Rhagio plumbeus Say 1823

Rhagio plumbeus Say (PI. II. fig. 11)
1823. Leptis plumbea Say, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., in, p. 39. 10
1867. Leptis griseola Van der Wulp, Tijdschr. v. Ent., x, p. 142, pi. 4, fig. 5.
1908. Rhagio plumbeus Kertesz, Cat. Dip., in, p. 309.
Blackish, halteres yellow; tibiae except apex and the base of the matatarsi usually brownish yellow to yellowish; wings with three irregular more or less well defined brownish bands on the apex, from the stigma through tip of discal cell and from fork of radial sector to branch of cubitus ; costal cell and a spot on each vein near anal
border also brownish; stigma usually well denned, blackish. A single more or less elongate spot in cell R 5 above apex of discal cell.
Male. — Length, 5 to 6 mm. Head: Face, frontal triangle, ocellar tubercle, palpi, proboscis and antennae blackish, all more or less dusted with light gray or whitish pollen; sides of face and the palpi with long hairs, usually blackish but often wholly pale or intermixed with pale hairs; antennae with several black hairs on first two segments, longer on first.
Thorax: Mesonotum with three more or less definite broad dark brownish stripes, the middle one often narrowly divided along the median line, remainder gray pollinose; hairs on mesonotum long, black, fairly abundant; pleura and scutellum blackish, gray pollinose, the latter with long black hairs; halteres yellowish.
Abdomen: Blackish, with fairly abundant pale hairs which are longer and more erect at sides.
Legs: Blackish, tibiae and metatarsi except apex brownish yellow to yellowish brown, metatarsi usually the darker color; coxae grayish pollinose, the usual hairs usually pale.
Wings: Ornamented with brownish somewhat as follows: The costal cell, three irregular and more or less well denned bands — on the apex, from the stigma through the tip of the discal cell, and from the fork of the radial sector to the branch of Cu ; usually a spot on each vein near anal border and brownish areas in basal cells, and along anal vein; stigma elongate, dark brown. The paler specimens do not have all of these areas so well marked. There is a single more or less elongate spot in cell R5 between the fork of R 4 + s and the apex of the discal cell.
Female. — Length, 5 to 6 mm. Similar to male except that front and ocellar tubercle are brownish, usually somewhat satiny, the former often with a slight median depression; the hairs of the abdomen are shorter and very sparse, even on the sides they are not as long nor as abundant as in the male.
Specimens Examined: About 151 males and females.
Ontario: i d Bothwell, May 25, 1926, (G. S. Walley); 1 d Chatham, May 20, 1925, (G. S. Walley); 1 d Lobo, May 20, 1925, (A. A. Wood); 2 cf, Jordan, May, 1915, (W. A. Ross)', [all C. N. M.].
Vermont: 2 cf , i 9 , Mount Equinox, June 5, 1910, [B. S. N. H.].
Massachusetts: 2 cf, Mount Greylock, June 15, 1906; 1 9, Cheshire, [all B. S. Connecticut: i d Norfolk, May 21, 1916, (W. L. McAtee), [Biol. Surv.].
New York: Newport and Ilion, May, (D. B. Young), [N. Y. S. M.]. Woodville, Lake Ontario, June, (H. D. House), [N. Y. S. M.]. 1 9 , Honeoye Falls, May 16, 1913, (M. D. Leonard), [Leonard]. 1 cf , 1 9 , Hamburg, May 22, 1910, (M. C. Van Duzee), [Van Duzee]. 1 9, East Aurora, May 5, 1910, (Wm. Wild), [Van Duzee]. 56 cf & 9 , Ithaca, May 5 to 29, over several years [C. U.]. 2 cf , 3 9 , Taughannock Falls, May 15, 1915, [C. U.]. 4 cf, McLean Bogs, May 30, 1914; 1 9, May 31, 1913, [C. U.]. Corinth, May, (D. B. Young), [N. Y. S. M.]. Albany, May, (D. B. Young), [N. Y. S. M.]. 1 cf , Thatcher State Park, Helderberg Mountains; 1 cf, Rensselaer, May 27, 1920, (M. D. Leonard), [N. Y. S. M.]. 2 cf, Florida, June 13, and Durlandville, May 29, 1917 (S. W. Frost), [C. U.]. 1 d Richmond Hill, L. I.; 1 <?, 1 9, Sea cliff, L. I., May (N. Banks), [C. U.].
