PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 66, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER, 1964 177 
NOTES ON NORTH AMERICAN PIOPHILIDAE II. 1 
(Diptera) 
George C. Steyskal, Entomology Research Division A.R.S., U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 
Work on the Piophilidae in the United States National Museum 
collections, which now include the A. L. Melander collection, has re- 
vealed one new species, Piophila (Allopiophila) penicillata (described 
below) the synonymy of P. (A.) oriens Melander and Spuler 1917 
with P. (A.) vulgaris Fallen 1820, and the distinctness of P. (A.) 
atrifrons Melander and Spuler. Figures are given of the male terminalia 
of these species, as well as of the sixth sternite of P. (Lriopiophila) 
nigrimana Meigen. 
Piophila (Allopiophila) atrifrons Melander and Spuler 
(Fig. 1) 
1917. Washington Agric. Expt, Sta. Bull. 143: 66. 
The types of this species were originally cited as three female speci- 
mens. Two from Oroville, Wash., without date, are females; one speci- 
men, from Troy, Idaho, June 14, 1908, is a male and is therefore here 
selected as lectotype. 
This species runs to P. calceata Duda in Hennig (1943) and is one of a 
group including that species, as well as P. dudai Frey, P. pectiniventris 
Duda, and the following new species, which are distinguishable with 
certainty only in the male sex, as Hennig has already remarked with 
regard to the Duda and Frey species. 
Frey (1930; and reproduced in Hennig, 1943) gave an unsatisfactory, 
distorted figure of the male terminalia of P. calceata. P. atrifrons is 
very much like P. calceata in the male postabdomen and the possibility 
that the two forms are synonymous must still be considered; however, 
the shape of the parts shown by Frey differ from those of figure 1 
sufficiently to permit consideration of the two forms as distinct species 
until such time as a comparison of European material becomes feasible. 
The postabdomen of Piophila species is very asymmetrical and the 
andrium is held quite obliquely. In the figures here presented, the an- 
drium has been separated from the protandrium (segments 6, 7, and 8) 
and shown in full lateral view, but the protandrium and base of the 
preabdomen are shown from an almost direct (a nearly directly) ventral 
view. 
Examination of the protandrial sternites (6s, 7s) has revealed im- 
portant differences between species. In P. atrifrons, sternite 6 is more or 
less simple, with a large dextral lobe; sternite 7 is somewhat bifid, with 
a long, digitiform anterior lobe, posterior to which is a small, blunt 
process. 
For paper I, see these Proceedings, v. 60 : 246 (1958). 
178 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 66, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER, 1964 
The aedeagal apodeme (a x ), or phallodeme, in the three species here 
discussed is of the shape called fultella by Munro (1947) in his study of 
the African Tephritidae (Trypetidae) and shown by me (Steyskal, 1961) 
to be characteristic of the Pyrgotidae and Platystomatidae. The base 
of the aedeagus in P. atrifrons bears three short teeth and two forked 
gonapophyses (g), the anterior branch of the latter blunt and about 
half as long as other, sharply pointed branch. The hypandrium bears 
only one pair of processes (p), of characteristic shape. 
The long hairs on the inner side of the fore tibia mentioned by Duda 
(1924, p. 201: "die Vorderschienen sind innen ungewohnlich lang 
behaart") in a male specimen from Moscow Mt., Idaho, received from 
Melander, I do not find in a similar specimen in the U. S. National 
Museum nor in the type. Nor do I find those hairs any different in a 
specimen of P. pectiniventris Duda (Ufeld, S.-Harz, leg. et det. Duda) 
and in the following new species. 
Piophila (Allopiophila) penicillata Steyskal, new species 
(Fig. 2) 
Male. Close to P. -pectiniventris Duda and so labeled by Malloch some years ago, 
but differing in bristling of preabdominal sternites and details of postabdomen. 
Length of body, 2.15-2.86 mm.; of wing, 2.7-3.3 mm. (wings of above-mentioned 
specimen of P. -pectiniventris Duda aie 2.15 mm. long). 
Fifth sternite (5s) mesally near its posterior margin with a tuft of stiff black 
bristles; those of 4th sternite in the mesal posteiior part somewhat longer and more 
dense but not concentrated into a tuft. Sternites 6 and 7 without special projections. 
Andrium differing in a number of details from that figured by Hennig (1943, pi. 
Ill, fig. 18) for P. pectiniventris, although of very similar structure. Epiphallus (e, 
e ; ) tripartite, with one median posterior spine (e) and a pair of gently backwardly 
curved lateral spines (d); gonapophyses (g) long, ensiform, only gently forwardly 
curved; posterior process of hypandrium (p) bearing a C-shaped anterior branch 
lying against the small rounded anterior process; surstyli (S) broad and gently 
rounded apically, with fringe of hairs of moderate length; proctiger with a pair of 
sclerotized bands, each of which bears one long bristle and a number of small hairs. 
Female. Differs from related species apparently only in the somewhat larger size: 
Length of body, 2.33-3.22 mm.; of wing, 2.5-3.35 mm. 
