Phoridae. 77 



in length backwards; this is most pronounced in the male and here 

 the hairs at the hind margin of sixth segment are often more or less 

 elongated, sometimes rather miich, so that they form a row of long 

 hairs or bristles; at the sides of second segment there is not rarely 

 longer hairs or bristles. In two species {Aphiochaeta nifipes and hirti- 

 ventris) abdomen is in the male covered above by long, stubby hairs. 

 Also the venter is generally variously haired, often rather sparingly, 

 sometimes to a higher degree. The legs are as a rule rather characteri- 

 stic both by their shape and the way in which they are haired; they 

 are not rarely somewhat robust, sometimes more slender; the coxæ 

 somewhat long, especially the front coxæ; the femora are generally 

 of a shape characteristic to the family, nearly always compressed, 

 especially the hind femora and these latter are very often more or 

 less dilated, also a very characteristic feature in the family; the 

 tarsi as a rule rather long; sometimes the legs may show special char- 

 acters, thus the front tarsi may be thickened, either only metatarsus 

 or the whole tarsus, and generally this character is less pronounced 

 or wanting in the female; also hind tibiæ and hind tarsi may be 

 thickened. The coxæ have a number of bristles at the end, the middle 

 coxæ also on the exterior or anterior side, further the hind coxæ have 

 two or more, characteristic, smaller bristles at the apex on the out- 

 side, these bristles point outwards. Otherwise the tibiæ have either 

 single, individualised bristles, present in various numbers and arranged 

 in various ways, or they have no single bristles; in the latter case the 

 posterior tibiæ have generally a row of bristles or more or less bristly 

 hairs. The hind tibiæ are sometimes of simple shape, but often they 

 are specially constructed; very often, as in Aphiochaeta (with a 

 few exceptions) there is along the dorsal side a somewhat elevated 

 margin with a dense row of palisade-like arranged hairs, on the post- 

 erior side of which the above mentioned row of bristles or hairs is 

 placed; in other genera {Dohrniphora^ Hypocera) two or three such 

 rows of palisade-like hairs are present, separated by furrows; in some 

 few species (of Hypocera and Paraspiniphora) the hind tibiæ are orna- 

 mented in another way, the dorsal side being covered by transverse, 

 comb-like rows of short bristly hairs; generally the middle tibiæ 

 show a similar construction as the hind tibiæ, while the front tibiæ 

 are simple. The legs are otherwise clothed with short hairs, the post- 

 erior side of posterior femora is partly bare; on the posterior side of 

 hind tibiæ, at the end there are special, short, bristly hairs arranged 

 in transverse comb-like rows and such hairs are also found on the 



