REPORT ON A COLLECTION OF JAPANESE DIPTERA, PRE-SENTED TO TIIIO U. S. NATIONAL MUSFJUM BY THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO. By I). W. COQUILLETT, Jlonoraiy (Jimtodian of Ihe iJiptera. The colloctioii of T)ii»teia presented to the U. S. Niitional Musenin by the Iini)eriiil University of Tokyo, Japan, thronj^li Piolessoi-Mitsukini, contains (129 specimens, representing? 124 species, which ;ire distributed in <S.) genera and 2() (iitfeient families. Of these 124 species, 12 weie originally described from .lapanese specimens; of theothers, although described from other countries, have heretofore been reported as occur-ring in Japan; of the remaining species, 52 were described from other countries than .lapan and have not before been recorded from that country, while the remaining 54 species, or almostone-half of the entire number, are considered new to science and aieduly characterized in the following pages. As a whole, the species represented in this collection show a very close relationship to the fauiui of Europe. Indeed, <piite a large |)er-centage of the species are identical, while others so closely resemble Euro]>ean forms that it becomes extremely didicult for one to decide the (piestion of specific distinctness. A few species have extended their range northward from Malaysia or the East Indies, but these are not 80 numerous as one would be led to exi)ect would be the case. In addition to the species represented in this collection, an even 50 si)ecies have also been recorded from Japan ; 35 of these were originally described from Japanese specimens. Assuming that no error has been made in these references, this will make a total of 174 species of Diptera now known froui Japan — a ridi(;ulously small number, which will no doubt be incn^ased at least fivefold when the Fmpire is thoroughly explored for these and the other oi ders of insects. Baron Osten Sacken has recorded 250 species of Diptera from the Philippine Islands, and in addition to these, 51 species have been re])orted as occurring in these islands, making a total of 301 species. We should reasonably exi)ect three or four times this number from a country so fertile and varied as Japan. Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXI— No. 1 146. :m)1
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