DIPTEROCARPE.E. 



fly-catcher and the humming-bird alike find in them a 

 constant shedding of manna ; whilst, on the other 

 hand, they cease not in effecting the disappearance of 

 all "substances in a state of decomposition, both 

 auimul and vegetable. They are universal scaven- 

 gers ; and so great is their activity and the rapid 

 succession of their generations, that Linnaeus might 

 well say that three flies can consume a horse as fast as 

 a lion. Amongst such a vast number of objects, it is 

 not surprising that some should be found obnoxious 

 to ourselves or our properties. Many species, ac- 

 cordingly, cease not to make man their prey, by 

 sucking his blood, whilst some either attack our cattle 

 in like manner, or deposit their eggs upon their 

 bodies, within which the parasitic larvae feed ; others 

 deposit their eggs, or young, upon our food and upon 

 our growing corn. 



Many species reside in woods, in meadows, marshes, 

 and in our habitations, others move with dancing feet 

 upon the spray of the waves, and even upon the snows 

 of the polar regions. Many are attached to plants, 

 upon the flowers of which they abound, sucking the 

 honeyed sweets, without giving the preference to any 

 particular plant, whilst some are confined to a single 

 species of flower ; but it is upon the star-like anthemis 

 of our meadows that the majority seem to revel with 

 the greatest delight. During the summer and autumn 

 the flies are attracted to our orchards, in order to 

 destroy our fruits, whilst some species delight in the 

 honey dew of the aphides, or the fluids which escape 

 from the wounds of trees. The domestic fly alike 

 feeds upon all kinds of household provisions ; and 

 other species, which so closely resemble it in size and 

 appearance as to deceive an ordinary observer, are 

 parasitic upon the nests of various solitary bees. 

 Nothing, indeed, can be more amusing than to watch 

 one of the latter following the laborious insect, the 

 young of which she is about to supplant by her own, 

 peering about into the mouth of the nest, and cautiously 

 making her entrance, in order to deposit her own 

 eggs, when the bee has, with great toil, completed her 

 nest, and deposited her store of honey-paste for the 

 food of her own progeny. 



The order was established by Aristotle, the great 

 father of zoology, under the name which is still retained 

 for it ; and since the days of Linnseus, by whom its dis- 

 tribution was attempted, various naturalists have con- 

 tributed to raise it to the rank which it has now attained, 

 although it has not been a general favourite with our 

 amateurs. It is to Reaumur and De Geer that we are 

 indebted for our knowledge of the transformations of 

 many of these insects ; whilst Fabricius, Latreille, 

 Meigen, Fallen, Wiedemann,. Robineau des Voidy, 

 aud Macquart, have successively established families, 

 tribes, genera, and species ; the works of Meigen and 

 Macquart having especially contributed to this end. 



The following is .the arrangement proposed by the 



latter in his valuable " Histoire Naturelle des Dip- 



teres," published during the present year, and which 



we have adopted, vftth this variation only, namely, 



that, with Latreille and Leach, we have considered 



the forest-flies as forming a primary section of the 



order, whereas M. Macquart has placed them merely 



as a family of the great group of Muscidce. 



. Section I. (Ovipara or Larvipara; DIKTEHA, Leach.) 



: i 'Head distinct from the thorax ; sucker enclosed 



in a labial canal ; claws of the tarsi simple, or 



with one tooth ; the transformation to the pupa 



state not taking place within the body of the 



parent. 



Division 1. (NEMOCERA). Antennae having six or 

 more distinct joints ; palpi with four or five 

 joints. 



Fam. 1. (Cnlicida;). Sucker with six lancets, 



Fam. 2. (Tipiilidcc). Sucker with two lancets, 



Division 2. (BRACHOCERA). Antennae having three 



distinct joints ; palpi with one or two joints. 

 Subdivision 1. (Hexachatu}. Sucker with six 



lancets. Fatn. Tabanides. 



Subdivision 2. (TetracJueta) Sucker with four 

 lancets. 



A (Fam. Cacnomyidce, Sendee, Stratio- 



vn/f/cE.') 



B (ram. Mydasida;, Asi/itla; Hybot'id<r, 

 Empidce, Henoj>id<, Nemexlrinidie, 

 Sombyliidfe, Anthracidce). 

 C (Fam. Therevidce, Lt-ptida:, Doli- 



chopida;, Syrp/iidtz). 



Subdivision 8. (Dichcetd). Sucker with two 

 lancets. This subdivision comprises an im- 

 mense assemblage of species, constituting the 

 Linnaeatn genera Oestrus, Conop.i, and Mtflfoa, 

 after the removal of the Syrphidce -, but, owing 

 to the numerous divisions and subdivisions ne- 

 cessary for its investigation, having but little to 

 interest the general reader, we shall not here 

 detail them. 



Section II. (Pupipara ; HOMALOPTRRA, Leach). 

 Head immersed in the front of the thorax ; sucker 

 enclosed in two valves ; claws with many teeth. 

 The transformation to the pupa state undergone 

 in the body of the parent fly. 



Fam. 1. (Hippoboscidte). Head frontal. 

 Fam. 2. (Nycteribiidce). Head dorsal. 

 DIPTEROCARPEjE the camphor tree family. 

 A natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing 

 only a few genera and species. It is closely allied 

 to ElceocarpccE. but differs in its petals not being 

 fringed, and in the want of albumen. It bears also 

 an affinity to Malvacea;, from which it is distinguished 

 by its stamens being either distinct or only partially 

 combined, by its long narrow two-celled anthers, and 

 its pendulous ovules. To Gutfifcrce it has also some 

 affinity, but it is separated by its stipules and the 

 contorted aestivation of its corolla. This order may 

 be at once recognised by the enlarged leafy and 

 unequal segments of the calyx while investing the 

 fruit. Its essential characters are: calyx tubular, 

 five-lobed, unequal, without bracteas, and imbri- 

 cated ; petals sessile, combined at the base with a 

 twisted aestivation ; stamens indefinite, distinct, or 

 imperfectly polyadelphous ; filaments dilated at the 

 base ; anthers awl-shaped, two-celled, opening longi- 

 tudinally towards the apex ; ovary superior, few- 

 celled ; ovules in pairs, pendulous : style and stigma 

 simple ; fruit coriaceous, one-celled, indehiscent or 

 three-valved, surrounded by the enlarged foliaceous 

 calyx ; seed single, without albumen ; cotyledons 

 twisted and folded, or unequal and obliquely incum- 

 bent ; radicle superior. 



The plants of this order are large and elegant 

 forest trees abounding in resinous juice. Their leaves 

 are alternate, involute, with numerous parallel veins 

 running from the midrib to the margin. They have de- 

 ciduous oblong stigmas which terminate the branches 

 in a taper point, and their flowers are generally large. 

 They are found only in the eastern islands of the 

 Indian Archipelago. 



This order, though small, is important on account 



