THE EARLY STAGES OF SCIADOCERA RUFOMAGULATA WHITE (DIPT. PHORIDAE). By Mary E. Fuller, B.Sc. (With a foreword by A. L. Tonnoir.) (Eight Text-figures.) [Read 28th March, 1934.] ForeiDorcl (by A. L. Tonnoir). In a previous paper (Tonnoir, 1926) I called attention to and discussed a fly, Sciadocera rufomaculata White,* which had been considered till then as belonging to the Empidae. I concluded that its affinities were with the Phoridae and that a new subfamily should be erected to receive it. Father Schmitz, writing an account (1929) of a similar fly from Southern Chile, did not agree with my views and erected a new family to receive this genus; further, he concluded that the strongest affinities of Sciadocera were with the Platypezidae and not with the Phoridae. Schmitz remarked that I had disregarded any possible connection between Sciadocera and the Platypezidae. This is not quite correct, because three years before (Tonnoir, 1923) I had placed Sciadocera in the Platypezidae; but later, after a closer study of the fly, I decided that its affinities were with the Phoridae and discussed them in detail. I did not give the reasons why this insect should not be placed with the Platypezidae, as I considered that the arguments in favour of its being placed with the Phoridae were quite sufficient. As to the third view, to erect a new family, adopted by Schmitz and also suggested to me by Bezzi, I did not consider this possibility very long, because the Aschiza, being a transition group, is bound to contain a number of aberrant forms, for which it is more useful from the general taxonomic point of view to stress the affinities than to emphasize the differences. Ironomyia White would also be given family rank if one were to follow Father Schmitz' principle, instead of being placed with the Platypezidae, as I have done. There are probably a number of other unknown or still insufficiently known forms of the Aschiza for which, new families could be erected. The final result would be that there would be a number of monogeneric families which would certainly not have the same status as the other families of the Diptera. Schmitz concludes: "If we should nevertheless place this genus in this family (Phoridae), then we must have sounder reasons than those which Tonnoir indicates." These sounder reasons (or rather a few more of them) I find now in the recently gained knowledge of the early stages of Sciadocera, which it has been the good fortune of Miss Fuller to secure. These indubitably point to the conclusion that Sciadocera is a Phorid and that in these stages it is rather far removed from the Platypezidae. I have previously mentioned having observed the female flies on the carcass of a Wombat, on which they were apparently trying to oviposit. I was therefore * Through some unfortunate lapsus calami the species was mentioned throughout that paper as S. maculata. E
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