MYCET0PUILID7E. 
583 
There certainly exist a very great number of Indian species as yet 
undescribed. The flies are common in the plains and extremely 
abundant in the hills. 
The family is separated into two groups,- the Lestremiince, with a 
media, and the Cecidomyiince, without a media. 
Mycetophilid^e. 
Fungus-gnats. Mostly small flies with elongated coxoe. Antennce long, 
generally without whorls of hair. Two or three ocelli present. Eyes 
separate in both sexes. All the tibiae with spurs. Male genitalia 
easily seen. 
These delicate and slender flies can generally be easily recognised by 
the above characters. They might perhaps be occasionally confounded 
with Bibionids (as their colour is sometimes black 
and orange) or with Tipulids or Cecidomyiids, 
but the long antennae and coxae, with the vena¬ 
tion, are sufficiently characteristic. 
As to the venation, the costa extends as far as 
the last branch of the radius (which may be 3 
or 2 branched), the sub-costa may be very small 
or well developed, the media and cubitus are 2 
branched, while the anal varies in length. There 
is considerable variation in the arrangement 
of the veins in the neighbourhood of the radio-medial cross-vein, and this 
variation supplies useful characters for purposes of classification. 
Fig. 378— Mycetophilid 
(sciara) mussoorie. x 2. 
These flies require for their development damp surroundings, and 
hence are much more abundant in the hills than in the plains. They 
sometimes indulge in dances, generally about low shrubs or near their 
breeding-places. The prominent genital forceps of the males (fig. 378) 
renders the distinction of sexes easy, for the female has the abdomen 
pointed, with two very small terminal processes. 
The eggs are often extruded in little chains of a dozen or so at a time. 
They are laid in fungi, dead damp wood, dung, decaying leaves and simi¬ 
lar substances. The larvae have a shiny look, and are generally rather 
transparent, so that the longitudinal tracheal tubes show plainly through 
the skin. They are smooth and round, with as a rule a few small bristles 
on the under side. There are 9 pairs of spiracles, on segments 1 and 4-11 
