90 



Longicorn Coleopteron, Strangalia armata, from various 

 localities in the South of England and Switzerland. 



Mr. H. W. Andrews exhibited examples of the British 

 species of the Eristalincc (Diptera), a sub-family of the 

 Syrphidcc, and read the following notes: — "This sub-family 

 comprises several interesting species, including some of the 

 most showy of the Syrphidcv, and some of the best-known 

 examples of mimetic resemblance. The genus Eristalis, 

 Ltr., consists of the well-known ' bee-flies ' : E. tcnax, Ltr., 

 the 'drain-fly' or 'drone-fly' (it is known by both 

 names), has followed civilisation — in the shape of drains — 

 all over the world, occurring in Europe, Asia, Africa, 

 America (since 1870), and appears to have reached New 

 Zealand in 1888-9. This genus is one of the few among 

 the Diptera whose life-history in the case of several species 

 has been worked out by various naturalists from the time of 

 Reaumur in 1730 onwards. The larvae are well known as 

 ' rat-tailed maggots,' and I exhibit a specimen of the 

 puparium of E. tenax, formed of the larval skin. The 

 resemblance of these flies to bees, and their habit of breed- 

 ing in stagnant water and putrifying matter, gave rise to the 

 legend of the ' oxen-born bees ' of the ancients ; and an 

 interesting pamphlet on this subject has been published by 

 Baron Osten-Sacken. Briefly, the recipe to obtain a swarm 

 of bees was to kill an ox and shut up the carcass in a closed 

 hut for two or three weeks ; then on opening the hut the 

 body of the ox would be found to have given rise to a swarm 

 of bees. 



" Of the other genera, Mallota cimbiciformis, Fin., is prac- 

 tically a New Forest species, though there are one or two 

 records from other localities. It is perhaps the most bee- 

 like of the bee-flies. 



" Mcrodon eqiiestris, F., is the 'narcissus-fly.' This species 

 was first recorded in England in 1869, and since then has 

 been taken in many southern and midland localities, where 

 the larva has been known to do great damage to various 

 kinds of bulbs. It is an extremely variable species. 



" The species of the genus Hclopliilus are mostly marsh- 

 frequenters, and some of them are very handsome. 



" I have examples here of twenty-one out of the twenty- 

 two British species of this sub-family, and I may mention 

 that out of this number I have met with fourteen in the 

 North Kent district, and two others are mentioned by Mr. 

 Verrall as occurring in Kent." 



Mr. Baldock exhibited more than a dozen species, male 



