Surinam Dragon-Flies of the Genus Progomphus

Up to the present time our knowledge of the genus Progomphus in Surinam has been restricted to that of the three species described by JAMES G. NEEDHAM (Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc. 69, p. 208—214, pl. 15 fig. 13—15). The three species were represented in the Progomphus material which NEEDHAM acquired from Dr. D. C. GEIJSKES in 1943 for examination and description. Two of them appeared to be new and were described from female specimens under the specific names brachycnemis and geijskesi. The third species, represented only by a single larval exuvia, could not positively be determined; it was provisionally referred to DE SELYS’S Progomphus polygonus known from Venezuela. Through the kindness of Dr. L. L. PECHUMAN, Department of Entomology, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, New York, I received for observation this original Progomphus material, now part of the collection of Cornell University, which consisted of: 1. The holotype female of Progomphus brachycnemis (Cornell Holotype No. 3071), the body in a vial with alcohol, the wings on a slide. It was labelled “Suriname River, Kabelstation, 25.IX.’38 (Geijskes)”. 2. The wings (on a slide) of a teneral female specimen of Progomphus brachycnemis from “Gansedam soela, Suriname Rive”. 3. The left pair of wings, the right hind wing, a leg and a fragment of a leg (all on a slide) of a teneral male specimen of Progomphus brachycnemis from “Kabelstation, 25.IX.1938”. 4. A broken larval exuvia and four well-grown larvae of Progomphus brachycnemis, in a vial with alcohol, from “Suriname”. 5. Eight well-grown larvae of Progomphus brachycnemis, in a vial with alcohol, from “Kabelstation, 28.IX.1938”. 6. The holotype female of Progomphus geijskesi (Cornell Holotype No. 3072), the body in a vial with alcohol, the wings on a slide. The labels indicated that the dragon-fly was collected at the Paleumeu River by SCHMIDT on 20.VIII.1941. 7. A larval exuvia in a vial with alcohol with two labels: “Progomphus no 15 JGN, Suriname, Geijskes 50” and “Progomphus polygonus ??? Surinam. Kabelstation 21—28.IX.’38 Geijskes”.