FAIRY FLIES 14:53 







Of these I have found representatives of all, and a 

 few notes may not be uninteresting to those who de- 

 sire to search for these fairy flies. 



Ooctonus. Of this genus I have not found very 

 many specimens. It is thick-set, and least like a 

 fairy. Unfortunately, Haliday did not publish any 

 detailed account of his captures, but from the fact 

 of his naming one (plentifully represented in his 

 collection) Ooctonus Kemipterus, it is just possible 

 it may be parasitic in eggs of bugs. 



Gonatocerus is, perhaps, as plentiful as any in the 

 London district. It is a constant visitor to my gar- 

 den, though I have failed to discover its nidus. 



Alaptus minimus and fusculus have long been 

 known to me. The first-named is not more than one- 

 seventy-second of an inch long, with a sessile abdo- 

 men. Its wings are somewhat hatchet shaped, with 

 peculiar enlargements at the base of the inner mar- 

 gin. The lower wings have a crimped appearance, 

 arising from the mackerel marking. This, and in 

 fact all the family, are to be found running up the 

 glass in a greenhouse, especially on the window fac- 

 ing east. Alaptus fusculus is one of the first to ap- 

 pear in spring its peculiar jerky gait will at once 

 reveal its identity. Of this species I have bred hun- 

 dreds from the eggs of a psocid (Stenopscocus cru- 

 ciatus), an insect much like a common aphis, but 

 very active and shy, having a decided objection to 

 being watched. But "all good things come to those 

 who know how to wait," and wait he must for hours, 

 days, months, and years before the life history of a 

 single species is made out. Haliday mentions that 



