985 



MUSCID^E. 



MUSCID^E. 



extremity ; culmen yellowish ; cutting-edges intensely black and 

 shining. Tarsi and toea dusky-yellowish ; claws brown, inclining to 

 black. 



Eurylaiintu Juvan'utia. 



Dr. HorsEeld is of opinion that from the observations of Sir 

 Stamford Raffles, in the catalogue of a zoological collection made in 

 the island of Sumatra under his direction, and communicated to the 

 Linmean Society, we can also in some measure determine the range 

 of this genus : " It extends," continues the Doctor, " from Sumatra 

 eastward to Singapura, and thence south to the eastern extremity of 

 Java near the Straits of Baly, where I discovered it in the year 1806 ; 

 since that period I have not met with it again. We are indebted to 

 Sir Stamford Raffles for the following remarks on the first species : 

 ' It frequents the banks of rivers and lakes, feeding on insects and 

 worms. It builds its neat pendent from the branch of a tree or bush 

 which overhangs the water.' I found it in Java, in one of the most 

 distant and inaccessible parts covered with extensive forests and 

 abounding with rivers and marshes." 



Dr. Horsfield placed the genus among the Meropidie or Syndyctylw. 



MIT'SCID.-K, a family of Dipterous Insects of the sub-section 

 Athericera. The insects of this family were for the most part 

 included in the genus Mutca by the older authors; and Miuscidix may 

 be regarded as the typical group of the second great division of 

 Two-Winged Flies (the Brachocera), in which the antennre are short 

 and composed of only three joints, and the joints of the palpi are 

 reduced to one or two. 



In Macquart's work on the ' Natural History of Insects,' the section 

 Brachocera of the Diptera is divided into three groups : First, the 

 Jlesachcftes, in which the proboscis is composed of six seta; in the 

 females; the palpi are ovate and elevated iu the males, conical and 

 decumbent in the females, and adhering to the base of the sctic ; the 

 third joint of the antenna; curved. 



The second sub-division Tetrackoetet, is thus characterised : 

 Proboscis composed of four setae; palpi generally adhering to the 

 base of the seta) ; third joint of the antenna; either curved or simple, 

 with the stylet usually terminal ; wings generally with four or five 

 posterior cells. 



In the third sub-division, Dichatet, the proboscis has only two 

 Beta;, the palpi are generally placed on the base of the proboscis, and 

 the stylet is situated on the upper surface of the third joint of the 

 antenn:c : the wings have usually but one submarginal cell ; three 

 posterior cells ; the anal cell is usually short, and there are some- 

 times no transverse cells. 



The sub-section Athericera, which forms one of tho sub-divisions 

 of the great group Dich(ete, is distinguished by the sucker being 

 inclosed in the proboscis ; the antenna: having the last joint usually 

 patelliform. 



In the Muiciiln: the proboscis is always very distinct and susceptible 

 of being entirely retracted within the oral cavity ; the sucker is com- 

 posed of two pieces ; the stylet of the antennre is usually plumose to 

 the apex ; the body is short and tolerably broad ; the eyes, in the 

 male sex, are usually contiguous. 



This family includes several well-known insects as the Common 

 Fly. the Blow-Fly, the Blue-Bottle Fly, aud many others. 



The larvae of the Mutcida are thick, fleshy, cylindric, attenuated 

 towards the head, and truncated at the other extremity of the body ; 

 the head is soft, with two or three horny points, which serve to pierce 

 the matters upon which they feed; they are also provided with 

 (piracies, the number and figure of which are variable, some being 

 placed upon the head, resembling eyes, and the others, which are 



larger, placed at the posterior part of the body. They are destitute 

 of legs, and their progression is effected by tho hooks of the mouth, 

 which they affix in the surface of the substance upon which they are 

 placed : having first extended the body as far as possible, they then 

 draw the hind parts of the body towards the head, contracting it as 

 much as possible, when they again push the head forward as before. 

 These larvae feed upon various matters, both animal and vegetable : 

 amongst the herbivorous species, many devour decaying Fungi, Soleti, 

 &c., the galls and seeds of plants, and the interior of fruit ; amongst 

 the carnivorous species, some prey upon the flesh of animals, of which 

 they cause the more rapid decomposition, whilst others live in excre- 

 ment, manure-heaps, &c., aud some are parasitic, living in the bodies 

 of other caterpillars, of which they devour all the inner parts. The 

 larva: assume the pupa state without throwing off their skin. The 

 pupa state is variable in its duration according to the state of the 

 weather, which may be more or less favourable to the development of 

 the different parts of the inclosed pupa. In order to effect its escape 

 from the pupa, the fly throws off a small cap at one end of the case or 

 skiu-cocoou by beating against it with its head. At first these flies are 

 soft, and may be observed creeping along with their wings crumpled 

 up in a small compass. They soon however gain their full size; and 

 the fly acquires its dark colour, aud then joins its companions in the air. 

