PROC. BIOL. SOC. WASH. 94(4), 1981, pp. 1279-1305 A NEW AMERICAN GENUS OF PREDACEOUS MIDGES RELATED TO PALPOMYIA AND BEZZIA (DIPTERA: CERATOPOGONIDAE) William L. Grogan, Jr. and Willis W. Wirth Abstract. — Amerohelea, a new American genus of predaceous midges, is described and illustrated. Included in this new genus are Palpomyia sordi-dipes Macfie and Bezzia frontispina Dow and Turner (New Combinations), and the following eight New Species: dalcyi, fasciata, galindoi (type-species), nelsoni, pseudofasciata, ronderosi, spinellii, and vargasi. Ame-rohelea is distinguished from Palpomyia and Bezzia by its single sperma-theca and a single pair of gland rods arising near the lateral margins of the seventh abdominal segment. Introduction While involved in revisionary studies on nearctic Palpomyia (Grogan and Wirth 1975, 1979), we encountered specimens that differed from other mem-bers of that genus in possessing only a single spermatheca. A search of the collections at the National Museum of Natural History (USNM) in Wash-ington, D.C., yielded many similar specimens. Further examination of these specimens revealed that they possessed several other characters that distin-guished them from Palpomyia. A formal description of these individuals in a new genus was postponed to a later date, as nearly all of the species are neotropical, and our studies on Palpomyia were on the nearctic fauna. The name of the new genus is based on its apparent restriction in distribution to the Americas. Apparently only two species of this new genus have previously been described, Palpomyia sordidipes Macfie (1939) and Bezzia frontispina Dow and Turner (1976). This is the case despite many species of Palpomyia having been described from the Neotropical Region by Lane (1947, 1960), Lane et al. (1955), and Macfie (1939). This is also true for Bezzia (Lane 1958), but to a lesser extent, as it appears that this genus is less well rep-resented in the Neotropics. The specimens examined in this study were mounted on slides in the manner of Wirth and Marston (1968). When possible, ten females of each new species were measured and the data presented in the variation section as follows: mean value (minimum value-maximum value, n = number of measurements). For general terminology of the Ceratopogonidae see Wirth (1952) and Wirth et al. (1978); terms dealing with antennal sensilla are those
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