DIPTEKA. 55 



inents of the abdomen are black, the second and third having a 

 white spot on each side, the remaining segments are yellow. The 

 wings are yellowish, spotted with black on the inner and hind 

 margin. This species is common over the whole of Europe, and 

 lives at the expense of caterpillars and other insects, of which 

 it sucks the blood with the greatest voracity. 



The Empidm live in the same way as the Asilici, but the males 

 are chiefly nourished by the juices of flowers. 



" The rapine they exercise on other insects," says M. Macquart, in 

 his "Histoire Naturelle des Dipteres," "takes place either when 

 flying or running, and they seize their victims with their feet, 

 which are formed in various ways, and well adapted for their 

 purpose. But it is in the air that their hunting, as well as their 

 amours, chiefly take place. They unite together in numerous 

 companies, which during fine summer evenings whirl like gnats 

 about the water's edge. A singular observation, however, that I 

 have made on the Empis, is, that among the thousands of pairs 

 that I have seen resting on hedges and bushes, nearly all the 

 females were occupied in sucking an insect ; some had hold of 

 small Phryganece* others of Ephemera,^ and the greater part of 

 Tipufo." 



The Empidice have the trunk bent down, and resembling the beak 

 of a bird, but the Bombyliarii> on the contrary, have the trunk 

 extended straight in front. 



The prevailing type which has given its name to this latter group 

 is easily to be recognised by the elegance of the fur which covers 

 its body, the slenderness of its feet, and the length of its wings, 

 which extend horizontally on each side of the body. 



Much, more common in hot climates than in the North, these 

 insects, the larvae of which are not yet known, take flight in the 

 middle of the day, when the sun's rays are hottest. They fly very 

 fast, making a dull buzzing sound, and hover over flowers, from 

 which they draw the juices without settling. 



Fig. 36 represents the Bombylius major, which is common 

 enough throughout the whole of Europe. This insect is from four 

 to six lines long, black, with yellow fur ; the feet light yellow ; 

 and the wings have the edges bordered with a sinuous brown band. 

 * The insects produced by the caddis or case -worm. ED. t May-fly family. ED. 



