LIV. FAMILY 



Fig. 138. Htnnatobia serrata, male; enlarged. 



Rather small to moderately large, never elongate, thin- 

 ly hairy or bare flies. Antennal arista plumose to the 

 tip; sometimes above only, and rarely bare, in which 

 cases the absence of bristles on the abdomen, except at 

 the tip, together with the narrowed first posterior cell, 

 characters distinctive of the group, will distinguish the 

 flies belonging here from their allies. Eyes of the male 

 approximated or contiguous; front of female broad. 

 Eyes bare or hairy. Abdomen composed of four visible 

 segments. Genitalia not prominent. 



Like the Sarcophagidae, the species and individuals of 

 this family are common everywhere. The common house- 

 fly, the type of the group, has a cosmopolitan distribu- 



337 



