64 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



sect visitors of flowers in his "Bliithenbiologie," lists a number 

 of flower-visiting Tipulidae, mostly observed in Europe. With 

 the exception of a single Ptychoptera, the species all belong to 

 Tipula and Pachyrrhiiui. It seems doubtful, however, if all 

 of these species should be considered flower-visitors. In a few 

 cases, as in most of Hermann Muller's records, it is distinctly 

 stated that the insects were sucking or lapping honey; in oth- 

 ers there is nothing to indicate that the presence of the insect 

 on the flower was more than accidental. The fact that a large 

 number of the European records are from Umbelliferae is sig- 

 nificant; in these flowers the honey is exposed and easily 

 accessible, thus requiring no specialization of the insect visi- 

 tor's mouthparts. It does not seem worth while to give all 

 the European records here. 



Apparently but two species of Tipulidae, other than Ger- 

 anomyia, have been recorded as flower-visitors in North Amer- 

 ica. Both of these were observed by Dr. Graenicher in Wis- 

 consin.* He records Tipnla graphica Doanet as a visitor of 

 the "carrion flower," Smilax ecirrhata S. Wats. (Smilaceae), 

 and Pachyrrliina pedunculata Loew on flowers of Evonymus 

 atropnrpnrens Jacq. (Celastraceee). 



Two species of Tipulida;, described by Karsch from West 

 Africa, | have found their way into the records of flower- visi- 

 tors. They are D/cranomyia tipnlipes and Pachyrrhina fus- 

 e/pen )ii, both said to occur upon the composite Veruonia seu- 

 egalensis. It seems quite certain that these should be elimi- 

 nated. They were components of a collection of Diptera cap- 

 tured mostly upon the flowers of Vernonia. There were no 

 notes from the collector to show which of the species he col- 

 lected actually came from the flowers. It is more than prob- 

 able that the honey of the flowers of Vernonia would be inac- 

 cessible to Tipulidae without specially modified monthparts. 

 These records, indeed, are the only ones, outside of Gerano- 

 myia with its elongated proboscis, of Tipulidae visiting Com- 

 positae. 



These few observations show how little we know of the hab- 

 its of the Tipulidae; aside from the flower-visits I do not 

 recall a single mention of the feeding-habits of this extensive 

 group of Diptera. Probabty the difficulty of preserving them 



*Bull. Wise. Nat. Hist. Soc., II (1892), pp. 31, 36. 



tThis determination seems open to doubt, as the species was described 

 from California and its occurrence in Wisconsin would indicate an 

 unusual distribution. 



lEntom. Nachrichten, XII (1886)- pp. 51-53. 



