H 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



with a slight ash-coloured down. Its forehead is silvery at the front 

 and sides ; the abdomen is edged with black ; the wings hyaline, and 

 yellow at the base. 



Section of the Antho?nyidce.—T\\Q section of AnthomyidcE com- 

 prises insects which appear to be Creophili whose organisation has 

 become weakened by almost insensible degrees. Their colours vary 

 very much — black, grey, and iron-colour are everlastingly shaded and 

 blended together. To that may be added reflections which are 

 above the ground colour, and which change the hues of the little 

 animal according to the incidence of the rays of light. The Antho- 

 myidii resemble the genus Musca very closely 

 in their habits as well as in their organisation. 

 In this group of Diptera we will first say 

 a few words about the Anthoviytcp. These 

 flies are to be found in most gardens, and on 

 all flowers, particularly on the heads of Com- 

 positae and Umbellifer^e. They often unite 

 in numerous bands in the air, and indulge in 

 the joyous dances to which love invites them. 

 The females deposit their eggs in the ground, 

 and their larvae are there quickly developed. 

 The latter suspend themselves to certain 

 bodies, the same as some lepidopterous chry- 

 salides, in order to transform themselves intc 

 pupae. 



'W^ Anthomyia pluviaUs (Fig. 63) is from 

 two to four lines in length, and of a whitisJi 

 ash-colour. Its wings are hyaline, the thora> 

 has five black spots, and the abdomen thret 

 rows of similar spots. 



AVe will stop a moment with the Pego 

 fnyicE, which are very interesting in the larva 

 state, and whicli excited the interest anc 

 sagacity of Reaumur. 

 The cradle of these Diptera is the interior of leaves. They work 

 as the miners of the vegetable world, in the parenchyma or cellulai 

 tissue of the leaf, between the two epidermal membranes Th( 

 henbane, the sorrel, and the thistle, especially nourish them. If ont 

 holds a leaf in which one of these miners has established itself againsl 

 the light, one sees the workman boring the vegetable membrane 

 Its head is armed with a hook, formed of two horny pieces, anc 

 with this hook it digs into the parenchyma of the leaf. The eftect Oi 



Fig. 63.— Amhomyia pluvialis. 



