A new species of sarcophagid, Colcondamyia auditrix, is described, which locates its cicada host by sound. The fly was shown to respond to the mating song of the male cicada, and the majority of parasitized cicadas were male. Parasitism of females occasionally occurs when they are attracted to males simultaneously with the parasite. Levels of parasitism varied from 18.6% in 1962 to 0.2% in 1967 to 14.1% in 1973. Male cicadas lost their sound producing capability following parasitization, rendering them inaccessible to further female flies and thus apparently preventing multiple parasitism.

A modification of the general system of classification of Calliphoridae is proposed in this report. Information about the chromosome complements of about 90 species is provided including references to the earlier literature on chromosomes of this family. With one exception all species studied by us or by earlier investigators have 2n = 12. The total complement length of 556 complements from 83 species averaged 66.4/x. Most species have a short heteromorphic sex pair but the size and morphology vary considerably and one species, HemipyreUia fernandica, seems to have a quadrivalent sex-chromosome complex in a 2n = 14 complement. The autosomal pairs vary in both length and arm ratios between the species but seem to be more stable than the sex chromosomes. Only minor variations were found between different collections of the same species except for two collections of Calliphora croceipalpis. Although presently available data on the chromosomes of Diptera species suggest that increases in total complement length accompany evolutionary progress, no such general trends were obvious in either the total complement lengths or chromosome morphology, either within or between the tribes of Calliphoridae. Thus the karyotypical reorganizations in the family have apparently not been directly associated with changes in the general morphological features of the adults which may have responded in these respects more extensively to genetic mutations.

The karyotypes of 34 species of Bombyliidae are described, some in greater detail than others. It is suggested that two subfamilies, the Bombyliinae (for Homoeophthalmae) and Anthracinae (for Tomophthalmae) be recognized. In the Bombyliinae, one species has 2n = 8, one 2n = 10, three 2n = 12 and one 2n = 14. In the Anthracinae, two species have 2n = 10, four 2n = 12, six 2n = 14, three 2n = 16 and thirteen 2n = 18. Seventeen complements of Bombyliinae averaged 41.4 μ in total complement length (TCL) and thirtyeight of Anthracinae averaged 46.6 μ; so the 55 complements of the Bombyliidae averaged 44.9 μ in TCL, the complements with lower chromosome numbers averaging less than those with higher numbers. Thus Bombyliinae species have lower chromosome numbers and shorter complements than Anthracinae species which tend to have longer metacentric sex chromosomes. Thus both morphologically and karyotypically the Bombyliinae appear to be more advanced whereas the Anthracinae are a more primitive but highly variable group of species.

Mathis, Wayne N., and Guy E. Shewell. Studies of Ephydrinae (Diptera: Ephydridae), I: Revisions of Parascatella Cresson and the triseta Group of Scatella Robineau-Desvoidy. Smithsonian Contribution to Zoology, number 285, 44 pages, 62 figures, 1 table, 1978.-The New World genus Parascatella and the triseta group of the genus Scatella are revised. Parascatella is redefined to include species now known only from the temperate regions of South America. Of the 11 species included in Parascatella, 10 are newly described. These 11 are arrayed into two species-groups, the pilifera and brunnea groups. Most specimens of the pilifera group were collected at between 3000 and 4500 m elevation in northwestern Argentina and adjacent areas of Chile and Peru. The brunnea group is represented by a single species from southern Chile (between 46° and 53° south latitude) at elevations of approximately 400 m. The three species presently comprising the triseta group of the genus Scatella. are also treated. These three species were formerly included in Parascatella when the latter was recognized either as a genus or as a subgenus of Scatella. All three species of the triseta group occur primarily in western North America. Our revised classification is founded on a phylogeny that is proposed using cladistic methods of analysis. The criteria used tor recognition of species and of infra-and suprageneric groupings are discussed. Keys to the genera, species-groups, and species based on adult characteristics are provided. Pertinent character states are illustrated using line drawings or scanning electron micrographs. All included taxa are described or redescribed, and appropriate synonymies are listed. Distribution maps are provided for most species. Evolutionary considerations, natural history, and zoogeography are discussed. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SERIES COVER DESIGN: The coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus).

The following descriptions of new species of black flies are based on material acquired from several sources in the Division of Entomology. The largest collections were made by field parties engaged in the Northern Insect Survey, a project commenced in 1947 and conducted by the Division in co-operation with the National Defence Research Board. Much of the simuliid material accumulated by this survey still remains to he examined and it will be several years before the valuable data on species distribution that it contains can be assembled into a form suitable for publication. Several collections of northern material have also been contributed by officers of the Household and Medical Entomology Unit. The rest of the material is the outcome of rnp own field studies in the Ottawa district, These studies, comnenced in 1949 and still continuing, are on a much smaller scale than the northern work and are designed chiefly to increase my knowledge of the group and to verify or supplement certain aspects of the work done by Twinn (1) in this area.