FUNGUS GNATS OF NORTH AMERICA. 1 33 



The name Sciophila is used here in the sense of Rondani 

 (1856) and inchides all the species classified by Winnertz 

 (1863) in the genus Lasisonia, the latter thus becoming a 

 synonym of the former. The species which Winnertz placed 

 in Sciophila are transferred to Mycomya, Rondani, where they 

 rightfully belong. 



Head small, spherical, flattened in front, placed low upon the 

 thorax; eyes oval, slightly emarginate at the base of the an- 

 tennae, almost reniform ; ocelli three in number, arranged in a 

 flattened triangle upon the broad front or more rarely upon the 

 vertex, the middle one only slightly smaller than the laterals; 

 palpi incurved, four jointed, the first joint very small, the second 

 and third subequal, the last longer than the others taken to- 

 gether ; antennae projecting forward, arcuated, somewhat com- 

 pressed, 2-I-14 jointed, the two basal joints cupuliform, hairy. 

 Thorax oval, highly arched mesonotum long and thickly haired, 

 not setose ; scutellum very small ; halteres with short petiole 

 and elongate knob. Abdomen with seven visible segments, 

 cylindrical, somewhat constricted at the base, hairy, in the male 

 with blunt extremity and small forceps (fig. no, 117). Legs 

 moderately long; the tarsi of the fore legs double the length 

 or rarely more than double the length of the tibiae. The tibiae 

 with spurs and with lateral setae, the fore pair with one or two, 

 the middle pair with three and the hind pair with four rows, 

 the inner row with only few and weak setae. Wings elongate 

 oval, with rounded base, longer than the abdomen, hairy, hairs 

 sometimes visible with the naked eye. The costa produced far 

 beyond the tip of R4+5, but not reaching the tip of the wing; 

 the subcosta usually extends distad of the small cell and ends 

 in the costa ; the cell R^ very small and usually rectangular ; the 

 media forks at or but very little distad of the R-M crossvein ; 

 the cubitus forks noticeably distad of the fork of the media ; 

 the anal vein incomplete, ending far from the margin of the 

 wing (fig. 86). 



These flies are prevalent in Spring and Fall ; the larvae live 

 in rotten wood and in fungi. 



