BOMBYLIUS. ' BOMBYLIUS. 
r 
Gentric > Character. 
Os rostro porrecto, setaceo, 
Jongissimo, bivalvi: val- 
vulis horizontalibus intra 
quas aculei setacei. 
Mouth furnished with a 
very long porrected, se- 
taceous, bivalve trunk, 
with horizontal valves in- 
cluding setaceous pierc- 
ers. 
The insects of the genus Bombylius have an ap- 
pearance somewhat resembling that of the smaller 
kinds of Humble-Bees, being thickly covered with 
erect downy hair: their flight is rapid, and they 
may be frequently observed to hang as if sus- 
pended, over a flower, in the manner of some of 
the Sphinges or Hawk-Moths, rapidly vibrating 
their wings, and darting off, on the least disturb- 
ance, to a considerable distance. The most 
common species, the Bombylius medius^ is often 
seen, in the early part of Spring, in gardens and 
fields, and is readily distinguished by its downy 
bee-like body, and its strait, sharp-pointed pro- 
boscis. Its colour is pale chesnut-brown, with 
whitish-yellow hair; and the wings are blackish 
along the whole length of the upper half, the re- 
