DIPTERA. 291 
of rudiments of wings. The species which serves as its type is 
figured by M. Germar in his Faun. Insect. Eur., fasc. IX, tab. 24. 
The direction of its preboscis, the form of its antennz and that 
of its body seem to indicate its proximity to Stomoxys. 
Our fourth and last tribe, that of the MuscipeEs, is dis- 
tinguished from the three preceding ones by a very appa- 
rent, always membranous and bilabiate proboscis, usually bear- 
ing two palpi (the Phore alone excepted), susceptible of 
being entirely retracted within the oral cavity; and bya 
sucker composed of two pieces. ‘The antenn always termi- 
nate en palette with a lateral seta. These Athericera em- 
brace the old genus Musca of Fabricius, which the labours of 
Messrs Fallen and Meigen, without mentioning our own, 
have greatly modified. All the difficulties however which 
beset its study are far from being removed ; for although those 
gentlemen have established a great number of new genera, 
there are still some, Tuchina and Anthomyia for instance, 
which can only be considered as general repositories. In the 
work of Meigen which is wholly restricted to the Diptera of 
Europe, the first of these genera is composed of three hun- 
dred and fifteen species, and the second of two hundred and 
thirteen. Dr Robineau Desvoidy, wishing to complete these 
researches, and to meet the demands of the science, has de- 
voted himself with much zeal to the special study of the Mus- 
cides, which he calls 1Zzodaires ; and the Memoir on this sub- 
ject, which he presented to the Royal Academy of Sciences, 
has been deemed worthy of insertion among those of that in- 
stitution; but as that paper is not completed, and as we are 
only acquainted with its general divisions as given by M. de 
Blainville in his report to the Academy, we are unable to 
profit by it. Independently of this we should have been 
compelled to pass beyond our prescribed limits, and perhaps 
have terrified the young naturalist, by an exposition of the 
multitude of new genera he has established in this tribe, 
several of which, even in the opinion of the reporter, appear 
to differ but little from each other. We even think that 
the work of M. Meigen, with the exception of the revision 
aes ' 
