HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



79 



the butterflies may be caught in the fingers. A 

 friendly correspondent in Ireland, Mr. Brakey, gave 

 me a graphic account of the extraordinary profusion 

 in which M. Artemis appeared in an instance under 

 his observation. The next year very few were seen 

 in the same spot. According to the statements of 

 Mr. Coleman and others, the Greasy Eritillary was 

 formerly taken as near to London as Hornsey and 

 West Wickham : I doubt if it is now to be included 

 in the number of our metropolitan insects. Even 

 for the nsxt species, M. Athalia, Caen Wood has 

 been cited as an old locality, and it may have bred 

 freely on the heaths north of London ere the builders 

 made those extensive encroachments on the "rurali- 

 ties " in North Middlesex. This is also a species 

 sure to be plentiful where it does occur ; though it 

 seems, restricted to the South of England, being 

 nearly unknown in the north. Devonshire is one of 

 the favoured haunts of the insect, where Mr. Bignell 

 has taken larvse and imagos in several localities. 

 Woods, where the herbage is stunted, suit the habits 

 of the species as well as more open ground. Still more 

 limited in range is the "Glauville" (M. Cinxia), 

 so immediately associated in the recollections of 

 many collectors with the Undercliff in the Isle of 

 Wight, a locality rich in natural history treasures. 

 Mr. Dale took the species in the New Forest, and 

 one or two other localities have been cited. I 

 apprehend the references in some books to Daitford 

 and Birch Wood in Kent must be esteemed to be of 

 the nature of myths. J. R. S. Clifford. 



NOTES ON THE DIPTERA. 

 April :— Hujlble-Bee Flies. 



IS it not a fact, that whereas all amateur entomo- 

 logists give more or less attention to the Lepi- 

 doptera, the Coleoptera, or even the Hymenoptera, 

 the other orders of insects remain too little noticed ? 

 Yet there are many classes besides which will as 

 fully repay study as those above mentioned. 



Having given our attention more especially to 

 the Diptera, we have found them pre-eminently in- 

 teresting, and we think their anatomy, as revealed 

 by the microscope, can hardly be equalled in beauty 

 by other insects ; while as to their habits, they are 

 at least as remarkable as those of other families. Of 

 their transformations too little is as yet known ; so 

 that this point calls for special attention, and per- 

 haps a few random notes on one or two of the most 

 interesting families may induce others to give 

 closer attention to this order, which they usually 

 neglect. 



The first sunny weather of April will bring out 

 the Bombijlii, or Humble-bee Flies. They may be 

 seen in open woods and lanes, and occasionally in 

 gardens, throughout this month and the early part 



having broad and fiat 

 broader than the head, 

 than the thorax. The 



of May. They are easily overlooked, because of 

 their resemblance to humble-bees ; but their flight 

 is characteristic, hovering, as they do, with uncertain 

 motion, over the ground, or darting about most 

 rapidly, when disturbed by the slightest sound. 

 Their hum is not at all like that of the bumble-bees, 

 but is shrill and faint, rather like the upper note of 

 a violin. Their ordinary food is the honey of flowers ; 

 but, judging from their motions when flying, they 

 seem sometimes to feed on small insects, as their 

 relations the Empidce, and others, do. 



They are particularly aggravating insects to catch, 

 for their flight is exceedingly swift, and they have a 

 way of keeping to one place, just exactly out of one's 

 reach, that is very tantalizing. 



According to Walker's classification of the British 

 Diptera, they are the seventh family of the division 

 Brachycera, and are not far removed from the 

 Asilidce (or hornet flies) on the one side, and the 

 Empidic on the other. They are characterized by 



bodies, the thorax being 

 and the abdomen broader 

 whole body and the head 

 (except the eyes) are covered with a velvety down, 

 consisting of long straight hairs, attached to the fly 

 in so slight a manner as to be as easily rubbed off 

 by incautious handling as the scales'of butterflies. 

 It is this down that gives them their great resem- 

 blance to humble-bees, for their colours are nearly 

 the same, although somewhat differently arranged. 



Even among the many peculiar mouths of the 

 Diptera, the mouths of Humble-bee Flies are remark- 

 able. They stand out straight from the head, in 

 the same line with the body, and not at right angles 

 to it, as in most diptera. Their great length 

 enables the flies to extract honey from the flowers 

 of anemones, primroses, and ground ivy, which are 

 their common food-plants, without alighting ; and 

 indeed, considering the depth of the corollas of the 

 two latter flowers, a short tongue would be of little 

 use to procure their honey. 



Fig. 50 is a diagram of the mouth of Bombylius 

 major x 12 diams. ; and fig. 51 shows the tip of the 

 labium more highly magnified. The use of some of 

 the parts we can only conjecture, but their descrip- 

 tion is as follows : — First in importance comes the 

 labium, or lower lip (la), which forms a kind of 

 trough, wherein lie the two maxilla? (m.v) aud the 

 lingua or tongue (/), and which is closed above by 

 the labrum, or upper lip (ibr) : this last tapers to 

 an extremely fine point, and perhaps performs the 

 office of a lancet. The labium is shown fully ex- 

 tended ; but when not in use, the upper portion is 

 partially withdrawn inside the part lying between 

 the letters^. Between its two lobes is a most pecu- 

 liar organ (figs. 50 and 51, It), which we have called 

 a lancet ; but its structure seems ill adapted for 

 piercing. The labium is furnished with two pairs of 

 tendons ; one pair of which, attached to the two little 



