Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A British syrphid fly, Chrysotoxum fasciolatum, spotted with yellow on a black ground, and thus somewhat resembling a hornet.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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One of our choppers brought me the other day what he called a hornet's nest; it was certainly too small and delicate a piece of workmanship for so large an insect; and I rather conjecture that it belonged to the beautiful black and gold insect called the wasp-fly, but of this I am not certain.
The Backwoods of Canada Being Letters From The Wife of an Emigrant Officer, Illustrative of the Domestic Economy of British America Catharine Parr Strickland Traill 1850
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The tenth is the wasp-fly in July; the body made of black wool, lapt about with yellow silk; the wings made of the feathers of the drake, or of the buzzard.
The Compleat Angler : or, The Contemplative Man`s Recreation 1653
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