2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I3I 



purpose of the trip was to study the type specimens of these three 

 authors, most of which are deposited in either London or Paris, it 

 was felt important to examine all other types of Neotropical Tabanidae 

 available in these two institutions. 



Since time would not permit the careful description and drawing 

 of all the species likely to be found, it was felt of utmost importance 

 to take over for comparison specimens of as many species as possible. 

 Through the courtesy of the authorities of the Museum of Compara- 

 tive Zoology at Cambridge, Mass., and of the U. S. National Museum, 

 a collection of nearly 600 species of Neotropical Tabanidae was 

 secured and taken to London and Paris. 



Although not a few of the types I had hoped to see have been lost 

 or destroyed in the course of the nearly 100 years since they were 

 described, I was fortunate in being able to see a good many additional 

 species of more recent date which I had not expected to find. These in- 

 cluded a number of the types of species described by Osten Sacken, 

 Williston, Townsend, Surcouf, Ricardo, Summers, and Krober. I was 

 able to bring back specimens matched with the types of about 220 

 Neotropical species, fairly complete notes, in some cases with drawings, 

 on a further 107 types, and miscellaneous notes on an additional 60 to 

 70 species, not types, of which I had not previously seen specimens. 



It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Alexander 

 Wetmore of the National Academy of Sciences, who facilitated the 

 procuring of travel funds, and to Dr. Joseph Bequaert and Dr. Alan 

 Stone for their generosity in lending material in the collections under 

 their care. Capt. N. D. Riley, C. B. E., Keeper of Insects at the British 

 Museum, most generously placed the facilities of that institution at 

 my disposal ; and I am most especially grateful for the invaluable help 

 and cordial hospitality of H. Oldroyd and Paul Freeman of the Diptera 

 section of the Museum. At Paris, M. E. Seguy, custodian of the 

 Diptera section in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, put the collections 

 at my complete disposal and did everything possible to make my short 

 stay pleasant and profitable. The drudgery of taking dictation and 

 typing the extensive notes fell to my wife, without whose invaluable 

 assistance the work could not have been completed. 



The Tabanidae at the British Museum are arranged primarily on 

 a taxonomic basis, the various groups following one another irrespec- 

 tive of locality. Each drawer is marked with the genera it contains and 

 a colored slip indicating the geographical regions represented. There 

 is also a card catalog of the species in the collection. All types are in- 

 corporated in the general collection but are marked with small circular 



