C. W. Johnson.
Dipterological Notes.
Psyche 19(3):102-104, 1912.

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102 Psyche [June
theory that the movements of wasps are tropisms in the sense the term is used by Loeb; nor is it apparent how it can be the result of what Thorndike calls "trial and error7' movements. Her whole behavior is that of a creature struggling, against obstacles, to attain a certain known place in a known environment. DIPTEROLOGICAL NOTES.
BY CHARLES W. JOHNSON.
Boston Society of Natural History.
Chionea valga Harris.
A specimen was found by Mr. J. H. Emerton while sifting for spiders at Tyngsboro, Mass., December 6, 1911. This date was
more than three weeks prior to any snow in this section, and indi- cates that the appearance of this insect on snow is merely acci- dental. The imago probably emerges during the late fall and passes the winter in that state. The difficulty in seeing this wing- less gnat excepting when it happens to crawl upon the snow, makes its life habits hard to study.
Cholomyia longipes Fabricius.
Musca longipes Fabr., Syst. Antl., p. 298, 1805. Chobmyia inipquipes Bigot, Bull. Soc. Ent. France, Vol. IV, 6 ser., pt. 2, p. XXXVII, 1884.
Thelairodes basalis Giglio-Tos. Bull. R. Univ. Torino, VIII, No. 147, p. 3, 1893; Ditt. del Mess. 111, p. 65, 1894.
While studying some South American diptera, my attention was called to a specimen which had been in my collection for some time that had been collected by Mr. E. Daecke at Richmond Hill, Long Island, N. Y., July 2, 1901. I was greatly surprised to find that it agreed with a specimen from the Caura Valley, Venezuela, collected by Mr. S. M. Klages. Recently Dr. 0. A. Johannsen spoke of a specimen taken at Ithaca, N. Y., which he identified as C. incequipes Bigot, as figured by Van der Wulp (Biol. Cent. Amer. Dipt., 11, 247, pi. 4, f. 1,2.) This distribution is further augmented by specimens in the National Museum from Peaks of Otter, Va. (W. Palmer) ;
Mo. (from Conotrachelus) ; and Marion, La., bred



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19121 Johnson~Dipterological Notes 103
from Conotrachelus juglandis. Another feature which is brought to light is that all the C. longipes are males, while of the specimens of Thelairodes basalis with a similar distribution are females. The latter has been recorded from Dover and Orange Mts., N. J., and specimens are in the National Museum from Lexington, Ky., and Lawrence, Kans.
Similar records of wide distribution of species of Dexiidse are not uncommon. Euantha liturata Oliv. (Dexia dives Wied.) ex- tends from Guatemala to New Jersey. Cordyligaster minuscula V. d. Wulp, (C. septentrionalis Towns.) Mexico to Virginia and Maryland. Dexia vertebrata Say., New Hampshire to Florida and westward to Arizona. Thelairodes cineriicollis V. d. Wulp, Mexico to New Jersey. That C. inaquipes Bigot, is the same as longipes Fabr. there seems to be no doubt. Wohlfahrtia opaca Coquillett.
Paraphyto opaca Coq., Revis. Tachin., p. 123, 1897. The presence of this genus in North America has been known to the writer for a long time, but the determination of the species was quite a different matter, as few realized that it had already been described as a Tachinid under the genus Paraphyto. This
error together with others which unavoidably entered into the first attempt of a work of the magnitude of the "Revision of the Tachinidae of America north of Mexico," had been discovered by Mr. Coquillett, and it is to be greatly regretted that he was unable to make a revised edition of this most comprehensive and valu- able work ever published in the North American Tachinidae. Sometime ago I received from ~rofessor S. Arthur Johnson, three specimens of this species collected at Fort Collins, Col., May 8 and June 21, 1901. Recently I received from Dr. E. G. Titus five specimens collected at Logan, Utah, April 20, 1908; Lehi, Utah, July 1, 1908, and Cache Junction, Utah, May 1, 1906. Coquillett in his "Type-species of the North America Genera of Diptera," makes Wohlfahrtia a synonym of Sarcophila. As the two genera are considered distinct by European authors, I prefer to treat them accordingly. The species agree quite well with the description of W. meigenii of Europe, but a comparison of speci- mens is necessary for accuracy.




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