354 C. R. Osten Sacken: 



as a trained Zoologist (whicb I have never pretended to be), and I 

 would feel happy to receive from liini an outline of a better gronping 

 of tbe Nem.ocera. But he bas not done anything of tbc kind yet. 

 and, in tbe inean time, I remain lirmly convinced tbat tbe elimina- 

 tion by me of tbe aberrant forms from tbe Suborder Nernocera of 

 Latreille marks a progress wbicb sbould not be given up beforc 

 sometbing better is offered. 



In tbe reniaining part of bis letter Prof. Mik vindicates tbe 

 rigbt of tbe earlier Faniily-name Blepharoceridae. As I bave 

 given tbe substance of liis argunient in my Notice in tbe E. M. M. 

 (comp, above) it is unnccessary to reproduce it bere. It is worthy 

 of remark tbat vvben Mik discovered tbe peculiar cbaracters of tbe 

 antennae and of tbe bead of tbe female Blepharocera be bad not 

 Seen Mac(iuart*s descrii)tion and tigures in tbe Annales 1843 („icb 

 babe auch bis beute noch nicht die Original-Beschreibung von Bleph. 

 in Ann. lS4o gelesen, und weiss nicht, ob nicht Macquart etwa 

 die Etymologie des Namens angiebt, was er sonst doch zu thun 

 pflegt"). And yet, what be saw and described is in perfect agree- 

 ment with Macquart's data. Macquart gives tbe figure of tbe 

 antenna of tbe Q (fig. 3 „tres grossie") wbicb shows a row of mi- 

 croscopic cilia on one side only, just as Mik saw them. Even 

 tbe protuberance with erect bairs at tbe top, 'diverging like rnys'. 

 under eacb of tbe antennae, wbicb Mik describes, is distinctly re- 

 presented by Macquart in tbe magnified figure of tbe bead (fig. 5). 

 Finally Mac(iuart (p. 'ol) states explicitly tbat tbe name of tbe 

 genus is derived from those cilia of tbe antenna. 



Now bow did it bappen tbat neitber Loew, nor I, have paid 

 any attention to tbe details of Macquart's figures? For my own 

 part, tbe explanation is easy. In 18G2 wben I discovered Blepha- 

 rocera capitata in America, I examined its bead and eyes with a 

 strong lens and obtained results whicb I publisbed mucb later, in 

 tbe Deutsche Ent. Zeitschr. 1878, p. 405. At tbat time I bad 

 no access to tbe Annales 1843, wbicb were not to be had in tbe 

 libraries of Washington. Lately, wben I took up tbe subject again, 

 I had the Annales at band, but no specimens of Blepharocera 

 to compare, and thus the details of Macquart's figures escaped 

 my attention; in fact I never expected Macquart to be as accurate 

 in bis figures as he appears to bave been on tbis occasion. As to 

 Loew, he must have made bis extracts from tbeAnnales in somo 

 library in Berlin, away from bis specimens. and everybody knows 

 tbat Consulting books in a library is not as easy a matter as stnd- 

 ging them at home. At any rate, neitber Loew, nor I, bave been 



