212 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



ing kinds of plants, and has occasionally to brush 

 the crawling things from one's cape. But the 

 enemies of Aphides are abroad, too. The Syrphus 

 flies hover around one's pathway, looking like lit- 

 tle wasps. The Syrphidce will see to it that 

 plenty of their larvae go forth to slay the Aphides. 

 The grub have a way of holding to the leaves 

 with the hind end of the body and stretching out 

 the extensile forward portion, waving it about 

 after the manner of a blind man feeling with his 

 stick. For these Syrphus grubs are blind and 

 footless. The wasp - like flies place their eggs 

 among groups of Aphides, usually not more than 

 one or two eggs on a leaf. The eggs I have found 

 have, been white, oval, and about one thirty-second 

 of an inch long. When the grub 

 comes forth it has not far to reach 

 to obtain its food, a convenient ar- 



Syrphus grub eat- rangement for blind folk, although 

 ing Aphis. j did once fin( j an e gg on a rose _ 



twig where not a single aphis could be seen, even 

 under the microscope. I suppose there are giddy 

 individuals even among Syrphus flies, but that 

 mother certainly deserved a reprimand for plac- 

 ing her poor blind infant in such a situation that 

 it would have to travel all over the branch, hunt- 

 ing for its first meal. On inspection, however, I 

 found something on the shoot that may have been 

 the white skeleton of a dead aphis. Perhaps that 

 aphis was there alive and well when mother Syr- 



