14 Orthon-hapti.i hracliyceia. 



short lacinia; maxillary palpi ahvays present, but rather small, one- 

 or two-jointed. Thorax more or less rectangular; scutellum with 

 spines or unarmed. Abdoineu more or less flat, as broad as or mostly 

 broader tlian the thorax, generally short, sometimcs more elongated; 

 it consists of five to seven distinct segments. The legs are simple. 

 not especially strong, strongest in the somewhat heavy and sluggish 

 genera, weaker in the well flying genera as f. inst. Sargiis; they are 

 without bristles or apical spurs : the claws are simple, there are two 

 pulviUi and a pulvilliform empodium quite resembling the pulvilli. 

 Wings with the costal vein extending at most to the apex of the wing, 

 radial vein present or sometimes wanting. cubital vein generally with 

 a small fork, sometimes unforked, and thus one or two cubital cells 

 present. Discai cell rather small, formed exclusively of the discai vein, 

 or. in some genera, closed below by the anterior branch of the postical 

 vein ; in this case there is no postical cross-vein and the venation of 

 this part of the wing to some degree recalls the venation characteristic 

 for the cyclorrhaphous flies. From the discai or from this and the 

 second basal cell there rise three or four veins, often not reaching the 

 margin, generally very tliin or some of them rudimentary; there are, 

 in relation to the number of these veins, four or five posterior cells, 

 some of which may be more or less fused. The basal cells are of 

 equal length, and the anal cell nearly reaches the margin. The wings 

 of the Stratiomyids are moreover characterised by the anterior veins 

 being Crowded towards the anterior margin, the small discai cell being 

 placed above the middle of the wing, so that the part lying below the 

 postical vein occupies about the half of the wing. The alula is well 

 developed, often somewhat pointed; tlie alar squamula is distinct but 

 small, the thoracai squamula wanting or more or less developed ; the 

 balteres are not covered. In rest the wings lie parallel over the 

 abdomen, one quite covering the other, so that in forms with a some- 

 what broad abdomen, the sides of it are seen outside the wing-margins. 

 Several of the above facts, among others the structure and venation 

 of the wings, point towards the faet that the Stratiomyids are some- 

 wliat ancient forms. 



The eggs are deposited in the earth, in dung or in similar iocalities, 

 or wlien the larva lives in water, on water-planls. I have seen eggs 

 of some species of Strutiomyia or Odontomyia deposited on a Phragmites 

 at some distance above the surface of the water; they were deposited 

 in a somewhat oval mass of a length of 13 mm.; the eggs were held 

 together by some cementing substance; the individual eggs were 

 whitisli, elongate, about 2 mm. long; the whole mass was brownish. 

 The larvæ are elongated, fusiform or with parallel sides, more or less 



