FAIRY FLIES 1449 



FAIRY FLIES. FRED. ENOCK 



IF it were possible to obtain a reply from all living 

 naturalists as to what first attracted their atten- 

 tion to insect life, I venture to think that seventy- 

 five per cent or more of the replies would be: "The 

 first sight of a living butterfly." How many of us 

 (no matter what our specialty may now be) can look 

 back to that time when, perhaps, a tortoise-shell 

 flaunted its beauty before our youthful eyes, and we 

 were drawn to it and fascinated by its gorgeous color, 

 as it delicately sipped the nectar from a dandelion 

 or thistle, gently opening and shutting its wings, 

 spreading them as wide as possible so that every part 

 should be seen! The colors and markings flashed be- 

 fore our enraptured gaze, and while we were held 

 captive by its beauty, another still more beautiful but- 

 terfly the peacock sailed past and alighted close 

 to the first, riveting our attention by the marvelously 

 lovely "eyes" on its wings; and again another this 

 time a red admiral in full sail bore down upon us, 

 opened fire, and we surrendered, swearing allegiance 

 for evermore to Atalanta and all her crew. Few boys 

 could stand still and not be affected or influenced 

 by such beauty. Such then has been, and will be, the 

 foundation of our naturalists "butterfly hunters" 

 first, specialists later on. 



As we are briefly running through the Hymenop- 

 tera our difficulties seem to increase, for with the 

 next division, the Chalcididae, we hardly know what 



