74 



Observations on the various Insects 



tip : beneath are 2 transparent but iridescent wings, with a smoky 

 spot at their tips : the 6 legs are bright ochreous and slender, 

 the base and tips of the shanks, as well as the feet, are pitchy, 

 and there is a ring of the same colour near the apex of the hinder 

 thighs. It varies so much in the markings, that the different 

 varieties have been described under the following five names by 

 Fabricius, viz., sylvestris, fasciatus, nemoralis, austriacus, and pra- 

 tensis. 



They hide themselves when disturbed, often running into 

 chinks in the bark of fruit and other trees, where probably the 

 eggs are deposited; likewise under loose bark as well as in moss, 

 where they hybernate, to come forth again in the spring. 



The larva (fig. 7 ; 8, the natural size) is very minute at first, 

 yet it resembles the parent in having a rostrum, horns, and 6 legs, 

 but it is narrower, of a blood or chestnut colour, more ochreous 

 when fasting, and it has no wings : the head is furnished with a 

 very acute rostrum, longer than the head, the horns and legs are 

 ochreous, the terminal joint of the former being the stoutest and 

 of a blood colour. Fig. 9, the thorax and head nearly in profile. 

 The pupa (fig. 10; 11, the natural size) is as long and broader 

 than the perfect insect, which it greatly resembles in form, and it is 

 equally active and useful : it is of a deep shining chestnut colour ; 

 it has no little eyes on the head : on each side of the back lies a 

 flat rounded lobe, ochreous at the tip, and they contain the inci- 

 pient elytra and wings : the body is broad, convex and orbicular : 

 the horns and legs are ochreous, the first and last joints of the 

 former of a chestnut colour. 



7. H. minuta, Linn., is a smaller species, being little more 

 than 1 line long: fig. 12; 13, the natural size. It is shining 

 black : the horns are brown, ochreous at the base : hinder part of 

 the thorax punctured : elytra ochreous and punctured, the apex 

 fuscous ; membrane smoky on the disc : beneath them are 2 

 transparent wings : legs ochreous, tips of feet dusky. The larva 

 and pupa are smaller than those of the former species, but they 

 are equally beneficial, I believe, in preying upon the Aphides. 



Flies, or Muscidjs. 



Mr. E. Doubleday transmitted to me some flies which were 

 stated to be laying their eggs in the young shoots of the potatoes, 

 and causing the rot. They belong to the Order Diptera, the 

 Family Muscid^e, and the Genus Sapromyza. The species 

 has been named by Fallen 



8. S. obsoleta.* It is bright ochreous, producing a few long 

 black bristles : the eyes have 2 purple lines when alive, but are 



* Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. 605, and Guide, Genus 1295. 



