NEMESTRINIDiE 441 



the squamae. Scutellum sometimes unusually large but often small, rounded and 

 unarmed, without any trace of bristly hairs ; metanotum almost hidden beneath the 

 scuteUum. 



Abdomen short and usually rounded, often shorter and even broader than the 

 thorax, less pubescent than the thorax and absolutely without any trace of bristles or 

 strong hairs. 



Legs usually slender and rather long, but sometimes rather short and stout 

 though never powerful, absolutely without bristles even to the soles of the tarsi, but 

 with moderately long pubescence on the femora, and almost always with a minute 

 sub-erect equal rather dense pubescence all over the tibiae and tarsi (rarely rather 

 longer on the tibiae), Avhich only rarely gives any indication of spicules (like the Bomhy- 

 lidce, etc.) on the tibiae ; tibi^ without any spurs. Pulvilli three, the middle one being 

 often rather shorter than the others and often curved up but always pad-like ; some- 

 times all three pulvilli are long and rather narrow, but at other times normally broad ; 

 claws long. 



Wings with a peculiar venation, which in its most extreme form (fig. 250) 

 exhibits a remarkable network on the apical half of the wing, but in its simpler 

 forms is characterised by the veins curving up and running; parallel with the hind- 

 margin of the wing but never ending in the subcostal vein as in Mydaidce though 

 some may end in the lower branch of the cubital fork. Subcostal vein long (and always 

 present in spite of Wandolleck's statement about Colax) ; praefurca rather short ; 

 radial vein simple or connected by a veinlet with the cubital fork ; cubital vein 

 sloping down until it coalesces for a short space with the discal vein near the end of 

 the curiously shaped discal cell (so that the discal cross-vein is absent), or connected 

 with the discal cell at the same place by a short cross-vein, after which the cubital 

 vein suddenly slopes upwards and may end in a simple long narrow fork 

 {Hermoneura, fig. 251) or the fork may be connected by a cross-veinlet close to the 

 base of the upper branch with the radial {Rhynchocephahis, fig. 253), or the curving 

 up of the veins and a cross-veinlet may cause at least two closed cells to occur 

 between the space caused by the diverging radial and cubital veins and the wing-tip 

 (Fallenia, fig. 252), or the cubital fork (which would otherwise have been long and 

 simple) is connected by a network of numerous cross-veinlets with the veins above 

 and below it ; beyond this there is a peculiarity in the venation that the basal part 

 of the cubital vein api:)ears to be carried on as a continuous diagonal vein (called by 

 Loew the " Diagonalader ") either to the wingmargin (fig. 254) or at least to the end 

 of the upper branch of the postical vein (fig. 252) ; discal vein in its end jjortion 

 throwing up two long veins (not necessarily from the discal cell) which run almost 

 parallel with the wingmargin (and of which the lower one ends at or before the 

 wing-tip) and of which the upper one sometimes ends in the cubital vein well before 

 the wingmargin ; discal cell elongate trapezoid, either connected at its lowest point 

 by a short small cross-vein with the upper branch of the postical vein (close to its 

 base) or anastomosing there for a short space ; postical vein with a long upper and 

 short lower branch, of which the upper branch runs along almost parallel with the 

 wingmargin until it reaches the end of the closed fourth hindmarginal cell, and the 

 lower branch either ending in the wingmargin or joining the anal vein before the wing- 

 margin, so that the anal cell is either narrowly open or is closed a little before the 

 wingmargin ; upper basal cell extremely long and narrow, second basal cell long and 

 unusually broad ; in tracing all the jjrincipal veins the network of cross-veins in 

 Nemestrina has been ignored ; posterior cells four or five. The curving up of the 

 veins and their running parallel with the wingmargin is very suggestive of the 

 venation of the Mydaidce, and so is the ending of the veins before the wing-tip ; the 

 leaving the whole wingmargin for a large space clear of venation (fig. 252) is only 

 paralleled by the Mydaidce ; alula unusually large in some cases, or very narrow, or 

 quite absent ; wing-membrane very much rippled, very minutely pubescent. 

 Squamae (alar) distinct, but not large, and often bearing a very long fringe on the 

 lower part which gets mixed up with the long tuft of pubescence on the pleurae ; 

 thoracal pair absent, or small and hidden in the pubescence. Halteres inconspicuous 

 and often hidden in dense pubescence. 



This family may be easily recognised by its peculiar venation, though 

 doubts have arisen as to its relationships. The pad-like empodium 

 (whereby there are three almost equal puIvilH) and the absolutely 



