i68 FARM FRIENDS AND FARM FOES 



It is especially likely to be found in yellow flowers, waiting 

 to capture unsuspecting butterfly visitors. 



The Wheel Bug is a common predaceous insect in the 

 Southern states. It is of good size, being more than an 

 inch long, with a sharp beak and a curious crest on the 

 thorax that gives it its common name. It feeds largely 

 upon caterpillars, and belongs to the family of Assassin 

 Bugs (Reduviidae). 



Two-winged Flies 

 Of the great number of families of two-winged flies com- 

 paratively few are predaceous. The most distinctive of 

 these are the Robber Flies (Asilidse), a group of hawklike 

 creatures, some of which may often be seen in open fields. 

 Nearly a thousand distinct species 

 are found in North America. The 

 more familiar forms have powerful 

 wings and long legs and abdomen. 

 They commonly rest on low shrubs 

 or plants whence they can readily 

 pounce upon any flying insect that 

 passes near. Honeybees are so 

 often killed by them that in some 

 Robber Fly regions these flies are called bee 



killers. Such victims are caught by 

 the powerful legs, and quickly sucked dry by the voracious 

 robbers. A few species bear a striking resemblance to 

 bumblebees and wasps, from which they are at once distin- 

 guished by having but one pair of wings. 



So far as their earlier stages have been described, the 

 larvas of these flies seem to be largely predaceous also. 

 They live in damp soil and rotting wood, apparently feeding 

 upon the other insects found in such situations. 



