Published monthly by The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA- Sound Beach, Connecticut, 



Subscription, $ 1 .00 a year Single copy, 10 cents 



Entered as Second-Class Matter June 12, 1909. at Sound Beach Post Office, under Act of March 3. 1897 



Vol 



ume 



X 



NOVEMBER, 1917 



Number 6 



Correspondence. 



Bee-like Flies. 



Stamford, Connecticut. 

 To the Editor: 



To settle a dispute, will you kindh 

 let me know whether the enclosed in- 

 sect is a fly or a bee? I know it is a 

 fly, but your word will be authoritative 

 Sincerely, 



Paul L. Lockwood. 



The insect that you send is a member 

 of the Syrphidae, an interesting family 

 of flies. These are commonly called 

 Syrphus-flies, flower-flies or hover-flies 

 and include fully twenty-five hundred 

 known species, of which more than 

 three hundred are found in this country 

 Many of the Syrphus-flies resemble 

 bees and wasps in appearance, and al- 

 most all are bright and handsome 

 They feed on nectar and pollen, and for 

 that reason are to be found during sun- 

 shiny hours among the flowers, hover- 

 ing like tiny humming birds in front 

 of open blossoms, or crawling bee-lik 

 in and out of deep flower cups. Some 

 make a distinct humming or buzzing as 

 they fly and this increases their resem 

 blance to honeybees, but bees have four 

 wings, while flies have only two. This 

 would have told the story to your 

 friends, if they had remembered the 

 fact. 



In the summer a few years ago, I 



put a hive of honeybees in a private 

 school for girls. At the beginning of 

 autumn I received a peremptory order 

 to remove that hive, because the bees 

 were going into girls' rooms and sting- 

 ing the inmates. The stinging was 

 purely imaginary, and so were the 

 honeybees, because examination proved 

 that the insects were not bees but 

 Syrphus-flies- Not a girl had been 

 stung but all were afraid they would 

 be. They were like Thomas Carlyle 

 and the neighbor's dog. "The dog can't 

 disturb you, Mr. Carlyle ; he never 

 barks.' "I know he doesn't," said the 

 irritable author, "but I am afraid he 

 will." 



Every autumn this question comes 

 from various sources. It would be 

 good missionary work if you could in- 

 duce people to see things and not to 

 jump at conclusions on shallow circum- 

 stantial evidence. 



E. F. B. 



Be Happy with Our Own. 



Greenwich, Connecticut. 

 To the Editor: 



The current number of The Guide 

 To Nature is the best of all. Especial- 

 ly interesting is your leader on the Con- 

 cord grape. You do not speak of the 

 original vine as being on the Bull place 



Copyright 1917 hy The Agassiz Association, ArcAdiA: Sound Beach, Conn. 



