434 Tachina Plies. 



the bees. One of the largest and most beautiful of these 

 (Fig. 213) is Anax Junius. It has a wide range in the 

 United States, North and South, and everywhere preys 

 u^;on the bees. 



TACHINA FLY. 



From descriptions which I have received, I feel certain 

 that there is a two-winged fly, probably of the genus 

 Tachina (Fig. 214), that works on bees. I have never 

 seen these, though I have repeatedly requested those who 



Fig. 214. 



have to send them to me. My friend, J. L. Davis, put 

 some sick looking bees into a cage, and hatched the flies 

 which he told me looked not unlike a small house fly. It 

 is the habit of these flies, which belong to the same family 

 as our house flies, which they much resemble, to lav their 

 eggs on other insects. Their young, upon hatching, bur- 

 row into the insect that is being victimized, and grow by 

 eating it. It would be diflScult to cope with this evil 

 should it become of great magnitude. We may well hope 

 that this habit of eating bees is an exceptional one with it. 

 The affected bees will be found dead at early dawn in front 

 of the hives. 



BEE LOUSE BRAULA CCECA, NITSCH. 



This louse (Fig. 215) is a wingless Dipteron, and one 

 of the uniques among insects. It is a blind, spider-like 

 parasite, and serves as a very good connecting link between 

 insects and spiders, or, still better, between the Diptera 



