40 Tachinidae. 



CYCLORRHAPHA SCHIZOMETOPA. 



Tlie Cydorrhapha schizometopa Br.^ {Thecostomata Frey 1921, 

 Myodaria siiperiora Villeneuve 1924) are divided into the two large 

 families Tachinidae and Anthomyidae, distinguished, besides by 

 other characters, mainly by the important one, that the Tachinidæ 

 possess a row of bristles on hypopleura, the Anthomyidae not (with 

 only one exception). The Tachinidae are the highest developed of the 

 two families. 



Tachinidae. 



Head as broad as thorax or a little broader or narrower, gener- 

 ally convex behind, and here often more or less puffed out below, 

 rarely flat or concave behind; the head is generally higher than long, 

 sometimes as high as long, and sometimes nearly triangular in profile. 

 The eyes are as a rule separated in both sexes and the frons also in 

 the male more or less broad, but generally broader in the female; 

 sometimes, however, it is of equal breadth in both sexes; more 

 rarely the eyes are touching in the male; in some Phasiinae on the 

 contrary the frons is narrower in the female. Frons more or less 

 prominent, sometimes strongly, at other times not or almost not, 

 the head then being evenly rounded in front. The frons is well chitin- 

 ised on both sides along the eye-margins; these parts are the orbits, 

 downwards going over in the cheeks; the middle part between the 

 orbits, the frontal stripe, is less chitinised; the relative breadth of 

 orbits and frontal stripe may be rather various. As in all cyclorrhaphous 

 flies a frontal suture is present, running round the lunula and down- 

 wards on each side towards or to the lower end of the eye. Outwards 

 to this suture, between it and the eyes, are the cheeks, which may 

 be from quite narrow to rather broad. Between the arms of the suture 

 lies the epistoma; it is flat or often more or less reflected and pro- 

 minent below; the sides of epistoma are raised to a keel, the vibrissal 

 ridge, running parallel with the arms of the frontal suture; the vi- 

 brissal ridges may be more or less parallel or diverging downwards, 



1 Hendel says (Konowia I, 1922, 147) that it indicates "sachliche Unkenntnis" 

 to use still Brauer's names Schizometopa and Holometopa\ I think, however, 

 that these names, so long in use, may well be used, even if it is proved that 

 some Holometops are in reality schizometop. 



