llz

SOCmrY,
from BUr,r,nrrN OF THE BnOOr<vr,XENToUOLOGICAL,
Reprintefl-VoI. XXXII, No. 4, PP. 140-143. October,1937

NEW SPECIES OF PTYCHOPTERTDAE (DTPTERA).
Amherst,Mass.
Bv CnIRLESP. Ar,nxANDER,
The Dipterous family Ptychopteridaeincludesflies that are comrnonly confusedwith the true crane-flies,Tipulidae, yet are abundantly distinct. In this paper I describetwo new speciesof
Ptychoptero that have come to my attention in recent years, thetypes being preservedin my personalcollection.
Ptychoptera pendula sp. n.
General coloration of rnesonotalpraescutumand scutum
polishedblack; scutellumobscureyellow; knobs of halteres
infuscated;femorayellow,the tips narrowly blackened;wings
with a faint brown tinge, the prearcular and costal portions
a little more yellowish; no dark pattern exceptinga narrowseam on cord; r-LI, before fork of Rs; abdomenblack, thecaudal margins of the segmentsnarrowly pale; hypopygium
black; male hypopygiurnwith laterallobesof tergite short andyellowbroad; dististyleprolongedinto a slendercompressed
blade that hangs pendant.
Male.-Length, about 841 rnm.; wiug, 8-8.S mrn.; antenna
about 4-4.4 mm.
Fenmle.-Length, about9 mm.; wing, 9 mn-I.
Rostrum reddish brown; mouthpartsobscureyellow; palpibrown. Antennae(male) aboutone-halfthe length of body;scapeand pedicel obscurebrownish yellow; flagellum black;flagellar segmentscylindrical, with short scatteredverticils.
Head polishedblack.
Pronotum obscure yellow. Mesonotal praescutum andscutum polishedblack; scutellumobscureyellow, parascutelladarkened; mediotergite black, the surface microscopicallyalutaceous. Pleura black, gtay pruinose; dorsopleuralmembrane brorvnish yellow. Halteres yellow, the knobs infuscated. Legs with the coxae yellow, the fore and hind pairnarrowly darkened on basal portions; trochantersyellow;
blackened;femora yellolv,the tips narrowly but conspicuously
tibiae yellow,the tips tlrorenarrowly blackened;tarsi passing
from brown to black. Wings with a faint brownish tinge,
the prearcularand costalportionsa little more yellowish; nopattern exceptf or a narrow brown seamon cord; veins brown.
Macrotrichiaat rving-apexinvolving the cellsbeyondthe general level of the f ork of cell Rn. Venation: r-nL connecting

2with Rs some distancebefore f ork ; f ork of M r*, about onethird to two-fifths as deepas cell Rn.
Abdomen polishedblack, the caudal margins of the intermediatesegmentsnarrowly pale; hypopygium black, excepting
the pendulouslobesof the dististylewhiih are yellow. Male
hypopygium with the lateral tergal lobes short ind broad, theapex truncate and with a subacutetooth or lobule at mesal
apicalangle,this directedmesad; mediannotch of tergite subcircular or only slightly transverse. Dististyle prolongedinto
a compressedyellow blade that hangs pendant; at base witha slender arln that terminatesin an acute spine, the surface
with strong scatteredspinous setae; beyond this lobe with aslightly shorter dusky lobe that is slightly expandedat outer
end, the surface with abundant setigeroustubercles.
Habitat -Colorado.
Holotype, J, Green \'Iountain Falls, near Nfanitou, altitude 83oo
feet, Jute 27, rg34 (c. P. Alexander). Attotoltotype,?, Jrne-26.
1934. Paratopotypes,333, June z6-27, rg34. Paratypes,2 33,
Monarch Pass, altitucle ro,Eoo feet, July r, rg34 (c. p. Aleiander).
Ptychopterapendulais generallysinrilar to P. rninor Alexander(western United States), agreeing in the snrall size and generalappearance,differing in the colorationof the abclolr-len
ancl structure of the male hypopygium.

