163 



they were puiictiiritig tlie tissues ami driiikiug the sap. He also reports 

 them as feeding on cotton pollen in Mississippi. 



"The whole ti'ansfoi-niation from egg to fly," says Ashmead, "is 

 completed within a comparatively short 

 period of less than three weeks. The 

 eggs hatch in from three to four days ; 

 the larva matures in from eight to ten 

 days; and the fly appears in from eight 

 to thirteen days."* His studies were 

 made in May and June, but in the 

 Atlantic States larva? have been re- 

 ported from late August to September 

 15, after which no more were seen. 

 A j)uparium was found on corn in south 

 ern Illinois July 29. 



The brownish ])uparia (Fig. 150, h) 

 are club-shaped, with the head at the 

 small end, and are formed among the 

 florets of the tassel (Fig. 151) and upon 

 the surface of leaf or stalk. The adult 

 flies (Fig. 152), like most others of this 

 family, are prettily marked with yellow 

 and black, giving them a suspicious re- 

 semblance to small bees or wasps, because of which they are often 

 mistaken for the so-called "sweat-bees" (Halidus). They often cause 



Fi<;. 151. Tlie (Jcjiii-feediiij? Syrphus- 

 fly, Mesot/riimmn politum, x, x, puparia on 

 corn tassels. (Sanderson.) 



Fig. 152. The Corn-feeding Syrphus-fly, Mesogramma politum. 

 Length about one third inch. 



annoyance when very abundant by alighting on the hands, face, and 

 clothing, especially when one is perspiring. We have taken them from 

 July 15 to October 5; most frequently in August and September. 



♦Insect Life, Vol. I., p. 7. 



