A. L. Melander.
Microsania, A Genus of the Platypezidae.
Psyche 29(2):43-48, 1922.

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PSYCHE
VOL. XXIX. APRIL 1922 No. 2
MICROSANIA, A GENUS OF THE PLATYPEZIDAE] BY A. L. MELANDER,
Pullman, Wash.
Murosania Zetterstedt, Isis, 1837, i. 30 [1837]; Ins. Lapp. 534, note [1838];
Dipt. Sc. i. 333 [1842];-
Bigot, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. [6] ix. 123 [1889]; Melander, Williston's 3d. Man. 225 [1908]; Lundbeck, Dipt. Dan. Emp. iii. 18 [1910]; Wahlgren, Ent. Tidskr. xxxi. 43, 47 [1910] Microcyrta Bigot.
Bigot, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. [3] v. 557, 564 [1857]; Coquillett, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. v. 253 D9031:
. .
Pachypeza Lioy, not Serville, Coleoptera, 1835; Lioy, Atti. Inst. Veneto [31 ix. 723 [1863]; Coquillett, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. v. 255 [1903]. Platytelma Rondani.
Rondani, Dipt. Ital. Prodr. i. 138 [1856]; Coquillett, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. v. 256, 261 [1903].
Small, hunchbacked species with open venation and inflexed hypopygium.
Head rather globular, eyes bare, of the male entirely contiguous above the antenna, the facets of the upper two-thirds large, of the female broadly separated, the facets uniform, the front of the female with one pair of vertical and two pairs of orbital bristles, the lower pair converging, and a pair of diverging supraantennal interfrontal bristles; face of the male deeply concave, its sides divergent below, of the female strongly convex below, almost nasiform; proboscis fleshy, short, not extending beyond the broad oral cavity, palpi very wide, disci- form and appressed against the cheeks; occipital hairs sparse but stiff; antenna short, basal joints small, the third joint orbicular, with a terminal tapering arista at whose base are two minute segments. Chaetotaxy of the thorax as follows: one humeral, two or more posthumeral, four to six notopleural 1Joint contribution from the Bussey Institutionof Harvard University No. 150, and the Zoology Laboratory of the State College of Washington. Pu&e 29:43-48 (1922). hup ttpsychu einclub orgtM/M-043 html



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Psyche
arising as an oblique row, several supraalar, one postalar, four scutellar, about ten dorsocentral and a single median row of acrostichal bristles; pleurae entirely bare. Abdomen cylindrical but curving downward in the male, the hairs of the male long, the eighth segment of the female retracted and blunt, the basal three ventral segments of the male inflated, the sixth and seventh segments forming a stout pedicel to the large globose inflexed hypopygium which bends forward under the abdomen. The hypopygium is bilaterally symmetrical and terminates in a pair of small bristly ovate valves and a subdorsal median prong. Legs rather short, the middle tibiae with an apical flexor bristle, hind femora pectinate above, hind tibiae somewhat compressed clavate, pectinate on t>he extensor edge, the posterior side tomen- tose like the swollen metatarsus. Wings very broad at the base, the anal angle very full and rectangular, costa abruptly thinned at the end of the first vein, two basal bristles present and also numerous costal setulse but no hairs, auxiliary and first veins strong, the
other veins very weak and almost straight and radiating, stigma very prominent and so sharply limited behind as to present an extra vein between the first and second veins, the second vein ending near the tip of the wing, anterior cross- vein wanting, a terminal spur of the anterior fork of the fourth vein present, discal cell open, only a trace of the crossvein at the end of the minute second basal cell, anal cell short and apically acute, alula well developed and margined with long flattened scale-like hairs.
Type species, M. stigmaticalis Zetterstedt . The genus Microsania includes very small, inconspicuous flies that are rarely observed by the general collector. Because of a superficial resemblance in the open venation to the species of Bicellaria (Cyrtoma) previous authors have been led to locate the genus in the Empidid*. A close inspection discloses that the resemblance gives way to far more significant differences, and that Microsania is not an empid but is closely related to Platycnema and Opetia, forming with them a group of the Platypezidae characterized by an open discal cell and by the presence of a distinct humeral bristle. Microsania differs from Platycnema and Opetia in lacking the anterior crossvein and in



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19221 Melander-Microsania, a New Genus of the Platypezidce 45 having a heavily thickened stigma formed about the shortened first vein.
Microsania departs from all empid genera in possessing a large and inflexed hypopygium and a single median row of acrostichal hairs. The anal crossvein continues toward the hind margin of the wing forming a pointed anal cell and this im- portant phyletic character thus suggests the Hybotinse. Micro- sania differs from all the members of this subfamily in the interrupted setulose costa, open venation and short fleshy pro- boscis, and shows no evident relationship to this group. The platypezid traits of Microsania are as follows: ' The antenna1 excision of the eye is no stronger than in Opetia; strong interfrontal bristles are present; the arista has two basal joints; the proboscis is short and fleshy; the notopleural suture is very short and above it is a vertical row of notopleural bristles; posthumeral bristles- are present; the middle tibiae have strong apical bristles; the hind tarsi are large, compressed and sericate within; the pedicel of the second and third veins is long, and a distinct alula is visible. Such differences as the large broad palpi, swollen clypeus of the female, more bristly thorax, rounder cox= and pectinate hind legs, and short bristly costa and open neuration are no more empidine than platypezine. Three species of Microsania are known: pallipes, with light colored legs; stigmaticalis, with minute costal setulae; and pecti-



