604 
DIPTERA. 
Fig. 263. 
Fig. 264. 
cequalis^ 263), so named by Fabricius, because tlie 
wings are divided lengthwise, in their 
color, into two equal parts, the outer part 
being brownish black, and the inner half 
colorless and transparent. The body of 
this insect is short, rounded, and covered 
with yellowish hairs, like a humble-bee. 
It measures three eighths of an inch in length, and the wings 
expand rather more than seven eighths of an inch. 
There are some flies that prey on other insects, .catching 
them on the wing or on plants, and sucking out their juices. 
Some of them have thick and hairy bodies and legs, and 
bear a striking resemblance to 
our biggest humble-bees. Such 
are the Laphria thoracica (Fig. 
264) of Fabricius, which is 
black, with yellow hairs on the 
top of the thorax, and meas¬ 
ures eight or nine tenths of an 
inch in length ; another species, 
which may be called Laphria flaviharhis^'^ differing from 
the former in havinp; the face and sides of the head cov- 
ered with a yellow beard, and in being an inch or more 
long; and the Laphria tergissa of Say, which is somewhat 
like the last, but has yellow hairs on the three middle seg¬ 
ments of the hind body, and on the shanks of the anterior 
and middle pairs of legs, and measures about an inch in 
length. 
[ 3 What the true Bombylius (equalis, Fab. is, remains as yet uncertain, and can 
be determined only by comparisons with his typical specimen. The insect I re¬ 
member having seen in Dr. Harris’s collection under this name belonged to the 
group which includes the European B. major, which group contains several 
species in this country. It might be either B. albipectus, Macq., or B. fratellus. 
Wied. (syn. B. vicinus, Macq.). — Osten Sacked.] 
[ 4 Laphria jlavibarbis is probably nothing but a variety of L. tergissa. 1 pos¬ 
sess specimens of the latter, having one, two, or three segments, of the abdomen 
covered with yellow hair. Similar varieties, as to the width of the abdominal yel¬ 
low band, occur also in L. thoracica, Fab.— Osten Sacken ] 
