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THE FLYING APPARATUS OF THE BLOW-FLY 



A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MORPHOLOGY AND 



PHYSIOLOGY OF THE ORGANS OF 



FLIGHT IN INSECTS' 



By dr. WOLFGANG RITTER 



(With Twenty Plates) 



CONTENTS 

 I. Introduction. 

 II. Historical survey. 

 III. Description: 



A. Anatomical section. 



1. Material and methods of investigation. 



2. General remarks on the thoracic skeleton of the Diptera. 



3. The thoracic skeleton so far as it relates to flight. 



a. The exoskeleton. 



b. The endoskeleton. 



4. The wing. 



a. General observations. 



b. The system of veins and folds. 



c. The pilosity. 



d. The flexible zone. 



5. The articulation of the wing. 



a. Thoracic portion. 



b. Intermediate parts. 



c. Alar portion. 



6. The muscles of flight. 



a. Indirect muscles. 



b. Direct muscles. 



B. Physiological section. 



1. Methods of investigation. 



2. Flight. 



3. Function of muscles and joints. 

 IV. Synopsis of results. 



V. Literature. 



'The present investigation on the flying apparatus of the blow-fly was 

 carried on at the Zoological Laboratory of the German University at Prague, 

 with the assistance of a grant from the Hodgkins Fund of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. It was under the supervision of Prof. R. von Lendenfeld of that 

 laboratory. 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 56, No. 12 



