78 HOP-FLY. 



may often be seen on the hop-leaf; they are yellow, and 

 five or six in a cluster placed on their ends ; these should 

 on no account he destroyed, as is too often the case, but on 

 the contrary every encouragement should be given to so 

 decided a friend to the hop-grower. 



Besides the lady-bird and its grub, there are two other 

 terrible enemies to the poor Aphis; one of these is a 

 green, ungainly-looking grub, without legs, which lies flat 

 on the surface of the leaf, and stretches out its neck, just 

 like a leech, till it touches one of them ; directly he feels 

 one he seizes it in his teeth, and holds it up, wriggling in 

 the air, till he has sucked all the goodness out of it, and 

 left a mere empty skin. This curious creature turns to a 

 fly which has a body banded with different colours, and 

 which in summer you may often observe under trees and 

 about flowers, standing quite still in the air as though 

 asleep, yet, if you try to catch him, darting off like an ar- 

 row.* The other has six legs, and very large, strong, 

 curved jaws, and is a most ferocious looking fellow, strut- 

 ting about with the skins of the blights which he has killed 

 on his back. This fierce fellow comes to a very beautiful 

 fly, with four wings, all divided into meshes, like a net, 

 and two beautiful golden eyes.f All these creatures, 

 which thus live on the plant-lice, have a very strong and 

 disagreeable smell in the perfect state. J 



* One of the Syrphidce.E. N. 



f Chrysopa perla. E. N. 



J I have myself witnessed the operations of a parasite that destroys an im- 

 mense numher of hop-flies by a most subtle but equally certain process. The 

 habits of this minute creature, or one closely allied, have been beautifully de- 

 scribed by Mr. Haliday in the ' Entomological Magazine.' In the follow- 

 ing passage, cited from 'The Grammar of Entomology,' p. 69, Mr. Hali- 

 day's description referring to the parasite of the Aphis of the rose has 



