476 
THE STUDY OF INSECTS . 
Family CONOPID/E (Co-nop'i-dae). 
The Thick-head Flies . 
With the members of this family the head is large, being 
broader than the thorax. The body is more or less elon¬ 
gate; sometimes the abdomen has a long, slender pedicel 
like that of certain wasps. The body may be naked or 
thinly clothed with fine hair, but it is rarely bristly. 
The ocelli may be either present or absent. The an¬ 
tennae are prominent, and project forward; they are three- 
jointed ; and the third segment bears either a dorsal bristle 
Fig. 582.—Wing - of Conors ajffinis. 
or a terminal.style. Vein III of the wings (Fig. 582) is only 
three-branched. The last branch of vein III and the first 
branch of vein V end near together or coalesce at their tips. 
Cell V, is divided by a cross-vein. Vein V, coalesces with 
vein VII, for nearly its entire length. Veins VII, and IX 
coalesce at their tips, and sometimes for 
\ / nearly the entire length of vein VII,. 
1 . .-n The ^ es are f° unc * on flowers. 
In some genera the abdomen is long, with 
/[ Aa slender, wasp-like pedicel (Fig. 583). In 
/ ® ' others the abdomen is of the more usual 
fig. 58 3.-conojs. f orm The larvae are parasitic, chiefly upon 
bumblebees and wasps, but some species infest locusts. 
