612 ENERGOPODA 



XI. APIOCERID^. 



Orthorrhaphous brachycerous chcetophorous flies of rather large size. 



Fig. SS6.—Apiocera mcerens S- X 2^. 



Face very short, and without any face-beard. Palpi one or two-jointed ; 

 end joint large and spatulate. Antennae with a solid oval thhd joint which 

 bears a short stout terminal style. 



Thorax distinctly chsetophorous. Scutellum large, concealing the 

 metanotum. 



Abdomen (excluding the genitaha) short and conical 



Wings with a peculiar venation suggestive of the Mydaidce. 



Head, without bristles except for numerous strong occipital ones, widely trans- 

 verse when seen from above but less so when seen from in front, always dichoptic 

 but with the eyes of the male rather closer together than those of the female. Face 

 very short and without any trace of a face- or mouth-beard ; back of the head rather 

 hollowed out behind the upper part of the eyes ; vertex but little excavated between 

 the eyes ; ocelli three, wide apart, the front one being in front of the tubercle ; collar 

 very short, but bearing numerous strong bristles. Proboscis sometimes rather long 

 anci porrect, with fleshy sucker-flaps ; palpi one- or two-jointed, the end joint being 

 large, broadly spatulate, and rather sparsely pubescent. Eyes bare, scarcely bulging, 

 flattened anteriorly, but with the anterior facets not enlarged, more approximated 

 in the male than in the female. Antennae short and stout, placed below the middle 

 of the head ; basal joints bearing rather strong bristles ; third joint oval, and ending 

 in a very short stout jointed style. 



Thorax bearing strong bristles at the humeri, sides of the disc (including inter 

 alia prajsufcural, supra-alar, postalar, prtescutellar, and sometimes one or two 

 on the anterior subalar callus), and on the margin of the scutellum ; pleurte without 

 Ijristles, even as a metapleural or hypopleural tuft or fan, but with short soft 

 pubescence, the prothorax however usually with a few strong bristles. Scutellum 

 large and concealing the metanotum. 



Abdomen (without the genitalia) short and conical, especially after the second 

 segment, the two last segments being narrowly cylindrical. Genitalia of the male 

 very large, similar to those of some Asilince (especially Erax) ; ovipositor short, and 

 provided with a circlet of short blunt spines. 



