46 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
illustration of the lace wing fly as one of 
our many garden pests ! Not once, but 
many hundreds of times, have gardeners 
discovered one of these intrepid hunters 
slaying aphides right and left, and just 
for want of a little knowledge he has 
slain his friend and merely thought of it 
as another of those countless “ enemies ” 
who are always coming to spoil his best 
results and mar his reputation — and has 
in so doing underlined again that truest 
of true sayings, “ Evil is wrought by 
want of thought rather than want of 
heart.” So often in this world things are 
compensated and balanced in their attrac- 
tiveness. One thing is beautiful, perhaps, 
and another thing is useful. But here in 
the lace wing fly you have one of the most 
beautiful of British insects — an egg carrier 
which in itself is unsurpassable as a work 
of art, and larvae which in their utility are 
worth many times their weight in gold. 
