FAIRY FLIES 1451 



bites out a round piece of the eggshell large enough 

 to allow it to escape. The most noticeable character 

 in the fairy flies is the transverse line across the face 

 a little above the insertion of the antennae. The 

 wings are devoid of all wing nerves, for the sub- 

 costal is so short and stumpy that the wing looks per- 

 fectly free. Both the upper and under surfaces of the 

 wings are covered with minute hairs, and the mar- 

 gins of both wings are surrounded by long hairlike 

 ciliae. 



Owing to the kindness of the authorities of Dub- 

 lin Museum, I have been permitted to make a most 

 exhaustive and critical examination of Haliday's 

 type collection of British Mymaridae, and though the 

 hand of time and those of others have materially in- 

 terfered with their original arrangement, the result 

 has been most satisfactory to me. Although one or 

 two of the most interesting types are absent, I have 

 been enabled to re-establish Haliday's genus Panthus, 

 which certain compilers had, for no apparent reaso'n, 

 ignored. I found two specimens still bearing the 

 old labels, and after long and critical microscopic ex- 

 amination I saw that both were distinct from any 

 others. I applied for and obtained permission to 

 remove the carded specimens, and remount them in 

 Canada balsam. This was successfully done, and on 

 making a photo-micrograph the peculiar generic 

 characters were brought out most distinctly. Some 

 naturalists appear to imagine that a pocket lens will 

 be sufficient to identify these species, but in an insect 

 which is but a fiftieth or an eightieth of an inch long 

 it is of absolute importance that every joint and detail 



