70 Phoridae. 



Bugnion (1913) and Silvestri (1920). The species of Termitoxetiia 

 lay large eggs, from which the imago emerges, and the genus Termi- 

 tomyia is considered to be imaginipar; in the genus Ptochomyia Sil- 

 vestri (Bull. Lab. zool. gen. et agrar. Portici XIV, 1920, 272) the 

 eggs are smaller, though still large (0,65 mm, the imago 1,56 mm), 

 and Silvestri found a larva in the egg. All the species are recorded 

 to show a curious, so-called imaginal development, being as young 

 small, the stenogastric individuals, but during the imaginal develop- 

 ment growing larger and through intermediate forms reaching the 

 physogastric stage; the development concerns both head, thorax 

 and abdomen,. or sometimes only abdomen. The species are all wing- 

 less, but possess short, curious so-called thoracai appendages which 

 are modified wings, and they possess balteres. It is, I think, correct, 

 at any rate at present, to take the T ennitoxeniidae as a separate 

 family, but very nearly related to, and in several characters similar 

 to the Phoridae. 



The Phoridae thus limited are at present divided into three sub- 

 families: Phorinae^ Platyphorinae and Thaumatoxeninae. This latter 

 subfamily (Schmitz, Zool. Anz. XLV, 1915, 548) consists at present 

 of one genus, Thaumatoxena with two species, occurring in Africa 

 and both termitophilous. They are small, very flat, Blattid-like 

 creatures, which by their first describers (Breddin and Borner 1904) 

 were considered as belonging to the Rhynchota. They have in both 

 sexes small wing-rudiments (a male, probably belonging to T. Was- 

 manni, is known, perhaps also the male of the other species) but 

 seem to want balteres, a rather unique case; the abdominal tergites 

 are all, or all except the first united to a single abdominal scutum. 

 In the following description of the family I do not consider this sub- 

 family. 



In Europe only the two other subfamilies are represented; in 

 the now following description of the family 1 mainly consider only 

 the first subfamily, the Phorinae, the rather small subfamily Platy- 

 phorinae with only one Danish species being mentioned thereafter. 



The species of Phorids are of small to medium size (0,5 to about 

 6 mm), they are generally of a dark colour, sometimes more or less 

 to quite yellow, and of a curious, humpbacked appearance; they are 

 also characteristic by their peculiar quick way of running. — Head 

 somewhat semiglobular, generally a little broader than high; it is a 

 little arched behind, sometimes more flat or a little concave. The 

 eyes are broadly separated in both sexes, and sometimes a little more 