Ptychoptera lenis coloradensissubsp.n.
As in the typical fornr, differing in the snrallsize and slightdetails of structure of the male hypopygium. In the latterf eature, the tergite bears a slender glabrous spine shortly
before the apex of eachlobe lying in the axil of the elongate
cylindricallobuleborne on the ventro-mesalface of eachtergal
lobe.
Male.-Length, about 7-8 mm.; rving, 74 mrn.
Fenmle.-Length, about 8.5+ nnn.; wing, S-8.S rl-ulr.
H olotype, 3, Ilount Avery, Gothic, Colorado, altitude ro,ooofeet, July 5, rg34 (J. Hallahan). Allotopotype, ?. Paratypes,
3 ?, Monarch Pass, Colorado,altitude ro,5oo feet, July r, rg34
(C. P. Alexander) ; Gothic, Colorado,altitude 95oo-ro,ooo feet,J,tly S-tz, rg34 (C. P. Alexander) ; Salida, Colorado, altitude
ZSoofeet, June 3o, rg34 (C. P. Alexander).
I believe the small Rocky Nlountain representativeof Pt5,67,-optera lenis Osten Sacken (Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv., 3: zo6-zo7;fi77) should be consideredas subspecificallydistinct f rom thePacific Coast form. In size and general appearance,the presentform is much like P. pendulasp. n., but the mesonoturnis not as
polishedblack as in the latter, being a dull grayish black with thepraescutal striae somewhat more distinct. The male hypopygiaof the trvo speciesare entirely distinct.
Ptychoptera madagascariensissp. n.
General coloration yellow, including the entire thoracrc
pleura; mesonotalpraescutumblack, with a conspicttouscendarkenedon
mediotergitedarkened
tral
tral pale stripe; scutellumyellow; mediotergite
posterior third; rvings subhyalineor weakly yellow tinged,
rvith a narrow dark seam on cord; abdomenchiefly vellou',
the caudalrnarginsof the tergites darkened.
Male.-Length, about 8.S+ mrn.; wing, 6.5-Z rlln.; antenna,about 4.3-4.5 mm.
Describedfrom alcoholicspecimens.
Rostrum and palpi pale yellow. Antennae r s-segnteuted,
relatively long, about one-half the length of body; scape,pedicel and first flagellar segmentyellow, the remaining segnrentsbrown ; flagellar segmentsnearly cylindrical, r,r-ithshortverticils. Front yellorv; posterior scleritesof head brorvnish
black.
Pronotum unif ornrly vellor,r'. Mesonotal praescututnpolished black, with a corlspicuousrnedian paler stripe; sctttum
black, irregularly paler on lateral portions; scutellurnyellor,r',parascutellablack; mediotergiteyellow on cephalictu'o-thirds,
the posterior portion black. Pleura uniformly yellow. Halteres yellow. Legs with the coxae and trochantersyellow;
femora yellow, their apicesrestrictedlydarkened,more conspicuouslyso in the paratype specimen;tibiae and basitarsi
obscureyellow, the tips narrowly darkened; outer tarsal segrnents brownish black. Wings subhyaline or very f aintly
yellow tinged ; prearcularfield and cells C and Sc light yellow ;a narrow but distinct brown crossbandon cord, extending
fronr origin of Rs to ut-ctc;veins dark. Macrotrichiaof cells
relatively sparse,involving cells R, to M r, inclusive,more orless restrictedto outer third or less of the cells. \-enation:
Rs short, straight, less than r-in: Rr*, running rr€ry close toR, so the latter cell is unusually narrow, while vein R" isreducedto a point and cell R. to a narrow strip ; r-ut,and basal
sectionof M., in alignment; cell R* approximatell'one and4one-half to two times as deepas cell Mri cell rsf I wide but
relatively short.
Abdomen chiefly yellow, the caudal margins of the tergites
darkened; hypopygium brown. Male hypopygium with thetergite profoundly incised medially, each lateral arm bearing
a low tuberclebeyond midlength. Dististyle long and slender,
with a long setiferous lobe at about one-fifth the length and amuch shorter and smaller pale lobe on the same f ace justbeyond one-third the length.
H abitat.-Madagascar.
Holotype, alcoholic/, Nanisana, rg33 (G. Olsoufieff) ; throughDr. G. C. Crampton. Parotopotype,alcoholicJ.
This is the first speciesof. Ptychoptna to be discoveredin theMalagasian Subregion. It is very distinct f rom the six species
hitherto madeknown from continentalAfrica, south of the Sahara.
thesebeing as follows:
PtychopteraafricanaAlexander (r9zo) ; SouthernNigeria.
P. cauterounensis
Alexander (tgzr ) ; Cameroun.
P. capensisAlexander (r9rz) ; Natal to easternTransvaal.
P. ghesquierei(Collart) ( rqSS) ; BelgianCongo.
P. hophinsiEdwards (rg3z) ; Uganda.
P. uelensisAlexander ( t9z8) ; Northern Belgian Congo (Uele) .
Besidesthe above,the only speciesof the genus from Africa isthe Palaearctic P. snrcoufi ( S6guy), described in rg2s f romAlgeria.
In the present fly, the coloration of the thorax and the venation,
especially the very narrow cells R and R, together with thegreatly reduced vein R, are distinctive.