84 



THE INSECT WOELD. 



They often unite in numerous bands in the air and indulge in th 

 joyous dances to which love invites them. The females deposit thei 

 eggs in the ground, and their larvae are there quickly developed. Th 

 latter suspend themselves to certain bodies, the same as som 

 Lepidopterous chrysalides, in order to transform themselves int 

 pupae. 



The Anthomya pluvialis (Fig. 63) is from two to four lines i: 

 length, and of a whitish ash-colour. Its wings are hyaline, th 

 thorax has five black spots, and the abdomen three rows of simila 

 spots. 



We will stop a moment with the Pegomyas, which are very inte 

 resting in the larvae state, and which excited the interest am 

 sagacity of Reaumur. 



The cradle of these Diptera is the interio 

 of leaves. They work as the miners of th 

 vegetable world, in the parenchyma of th 

 leaf, between the two epidermal mem 

 branes. The henbane, the sorrel, and th 

 thistle, especially nourish them. If on 

 holds a leaf in which one of these miner 

 has established itself against the light, on 

 sees the workman continually boring th 

 vegetable membrane. Its head is arme< 

 with a hook, formed of two horny pieces 

 and with this hook it digs into the paren 

 chyma of the leaf. The effect of thi 

 digging is visible, as those places becom 

 by degrees transparent. Each blow detache 

 a small portion of the substance of th 

 leaf. It is thus that these miners hollo\ 

 out galleries for themselves, in which the; 



P i i ij f i i ' o 



nnd shelter, iood, and security, oome ar 

 changed into pupae in the gallery which they have hollowe* 

 out, others go out of the leaves when they are near their fina 

 transformation. 



Section of Acalyptera. The Acafyptera, which are the last o 

 the great tribe of Muscidte, comprehend the greater number o 

 these insects. Their organisation is impaired and their constitu 



Fig. 3 Anthomya pluvialis. 



