320 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



217-218), on a peculiar form of Coleopterous larva in which a 

 striking peculiarity is mentioned in two larvas, one found boring in 

 the pith of a small ash twig, and the other in the stems of He- 

 lianthus. He was unable to breed the perfect insects or to iden 

 tify the larvae. The peculiarity of these two larvas as described 

 by Prof. Osborn was " a pair of prolegs similar to those often 

 found on many caterpillars, but, strange to say, these are arranged 

 on the dorsal surface " of the first six abdominal segments. It is 

 more than probable that the specimen from Helianthus which 

 Prof. Osborn stated to have a striking resemblance to a Languria 

 larva was a larva of Mordellistena. That from ash twigs may 

 also possibly belong to the same genus or even to some species of 

 Cerambycid, especially of the groups Saperdini or Phytoeciini. 

 These "dorsal prolegs" have been described and figured by 

 Edouard Perris in his Larves de Coleoptcres in Mordellistena 

 pumila and M. perrisii (pp. 331-335, Plate IX, Fig. 359) and 

 in Cerambycids of various species Saperda, Agapanthia, Phytoe- 

 cia, etc (pp. 495-514, Plate XIII, Fig. 518). They are described 

 by Perris as ampoules ambulatoires, which are greatly promi 

 nent, retractile, and divided into two lobes by a median depres 

 sion, beset with little hairs, and covered with extremely minute 

 spiniform setae. 



Similar organs are also very well developed in the genera Na- 

 cerdes and Asclera of the family CEdemeridae as described and 

 figured by Schiodte (Naturh. Tidskr. 12, 1883, pp. 540-546, tab. 

 XVI, Figs. 2 and 12), The larvas of both genera resemble each 

 other greatly, and, when viewed from the side, are provided with 

 6 abruptly prominent " dorsal legs." one on each of the thoracic 

 segments and one on each of the first three abdominal segments. 

 When viewed from above each of these ambulatorial tubercles is 

 seen to be divided into two "areas scansorias " by a deep sulcus. 

 In addition to these organs, and in addition to the well-developed 

 though rather short, regular legs, these larvae have ventral 

 false legs greatly resembling those of Lepidopterous larvae. In 

 Asclera there are three pairs of such ventral legs, one on each 

 of the first three abdominal segments, while in Nacerdes there are 

 only two pairs situated on the third and fourth abdominal seg 

 ment. Both larvas are known to live in decaying wood. 



In the same stalks in which Mr. Coquillett found his larva of 

 Mordellistena pustulata he also found the legless larva of a 

 Curculionid beetle, Copturus adspersus, and the i6-legged larva 

 of a species of Pasdisca belonging to the Tortricina. He conjec 

 tured that the Mordellistena larva was carnivorous, and proved it 

 by finding that it fed upon the Pasdisca larva, the empty skins of 

 which he had frequently found in the very stems inhabited by the 

 Mordellistena. The fact that Prof. Osborn found that one of his 

 larvae fed voraciously upon Dipterous larvas found in the same 



