CHIRONOMUS. 149 



costal, radial, and cubital veins black, the other veins white. Halteres 

 whitish. 



Not common. (E.) 



FAMILY VI. CHIBONOMHXE. 



CHIRONOMID^, Haliday, MSS. Brit. Dipt. i. 7. (1851). Tipularice 

 culiciformes p., Meig. ; Mcq. ; Winn. Culicites p., Newm. Tipu- 

 lida p., Leach ; Steph. Chironomii p., Zett. Chironomince p., Bond. 



Ocelli nulli. Mesothoracis scutum integrum, absque sutura transversa. 

 Alae angustae, margine postico aveniae (membrana longius pubescente 

 aut glaberrima) ; vena costalis apud alse apicem terminata. Pedes 

 saepissime tenues, tibiis et tarsis gracilibus, >subcylindricis. 

 Ocelli none. Scutum of the mesonotum undivided. Wings and 

 halteres developed. "Wings narrow, without veins along the posterior 

 margin ; costal vein ending near the tip of the wing. Legs generally 

 attenuated ; tibiae and tarsi slender, nearly cylindrical. 



These flies are usually called Midges ; generally inhabit water 

 or watery ground during their larva-state ; and some species occur 

 in innumerable multitudes, and their numbers must much contri- 

 bute to remove or change to earth the decaying vegetable matter, 

 which is their earliest food. The larvse of a few species dwell be- 

 neath the bark of trees. 



I am indebted to Mr. Haliday for the characters in the following 

 grouping of the genera : 



a. Proboscis distinct, with (4-) jointed palpi. Metathorax produced 

 over the base of the abdomen. 



b. Mesosternum compressed, gibbous, descending as low as the ends 

 of the posterior coxae. 

 c. Wings oblong, with the anal angle more or less abrupt. 



d. Antennae with twelve joints or more in the male, seven or 



eight in the female. 1. CHIRONOMUS. 



d d. Antennae fifteen -jointed, plumose in the male, with the 

 penultimate joint elongated. Pobrachial areolet closed ex- 

 ternally. 2. TANYPUS. 

 c c. Wings nearly spatulate, the anal margin being sloped without 



an angle. 3. CORYNONEURA. 



b b. Metathorax short, descending. Posterior coxae extending down- 

 wards beyond the convex mesosternum. 4. CERATOPOGON. 

 a a. Proboscis and palpi obsolete. Wings coriaceous. 9. CLUNIO. 



Genus I. CHIRONOMUS. 



CHIRONOMUS, Meig. Illig. Mag. (1801) ; Fabr. ; Latr. ; Curt. ; Mcq. ; 

 Zett.; Westw.; Stseg.; Gim. Tipula p.,L.; F.E.S.; D.G.; Schr. 

 Tanypus p., Lam. 



