10 Orthorrhapha brachycera. 



shaped^; sometimes the empodium is broader, and it may be as broad 

 as or alniost as broad as the pulvilli and pulvilliform {Medeterus, 

 Hydroplionis). In some genera the pulvilli are in the male enlarged 

 on the front tarsi {Machaerium, some species of Diaphorus), or on 

 the anterior or all tarsi (some species of Diaphorus). In Sphyrotarsus 

 (non-Danish) the pulvilli are absent. In the species of Diaphorus 

 with the pulvilli on the front tarsi enlarged in the male, these tarsi 

 have no claws. (How it may be, when the posterior tarsi also 

 have the pulvilli enlarged I do not know). The wings are generally 

 of the usual shape, a little varying in length, being sometimes longer 

 and more narrow, sometimes shorter and broader; in a few cases 

 they may be broadened in the male or otherwise of special shape. 

 They are sometimes more or less dark spotted. The venation is rather 

 uniform, and it is characteristic for the family in its principal forma- 

 tion ; it shows however not a few special differences of systematic value. 

 The costa reaches to the apex of the discai vein. The mediastinal 

 vein is short and terminates in the subcostal vein; in a few cases 

 it is a little elongated and ends freely, not uniting with the subcostal 

 vein; the latter is generally short, rarely longer. The radial vein 

 issues quite near the base; also the cubital vein issues near the base 

 from the radial vein, and the point of its beginning is thickened; it 

 is unforked, and there is thus one cubital cell; the discai vein is 

 generally unforked, only forked in Sciapiis (and some foreign, related 

 genera), and with a tendency towards forking in some few other 

 species; there are thus three, only in Sciapus and the other cases 

 mentioned, four posterior cells, the second and third often not quite 

 separated, as the lower branch of the fork does not always reach the 

 margin. The last part of the discai vein (the part behind the posterior 

 cross-vein) is as a rule more or less curved, or angularly bent; 

 there are all gradations from a quite rectangular bend, sometimes 

 with small veinlets from one or both angles, through a smaller, more 

 obtuse or rounded curvature to a quite shallow and gentle, sometimes 



1 De Meijere (Zool. Jahrb. Abtheil. fiir Anat. und Ont. XIV. 1901, 443) says: 

 ". . . trifft man bei den Doliclwpodidae schone Beispiele von karamformigen 

 Sohlenliippchen", and he tigures (PI. 34, fig. 120) the empodium of D. ungulatus 

 (aeneus) as quite comb-shaped. I think no Dolichopodid has a really comb- 

 shaped empodium i. e. armed below with a single rovv of teeth or bristles; only 

 the empodium is generally linear and with bristles below, and thus to some 

 degree comb-shaped, but the bristles are not placed in a single row, or at most 

 only just at the apex; thus D. ungulatus has the empodium linear, attenuated 

 and pointed; below it has bristles, or more correctly, emergences, which cover 

 the surface from the base outwards; at the apex it is branched or runing 

 out into some brislly i)rocesses, which are divided furcately. (Fig. 3.) 



