DIPTERA. 
105 
walks. Rooks and starlings destroy great numbers of 
these injurious lame; the little burrowing mole also 
may fairly lay claim to be the farmers’ friend in this 
respect—for I have found in the stomachs of the 
gibbeted moles the remains of these Tipulae and other 
kindred larvae. 
Mr. F. Walker divides the Brachycera into seventeen 
families, as follows :— 
1. Acroceridae. 
2. Scenopinidae. 
3. Stratiomidee. 
4. Tabanidae. 
5. Xylophagidse. 
6. Asilidae. 
7. Leptidae. 
8. Bombylidae. 
9. Empidae. 
10. Dolichopidae. 
11. Lonchopteridae. 
12. Syrphidae. 
13. Conopidae. 
14. Platypezidae. 
15. Pipunculidae. 
16. Muscidae. 
17. CEstridae. 
# 
In the Acroceridae , a family which contains a very 
few species, the bodies of the insects are broad and 
globose, the head very small and almost wholly occupied 
by the eyes; they are sluggish in their habits, and often 
group themselves on withered trunks of trees, flying 
about in the sunshine. 
