222 DIPTERA. 



apparently tliree-jointed, but eleven-jointed under the microscope ; 

 abdomen cylindrical, narrower than the thorax ; legs rather short. 

 The typical species, OrphncjMa Tesfacea, Macq., is a small fly, 

 measuring only about one-tenth of an inch in length, which is 

 sometimes found in bakehouses. It is of a rusty yellow colour, 

 with brown head and abdomen, and the wings are slightly tinged 

 with yellow. 



Family X. — Psychodidce. 



Head small, retracted ; proboscis short, except in the genus 

 Phlebotomus, Eond. ; antennae rather long, sixteen-jointed ; eyes 

 kidney-shaped ; ocelli wanting ; legs rather long ; wings very 

 broad and hairy ; larva living in fungi and among rotten vegetable 

 substances. 



A small family, consisting of small brown or yellowish species, 

 remarkable for their resemblance to moths. The species of 

 Phlebotomus are troublesome blood-suckers in Southern Europe ; 

 the other genera are harmless. 



Family XL — Tipulidce. 



Head round ; proboscis rather prominent ; antennae long, 

 composed of from six to nineteen joints ; eyes large ; ocelli 

 wanting ; abdomen long, cylindrical ; legs generally very long 

 and slender, breaking off at the least touch ; wings long and 

 rather narrow ; larvae phytophagous, living on rotten wood, fungi, 

 or the roots of plants ; those of a few species live in water. 



The Crane Flies, or Daddy Longlegs, are familiar to every one. 

 They are a very extensive family, and it is impossible to do more 

 here than allude to a few of the most interesting species. The 

 largest and most important belong to the typical genus Tipula, 

 Linn., and T. Oleracea, Linn., a grey species with transparent 

 brown-veined wings, and about an inch long, is common in every 

 field, and frequently very destructive, the larva destroying the 

 foots of grass. A larger species, T. Gigantea, Schrank, has a 

 broad brown indented band on the costa. It is not rare, though 

 much less common than T. Oleracea, and is generally found in the 

 neighbourhood of woods. The giant of the genus, and probably 

 the largest of all known Diptera, is Tiptda Brobdignagia, Westw., 

 from North China, which measures an inch and two-thirds in 

 length, and four inches across the wings ; but thei'e is nothing 

 remarkable about it but its size. A much more interesting species 



