DIPTERA AND ORTHOPTERA WHICH DESTROY ALEXIA. 



99 



DiPTERA, OR Two -WINGED Flies.— Ill tliis Order the only species 

 that attack the worms, and probably the moths also, belong to the 

 AsilidcVy a family of large, fierce flies 

 that pounce upon other insects as a 

 hawk pounces upon other birds, and suck 

 their substance by means of a strong 

 beak. But two species — one the Frocta- 

 canthns mUberti Macq. (see Fig. 24), the 

 other an undescribed Asilus — have been 

 seen destroying the worm so far. Asilus 

 sericeus has been observed to catch the 

 moths upon the wing, afterwards eating 

 them; while Urax apicalis Wied., Diog- KiUy.) 

 mites discolor Loew, and several species belonging to the above-named 

 genera and to Promdchus, Lwphria, and Dizonias are not uncommon in 

 the cotton fields. 



These flies deposit their eggs under ground. The following descrip- 

 tion of the act of oviposition is taken from a note by Mr. Hubbard, in 

 the American Entomologist (vol. iii., -p. 250): 



''I also observed a light yellow Asilus-fly ovipositing in the ground in an oi^eu space 

 between the cotton rows. She inserted ber abdomen to a deptb of half an inch, and 

 deposited only three or four eggs, which I secured. During oviposition she imitated 

 most comically the actions of a dog dropping its dung, and after finishing, immedi- 

 ately raked the earth into and over the hole, apparently very carelessly, but so effect- 

 ively, that although I had marked with my eye the exact spot, I failed to detect it, 

 until I unearthed the eggs. .The eggs are oval, yellowish white, smooth, and quite 



Fig. 24. — Proctacanthus milberti. (After 



Fig. 25.— Mantis Carolina : a, female ; &, male. (After Eiley.) 



ORTHOPTERA, OR STRAiaHT-wiNGED INSECTS. — The CarolinaMautis 

 {Mantis Carolina L., Fig. 25) is also occasionally found in such situa- 

 tions, usually confining itself to the borders of the field. It is to be 



