DIPTERA. 5 



work that has been done on Diptera during the two decades 

 has far exceeded that of any previous corresponding period. It 

 therefore seems necessary to add a bibhography bearing on 

 New England dipterology pubHshed since the Aldrich Catalogue. 

 The double-number sj^stem — year and page — has been adopted 

 in referring to each publication. 



The many problems in nomenclature that arise in attempting 

 to follow the works of the various authors, present a task that 

 greatly lessens the joy of recording the species of a given region, 

 A faunal list should contain all published names bearing on the 

 subject except (for brevity) those that have previously been 

 placed in the synonymy. In other words such a list is not the 

 place in which to make a synonj^m deliberately without proving 

 that it really is such. However, as a friend remarked, you can- 

 not conscientiously recognize a genus or species that you know 

 should be in the synonymy even if j'-ou have not the time to thor- 

 oughly discuss the question. The appalling number of genera 

 that have been made in some families, upon slight and often 

 sexual characters, form a great hindrance to a more logical 

 and consistent study of a family. 



It is still quite difficult to estimate the number of Diptera 

 actually occurring in New England, but it is safe to state that 

 the number recorded in this list is probably less than three- 

 fourths of the number that will eventually be found. The fol- 

 lowing is a summary of the families and number of species. 



List of Families and the Number of Species and Varieties Recorded. 



Tanyderidae 1 Dolichopodidae 246 



Ptychopteridae 3 Empididae 180 



Anisopodidae 9 Lonchopteridae 2 



Tipulidae 264 Phoridae 56 



Dixidae 8 Platj^pezidae 26 



Culicidae 48 Pipunculidae 35 



Psychodidae 12 Syrphidae 239 



Chironomidae 120 Conopidae 23 



Cecidomjaidae 232 Pyrgotidae 3 



Mycetophilidae 176 Oestridae 6 



Sciaridae 34 Phasidae 20 



Bibionidae 16 Tachinidae 228 



Scatopsidae 6 Megaprosopidae 2 



Simulidae 9 Dexiidae 28 



Blepharoceridae 1 Sarcophagidae 57 



Xylophagidae 12 Calliphoridae 19 



Coenomyiidae 2 Muscidae 248 



Stratiomyiidae 43 Scatophagidae 50 



Tabanidae 75 Helomyzidae 20 



Rhagionidae 20 Clusiidae 19 



Cyrtidae 15 Borboridae 18 



Bombyliidae 45 Phycodromidae 2 



Therevidae 16 Sciomyzidae 49 



Scenopinidae 2 Sapromyzidae 36 



Mydaidae 1 Lonchaeidae 10 



Asilidae 86 Pallopteridae 3 



