78 
Drenching v ith soapsuds or other obnoxious mixtures has bee 
recommended but it fails to reach all, and although many are d, 
thp 0 *^’ t ^° Se t ^ at rema in, by their exceeding fecundity, soon rene^ 
the colonies. Fortunately these insects do not materially injure tb 
corn, and when they become numerous, as a general rule it is not Ion 
before one or more of their insect enemies appearand soon play sa, 
havoc with them. I have frequently noticed Syrphus flies Apr 
abundant in cornfields, where they have collected not only for th 
sweets, but also for the purpose of feeding on the aphides^ Thes 
] ies are beautifully colored, usually with cross stripes of bright vel 
hv^h 1 ^ ’T a S l ng u ular habit of P° isin g themselves in th! 
rp - b} i i! rapid motlGn of their wings. In some places they hav, 
received the common name of “sweat bees ” 
The following notes in regard to this species are extracts from cor 
respondence received during 1877 : 0 
“Athens, Menard County, July, 1877. 
NTnf Lant ' hGe 01 \ tbe r°°ts of corn did considerable damage in 187^ 
old Unds e ’fl lb 7 lnjUrl0US Slnce ’ and then confined to limited areas oi 
E. Hall. 
Ut 
"Elmira, Stark County, Nov. 27, 1877. 
Un the 19th of May one of my neighbors came to get me to go an* 
examme a field of corn that he said was being destroyed bv somethin: 
, u he could find nothing that could account for it. ' I found the cori 
about three inches high and hundreds of hills withering and dying 
low °“ c y eful examination I found the roots and base of the culm be 
.ow the ground literally swarming with Aphides. I think from som. 
hills I could have gathered a teaspoonful of the little creatures I 
estimated about one-fifth of the stand of corn in that field to be ther 
destroyed by them. There had been a crop of rye raised on the grounc 
e season previous. I had before seen slight injury from Aphides 
but nothing to compare with this.” E. R. Boardman, M E> 
inau I irfe°s ar “T 1 finrf ° sta , tes . under date of Dec. 5, in answer to some 
collected on il lw referring to my notes the specimens sent were 
May ” th 22d day ° f May ' The field was P lanted the 10th of 
sinenbfr thIf ted *“ r ° pl y to one of his letters that it was rather 
i-P-i 1 t y , shou , ld a PPear there in such numbers when corn 
had not been raised on the field the previous season. He says : 
_ t0 th i° Se Ap l !' Jes ’ 11 appeared singular that they should 
-1st in such numbers in that field while in an adjoining field sepa¬ 
rated only by a road, there were only a very few specimens found and 
vatX^orTrf f 'T the “- ™ S adjoining Lid had been cu“i- 
for it IL that y n arS ’.g nd the onl - v "' a 7 tha t I could account 
one side onfanH fh t H here they were folmd ha d a hazel copse along 
worse on that sTde of the LlL’ 7 "" ° Ut ° f that aS they were 
