February 9, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
107 
many are in search of its name, I fancy it may not be out of 
place to speak of it now. 
Campanula latifolia alba. 
A plant of a different order of merit, although a native also, 
is the white form of the Broad-leaved Campanula, C. latifolia 
alba. This is a flower which can be recommended with every 
confidence, although the genus is a large one, embracing many 
beautiful plants. I think, however, that this one should not be 
overlooked, although it is only fair to say that it is rather widely 
met with in cultivation. It grows from 2^ to 3i feet in height 
with me, and is usually much admired, its long, pure white bells 
in long spikes being very attractive, while the serrated leaves are 
very pretty also. I had some flowers of this variety brought me 
from a wood in this neighbourhood (Dumfries) which seemed 
more clustered on the flower stalk than the variety in my garden. 
I hope to have an examination of these wild plants next season, 
as there may be some good forms discovered. 
I have frequently observed plants in catalogues offered as 
C. macrantha alba, but have never yet seen a true white variety 
of the splendid 0. macrantha, which is believed to be only a 
varietal form of C. latifolia. I have also communicated with 
many hardy plantsmen on this subject, and nearly all agree with 
me that what is grown and sold as C. macrantha alba is only 
C. latifolia alba. I met with what was described as C. m. alba last 
autumn when in Renfrewshire, and was assured it was true to 
name. I have a piece of the plant, which was out of flower, but 
from comparison with C. macrantha which was growing beside it I 
could not refrain from stating that I adhered to my opinion, 
although I am open to conviction. No one who has seen the true 
C. macrantha in flower will ever confound it with C. latifolia. 
Veronica spicata vera (?) 
Troublesome as regards nomenclature as are many genera of 
hardy flowers, there are few more so than the Veronicas. One 
pink-flowered form has given me an endless amount of trouble, 
and although I have several names for it as grown in botanic and 
private gardens I do not feel confident that I have a satisfactory 
name as yet. I suppose most people will think, however, that 
V. spicata is so well known that there can be no dispute about it. It 
is, however, a variable species, and among other things it varies 
much in height, not only from the conditions of soil and climate 
but also naturally. 
In the course of my wanderings among gardens I came recently 
on a small dwarf form, growing about 8 inches in height, and a 
very beautiful dark blue variety it is. It was grown as Veronica 
spicata vera, but has no more claim to the distinction of the name 
vera than any of the others. Pumila or nana would be more 
correct. Whatever name may be given to it, this is a very pretty 
little plant, and should be secured if possible, the short but good 
spikes of dark blue flowers rendering it very attractive, while its 
dwarf habit makes it exceedingly suitable either for the rockery or 
the front row of the border. It is a fitting companion to such dwarf 
varieties as V. nummulariaefolia, V. prostrata, or V. corymbosa. 
—S. Arnott. 
INSECTS OF THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
(Continued from page 569, last vol.'). 
Merry and joyous, to appearance at least, are the flies that 
belong to the family of the Syrphid^. They are familiar objects in 
our gardens, and also about fields or woods, all of them lively in 
their movements, and many remarkable for their musical hum, 
though some are silent. Various are their shapes and sizes ; several 
species much resemble bees, others have a compact look, but a 
rounded abdomen, others again exhibit long and narrow bodies. A 
few of them have the thighs curiously swollen, so that it might 
seem they were insects of leaping habit. A noticeable peculiarity 
of all is the convex head, flattened behind, the face often appearing 
nearly covered by the eyes, which are very large in some males ; 
the tongue is usually hent in the middle, and has powerful muscles. 
Several species are amongst the blood-suckers, attacking both men 
and animals, but the puncture they make is not followed by the 
irritation which attends the bites of the gnat tribe. Some of them 
have heads brightly metallic, and their bodies are mostly banded 
with two or three colours, black being one of these ; a few species 
are quite black. 
With regard to their visits to flowers, the gardener has nothing 
to apprehend ; possibly these flies may now and then prey upon 
smaller insects, but they do not damage the petals of flowers, though 
some bees are suspected of doing so. In the larval state many of 
them are really of notable service to us by their diligence in clear¬ 
ing off some of our garden pests, but one or two species that lead a 
subterranean life must have a bad character given them. A species 
that darts from bed to bed in the garden so rapidly that we seldom 
get a good view of it has an oval abdomen, which is white and 
horny, translucent almost as it were of glass. Lacking an English 
name, we must give it the Latin one of Volucella pellucens ; the 
larva or grub has its abode in the nests of humble bees, also of 
wasps, where it devours the young brood. A curious thing is, that 
these insects do not interfere with the intruding fly grubs ; perhaps 
they are half afraid of meddling with them, for the larva of a 
Volucella is a singular object, in form like a rolling-pin, having a 
very small head and a body wrinkled and studded with points. 
