C. T. Brues.
Some Colombian Phoridae from the Nests of Stingless Bees.
Psyche 35(2):134-137, 1928.

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134 Psyche [June
A competent coleopterist, my friend Mr. P. J. Darlington, now in Colombia, writes that he has obtained larvas and adults of Pelecium sulcatum; and it is to be hoped that the curious life history indicated by my own fragmentary observations will soon be completely elu<hcated.
References.
Dupuis, Paul.
1913 Peleciinse. Genera Insectorurn (Wytsman), Fasc. 146, 5 PP., 1 PI.
Silvestri, Fili ppo
1905 Contribuzione alla conoscenza della metamorfosi e dei costumi della Lebia scapularis Fourc. Redia 2 (I): 68-84, pi. 3-7.
SOME COLOMBIAN PHORIDZ FROM THE NESTS OF STINGLESS BEES.'
Dr. George Salt recently gave me a series of several species of Phoridse which he collected in the neighborhood of Santa Marta, Colombia during the course of some studies on the biology of certain stingless bees.
One of the species is undescribed, and as Dr. Salt wishes to refer to it in the account of his investigations, I take this op- portunity to describe it.
Melittophora, gen. nov.
A member of the Platyphorinae as defined by Schmitz. Body very broad and much flattened, with stout legs and fully developed wings in the female.
Head (Fig. 1, A) in front view slightly more than half wider than high, strongly flattened and closely applied to the thorax; the occipital margin acute and the posterior surface Xontribution from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institu- tion, Harvard University, No. 295.




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19281 Some Colombian Phorid~ 135
concave; eyes small, distinctly pubescent. Front clothed with
fine short hairs, longer along the lower margin; bristles small, twelve in number, distributed as follows; one at lower lateral angle, one just next the edge of the antenna1 cavity, one next, the eye margin at middle of front, one neaGupper angle of the eye and four near upper margin in line with the lateral ocelli. Antennae widely separated, oval in outline, with a nearly apical, bare arista. Proboscis well developed, nearly as long as the head-height; palpi small, but little longer than thick, with five moderately long bristles near the tip.
Ridge between eye and
Fig. 1.-Melitlophora salli sp. nov.. 'female. A, front view of head; B, C, D. fore, middle and hind leg; E, apex of abdomen.
mouth opening with about eight very long and stout down- wardly directed bristles, the two next the proboscis on each side closer together and weaker than the others; only the four on each side nearest the antennae are long enough to be visible in front view. Ocelli well developed, the median one larger. Thorax broad, the mesonoturn nearly one half wider than long with



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136 Psyche [June
about four bristles along each lateral margin. Scutellum very short and broad, fully four times as wide as long, with ten bristles along the posterior margin, placed as a series of four toward each side, with a widely separated pair at the middle. Abdomen very broad at the base, triangularly narrowed apically, and but little longer than wide at base; not hairy or bristly; second segment about four times as long as broad, twice as long as the third; third to fifth of about equal length; fifth with the apical margin concave; sixth subtriangular, as long as wide at base and as long as the second. The upper surface of the ab- domen is nearly fiat, except at apex, as the sixth segment bends down strongly. Ovipositor heavily chitinized, directed down- wards and backwards, one-half as long as the abdomen. Legs very stout and short; the hind femora much flattened, more than one-third as broad as long; tibiae with setulse, but without any spines. Wings fully developed, very thin and transparent; costal vein reaching to the middle, with very short, closely placed bristles; first vein straight, meeting the costa near the tip; third vein not forked, but slightly thicker apically; last section of costa one-fourth as long a,s the preceding. Fourth to seventh veins very pale and delicate, scarcely discernible, the fourth curved at base, straight apically; fifth and sixth slightly sinuous, seventh curved.
Type species M. saiti sp. nov.
This genus is related to Euryphora and Microplatyphora but differs from both in the chitinized ovipositor and the presence of fully developed wings in the female. It resembles the former more closely in the form of the greatly thickened legs, but the hind tibiae are without large bristles.
&/ A/
Milittophota salti sp. nov.
Q Length 1.4-1.6. Black, including the halteres. Legs very dark brown or piceous. Wings hyaline, very highly trans- parent, the heavy veins black. Front and mesonoturn sub- shining, clothed with very 'fine, microscopic, appressed hairs. Abdomen similar, but less noticeably shining, except at apex. Setulae of hind tibiae delicate, about nine in number, about half as



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1 9281 Some Colombian Phoridce 137
long as the width of the tibia; in addition the anterior surface of the tibia is clothed with very minute short bristles, grouped more or less distinctly into transverse rows. Type and paratypes from Rio Frio, Magdalena, Colombia, October and November 1927 (George Salt); in nest's of Trigona amalthea Olivier.
Pseudohypocera Malloch
Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 43, p. 439. figs. (1912). Pseudohypocera nigrofascipes Borgmeier
Zeits. Deutscher Ver. Wissensch. u. Kunst, Sao Paulo., Jahrg. 3, p. 132 (1922)
Borgmeier, Arch. Mus., Nac. Rio Janeiro, vol. 25, p. 183 (1925) There are a number of specimens of both sexes. The apical abdominal segment of the female is usually retracted, but when exserted it is seen that although the sixth and seventh segments are soft and membranous, the eighth is heavily chitinied to form an ovipositor. This is about twice as long as wide, slightly nar- rowed apically. Below the surface is faintly longitudinally aci- culate, and above with a triangular smooth space basally and convergent aciculatjions apically. It is considerably flattened in cross section.
Rio Frio, Magd., Colombia; Sevilla, Magd., Colombia; August (George Salt), in nests of Trigona amalthea Olivier and Melipona interrupts Latr.
Aphiochaeta scalaris Loew.
This common and widespread species in the American tropics, is represented by numerous specimens. Rio Frio, Magd., Colombia, June-July (George Salt).
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