308 



NORTH AMERICAN DIPTERA 



Family Neriidae 



Slender flies of moderate size, with long legs and an apical arista. 



Head longer than wide; two pairs of frontal bristles, the front 

 wide in both sexes; face receding,* Avithont oral vibrissas; antenna por- 

 rect, with a terminal bare or pubescent arista. Thorax long, the front 

 and middle legs widely separated, the prosternum as long as the meso- 

 sternnm; pteropleura bare; with or without a sternopleural bristle. 

 Legs long and slender, the femora with short spines beneath. Wings 

 long, the apical cell usually narrowed apically; anal and second basal 

 cells short; auxiliary vein ending in the first vein. Abdomen long, 

 rather flattened above; ovipositor long and pendulous, carried under 

 the abdomen in life. 



The adults are found near water or moist places. The family is 

 strictly tropical, four of the nineteen genera occurring in North Amer- 

 ica 

 group. 



The immature stages are not known. Enderleinf has reviewed the 



* In the old world Telostylinse the oral margin is prominent while in the Neriinse it is not 

 consi^icuous. 



t 1922. Arch, fiir Naturg., Ixxxviii, Abt. 5. pp. 140-229. 



Neriid». — 1, 2, Nerius; 3, 4, Dictyonerius. 



