DESCRIPTIONS OF THREE NEW AND RECORDS OF TWO KNOWN SPECIES OF CHLOROPIDAE (DIPTERA) FROM INDIA

The genera Meijerella Sabrosky and Oscinella Becker are represented in India by only one species of the fOlmer and three of the latter. In the present paper three new species, one under Meijerella and two under Oscinella are described. Besides Siphunculina striolata (Wiedemann) and Cadrem:a nigricornis (Thomson) are being recorded Cor the first time from India. 'Fhe type specimens are deposited in the National Zoological Collections, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. I am grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of Inelia, for facilities for work and to Mr. K.S Pradhan, Superintending Zoologist, for constant encouragement.

nigricornis (Thomson) and this was followed by Duda (1934). Besides Dcda considered C. f1avus (Thomson) also a variety of C. nigricornis (Thomson). Out of the two sp~cimens before me one agrees entirely with the descriptions of flavus (Thomson)  Meijer ell a indica, sp. nov.
Head (Text . Fig 1 a).-slightly higher than long, height, length and width in the ratio 15: 14: 18; frons parallel-sided, brownish-yellow, ~ idth o. : 6 times that of head and two-thirds its own length, with short, golden yellow hairs; frontal triangle sharply demarcated, dull black with grey pollen imparting ash gre~ colour to the triangle, reaching three -fifths the frons. Eye densely and conspicuously pubescent, ]ong axis vertical. Gena almost half as wide as third antennal s~gment, dun yel1owish-grey, vibrissal angle rounded; postgena concolourous with flontal triangle. Face concave, yellowish-grey; facial carina extending in the form of a low, linear ridge to the epistomal margin. Second antennal segment brown; thii d segment bI ownish-yellow, distinctly wider than long; arista slender, basally y\!l1owish-brown but distally dark brown, with concolourous pubescence. PaJpi yellowish-brown and proboscis brown. All head bristles and hairs slender, yellow; Ol't 0.35 times the width of eye; ivt just over half the ovt; ori about 9, recIinate, longest more than h&.lf the ovt; Ir hardly distinguishable from frontal hairs; pvt convergent, three-fourths the ovt; oe slightly roclinate, almost parallel, two-thirds the ovt.

