BRITISH FLIES 43 



however of opinion that the scarcely excavated vertex, very short heard- 

 less face, short collar, spatulate palpi, and upturned veins alunit the 

 tip of the winsT distiuixuish them so much from the Asilida' tliat thev 

 cannot remain in the same family, though T group them in the same 

 superfamily. 



Fourthly; 1 have reihieed Osten Sacken's Energopoda to the Apiocerida' 

 and AsUidtc only. The Asilida: form an enormous hut very well-defined 

 group, and in my opinion they are more closely allied to the Thcrcvida' 

 than tliey are to the Enqnda: The Energopoda may l»e cUstinguished 

 from the Migropiiona {Empidcc and Dolichojwdidfc) hy their more elahorate 

 venation (with five posterior cells), and hy their powerful strongly armed 

 legs but weak cephalic bristles. The Emjndcc and BolicJiojwdidcc are 

 undoubtedly closely allied to each other and have a more simple venation 

 (tending towards the Atiiericeua), weaker less strongly armed legs, and 

 more strongly developed cephalic Ijristles ; they are moreover large groups 

 of species of much smaller average bulk, and (both being predatory) may 

 bear the name of Michophona (murderers of little things); they have 

 already been closely associated by Brauer upon embryonic characters, 

 and he bestowed upon them the title of Orthogenya (SpOd^ yeVi's') in 

 contradistinction to his Platygenya (TrAari;? yevv^)- 1 do not adopt the 

 name Orthogenya for them, because that title was of co-ordinate rank 

 with Brauer's Platygenya, which was a group including all the previous 

 families of the Brachycep.a, while I desire to indicate a superfamily of 

 only equal rank with the Eremocileta or Tromoptera. 



The Zoiiehojjferida' still remain a very distinct small family of rather 

 uncertain location which I leave at present under the old superfamily 

 name of Acroptera. J. C. H. de Meijere in Zool. Jahrb., xiv., pp. 87-132, 

 T. 5-7 (1900) has dealt at considerable detail with the larva of Lonclwptcra, 

 and has come to the conclusion that the family would more properly com- 

 mence the Cyclorrhapha than end the Ortiiorrhapiia, but the nu)re I 

 study them the more I come to the opinion that their proper place is between 

 the Dolichopodidm and Phoridiv. The Fhoridcr are also a remarkably 

 distinct and well-defined family concerning whose position there have 

 been numerous differences of opinion. For a long time they were believed 

 to belong to the Cyclorrhapha, and whilst some writers (myself included) 

 placed them near the Borloridcc, others associated them with the Fla/y- 

 pczidm under the superfamily name of Hypocera; more recent opinions 

 tend to place them in the Orthorrhapha though standing upon the 

 liorder line, and 1 have come round to this opinion myself. The term 

 Hvpoceka was originally founded for them only, and not being in a 

 position to dogmatise as to their affinities I leave them for the present 

 by themselves under that superfamily name. 



Other families have been proposed but have been merged into one or 

 other of the sixteen families now accepted, though some are still retained 

 by other writers. The old family Xyhphofiida'. (retained by Bezzi in his 



