INTRODUCTION. 9 



above, gave only the general classification), appeared a few months 

 after Meigcn's work. Although acquainted with Meigen's labors, 

 Latreille does not adopt his new genera, except Limonia. The 

 subdivision of Latreille's Tipularise (afterwards called Diptera 

 nemocera) is rather confused, but the character derived from 

 the length of the last joint of the palpi, which became so im- 

 portant soon after, is introduced here. The genera with an 

 elongated last joint of the palpi are : Tipula (corresponding to 

 the present genus Ctenophora), Tanyptera (for Ctenophora 

 atrata Fabr.), and Tyclioptera (containing species of the genus 

 Tipula and Ply 'diopter a). The genera with a short last joint 

 of the palpi are Limonia, Molobrus (Sciara), and Oligotrophy 

 (Cecidomyia). 



In Latreille's next work — Genera crustaceorum et Insectorum, 

 Yol. IV, 1809 — a considerable progress is apparent. Here for 

 the first time, the family Tipulidse in our sense is distinguished 

 as a separate tribe Tipularise terricolse, co-ordinate to the 

 Tipularise aquaticse (Culex, Chironomus), fungivorse and 

 fiorales. The Tipularise terricolse, characterized by the struc- 

 ture of their antennae, the absence of ocelli and the length of 

 their feet, are divided into two groups, according to the length 

 of the last joint of the palpi. The group with an elongated joint 

 is composed of the genera Ctenophora, Pedicia, Tipula, Nephro- 

 toma, Ptychoptera ; the group with a short joint, of Limonia and 

 Hexatoma (now Anisomera). Limonia which, in the sense of 

 the author, includes Trichocera and Erioptera, is further sub- 

 divided in four sections, based upon the structure of the antennae 

 and the venation. Among the genera Pedicia and Hexatoma 

 are new. 



The name Diptera nemocera has been proposed for the first 

 time by Latreille in 1817, in the Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire 

 naturelle, in the articles Dipteres and Entomologie. 



Fabricius's principal work on Diptera, published in the mean 

 time — Systema Antliatorum, 1 805 — did not add anything of im- 

 portance to the knowledge of the distribution of the Tipulidse. 



In Meigen's great work — Systematische Beschreibung der 

 bekannten Europdischen ziueifliigligen Insecten — the first volume 

 of which, containing the Tipulidse, appeared in 1818, the Diptera 

 nemocera were called Tipularise (Miicken), and subdivided in 

 the sections : culiciformes (now Culicidae and Chironomidae), 



