coxopim;. 



341 



T/iorrto; comparatively short, subquadrate, nearly or quite bare, 

 rarely longer than broad ; scuteilum semicircular. Thoracic 

 squaiiue small. 



Abdomen 6- or 7-segmented, cylindrical, thinly pilose or bare, 

 generally slightly curved downwards, usually narrower than 

 thorax, sometimes much constricted at base; its tip is more or 

 less clavate. Genitalia in 6 not very prominent, thread-like ; 

 in 2 consisting of a large basal segment with apical processes, and 

 generally comprising also a large shield-like organ on the under 

 side of the -'jth segment*. Ovipositor in Dalmannia (not an 

 Oriental genus) long ; in Stijlogaster extremely long and horny. 



Legs moderately long and stout, nearly or quite bare, of uniform 

 shape except for ihe thickening of the femora in some genera ; 

 tarsi furnished with two distinct pulvilli. 



Wings either comparatively long and narrow or of moderate 

 width, in one genus {SUilomyia) cuneiform ; auxiliary vein and 1st 

 and 2nd longitudinal veins straiglit or nearly so, ending between 

 the middle of the costa and a point at about tliree-fourths of its 

 length ; 3nl and 4th veins ending near apex of wing, diverging 

 considerably beyond anterior cross-vein, converging towards their 

 distal extremities, causing 1st posterior cell to be either narrowly 

 open or closed on the wing-border or shortly petiolate ; subcostal 

 cross-vein (in Coxopix.t. and in the genera Zodion and Pleuro- 

 cerinella of Myopix.e) situated near tip of auxiliary vein, sometimes 

 weak ; anterior cross-vein usually at about the middle of the very 

 elongate discal cell, in some genera beyond the middle; posterior 

 cross-vein erect or sloping; 5th vein forked (simple in Stglomifia), 

 its upper branch meeting the discal cell near its base, forming the 

 lower side of this cell aiid ending at the wing-border, its lower 

 branch joining the 6th (anal) vein towards the wing-border; anal 

 cell normally elongate, always closed and petiolate, sometimes 

 very short ; anal angle of wing normally well d(;veloped ; alulse 

 sometimes very large ; squamae either moderately large, small or 

 rudimentary. 



Life-liistoru . In species in which this is known, the larvse are 

 paraj'itic on adult be^s, wasps or Orthoptera. Williston states 

 that in some cases the eggs are deposited on the hosts during 

 flight, and that the larvic, when liatched, burrow in^o the abdomen. 

 The adult Ct)NOPiD.T5 escape by passing between the segments of 

 the al)domen of the host, and such an emergence from the body 

 of a living bee has even been watched. One European species, 

 Conops quadrifasciutus, De Geer, develops in tlie bee, Bombus 

 lapldarins. Other hymenopterous genera acting as hosts of 



* Several authors liave confused I ho sexes, though Schiuer cieiirly dilTeren- 

 tiaterl them, and I must plead guilty to having made tlio same error in my 

 previous descriptions of species of this family. Moreover, liie shield-like 

 organ has been erroneously referred by some authors to the 4th instead of the 

 5th segment. 