 Latreille has divided this family into nine primary groups, from 

 various peculiarities of structure ; while Macquart, availing himself of 

 the researches of M. Robineau des Voidy, has partially adopted the 

 habits of the groups for the establishment of three sub-families, in 

 which he traces a gradual decrease in the organisation of these insects 

 until his arrival at the confines of insect life. 



1. The Creophtta, characterised especially by the wings, of which 

 the first posterior cell is entirely or partially closed, and by the large 

 size of the alulets. This sub-family comprises those species which are 

 distinguished by their size, colours, robustness of body, strength of 

 flight, &c. They generally deposit their eggs either upon the flesh 

 of dead animals, or are parasitic in the bodies of other larva). The 

 chief genera are Tachinia, Ocyptera, Gymnosoma, Phasia, J)exia, 

 Sarcophaga, and Musca. 



2. The Anthomysides, distinguished from the preceding by having 

 the first posterior cell constantly open, and by the moderate or small 

 size of the alulets. They chiefly frequent flowers, and their larva) 

 reside in decomposed vegetable matters. The chief genera are Aricia, 

 Lispe, Enphia, Anthomyia, Casnosia, &c. 



3. The Acalyptera, differing from the Antliomysides by the breadth 

 of the face, in which the eyes of both sexes are separated, and by 

 the want of alulets. Here belong various groups of small size and 

 inferiorly-developed structures, which are for the most part exceed- 

 ingly prolific. The chief genera are Laxocera, Scatomyza, Ortalis, 

 Tephritit, Sepsis, Lauxania, Sphcerocera, and Phora. 



The genus Mutca, as now restricted, contains such species as have 

 the third joint of the antenna) twice or three times as large as the 

 second ; the first posterior cellule of the wings extends to the margin. 



The common House-Fly (M . domestica of authors) affords a familiar 

 example of this genus, and is too well known to require description. 

 The larva), called maggots, live in putrid substances. 



This insect is very common in houses in England. Its favourite 

 position is the window, on the panes of which it may be constantly 

 seen walking up and down. The power which this insect possesses of 

 walking upon smooth upright surfaces has iu consequence been a 

 frequent theme of conjecture, and of not a small amount of observation. 

 Dr. Derham, in his ' Physico-Theology,' speaking on this subject, says 

 that flies have " skinny palms to their feet to enable them to stick to 

 glass and other smooth bodies by means of the pressure of the atmo- 

 sphere, after the manner as I have seen boys carry heavy stones with 

 only a wet piece of leather clapped on the top of a stone." 



This opinion, which has been entertained by the majority of ento- 

 mologists of the present day, has acquired additional weight by the 

 elaborate investigations of Sir Everard Home, undertaken at the 

 suggestion of Sir Joseph Banks, with the assistance of that (then) 

 unrivalled microscopic artist, M. Bauer, aud published in the 'Philo- 

 sophical Transactions' for 1816. The suckers, of which several kinds 

 of flies possess three to each foot, are attached beneath the base of the 

 claws, and are of an oval shape and membranous texture, being convex 

 above, having the sides minutely serrated, and the under concave 

 surface covered with down, or hairs. In order to cause the alleged 

 vacuum, these suckers are extended ; but when the fly wishes to 

 raise its legs they are brought together, and folded up as it were 

 between the hooks. Messrs. Kirby and Spence have likewise adopted 

 this opinion, considering it as " proved most satisfactorily." Other 

 authors of no mean repute have however entertained a different 

 opinion, aud have entirely rejected the idea of a vacuum being pro- 

 duced. Thus Dr. Hooke describes the suckers as palms, or soles, 

 beset underneath with small bristles, or tenters, like the cone-teeth 

 of a card for working wool, which he conceives gives them a strong 

 hold upon objects, having irregular or yielding surfaces; and he 

 imagined that there is upon glass a kind of smoky substance, penetrable 

 by the points of these bristles. The same opinion is also given, 

 by Shaw in his ' Nature Displayed ; ' and more recently, Mr. Black- 

 wall has considered that the motions of the fly are to be accounted 

 for upon mechanical principles alone; thus, upon inspecting the 



