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158 ARTICULATES: INSECTS. 



their blood. They have very large eyes, occupymg 

 nearly the whole head. There are several species, 

 and some of the largest are nearly an inch long. The 

 larvse live in the ground. Figure 287. 



ASILXJS-FLIES. 



These are very long-bodied flies, and are covered 

 with stiff hairs. They are very rapacious, seizing and 

 bearing away other insects. In the larva state they 

 live in the roots of plants. One kind feeds upon the 

 roots of the Pie Plant, or Rhubarb, of the gardens. 

 Figure 289 shows a common kind of Asilus. 



BEE-FLIES. 



These flies are so named from theii* general resem- 

 blance to bees. They have a very long proboscis. 

 They frequent sunny places in the woods, in the spring, 

 and fly swiftly, but stop every little while and balance 

 themselves in one place in the air. 



BOT-FLIES. 



These flies, in the larva state, live in various parts 

 of the body of the ox, horse, and sheep, and occasion 

 great suffering, and sometimes death, to these useful 

 animals. One kind of Bot-Fly lays her eggs on the 

 fore legs of the horse, another upon the lips, another 

 upon the neck ; by biting the parts, the horse gets the 

 eggs into his mouth, swallows them, and the young 

 liatch and cling to the walls of the stomach. The Ox 

 Bot-Fly lays its eggs on the backs of cattle, and the 

 larvae live in biirrows in the skin. The Sheep Bot- 

 Fly lays its eggs in the nostrils of the sheep, and the 

 larvae crawl into the head, and often cause the death 

 of the anim:il. Figure 290 is the Horse Bot-Fly. 



