1919] Brues — The Occurrence of TVingless Phoridce on the Fiji Islands 49 



broad; tarsi pubescent. Wings: radial cell slender, closed; apical 

 portion of the subcosta straight; first abscissa of the radius arcuate; 

 cubitus arising distinctly below the middle of the first cross-vein. 

 Length: 3.5 mm. 



Locality: Oligocene, in Baltic amber. 



Type: A single specimen from the collection of the Konigsberg 

 Museum, and temporarily at the Bussey Institution, of Harvard 

 University. (Fig. 2.) 



This specimen is most remarkably preserved, exhibiting an 

 almost complete set of specific characters. 



THE OCCURRENCE OF WINGLESS PHORID^ ON 

 THE FIJI ISLANDS. 



By Charles T. Brues, 

 Bussey Institution, Harvard University. 



Dr. William M. Mann recently gave me for examination some 

 wingless flies which he reared from dead snails when in the Fiji 

 Islands several years ago. There are numerous specimens of two 

 species, and both appear to be identical with forms described from 

 the Bismarck Archipelago. The first is Chonocephalus dorsalis 

 WandoUeck and the second Puliciphora lucifera Dahl, of which 

 there is also a winged male. Chonocephalus is known from various 

 localities in the tropics of both hemispheres where it is represented 

 by several species. In addition to the form mentioned, another 

 has been found in the South Seas, C. depressus De Meij. from 

 Sumatra, and I have an undescribed one from New Guinea. Puli- 

 ciphora is represented by numerous species, nearly all confined to 

 the tropics. 



It may seem strange that these species should be found on such 

 widely separated islands, but they breed in decaying animal and 

 plant matter of various kinds, in common with some other Phoridae, 

 and have great opportunities to be distributed on shipboard. 



