184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



slender form, with conical head, at the apex of which the 

 antennae are placed ; the abdomen is broadest about the mid- 

 dle, but is apt to shrink disproportionately in drying, as was 

 the case in the specimen from which the above figure was 

 taken. The general color is light brown, the wings with a 

 hyaline spot on the anterior margin, and two hyaline curved 

 streaks behind the middle, bordered with an undulated, smoky, 

 interrupted band. The general reddish brown color of the 

 wings, which is darkest toward the base, is often diversified by 

 three or four small hyaline spots, two just behind the large 

 marginal one, and the others near the tip. It is about .05 in 

 length, and the wings expand from 1.25 to 1.42. 



Figure 60 (^Harr.^ represents the Conops Sagit- 

 tarius of Say, or the archer Conops. (Tlie generic 

 name was applied by the ancients to a kind ofi fly, 

 and tlie name Sagittarius was given to this species 

 Fig. 60. on account of the arrow-shaped markings on the 

 front, or in allusion to the foi'm of the antennae, which are 

 parallel nearest the head, but diverge at their tips, in the shape 

 of tlie feathered end of an arrow ; the line seen between the 

 antennas, in the cut, represents the apex of the proboscis or 

 piercing apparatus.) It is black, tlie front of the head yellow- 

 ish white, with a few black lines in tlie shape of a broad arrow ; 

 the feet pale, except the femora, and tips of the tarsi, and the 

 sutures of the abdomen whitish. The wings are fuscous on the 

 anterior side, hyaline, and iridescent behind, as represented in 

 the foregoing figure. It is said to be parasitic in its larva state 

 on the humble-bee, and to undergo its transformations in the 

 abdomen of those insects. It measures about .6 in length, and 

 the Avings expand from .75 to .80. 



Tlie Sf/rphid(c of Leach, (derived from a Greek word, signi- 

 fying a mixed crowd, in allusion to the varied forms and habits 

 of the insects composing this family,) contains a great number 

 of genera and species, many of which are entirely innoxious, 

 and others of great service to the cultivator, especially those 

 belonging to the typical genus, which feed upon the Aphides. 

 These are generally found in the imago state hovering about 

 flowers, but as larvae they are among tlie most merciless ene- 

 mies of the plant-lice. They are of smaller size than any we 

 have figured in this place, with hyaline wings, and bodies of 



