416 Transactions of the Society. 



Hgetodesia lazta Fin. $ shows a peculiar yellowish mass, 

 which contains an immense number of objects, chitinous in colour 

 and transparency ; some are boat-shaped, others round, many 

 appear to be cells joined to each other — they have not the form of 

 the mould or mildew alluded to before. They may be the spores of 

 fungus. 



H. obscurata Mg. $ shows a dark red cracked mass. 



H.perdita Mg. $ shows usual dark mass. 



H. pallida F. £ shows the same, with the black stain, a number 

 of large angular black pieces, several spores, and one scale of 

 Lepidoptera. 



A curious male fly from New Zealand, with pubescent eyes but 

 Cosnosia teeth on the labella, and claws and legs resembling Caricea 

 tigrina F., has red cracked flocculent matter in the stomach, and is 

 probably predaceous. 



Two preparations of males of Spilogaster communis Dsv. show a 

 number of unicellular rod-like spores ; one also the larva or pupa of 

 a parasite. 



S. jlagripcs End. % , among a large mass of the usual type, shows 

 four large pollen-granules. 



S. uliginosa Fin. $ contains a number of minute granules, 

 •quite reniform in appearance, shining, and having the appearance 

 of starch. 



S. notata Fin. $ shows separate pollen-granules of large size. 

 The very strong chitinous teeth, the long hypopharynx, the spined 

 fore femora, and the situation where I captured this insect (a 

 marshy spot), all point to its being similar in habits to Caricea 

 tigrina ; as I shall show later, I also find pollen in that insect, and 

 •on the whole I think S. notata, unlike the other species in the genus 

 that I have studied, is predaceous — at all events, occasionally so. 



A male of Hydrotea metcorica L., from Jersey, shows reddish 

 masses of semi-digested food ; a higher power resolves and separates 

 these into minute circles with a dot in the middle. 



Three preparations of H. irritans Fin., a male and two females, 

 all show digested food and pollen. What the object of the females 

 is in buzzing round man on hot days is not at all obvious. The 

 male is, as far as my experience goes, never in these crowds. 



H. dentipes F. £ is of interest, as it shows pollen and digested 

 material, the usual granular mass, with broken up black fragments, 

 and, in addition to these, some unicellular vegetation similar to that 

 in Oliviera. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX. 



Fig. 31. — Photograph of part of abdomen of Forficula auricularia (Earwig), 

 showing the fragments of Aphides (plant lice) in the stomach. 



Fig. 32. — Photograph of part of abdomen of Odonata (Dragon fly), Enallagma 

 ■civilis, showing the fragments of a fly (Chironomus) in the stomach. 



