July, 1880.] 25 



the fore femora ; hind tibiae nearly straight, slightly thickened in the middle, beset 

 with bristles of unequal lengths on their outer sides, having a few long hairs on the 

 lower half of their under surfaces in 6* and $ , and also a few long soft hairs on 

 their inner sides, just below the middle in <J ; hind tarsi with a cushion of short 

 stiff bristles of a brownish-yellow colour on their under surfaces : alulets with the 

 upper or smaller valves half white and half grey, and the lower and larger ones of 

 an uniform smoky-brown colour in $ , with a yellowish marginal fringe, and dirty 

 white in $ : halteres yellow : wings clear, with black veins ; third longitudinal vein 

 with a small tuft of bristles at its base in $ and ? , some of which extend a short 

 distance towards the small cross vein. 



This species is generally distributed throughout Europe ; it is less 

 common than the next in most parts of England and Ireland (Haliday), 

 and also in Germany, but more general in Italy and probably in 

 France. 



It is very difficult to decide to which species to apply Fallen's 

 original name, as modern authors differ so much on this point. 

 Haliday, whose opinion is w T orthy of every respect, changed his mind 

 upon the subject. In his original paper in the Entomological Maga- 

 zine, in which he first pointed out the distinctive characters between this 

 and the following species, he named the one I have first described lior- 

 torum ; but in the second volume of the Annals he said that he was 

 mistaken, and believed that the next species which he had before named 

 importuna was the true liortorum of Fallen. I have already said that 

 I have no doubt whatever that Fallen, Meigen, Zetterstedt,* and others, 

 confused two species together, so that it matters little which of the two 

 retains the original name ; I have therefore concluded to follow Loew, 

 the greatest modern authority on Dipterology, who gives the name of 

 hortorum to that species which appears to be most common in the north 

 of Europe. 



2. hortorum, Fall. $ $ . Glauco-chalybea nitida. Thorax et 

 abdomen ut in M. Bimplice signata ; $ oculis paulo distantibus ; femoribus 

 anticis subtus extraque barbaiis ; tibiis anticis extra spinosis intusque 

 villosis ; femoribus mediis apice cristatis ; tibiis posticis leviter curvatis, 

 intus breviter villosis; alidis sordide albidis ; alis,venislongitudinalibus 

 tertiis, setis parvis armatis, ordine positis, inter basem vence et venam 

 transversam parvam. $ oculis tertia parti capitis separatis ; pedibus 

 simplicibus. Long. 3 — 4-| tin. 



SYJS.—Musca hortorum, Fallen, Act. Holm. (1816), 252, 33, et 



* Zetterstedt, in Dipt. Scand., describes his Cyrtoneura hortorum as having the eyes in <5 

 *' coherentes (non vero arctissimi)," et "tibiae omnes rectse "—both these characters apply to .1/. 

 simplex; but he adds, " squamae albae," et "femora antica extus in <$ villosa "— both of which 

 apply to M. hortorum. 



