Cuntribiitiuiis to llic Study of thc Liponeuridac Lw. 151 



it is in Order to bring it iiearcr to the English public, and in the 

 hope tbat it will be useful to future descxibers in calling thcir atten- 

 tion to the variety of characters occurring in this interesting t'amily. 

 This Synopsis will also afford them, I trust, a key for an easier access 

 to the existing literature. Loew's „Revision" rcmains, of course, 

 the foundation for futures studies. 



For those who will use my Survey I deem it nocessary to givc 

 höre some explanations. The parts of the mouth I have not men- 

 tioned, because they properly belong to the family-character, and 

 have been biit little used in describing genera and species. For data 

 about them I refer to Loew's Revision, and especially to Dr, F. M.'s 

 description with figures; also to Westwood's') delineation of thc 

 niandibles of the female (Guer. Mag. de Zool, 1842). The mouthparts 

 of Apist. Bigot (Ann. 18G2) are incorrrectly drawn; conipare the 

 Statement of Haliday, in Loew, 1869, p. 100, line 15, from bottoni. 

 The mandibles of the male Liponeuridae are either entirely ob- 

 solete, or less developed than those of the female, as is the casc with 

 many other bloodsucking Diptera. The dimorphic females deprived 

 of mandibles, and described by Dr. F. M., require, as yet, a further 

 elucidation. 



I should particularly call attention to the various structures of 

 tlic legs, the relative length of their ditferent parts, and to the ditt'erent 

 forins of the last Joint of the tarsi and the ungues. They afford very 

 good characters, ott'er unexpected coincidences between ditferent ge- 

 nera, but have, as yet, been little studied. 



Very little has been said as yet about the secondary net of 

 crease-like lines on the wings of the Liponeuridae. Do they offer 

 a regulär design, subject to some rule? In other words, are they 

 always the same in the same species, in tlio same genus, or perhaps 

 in the whole family? Or are they arranged at hap-hazard, like the 

 changeable folds of a tissue? Of the tvvo aforesaid specimens of 

 Liponeura which are at my disposal at i)resent <i>. ?/ostfm<7<? (/ and 

 cinerascens cf), the former has brownish wings, and a secondary 

 net of a paler color which forms a very conspicuous design, carried 

 out in all its details over the wholc surface. The wings of the other 

 species, Lip. ein. are perfectly transparent, and the secondary net 



') I cannot resist here to call attention to an instance of the accuracy 

 of Westwood's drawing. In the above-quoted figure of mandibles, 

 their denticulations are pointing backwards, exactly as they are rigured 

 by Loew (1877, fig. 3^) and by Dr. F. M. (1881, %. 21 ^d,). qiiat 

 West wo od did not notice thc uiifacetted stripe across the eyes may 

 be duc to the iniperfect condition of this spccimcn. 



