APHIDE HONEY. 277 



the juices of the prey, which is seized by the back, 

 and the liquid contents quietly sucked out, the whole 

 process requiring about a minute. Ladybirds, if dis- 

 covered clustered in crannies, in winter — and they 

 sometimes collect many thousands together — should on 

 no account be destroyed. 



Some of the most familiar and the most beautifully 

 coloured flies of our summer belong to the family 

 Syrphidas, which, from the peculiar character of their 

 hovering, darting flight, have been popularly called 

 " Hoverers," and the larvae of several species of these 

 devour Aphides in immense numbers. These creatures 

 are legless, blind, and leech-like in form, and move 

 slowly, by means of hooklets, with which the posterior 

 rings of their bodies are furnished. The maggot, 

 after each advance, makes a lashing motion with its 

 head, in search of food, and, when an Aphis is struck, 

 it is taken off its legs, and hoisted into the air, where 

 its juices are extracted, and the skin rejected. The 

 eggs of these flies may often be found deposited in 

 the midst of Aphides, multiplying to provide food for 

 the larva at the time of its hatching. 



The beautiful Lacewing flies, whose green bodies, 

 delicate wings, and golden or red-tinsel eyes, are so 

 universally admired, are, in the larval state, great 

 enemies to Aphides. When fully fed, the larvae attach 

 themselves to leaves or stems, and change into short, 

 oval pupae, hanging head downwards. Amongst the 

 smaller Hymenoptera are found very many most use- 

 ful destroyers of Aphides — e.g., the Cynipidse, although 

 usually regarded as injurious to many plants, as 

 gall makers are, in some of their species, serviceable, 



