THE GOLDEN-EYE, OR LACE-WINGED FLY. 49 



When the lace-wing is at rest the wings are folded in a 

 nearly vertical position, so that they project beyond the hind 

 end of the body. 



The female lace-wings deposit their eggs on the tips of long 

 stalks. The stalk is drawn out from a liquid secretion, which 

 hardens on exposure to the air, and the egg is then glued upon 

 the tip. By thus placing the eggs up above the leaf surface 

 the insect saves them from being eaten by ladybird beetles and 

 other insects. A week or more after tliey are deposited the 

 eggs hatch into young aphis lions which, like their namesakes 

 of the desert, go about seeking what they may devour. 



While the beauty of the color and structure of the lace- 

 winged fly appeals strongly to the eye of the nature lover, the 

 insect has a very different effect upon his nose, for these deli- 

 cate creatures emit probably the most disagreeable odor of any 

 insect. It is worse, to many minds at least, than that given 

 off by the bedbug and its allies, or even the noisome pestilence 

 of the carrion beetles. How so small an insect reared from 

 infancy upon a cleanly diet of the juices of freshly killed 

 insects, spending its resting period iii a "glistening white 

 cocoon which looks like a large seed-pearl," and feeding little, 

 if at all, in its adult state, can develop so disagreeable a stench 

 is indeed, a wonder. The purpose of the odor is doubtless to 

 protect the lace-wings from the attacks of birds and other 

 enemies. 



