cniRONOMUs. 149 



costal, radial, and cubital veins black, the other veins white, lialteres 

 whitish. 



Not common. (E.) 



Family YI. CHIRONOMID^. 



CiiiRONOMiD.E, Ilaliday, MSS. Brit. Dipt. i. 7. (1851). T'qmlarla 

 culicifonnes p., Meig. ; Mcq. ; Winn. CiiUcites p., Newm. J^pu- 

 lida p., Leach ; Steph. Chirouomu p., Zett. CJiironomince p., Kond. 



Ocelli nulli. Mesothoracis scutum integrum, absque sutura transversa. 



Ahe angustse, margine postico aveniic (membrana longius pubesceute 



aut glaberrima) ; vena costalis apud ala3 apiceni terminata. Pedes 



saepissime tenues, til)iis et tarsis gracilibus, subcylindricis. 



Ocelli none. Scutum of the mesonotum undivided. Wings and 



halteres developed. Wings narrow, without veins along the posterior 



margin ; costal vein ending near the tip of the wing. Legs generally 



attenuated ; tibifc and tarsi slender, nearly cylindrical. 



These flies are usually called Midges ; generally inhabit water 

 or watery ground during their larva-state ; and some species occur 

 in innumerable multitudes, and their numbers must much contri- 

 bute to remove or change to earth the decaying vegetable matter, 

 which is their earliest food. The larvas of a few species dwell be- 

 neath the bark of trees. 



I am indebted to Mr. Haliday for the characters in the following 

 grouping of the genera : — 



a. Proboscis distinct, with (4-) jointed palpi. Metathorax produced 

 over the base of the abdomen. 



b. Mesosternum compressed, gibbous, descending as low as the ends 

 of the posterior coxse. 

 c. Wings oblong, with the anal angle more or less abrupt. 



d. Antenna3 with twelve joints or more in the male, seven or 



eight in the female. 1. Chironomus. 

 d d. Antennae fifteen -jointed, plumose in the male, with the 

 penultimate joint elongated. Pobrachial arcolet closed ex- 

 ternally. 2. Tanypus. 

 c c. Wings nearly spatulate, the anal margin being sloped without 

 an angle. 3. Corynoneura. 

 h h. Metathorax short, descending. Posterior coxae extending down- 

 wards beyond the convex mesosternum. 4. Ceratopogon. 

 a a. Proboscis and palpi obsolete. Wings coriaceous. 9. Clunio. 



Genus I. CHIRONOMUS. 



Chironomus, Meig. lllig. Mag. (1801); Fabr. ; Latr. ; Curt.; Mcq.; 

 Zett.; Westw.; StcCg.; Gim. Tlpula^.,\j.; F.E. S.; D. G.; Schr. 

 Tanypus p.. Lam. 



