30 CROP PEST COMMISSION OF 



horseflies in their webs, or by jumping upon them from conceal 

 ment among the foliage. Many birds include them as part of 

 their food, and various insects have been observed feeding on 

 the egg-masses. 





PIG. 16. A Robber^fly, Deromyia anyustipennis, enlarged. 

 (After Quaintance and Brues, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Bureau of Entomology, Bulletin 50.) 



Before leaving this subject it may be well to give brief 

 consideration to a few species of fishes whose habits suggest that 

 they have some connection with the subject. The top-minnow* 

 vas observed to be common in Louisiana in both brackish and 

 fresh water, and is one of the species Dr. L. 0. Howard 

 figures in his "Miosquito Book" as feeding upon mosquito larvae. 

 It is not large enough for use as food, but flourishes in small 

 ponds as well as in larger bodies of water, and its small size is 

 an advantage, enabling it to go into the shallowest places. The 

 species is viviparous, each female giving birth to a number of 

 living young, which, it is stated, can be reared with the o-retitest 

 ease, it being necessary only to keep them in water where they 

 can procure sufficient food. Other fishes closely related to this 

 one have similar habits and should receive attention. Professor 

 Garman reports, in Volume III of the Bulletin of the Illinois 

 State Laboratory of Natural History, that the larvae of horse- 

 flies are eaten in quantities by the channel catfish and occa- 



*Gaml)usia nfflnix. 



