40 



lice. They are extremely voracious, thrusting their small pointed 

 heads amongst the crowded aphides, and sucking these un- 

 fortunates dry in an extremely short time. 



Family Pipiiiiculidae. 



These little flies are of considerable economic importance, since 

 the majority of those known, are parasitic upon injurious insects, 

 especially the plant-sucking bugs or leaf-hoppers. There are sev- 

 eral species on these islands, some of these are enumerated and 

 descrbed and the habits of the family fully discussed by 

 Perkins.2 They are considerably less than a house fly and 

 black or nearly so, the wings also being dusky, and owing to 

 their very inconspicuous coloration and active flight can be very 

 easily overlooked, as they hover through the low-growing vege- 

 tation hunting for their prey. Generally the fully-fed larvae 

 leave their moribund hosts and pupate in the ground. 



Family Tachinidae. 



This family is an extremely important one since .ill its mem- 

 bers are parasites, and destroy an immense number of injurious 

 insects of all orders. Although some are large and consni.'uoas, 

 they are extremely difficult to classify, and very few of those 

 existing on these islands have been identified. One of the largest 

 and most common is a member of the genus Chaetogaedia. This 

 is a large grey fly, with several stiff bristles distributed over its 

 thorax and abdomen. The head is large and wnde. 



The larva is a whitish maggot which is parasitic on numerous 

 species of cut-worms and other moth larvae, both introduced and 

 native. 



Family Sarcophagidae (Flesh-flies). 



This family includes some extremely useful scavengers, rom- 

 monly known as "flesh-flies" ; the larvae feeding upon any de- 

 caying animal matter. 



The common species of Sarcophaga on these islands are large 

 grey flies, with dark longitudinal stripes on the thorax, an J dark 

 checkered markings on the abdomen. Some species are \ ivi- 



'^ Perkins (R. C. L.), "Leaf-hoppers and their Enemies," Bull. No. i, 

 pt. IV. (Div. Entom.) Haw. Sugar Planters' Exp. Stat. 