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46 Psyche [~~ril
pennis, with longer costal setulse.
All three occur in Europe,
the last two are here recorded also from America, where stigma- ticalis has been previously known under the name of Platycnema imperfecta Loew.
The two American species are separable on the following characters :
First section of the costa with evident setulse, second section with more than ten setulse; hind femora pectinate above with long bristles, hind metatarsi setose above; bristles black; 2-2.25 mm. pectipennis Meigen.
First section of the costa with very weak setulse, second section with less than ten setulse; hind femora short-pectinate, hind metatarsi not setose above; bristles at least of the lower occiput and of the front coxse whitish; 1-2 mm. stigmaticalis Zetterstedt.
I have specimens of pectipennis from the Pacific slope, its range indicating a continuous distribution through to northern . Europe. The following localities are represented: Yellowstone Park, Wyoming; Bovill, Coeur d9Alene, Collins, and Potlatch, Idaho; Olga, Pullman, Spokane, Tacoma and Woodland, Wash- ington; Douglas, Alaska; and Eureka, California. M. stigmaticalis, as P. imperfecta, was described from the District of Columbia. There are no further records of its occur- ence in America. I have specimens from the following widely separated localities, which have been compared with Dr. Loew's type of imperfecta, now located in the Agassiz Museum of Harvard University, and with European specimens of stigmaticalis. Boston, Massachussetts; Cold Spring Harbor and Ithaca, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington, D. C.; St. Augustine, Florida; Paris, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Brookings, South Dakota; Lawrence, Kansas; Thompson, Montana; Coeur d9Alene and Potlatch, Idaho; Colfax, Friday Harbor, Index, Mount Rainier, Pullman and Quilcene, Washington; Nelson, British Columbia; and Panama.
Males of both species have been taken in a light trap at night. Most of the females were caught on windows in houses, a habit originally noted by Zetterstedt. On several occasions




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192.21 Melander-Microsania, a New Genus of the Platypezidce 47 the species have been found running about on a tent while in camp in the woods. Quite a few of the specimens are heavily parasitized by mites, of which several species are distinguishable, clustering on the underside of the abdomen. Summary .
The genus Microsania, hitherto assigned to the Empididse, belongs to the Platypezidse. There exist in America two species, idential with two of the three European species. One of these, M. stigmaticalis, has previously been known from North America only through its original finding which was recorded under the name of Platycnema imperfects. The genus is widely distributed from Alaska to Florida and Central America and apparently from its prevalence in Northern Europe and the mountainous districts of Western America has a circumpolar range. Bibliography of the Species of Microsania. pallipes Meigen. C. Europe
Meigen, Syst. Bes. vi. 356 (1830) Cyrtoma Macquart, Hist. Nat. Dipt. i. 360 (1834) Cyrtoma Rondani, Dipt. Ital. Prodr. i. 138 (1856) Platytelma Bigot, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. (3) v. 557 and 564 (1857) Microcyrta
Schiner, F. A. Dipt. i. 76 (1862) Cyrtoma ~ i b ~ , Atti. Inst. Yen. (3) ix. 723 (1863) Pachypeaa pectipennis Meigen
C. and N. Europe; W. N. America
Meigen, Syst. Bes. vi. 356, pi. lxvi. f. 15, 16 (1830) Cyrtoma
Zetterstedt, Dipt. Sc. i. 335 (1842) pectinipennis; viii. 3013 (1849) pectinipes
Wahlgren, Ent. Tidskr. xxxi. 47 (1910) pectinipennis stigmaticalis Zetterstedt N. Europe; and N. and Cent. America. Zetterstedt, Lapp. 534 (1838) Cyrtoma
Dipt. Sc. i. 334 (1842); viii. 3013 (1849); xiii. 4998 (1859) ;
Bonsdorff, Finl. tv. Ins. i. 157 (1861)
Lundbeck, Dipt. Dan. iii. 19, f. 3 (1910);



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Psyche - [April
Wahlgren, Ent. Tidskr. xxxi. 47, f. 3 (1910); Frey, Acta Fenn. xxxvii. (3) 8 (1913)
imperfects Loew
Loew, Berl. Ent. Zts. ix. Cent. vi. 82 (1865) Platymema Aldrich, Cat. Dipt. 342 (1905) ? Platycnema. NOTES ON THE BIOLOGY OF CERTAIN WASPS OF THE GENUS ANCISTROCERUS (EUMEN1DB)l
During the summer of 1921, while attempting to get some material for the study of the biology of the Chrysididse, I was able to make some fragmentary observations on three species of Eumenidse which I present here.
The biology of various species of Eumenids has received much attention from both European and American observers, whose work cannot be reviewed in this paper. Particular men- tion should be made of the observations of Fabre (1882, 1884, 1891), Ferton (1895, 1901-1921) and Roubaud (1916) among Europeans, and of the studies of such American workers as the Peckhams (1900, 1905), Hartman (1905)) Hungerford and Williams (1912), Isley (1913) and the Raus (1918). With the exception of Ancistrocerus capra de Saussure, the species of Eumenidse treated in this paper have not been studied, and it is hoped that these notes, if presenting nothing particularly new, will help to confirm previous observations on this highly interesting group.
The species which I have been permitted to observe are apparently those which are usually accustomed to nesting in suitable cracks and crevices of stone and wooden walls. Under ordinary circumstances, therefore, their workings are practically inaccessible, but by the use of artificial nesting places2 it has 1Contributions from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institution, Harvard University. No. 198.
2Both solitary wasps and bees have been induced by other investigators to nidificate in tubes of glass. See the papers of Fabre (1884) and Bordage (1912).



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