VII. Family M YCETOPHILID^E. 



Fig. 39. Sciara, sp. Enlarged. After Washburn. 



Mostly small, delicate, slender flies, with more or less 

 elongated coxae. Head small, rounded or somewhat 

 elongate. Eyes round, somewhat prominent; ocelli two 

 or three in number, when only two, placed one on each 

 orbital margin; rarely apparently wholly wanting; when 

 three in number, placed transversely in the form of a 

 shallow triangle. Front broad in both sexes. Antennas 

 elongated, curved, twelve to seventeen-jointed, the two 

 basal joints differentiated, the remainder cylindrical, flat- 

 tened, or petiolated. Proboscis rarely elongated: palpi 

 three or four-jointed, usually inflected, the first joint 

 small ; occasionally absent. Thorax more or less, some- 

 times highly arched, without transverse suture; metano- 

 tum large; scutellum small. Abdomen elongated, com- 

 posed of six or seven segments, cylindrical or compressed, 

 sometimes narrowed at the base ; male genitalia project- 

 ing forceps-like; ovipositor pointed, usually with two 

 terminal lamellae. Legs more or less elongated, the coxae 



131 