Holotype, male, and allotype, female, Aklavik, N. W. T., Canada, 
July 8, 1931; paratypes: Same locality, 9 males and 16 females, June 24 
to July 18, 1931, July 18, 1932; Calgary, Alta., one male, May 31, 1924; 
Edmonton, Alta., one male and two females, May 20, 1924 (all Owen 
Bryant), Type No. 66858 in the U. S. National Museum. Two females 
not designated paratypes are also in the collection, one from Banff, 
Alta., June 13, 1928; the other from Churchill, Man., June 20, 1930 
(both Owen Bryant). 
PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 66, NO 3, SEPTEMBER, 1964 179 
Male Terminalia. Fig. 1, Piophila (Allopiophila) atrifroms Mel. and Spuler, liolo- 
type. Fig. 2, P. (A.) penicillata Steyskal, n. sp. holotype. 
LEGEND: a — aedeagus; a! — aedeagal apodeme; e, e! — epiphallus; g — gonapop- 
hysis; M — meson; p — process of hypandrium; S — surstylus; 5s, 6s, 7s — 5th, 6th. 
180 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 66, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER, 1964 
Male Terminalia. Fig. 3. P. (A.) vulgaris Fallen, holotype of P. oriens Mel. and 
Spuler (syn.). Fig. 4. P. (Liopiophila) nigrimana Meigen, 6th sternite of specimen 
from Detroit, Mich. 
Piophila (Allopiophila) vulgaris Fallen 
(Fig. 3) 
1820. Heteromyzides Sueciae: 9: (see Hennig, 1943, p. 42 for further synonymy). 
1917. Piophila oriens Melander and Spuler, 1917. Washington Agric. Expt. Sta. 
Bull. 143: 63. New synonym. 
The types of P. oriens, cited by Melander and Spuler as "Two males 
and two females. Ithaca and Geneva, New York, May; Greenfield, 
Massachusetts, June (Melander)", are now in the U. S. National Mu- 
seum collections. The specimen labeled "type" is a male from Ithaca, 
N. Y., May 31, 1914 and is hereby selected as lectotype; the other 
Ithaca specimen, with the same date, is a female; the Geneva speci- 
men, May 28, 1914, is a male; the Greenfield specimen, June 1, 1914, is 
a female. The postabdomen of the holotype was macerated and drawn 
as figure 3, revealing sufficient similarity to the figure given by Hennig 
(1943, pi. Ill, fig. 19) to adduce the synonymy. 
Gonapophyses in anterior view (g) apically bifid, lateral branch with 
incurved tip, mesal branch straight. Largest, most anterad of the three 
processes (p) of hypandrium furnished with a number of stout denti- 
cles on mesal face. 
PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 66, NO. 3, SEPTEMBER, 1964 181 
Sternite 6 (6s) with a characteristic pair of posteriorly directed 
teeth midway of posterior margin. 
Piophila (Liopiophila) nigrimana Meigen 
(Fig. 4) 
1826. Syst. Beschr. 5: 396; (see Hennig, 1943, p. 31, for further synonymy). 
The sixth sternite of the male of this species, common in North 
America as well as in the Palaearctic region, bears a characteristic 
bent prong and a small tooth on its posterior margin, as shown in figure 
4. A specimen from Scotland is similar. 
Literature Cited 
Duda, O. 1924. Revision der europaischen und gronlandischen sowie einiger 
siidostasiat. Arten der Gattung Piophila Fallen (Dipteren). Konowia 3: 97-113; 
153-203. 
Frey, R. 1930. Neue Diptera brachycera aus Finnland und angrenzenden Landern. 
Notulae Ent. 10: 82-94. 
Hennig. W. 1943. Piophilidae. In E. Lindner, Die Fliegen der palaearktischen 
Region, 5, Fam. 40 (Lfg. 151): 1-52, pis. I-III. 
Munro, H. K. 1947. African Trypetidae (Diptera), etc. Mem. Ent. Soc. S. Africa 
no. 1: 1-284, 16 unnumbered pis. 
Steyskal, G. C. 1961. The genera of Platystomatidae and Otitidae known to 
occur in America north of Mexico (Diptera, Acalyptratae). Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 
54: 401-410. 
TROPACARUS, A NEW GENUS OF ACARIDAE 
(Acarina) 
Frederick Cunuffe, State College Keene, A. H. 
In 1955 E. W. Baker collected an undescribed acarid mite from vari- 
ous leaves in the Congo. These mites lived in small colonies, usually 
forming a circle, with their bodies oriented inward. Baker again col- 
lected this mite in Costa Rica and Nicaragua in 1959, and Fleschner 
found it on citrus leaves in Assam, India the same year. Muma (1961) 
records it as feeding on fungus on citrus leaves in Florida. He states: 
"This mite is usually found in clusters, including eggs, young and 
adults, along the midrib of the leaf or besides clumps of trash. 
When disturbed the mites move clumsily about until a hiding place 
is found or the cluster is relocated." U. S. National Museum records 
show that this species has also been intercepted from Brazil at U. S. 
Quarantine.