252 ROUND THE YEAR 



Ceria and Conops are often like Bees or Wasps in size, 

 in colour (brown or yellow-banded), in the attitude of 

 the resting wings, in the hairiness of the body, in the 

 narrow waist, and in the telescopic respiratory move- 

 ments of the abdomen. I have experienced what 

 Reaumur long ago described when capturing some of 

 these Insects. Though the form of the antennae told me 

 quite unmistakably that I had a harmless Fly before 

 me, I have often hesitated to grasp it, because it looked 

 so like a Bee or a Wasp. 



The mimicry of Bees and Wasps by stingless Flies 

 is a proof of the protection furnished by the sting, and 

 of its wide recognition by Birds. If Bees and Wasps 

 were not generally known and dreaded, it would be of 

 no advantage to resemble them. Other flower- 

 haunting Insects may wear the colours of the stinging 

 Hymenoptera, the most striking examples being the 

 Clear-winged Moths, which lose a great part of their 

 wing-scales immediately after emergence, and have 

 the abdomen banded like a W T asp or Hornet. In the 

 same way certain tropical Hemiptera, Beetles and 

 Spiders closely resemble Ants, which are dreaded for 

 the tenacity of their bite, even when unprotected by a 

 sting. 



TENNYSON AS A NATURALIST. 



Oct. 26, 1895. This morning I went out early, and 

 found that a touch of night-frost had left its mark 

 upon the shrubs. The lines from In Meinoriam came 

 into my thoughts : 



" And Autumn laying here and there 

 A fiery finger on the leaves." 



