REVIEW OE LITEllATUKE. O 



tain many new (also dipterous) genera, but no new species of 

 Asiatic Diptera. 



Gradually Entomology in its turn furnished such an immense 

 field of labour, that most entomologists ot latter times chose some 

 order of insects for their special studies, and authors who were 

 occupied with the science in all its extension, more and more became 

 rare. Among our contemporaries such general entomologists were, 

 for instance. Prof. Westwood in Oxford and Snellen van VoUenhoven 

 in Holland. 



Study of Lepidoptera 'and Goleoptera was mostly preferred , but 

 also the other orders of insects soon found their special cultivators. 



As to the Diptera, a list of eminent authors: Meigen, Wiede- 

 mann, Macquart, Zetterstedt and several others, may be remem- 

 bered here. 



J. W. Meigen may be considered as the father of Dipterology. 

 His Klassificatlon mid Beschrelhung der europciisclien ziveiflug lichen 

 Insecten (1804) was the first book exclusively on Dipterous insects. 

 A year before he had established several new Dipterous genera in 

 vol. II of lUiger's Magazin fur hisektenkmide , and some years later 

 appeared his Bystematlsdie BescJireihnng der eiiropaischen zweijiilg- 

 licJien Insecten. Meigen's works, though limited to the European 

 forms, are still of important value for the systematical arran- 

 gement, as he commenced to give attention to the nervation of the 

 wings, which carefully is represented in many of his figures. 



C. R. W. Wiedemann , likewise a special Dipterologist, was the first 

 author, in whose works exclusively were treated exotic Diptera. In 

 different writings (1817 — 1824) and especially in his Aussereuro- 

 pdische zweiflugliche Insecten (1828- -30) he pubhshed a large 

 number of exotic forms. In the last named work he intended to 

 give an accomplishment of Meigen's SystematiscJie Beschrelhung, which 

 at that time had opened a new period for Dipterology. Evidently 

 Wiedemann has given himself much pains to make his labour 

 as perfect as possible. He therefore examined, besides his own 

 collection and those of Westermann and von Winthem , the museums 

 in Berlin, Frankfurt a. M., Kopenhague and Leyden , which were 



