from
A PECULIAR
TYPE
OF
PHORIDAE
FROM NATAL.
BY
CHARLES
T. B
RUES.UNTIL
within
the
last
decade,
the
Phoridae
of
the
Ethiopian
region
were
practically unknown,
but
during
this
short
period
considerable
interest in
the
group
has
developed among
anumber
of
entomologists,
and many
African
forms
have been described.
Most
of these
belong
to
extraordinary apterous types, although
several of the less
spe-cialized
genera
have been
found
in
widely
scattered
parts
of
the
conti-nent.
These
few discoveries have shown the extreme interest
attaching
to
the Phorid fauna of this
region,
and
I
have endeavored
to include
them in the
present
short summary,
together
with
the
description
of
aninteresting
newgenus from
Natal
recently
sent to me
by Mr.
Ernest
E. Austen
of the British
Museum.
Twelve genera
are nowknown
to
be
represented
in
the
Ethiopian
region,
several
of
them very
closely
allied, and
probably
not
actually
generically
distinct,
but
all
areincluded in the
tollowing
table.
Key
to the Ethiopian Generaof
Phoridae.1. Wingsfully developed 2
Wingsmuchreducedin size andvenation,orentirelyabsent 5
2. Third veinin wing furcatenearthe tip
Alhiochaeta.
Thirdvein simple, not furcate 3
3. Head of normalform,withsloping front 4 Head produced and squarely truncateabove the
antennae,
forming afrontal shield Coryptilomyia.
4. Anteriorfrontal setae proclinate, hind tibiae with distinct spurs
Puliciphora,male.
Anterior frontal setae absent, hind tibial spurs minute; wings more
hairy than usual Chonocephalus,male.
5. Abdomen of normal
form,
species oftencockroach-like, apical segmentsterminal in position 7
Abdomen greatly swollen, the last segments very small and directed
forward under
the.
basal ones 66. Antennalaristapubescent Termitoxenia.
Antennal aristalooselyplumose Termitomyia.
7. Wings of considerablesize, thoughmuch atrophied; noocelli; proboscis
long, geniculate Psyllomyia.
Wings very smallorentirely
absent;
proboscis shortorwanting 8Contributionsfrom theEntomological Laboratory of the BusseyInstitution,
34
Psyche[February
8. Abdomen with distinct segments, indicated by4-6 dorsal platesor
by
evident constrictions 10
Abdomenwithall thesegmentsfusedinto asingle plateor intotwo 9 9. Abdomenwithtwo segments,the first
short,
the secondlong.Thaumatoxena.
Abdomen entirelyunsegmented Termitodeipnus.
10. Ocelliabsent 11
Ocelli present Puliciphora.
11. Abdomen entirely membranous Wandolleckia.
Abdomenwith chitinousplates 12
12. Body flattened, oval, cockroach-like Aenigmatistes.
Bodymoreconvex,withthe usual tripartite form 13 13. Dorsal abdominal plateswide,crossing the entire width of theabdomen. Chonocephalus.
Dorsal platesmuch reduced in width Cryptopteromyia.
Coryptilomyia gen. nov.
Female. Wings fully developed; costa long, weakly ciliate; third vein simple,
bare,
neitherfurcatenorswollen atthe apex; first veinlong; fourth veincurvedparallel to thecosta,endingatthe wing-tip afteracoursemuch nearer thecostathanusual;
5thto 7th veinsdistinct, complete. Head with thevertexprolongedinfront,thensharplydeclivous onthe front whichbearsa raised marginabove, giving the front of the heada
truncate,
shield-shaped appearance. Frontwithout bristlesexceptforanoccipitalrowof fouranda similar series of much more delicate onesjust anterior to these.Antennae
subovate, withdorsal arista. Palpi short, scarcely bristly; proboscis very
short, almost rudimentary. Bodyveryrobust,themesonotum
broad;
scutel-lum stronglytransverse,
nearly four times as broad as long. One pair of dorsocentralmacrochaetae andsix scutellar bristles in addition to one close to each lateral angle on the mesonotum.Legs
ratherslender,tibiae withoutmacrochaetae,hindonesdelicately setulose.
Coryltilomyia armigera sp. nov.
Female. Length 3 mm. Yellowish brown or tinged with
castaneous;
pleuraeandlegsfuscousorpiceous; abdomen almost entirelypiceous,
some-timesyellowishmediallyatthe
base,
thesegmentswithnarrowwhitishmar-gins. Antennae and palpi bright orange yellow. Head seen from the side lessthan twiceashighasthick, sharpabove then concave and sloping down to the upperedgeofthe frontal shield from whichitfalls off perpendicularlyto
the antennal cavities.
