288 Mr. W. Wesclie on syskmcdic affinities of the Phorids^ 



species, a frontal barb and lateral sharp processes, while 

 in the male it is, though ample in size, quite unarmed, 

 and the teeth on the paraglossse are much less developed 

 than those of the female. 



The arrangement and number of parts are nearly similar 

 to those in Bihio ; but the paraglossoe are very large and 

 bear rather widely separated, relatively narrow tracheae ; 

 the cleft between the paired lobes is very deep and unlike 

 Bihio has chitinised plates on the interior edges. The 

 mandibles are soldered into the mentum in the median 

 line, and consequently are as in Do/ichojms as well as 

 JBibio on the ventral side, opposed to the condition found 

 in the Muscidoe, where they are invariably on the dorsal 

 side. 



The lacininse of the maxillae are fused at their points 

 and form the curious triangular aculeation, at the base of 

 the cleft of the paraglossae characteristic of the Phorid 

 trophi; the cardines are hard to differentiate and may 

 have disappeared. The labrum has in addition to the 

 armature already mentioned, in all the species I have 

 examined, a minute pubescence on the anterior extremities, 

 only to be seen with very high powers. The hypopharynx 

 is strong, and deeply channelled and suggestive of a 

 raptorial habit. 



The paraglossae carry a number of " taste hairs" which 

 occupy two positions, as besides the usual solitary hair at 

 the end of the trachea, there are a number of taste hairs 

 on the edges of the paraglossae, the ventral surfaces of 

 which have a tendency to chitinise, and have an appearance 

 similar to that found in Nematocerous forms. 



This arrangement is peculiar, and a search through my 

 collection has resulted in the finding of a striking similarity 

 in the paraglossae of Leptis scoloijacea, L., not only in the 

 position of the taste hairs at the edges, and the chitinous 

 ventral membrane of the paraglossae, but in the general ap- 

 pearance, in the narrow tracheae, the tubes much separated 

 from each other, and in the deep cleft, the edges chitinised 

 between the two paraglossae. The mandibles are also on 

 the ventral side, but here the similarities end, as the}^ are 

 laterally placed and have not fused in the median line. 

 Similar conditions are found on the labium of Lonchoptera 

 fiavicauda, Mg., together with an armature identical with 

 L. scolopacea. The tracheae are narrow, and spring from 

 paired chitinous plates. The palpi are maxillary and not 



