THE CONOPIANS. 611 



resembling it is figured in Griffith's translation of Cuvier's 

 " Animal Kingdom," under the name of Myopa nigripennis. 

 It is found on fences around gardens in May and June. 

 It sits with its wings half spread, moves slowly, and flies 

 heavily. My Sphecomyia valida, though rather shorter than 

 the preceding, has a thicker body. Its color is brownish 

 yellow, and it is striped with brown. The wings are trans- 

 parent, and are mottled with small, dusky spots. 



Some of the Conopians (Conopidce) still more closely 

 resemble slender-bodied wasps than the 



Fig. 269. 



preceding Sphex-flies. Conops sagittaria 

 (Fig. 269) of Say (nigricornis, Wiedemann) 

 might almost be mistaken for a species of 

 Eumenes. Its hind body is very slender 

 and cylindrical next to the thorax, and 

 swells out behind. Its antennae are long, and thickened 

 towards the end. Its proboscis is very long and slender, 

 elbowed at the base, and extends far beyond the head. This 

 fly is of a black color ; the rings of the hind body are edged 

 with white ; the face is yellow ; the legs are brownish yellow, 

 shaded with black on the thighs ; and the wings are black, 

 with two uncolored and wavy spaces on the inner margin. 

 Its body is five eighths of an inch long, and its wings expand 

 rather more than three quarters of an inch. This fly may 

 be found sucking the honey of flowers in June and July. 

 The Greeks gave the name of Conops to some stinging 

 fly or gnat. The Conopians undergo their transformations 

 in the bodies of humble-bees, their young subsisting on 

 the fat contained within the abdomen of then* luckless 

 victims. 



A host of flies, forming nearly one third of the whole num- 

 ber of species in the order DIPTERA, will be found to have a 

 short and soft proboscis, ending with large fleshy lips, enclos- 

 ing only two bristles, and capable of being drawn up within 

 the cavity of the mouth. Their antennse are generally short, 

 hang down over the face, and end with a large oval joint, 



