white pilose below. An-tennae reddish, first segment fuscous, the second somewhat piceous red; third segment subrectangular, slightly longer below, slightly broader than long, the corner41934] SYRPHIDAE IN THE SLOSSON COLLECTIONrounded, the upper surface convex. Arista reddish, its base piceous, the rays long,sparse, yellow.Thorax deep shining black, the mesonotum before the suture thinly yellowishpollinose, leaving a geminate median stripe more shining in certain lights. Pile onpollinose portion and narrow upper margin of pleura, yellowish, elsewhere black, notlong. Scutellum concolorous with thorax; wholly black pilose.Femora black, their apices narrowly reddish; tibiae reddish, their middle half ormore diffuse brownish; tarsi blackish, the first segment reddish, the second brownish.Hind trochanters without spur.Wings yellowish anteriorly, the color fading to almost hyaline or cinereous pos-teriorly. Third longitudinal vein distinctly curved upward beyond the middle of thefirst posterior cell. Squamae and halteres yellow, the former with yellow fringe.Abdomen opaque black, the first segment, lateral margins, and apices of thesegments increasingly more widely so, shining deep black. Yellow fasciate spots onsecond segment rather narrowly separated and slightly oblique, the posterolateralcorner rounded, the hind margins practically straight; inner ends slightly narrowed,sharply rounded in front, the outer end occupying nearly one-third the length of thesegment as it is rather triangularly produced forward. The bands on the third andfourth segments are similar in shape but only slightly widened laterally, nearer thefront margin and very narrowly interrupted. Fourth segment half shining. Pileblack with the exception of a few hairs laterally on apical segment and most ofthe ventral hairs.FEMALE.-Differs only sexually; front dulled with grayish pollen, a broad bandat the vertex brownish yellow, another below the middle of front grayish yellow, thefrontal pile black. The third yellow abdominal band is not, or only obscurely, inter-rupted in the middle; on the fourth segment there is a basal yellow fascia that isbroadly interrupted in the middle, the spots thus formed tapering to a sharp pointat their inner ends. Fifth segment yellow pilose.Holotype male, allotype female, and another headless female from Franconia,N. H. (Mrs. Slosson).The male was determined as chalcopyga Loew, the female as lap-pona Linn&. There is a male in the United States National Museuim andanother in the Museum of Comparative Zo6logy, Cambridge.This is the form of which I had seen only males and considered to bethe unknown male of S. sexfasciata Walker. The fact that the femaleshows no difference in abdominal maculation proves that my previousconcluisions were erroneous.In 1926, R. C. Osburn described new species related to sexfasciatawhich he placed in the genus Condidea Coquillett. This genus is hardlytenable, being based upon the presence of spots instead of fasciae on theabdomen and the strong curvature of the third longitudinal vein as wellas an allegedly differently shaped abdomen. All the species of Seri-comyia have the third vein more or less curved, there is no marked differ-ence in the shape of the abdomen, and only the difference in abdominal5AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITA TESmaculation remains. On this basis only the genotype of Condidea, lata,belongs in this genus, the others all being referable to Sericomyia.The species may be separated as follows:1.-Abdomen with only one yellow band ....... ............ carolinensis Metcalf-Abdomen with two or three yellow or whitish bands, or spots arranged in rows-first band sometimes very wide................................ 2.2.-Face without a median black stripe.................................... 3.Face with a median black stripe ....................................... 4.3.-Third vein strongly curved into first posterior cell; first pair of spots very large,the following bands broken into spots........ Condidea lata Coquillett.Third vein nearly straight; face strongly produced downward; abdomen withthree bands............................... cynocephala Hine.4.-Fourth abdominal segment without a crossband; those on the second and thirddistinct; male................................ bifasciata Williston.Normally three bands; if only two, none on the second segment ..... ....... 5.5.-Yellow band on second abdominal segment twice as wide as the following yellowbands................................................... 6.Yellow band on second segment but little wider than following bands ........ 7.6.-Spots on second abdominal segment narrowed in the middle. . sexfasciata Walker.Spots on second abdominal segment with parallel sides. ,. tranmversa Osburn.7.-Thorax and abdomen except the fifth abdominal segment in the female, blackpilose......................................... slossonae Curran.Abdomen extensively yellow pilose in both sexes......................... 8.8.-Scutellum distinctly reddish; femora practically all reddish (Europe).lappona Linnaeus.Scutellum sometimes reddish (usually black); if reddish, the femora over halfblack..................................... 9.9.-Spots on the second segment small, often wanting; all the spots small, oblique,dashlike, widest medianly; ground color black; scutellum o&ten somewhatreddish; male hind coxae with a spur ....... ............ militaris Walker.Spots on the second segment very distinct, those on the following segments widelaterally; hind coxae of male with or without spur.................. 10.10.-Abdominal spots oblique............................................. 12.Abdominal spots transverse.......................................... 11.11.-Face produced strongly downward; hind femora of female black, except theapices; abdominal bands cut off obliquely behind, transverse in front;female.......................................... bifasciata Williston.Face not abnormally produced; abdominal bands not oblique behind, scarcelywider laterally; hind femora over one-third reddish; fifth segment withoutred hind border..................................... chalcopyga Loew.Face not abnormally produced; abdominal bands but little oblique behind;fifth segment with red hind margin (Europe).borealis Fallen.12.-Hind coxae of male with strong spur on inner posterior side; hind femora chieflyblack pilose below.................................. 1cakarata Curran.Hind coxae of male without spur; hind femora pale yellow pilose below.chrysotoxoides Macquart.'Female not'known: probably very similar to militaris.6 [No. 7241934] SYRPHIDAE IN THE SLOSSON COLLECTION 7Helophilus latifrons LoewAll the specimens, from Franconia, N. H., Richmond, Va., andDelaware Water Gap, are H. fasciatus Walker.Helophilus glacialis LoewThe specimen from Mt. Washington is H. groenlandicus 0, Fabricius.Helophilus chrysostomus WiedemannThree specimens, Franconia, N. H., and New York, are Lejopslunulatus Meigen.One female from Franconia, N. H., is Lejops relictus Curran andFluke.

Syrphidae in the Slosson Collection

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