FLIES, MOSQUITOES, AND MIDGES 



Fie. 364. A robber-fly (Stenopogon inqninatns], and 

 another (Dasylis soceata] resembling a bumble-bee. 



(Natural size) 



(After Kellogg) 



same manner as does a dragon-fly. The most common species are 

 of a sober gray color, marked with white, yellow, or black, with a 

 long, tapering abdomen, long, narrow wings, large, keen eyes, and 

 a strong proboscis, with which they suck the juices of their prey. 



Other species are 

 thickly clothed 



j 



with black and 

 yellow hairs, so 

 that they closely 

 resemble bumble- 

 bees. The larvae 

 are mostly pre- 

 dacious and live 

 in the ground or 

 in decaying wood, 

 where they feed 

 on the larvae of 

 beetles and on 



decaying vegetable matter. The robber-flies can hardly be con- 

 sidered beneficial, as they rarely feed on noxious insects to any 

 extent, and often destroy bees. 



In the third group is a considerable series of important families, 

 in which the first two segments of the antennae are small and the 

 third is large and clublike and bears a single, 

 conspicuous bristle, called an arista. 



The bee-flies (Bombyliidae) are medium-sized, 

 oval-shaped flies, with a thick covering of 

 yellow hairs, giving them a resemblance to 

 bees which is increased bv their habit of hover- 



J 



ing over flowers, upon the nectar of which the 

 flies feed by means of their long tongues. 

 Some of them frequent orchards and aid in 

 carrying the pollen from flower to flower by 



means of the bodv hairs, to which it adheres. 



j 



The larvae live in the ground and are very beneficial, being para- 

 sitic upon cutworms, army-worms, and grasshopper eggs. 



The long-legged flies (Dolichopodidae) should be mentioned, for 

 they are of such a striking metallic green, or blue, as to attract 



FIG. 365. A bee-fly 

 (Bombylins sp.)- (En- 

 larged) 



(After Weed) 



