IIG CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY [Bllll. 



oiulini>- blindly (instead of leadino- (o any other nematocerous fami- 

 lies), and on "this account the Tipulidae are of little phylo^-enetic in- 

 terest. The families into Avhich the Tipulidae (in the broad sense) 

 are sometimes subdivided, together with such fossil forms as the 

 ''Architi})ulidae'\ etc., constitute the Tipuloidea in the restricted sense; 

 and these miaht be regarded as constituting a separate section, the 

 Tlp'ulovwrpltii, equivalent to the other sections of the Xematocrra. 



The families clustering about the Anisopodidae or "Phryneidac" 

 as a centei' may l)e grouped in the section Phr^/neomorpha^ which con- 

 tains three ])riucipal superfamilies. The first superfamily, the Phry- 

 neoidea. contains the families Trichoceratidae or ''Petauristidae". the 

 Anisoj)odidae or "Phryneidae", the Mycetobiidae. and the Pachyneu- 

 ridae (also related to the Bibionoidea). The second superfamily, the 

 Fungivoroidea, includes the Mycetophilidae or "Fungivoridae'' (in 

 the broad sense — i. e., including the so-called Sciaridae, Bolitophilidae, 

 etc.) and the Cecidom3ddae or 'Ttonididae''. The third superfamily, 

 the Bibionoidea, includes the Bibionidae (Avith PJec'ta as its most 

 primitive representative), the Scatopsidae and the Hesperinidae (also 

 related to the Pachyneuridae) , etc. 



The Anisopodidae or 'T^hryneidae"' are of the greatest phylogenet- 

 ic importance since they serve to connect the Trichoceratidae or 

 "Petauristidae'\ at the base of the main stem of dipteran evolution, 

 with the Fungivoroidea; and they also serve to connect the Tricho- 

 ceratidae with the Bibionoidea. which approach the I^rachycera in some 

 respects. The chief importance of the Aniso])odidae, however, lies 

 in the fact that they appear to lead more oi- less directly from the 

 Trichoceratidae or "Petauristidae'' at the base of the nematoceran 

 stem, to the Khagionidae (Leptidae) and Therevidae at the base of 

 the brachyceran stem, which in turn leads to the Gvclorrhapha. All 

 of these forms tend to retain the ocelli throughout "the series leading 

 from the primitive trichoceratid stem forms on up to and including 

 the Cyclorrhapha, despite the fact that even such closely related and 

 prnnitive Nematocera as the Tii)ulidae, etc., tend to lose the ocelli, 

 so that the retention of the ocelli in this evolutionary series must be 

 regarded as a feature of considerable phylogenetic importance. 



The faniilies of orthorrhaphous lirachycera appear to cluster 

 about two ju-incipal centers represented by tlie Leptidae or '^Ehagion- 

 ]dae" and the Therevidae; and these Brachycera may be grouped'^into 

 two pruicipal sections. One section, the Rhaqiomorphn, centerino- 

 about the Leptidae or "Khagionidae", includes three superfamilies". 

 i he hrst superfamily, the Rhagionoidea, includes the Rhachiceratidae, 

 the Leptidae or ''Rhagionidae*', and the Hilarimorphidae (althouo-h 

 Hilarimorpha may belong with the Bombyliidae) . The second sup?r- 

 taimly, the I abaiioidea (in the restricted sense), includes the Pantoph- 

 thalmi.hie or -Acanthomeridae", and the Tabanidae The ^' '- ' 



