Note 108 — LETTERS TO MERRETT.

It seems impossible to identify this insect; Merodon narcissi has been suggested, but Mr. Verrall, whom I consulted says, "certainly not Merodon, which probably was not known in Britain until about 1870," and suggests the small fly Nemopoda. Mr. Bloomfield writes that the only fly of which he has seen any mention as having a musky or "excellent fragrant odour" is Sepsis cynipsea, which Kirby and Spence state on the authority of De Geer, "emits a fragrant odour of beaum" (balm); this species is very nearly allied to Nemopoda. Several Bees, for instance the Genus Prosopis, emit a strong scent of balm, and it is possible that Browne may have used the term "fly" in what is even now a popular sense, and that really some species of Bee may have called forth his remarks. It will be noticed that at p. 74 he speaks of it as a "small beelike flye."