591 
LEPTIDiE. 
The Clitellarince (PI. LXI, fig. 1) and Sargince are common in India, 
but the curious little dumpy round-bellied Pachygastrince (PI. LXI, fig. 
5,) whose flattened predaceous larvae 
live under bark, are less often met with. 
The venation typical of these three 
sub-families is shown in fig. 381. 
Leptim:. 
Fig. 383— Stratiomyiid venation 
(AFTER COMSTOCK). A PACHYGAS. 
TER, B CL1TELLARIA, C SARGUS. 
Antennce variable as in Stratiomyidce. 
Eyes often touching in the male. 
Proboscis sometimes long and beak- 
like. Pulvilli and empodia present. 
At least some of the tibice with spurs. 
Leptids are of moderate size, being 
rarely quite small, with the legs and 
Fig. 384 — Antennae of Leptids. 
(After Comstock.) 
abdomen both rather long and thin, the latter somewhat tapering at the 
hind end. The head is wide and the eyes large. The body is frequently 
covered with a close coat of short hairs sometimes golden yellow in colour, 
and when at rest the wings are not folded over the back as in Stratio- 
myids but are held apart after the manner of the Tabanidce. The usual 
type of venation is shown on PL LIX. The flies are of rather sluggish 
habit, with a short silent flight, and are predaceous; two genera, Sym- 
phoromyia and Trichopalpus, are said to suck blood freely in America, 
while cases are also on record of people in Europe having been bitten by 
Leptis ; no Indian species is yet known to suck blood ; the family, as a 
whole, certainly does not occur in any abundance in the plains. None 
have ever been seen at Pusa, though the flies are apparently not uncom¬ 
mon in Assam and in the Eastern Himalayas. The sexes are distinguished 
by the wider separation of the eyes in the female. The breeding-habits 
