XIV. FAMILY STRATIOMYID^. 



Small to moderately large, nearly bare or thinly pilose, 

 bristleless species. Head short, hemispherical or flat- 

 tened, as broad as the thorax. Ocelli present. Eyes 

 contiguous or separated by the front in the male. Anten- 

 nae porrect, approximated at the base, three-jointed, the 

 third joint always complex, usually with a terminal style 

 or an arista. Proboscis never elongated; palpi two-joint- 

 ed, sometimes rudimentary. Thorax never strongly con- 

 vex; scutellum often with tubercles, spines or projections 

 on its margin, perhaps more exaggerated here than 

 among any other group of flies (see fig. 65,86). Abdomen 

 composed of from five to seven segments, usually flat- 

 tened, often elongated. Legs never thickly pilose; with- 

 out bristles, the tibiae without spurs*; pulvilli and empo- 

 dia pad-like. The costal vein does not reach beyond tip 

 of the wing; veins often crowded anteriorly, and those 

 posteriorly weak; discal cell present; four or five poste- 

 rior cells, and one or two submarginal cells present, the 

 anterior branch of the third vein short and often indistinct 

 or wanting. 



The family Stratiomyidse is one of considerable size, 

 including about a thousand known species. The flies 

 are invariably flower insects, seldom with any marked 

 powers of flight and never having the habit cf hovering 

 in the air. Not a few species are caught in the beating net 

 or on the windows of dwelling houses. Many of the 



* Xylotnyia (7, 8) which Osten Sacken and Austen insist belongs in 

 this family, has spurs on the middle and hind tibiae and the costal vein 

 encompasses the wing. 



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