OF HARTING. 437 



are found in the nests of humble bees, on the grubs of 

 which they prey, and it is assumed that the striking 

 resemblance of the perfect fly in shape and colour 

 to the species of Bombus on which it is parasitic, 

 enables it to enter the nest of the latter, deposit its 

 eggs, and escape unnoticed and unmolested. 



First among the true flies, as they are termed, a 

 group composed of innumerable species, one of which 

 is the common House fly, we meet with Conops flavipes, 

 a long-bodied gaily-coloured slender fly, with the ex- 

 tremity of the abdomen curved downwards. This, 

 and a few other species of the same genus, we have 

 seen innocently feeding on the nectar of flowers, but 

 in their larval stage they have parasitic relations with 

 bees, wasps and humble bees. 



We have all had so many opportunities of studying 

 the habits of the common House fly, the uninvited 

 sharer of our meals, where, in spite of frequent re- 

 pulses, it unscrupulously helps itself to the gravy on 

 our plate, takes the first sip from our glass and feasts 

 on the syrup of our tarts before we can help ourselves, 

 that little more need be said of this troublesome in- 

 truder than that it is the Musca domestica, and that 

 its larva, less dainty than the perfect insect, is found 

 in dung. It may not perhaps be generally known, 

 however, that the term House fly, as popularly under- 

 stood, includes several distinct species so much alike 

 in shape, colour and other particulars, that it is very 

 difficult to distinguish the one from the other. Antho- 

 viyia canicularis, AntJwmyia phivialis and Stomoxys 

 calcibrans are the frequent companions of Musca 

 domestica in our apartments, and the last named in- 

 sect is the greatest plague of all, inflicting very sharp 

 wounds upon us in showery weather, particularly to- 

 wards the close of summer, a provocation that has led 

 many a sufferer from its attacks to devote the whole 

 tribe of harmless house flies indiscriminately to des- 

 truction. Another species, AntJwmyia meteorica, is 



