October  24,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
375 
of  the  Scorpion  Fly  he  knew.  The  joints  of  the  abdomen  suggest 
a  comparison  between  the  two.  Other  observers  have  seen  a 
resemblance  between  the  shape  of  the  head  (in  one  species,  at 
least)  and  that  of  the  horse.  We  miss  the  brilliancy  and  lustrous 
beauty  of  the  eyes  so  observable  in  the  Dragon  Flies ;  but  yet 
those  organs  are  keen  enough  in  the  Scorpion  Fly  tribe.  The 
wings  are  gauzy,  as  in  the  Dragon  Flies,  and  spotted  with  shades 
of  grey  and  brown,  while  the  forceps  at  the  tail  of  the  male  fly 
indicates  another  resemblance  ;  this  is  said  to  have  strength  to 
pierce  the  human  skin,  but  I  incline  to  doubt  this.  The  females, 
unlike  the  Dragon  Flies,  have  an  ovipositor  or  egg-placer,  ren¬ 
dered  necessary  by  the  mode  in  which  the  eggs  are  deposited, 
otherwise  they  are  equipped  as  are  their  partners,  and  they  sub¬ 
sist  in  the  same  manner.  The  legs  of  these  insects,  to  which 
allusion  has  already  been  made,  are  well  worth  looking  at  under 
a  moderate  magnifying  power,  as  they  are  surrounded  with  finely 
cut  spines  arranged 
in  rings,  wdiile  the 
“  knee  joints  ”  are 
fringed  and  spurred, 
and  the  extremity  of 
the  foot  bears 
toothed  claws,  which 
have  been  compared 
to  those  with  which 
some  spiders  are  fur¬ 
nished.  The  Panor- 
pidae  fall  into  that 
division  of  the  Neu- 
roptera  where  the 
pupa  state  is  inactive, 
and  they  are  nearly 
allied  to  the  Heme- 
robii,  or  Lace  -  wing 
Flies,  the  notorious 
foes  of  the  aphis.  We 
have  five  British 
species,  the  most 
familiar  of  which  is 
P.  communis,  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  partial  to 
places  that  are  damp 
or  low,  in  preference 
t  o  _  elevated  lands. 
This  may  be  con- 
n  e  c  t  e  d  with  the 
habits  of  the  larva. 
There  may  be  more 
than  one  brood  of 
these  flies  in  the 
year;  if  so,  the 
winter  would  be 
passed  in  the  egg 
state,  the  eggs  first 
laid  in  the  summer 
producing  larvae  that 
grow  rapidly,  and  de¬ 
velop  into  flies  ere 
the  weather  has  be¬ 
gun  to  get  cool,  leav- 
i  n  g  behind  them 
eggs  for  the  next 
season.  The  larvae 
of  the  Scorpion  Flies 
are  cylindrical  in 
shape,  studded  with 
tubercles,  and  with 
short  fore-legs ;  the 
head,  somewhat 
flattened,  facilitates 
the  burrowing  operations  that  are  essential  in  their  mode  of  life. 
Having  reached  maturity,  each  one  scoops  out  for  itself  a  cell,  and 
there  becomes  a  singularly  squat  pupa,  exhibiting  not  much  re¬ 
semblance  to  the  perfect  insect  that  is  to  appear  from  it.  It 
should  be  noticed  that  if  one  of  these  flies  is  laid  hold  of,  it  exe¬ 
cutes  such  contortions  that  some  persons  are  alarmed  and  speedily 
let  it  go.  Boreus  hyemalis  is  a  rather  scarce  insect  with  us,  and 
one  of  the  few  that  come  forth  in  the  winter.  Though  the  legs 
are  long,  the  form  of  the  head  shows  its  connection  with  the 
Panorpidae ;  and  on  the  back  the  wings  are  gathered  into  a  kind 
of  bunch,  which  Mr.  Wood  compares  to  the  hump  with  which  the 
traditional  Mr.  Punch  is  adorned.  The  female  has  the  wings 
almost  suppressed,  and  both  are  not  much  beyond  the  size  of  a 
good-sized  aphis. 
