110 THE REPORT OF THE No. 19 



spotted with black, and have a brown bar along the costa; and its probos- 

 cis extends in a straight line from the head — as is the case also with fratellus 

 and major. 



Of the Leptidae I have taken Leptis Boscii, Macquart, at Quebec ; of the 

 Empidse, Rhani'pliomyia UTnhrosa, Loew. ; and of the Therevidse, Thereva 

 senex, Walker. 



A fly of strange appearance is Pterodontia ■flavi'pes, Gray (Fig. 42). 

 It is oval in shape and raised, and looks like a large Lady-bird, Its colors 

 are black and red. It comes in the family Cyrtidse. I have taken a few speci- 

 mens of this fly at the Gomin Swamp. 



The family Syrphidae contains a number of remarkable flies. Some 

 of them have a strange resemblance to wasps (Fig. 43). One day when 

 seeking in the woods for additions to my collections of the Vespidse, I 

 saw what I took to be a fine female of F. arenaria. I caught it and found 

 that it was a specimen of the Syrphid, SpiloTnyia fusca, Loew. 



Milesia eccentrica, Harris, resembles a yellow wasp, and so in less de- 

 gree, does Chrysotoxum derivatum, Walker. 



Temnostoma bombylans is a handsome fly belonging to the Syrphidae. 

 I do not know its history; but the creature bears so striking a resemblance 

 to Odynerus tigres, that I suspect it to be a familiar of that wasp (Fig. 44). 



Sericomyia inilitaris, Walker, is quite common at Quebec. It proba- 

 bly derives its name from the yellow bands on its abdomen, which look like 

 the facings of a soldier's coat. 



SpiloTnyia quadrifasciatus, Say, is a large, handsome fly. Its long, 

 cylindrical abdomen has a conspicuous golden band round the upper part. 



The rat-tailed maggots of Eristalis tenax, Linneus, thrive in polluted 

 water. The tail is a breathing-tube. The flies of the species may easily be 

 mistaken for drones of the Hive Bees, and are commonly called Drone Flies. 

 Besides this species, E. transversus, Wied., and E. dimidiatus, Wied., are 

 common at Quebec. 



VoluceUa evecta, Walk., is very common with us. Its Larvae are found 

 in Bumble Bees' nests. 



I have taken three specimens of the pretty fly Conops furcillatus upon 

 flower-heads. The larvae of the Conopidae are said to be parasitic in the 

 bodies of Bumble Bees.* 



In the (Estridae we find the Bot-flies of the horse, ox, sheep, etc. The 

 Horse Bot-fly, Gastrophilus equi, Meigen, lays its eggs on the fore-legs of 

 the horse. The larva, leaving the Qgg, causes irritation and is licked off 

 by the horse. It is carried in the saliva to the stomach of the animal. There 

 it attaches itself, and from thence on getting its growth, it is voided. 



The larvae of the Ox Bot-fly or "Warble-fly," Hypoderma hovis, Fab., 

 cause tumors in the back of the ox, which injure the skin — ^^a grubby hide is 

 of one-third less value than a sound one. 



The Sheep Bot-fly, (Esjtrus ovis, Tiin., lays living maggots in the nostrils 

 of the sheep. These crawl into the frontal hollows of the sheep's head, and 

 get their growth there. 



The family Tachinidae is a large one, Fig. 45. In it we have Histricia 

 viyida, Harris, a showy bustling insect, with a rounded, red abdomen, set 

 with black bristles. It is common and well known. 



•"The Conopians undergo their transformations in the bodies of humble bees, their 

 young subsisting on the fat contained within the abdomen of their luckless victims." — 

 Harris, "Insects Injurious to Vegetation," p. 611. 



