102 



THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



their natural size. The male is nearly as large as the common house-fly, 

 F's-'- 16. but with a more slender body and 



glossier wings. Its head is black, 

 spotted with dull yellow, with the an- 

 tennae brownish black ; the thorax or 

 anterior portion of the body is black, 

 with a yellow spot at the base, and in 

 front of each of the fore wings ; the 

 abdomen or hinder portion is black 

 above, yellowish underneath and at the 

 tip. Its legs are bright yellow ; the 

 wings glossy, with black or brownish 

 black veins. The female is larger than 

 the male and differs from it chiefly in 

 the color of the body, being mostly 

 yellow, instead of black. These flies 

 are active only during the warmer parts of the day ; at other times they 



are quiet, indeed almost torpid. 



The eggs are laid on the surface of the larger veins or ribs on the 



underside of the leaves ; they are arranged in long and regular rows, as 



shown in fig. 17, each female depositing about a hundred or more. We 



have counted as many as 118 squeezed from the body of a female just 



escaped from the chrysalis, and as the eggs are then very soft and easily 



ruptured, it is probable that some 



of them were broken in count- 

 ing, and thus escaped notice. This 



process of egg-laying is continued 



throughout May, so that you have 



eggs hatching almost daily during 



the latter part of the month, on 



bushes which are, perhaps, covered 



with worms from half an inch to an 



inch long. It is probable that the 



female fly lays her stock of eggs 



at one time, and that the subsequent 



deposits are made by those who 



have escaped later from the pupa 



state. The eggs, as found on the leaves, are about one-twentieth of an 



inch long, four times as long as broad, rounded at each end, and having a 



