XXVII. FAMILY PHORID^. 



BY C. T. BRUES. 



Small or minute species with a hunchbacked appear- 

 ance. Head small, rather flattened; front broad in both 

 sexes, usually bearing a few strong bristles; face very 

 short, concave. Oral opening large; the proboscis usu- 

 ally fleshy; the palpi projecting, large, generally with 

 strong bristles. Eyes never very large, the ocelli always 

 present in the winged^forms. Antennae with the third 

 joint large and concealing the others, spheroid or pointed 

 in shape, bearing a sub-dorsal or apical arista. Thorax 

 usually large and arched, the scutellum rarely absent. 

 Abdomen rather short, more or less narrowed behind, or 

 oval, partly membranous in the wingless forms. Geni- 

 talia of the male often large, of the female usually very 



Fig. 91. Phoridae. i, Puliciphora 9 ; 2, Aphiochccta, head; 3, Phora, 

 antenna; 4, Conicem, antenna; 5, Aphioch&ta, wing; 6, Hypocera, 

 wing; 7, Apocephalus, antenna. Drawings by Mrs. C. T. Brues. 



small and projecting. Ovipositor in Apocephalus and Plas- 

 tophora hard, chitinized and projecting. Legs well devel- 



236 



