THE APHIS-LIONS 



(Family Hemerobiidce.) 



The insects of this group are medium-sized or large lace- 

 winged flies, the wings being often rather dark colored and 

 spotted with dark spots. There are about thirty species in the 

 United States. 



Their larvae are active, predatory creatures, with long, 

 pointed, sickle-shaped jaws, with which they pierce the bodies 

 of plant-lice and other soft insects, sucking their juices through 

 grooves along the inside of each jaw. Some of these larvae are 

 furnished with tubercles along the side of the body, the tubercles 

 being clothed with hair, and they have the curious habit of 

 covering themselves with the skins of victims which they have 

 destroyed. The tubercles and the long hairs serve to hold these 

 remains in place. One of these little larvae will thus disguise 

 itself to such an extent that it cannot be recognized as an insect. 

 The cocoons are spherical. 



There are some very interesting forms belonging to this 

 family which are aquatic in their early stages. Needham says 

 that those of the genus Sisyra are very curious-looking objects in 

 the larval stage. They live in or on fresh water sponges, cling- 

 ing closely to the surface of the sponge or hiding in it, covering 

 themselves with debris. Those of the genus Climacia are also 

 aquatic in the early stages, according to Needham, living in the 

 same places. 



A good representative full life history is needed in this family. 



