1/2 ARTllROl'ODS; INSECTS. 



Asilus 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 lar\'a state they 

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

 roots of the pieplant, or rhubarb, of the gardens. Figure 

 289 shows a common kind of Asilus. 



Bee Flies. 



These Flies are so named from their 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 ever}- little while and 

 balance themselves in one place in the air. 



Botflies. 



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 Botfly lays its eggs upon the 

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

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

 the eggs, and the young hatch and cling to the walls 

 of the stomach. The Ox Botfly lays its eggs on the 

 back of cattle, and the larva; li\'e in burrows in the 

 skin. The Sheep Botfly lays its eggs in the nostrils of 

 the sheep and the larvae crawl into the head, and often 

 cause death. Figure 290 is the Horse Botfly. 



Beetles, or Coleoptera. 



Beetles are Insects whose forward or upper wings are 

 hard and horn-like, and meet in a straight line along 



