THE LOCUST-EGG ANTHOMYIAN : ITS DESCRIPTION". 183 



retracted or extended, plays beneath the transparent skin. The hind 

 or tail end is squarely docked oflF, and contains two small yellowish- 

 brown, eye-like spots, which are the principal breathing pores. 



The perfect insect issues from its puparium as a small grayish two- 

 winged fly (Fig. 52, a), about one-fourth of an inch long, the wings 

 expanding about one-half of an inch, and in general appearance re- 

 sembling a diminutive house-fly, except that the body is more slender 

 and more tapering behind, and the wings relatively more ample. More 

 carefully examined, the body is seen to be of an ash-gray color, tinged 

 with rust-yellow, and beset with stifl", bristle-like hairs, those on the 

 thorax stoutest, and those on the abdomen smaller, but more uni- 

 formly distributed. The wings are faintly smoky and iridescent. There 

 are three dusky longitudinal stripes on the thorax, most distinct an- 

 teriorly, and another along the middle of the abdomen, most distinct 

 in the male, which also differs from the female in the larger eyes, which 

 meet more closely on the top of the head, and in the face being whiter. 



The above general description will serve for the identification of the 

 insect when it occurs in association with locust eggs. 



A detailed description of the fly, by Professor Riley, for scientific use, 

 may be found in the 9th Missouri Report and in the General Index 

 and Supplement to the Missouri Reports {loc. cit.); also in the First 

 Annual Report of the U. S. Entomological Commission, pp. 288-89, 

 under the name of ^. angustifrons Meigen. We refrain from quoting 

 it here, for while it would be of service to the entomological student 

 to collate, as opportunity offers, the descriptions of allied species which 

 are scattered through many volumes not conveniently accessible, and 

 although this species is known to occur in the State of New York, yet 

 it has not shown itself in the eastern portion of the United States, in 

 such numbers, or with such habits, as to render it of economic import- 

 ance. 



The Larva feeds also upon Vegetables. 



It is not at all improbable, that, in conformity witli the known economy 

 of many other insects in different localities, it may adapt its habits to 

 the changed conditions surrounding it, and that in our State it may 

 exist as a depredator upon the roots of some of our cruciferous plants* 

 ■where it may not, as yet, have been distinguished from the similar 

 species with which it is acting in concert. As we have recently found 

 no less than three species, differing but slightly in specific characters, 

 infesting the leaves of beets, in company (and two other species are 

 known in Europe), it is probable that several of the Anthomyiansmay 

 be jointly operating upon the roots of the cabbage and the radish. In- 

 deed, Professor Riley states (9th Missouri Report, p. 95), that speci- 