The  Snake  Flies  (Raphidii)  form  another  section  of  the 
Neuropterous  insects.  The  designation,  both  in  Latin  and 
English,  arising  from  the  length  of  the  prothorax,  which  forms  a 
peculiar  neck,  supporting  a  head  also  peculiar  in  shape.  These 
flies  are  most  common  near  ponds  and  rivulets,  though  from  their 
preying  on  winged  insects,  they  occasionally  visit  gardens  when 
flowers  are  abundant,  and  attract  flies  by  their  honied  stores.  A 
female  Raphidius  has  an  ovipositor  formed  of  two  blades,  its  use 
being  different  from  that  with  which  the  genus  Panorpa  is  fur¬ 
nished,  as  the  eggs  of  the  Raphidii  are  thrust  under  the  bark  of 
trees.  The  larvae  of  the  Snake  Flies  present  the  same  singularity 
as  do  the  imagos,  according  to  Professor  Westwood ;  and  they  are 
serpent-like  in  action  as  well  as  appearance,  on  the  same 
authority,  for  he  describes  one  as  creeping  slowly  along,  giving  to 
the  body  violent  jerking  motions  from  side  to  side.  We  may 
assume  that  it  moves  thus  in  order  to  seize  its  prey,  since  in  habit 
it  is  as  carnivorous  as  the  fly.  Staveley  asserts  that  though  at 
first  torpid,  when  near  the  end  of  its  pupation  a  Snake  Fly  begins 
to  move  about.  In  neither  of  these  stages  are  the  insects  easy  to 
discover.  The  flies  attract  notice,  however,  early  in  the  spring, 
ere  the  host  of  the  Diptera  are  on  the  wing. 
At  this  time  of  the  year  those  who  are  busy  in  horticultural 
pursuits,  either  in  or  out  of  doors,  are  sure  to  come  across  indi¬ 
viduals  belonging  to 
the  family  of  the 
Myriapods  or  Centi¬ 
pedes,  which,  though 
now  by  naturalists 
separated  from  the 
true  insects,  are  so 
commonly  associated 
with  them  in  popular 
phrase  that  they  may 
claim  a  passing  men¬ 
tion.  Reputed  to  be 
hostile  to  the  garden, 
they  are  not  all  de¬ 
serving  of  this  bad 
character.  Everyone 
is  doubtless  at  times  a 
vegetable  feeder; but 
the  species  belonging 
to  the  “  Hundred 
Legs  ”  section  of  the 
Myriapods  are  also 
destroyers  of  insects, 
some  even  that  are 
larger  than  them¬ 
selves.  The  “  Thou¬ 
sand  Legs,”  on  the 
contrary,  do  mischief 
without  any  allevia¬ 
tion.  In  both  divi¬ 
sions  the  names  are 
not  to  be  taken  liter¬ 
ally,  it  must  be  re¬ 
membered,  for  the 
J  u  1  i  d  ae,  common 
types  of  the  “  Thou- 
s  a  n  d  Legs,”  have 
about  three  hundred 
feet,  and  if  we  count 
the  legs  of  a  Scolo- 
pendra,  by  no  means 
could  we  make  out 
anything  approach¬ 
ing  the  hundred.  In 
all  these  species  the 
insect  commences  life 
with  a  moderate 
number  of  legs,  and 
grows  more  by  de¬ 
grees  as  it  increases 
in  size  and  strength. 
The  Centipedes  pro¬ 
per,  Scolopendra,  are 
undoubtedly  good 
hunters ;  the  head,  which  is  horny  and  shield-like,  has  be¬ 
neath  a  pair  of  formidable  jaws,  which  cut  sideways.  Under  the 
microscope  we  detect  a  slit  near  the  extremity  of  each  edge,  from 
which  it  is  presumed  a  poisonous  liquid  is  instilled  into  the  wound. 
The  legs  of  a  Centipede  allow  of  rapid  locomotion,  and  they  are 
covered  with  such  tough  scales  that  a  considerable  amount  of 
pressure  does  little  harm.  We  are  too  apt  to  imagine  that  when 
we  discover  a  Centipede  on  some  plant  it  has  visited  the  plant  to 
do  mischief,  whereas  it  is  often  merely  intent  upon  the  slaughter 
of  other  species.  Lord  Avebury  has  given  an  interesting  account 
of  several  small  Myriapods  of  the  genus  Pauropus  observed  by 
him  to  be  racing  about  rapidly  among  dead  leaves ;  and  of  one 
named  P.  Huxleyi  he  states  that  it  is  a  “bustling,  active,  neat, 
and  cleanly  little  creature,”  which  seems  a  curious  collocation  of 
adjectives,  and  it  has  also  “  a  look  of  cheerful  intelligence,  which 
forms  a  great  contrast  to  the  dull  stupidity  of  the  Julidae,  or  the 
melancholy  ferocity  of  most  Chilopods.”  These  Centipedes  have 
one  long  alimentary  canal,  therein  resembling  Lepidopterous 
larvae.  They  pass  through  no  regular  transformations.  The 
study  of  insect  life  could  be  begun  at  this  period  of  the  year.— 
Entomologist. 
METAMORPHOSES  OP  THE  SCORPION  PLY. 
