606 
DIPTERA. 
brownish-yellow veins, and expand one inch and a quarter, 
or more. We have several other kinds of Asilus, some 
larger and others smaller than the foregoing, of whose 
history nothing is known, except their predaceous habits in 
the winged state, which have been often observed. There 
are also several slender kinds of Laphria ; but these are 
easily distinguished from every species of Asilus by their 
antennae, which are not, as in the latter, tipped with a slender 
point, but are blunt at the end. 
Besides the foregoing, there are many other rapacious flies, 
some of which are of 
great size. The lar- 
gest one found here 
is the orange-banded 
Midas ( Midas fila- 
tus * 5 ), (Fig. 266,) 
specimens of which 
are sometimes found 
measuring an inch 
and a quarter in 
length, with wings 
expanding two inch- 
es and a quarter. It is black, with an orange-colored 
band on the second ring of the hind body ; and the wings 
are smoky brown, with a metallic lustre. It receives its 
scientific name, filatus, signifying thread-like, from its an- 
tennae, which are long and slender, but they end with an 
oblong oval knob. Its generical name was also given to it 
on account of its long antennae ; Midas , in mythology, be- 
ing the name of a person fabled to have had the long ears 
of an ass. The orange-banded Midas may often be seen 
flying in the woods in July and August, or resting and 
basking in the sun upon fallen trees. Its transformations 
* Incorrectly named Mydus filata by Fabricius. 
[ 6 Midas flatus Is now generally called M. clavatus, Drury, which is the older 
name. — Ostkn Sacken.] 
Fig. 266. 
