1913-] M. Bezzi : Indian Trypaneids {Fruit-Flies). 85 



wanting ; pt. usually weak ; st. wanting. Abdomen of the female with the last 

 segment (5th or 6th) hidden. Front femora without bristles below, or very rarely 

 bristly. Scutellum with two or four bristles ; if the bristles are only two it is always 

 the basal (not the apical) pair that is absent. Wings with the auxiliary vein very 

 approximate to the first longitudinal vein, and often very little distinct; the first 

 three longitudinal veins are usually very approximated, the others are distant, the 

 small cross-vein is therefore very long and oblique. Second basal cell usually very 

 much dilated, and short at the base ; anal cell narrowed, its inferior angle usually 

 drawn out into a very long point, much longer than the second basal cell. Pattern of 

 the wings usually very simple and reduced to a fore border and some stripes ; 

 banded wings are very rare, and reticulated wings are never found. 



The principal character of the subfamily is the reduced chaetotaxy of the head 

 and of the thorax. The species are tropical or subtropical and live almost exclusively 

 in the old world. The larvae live only in fruits of various kinds, and are never 

 gall-makers. 



lyoew was not clear as to the limits of his group Dacinae, which is very different 

 from the subfamily here defined ; he has drawn the characters chiefly from the 

 shape of the abdomen of the female. Ceratitis and allied forms have been often 

 placed near Dacus, with which, however, they have nothing to do, as is shown by 

 their very developed chaetotaxy. 



The subfamily Dacinae is not at present rich in genera ; besides the genus Dacus 

 s. I., it probably comprises the very distinct American genus Toxotrypana ,^ and 

 certainly the aberrant genus Meracanthomyia, Hendel, with its ally Adrama. Heni- 

 coptera and Cardiocera are also perhaps to be placed here. Meracanthomyia has the 

 reduced chaetotaxy and the antennae of the true Dacine ; but the arista is shortly 

 pilose, the femora are bristly below, the first three longitudinal veins of the wings 

 are not approximated, the second basal cell is not dilated, and the inferior angle of 

 the anal cell is not drawn out into a long point, being shorter than the second basal 

 cell. 



If we take the well-known Dacus oleae, Gmelin, as the type of the genus Dacus,. 

 we will find that the majority of the other Dacinae cannot be considered as con- 

 generic with it. The genus Dacus s. str. is to be restricted to the forms which have no 

 anterior sa. and no prsc.^ a short and rounded abdomen with distinct segments and 

 a flattened ovipositor. The African species allied to longistylus, Wied., which have 

 the same chaetotaxy as the species oieae, but have a very elongate body, an abdomen 

 with partly fused segments and a cylindrical unflattened ovipositor, belong to a 

 distinct genus which will bear the name of Leptoxvda^ Macquart. I do not know if 

 all the African species belong only to these two groups, or if there are some other 

 genera ; but as far as I know, the African species are very distinct from the Oriental 

 and Australian species principally by reason of their more reduced chaetotaxy. 



The Oriental (and Australian) species have always a pair of prsc. and one 

 anterior sa. bristle, and the scutellum bears very often four bristles. All the known 



' Chiefly on account of its very reduced chaetotaxy ; it would be the only Dacine of the new world. 



