A Revision of the Genus Raymondia Frauenfeld (Diptera Pupipara, Streblidae)

Abstract

In the course of my previous work on the structure of the head and mouth parts of the Streblidae (1929), I encountered some difficulty in identifying the different species of the genus Raymondia. A careful examination of the specimens in the collection of the British Museum and of my own specimens showed that the descriptions and figures given by the authors who studied these insects in the dried condition are not quite adequate. In dried specimens of these minute flies it is often impossible to distinguish clearly the chaetotaxy of the head and the thorax and the characters present in the wings, which are generally interlocked. Moreover, the parts of the male genitalia lying in the abdomen are absolutely inaccessible. When examined in the cleared specimens the genitalia of the different species have been found to possess distinctive characters.