with a covering of rich golden hairs. There is also a tuft of golden hair at the base of the antennjB. The larva feeds on the bulb of the narcissus, into which it burrows, and devours the inside. It is rather an odd and clumsy-looking grub, shaped much like a rolling-pin, and covered with successive rings of hair. The mouth has two scaly hooks, and immediately above them are two short, forked horns.

On Woodcut LXXII. Fig. 1 is shown one of our most curious insects, called Volucella ■pellucens.

It is impossible for a mere woodcut to represent the very peculiar structure of this creature. In the illustration, the two large white patches on the abdomen look as if they were merely white and opaque, whereas, in reality, they are almost as translucent as if made of glass. Indeed the whole upper part of the abdomen seems as if it were made of very transparent horn, the only opaque portion being the dark stripe down the centre. Like the generality of its family, the insect is very swift- winged, and has a quick, darting flight, which makes its capture a work of some difficulty. I have taken plenty of specimens in Bagley Wood, waiting for them as they balanced themselves near flowers, and then capturing them with a smart stroke of the net.

The larva of the Volucella is parasitic on the nests of social hymenoptera. I have often obtained these larvae from the nests of humble-bees, and always thought that they restricted themselves to these bees. Mr. S. Stone, however, found that the common wasp was also favoured with the presence of these parasites. In his description of sundry wasp-nests, published in the ‘ Zoologist,’ p. 9452, he writes the following remarks : — ‘ Upon the crown of almost every nest (of Vespa vulgaris^ I examined, after the season had become advanced, I found eggs of Volucella, and my attention was in several instances drawn to a nest by seeing a specimen of Volucella pellucens or of Volucella bombylans hang about or alight near the entrance to it.’

These larvse are most extraordinary-looking beings. Supposing a rolling-pin to be cut in two transversely in the middle, each half will accurately resemble the Volucella larva. The small end of this larva is the head, which is furnished with a pair of double-toothed mandibles and six little tentacles; and the large and bluntly-truncated end is the tail, around the circumference of which are planted six soft radiating tentacles. The whole of the body is thickly covered with transverse wrinkles, and along the sides is a row of five points. At Fig. a is shown tlie curiously notched clypeus of this insect. At Fig. h one of the antennjE is drawn, so as to show the bold w'ith which the bristle of the antemnn is double-feathering adorned ; and at Fig. c the front of the head is drawn, foi the

purpose of showing the enormous eyes of the insect, and the space which they occupy in the head. The ocelli, or simple eyes, are shown at Fig. c.

On the same Woodcut, Fig. 2, is shown another species, called Volucella plumata, so called because the bristle of the antennae is so strongly feathered that it is quite conspicuous even to the naked eye. It looks very much like a humble-bee, and indeed, so closely resembles a worker humble-bee, that no one who was not an entomologist would think that it could be any other insect. The thorax is shining black, and has a quantity of golden-yellow hair on the sides. The thorax is also black, with yellow hair on the base, and grey hair at the end.

This species haunts the nests of humble-bees, and probably, owing to the bee-like aspect of the insect, mixes freely with the bees and passes in and out of the nest without challenge. I have often taken them near the nests of humble-bees, and, in consequence of the remarkable similitude of the insects, at first allowed the Flies to escape, taking them for bees. Indeed, in the first instance, it was only the difference of flight that betrayed the parasite.

At Fig. 4 of Woodcut LXXII. is drawn an insect belonging to the typical genus. Its name is Syrphus hbcorum.

The word Syrphus is Grreek, and is given under a remarkable variety of forms, being indifferently spelt as Serphos, Sterphos, or Seriphos. It is used to designate some small winged insect, but that the word is not rightly applied to the present group of insects is evident from the fact that an old Greek proverb alludes to the Syrphus as possessing a sting.

In these insects the third joint of the antennae is oval, the abdomen is elliptic and depressed, the legs are slender, and the tarsi simple in both sexes, whereas in some genera the front tarsi of the males are flattened and widened. They are popularly known as Hawk-flies.

This species is rather a pretty insect. Its general colour is black. The thorax is clothed with rich, warm-brown hairs, I and the base of the abdomen with golden down. It is slightly S variable in the colour and extent of its markings, and in some I specimens there is a brown patch on the base of the abdomen.

