XIX 42. Bombylidæ: furry, hovering, bee-like flies, mostly very long-tongued; bodies very rotund but with legs singularly thin; larvæ, some parasitic on the larvæ of ground bees, some unknown.
XX 43. Therevidæ: non-raptorial flies; smaller, shorter, and more feeble than Asilidæ; though differing much in wing-pattern superficially like some Leptidæ or some Empidæ.
XXI 44. Scenopinidæ: a very limited family of smallish flies. Scenopinus fenestralis, the "window-fly" was formerly thought to breed amidst old carpets and musty neglected clothing, but its larvæ have been found to be therein predaceous devourers of the larvæ of clothes-moths and fleas; larvæ of other species feed on fungi.
XXII 38. Cyrtidæ: quite unlike any of the preceeding or succeeding families; flies with diminutive heads and large rotund abdomens; proboscis very short or obsolete; the larvæ of some are said to be parasitic on spiders.
XXIII 45, 49, 66a. Empidæ: an extensive family; about 200 species, mostly of small sizes; of slender habit, and of dull colours; there are 30 genera and the characteristics of some are peculiar; the life-history and habits of most are unrecorded; though with bodies of feeble appearance, some have the proboscis well developed and are predaceous on small insects. Amongst the most curious are some species of the genus Hilara, of which the males have the first tarsal joint of the fore-leg thickened and flattened; some species of this genus, not very uncommon, fly and float about carrying "veils" or small cob-web-like attachments.
XXIV 50, 65. Dolichopodidæ: long-legged; a large family of 42 genera; some species of medium size but mostly small, amongst which latter bright metallic colours, often golden green, are common. The life-history of only a few is known.
XXV 51. Lonchopteridæ: a few small slender flies with long pointed wings.
XXVI 53. Platypezidæ: small flies; the peculiar broad flat larvæ of some of the genus Platypeza have been found in fungi.
XXVII 58. Pipunculidæ: small and uncommon flies with abnormally large eyes.
XXVIII 59. Syrphidæ: a most interesting group of 51 genera; "hover-flies," and other various, conspicuous, large and medium sized flies (only a few small), very distinctly characterised and differentiated; the wings show the "vena spuria," and the face is without a "frontal suture." The larvæ are very diversified; some are terrestrial, some aquatic, some insectivorous, some parasitic or commensal in the nests of Hymenoptera.