A
.. ThoraJQ (Text Fig. 1 b ).-Mesonotum dull black, width equal to its own length and to the width of head, with grey bloom and uniformly with dense piliferous punctures and golden yellow pubescence; five 1 lngitudinal stripes are seen which are less grey, of these· the median reaches upto the scutellum. Scutellum btoadly semicircular with broadly obtuse apex, pubescent and punctate like mesonotum, the distal half ferruginous, the rest concolourous with mesonotum length to width at base 11 ; 17; 1 hu, pale, slender, hair -like; np 1 + 1, almost equal a little less than half the width of eye; po, equal to posterior np; pa 2 absent; 1 de equal to pa; as half the width of e) e and 0.8 times the length of scutellum, set on small tubercle; SSl half the as, very slender, pale, set on very fine tubercles, SSI two-thirds the SSi. All the thoracic bristles, except the hu and ss dark brown.
Legs.-Coxae brown to dark brown; fore tibia brown, mid and hind tibiae and all tarsi yellowish-brown.
Abdomen.-Secona segment at the posterolateral margin and third wholly blackish-brown; fourth segment yellowish-brown but for a large, subtriangular, black spot in the middle and two blackish patches, one on each side; fifth segment wholly black. Oscinella Becker is a very large genus repre~ented by many species, ia all the fauna~ regions. It can be distinguished by the following characters : Frontal triangle shiny or dusted only between ocelli or (rarely) at angles and without hairs; front margin of frons concave; face perpendicular;. eyes and arista pubescent and thoracic pubescence scanty and arranged more or less in lines. The larvae live mostly as stem-miners. Only three species minuta Becker, pura Becker and frit (Linn.) have so far be~n recorded from India. Two new species are described here.
Key to the Indian species of Oscineffa Becker.  Fig. 2a)-Higher and wider than long, length, height and width in the ratio 5:7:8; frons dull black, width 1 1 times its own length and 0.56 times the width of head; frontal triangle raised, dull black, reaching nearly to the anterior margin of frons, pointed at ape~; eye fine1y pubescent, long axis slightly diagonal; gena dull black, width half the width of third antenna) segment, vibrissal angle rounded; postgena black; face very narrow, facial carina indistinct; epistomal margin retreating. Antenna black, third segment wjde, width to length 5 :4; arista black, with long black pubescence. Palpi and proboscis black. All the head and thoracic bristles and hairs black; ovt slender, o. 4 times 1he width of eye; ivt very slender, nearly three-fourths the ovt; ori 7, slender, recIinate, half the ovt; pvt cruciate, a little over one-third the width of eye; oc crJ.ciate, slightly proclinate, a trifle shorter than pvt; ovt 7-8.
Thorax (Text Fig. 2 b).-Mesonotum slightly wider than long and as wide as head, width to length 8 ;7, black finely granulose, mesonotal hairs arranged i~ about eight longitudinal rows; pleural region polished; scutellum semicircular, dull black, width to length 8;5; hu 1, one-fifth the width of eye; np 1 + 2, anterior very slender, a little longer than hu, posterior two fairly stout and almost equal, nearly twice the hu,· pa, s1ender, equal to posterior np,· pa 2 represented by a fine hair that can scarcely be called a bristle; I de slender, thre.e .. sevenths the width of eye; as convergent to cruciate, 1 .25 times the scutellum; ss 1 pair, one-third the as.
Wing (Text Fig. 2 c).-Hyaline, veins brown, width 0.35 times the length; costal sectors 2 to 4 as 5 ; 5 ; 2;middle cross-vein distad of the middle of the diseal cell as 3:2; terminal sectors of iii and iv veins nearly straight. Stalk of haltere pale grey, knob white.
Legs.-Coxae, trochanters and femora brownish-black; fore and mid tibiae yellowish-brown to dark brown; hInd tibia dull black, but pale at both ends; tarsi dark! brown, but basal segments of mid and hind tarsi yellowish-brown.
Abdomen. -Very narrow, dull blackl but two basal segments especially in the ma1e, brownish-yellow, with dark brown patches. Fig. 2 d)-Edita (EDI) shorter than epandrium (EP), blunt at tip, set with scattered hairs; cerci (CRI) in the form of a triangular plate, less than half as long as the edita; gonite (POG) acute at tip, hypandrium (HY) only slightly sinuate proximally; aedeagal apodeme {ADA) a little over half the epandrium.
o. lusidentata comes close to pusilla Meigen from Formosa and Burope from which it differs in the width of gena being only half .and not almost equal to that of third antennal segment. Again in /U6identata the femora are pale at tips, the arista is with fairly long pubescence and fore and mid tibiae are not yellow but dark brown with pale tips.
Male, Female : Head (Text Fig. 3 a).-A trifle higher and much wider than long, length, height and width in the ratio 31 :33 ;43; frons almost parallel-sided, slightly concave in front, width 0.53 times that of head and a little more than its own length, brownish-black; frontal triangle polished, shiny black, reaching the anterior margin of frons and ending with an obtuse apex, eye densely and finely pubescent, the long axis nearly vertical, gena brownish-black, width half that of third antennal segment; vibrissal angle rounded, not projecting in front beyond the eye; postg~na dull black; face narrow, concave, brownish-black, facial carina indistinct, epistomal margin a little raised, antennae appro~imated, black; third segm~nt wider than long, width to length 11:9; arista 0.9 times the width of eye, black!, with short blaclG pubescence, palpi, proboscis and all the head and thoracic bristles and hairs blacl<l, ovt slender, 0.37 times the width of ey~, ivt nearly four-fifths the ovt, ori 5-6, slender, raclinate, half the ovt last one ,shorter; Ir 7, turned inwards, equal to ori~, pvt nearly cruciate, 0.8 ,.times the ovt, oc slender, proclinate, cruciate, over two-thirds the pvt. ovi 8, slender, last one stout.
Legs.-COJQae black, trochanters dull brown, femora brownish blacki except the pale ends, fore and mid tibiae dark y~llowish at base and tip, in the middle brown: hind tibia broadly dull black in the middle, the ends brownish-yellow; fore tarsi and the last three segmen~s of mid and hind ~arsi dark brown, the rest yellowish-brown. Abdomen.-Black, finely granulose, sparsely short pubesc}nt.
ADA-aedeagal apodeme, CRI -cerci, EDI-edita, EP -epandrium, HYhypandrium, PHAphallus, POG -gonite. Summary Three new species of Chloropidae (Diptera), one under the genus Meijevella Duda, and two under Oscinella Becker are described here and two known species are recorded for the first time from India.