K>^ 



80 Phoridae. 



somewhat patagium-like tegula with a fan of bristles. Squamulæ slightly 

 developed, the thoracic squamulæ not developed, almost only consist- 

 ing of frenulum, and also the alar squamulæ narrow, but these latter 

 have at the end before the junction with the alular margin a roundish 

 extension with bristles or hairs at the margin. 



At last still an important character of the family must be men- 

 tioned, namely that all bristles in the Phorids are characteristic by 

 being spinulose or short-hairy; so far known similar bristles occur only 

 in the Mycetophilidae. iy^^ander and Brues, however, state (Biol. 

 Bull. V, 1903, 19) that two species of Puliciphora have bare bristles. 



The above remarks are based mainly on the European species; 

 among these there are no specially aberrant forms, and they are all 

 winged in both sexes. In non-European, especially tropical regions 

 many forms occur which are very aberrant in many ways. The head 

 may be otherwise shaped and the bristles otherwise arranged, reduced 

 or absent, and they may be different in the two sexes; ocelli may be 

 absent in both sexes also in otherwise normal forms {Melaloncha)\ 

 pulvilli and empodium may be reduced or wanting. Many of these 

 genera have the wings wanting or much reduced in the female, while 

 the male, when known, always has wings (of a number of genera only 

 the female is known); only in one case, the genus Aptinandria newly 

 pubHshed by Schmitz (Entom. Meddel. XIII, 1921, 6), and of which 

 both sexes are known, they are both wingless and without balteres, 

 and also without scutellum and ocelli; the author mentions (for the 

 male) a very small wing-rudiment, which he says is of the same kind 

 as in the female of Puliciphora. The reduced wings are often of a 

 peculiar shape, more or less scale-like or narrow with very long and 

 strong bristles. These females are upon the whole much specialised 

 or degenerate and often very curious. Together with the want of 

 wings also the balteres seem always to be wanting, but when rudi- 

 ments of wings are present balteres are generally also present (in 

 some females of Puliciphora and Wandolleckia as also in the above 

 mentioned Aptinandria very small vestigial wings are mentioned 

 without balteres); only for Ecitomyia Brues (Americ. Naturalist 

 XXXV, 1901, 351) expressly mentions that the female has rudiment- 

 ary wings but no balteres, and states this to be quite unique, though 

 the same case is stated for Thaumatoxena as mentioned above. The 

 females without wings or with reduced wings have also the eyes small 

 and generally no ocelli, though sometimes ocelli are present and the 

 scutellum is generally very small or quite undeveloped, and the whole 