New Jersey: i 9 , Clementon, June 2, 1901, [A. N. S. P.]. 1 <?, Ridgewood, June 17, 1911, (M. D. Leonard), [Leonard]. 1 9, Hemlock Falls, May, [A. M. N. H.].
3 d Paterson, May 3, [Brook. Mus.].
Pennsylvania: i d Ardmore, May 5, 1912, (H. Skinner); 4 c? two miles north of Narberth, Montgomery County, May 16, 1925, (E. T. Cresson, Jr.) ; 1 9 , Holmsburg, Philadelphia County, May 19, 1912, (E. T. Cresson, Jr.); 2 d Unionville, Philadelphia County, May 3, 1908; 1 9, Glenside, May 9, 1908; [all A. N. S. P.]. 2 d Roxboro, May 9, 1909, (F. Haimbach); 2 d Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, May 6, 1905, (F. Haimbach), [A. N. S. P., ex Haimbach]. 1 d Delaware County, May 5, 1899, [Kansas]; 4 d May 5, 1895, [U. of 111.]; 1 <?, May 5, 1895, [M. D. Leonard, ex Johnson]; 1 d May 5, 1899, [Brook. Mus.]; 1 9 , May 5, 1894, [A. N. S. P.]. 4 o", Castle Rock, May 3, 1908 and May 12, 1909, (Harbeck), [U. S. N. M., ex Aldrich]; 1 d May 19, 1902; 2 9 , May 29, 1904; 1 <?, [Pa. Dept. Agr.].
4 d 1 9, May 11, 1905, May 15, 1906, May 12, 1907, [A. N. S. P.]. 1 d Montgomery County, May 3, [Brook. Mus.]. 1 d Harrisburg, May 8, 1918, (King), [Pa. Dept. Agr.]. 2 d 1 9 , Swarthmore, May 5 and 13, 1907; 1 d May 6, 1906, (E. T. Cresson Jr.), [A. N. S. P.].
Maryland: i 9, Beltsville, June 14, 1914, [Biol. Surv.].
North Carolina: i d* , May, and 2 9 , June, Black Mountains, [A. M. N. H.]. Canton, June, 1910, (F. Sherman), [N. Car. Dept. Agr.]. Hendersonville, June, 1907, (F. Sherman), [N. Car. Dept. Agr.].
Ohio: 2 d Columbus, May 11, 1902, [Hine].
(?) Michigan: i d June 1, 1895, [Mich. Agr. College, no. 217].
Indiana: 6 d" , Lafayette, May 1, 4, 9, [U. S. N. M., ex Aldrich]. 2 d Bluffton, May 11, 1902, (C. C. Dean), [Hine].
Illinois: i d Chicago, May 21, 1909, (in an onion field), [U. of 111.]; 1 d June 15, 1898, [C. T. Brues]. 1 c Matanzas Lake, Havana, May 2, 1914; 1 9, May 1, 1912, [U. of 111.].
Wisconsin: i 9, "Wis." [W. G. Dietz]. 4 9, White Fish Bay, May 30, 1890, [A. M. N. H.]. 4 d "Wisconsin" [A. M. N. HJ.
Iowa: i <?, Iowa City, (Wickham), [U. S. N. M., ex Aldrich].
This species is very closely related to R. punctipennis Say. The males of the two species may be separated by the single brown spot in the center of cell R 5 and the wholly blackish abdomen (plumbeus) and the two spots near the center of cell R 5 and the yellowish on the basal segments of the abdomen (punctipennis). The females differ mostly in the wing markings and in the lighter color of the fore tibiae. I have examined about one hundred and fifty specimens of plumbeus and about two hundred and fifty of punctipennis and in this series males of plumbeus could be found occasionally with the spot in cell R 5 either very faint in the Il6 NORTH AMERICAN RHAGIONIDAE (DIPTERA)
middle or actually divided into two spots as in punctipennis. This condition occurred in both wings or the spot on one side is partially, on the other wholly, divided. Females in which this condition occurs, as it does occasionally, are somewhat difficult to properly place. However I believe that there are here two fairly distinct species and would certainly hesitate to combine them without seeing a great deal more material. Mr. C. W. Johnson tells me that in New England plumbeus is mostly an early May one and is later replaced by punctipennis. I have often observed at Ithaca, New York that plumbeus occurs somewhat earlier than punctipennis.