30 
work among the flowers, but in the way they fly, and carry 
their hind legs imitating the pollen-freighted limbs of the bee. 
All whose attention I have called to them, or to whom I have 
shown the insects, mistake them for honey-bees. — They evi- 
dently fulfil the same office, with relation to the composite 
above-mentioned, as the honey-bee, of which they are such a 
good imitation.“ (Ernest Walker, Indiana, Oct. 27, 1892; in 
,Insect-Life“, Jan. 1893, p. 200.) 
The colouring of the abdomen of the honey-bees is variable ; 
some varieties have very distinct brownish-yellow crossbands 
at its base. Just the same varieties occur in the colouring of 
the fly E. tenax. 
The fly appears in great abundance principally in autumn 
and, when the days become chilly, in a semi-torpid state, either 
sucking flowers, or crawling slowly upon walls and fences. The 
American observer, just quoted, is probably right in attributing 
to them a useful part in the fertilization of composite flowers, 
and here we come across a most refreshing instance of Anglo- 
saxon enterprise, an attempt at once to utilize this fertilizing 
quality of the fly. The following notice speaks for itself. 
(, Insect- Life“, April 1893 which, by the way, I received just as 
I was giving the finishing touches to the present article). 
Complaint being made about the non-seeding of the Chrysan- 
thenum in Jamaica, Mr. F. D. A. Cockerell, Jamaica writes: 
,It seems that if Chrysanthemum, which flourishes well in our 
mountains, could be got to seed, a profitable industry might 
be carried on, the seeds being of high market-value. It at once 
occurred to me that our want of Hristalis tenax might explain 
the non-seeding, and the question has arisen ,shall we not import 
that fly? ete. (1). 
(1) John Hamilton. M, D. has an interesting article: On the probable 
pollenization of greenhouse Chrysanthemums by LHristalis tenax in: Hntomo- 
logica Americana, Brooklyn, N. Y, Vi, p. 81, 1890. The author is inclined to 
ascribe to the Chrysanthemum-craze, which prevailed in the United States for 
some time, some influence in the rapid propagation of this species in that coun- 
try. It was always very abundant in greenhouses. 
