201 

 Family Nemestrinidae 



Neohirmoneura bradleyi Bequaert. 



Flies of moderate size, rather stout and compact in appearance, 

 with many veins; thinly or densely pilose. 



Head moderate in size, narrower or slightly wider than the thorax; 

 eyes holoptic or dichoptic in the males, females dichoptic except in 

 Hyrmophlaha; proboscis long to rudimentary. Antennae short and 

 small, three segmented, and with a stout, jointed terminal arista. Tibia? 

 without spurs; empodia pulvilliform but the pulvilli often minute. 

 Venation complicated, the fourth and fifth veins curving forward to 

 terminate before the apex of the wing; anterior crossvein very oblicjue 

 and simulating a longitudinal vein, the basal cells both long; five or 

 six posterior cells and two or three submarginals. 



The Nemestrinids are not numerous in collections and are usually 

 difficult to catch. I have found them only in open fields in which the 

 vegetation is of considerable height and have observed them in con- 

 siderable numbers. They hover persistently and dart cjuickly away 

 at the least motion; when present in numbers their "buzz" is very 

 obvious and they may be heard at a considerable distance. Those with 

 long proboscis often visit flowers. In the American species the vena- 

 tion is relatively simple but in some species of the genus Nemestrinus 

 there are numerous crossveins in the wings, and some of them have 

 the proboscis greatly elongated. The genus JJinnoncura is known to 

 live upon root feeding beetle larva? in the larval stage and it is probable 

 that all the species are parasitic. 



Three papers by Bequaert* cover the North American species, of 

 which there are about a dozen. 



* Bequaert. 1919. Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc, xxvii, pp. 301-307; 1930, Psyche, pp. 286-297; 

 1934, Journ. N. Y. Ent. Soc. xlii, pp. 163-184. 