Another species, V. plumata, has a near resemblance to the worker 
humble bee, being clothed in yellow, black, and grey ; its antennae 
are also feathered. The flies in the genus Syrphus are sometimes 
called Hawk Flies, the reference probably being, not to the 
carnivorous habits of the larvae, but to the way in which they 
hover over flowers. Their habit is to poise in the air seemingly 
motionless, then make a sudden dart in some direction, and stop 
again, rapidly vibrating the wings when they do this. It is a fact 
not yet explained that there are years during which the hawk flies 
are abundant while in others few are to be found. Parties of them 
have been seen on the south-east coast of Kent, of several species 
mixed, which seemed to have crossed the Channel. S. lucorum 
frequents both groves and gardens ; it is a pretty fly, chiefly black, 
but having a few patches of brown and yellow. Some naturalists 
have watched the mother fly of this species busy at the operation 
of laying eggs ; these are placed, one by one, amongst the crowds 
of aphides, which, in spite of precautions, are sure to occur upon 
the leaves or shoots of various plants and shrubs. 
A Syrphus larva has a pointed, leech-like head and a blunt tail, 
by the help of which and some tubercles it travels along, when it 
requires to make a change ; usually it moves but little, finding 
plenty of food around. Most of the larvae of this genus subsist 
upon aphides, and their method is to hoist each victim in the air 
by means of the mandibles, suck its juices, and let it drop. The 
growth of such larvae is rapid, and when full fed each secures itself 
to a leaf, and a singular alteration occurs, as it becomes a pupa, the 
head thickens, and the tail becomes thinner, the larval skin forming 
a sort of cocoon. There is a little lid at the top, which the 
emerging fly pushes up, and departs to its life in the realm of air. 
One species, S. pyrastri, ought to have the special regard of 
admirers of Roses, as its particular food during growth is the 
aphides of that tree. It is a handsome fly, blackish-blue with a 
shining thorax and banded abdomen, covered by down of a light 
grey colour, or sometimes golden. From the way in which many 
of the aphis-hunting larvae move their heads when they are ia 
search of their prey, it is presumed they are blind, and discover it 
by the sense of touch. One of the hawk flies, however, is called 
the striped Onion fly, a little insect, prettily marked, but its , 
progeny is a bristly grub, occasionally unearthed in the kitchen, 
garden, where it is obnoxious to the Onion, also to the Carrot. 
We have a rather brightly coloured but oddly shaped group of 
flies in the genus Conops, which resort frequently to flowers, not 
very correctly named either, for the word in the G-reek means a 
gnat, or a gnat curtain ; we have it also in our English word 
“canopy.” These small flies are harmless in their perfect state ; 
the mouth has no lancets, only a stiff proboscis ; and honey is 
their food. Excepting in the form of the abdomen they have a 
decided resemblance to the solitary wasps, that make burrows in 
Rose or Bramble shoots and in decayed wood. As larvae, it is 
presumed from the habits of some that the others are also parasitic ; 
the larva or grub of C. vesicularis has been detected in the bodies 
of humble bees. The insect lives till full grown thus hidden, and 
then works its way out between the segments of the bee to become 
a pupa. It is remarkable that this curious resident in the bee’s 
anatomy manages to avoid touching a vital part, for it survives 
usually the departure of this parasite for a short time. This 
particular species is black, red, and yellow ; the wings are tinged 
with brown. Another pretty species is C. flavipes—a thin-bodied 
fly, black and gold. C. rufipe's has the appearance of a miniature 
hornet. A rarer species occasional in gardens is called, from its 
largish head, C. macrocephalus. Its general colour is black, the 
head being yellow, and yellow streaks appear on each segment, the 
thorax having two silvery spots ; the wings are yellowish, and 
the legs red ; altogether a singular insect. How these flies manage 
to get their eggs deposited upon the bees they infest remains a, 
puzzle. 
An insect in this family that is an exception to most of them 
in habit ia the Narcissus fly, or Merodon clavipes, these Latin 
names meaning “thigh-toothed” and “club-footed,” for at the 
inner side of each thigh there is a strong tooth, and the hind legs 
are thickened or club-like. It is adorned with grey and golden 
hairs on the black ground colour, and visits flowers about April or 
May, having passed, singular to say, nearly a year in the pupal 
‘ condition which few flies do. The grub or larva of this fly is g. 
