relationship, in most cases at least, in respect of some particulars.
Nos. Refs. Families—Notes
I —. Pulicidæ: fleas regarded as flies with atrophied or undeveloped wings. About 30 native species.
II 3. Cecidomyidæ: mostly gall-gnats, minute and midge-like, or very frail, slender and gnat-like. Cecidomyia destructor is the notorious Hessian-fly, injurious to cereal crops.
III 10. Mycetophilidæ: fungus-gnats; 34 genera; many common species. The marvellous "army-worm," the larvæ of Sciara militaris, which (being not a feeder on fungi) may be classified either separately or as belonging to this family, has been observed travelling in Continental forests in millions, described as massed together with a viscous mucus in bands said to be as large as 5 or 6 inches wide, 1 inch deep, and 50 or more feet long!
IV 11. Bibionidæ: 40 species of small and medium sizes; commonly the males are black, but the females of some species coloured; Bibio marci, of a largish size, pubescent, and black, sometimes appears in great numbers on fine spring days, as likewise do some smaller black species of the same genus; ocelli absent; semi-blind.
V 13. Simulidæ: midge-like flies, mostly with wings, limbs, and bodies of short length; the largest, Simulium reptans, only 2-3 mm., is common; its larvæ are aquatic. Some foreign species are called sand-flies and are much dreaded poisonous blood-suckers.
VI 14. Chironomidæ: midges and many small, slender and gnat-like flies; Ceratopogon pulicaris, C. bipunctatus, and C. varius are our commoner native blood-sucking midges, of which the larvæ have been found under the damp bark of decadent trees; the larvæ of some others are aquatic, as also are all those of the long slender non-blood-sucking species, including those of the very common harlequin-fly, Chironomus plumosus, as also of several congerers, including Ch. dorsalis, of which the larvæ are known as "pond blood-worms."
VII 19b. Orphnephilidæ (darkness-loving): all foreign flies, except one rare.
VIII 16. Psychodidæ: minute moth-like flies; they have been named owl-midges from a peculiar manner of holding their wings in repose.