Eyes
large,bare,
narrowly oval.Antennae
rather large,ovate,
withanearlybare aristaaslongasthe head height. Palpi short andstout,withvery delicate bristles below. Ocellilarge,rangedin acurvedrow and well separated. Viewed from thefront, the head isabout twice as
broadas high, the margin of the frontal shieldabovealmost semi-circular in
from
35
conform with the large antennal cavities. Post-ocular cilia very minute. Mesonotumlarge andbroad,considerably wider than thehead; atitshumeral anglesthepropleurae extend far inward,soastobevisiblefromaboveaslarge triangularsclerites, eachwiththe prothoracic spiracle nearitscenter. Lateral marginsofmesonotumwith afringe ofstiff hairs. Mesopleurabelow the root of the wing with three macrochaetae. Abdomen of the usualform,with noneof the segments elongated except the sixth.
Legs
long and quite slender,theanteriortibim entirelybare,each with amicroscopic apical spur; middle
oneswith afringe of very finesetulae; hind ones witha rowof ratherstrong
Coryptilomyiaarmigera sp.nov. Femule.
A.Wing; B. Side view ofhead; C. Frontviewofhead.
setulaealong the dorsaledge,andasecondonealong the outerside; all four
posterior tibiae withdistinct spurs. Wings of amplesize, hyaline with
fus-cousveins; the costalveinreaching to themiddle,itscilia veryshort; tip of
firstvein twiceasfar from the humeral cross-veinasfrom the tip of thethird;
fourthveinrunningnearlyparallelto the wing margin, formingavery narrow cell and endingbarelybefore the wing tip; fifthsinuous, curving forwardon itsapicalhalf; sixthnearlystraight; seventhcurved,closeto the wing margin. ttalteres dark brown.
Two
specimens
rom
Durban,
Natal,
South Africa,
1909.
(B.
Marley.)
Type
in the British
Museum
of Natural
History.
Phora
cochlearipalpus
Speiser.
Berliner
entom.
Zeitschr., 52,
p.
146.
(1908.)
Amani,
German
East
Africa.
36
Psyche [FebruaryAphiochaeta
braunsi
Brues.
Entomological
News,
1907, p.
391.
Aphiochaeta
xanthina
Speiser.
Berliner
entom.
Zeitschr., 52, p.
148.
Psyllomyia
testacea
Loew.
Wiener entom.
Monatsschr.,
1, p.
54.
Puliciphora
africana
Brues.
Ann.
Mus.
Nat. Hungarici,
5, p.
410.
Chonocephalus
kiboshoensis
Brues.
Ann. Mus. Nat. Hungarici, 5,
p.
410.
Wandolleckia
cooki
Brues.
Cape
Colony.
(1908.)
Kamerun.
(1857.)
Cape Colony.
(1907.)
German East
Africa.
(1907.)
German
East
Africa.
Trans.
American
Entom. Soc.,
29, p.
392.
(1904.)
Liberia.
Wandolleckia indomita
Brues.
Ann. Mus. Nat. Hungarici,
5, p.
412.
(1907.)
German East
Africa.
Cryptopteromyia jeanssoni Triigrdh.
Zool. Jahrb.
Atbh. f.
Syst.,
28, p.
229.
(1909.)
Natal.
Aenigmatistes
africanus
Shelford.
Journ.
Linn.
Soc. London, Zool.,
30, p.
151.
(1908.)
Victoria
Nyanza.
Thaumatoxena
wasmanni Breddin
&
BSrner.
SB.
Gesellsch. naturf. Freunde
Berlin, 1904, p. 87.
Natal.
Termitodeipnus
andreinii Silvestri.
Redia,
3, p.
356.
(1906.)
Eritrea.
Termitoxenia havilandi
Wasmann.
Zeitschr. wiss.
Zool.,
67, p.
601.
(1901.)
Natal.
Termitoxenia
jaegerskioeldi
Wasmann.
Results
Swedish
Exped.
Egypt
&
White
Nile,
13, p.
16.
(1904.)
Uganda.
Termitomyia
braunsi
Wasmann.
Zeischr,
wiss.
Zool.,
67, p.
611.
(1901.)
Orange
Free
State.
Termitomyia
mirabilis
Wasmann.
Zeitschr. wiss.
Zool.,
67, p.
610.
(1901.)
Natal.
lhora camariana
Coquerel.
Ann. Soc. Ent.
France,
6, p.
189.
(1848.)
Madagascar.
This is
not
recognizable
from the
description and
may quite probably
not
belong
to
this
genus.
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