288 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTORE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 13, 1876. 



viBit flowers in our garden beda, they do not seem enthueiastio 

 in their devotion to them, and are very slnggiah in their move- 

 ments — apparently, one would say, a molancholie race, perhaps 

 occasioned by their being somewhat pot-bellied. The abdomen, 

 in fact, is almost globular, the thorax broad and convex, and 

 the head so small that it seems to be contrived only to pack 

 the eyes and mouth into it. On the whole, these small flies 

 stand in a neutral position towards horticulture ; but in the 

 next family, the Aeilidaa, the case is different, for the majority 

 of the species are predaceous, some of these flies having 

 actually the audacity to attack bees. A single Asilus will 

 destroy a good number of smaller flies, since it usually only 

 sucks the jnicea of its prey. A. crabroniformis, with its striking 



spotted, and the thorax is grey in the male, yellowish in the 

 female. It is reported that the larva of one exotic species in 

 this family, which resides in sand, contrives pitfalls in which 

 it catches small insects, thus curiously resembling in habit the 

 famous " Ant lion." 



We pass on to the more important family of the Bombylida;, 

 which has received an English name. All the Eee-flies, how- 

 over, are not noisy, though rapidity on the wing constitutes 

 a general characteristic. In the genus Bombylius we have 

 furry-looking flies, with short and thick bodies, fond of hover- 

 ing over flowers in a way that has led some to compare them 

 to the night-flying moths, which balance themeelvea above 

 the summer blossoms with quivering wings, seeming as if 

 suspended in the air. B. major and medius are well-known 

 species, the former especially notable from its black body, 

 thick with golden hairs above, and black and white below. 



Fig. 83. — Asilas crabroniformia. 



yellow and black markings, is a familiar example of the family. 

 It has been called the Hornet Fly from its resemblance to that 

 insect. Mr. Wood thinks this fly has odd fancies about the 

 dangers it incurs from man, as he observed that when one is 

 started it rises with an irregular flight, and then pitches after 

 flying a dozen yards, then remaining quite btill unless dis- 

 turbed again. But gardeners are not very likely to hunt the 

 Asilidae if they recognise them, since the flies are the reverse 

 of harmful. The larvos, it is true, feed beneath the earth or 

 in decayed wood, yet they have not been reported upon as in 

 any way injurious to cultivated plants, though they may affect 

 pasture lands in conjunction with other grubs of the order 

 Diptera. One author describes these flies as " long, strong, 

 hairy, and hungry-looking ;" but I suspect all these adjectives 

 will not serve for identification, as they might apply to various 

 species, and really it is difficult to ascertain whether a fly is 

 strong merely by inspection of his outer fly. It is more to 

 the point to add that when on the move the flies extend the 

 proboscis in front of the head, which it about equals in length; 

 the thorax ia also narrowed towards the head. Only a few of 

 the Asihd;B are bright-coloured, the rest exhibiting a grey or 

 brown garb. 



Closely allied to the Aeilidffi in structure are the Leptidse, 

 with larvaa of similar habit ; but the species generally are less 

 predaceous, aa the .slighter "build " of the family would sug- 

 gest, and we infer it as well from the much smaller footpads, 

 these being large in the Asilidaj, which are frequently seizing 

 other insects. There exist footpads, however, amongst the 

 Leptidfe, still they can, it is presumed, manage to subsist 

 entirely on flowers, yet they are not numerous or pertinacious 

 enough to injure even delicate blossoms. Leptis scolopacca 

 visits gardens nearly everywhere in England, and this ia a fair 

 representative of the family, with its greyiah wings spotted 

 and edged with brown, while the dnU orange abdomen is black- 



Fig. 84. — Bombyliua msjor. 



These flies are to be seen pausing as they go from flower to 

 flower, apparently critical in their selection. They do not 

 meddle with other insects. Throughout the family the body 

 is rather short and stout, the outstretched proboscis quite 

 equalling it in length. The wings of the Bombylidic are at all 

 times kept extended by the insects. One genus, Thereva, ia 

 suspected to have predaceous teudenciea. The larvte follow 

 the habit I have referred to in several families— that is, they 

 lead a subterranean life, seeking out for the most part, it is 

 thought, enemies of the roots of plants, and therefore not 

 strictly vegetarian, but rather beneficial as parasites. — C. 



ANNESLEY HALL, 



THE RESIDENCE OF JOHN CHAWOETH MUSTERS, ESQ. 



AxNESLEY Hall is situated in a picturesque part of the 

 county of Nottingham, and is more or less aaaociated with the 

 name of Byron. It ia only two milea from Newstead, the 

 birthplace of the great poet, and a little beyond the latter 

 place eastward of Mansfield is Sherwood Forest, the home of 

 the redoubtable Robin Hood, who lived in the latter part of 

 the twelfth and early part of the thirteenth century. The 

 Hall ia a handsome and spacious mansion of ^reat antiquity, 

 and has been thoroughly restored by the present owner. Even 

 as early as the Norman Conquest the manor was given to Ralph 

 Fitz. Hubert, and was afterwards possessed for many gene- 

 rations by the Annesleys, whose heiress carried it by marriage 

 to the Chaworths of Wiverton, whose last representative mar- 

 ried the late John Musters, Esq., in the year 1805. 



Half an hour's ride from Nottingham brings us to the plea- 

 sant village of Linby, intersected by the Nottingham and 

 Mansfield railway. Here are to be found ertme old monastic 

 ruins, which bear evidence of ita having been a place of con- 

 siderable religious importance several centuries ago, and pro- 

 bably either connected with the priory of Newstead or the one 

 at Lenten near Nottingham. The ancient crosses at each end 



