312 The Philippine Journal of Science 1915 
Kurope and North America are comparatively well known, but 
those of less accessible regions have not been so thoroughly 
collected as most other families of Diptera. The generic rela- 
tions of the family seem to be very similar in the most widely 
separated geographical regions. 
FAMILY CHARACTERS 
Phoride are probably the most readily recognized family 
among all the Diptera. Apart from the wingless forms they 
possess such a peculiar and constant type of wing venation that 
they may be readily recognized at a glance. The important 
family characters are: Small or minute species with a hunched- 
back appearance. Head small, hemispherical or rather flattened; 
front broad in both sexes, usually bearing 3 or 4 transverse rows 
of bristles; face very short, concave. Oral opening large, the 
palpi well developed and projecting, usually with strong bristles. 
Eyes never very large, often much reduced in wingless forms; 
ocelli always present in the winged forms. Antennz of peculiar 
form; the third joint large and concealing the others, spheroid 
or pointed, with a long, nearly bare subdorsal or apical arista. 
Thorax usually large and arched above, the scutellum rarely 
absent. Abdomen short, more or less slender and narrowed be- 
hind in the male; in the female more oval in shape and pointed 
at the tip. Genitalia of the male usually prominent, often large. 
Those of the female small and projecting. In a few genera 
the ovipositor is hard, chitinized, and projecting. Legs well 
developed; cox stout, the anterior ones very long and free at 
the base; femora stout; the posterior pair often swollen or flat- 
tened ; tibia generally with a few strong bristles, sometimes bare. 
Wings usually large, but sometimes very small or entirely ab- 
sent in the female. When present, they have a series of two 
heavy veins anteriorly which reach only halfway to the apex of 
the wing, and three or four much lighter ones which run 
obliquely across the dise of the wing. 
GENERIC CHARACTERS 
The most important characters for the definition of genera 
are to be found in the presence or absence of strong macro- 
cheetz on the tibia, the position of the frontal bristles, and the 
venation of the wings, especially with regard to the branching 
of the third vein. The reduction of the wings and the remark- 
able elongation of the ovipositor are important for the recogni- 
tion of some genera. 
