744 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



C. propinqua Walk. Mullica Hill, Clementon V, 30, Anglesea VII, 25. 



C. basilaris Say. Ft. Lee VII, 4 (Dke); Riverton VII, 3, Westville VIII, 18. 



C. rotundipennis Say. Buena .Vista VI (Li); Riverton VI, 19, VII, 3 (Jn) ; 

 Egg Harbor VII, 10 (Coll). 



SYMPHOROMYIA Fraun. 

 S. cinerea Johns. Long Branch VI, 9-12. 



Family CYRTID/E. 



Called "small-headed flies" because of the unusually small head com- 

 pared with the large hump-backed thorax and inflated abdomen. They 

 are the "Acroceridse" of previous list, are rare, the larvee are parasitic 

 upon spiders or their egg sacs, and they are of no economic importance. 



ONCODES Latr. 



O. costatus Loew. "New Jersey," no data. 



O. pallidipennis Loew. Trenton VI, 3 (Hk) ; Anglesea VI, 20 (Sm). 

 O. incultus O. S. Boonton VI, 16 (GG) ; Collingswood VI, 11 (Jn). 



OPSEBIUS Costa. 



O. pterodontinus O. S. Lakehurst VIII, 18 (Coll); parasitic on "Agalena 

 nsevia." 



ACROCERA Meigen. 



A. fasciata Wied. Philadelphia, bred from "Lycosa stonei," a spider 

 which also occurs in New Jersey. 



Family BOMBYLIID^, 



These are the "bee-flies," which derive their common name from the 

 fact that they are more 01 less covered with dense, diverging whitish or 

 yellow hair, giving them a close resemblance to certain bees. Many 

 occur, hovering over bare places in early spring, others are found on 

 flowers, often poised in mid-air between or over them. One series 

 resembles the bumble-bees and has a long pointed proboscis; the other is 

 more slender, the abdomen tending to become flattened, with a short 

 proboscis and much less contrasting colors. 



The larvae are parasitic or partly predatory. Some are true parasites 

 in lepidopterous larvae; others feed on the egg-pods of grasshoppers, 

 while yet others feed in nests of bees, destroying first the bee egg or 

 larva and then feeding upon the food stored for it. 



They are never harmful to growing vegetation, hence may be classed 

 as, on the whole, beneficial. 



