THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



251 



serviceable to the growth of corn, being a parasite of the 

 Cecidomyia that infests the ears. 



riEENE VABICOBNIS. 



Francis Walker. 



Observations on Dipiera. By R. H. Meade, Esq. 



In the hope of exciting some interest in the study of 

 British Diptera, I am induced to malte a few observations on 

 this ahnost totally-neglected class of insects. 



It is difficult to tell the reason why the two-winged flies 

 have excited so little attention in Great Britain, since on the 

 continent of Europe they have always been, and still are, a 

 favourite group of insects. I cannot believe that English 

 entomologists, who have any true appreciation of the wonders 

 of the science which they profess to study, are only capti- 

 vated, like children, by the bright hues of butterflies' wings ; 

 but if it be not so, why do the Lepidoptera engross so much 

 attention, to the exclusion of the other orders ? 



Though the colours of Diptera are generally sober, they 

 are not always so ; and in some families, as the Syrphidoe, 

 they can vie with those of the Hymenoptera; but it is not 

 for their colours that they deserve to be studied, but, as 

 with Coleoptera, on account of their endless varieties and 

 numbers. They constitute one of the most extensive orders 

 of insects, both as regards the immense number of distinct 

 species, and also the enormous swarms of individuals of the 

 same species : surely the number of objects to be investigated 

 must increase the interest of the study. It may render the 



