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The taxonomy of the British Chloropidae is reviewed with special reference to the male post abdomen. A new secondary sexual character, the femoral comb, is found to occur in Oscinellinae. The male genitalia of each species are described and illustrated and the limits and division of genera into species groups are considered. Material collected during this study is considered together with existing material in museum and private collections and in order to stabilize the nomenclature available type specimens have been examined and interpreted. The known distribution and phenology of British species are recorded. The relationships of British Chloropidae are discussed at the interspecific and intergeneric level with reference to the world fauna. Several species are apparently undescribed and a number of species have not been recorded from Britain. The male genitalia are discussed in relation to existing generic concepts, and certain anomalies in the British genera are pointed out. The data in this thesis is related to the subfamily classification of Chloropidae, the systematic position of Chloropidae in the Diptera Cyclorrhapha and the theories of systematics in general.