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H E MIP T E R A . 
young of various two-winged flies belonging to tlie genus 
SyrpJius. Many of these flies are black, with yellow bands 
on their bodies. I have often seen them hovering over small 
trees and other plants, depositing their eggs, which they do 
on the wing, like the bot-fly, curving their tails beneath the 
leaves, and flxing here and there an egg, wherever plant-lice 
are discovered. Others lay their eggs near the buds of trees, 
where the young may And their appropriate nourishment as 
soon as they are hatched. 
The young are maggots, which are thick and blunt behind, 
tapering and pointed before; their mouths are armed with a 
triple-pointed dart, with which they pierce their prey, elevate 
it above their heads, and feast upon its juices at leisure. 
Though these maggots are totally blind, they are enabled to 
discover their victims without much groping about, in con¬ 
sequence of the provident care of the parent flies, which 
leave their eggs in the very midst of the sluggish lice. 
Mr. Kirby says, that, on examining his currant-bushes, which 
but a week before were infested by myriads of aphides, not 
one was to be found ; but beneath each leaf were three or 
four full-fed maggots, surrounded by heaps of the slain, the 
trophies of their successful warfare. He also says that he 
has found it very easy to clear a plant or small tree of lice, 
by placing upon it several larvae of Coccinella or Syrphi. 
3. Bark-lice. ( CoccidcE.) 
The celebrated scarlet in grain, which has been employed 
in Asia and the South of Europe, from the earliest ages, 
as a coloring material, was known to the Romans by the 
name of Coccus^ derived from a similar Greek word, and 
was, for a long time, supposed to be a vegetable production, 
or grain, as indeed its name implies. At length it was 
ascertained that this valuable dye was an insect, and others 
agreeing with it in habits, and some also in properties, hav¬ 
ing been discovered, Linnaeus retained them all under the 
same name. Hence in the genus Coccus are included, not 
