Oct., '09] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 359 



Some Habits of Empididae. 



By W. L. McATEE, U. S. Biological Survey. 



On March 31, 1909, near Winston-Salem, N. C, the writer 

 had an opportunity to make some slight observations on the 

 feeding and mating habits of Empis spectabilis Loew. Appar- 

 ently the habits of this species have not been described, and 

 indeed, notes on the habits of Empididae as a group are scarce. 

 We will review briefly what has been written on Empids of the 

 United States. In the Proceedings of the Entomological So- 

 ciety of Washington, Vol. II (1890-1892) 1893, pp. 146-147, 

 Mr. E. A. Schwarz described the feeding habits of a species 

 of Syneches which caught little gnats and other minute Dip- 

 tera. Of most interest in the present connection is their man- 

 ner of perching while devouring the captured insects, which 

 is described as follows : "Holding their prey between the legs, 

 and their body being in vertical position, they slowly fly toward 

 the nearest bush, and, without alighting, most dexterously 

 manage to take hold of the edge of a leaf with the claws of 

 the right or left front leg. The long and very sharp claws are 

 well adapted for taking a firm hold on the surface of the leaf, 

 and the long pulvilli assist in the operation by pressing on the 

 edge of the under side of the leaf. Thus vertically suspended 

 by a single leg, the fly uses its five free legs for manipulating 

 the gnat. Within ten or fifteen seconds it has sucked out its 

 prey, then drops the same and flies away. On a single shrub 

 alongside a road I could see at the same time thirty or more 

 specimens of the fly all suspended in exactly the same way, 

 while numerous others were constantly going or coming." 



In the American Naturalist, Vol. xxxiii, 1899, pp. 809-812, 

 J. M. Aldrich and L. A. Turley describe the interesting habits 

 of a balloon-making Empid (Empis acrobatica Melander). At 

 the time of mating the male of this species carries an ovoid 

 frothy bag, and it was observed that ''in nearly every case 

 there was a small fly pressed into the front end of the bal- 

 loon, apparently as food for the Em pis, as the attached species 

 were partly Chironomus and partly Oscinids, and other Acalyp- 

 trate Muscids." While flying about with this balloon the male 