The larva of the Syrphus is predacious, and feeds upon the aphides ; so that every Syrphus that is seen in the garden ought to be protected as an inestimable friend to the gardener. In shape it very much resembles the Volucella larva which bas just been described, the grub being small and tapering at the head, and wide and blunt at the tail. When the female Syrphus is engaged in the great work of oviposition, she looks out for the leaves or twigs which are most thickly beset with aphides, and deposits an egg among them, never putting two eggs near each other. As soon as it is hatched, the young Syrphus larva finds itself in the midst of its food, and straightway takes advantage of the position in wlrich it is placed. Clinging to the leaf with the projections on its under surface, the larva stretches out the fore part of the body, and, with a curious apparatus belonging to its mouth, seizes on an aphis. It then pulls the aphis from its hold on the leaf or twig, and holds it aloft, so that the struggles of its prey are quite useless, and in this position sucks the juices. A very few minutes suffice for this operation, and it then throws away the emptied skin of the unfortunate aphis, and waits until another comes in its way.

When full-fed, the Syrphus larva fixes its tail very firmly to the plant on which it has been living, attaching it by means of a sort of glue or cement. The whole of the body then contracts, and the pupa is developed within the larval skin, which acts the part of a cocoon. It is a curious fact that when this change takes place, the creature exactly reverses its shape, the thick, blunt tail being contracted nearly into a point, while the slender, attenuated fore part of the body becomes thick and blunt. Before many days have elapsed, the fly is fully developed, pushes strongly against the end of its habitation, forces off the end with its head, and emerges upon the world.

Anothek species of these insects, Syrphus or Scoiva pyrastri, is shown on Woodcut LXXIII. Fig. 1* dhis fine insect is blackish-blue, on which is a whitish-grey down. The thorax shining, and on each side of the abdomen are tliiee is very bands, varying from pure white to golden yellow. In short some few species the bands are absent. I be lar\a may be found feeding on the aphides of the rose-tree.

All the Hawk-flies are extremely variable in their numbers, sometimes being very scarce, while at other times they appear in swarms. There is a notice in the ‘ Entomologist,’ vol. iv. page 357, by Mr. C. Horne, in which the numbers of these insects are mentioned.

‘At Margate, on August 24, 1869, there came a great number of these insects, so as to attract the notice of all mm

Sy:^hns (or So®va) pyrastri. 2. Conops macrocephalns. 3. Tachina ferox. 4. Tachina grossa. a. Do., head. 6. Do., antenna. c. Conops macrocephalns, ’ abdomen of male.

visitors. Many specimens were taken, among which I have identified Syrphus balteatus, S. decorus, S. tceniatus, S. topiavvujS^ and ET%stcLbis tcTidx^ 1 he wind was then blowing from the east, and it was very hot weather. The pier at .Eamsgate on the same day was almost covered with them, and everyone said that they came from the Channel. After this the wind was from inland, but it was too fresh and breezy for s s many to

remain ; and they had become so scarce in the month of September, that with dijfficulty seven or eight specimens were procured.

‘ The servant at one of the houses in Clifton Terrace, Margate, says that she had to go to all the windows with a dust-pan and bnish, to take them away from the windowledges ; and I have been given to understand that it Avas the same in most of the houses at the place. They went by strange names, but the most common one was that of “ horsestingers,” from their appearance.

‘ You have already noticed flights of this class of insects in the “ Zoologist ; ” and Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum, tells me that he saw, some years since, the line of surf on the beach for miles covered with the dead bodies of Syrphus pyrastri, so that they might have been taken up by shovelsfull. This was at Bournemouth, and the insects had been drowned in the sea, and their remains thus cast ashore. The same thing, he tells me, was observed to occur at the back of the Isle of Wight, which is not far off. Hence these flights would appear to be not uncommon, although when they do occur they are worthy of note.’

The next family is that of the Conopidae, which are represented by a very pretty insect, called Gonops vesicularis, which is shown on Plate XX. Fig. 2.

In all the Conopidae the proboscis is always long and projecting, elbowed, and siphon-shaped ; while it varies in form from conical and cylindrical to thread-like. In this organ both the mandibles and the lancet which represent the maxillae are absent, and only those portions remain which represent the upper lip and tongue ; so that all the Conopidae are perfectly harmless, and cannot even prey upon other insects.

This species bears the most extraordinary resemblance to the solitary wasps belonging to the genus Odynerus. The thorax of this insect is black, and the base of the abdomen is orange, the remainder being black and yellow, arranged as shown in the illustration. The wings are transparent, and are clouded with brown.

In its larval state this is one of the many parasitic insects, living in the interior of the humble-bee. Like the Stylops, has already beeii described in the course of this work, which

Plate Xx. Dipt Era.

Tabanus bovinus. 2. Conops vesicularis. 3. Gasterophilus equi 4. Tachina groesa.

Plant : — Honeysuckle.

ih undergoes all its transformations within the body of the

living bee, and then forces its way into the world between

the segments of the insect in which it had lived. Latreille

Page 109 of 117