no kansas university quarterly. 



Apiocera. 



The palpi are large, two-jointed in each of the four 

 species examined, and very hairy. The first joint is nearly cylindri- 

 cal, and is continuous with the basal plate, to which the membranous 

 portion of the galea is attached. The second joint is large, sub-cres- 

 centic in outline, though somewhat variable in the different species, 

 and flattened. It seems to be larger in those species with shorter 

 proboscis. The palpifer takes its origin from the inner, upper side of 

 the basal, palpal plate, or at the base of what may be called the first 

 palpal joint. There is no joint in this place, though more or less 

 mobility is permitted by the partially membranous connection. The 

 palpifers are in all cases very slender, straight or gently curved, and 

 are as long as the chitinous portion of the galea. They are pointed, 

 with but little if any thin expansion, and are wholly without hairs or 

 pubescence. They are, of course, enclosed within the groove formed 

 by the galea, and lie by the side of the ligula. 



The paraglossae and ligula are very similar to the same organs in 

 Rhaphiomidas, though each fornis a less perfect tube. The upper 

 organ is deeply channeled, and nearly cylindrical, but the borders are 

 widely separated below throughout their length. The ligula is a 

 slender, smooth, chitinous channel, forming something more than half 

 a cylinder, and with a sharply pointed extremity. The two organs 

 together form a complete tube. The united paraglossae is rather 

 longer than the firm portion of the galea, and, in some, seems to pre- 

 sent an indication of a median separation into two parts. 



The galea has a variable membranous portion at its base, propor- 

 tionally longer in those species with an elongate proboscis, thus 

 permitting greater freedom in its use. A rather peculiar membranous 

 process is seen at the base in one species; it may possibly occur in 

 others. The chitinous portion is only moderately firm, and is 

 nearly cylindrical in life. Its upper margins are more or less widely 

 separated, especially in the species with short proboscis. On either" 

 side, is plainly seen the ribbon-like band of longitudinal fibres, 

 indicated in the plate. The labella are especially large in A. 

 hartispex, where they occupy the larger part of the galea. In other 

 species they are smaller, but are in all adapted for attrition, 

 having about twenty curved ridges on the inner side, very much as 

 they are in the Nemistrinidae, though less numerous. On the outer 

 side of each labellum, in the Australian species, there are numerous 

 short, firm, bristly hairs, very much as in the Asilidae; they are wholly 

 wanting, however, in A. haruspex. They are probably sense-organs. 



While, of course, this structure of the labella does not preclude the 



