1450 THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE 



to do, or to whom we can turn for assistance in nam- 

 ing these brilliantly spangled green and gold col- 

 ored flies, whose "name is legion." The laborers in 

 this field are indeed few, so much so that there is not 

 a "specialist" even at the Natural History Museum, 

 South Kensington. 



Let us go back to one of those "neglected families" 

 which have received but small attention. One reason 

 for this want of attention is, no doubt, because of the 

 extreme smallness of the members of this family, 

 the largest being not more than one-twentieth of an 

 inch long, whereas the smallest is less than one- 

 eighty-fifth of an inch from head to tail.' These in- 

 sect atoms have been classed among the Chalcididae 

 by Haliday the originator of the Mymaridae who 

 first noticed them in 1833. Since that date Westwood 

 has placed them among the Proctotrupidae; and now 

 Ashmead author of American Proctotripidae has 

 decided in favor of Haliday's arrangement, and in 

 this I fully concur. 



The fairy flies are, without doubt, among the 

 many wonderful parasitic Hymenoptera, the most 

 admirable in their exquisite structure, as well as in 

 their habits and economy. All the species are egg 

 parasites, and each species has its peculiar taste, se- 

 lecting with unerring instinct the right kind of egg 

 generally that of an injurious insect in which the 

 female lays one of its own eggs, which in due time 

 hatches or develops into an active maggot. This 

 maggot feeds upon the contained fluids, and finds 

 sufficient nutriment to bring it to full size, when it 

 assumes the pupal stage. The fly, being matured. 



