Mr. Clark'j Obfcrvatlons en the Genus Oejlvus. 221 



Remarks on the generic and fpecific CharaSlers o/" iiie Oestrj. 



The characters which diftinguilh this genus have been defcribcd 

 fo very oppofiteiy by various writers, that I cannot well conclude 

 this paper without taking fomc notice of thefe alfo ; and having 

 many fpecirr.cns of them in my pofTeflion I was induced to difTedt 

 them for this purpofc. The refult of the enquiry has been the dif- 

 covcry of charaiflers confidcrably different from thofe which have 

 hitherto been affigned them. 



The excellent Scopo/i, confcious of the obfcurity of this genus, 

 has altogether omitted giving any account of them in the Entomo- 

 hgia Carn'wlka. 



And if we except the miftake of the CE. Equ'i hvBovis, the cleareft 

 and beft account of the fpecies is flill to be feen in Linna:us. 



Fabricius, in his Species Infe^torum *, has nearly copied the Lin- 

 nasan account of the Oejir'i ; but in a fubfequent work of this au- 

 thor, the Mantijfa Infe£iorum t, a fpecies under the title of Equi is 

 introduced, and the fpecies CE. hccmorrholdalls and veterhius are con- 

 fidered as varieties « and /3 ! while the error relating to the true 

 Equi is continued under the name of Bovis. 



The mod extenfive enumeration of the fpecies of this genus may 

 be feen in ProfcITor Gmclin's J new edition of the Syjlema Naturae ;. 

 but the errors relating to the fpecies have been in that work con- 

 fidcrably increafed. Inftead of placing the Equi in the name of 

 Bovis, as his excellent original had done, we find the hatnorrhoidalis ;. 

 and by placing the Equi again in the name of hcemorrhoidalis, 

 and mixing the references to each, an almoft inextricable laby- 

 rinth of confufion is the confequence, while the tvue Bovis flill. 

 efcapes.undcfcribed, unlefs as being the fame as hamorrhoidalis. 



• ^ecies Infecloritm, vol. ii. p. 398. f Mant'iJJa Infeflorum, vol. ii. p. 321. . 



t Gmelin, SjiJl. Nat, par. iv. p. 2810. 



Vol., III.. Tt The 



