CLASSIFICATION OF DIPTERA 17 



his mind. In order to overcome this intra-specialization the student 

 should enlarge his outlook by collecting in other families and also in 

 other orders, even though no time be available for a study of his com- 

 plete catch. The collector who studies a single family may produce a 

 monumental work providing he is painstaking and accurate while the 

 general worker is less liable to accomplish lasting results. 



I hope I may be excused if I wander a little aside from a technical 

 discussion of classification to discuss lighter but equally important mat- 

 ters. The real object of this work is not the classification of the Diptera 

 but the presentation of keys to enable the student to place his specimen 

 in the proper genus — or, in short, the generic identification of flies. 

 Nevertheless, we must glance below the generic classification and find 

 out something about species, and it is about the description of species of 

 which I wish to say a few words hei'c. 



There is nothing more ])leasing than a good description and nothing 

 more aggravating than a ]ioor one. All of us, in our ignorance, may 

 offer poor descriptions at times but we should always strive to make 

 them clear and concise. We should try to step beyond ourselves and 

 look at the description from the viewpoint of another student. If two 

 animals are different, in our estimation, we should clearly express the 

 differences, laying special stress upon tlie outstanding characters. A 

 description should not be too long, nor sliould it be brief and stilted. 

 I can do no better than recommend that every Dipterist read the 

 descriptions contained in Williston's ''Synopsis of North American 

 Syrphidti?" and pattern descriptions after those. The elimination of 

 words and the excessive use of abbreviations is scarcely to be con- 

 doned, even on the ground that it is "scientific". If "science" is to 

 ])e measured liy a stilted language and a lack of consideration for others, 

 it deserves little consideration from humanity as a whole and we should 

 divorce "science" and study insects just for the fun of the thing. 



Today tlie student need not worry a great deal about some one 

 ''stealing his thunder". ]\Iost eminent entomologists are only too glad 

 to ])e of assistance to the young student and to leave to him the descrip- 

 tion of new species. This does not mean that the specialist is willing 

 to name large collections and return all the material. If he were he 

 would be so swamped witli work that he would have no time for his 

 other duties. ^lost specialists name material on the understanding that 

 they may retain what they wish, and as a rule they desire very little. 

 The beginner sliould 1)e only too glad to assist the specialist by filling in 

 gaps in his collection, because every species added makes his work that 

 much easier in future. It must also be remembered that many special- 

 ists are employed by institutions having large collections of unworked 



